Original air date: April 17, 2012
Oh man am I not in for a treat this episode. If you like disco and more specifically the soundtrack to the movie Saturday Night Fever, then you'll love the music in this. If you're like me, getting through the songs this episode is pretty painful. I have mostly outgrown my "disco sucks" era but I'm still just not into the genre at all. there are a few catchy songs but the style just isn't for me. And to make matters worse, we open this episode on a Blaine song.
He's in class when he starts tapping his feet and singing the BeeGees' song You Should Be Dancing. On the positives, I get to see Mike and Brittany dancing and if you focus on them, you don't have to watch Blaine attempt to dance like them and fail. Blaine explains that the Nationals theme is "vintage" and they wanted something old but with lots of energy so they thought disco would be perfect. Will is all for the idea because, if you'll remember, when he was in Glee club they went to Nationals by singing KC and the Sunshine Band's That's the Way (I Like It). However, if you'll also recall, a big plot point was the kids arguing that they didn't want to do the stuff that his glee club did because it's dorky and out of style and the writers actually remember this by having all the OG glee kids say,
 |
| Sorry for the James Franco, he's working so hard to kill my love of Freaks and Geeks |
Will is complaining to Sue about how he's not sure what to do with the kids. He thinks Finn has a bunch of talent (debatable) but has no self-esteem, Mercedes is just as talented as Rachel and Kurt but lacks vision, and that Santana has tons of ambition but no focus. He doesn't have any ideas on how to motivate them. Sue thinks he's been out of ideas since he did the Madonna week. Sue suggests he assign an album since the Rumours week was a resounding success that seemed to solve everyone's problems for like 5 minutes. That wasn't me being snarky, that was Sue. She's doing my job for me, it seems. Sue suggests they do Saturday Night Fever and Will gets excited because he loves that soundtrack. He would, because he's boring. He's all for the idea but explains that the kids hate disco. Sue points out that they love swag and suggests they create a prize for them to fight for.
Kurt and Mercedes are talking college options by their locker when they are confronted by a new character. I did a second take because I could swear we didn't get Unique until next season but it turns out, not only were there two winners, there were two runners up for the Glee Project this year. So we get 4 newbies showing up and I'm just astounded at how many people they just handed roles to and how bad they are at picking talent. The winners are both forgettable background characters while the runners up are both powerhouse performers and memorable.
Before I get into what happens here, I think I should address something. Unique is introduced here as Wade. Wade is shy but describes having an alter ego that is confident and fierce that she calls Unique. Now she hasn't expressly come out as trans yet in the show but her language very much suggests she is, however the writers don't fully understand what it means to be trans and are writing Unique more like a drag queen persona right now. I'm going to go ahead and use she/her pronouns though because I feel like this character was always meant to be Trans but the writers lacked the skill and knowledge to write it properly.
So, Unique approaches them and introduces herself as Wade Adams from Carmel High. She informs them that while they're supposed to be mortal enemies, she's not here to spy because she's their biggest fan. She wants advice because Jesse is apparently their coach this year and he's mean. This show really wants you to hate Jesse because they fucked up royally by making him pretty likable in his first appearance and casting Groff. Unique tells them about her other personality that she deems the real her and Kurt hopes she develops the courage to be "him" some day. Unique corrects Kurt that she's a girl and that's why she wants their advice. Apparently, the writers forgot Carmel existed and are supposed to be in Ohio because somehow they have different Regionals than New Directions did. Theirs is this Saturday and Unique wants to wear a dress and heels to it and perform as herself. She asks what they would do and Mercedes and Kurt exchange a look but don't give an answer yet.
We cut to the glee room where the floor has been replaced with a giant disco dance floor. One of those plastic light up ones. Sue proudly says that it's hers and was modelled after the floor used in the John Travolta movie, Saturday Night Fever. They inform the group that even though most of them don't like disco, they are going to be doing the soundtrack to SNF the whole week. Will tells Finn that John Travolta's character in the movie is like him, struggling to figure out what he wants in his life. They then reveal that they are going to have a dance-off where the winner receives a replica of John Travolta's white jump suit that he wears in the movie. This excites the kids for some weird reason. Sue, Will, Blaine, and Joe perform the BeeGees Night Fever and my eardrums hate the sound of Will's falsetto. Eventually everyone gets on the floor to dance. After the song is over, Will announces the winners: Santana, Mercedes, and Finn.
 |
| Even Finn is confused that he is a finalist Mike and Brittany are fuming right now, the clear winners |
Will has the finalists in his office to pump them up for the next round. Finn is all for it but Mercedes is apparently already done and says he can have the suit. It's weird how this show wanted you to be torn between Rachel and Mercedes as Maria but then go out of their way to paint Mercedes as lazy. It's confusing and weirdly mean to portray the black girl who is overweight as lazy. Will explains that the whole contest was a ruse to get them to think about their future. Mercedes is not ok with that and I'm on her side there. Feels manipulative.
