Original air date: February 21, 2012
Ok, so ever since Kurt's bullying storyline the Glee writers got it in their heads that they could tackle serious issues and I feel like they are exactly the wrong people to be tackling such topics. This is a dark comedy show about a high school show choir. This show opened with a teacher black mailing a student with drugs they purchased from a teacher fired for inappropriate contact with another student and this was all played for laughs. Like, I'm not wringing my hands here, I loved the first 13 episodes and I still do but this show was an entirely different beast back then. This was a show geared towards young adults probably fresh out of high school or at least in their 20s and able to laugh at such things while understanding that it's all not serious. Now this show is explicitly for teens and young teens and I'm not sure they're equipped to be tackling serious subjects with any type of compassion, or emotional depth. This long rant right here is basically me saying CONTENT WARNING: revenge porn and suicide. Feel free to skip this if you don't really want to deal with this, the revenge porn is played for laughs but still, I feel like I need to call that out given the everything that was happening at this time in history and still happens. Proceed with caution and care.
Rachel and Kurt are looking at wedding dresses and he's still not pleased about them rushing into marriage but I guess they've sort of made up since he's here helping her. Sebastian saunters in and presents her with an envelope that he calls her engagement gift. She opens it to find a photoshopped picture of Finn, presumably fully naked and wearing pumps. Sebastian says that the internet is forever and that every time someone googles Finn Hudson, that picture will be there. I'm going to be very blunt here, this isn't funny, this is evil. Full stop. This is evil and gross. I'm not laughing because shit like this destroys people's lives and this is an incredibly tasteless joke considering at this time, there was a site that relished in this very fucking thing and was run by the most hated man on the internet. It was only thanks to years of lobbying from a victim's mother, Charlotte Laws and a resourceful web entrepreneur James McGibney both took him down, got an investigation launched, to put him in jail. No I'm not naming the guy, he can rot but if you're interested, you can check out The Most Hated Man on the Internet on Netflix. In short, I hate this and I haven't even gotten to the part where Sebastian is blackmailing Rachel to not perform or else he will post this picture online.
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| I hear this guy is well liked and well loved as The Flash but oh my god is he ever good at making me hate him here. |
Finn is understandably pissed by this and wants to go beat up Sebastian. Will tells him to chill which is super easy for him, considering it's not his faked nudes getting leaked. Artie points out that blackmail is against the show choir rules and like, neat it's also against the law though. Why do these weirdos never take anything to the police? I know they suck most of the time and would also probably not do anything but it's better than doing nothing? Will says he already told the dean of Dalton about it but as Blaine points out, if they didn't do anything to him when they nearly blinded him, they're not doing anything now. Jokes on Blaine though because they intentionally didn't tell anyone about Sebastian nearly blinding him so that they could compete against him in a singing competition for reasons. Will is sitting there like "uh, yeah...I told the dean about that. Sure..." Rachel has decided not to back down, she's going to sing. Finn is pissed because it's his reputation on the line, so it's easy for her to be ok with not giving in to Sebastian's demands. Sugar and Rory both think they'd kill themselves if a picture like that went out of them but Rachel thinks that everyone should get tough and get used to people slinging crap. I have a suggestion, why don't we teach people not to be shit to each other? I know it can be hard but we could at least try that instead of accepting this and allowing people to bully others? Seems like there should be some punishment for those that make other people's lives shit. Finn asks how she'd feel if it was her picture being leaked out there but Rachel says that she wants to win to get into NYADA and that she also would face consequences for his picture being leaked since they'll be married. Um, gotta say I think I actually agree with Finn on this one. It's pretty shitty how everyone is sacrificing his personhood and embarrassment and, let's face it, future job prospects so as not to let the bullies win so they have a better chance of winning a high school glee competition. Like, this is pretty shitty and I'm not here for it. Revenge porn is gross, violating, and damaging. No one is taking this as seriously as they should and I really don't think any of the writers understand the severity of this situation at all.
Next, Sue has called Quinn into her office to tell her that she is now pregnant. I honestly don't understand why she had to call Quinn in privately to tell her this, the very thing that she booted her from the squad for in the first place but it is exactly as awkward and inappropriate as you're imagining it. Quinn gives her a bit of advice, I guess assuming that the reason Sue called her in was because Quinn has been through a pregnancy since they haven't been on good terms in forever but nope, Sue automatically tells her that her advice is condescending. It's like why did you call her here? Quinn decides to take advantage of this situation and asks if she can rejoin the Cheerios halfway through the season. Sue shoots that down because she's awful but also because the season is halfway done, so I do get it.
