By Hannah Stewart ’12 A&E Editor
I’ll be honest, I was initially hesitant to start watching Glee. The premise was what really got me: how could a show have its Broadway actors burst into song without diving into a black hole of gaudiness like High School Musical? However, when I decided to give just one episode a try in its first season, I was hooked. Glee‘s numbers were anchored by the emotional trials of the high schoolers in McKinley High’s Glee Club. Unfortunately, in its second season, Glee has lost its original punch and become a parody of its former self.
One of the most refreshing aspects of Glee was its
original characters. A perfect example of this is Sue Sylvester (played by the incredible Jane Lynch), a comedically intense cheerleading coach at McKinley High who tries to destroy the Glee Club so her extremely successful cheerleading team can get more funding. Sue started off as one of the most unique characters on television, someone who made her own niche in the chasm of humor with her stinging but hilarious one-liners (most of which are directed towards Glee Club’s coach, Will Schuester, played by Matthew Morrison). With her relentless attempts to ruin her petty rival, Glee Club, despite the abundance of funds for her cheerleading team, Sue Sylvester makes clear that she holds her pride dearly. Apparently, Sue Sylvester made a 180 degree turn before second season started. She tried to shoot one of her best cheerleaders out of a human cannon? Fine. She “married” herself? Okay. She attempted to commit “Sue-icide” with gummy bear vitamins just to get attention from the glee coach? That’s where I draw the line. What happened to the smart Sue Sylvester from Glee‘s first season who would do anything to maintain her reputation as the seven-time-national-championship-winning coach of the Cheerios? I want her back; this new Sue is just a gimmick of her older self and less funny. It’s especially a shame considering how much potential Sue Sylvester and Jane Lynch have collectively; with the right, somewhat convincing plotlines and the right quips, Lynch is a comedic force.
I was impressed with how seamlessly Glee would mesh the plotlines and the songs together in the first season. There was an eclectic mix of songs from different genres and periods. This season, the show is quick to jump on any music phenomenon like Justin Bieber and devote almost a whole episode to his songs. The Justin Bieber episode was slightly nauseating: all of the boys in Glee club decided that they had to sweep their hair to the side and wear hoodies to get female attention. So, in other words, they had to look like half of the teenage male population. That is not a style exclusive to Justin, and I have yet to stumble upon something that would justify a whole Glee episode in his honor (Grammy? Nope. Style? Nada- the hair doesn’t count! Original music and/or voice? Negative.).
The image of talented actors and former Broadway stars sweeping their hair to the side is a nice symbol of what Glee has become, which is something that it’s not. Hopefully Glee learns from their sophomore slump of a second season and realize that they’re too good to hide behind the latest music phenomenon and over-the-top dance numbers. Raw talent is all Glee needs to be its best again, and it already has it.
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