The TV Chick

I have been eagerly anticipating the return of Glee since it was announced they were on hiatus for the World Series. I am never disappointed by this show, but I was absolutely floored by this week’s episode. It centered around Artie (which was a great move on the character development front), who couldn’t ride on the bus with the Glee club to Sectionals because the school couldn’t afford a special van for his wheelchair. Mr. Schuester tried to bring some understanding and compassion to the Glee Club for Artie’s life in a wheelchair, by making everyone ride in a wheelchair. There’s always concern when tackling an issue like disability that it won’t be done in a respectful way. But Kevin McHale clearly did his research, carried himself with dignity, and was absolutely wonderful. His solo “Dancing With Myself,” was great, and I loved that they gave him a love interest in Tina, because they had something in common (her stutter is technically a disability). We learn that Tina was faking the stutter and the relationship doesn’t seem to work out, but this was still fantastic.

Meanwhile, the Sue vs. Schue storyline continued as Schue advocated for wheelchair ramps, and the van for Artie. Principal Figgins was so inspired by Schuester’s decision to have all the Glee kids ride around in wheelchairs, that he insisted the Cheerios bring on a new girl to fill the void left by Quinn Fabray. The last girl to try out (Becky) was mentally disabled. Schuester expected Sue to be absolutely brutal (as she tends to be), but instead, Sue told Becky she made the team. It might have been a shocking moment but I sensed there was something more personal going on. Shortly after, we see Sue visiting her mentally disabled older sister. She brings her a pom-pom, reads Little Red Riding Hood to her and shows compassion that no one knew Sue was capable of. It is here that Ryan Murphy shines the brightest. Just when you think there is no empathy in that twisted brain of Sue Sylvester, he really brings it home. Sue might put up a front, but deep down, she is just as sympathetic and understanding as Mr. Schuester.

Another extremely touching and compelling storyline involved Kurt and his father. When Schuester announces that the Glee Club will be singing “Defying Gravity” from Wicked for their new number, Kurt wants to try out for the solo. (Brief aside: when I heard this was going to be a musical number, there were practically tears. It is such an amazing song and perfectly fit for Lea Michele’s powerhouse of a voice. Also, doesn’t she remind you of a certain Wicked star that really needs to guest star?) Mr. Schuester shoots Kurt down repeatedly, even after his insistence that he can indeed hit the high F. (Any former choir member/gleek such as myself would tell you that is a very hard note to hit). Kurt is clearly distraught by the news, and seeing this, his father goes to Mr. Schuester and Principal Figgins and stands up for his son. If you recall Episode 3 of the season where Kurt so memorably dances to Single Ladies, joins the football team, and comes out to his father, you know that their relationship might not have always been the greatest, but it is full of understanding and acceptance.  I love Glee for this.

While this episode may have showcased some character’s differences, it truly shows that they are in this together. (Almost like a brighter version of the Breakfast Club, except in Glee they will keep being friends). In any case, Kurt and Rachel have a “diva off” to compete for the solo in Defying Gravity. Both the solo versions and the duet are on the CD, but this number was as amazing as I could have imagined. And kudos to Kurt (Chris Colfer) who really nailed the performance. We find out he threw the high F at the end because he didn’t want his father to have to constantly get harassed. He had gotten an anonymous phone call that morning about Kurt’s sexuality which had shaken him. And just when I thought this episode couldn’t get any more wonderful and sweet, it does. And I haven’t been able to stop listening to both versions since the episode aired.

This episode also explored the relationship/love triangle between Quinn, Puck and Finn. Quinn has medical bills piling up, and asks Finn for help. Finn seems like he’s trapped in his own thoughts and can’t get it together to find a job. Puck very clearly cares for Quinn, and the feelings appear mutual but Quinn says that even if the baby comes out with a mohawk, she will swear to her grave that it is Finn’s. Finn and Puck also have at it when Puck tells him to step up to the plate and that he doesn’t know how lucky he really is. In the end, both Finn and Puck step it up. Puck puts pot in the cupcakes so they can sell them to raise money for Artie’s van. Rachel helps Finn get a job by using a wheelchair, and he gives his first paycheck to Quinn. It might be sort of a twisted way to solve the problem, but I look forward to seeing more out of this love triangle.

