Glee - 303 - Asian F

 Original air date: October 4, 2011

Hello Dear Readers, we are back with Glee and I have to say, I think the show's have done a swap so far on quality. Sure, Glee has a lot of problems and has aged poorly but the plots so far are more enjoyable than what's happening on Dawson's Creek. Wild, I know. It feels like RIB are, at least trying right now and that's all I can ask for. Plus, as my friend Lucas pointed out, the songs have been a lot more sparse with a heavier focus on story and it feels a lot more like the first half of season 1, which is a good thing. 

We open the episode with the kids working hard in dance class. Quinn looks super happy and this kind of goes against her whole edgy thing she had going the past few episodes. Also, Santana is here, huh? She gives us one line about swearing her allegiance back to glee club but without telling Sue and I'm disappointed. This could have been an interesting thread but again, they just kind of undo it. Mercedes rushes in late and Will is unimpressed. She apparently slept in, even though Quinn points out it's 4:30 so Mercedes says she slept in this morning and it's thrown her whole schedule off. Ok. Will tells her to dance and she does a few steps and then gets sick. She complains that Will is pushing them too hard and it's like...one extra after school activity outside of glee club. Mercedes complains she doesn't have time to eat but like everyone else did so what the hell? Will says it isn't about eating, it's about attitude and that trying their best isn't good enough anymore if they want to win sectionals.

I just need you all to see how happy Quinn looks to be here

In the morning, Will confronts Emma about the wedding magazine stash she has. Seems like they're rushing things considering Emma's been through a failed engagement where she was left at the altar because of her shitty behaviour and an annulled marriage because she refused to have sex with her partner because she still liked Will. Like, maybe think over things before getting into a third engagement in three years? Anyway, he wants to share his stash with her but she is less than interested and I can't blame her. Will then asks if she's so serious about them, why he hasn't met her parents yet. Emma tells him they're dead but he heard her talking on the phone with them so she admits she lied and that she just wants to take things slow. You know, the kind of slow where you're already planning the wedding but just don't want any family involved? That slow.

Ok, this next plot point...it's interesting and I love that they're developing Mike more because Harry Shum Jr is awesome but this plot point is uncomfortable. I'm not saying that you can't do it because I'm sure there are a lot of Asian people who have dealt with extremely high pressures from their parents to do well in school but I feel like that's a story that is not best explored by three middle aged white guys and certainly not by RIB specifically. They are not going to explore this with nuance and weight, they are going to go with cheap stereotypes that we've heard time and again and I really think we need to move past it. That being said, here it is. Mike and his father are in Principal Figgins's office to discuss getting him drug tested every day. Figgins is confused because Mike is an excellent student but Mr. Chang explains that Mike got an A- which is, as he puts it, an Asian F. It's not racist if RIB have the Asian characters say it, right?? At least, that's what RIB are hoping. It feels gross though. Figgins asks if he's putting too much pressure on Mike but Mr. Chang thinks that Tina is a distraction. Figgins now agrees with Mr. Chang because he dislikes Tina and her vampire ways. We get a flashback where Tina scares Figgins and asks him to excuse her from gym or she'll "drain his spicy curry blood" and just...

I'm not surprised just...tired

Why is this show so casually racist? Glee is a messy show. There is a lot that I love about it but it has so many problems. So many. Mr. Chang threatens to pull Mike from glee club since it apparently won't do anything for college applications. Mike begs him to get a tutor and promises to do better as long as he doesn't have to quit.

Bieste is yelling at the football team about keeping things clean and then demands to see a few of their moves. She expects all of these guys to be able to dance and audition for West Side Story by Wednesday and while she brings up good points about how ballet improves balance and coordination and gets you on Dancing With the Stars, it feels weird for her to be forcing them to do something. Also, bit of an insult to any kid that already knows how to dance and wants to audition? This show operates under the assumption that no one but the main characters are interested in the arts and that's just not true. My school had both a drama and a dance class. There was cross over of people on sports teams who also took those classes but like...why would teachers go we need all of the sports teams to dance when they have a dance club right there? I guess McKinley doesn't have dancers?? Not even anyone who takes dance outside of school?