Kurt is complaining about Sebastian but Blaine doesn't want to talk about him, he wants to share his song idea for Regionals. The theme is inspiration so Blaine has decided to sing Cough Syrup by Young the Giant. Here is where I'm going to give a big CONTENT WARNING again because as Blaine is singing, we see David Karofsky enter his school's locker room. His teammates are staring silently at him as he approaches his locker. The door of his locker is spray painted with a homophobic slur. Everyone laughs as he runs out of the room. We then see him at home, he's crying and then he dresses in some nice clothes. Ties a rope around his neck and as Blaine finishes the song, Karofsky steps off a chair and we cut to black/commercial.
When we come back, the main teachers, Will, Sue, Emma, and Shannon are in Figgins' office discussing what happened and how to tell the student body. They all feel guilty for how they treated Karofsky but like...they weren't wrong. He was a bully and he was hurting Kurt. Yes, he was also struggling internally but again, I have to reiterate, it explains his behaviour but should never excuse it. He deserved to be punished for what he did to Kurt, full stop. He also deserves to get some help for his issues. We can be compassionate while still recognizing a person's faults. They all fret over social media and how it's so much worse for kids nowadays to protect their reputation. You know, social media didn't bug me (though I am happy that it wasn't around while I was in high school) so much as the advent of cell phones being everywhere and cameras being on them. Do you know what an embarrassment magnet I was? Someone taking a snap of me being a dolt, for instance, riding my bike and not realizing my zipper was down, and having that horrific image of myself be texted around school, plastered all over the internet, I would have died. Social media is definitely a factor here but websites also gain a lot of traction with people and it's the ease of which people can just have a picture of you at your worst that is scarier to me. Anyway, Sue is crying because she thinks she could have done more when she was principal and how all she can think of is his dad finding him. We then cut to that very image and it is, indeed gutting. Will says they were all hard on him because they thought he was going to hurt Kurt and didn't count on him hurting himself. Figgins thinks it wasn't their job to know and Emma asks him who's job it is then.
We have to endure the God Squad again as they are having a meeting to pray for Karofsky, though Quinn wants to amend it to pray for his parents since Karofsky chose to do that to hurt others. Quinn's reaction is not great but I'm not sure everyone else's takes are great either. I really think there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the reasons someone would take their own life and it's not just because of bullying. It's definitely a factor and it can absolutely be the straw that broke the camel's back but there is so much more behind it. It's usually a whole storm of things happening at once. You have to feel utterly hopeless and anyone saying it's a selfish decision has not listened to survivors or experienced it themselves. It's not rooted in wanting to cause pain, it's rooted in wanting to stop theirs. They don't want to hurt their loved ones, they're just in a place where they think their loved ones would be better off without them because of their own sabotaging thoughts or worse, because their home life has expressly shown them this. We cannot judge people who go to this extreme. Please show people compassion. They already feel like shit so shaming them is just going to confirm what their brains are telling them. All this being said, Quinn makes a point about how she has been through some shit and never went to that place and instead of offering her comfort and understanding, Kurt says "sure you had a baby when you were 16 and you had a bad dye job for 2 weeks, but seriously? The world never stopped loving you." And that is an equally callous thing to say to someone. One problem is not worse than the other, they are different issues. Sure, she cannot use her triumph to put other people down, that's wrong but Kurt is also wrong for belittling her own trauma. People did not still love her, she was booted from her home, she was kicked off her Cheerleading squad, she lost her boyfriend, she was mocked at school. She absolutely went through some shit and it is a miracle she didn't get to that point. I hate how this topic is being discussed because I don't think that any of the Glee writers have the empathy or compassion to understand what goes into a decision as extreme as taking one's life. Karofsky is not a lesser person for getting to that point and Quinn's struggles should not be minimized just because she didn't get to that point. She is being callous but so is Kurt. She asks why Kurt is even here, since he doesn't believe in God and Joe mentions that he invited him, good job buddy, you said your one line well. I am being so mean to these Glee Project winners, I'm sorry, they just feel shoved into this show, you know. The only one that seemed to have the chops and the presence to keep up with the rest of the cast was Lindsay as Harmony and she didn't win which is a crime. Kurt says he feels guilty and Mercedes invites him to come with them to the hospital.