And I have gotten through this whole review, and only talked briefly about the musical numbers which rounded out the episode perfectly. Mr. Schuester announced that the Glee Club will be doing a number in wheelchairs. Proud Mary (Rollin’ on a River) was a great choice, and it gave Artie and Mercedes a chance to be in the spotlight. We also find out that the money raised was more than enough to fund the van, but Artie decides to donate it to the school to get wheelchair ramps. However, Sue had already donated the money for ramps, so Artie gets to ride with the Glee Club after all. But I digress. The musical number ends the show and I couldn’t think of a better ending to an episode that was, to quote my good friend and TV lover alike, “an emotional rollercoaster.” The episode was directed by Paris Barclay, who is an Executive Producer on one of my other favorite shows, “In Treatment.” I think it was a great choice to bring him in for such an emotional episode, when he has so much experience in handling those types of shows.

There had been complaints in the TV Critic/Blogger universe that Glee wasn’t grounded enough, and that this episode was full of convenient revelations. I completely and respectfully disagree. This episode develops many of the characters with a sense of compassion, while still staying true to themselves. Sue Sylvester will still remain a real pistol, but now we know more about her personal life. Kurt is proud of who he is, but we now know he will do anything to spare his dad’s feelings. Artie might not enjoy being stuck in a wheelchair, but we now know how he got there and how it has made him stronger. We got to see all of these characters in a light we’ve never seen them before.

I am so excited Glee is back, and I think this episode has a permanent space on my DVR for many repeat viewings.

My favorite quotes of the episode:

“Recipes are confusing.” -Brittany

“Your irritating most of the time. But don’t take that personally” -Artie about Rachel

“Try auditioning for Baywatch and being told they’re going in another direction. That’s hard.” -Sue Sylvester

And because I know you loved the musical numbers as much as I did, here are the songs:

Defying Gravity: Kurt and Rachel:

Proud Mary (Rolling on a River):

I don’t think I can say enough good things about Glee. It is just a wonderful show with an incredibly talented cast and an absolutely incomparable creator. Each week, I look forward to the ongoing war between various cliques, the drama, and of course the tear-inducing musical numbers. I recently had a chance to chat with Jessalyn Gilsig who plays Terri Schuester (Will’s crazy wife that everyone loves to quote and sometimes hate). I think she is one of the most interesting characters on the show, and I love the scenes where she is featured. We talked about Ryan Murphy (the aforementioned creator), what the future holds for Terri and Will, and what she was like in high school.

I adore Glee.
Yay! Thank you so much!

What originally drew you to the role of Terri?
Well, first of all, Ryan Murphy. Because I had worked with him on Nip/Tuck. And that was one of the best experiences as an actor I’ve ever had in my career. He really challenges you as an actor, and he really pushes you, and he really puts a lot of faith in actors to be able to — I think go further than they’ve ever gone before. Certainly for me on Nip/Tuck. You know, for obvious reasons…things I never thought I’d do. (laughs) But also just emotionally and character-wise and comedically. Every script was just this amazing emotional gymnastics. So that first of all: I was like great, I’d love to work with Ryan. And for me, the opportunity to do a comedy is something that I’ve been itching to do for many years now and also if I was going to do that–which is kind of a big risk for me–to be able to do that with Ryan, who I know so well, and then so much of the crew that I was familiar with from Nip/Tuck was kind of a dream scenario I would say.