Mercedes is pissed that Will has singled her out and told her she has no ambition or dreams. She monologues to us that she does have dreams, she just doesn't know how to get there but they are hot as an inferno. This cues us in to her singing Disco Inferno by Tina Turner which is finally a song that sounds good and not mind-numbingly boring or like someone is squeezing Will's balls in a vice. She finishes the song as her performance for Will's competition. Mercedes announces that her dream is to be like Mariah, Whitney, and Aretha but she's nervous about moving across the country for a dream that might not happen. She's worried that she's a big fish in a little pond in Ohio but when she goes out to the real world, she'll be a little fish. Sam has recorded her performance and looks thoughtful as he watches it back on his phone.
Kurt urges Rachel to talk to Finn but she thinks he should talk first since he insulted her. Kurt sasses that this is a great start to a marriage. He's not wrong. Puck confronts Finn about his pool business but Finn turns him down because it's Puck's dream and not his. Puck is scared to go alone but Finn tells him that he'll conquer LA in no time. Puck returns the favour by telling him to make his dreams as big as he is because he deserves it.
Sue calls Kurt and Mercedes into her office because she heard they talked to Unique who is singing with Carmel. Mercedes and Kurt said they were giving her advice to not sing as her alter-ego at Regionals because they didn't think Ohio would be down with that. Sue thinks this is fantastic because the judges will hate it and therefore it will tank Vocal Adrenaline at Regionals, thus knocking them out of Nationals. She gives them a pair of disco boots to give to Unique.
We then cut to Santana singing If I Can't Have You by Yvonne Elliman and she sounds fabulous but I'm also not a fan of this song so I'm bored to tears. I don't know how I can recognize that she sounds great while hating the song, but I do. I just can't get into this music. Will is impressed until Santana says that she sang that song because she can't live without her mistress, fame. She wants to be famous at any cost. Will is disappointed in her but Santana is not here for Will's manipulative disappointed father routine because she knows what she wants and she's going to get it, no matter how.
 |
| Sure hope this confidence doesn't bite you in the ass later in this very episode |
Finn is in the auditorium because of a note Rachel wrote to him. He says she could have texted but she wasn't sure if they were speaking...honey, that's why it's called a text. Anyway, they both say they miss each other and make up for what feels like the thousandth time this season. Rachel apologizes for making her dreams top priority and says that they don't have to go to New York, if he doesn't want to because her home is with him. Oof, I hate this. Like, I love that she's trying to encourage him to search for his dream but I hate that she thinks she has to sideline her own to do it. To Finn's credit he says he doesn't want to stand in the way of her dreams but Rachel insists she wants to help him and focus on his dreams for now. She then sings him How Deep is Your Love? by the BeeGees and again, she sounds amazing but kill me now, I'm so bored.
We end up in Emma's office where she's handing Finn stacks of college applications that have sports scholarships. Will and Rachel are there too and are offering tons of support but also kind of pressure. Finn looks nervous and uncomfortable but he thanks them all for doing so much to help them. He leaves the office, saying he's going to look through all those places later. Rachel, Will, and Emma all celebrate helping Finn out while he walks down the hall and immediately tosses them all in the trash.
You know what this episode didn't need? A Jacob Ben Israel appearance but we got it anyway, thanks Glee writers! And oh joy, he's being a creepy weirdo about having watched Santana and Brittany's sex tape. Santana is horrified to learn that Brittany made a sex tape of them and sent it to everyone in order to make Santana famous. Santana says that the sex tape was for them and that it was supposed to be private but oh boy is it worse than breeching your privacy, Santana. You two are underage and therefore have made and now distributed CP. I don't think the writers thought this through. Brittany is really excited about putting the tape out there because she's made Santana famous but Santana doesn't look as happy as she should be with her saying she wanted to be famous no matter what.
Will calls Finn into his office and shows him the stack of college brochures he threw out. Finn asks him if he's digging through the garbage now, which is a valid question but Will followed him out, apparently and saw Finn throw them away. I prefer to think that Will just burrows through garbage cans like a racoon because it's funnier to me. Will gives him a pep talk but Finn thinks that it's useless because he's a loser who doesn't know what to do with his life. Will tells him that it's not the broken dreams that break us but the ones we never dare to dream.
Santana is still hearing about her viral sex video in which Brittany also spliced in footage of her cat doing everyday chores. She's not happy but Brittany is ecstatic and wants to continue her journey to fame. She thinks she could get her on Hoarders and even brought her a bull testicle to eat so she can get on Fear Factor. Brittany asks how far she's willing to go for fame and says it's up to Santana if she truly wants to be famous. It feels like Brittany is trying to teach Santana a lesson in the weirdest way possible.
