Wednesday, June 30, 2010

'FlashForward' 1x22: The Whole World Saw Their Future... Again

Unfortunately the viewers will never see that future.

I could start off this post lying to all you guys saying I have been so busy and life is crazy and that is why I have not written this recap yet. That would be a lie and  I would feel horrible lying to you all. One reason this post is late is becuase I have gotten sucked into re-watching Buffy and The OC episodes over the past few weeks and catching up on The Vampire Diaries. To be truthful though, the main reason I have been putting off writing this recap is because I am sad to see the show end. Writing the final recap means that the show is finally over, and a world without Janis is a world I am not sure I want to live in.

The show start off by making sure to remind you (for the 22nd time) that the Blackout occurred on October 6 2009, in case you have forgotten. I felt a little twitch in my heart knowing that is the last time I will ever get that reminder before an episode. FlashForward what will my life be without you?!

From a Bender to the Slammer: Mark sitting in jail due to his bar brawl at the end of last episode. He got clocked badly in the nose and is sitting moping around feeling sorry for himself and playing with the bracelet Charlie made for him. The screen flashes the time and date, April 29th 8:42 PM. They were kind enough to make sure, if you were unable to do math, that you know that means there are 78 minutes until 10PM. What they don't spell out for you on the screen is that 10pm is the time everyone saw in their flashfoward.

Wedeck comes to get Mark out of jail and is blaming himself for Marks indiscretions. While driving Mark back home (I wonder if Mark is still staying at Wedeck's house) he gets a phone call saying two bombs have been found in the FBI building.

Nicole and Bryce are Finito: Bryce runs down to the Immigration Detainment office and is told that he is too late; Keiko is already gone. After the lady at the desk is all like "I don't know anything, just get the hell away so I can read my book" Bryce realizes that the woman is reading a romance novel. He explains the whole story of Keiko to the Immigration lady hoping that it will win her over. After his whole spiel the lady pretends that she is really moved but instead says "In my flash forward I had a hundred dollars in my pocket and I couldn't find out for the life of me how it got there." Hah. I like that one. Subtlety is definitely her strong suit.

As Bryce is leaving the Immigrations Center he sees Nicole waiting outside for him. He tells her that Keiko left the restaurant as a contact number and that is where he is going. Nicole apologizes for lying to him about Keiko and then Bryce gives a douche baggy apology for stringing Nicole along. He says that he has been ignoring how he really feels and that he loves Keiko and that they are meant to be. I am sorry Bryce you are an ass. Nicole was in love with you and she did not pursue you becuase she knew you were in love with Keiko. She was there with you throughout your cancer and your treatment. You pursued her, you kissed her and you said that the here and now is all that matters. You just broke this girls heart as though it is no big deal. I thought you were better than that Bryce, I really did.

Firework Crossed Lovers: Olivia brings Charliebear to the beach to watch the Flash Forward day fireworks. Dylan and Lloyd show up at the beach and it turns out Lloyd's body guards called Olivia's to find Olivia's location. He is tries to convince her that they need to be at her house at 10:00 in order for him to figure out that equation. She is upset saying that Mark pushed her away becuase of Mosaic and now Lloyd is but Lloyd is all "I am pulling you in not pushing you away. I need you can't you see." Olivia gives him her puppy dog eyes and agrees to take him back to the house.

Miracles In Afghanistan: Back in Afghanistan Aaron and Khamir are mourning the death of Tracy. After Aaron begs, Kahmir decides to try and save her life again. Miraculously Tracy now has a pulse. I don't really understand how she still has a pulse if she was pronounced dead last episode but I will roll with the punches because Aaron is so happy. Another Miracle in Afghanistan is that that while in Afghanistan Aaron gets a phone call from Mark. Apparently between picking up Mark from jail and driving to the FBI office rigged with explosives Wedeck was able to track down Mark's AA sponsor. Wedeck, you truly are my hero. Mark tells Aaron that he lost it and started to drink again. Aaron tells Mark that you are always given choices and that you will end up where you are supposed to be. Wow, who knew that sponsors are even available while in a war zone; that is true dedication. Anyway, Mark takes Aaron's advice to mean disobeying Wedeck's orders and goes into the building with bombs in it.

Keiko's Mom to the Rescue: Keiko and her mother are escorted to LAX by the ICE officers. Keiko is all upset becuase she knows that she needs to get to the restaurant where Bryce is by 10:00 or her life will be ruined. While in the airport Keiko's mom realizes how sad Keiko is. She tells her to be careful when she runs away to find the man in her vision. Keiko is very confused by this comment. Then, one of the funniest scenes in FlashForward occurs. Keiko's mom takes a suitcase and smacks an ICE officer in the face with it. She then starts rambling nonsense in Japanese and tons of officers come to calm her down. During all of this Keiko makes a clean escape from the airport, guitar in hand.