Rachel and Finn find each other and immediately apologize. Finn says that no matter what happens, he would never do what Dave did. Rachel is happy because she doesn't ever want to live without him and let me tell you, that line hits you hard now considering Cory's tragic death. Rachel says she's not going to perform at Regionals but Finn says he does not care about the photos and wants her to perform. Rachel then decides that life is too short and she wants to marry Finn right after they win Regionals. Finn is worried that they might lose but Rachel just smiles and says she thought they agreed she was singing. I kind of love her confidence.
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| Iconic |
We next find Sebastian approaching the glee kids and they are not happy to see him, obviously. He smarms about how jokes just got too out of hand and he's destroyed the Finn photographs. Uh, yeah those funny jokes like putting rock salt in a slushie, almost blinding someone, and then blackmailing someone on the threat of posting revenge porn. Just innocent jokes, yup. NOW he wants to play fair and compete fairly because a kid he didn't know and didn't really interact with almost died by suicide. Whatever. Sebastian wants to also run a charity drive for their performance and donate the proceeds to Lady Gaga's It Gets Better charity. Cool, you still suck though and should probably be in jail.
Here we come to the special episode talk and it revolves around Rory. Apparently, he's never tried peanut butter so Will is asking him to try it in front of everyone and I have no idea why, but this entire thing feels weird. Rory tastes it and says flatly that it's the best thing he's ever tasted. The kids are as confused by this exchange as I am so Will explains that Rory just had a new experience as simple as tasting peanut butter and then asks them all to promise that no matter how depressed they get to try to remember all the amazing new experiences they could have. Then he tells them about a time he considered ending his life and that no one knows what thing might take them to the edge. I love that Will's breaking point was being caught cheating on a math test and it's treated as super serious but remember, we were supposed to belittle and demean Quinn's experience with teen pregnancy not being "enough" of a trauma? Gross. To be clear, the pressures put on students to achieve perfection is very real and damaging, I'm just mad at how little compassion Quinn got for her own traumas. They all share an experience they're looking forward to having and want to get to which is a nice sentiment. Tina's is to just have a song and I'm so sorry, Tina, this show doesn't want you to have a song. Rory's is that he wants to win Regionals.
We cut to Regionals where the judges are announced and we'll get to the one in just a bit because first up are the Warblers. They sing Stand by Lenny Kravitz which I find kind of boring. They are not that impressive nor do I consider them a threat to New Directions at all. Finn is feeling it though because he stands to cheer them. A girl asks why he's cheering for the competition and Finn says that life is too short and she should try it. He then urges everyone to stand up and cheer. I guess it's nice but meh to this song. The Warblers somehow get a second song despite not being main characters or having a main character in their group anymore. Their second song is Glad You Came by The Wanted which is better but it's not blowing my mind or anything. Like Vocal Adrenaline, even before they added Groff were very clearly amazing and a much better competitor. I miss them. The other show choirs perform but don't get much screen time. The New Directions are in the back getting ready for their performance when Finn announces that he and Rachel are getting married at the Lima Municipal Centre via a Justice of the Peace. They want to thank everyone who supported them and even those that didn't and hope they can all come. They hug.
We then get their performance which is a mash up of Fly by Nicki Minaj feat Rhianna and I Believe I Can Fly by R Kelly. It's really pretty but uh, it's not really memorable to me. I do love Rachel's background "fly" because she sounds lovely.Her dads are in the audience enjoying it too but they look shocked as if this is the first performance they've seen of hers and just...no? These are stage dads, they dote on their daughter. Do not tell me they have not been in attendance at every single one of her school recitals, performances, and whatever else with video cameras rolling always. This feels so weird. Keeping true to the promise made earlier, the Troubletones get to do a number which I think is very nice. They sing What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) by Kelly Clarkson and Santana and Mercedes' vocals are both on point. Rachel then performs Here's to Us by Halestorm and again, I'm not super wowed by the song but her singing is very pretty. She sings straight to Finn at one point and it's the only moment they've exchanged where I feel a little connection there.