There has been a lot of different reactions to your character Terri. What do you think of her?
(laughs) Oh my God, it’s so hard being Terri. It’s so lonely. I mean, it was the same with Gina [her Nip/Tuck character] I guess. No, I understand her. I feel like you know, we’re all a bunch of crazy people just navigating the planet and I feel like we all make really stupid decisions that we then sort of spend the rest of our lives trying to you know, make sense of, or apologize for, explain. I think she’s arrested, you know, I think in many ways she’s still in high school. And so much of high school is about scheming. You know, if I do this, and she’ll do that, and won’t it be perfect. We’ll have babies. It’s so high school for her to say “If he believes that I’m pregnant, he’ll never leave me.” And that’s basically as far as her plan has — you know, as deep as she thought it through. It’s also like–you have to be, as an actor, if Terri wasn’t hard to swallow, then the fact that Will is flirting with another teacher would make him unsympathetic as a character. So I have to be, kind of unpleasant, so that everybody can support that relationship. It’s kind of like a self-sacrifice for the bigger picture.

Have you gotten any interesting fan reactions to Terri?
Oh my God, it’s been so mixed that I don’t even look anymore. People get so angry. It’s a comedy, it’s a TV show. People get really upset about it. It’s fun for me the morning after because a lot of people will quote her to me. Like today, I got this email on my Facebook that was like my favorite this line this week — it was my line about how I had a big crush on the Karate Kid (laughs). So, she definitely has some great gems of lines and people like to quote those to me. And I think there are just a lot of people who think she’s a nut job, basically. Which I guess she is. But it’s fun to play those parts. You kind of want to be the person who stirs up controversy. It keeps the show interesting I think.

Yeah, I definitely think it makes the show more interesting that way.
Yeah, otherwise, they’re all so adorable. Will’s so cute. Emma’s so cute. And then you’re at Disneyland.

You don’t want to be at Disneyland every year of your life.
You don’t want to live at Disneyland. I mean, maybe you do want to live at Disneyland, but Terri’s not going to make that call for you. (laughs)

Are you good friends with Jayma? Is it hard to be mean to her on set?
It’s really fun. I love it. We joke so much about it. It’s so fun. All the crew gets into it. Like the day that we had the scene that already aired in Vitamin D where I come to her office and tell her to step off my man…the crew was so excited. They were like “oh my God, here comes the cat fight, the show down.” And even Jayma and I in the makeup trailer start taking our opening shots. That just makes it so much fun, when we’re all in the dynamic of the show.

Talk a little bit about your relationship with your sister on the show. She gives you some crazy advice.
I know. Well she’s great, because I think she makes Terri seem normal. So I’m really grateful to [the actress] Jennifer Aspen because she’s such a nut job that suddenly Terri looks like she fits in with everybody else. I guess it’s kind of that same high school thing. Terri just adores her big sister. She thinks that she has access to some kind of logic, and her life seems to be functioning, and she has a house, and she has kids and she has a husband whose devoted to her. So sometimes, you do get advice from friends and the little voice in the back of your head says “wait, that doesn’t sound right,” but it seems to be working for her, so maybe I’ll try it. Again, you know, Terri’s analytical mind is under-developed.

You and Sue (Jane Lynch) recently teamed up to get in the way of Will and Emma’s relationship. Will there be any Sue and Terri scenes in the future?
I hope so. I think that there should be, I really do. I think we’re united in our cause. We might have different motivations but I think that we’re both seeing the same world. So I would love it. Especially because Terri has a history in cheerleading. So I’m hoping that gets exploited with Sue at some point.

Can you give us a little teaser of the rest of the season–what might happen with Quinn’s baby and Terri’s storylines?
There is like–the way I’ve been thinking about it–is there is a reckoning. I mean the great thing about Ryan is he kind of bends things off — like that’s impossible, that could never happen, that’s beyond–he sort of sends things off into the ether. And then he always lands the plane. So it will land. And we will step into reality, and there’s going to be a reckoning. There just has to be. So it gets pretty intense, as we go deeper and deeper into the season.

I’m sure you get asked this a lot, but do you think we’re going to see Terri in any musical numbers?
(laughs) I do get asked that a lot. I haven’t sung yet. And I don’t know, I’m so curious. I heard that they have a lot of great stuff for the back 9. And I kind of want to know if I sing, and I’m kind of terrified to find out. But you know, I think she’s got a song in her. We’ll see. It’s intimidating. Every week, I watch it and I see the musical numbers and I’m like Oh my God, these kids are unbelievable. It’s definitely intimidating.

