The TV Chick

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.

Meanwhile, Schue has successfully seduced Sue. He sings and dances provocatively to “Tell Me Something Good,” and asks her out on a date. She shows up in pearls and a track suit. How amazing! Of course, Schue stands her up and she is forced into a big funk. Her house is full of trophies (like a hoarder) and Schue eventually sees the error of his ways and convinces her to get out of bed and coach the Cheerios in Nationals. She bribes him — regarding the trophy in the choir room – into kissing her but they don’t go through with it. I really liked seeing another human side to Sue. She admits to Schue that she doesn’t want to be alone and the hope of a relationship made her feel normal. I think we can all relate to Sue’s softer side. (Perhaps not her crazy side though).

Back in Glee world, Quinn wants her chance at the Funk assignment. Mercedes is perplexed by this, but Quinn sings “It’s A Man’s Man’s World.” Let me tell you, I am in love with this performance. Dianna Agron is a stunning actress and while her “pregnant” dancers behind her were a little strange, I thought she brought the house down. I can’t stop listening to it. After this performance, Mercedes’ opinion on Quinn softens. They have a wonderful moment where they talk about prejudices (in a way) and Mercedes asks Quinn to move in with her. I adore their moments together. They are both such great actresses and I hope we see more of this in season 2.

Earlier in the episode, Sandy Ryerson tells Schue that Vocal Adrenaline has never been able to pull of a funk number (hence his motivation behind the assignment). So Schue devises a plan: he calls Jesse and tells him to bring his group to the auditorium. The Glee Club performs “We Want The Funk” in front of them. It wasn’t my favorite musical number ever but Heather Morris (Brittany) and Harry Shum Jr. (Mike Chang) are amazing dancers and this number was a lot of fun to watch. Of course, it intimidates their rivals and puts them out of their funk. I loved Chris Colfer’s crazy deep voice in the song. Who knew?

I really did enjoy this episode. There were no huge ballads, or giant tear-jerker moments (although I will admit that Jesse/Rachel scene got me), but there was a whole lot of heart. I loved the little subtle choices made throughout the episode: “Loser” was playing after the musical number, Sue’s crazy trophy house, and even the Carmel High sweatshirts. I think and hope this won’t be the end for Terri, as she still has growing to do (and let’s be honest so does Schue). I hope Jesse sticks around, too. I want to know more about him and what he’s really thinking. Even if it’s only for one episode (because he’s a senior), I would still love to see him. Next week (the season finale) Emma returns! I couldn’t be more excited! I know she had to be written out to go film The Smurfs movie but I am so glad she’s coming back. Without fail, every week, Glee puts a smile on my face. That is unless, it moves me to tears. I am sad to see the season finale approach so soon, but excited to see what season 2 brings.

Glee airs on Tuesday nights at 9 pm on FOX.