Here is the point of the episode where I really start to dislike both Shane and Mercedes. Shane sees her hugging Rachel, there is no conflict here but then Shane asks her what's up with that. Shane is her boyfriend, if you don't remember, I don't blame you if you don't. Anyway, he says that she shouldn't be hugging her arch nemesis before the audition even when Mercedes explains that they're friends. I get it, he's her boyfriend and he's trying to be supportive. It's nice that he's trying to talk her up and give her confidence but I don't like that he's trying to turn her against her friend. He thinks that she should know that she's fabulous and should see herself as the one to beat and I do like that. Mercedes does too and we cut to her singing Spotlight from Dreamgirls. 

Cut to the audition where she is finishing up said song. Rachel is watching from the sidelines and she looks nervous. Emma, Artie, and Bieste are all floored by Mercedes's audition and say she's never looked more glamourous. I don't see much of a difference in her performance but she was good. Mercedes says she wanted them to see her as she sees herself, a leading lady. She walks off stage and kisses Shane who tells her he's proud of her. 

Tina finds Mike at his locker and asks if he's going to come to singing practice. She wants him ready for his audition but Mike doesn't want to audition anymore. He admits to getting an A- and that his father is all over him now. Tina thinks that he should be honest about his dreams with his father and Mike snaps back that she wasn't honest about her stutter. Honestly, that's a low blow and didn't even involve him at the time? Tina says point taken though because Tina is this show's Meg or Jerry or Toby if you will. She's the character that everyone, including the writers, shit on. 

Kurt and Rachel are handing out campaign buttons while gleefully talking about how good his chances of winning are against Brittany. Rachel thinks he's a shoe in for NYADA because of this. Santana and Brittany come up and ask if they have her support but Rachel says she's voting for Kurt. Brittany and Santana go on about how all former class presidents have been male and talk about things that a country would worry about rather than a school but ok. They are going with a girl power angle and Brittany launches into a flash mob performance of Beyonce's Run the World, ending at a pep rally where she asks for everyone's vote which spells trouble for Kurt.

In the teacher's lounge both Bieste and Emma are talking about who they should pick for Maria. Will knows the one choice is Rachel but is surprised to find that Mercedes is the second choice. Surprised but in a nice kind of proud way. Sure, he thinks that her improvement is because of him and his extra dance classes but he still seems very impressed and happy to hear that Mercedes is working for something. Emma and Bieste aren't sure how to choose but Will has an idea.

Mercedes complains that they have to try out again but Rachel understands it for what it is, a call back. She's definitely annoyingly cocky, saying that they can't have it look like they're just giving her the part but she's right. This is a normal thing. Sometimes, it's hard for audition judges to pick a lead when there are two really good candidates, calling them back to focus only on them, makes it a little easier or fresher in their minds to help them come to one. Rachel wants to sing I Feel Pretty but Emma tells her that's too easy for her and that they have come up with Out Here On My Own from Fame for them to sing. This is also normal, having them perform the same song let's them judge which voice they like better because song choice isn't going to give an edge to one. Mercedes is not pleased with this.

Mercedes is not pleased

Rachel stops her outside of Emma's office and offers Mercedes a congratulatory call back hug. Mercedes is having none of it and asks Rachel to hug her after she gets the part. Now, on one hand, I get it. I get that Mercedes is saying that Rachel would not be so quick to hug her if she doesn't win BUT Rachel has already been shown to be supportive of Mercedes and hug her when she gets a lead. Also, they're friends and Rachel looks really hurt here because she thinks she's being supportive and Mercedes just shit all over her out of nowhere. Shane has essentially drove a wedge between two friends under a guise of giving Mercedes some self confidence but can't she have self-confidence without hating Rachel? 