Mercedes and Kurt are heading to the Regional competition to stop Unique from wearing the shoes and dress because they feel bad for baiting her into what they think will be a humiliating event. They find her getting ready for the show and wish her luck and also tell her that she can't go onstage dressed as a woman. Kurt says he's worn some flamboyant fashion choices but would never dress like a woman which is a big fat stinking lie. He did a whole song as a duet where he was half man and half woman but it's also a bit demeaning of him as if saying that dressing up as women is ridiculous? Unique points out that Kurt identifies as a man which is exactly the line that has me using she/her pronouns now. It's very clear that she identifies as a woman but for some reason, the writers never really wanted to go there with her at first. This is a problem I have with a lot of the things this show does. They want to get all this credit for being progressive but they aren't actually very progressive. They want credit for having a lesbian couple but it took them how long to develop that past a few "hilarious" scissoring jokes? They wanted to be champions of anti-bullying but their writing is the biggest bully on this show. They want credit for introducing a trans character but either didn't want to out right name it or didn't understand that drag queens/kings and trans people are entirely different and refused to research it further. This show has the veneer of progressivism and inclusion but parades people around like a freak show, is my best summary of how I feel like this show deals with its subjects.
Moving on from the negativity, Unique refuses to change who she is. Jesse thinks that Kurt and Mercedes are spies but they say their her friends so he threatens to fire her after the show because he's evil as we were always supposed to believe. She goes out to perform Boogie Shoes by KC and the Sunshine Band and she completely nails it. Jesse tries to get her off the stage but I don't see what the big deal is because she's killing it.
We next find Rachel and Finn near the choir room. He wanted to see her because he's decided what he wants to do for Will's project but that it won't work without her, much like the rest of his life. He sings More Than a Woman by the BeeGees and just end me now, I hate these songs so much. Disco Inferno and Boogie Shoes were great but the rest of these songs are not my jam at all. Rachel thinks he was amazing though and totally thinks he'll win the prize. Finn says he already has his prize and best of all, he's figured out what he wants to do next year. He wants to go to New York with her and he wants to attend The Actorss Studio, although he calls it Inside The Actors Studio because of the show on Bravo. Rachel is thrilled and proud of him but I have to say I'm disappointed. Not in him but in this show. All of these kids are expecting to be famous from being in a high school show choir. Every single one. Not one of them can just enjoy music in some way and want to pursue something else? It also bugs me that this show frames other jobs as giving up. I hate that. I think that Finn has shown aptitude for being a mechanic and there is nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with him wanting to work with cars, he's not giving up on himself if he wants to do that. He doesn't have to pursue this big thing like acting, that he's shown zero interest in before this to be seen as a success and I hate that this show is pushing this narrative. Go into showbiz or your life is a boring waste . Fuck that message.
Kurt and Mercedes are talking about how impressed they were with Unique when Sam comes up to talk to Mercedes. He shows her the video he made of her and that he's posted it to YouTube. She's a bit ticked that he posted it without asking her but he shows her how many people love it and want to hear more. He tells her that she's going to get her dream because she's not skim milk, she's cream and she's rising to the top. I love encouraging Sam, he's so precious.
Santana is meeting with Sue who is very disappointed in her for releasing a sex tape. Santana says she feels awful and realizes that she wants more from life and does want to go to college. Sue says that's good because she got a full ride to the University of Louisville. Sue reveals that this whole thing was Brittany's idea and that it's a good one. Um...Sue, you knew that Brittany wanted to release a sex tape and you were just cool with that because it would teach Santana a lesson? First up, irresponsible to not inform them of the fact that they'd be making and distributing CP and all the legal ramifications that could entail. Secondly, once shit is on the internet, it is there forever. This is not a simple, hehe you learned your lesson and now you're better. This tape could haunt her for the rest of her life. Fuck this show.
Ok, so now we end the episode with the winner reveal. You want to guess who won the suit? Do you really think they'd pick a winner? Did you learn nothing of my earlier rant this very episode? They all won, of course! Finn, Mercedes, and Santana all come in with their very own suit and we end the episode with everyone in their own suits singing Stayin' Alive by the BeeGees and we are finally done with this episode. This hurt. I really thought I was done with my disco sucks era but this episode is putting me firmly back there. I am not a fan. This felt very much like a filler episode even though it is carrying through with set up plotlines, it just felt unneeded and didn't resolve very well. I don't like Finn going into acting, that feels like it came out of nowhere. I did like Unique's entrance and it's funny that she's infinitely more entertaining and a bigger star power than the boring background character of Joe Hart. How did that guy win? It's a mystery to me. We continue the season with Dance With Somebody.
Comments
Post a Comment