Do you think you’ll be a part of the concert tour?
(laughs) I don’t know. I don’t think anyone’s asking “Where’s Jessalyn’s solo?”

(laughs) I’m asking that!
Thank you, thank you! Maybe we’ll start a little campaign.

Definitely.
I mean, it’s so great. All of it. It’s just–our presence on iTunes, the fact that there is a concert, and all of it. It’s just this amazing stage for the show. I’m open to any challenge. Again, with Ryan, your best way to approach your job is to just say yes and have faith that he’ll protect you. And he always does. And you always end up doing things you never thought you could do. So if I’m asked, I’ll just say yes, and follow their lead.

Sounds good to me. And what were you like in high school? Can you relate to these characters?
Yes, very much so. I was an art geek. I was most comfortable in art class and in theater class, so that’s when I felt most like myself. And then when those classes would end, and you go back out into the hall, I was uncomfortable. I found high school kind of hard. And I knew that when I was in the arts, that was when I felt like I could be myself and I was accepted and understood and I could feel a real connection with other people. So in that way, I really relate to the show. I think it really speaks to the high school spirits. Whether or not you’re in the arts or the sciences or sports or whatever it is, you hope to find that club that speaks to you.

Definitely. And also, Terri hated her job at Sheets N’ Things, for good reason. Do you have any good stories from your worst job?
I was a chamber maid in a hotel. And I just remember–I couldn’t believe how people leave their hotel rooms. I had no idea. It was almost as if they’re entire visit–the goal of the visit was to just leave something disgusting for me. And the first night I stay anywhere, I always tip the housekeeping, because I just want to send a message–like respect. Because that was seriously so brutal. I don’t know if I’ll ever get those images out of my head.

Ugh.
Yeah, it was nasty. People don’t care. They just leave and they don’t care. Or even sometimes people were still staying there. And I think, I’m probably going to bump into you and you’re still not self-conscious about this?

You should feel bad about yourself.
Yeah! Aren’t you even like a little bit embarrassed?

What else do you have coming up? Any chance you are returning to Heroes?
I don’t know! I hope so, I want to go back. There’s so many great fans for that show. They were so great about my character, Meredith. I would like to go back, but I haven’t heard anything. I have a little independent film coming out called “Fifty-Nothing.” And I’m in the Stepfather [which premiered last week]. And then, we’re lucky–we’re going back in January. So I’m kind of at that great moment where I’m suspended between jobs, and I can just enjoy my daughter. I’m so grateful for that. It’s so rare.

Thank you so much.
Thank you. I’m so glad you like the show. I hope you can forgive Terri.

I love Terri. Maybe I’m one of the few…
You might be alone in the fan club, but I would love to have you.

We will form a 2 person fan club.
Awesome! (laughs) Thank you so much!

Glee returns on Wednesday, November 11th with all new episodes on FOX.

Last night’s episode of Glee was filled with amazing Sue vs. Schue moments, and musical numbers that were unstoppable. Jane Lynch is such an incredible comedic talent. Pair that with Matthew Morrison’s quick wit, and anytime Lea Michele or Amber Riley belt out a tune, and you have a winning combination. Not to mention my eyes filled with tears at the closing number “Keep Holding On.”

However, there was an ongoing blogger debate earlier this week about “Glee,” stemmed from this article. The article’s main point was that the show relies on stereotypes and they need more depth of character. Some TV critics agreed with the article, saying they loved the musical numbers, but not the over-the-top drama. Others were saying that they could do without some of the characters. But for me, this show is pretty close to perfect. I understand that it can be over-the-top, but how did you feel in high school? I felt like little things could be the end of the world. And that feeling is portrayed perfectly through the main characters on Glee. Yes, they do spontaneously burst out in song (but hey, who doesn’t?), and sometimes Sandy is just too much for words. But deep down, Glee is charming and wonderful. Not to mention full of extremely talented actors and singers, that each week leave me eagerly anticipating the next episode. I am loyal to a number of shows, but there are few that I must watch that night no matter what time I get home from work, and Glee is one of them. So keep doing what you’re doing, Ryan Murphy and all the creative staff. You are brilliant!