Mike tells his father that he's going to meet his chemistry tutor at a coffee shop, the Lima Bean but when he hangs up, he goes to a dance studio. The school has a dance studio...but they're forcing the football team to be dancers. Moving on, Mike has an emotional dance to work through his feelings ala Footloose...or Hot Rod. He sees his father criticizing him in his mind but then he sees Tina being supportive and he gets a determined look on his face. 

In the auditorium, Artie, Bieste, and Emma are waiting for Mike to show up. Artie says he's never late and that he "operates like a Swiss watch cheaply made in China" and I'm quoting that so that RIB have to wear that line. That's fucked up. They are about to move on but Mike shows up and asks to audition for Riff. Emma tells him that it's not just a dancing part and Mike says he knows and that he's been working on his singing. He performs Cool from West Side Story and is really good. I wish they let Mike sing more. 

He performs with the football team who have obviously gotten lessons from Mike so Bieste is doubly impressed. They tell him he did great and Mike has clearly made his decision on sticking with the arts. 

In the teacher's lounge Bieste is chowing down on a lot of pasta and I'm just going to say this. I don't like the joke that the bigger woman is always eating, it feels like a mean joke. Anyway, Shelby worries about her glee club and says that most girls that want to sing are going to join the established club. Yeah, that's why this never made sense for a school that had trouble recruiting for one club but whatever. She makes a comment about Bieste enjoying her "disgusting creamy pasta" which only reinforces my discomfort with the whole Bieste eats a lot joke. Will comes in and Bieste gushes about how well Emma is doing so he complains that she's not proud of him because she won't introduce him to her parents. Bieste tells him he should introduce himself since he has nothing to worry about.

Kurt finds Blaine and asks if he's nervous about the cast list being posted on Friday. Blaine admits that he is and in a surprising turn, Kurt is super supportive of him getting Tony. So, I guess he's already made peace with not getting Tony? We're not exploring that? Ok. I guess we're going in a different direction where the class president election means more to him. He gives Blaine flowers and tells him that he's the only choice for Tony. It's a nice moment but feels a little like a reset button or like we've missed a large chunk of story since last we saw, Kurt was looking very upset about Blaine possibly getting Tony. Also, again Blaine says he loves Kurt to awkward silence from Kurt. 

Back in extra dance class, Will is going over their homework which was to practice a move called the widow maker. I don't know what that is but this show makes me think it's basically just hopping in a circle? Brittany is here too because she wants to win people over by dancing. So, everyone starts doing the move and Will and Mike tap out the ones who got the move down. Again, I'd like to point out that Quinn looks extremely happy to be here. She gets no plot this episode I just want to point out how happy she seems to be here because it's very inconsistent with the story they wanted to set up for her. Anyway, only Finn and Mercedes remain. Puck thinks he'll never get it and this seems to spur Finn on to complete it successfully. Mercedes is now the only one left and she is just not getting it and also complaining all the while. She eventually gives up saying her ankle hurts. Will loses it on her and asks if she even practiced the moves. Mercedes then whines that he's always singling her out but like...she's the last one standing right now. She kind of singled herself out by not doing the work and very obviously sucking at the move. She asks where Rachel is and why she isn't part of the team but Finn tells us that Rachel practices every night. Mercedes doesn't like this bit of truth so she tells him to shut up. She claims that Rachel is Will's favourite and excuse me while I laugh for an eternity. Are you serious? Rachel is Will's favourite? Rachel? Finn is standing right there, the one that Will gives extra help to, gives him extra advice, tells him how talented he is when he's clearly the least talented male on the team. Remember when he told Rachel she was spoiled? Remember when he told Rachel that she wasn't a team player and thus doesn't get any solos? Rachel is no where near Will's favourite. He tolerates her because he understands she's talented but I'm pretty sure most of the time, Will hates Rachel. Mercedes has convinced herself that this is the truth and she's not going to take it anymore. She storms off, knocking things over as she goes. Will tells her that if she leaves, she's out of glee. Mercedes doesn't care though, she's done.

