REVIEW: Glee “Funk”
June 2nd, 2010
I always love Glee. As someone who reviews TV shows however, I try to come at it from an objective lens. Even if I always love the show, I’m not always praising it as perfection. Last night’s episode titled “Funk” is one that was filled with many perfect moments (Quinn, Terri, Sue/Schue, Jesse/Rachel) and certainly the story drove the music this time around. “Funk” centered around Vocal Adrenaline intimidating New Directions to psych them out and get them all in a funk.
Jesse has returned to Vocal Adrenaline claiming that he was never accepted at McKinley High. Led by oh so wonderful Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff), they sing Queen’s hit “Another One Bites The Dust.” I do enjoy the sweet melodic tones of Groff’s voice but would have loved a duet between him and Lea Michele again. Given what happens later in the episode, I assume a song could have been found about hearts breaking. New Directions gets their choir room TP’d (with Sue’s help) and all the members fall into a funk.
The episode also featured Terri, who I adore (the actress and the character). Terri and Will sign divorce papers, each with very meaningful glances. The acting is so brilliant, because Terri doesn’t even have to say a word but you can tell exactly what she is thinking. When she’s about to walk out, she tells Will that he’s still that 16 year old boy to her and he always will be. Divorce is awful, whether or not one of the parties involved is a tad bit on the crazy side. But I think this scene really represented the start to a new Terri.
To get revenge on VA, Puck and Finn deflate the tires of all of their competitors. Apparently, they were expensive Land Rovers and Shelby decides she won’t press charges if they pay to fix it. Finn and Puck get jobs at Sheets N’Things to earn money, and Terri is their boss. Howard Bamboo is back, but I can’t say he was a memorable character at all for me. Sandy Ryerson is also back, and his scenes were definitely entertaining. At Sheets N’Things, Puck, Finn, Howard, Sandy and Terri sing “Loser” by Beck. If Terri had a big solo it was cut but I’m pretty sure you can hear her softly singing. She talks to Finn and while it seems like she might be a little smitten with him (ew!), I think it’s really more than she sees a lot of Will in Finn. She helps him with their Glee project (going funk) and seems to want to move forward with her life. She is working hard to become a manager, and she admits that she has a compulsive need to crush other people’s dreams. She sees Finn as her second chance. But rest assured, there’s still crazy Terri in there who has a little ridiculous crush on Finn and demotes Howard Bamboo. One of my favorite Terri lines to Puck was “I thought Jews were supposed to be smart.”
Besides the Terri/Will divorce situation, one of the most heartbreaking scenes happened between Rachel and Jesse. Throughout the entire episode, Rachel is agonizing over Jesse and their breakup. When she goes to talk to Schue, she is convinced that Jesse did this on purpose to get her depressed before regionals. While half listening to her, Schue devises a plan to get back at Sue. The show used a lot of inner monologue moments, which I really enjoyed. This was one but Puck also had an inner monologue when planning revenge. In any case, Jesse calls Rachel and tells her to meet him in the parking lot. I don’t know if it was my naivete or resistance to believe that Jesse could be so ill intentioned, but I was hoping they would make up. Instead, the entire Vocal Adrenaline team throws eggs at Rachel. The last one to do so is Jesse. She encourages him to do it — like he broke her heart. Jesse tells her he loved her right before he cracks an egg over her head. People (not me) find Rachel to be annoying, so I wonder if this scene was made to take her down a notch. She became incredibly vulnerable after this moment. But as I said, I wanted to believe Jesse had genuine feelings for Rachel. However, “Funk” and “Theatricality” were supposed to air in the opposite order, so perhaps this is why we don’t get a ton of explanation behind his motivations. Whatever the case, I think and hope he will be redeeming himself in the finale. High school students are cruel, but Jesse St. James, stop breaking Rachel’s heart! After the egg incident, Rachel goes to the Glee Club, understandably upset, and they all rally behind her. Kurt’s line “Rachel’s one of us, we’re the only ones who get to humiliate her,” was great.