We cut right to the announcements and honestly, this part just threw me for a loop. A giant coffin is put on stage and then this guy emerges, one of the judges announced earlier, Svengoobles. And he's like a Dracula guy and my brain just broke because no one in the show is confused by this. I just immediately texted my friends "Why Dracula? Why is Dracula announcing the winners? What is this???" Because I couldn't cope and then I found out one of the writers, Ian Brennan played him and still it explained nothing to me. So, I dug a little deeper because the name sounded a bit familiar but off and I remembered this guy called Svengoolie who is, like this character a tv horror movie host kind of like Elvira or Vampyra and the like. And then this thing that finally kind of explains it:
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| So Ian is a gigantic nerd, got it. link to post |
So, you see kids if you become a famous successful writer, you too can just put the things you liked as a kid into your stories for no apparent reason and play them yourself just because you're a huge nerd. I kind of love this. Anyway, as if anyone is shocked, New Directions wins.
Sue has called Quinn into her office to kind of blast her for being a background singer but also to say that she admires her. At first she thought it was because she reminded her of herself but then Sue decided she admires her for the ways she's not like her. She then decides to give Quinn a uniform and Quinn promises her she'll help them with Nationals.
Quinn changes right into it and walks down the hall to a few compliments. She finds Rachel to ask her opinion on her uniform because Rachel's opinion is the one that really matters, fuck those random boys saying she looks good. Rachel is happy she's happy and Quinn asks her if she was singing that song directly to Finn and only Finn. Rachel doesn't have to say anything, Quinn knows and acknowledges that Finn makes her really happy. Rachel's happiness matters to Quinn and so she wants to support them and asks to come to the wedding if they'll still have her. If this is not Faberry baiting, I don't know what is because this can completely be read that Quinn is putting her feelings for Rachel aside to support her in her happiness.
Kurt goes to visit Karofsky in the hospital and he looks so happy that he came. It's kind of sweet. Dave apologizes to Kurt for what he put him through and admonishes himself for not even being able to take the same abuse for a week. Kurt says that he should go to another school, since he doesn't want to go back and says they'll support him through all of this. He then tells Karofsky about how Will told them to imagine something they're excited for in the future and offers to help him think of something. They dream up a scenario where Dave is a sports agent living in a new city, married to a handsome man who's brought his son to the office to see him. Dave is taking the rest of the day off to take his son to his first football game and he turns to his husband and says, and here Dave finishes the thought with "I'm so happy right now." and it's very sweet. They promise to be friends but you know, this isn't going to be developed in a meaningful way, even though it's a great start off point to some good stories. Glee is just not that show.
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| Shame because this could have led to some interesting stories |
Sue congratulates Will on his win and then asks him to congratulate her. He doesn't know what for so she tells him she's pregnant. I don't understand this plot line at all or what they want to do with this. It sucks. Sue is nice now though and wants to help Will out to win Nationals.
The parents of Finn and Rachel are all freaking out and wanting to pull the plug on the whole thing because the fake support thing clearly is not working out. Carole thinks they would have done this no matter what and is just glad that they're here and get to see it happen. Hiram wants to just grab Rachel and have LeRoy drive her straight to Broadway to get her back on track for her dream.
Finn sees Rachel in her dress and is wowed by her. The dress is ok, not stunning but they're in love so I think she could have shown up in a paper bag and Finn would have said she hung the moon which is a point I can give to Finn, I guess. Rachel gets a text from Quinn saying she went home to get her bridesmaid dress and will be back soon and Rachel and Finn get ready to do their vows. We get a slow moving cover of Chapel of Love and get a scene of Rachel freaking out that Quinn hasn't arrived yet. Finn says they've only got 5 minutes or they'll lose their spot but Rachel is adamant that Quinn has to be here and wants to wait for her. Quinn is very important to Rachel, she can't get married without her...because she's the one she wants to marry! Ok, I'll stop but you have to admit the Faberry is strong right now. Hiram says he's going to fake a seizure to stop the wedding. Rachel texts Quinn to ask where she is and Quinn texts back "On my way" and then is hit by a fucking car and we fade to black. Goddamn.
A LOT happened in this episode. We had revenge porn, teen suicide attempt and discussion, Regionals, an almost wedding, pregnant Sue, and a car crash. That's certainly a way to end an episode but it all feels like too much too fast. Slow down and let a story breathe, please. It's at this point that I remember that we are going to have a paralyzed Quinn and a pregnant Sue and this isn't even the weirdest that Glee gets. Next episode is Big Brother and it's Blaine focused, oh joy I am very not looking forward to that.
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