We then get a little Mercedes as Effie from Dreamgirls performance that's a bit confusing. She's Effie but they've changed everyone else's names to the Glee character's names while they perform It's All Over. So, she's calling them Puck, Kurt, Finn, Santana but they're all calling her Effie. Either change all the names or don't change any. They really want us to take Mercedes side here but I think I'm on everyone else's. Mercedes finally says that it's all over as she's alone on stage and we fade the scene.

Mike is dancing in the dance studio when he sees his mother. He tells her that he's just warming up for football but she tells him not to lie to her. She knows he bailed on the chemistry tutor. She covered for him with his father but is now a liar too and asks him to tell her the truth. Mike admits he tried out for the musical and says that he loves dancing and performing. She says that she gave up her dreams once and doesn't want to force him to do the same. She asks if he knows if he got the part and says that when they do find out, they'll tell his father together. Mike asks what dream she gave up and she tells him she wanted to dance but never got lessons. Mike offers to teach his mother and they begin to dance and it's the cutest stinking thing.

More Harry Shum Jr in this show please. This is too cute

Both Shane and Finn are talking up Mercedes and Rachel backstage in the auditorium. They are called up to stage as the rest of the glee club watches in the audience seats. Everyone is excited to see the showdown. They flip a coin and Rachel wins but lets Mercedes go first. If you'll remember, Rachel likes going last as she can then be fresh in their minds and this was a point of contention between them that they already got over last season in Night of Neglect. They sing Out Here On My Own from Fame and both do really well again. I prefer Rachel's voice but that's my own preference, they are both very talented singers. Rachel disagrees with me as Finn tells her she's amazing but she thinks Mercedes was better. She goes to Coach Bieste's office later to discuss something important that we don't get to be privy to yet.

At home, Emma finds the table set and goes to ask Will if they're having a romantic dinner. Will tells her that he invited her parents to dinner as a surprise which is honestly really rude. Emma panics and wants to get them to leave so Will asks if she's ashamed of him. She's actually ashamed of her parents because they're ginger supremacists and that is entirely as bad as it sounds. The thing is...they're trying to make this funny but half the things the parents say is just white supremacy but it's supposed to make us laugh because...gingers? They even bring up the great replacement theory except that her father is worried gingers will be extinct in 30 years. I get that people like dark humour, even I do from time to time but stuff like this has become decidedly less funny the more I see how integrated white supremacy has become in our every day lives. It's dangerous, people get killed and I think it's ignorant to pretend like it's just silly nonsense. I'm cutting over most of this but Will calls them out for being racist and for belittling Emma's serious condition by calling her freaky deaky. Cool, this was an important plot point that needed to be brought up and not a pointless waste of time to make tasteless jokes about ginger haired people and white supremacy. 

Kurt confronts Rachel and reveals that Rachel asked to run for student president against him. That is a dick move on her part, she could have asked Kurt to run as his VP if she actually wanted it but she doesn't, she's just panicking about West Side Story and taking it out on her friend. Not cool, Rachel. She tries to say that if she wins he could be her VP or if he wins she could be his but that's something she really should have talked to Kurt about before approaching Bieste. Much as I love Rachel and think that Mercedes is in the wrong in her feud with her, Rachel is in the wrong here. That was not a move that a friend would make.

