The TV Chick

“You don’t deserve the power of Madonna,” are several words uttered by Sue Sylvester (who else?) to a fellow faculty member (it might surprise you which one) that epitomize the brilliance of this episode. Throughout my life, I have watched an incredible amount of TV. However, I can safely say I have not seen anything like the Power of Madonna episode of Glee. It is probably the most epic hour of television ever made from beginning to end. Every little detail you see on screen is perfection.

The whole foundation of the episode is Sue’s love of Madonna. She blackmails Figgins to blast Madonna’s music over the PA system all day. She of course still wants to take down the Glee club and won’t stop at anything. Remember those details I was talking about? Look in the background to see people walking the hallway dressed as Madonna at different points in her career.

Throughout the episode, we learn that the guys are not treating the girls very well. Mr. Schuester tries to fix this and encourage them to treat the girls with respect. This leads to a heartwarming rendition of “What It Feels Like For A Girl.” At the same time, Emma decides to step up and take control (by channeling her inner Madonna) and she decides she wants to ramp things up with Will.

Mercedes and Kurt decide to tackle Madonna in a multimedia project. They approach Sue and learn the deal behind that haircut (it’s actually touching in a weird messed up way but I don’t want to spoil). This leads to the amazing Vogue video, which by now you have all seen. Besides the fact that it proved that Jane Lynch can do anything and hit it completely out of the park, it also proves the same thing for the creative team of Glee. The video was absolutely breathtaking and almost an exact replica of the original video. The aforementioned Glee kids also decide they want more of a starring role and join the Cheerios. (I know this isn’t a huge spoiler since there are pictures and promos everywhere).

However, the rest of the musical numbers are epic as well. Nothing can top the Vogue video, but Like A Virgin, Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, and the Open Your Heart/Borderline mash-up come pretty close. Like A Virgin is sung by 3 couples grappling with well, the song title says it all. Like A Prayer is the last number and Lea Michele belts it out in amazing fashion. I got chills. Seriously. Express Yourself is sung by the Glee ladies and their outfits are unreal (see the picture above for a taste). The mash-up is great for a lot of reasons but mainly because like all the other Madonna songs in this episode it just fits so perfectly with the characters’ emotions.

As I said before though, it’s all in the little details. The clothes, the Madonna music softly (or sometimes loudly) playing in the background, heartthrob Jesse St. James returning and even Brittany’s one-liners. It is unheard of for a show to tackle such a legendary musician but they do it in a way that is both respectful and incredible. Madonna has even come out and said she loves Glee and the episode. The entire hour I was unable to tear myself away from what I was seeing, mouth agape, eyes wide, entranced by the power of Madonna. For those who felt the pacing of the last episode might have been a little rushed or that the episode was a tad disappointing (I don’t feel this way but have heard that a lot of people do), this episode more than makes up for it. Even the cast members have said that they will probably look back at this episode as their favorite, and I have to agree. I’m not sure if anything can top this. It sets the bar higher for sure.

I would even go out on a limb and say this: If you haven’t seen any episodes of Glee (which seriously perhaps you should get a TV?) it is worth it to watch this one. While I don’t want to see every episode have a artist theme, Madonna was a perfect fit for Glee. Usually in a show of Glee’s length, I can find something to be nit-picky about, but in The Power of Madonna, I don’t think I would change a single thing.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow night for the Madonna episode of Glee at 9 pm on FOX.

But if you just can’t wait until then, here’s a video preview as well as one of the songs:

Promo for Power of Madonna:

Amber Riley and Chris Colfer sing “4 Minutes”