And because I know you need to watch these videos over and over again until next week, please enjoy!

Glee cast sings Keep Holding On:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGUuhXnSXvg&hl=en&fs=1&]

Glee cast sings No Air:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so7knu1djB8&hl=en&fs=1&]

There were so many perfect parts to Glee last night…Sue’s journal, the whole love triangle between Emma, Mr. Schuester and Terri. But one of the most amazing parts were the musical number mash-ups. It was boys vs. girls, and honestly I don’t think I could have picked a winner. So in case you missed it, or just really need to watch it 10 more times like I do…check out the videos here:

The Boys: “It’s My Life/Confessions”:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zkmkE6qiDM&hl=en&fs=1&]

The Girls: “Halo/Walking On Sunshine”:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOdY4H3t0Xw&hl=en&fs=1&]

Every week, I look forward to Glee. I eagerly wait to see the songs (even if we already have a vague idea from the track listing), the drama and the will they/wont they progression with Rachel and Finn (Lea Michele and Cory Monteith). I don’t think there has ever been a show quite like it. It somehow manages to pull off an exquisite balance between showstopping numbers and quirky, hilarious story lines. This week Kristin Chenoweth guest starred as April Rhodes, a woman from Mr. Schuester’s past who never graduated from high school. He brings Rhodes back to Glee Club to replace Rachel and she surprises everyone with her voice by busting out “Maybe This Time” from Cabaret. And she sings this as a duet with Lea Michele! I think Kurt’s reaction showed it best (at the end of the number, he was brought to tears).

In addition, throughout the entire episode, Finn is trying to convince Rachel to come back to Glee by shamelessly flirting with her. He wants to get a college scholarship for music, and the only way Glee can win regionals is with Rachel. In the end, she comes back to Glee and quits the musical, but not without her (and the rest of Glee) finding out about Quinn’s baby. The ending number is “Somebody to Love,” where Mercedes (Amber Riley) ends it on a note that will take your breath away.

Glee very clearly understands what viewers wants to see, and knows how to leave the audience wanting more. While I was wishing for a big Lea Michele solo song (because how amazing were her renditions of “Take a Bow” and “Taking Chances”), this episode was still fantastic. I can’t wait to see more guest stars and more incredible duets.

Glee airs every Wednesday on FOX at 9 pm.

And in case you missed the stunning duet of “Maybe This Time,” with Kristin Chenoweth and Lea Michele, check it out here:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nhSz0ckG1M&hl=en&fs=1&]

Even though FOX showed us the pilot in May, for those who might have missed it (or want to see it again), an extended director’s cut version (with deleted scenes and a deleted musical number!) is airing TONIGHT at 9 pm. Glee is one of the most unique shows on television, and it just makes me happy. It is a funny, heartfelt drama filled with amazing talent. I have seen the next 2 episodes (which I will give a preview in the next couple weeks), and they were fantastic. So don’t forget: tune in tonight at 9 pm for Glee! I promise it will fill you with–okay, I won’t go there. But I promise, you will love it! Glee stars Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Jessalyn Gilsig, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer, Jenna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale, Mark Salling, and Diana Agron.

Also, they are releasing their Soundtrack on November 3rd! I can’t wait!

Here is the track list:

1. “Don’t Stop Believin’”
2. “Can’t Fight This Feeling”
3. “Gold Digger”
4. “Take a Bow”
5. “Bust Your Windows”
6. “Taking Chances”
7. “Alone”
8. “Maybe This Time”
9. “Somebody to Love”
10. “Hate On Me”
11. “No Air”
12. “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”
13. “Keep Holding On”
14. “Bust a Move”
15. “Sweet Caroline”
16. “Dancing with Myself”
17. “Defying Gravity”

And here is a preview of the new season, just because it’s pretty great:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3SgIijw-nU&hl=en&fs=1&]