In Emma's office she, Bieste and Artie, tell Rachel and Mercedes their decision for casting. Emma tells them that they both win because this show sucks at committing to anything lest they get attacked by fans. Mercedes doesn't understand but Rachel is all for it because she can do the evening performances while Mercedes handles matinees. Artie then clarifies that they're adding a week and they each get one to play Maria. Rachel thinks this is fair but Mercedes asks if they double cast any other parts. They didn't. Mercedes stands up and they asks where she's going. Mercedes just turns to Rachel and tells her to say she was better than her and Rachel can't. Mercedes then yells at the rest of them for being scared of hurting her feelings. Artie tells her not to make this a stupid pride thing but Mercedes says it's about pride but it's not stupid. She congratulates Rachel on getting the part because she doesn't want it. Ok, this is stupid from every angle. For starters, she's kind of right on the trying to spare people's feelings but at the same time, why is there an issue with sharing the part? Everyone would get some time to shine. On the other hand, West Side is, I think, a pretty demanding musical so they're asking everyone else to give up two weeks to give each of these girls one week. That could be super draining for everyone else in the show. So, I'm kind of torn between Mercedes being overly ridiculous for not wanting to share the spotlight and forcing everyone to do an extra week being also ridiculous. I don't know. I think Mercedes making this about being angry at Rachel is wrong. Emma, Bieste, and Artie kind of fucked this all up by not really making a decision and also being terrible judges by showing too much during auditions. Most judges in art spaces remain extremely neutral during the audition process so they don't get people's hopes up that they got the part. I know they're just high school but the least they could have done was maybe clap politely instead of gushing over how good they were or ridiculing and laughing at Kurt? They suck is my point and Mercedes's anger is misplaced.

Rachel tells Finn she got the part but admits it's by default so feels a bit glum about that. He asks if she'll drop out of the election but Rachel thinks that she'll stay in which clearly disappoints Finn. She asks if he talked to Kurt about it all and he says Kurt asked who he'll vote for. Rachel asks what he told him and Finn says that he told Kurt he didn't know, which is essentially what he's telling Rachel. He's not impressed with her stepping on Kurt's territory for her own gain.

Emma is having a bad OCD episode when Will finds her and tries to get her to stop. Emma gets down on her knees to pray because she needs help and is desperate to get over her issues. Will wishes he could fix her and gets down next to her as he sings Coldplay's Fix You. We get some flashbacks to her childhood and then a shot of Artie posting the cast list. Mike got Riff and Santana got Anita. Blaine got Tony, of course. Rachel sees her name next to Maria but looks sadly at Mercedes who walks down the hallway to find Shelby and ask if she can join her show choir and we fade out. 

Rachel did not get a fair shake this episode

So, Rachel is obviously in the wrong for stabbing Kurt in the back but I feel like we're supposed to think that Rachel has screwed over both Kurt and Mercedes and I'm sorry but I'm in Rachel's court in the Mercedes/Rachel fight. She was nothing but supportive to her and Mercedes had to cop an attitude about everything. All this episode showed me is that Mercedes tries the bare minimum and expects everyone to praise her for it because she can belt out powerful notes. Sorry, but being a star means practicing, no matter how good your voice is. Do you want to know why Ariana Grande is so successful? I mean she has rich parents which definitely helps but she also has an amazing voice that she practices fucking hard at. I remember seeing her on Youtube doing runs to loosen her voice before diving into her cover songs. She took singing/voice lessons. Like she worked at it and Mercedes is just...lazy. She thinks she's owed everything without doing half the work and thinks Rachel gets a pass when we've been told by Finn that she practices every day and we've even seen her do dance classes in the first season. Now, the other issue with this storyline is it feels very icky to have this stereotypical diva character who is characterized as lazy being a POC as written by three white dudes. I don't like the implications of that at all. But in the context of the show itself, Mercedes is out of line in how she's acting here. 

One other niggling thing. Mercedes expects to be the star of this new group but the new group is completely funded by Sugar Motta's dad for her to be the star. So, she's gonna be featured even less. How did she think this would be a better shot for a solo? That nitpick aside, while this episode is plagued with the usual glee uncomfortableness and terrible jokes, it's nice how slow this season is taking it. It's much more grounded and there are fewer songs and they actually matter within the narrative. I'm enjoying this but I fear we are coming to an end of somewhat sane episodes as the next one up is titled Pot O Gold which I know features the winner or one of the winners of the Glee Project who is Irish so get ready for this to be pretty not good.