Bryce makes it to the restaurant he is supposed to meet Keiko in but when he gets there the owner says they are not open to the public becuase they are hosting a private party. Bryce is about to lose all hope until one of the waitresses recognizes him as Keiko's man and demands that he gets a booth. Meanwhile Keiko is desperately trying to get to the restaurant but her taxi is stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. She pays the taxi the fare and decides she will get there faster if she runs. Keiko you will get there even faster if you did not have to carry that guitar.

The Unlikely Duo: Janis Demetri and Simon pull into NLAP. They want to break in and find out who caused the Blackout. While still in the car it is obvious that Janis is not feeling well and there is something wrong with her and the baby. In order to get in Janis has to get a cell phone close to the security guard's access card which will transmit a the code to Simon's cell phone. Right after she is able to transmit the access information to Simon's cell, Janis passes out in the security guards arms and has to be sent to the hospital. Demetri is all worried about Janis but Simon assures him that she is going to get help and they need to get on with their mission. When the two finally get into the room with the accelerator the door locks Demetri out of the room. Simon says he does not know what happened and Demetri starts flipping out at Simon saying he knew he would pull a stunt like this. Just as Demetri is calling Simon a "Sociopathic, lying, son of a..." Simon gets the door open and Demetri has to eat his words.

Dylan the Genius: Back a la Casa de Benford, Charlie yells to her mom to come upstairs. Apparently Dylan got into Olivia's lipstick and started writing some of the equations that he saw earlier on his fathers papers earlier that day. Lloyd realizes now that it was not he who wrote those equations but instead his son. Also wow for a little boy Dylan sure does have good handwriting.

Lloyd is freaking out that he will not be able to figure out the Tachyon constant on time and Olivia comforts him saying that they are where they are supposed to be. They are together in her house like in the flash forward no matter how hard she tried to fight it (she did not really fight it that hard thought).

Nicole's Flash Forward: Nicole is driving back home from the Immigration Center crying and utterly distraught because a jerk just broke her heart. She is completely distracted and veers to the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic. She quickly swerves out of the way but ends up going off the road, down a hill, and into a pond crashing her car. Nicole's flash forward is one of the few visions that have not been explored in the show really. In the beginning of the show she ran away for a while becuase she thought she saw herself being drowned and she said she felt like she deserved it in the flashforward. It completely freaked her out. Now we know why she feels like she deserves it, becuase she feels like she pushed Bryce away.

TEN OCLOCK: 
It is ten o'clock. Do you know where your Flashforwards are?

Physics Connects Everyone: Simon finds some beers in the Accelerator room to help him work. He remembers that he is supposed to send Lloyd a text but he has no idea what to send. He has no idea what to say so he decides to send a wave equation thing that used to be Lloyd's e-mail sign off. It seems that Simon picked the right thing to send becuase as soon as Lloyd gets the text, the lightbulb above his head switched on. He calls Mark and tells him that in the next two days there is going to be another blackout.

Mark is staring at his Mosaic board and he sees a flashback of Gabrielle telling him to "make the board look right.": He then starts connecting all these red lines and figures out that the blackout is going to not only be in the next two days, but in the next fourteen minutes!!  Before he is able to pick up the phone and call the president, he gets attacked by the weird men in the weird masks.

Nicole and Keiko find their men: Finally, just in the nick of time, Keiko makes it to the Japanese restaurant. She runs in and sees Bryce waiting for her at a booth; her face is shown in the same soft light that we saw oh so many times in the flashforwards. At the same time Nicole is underwater and sees a man standing above her in the water. It turns out that this man is not trying to kill her; he is trying to save her. He pulls her out of the lake, and somehow Nicole has not a scratch on her body.  The two bond and I am pretty sure if the show was not canceled we would have a new couple on our hands boys and girls

It's a Boy: So Janis gets rushed into the hospital in a gurney wearing a cute purple shirt and sees the cute nurse  she saw in her flashforward. The nurse tell Janis that the baby is still healthy; she also tells Janis that it is actually going to be a boy. This was a surprise becuase in her flashforward she was having a girl.

Vreede and Wedeck to the Rescue: Wedeck finds out that Mark has gone inside the building and is ticked off like none other. Suddenly Vreede shows up and says he can't go home becuase he left his keys in the office. It's nice to know that happens to FBI agents as well. So now both men have to go inside the building to help save Mark and Vreede's keys from the explosion. While running around the building Wedeck ends up in the bathroom he saw himself in during the flashforward. Unlike his flashforward, he will be kicking ass not taking a dump
He kicks down the door of the stall and shoots the bad guy dead. Wedeck you are a god. Speaking of Gods, or atleast men with God complexes, Mark somehow kills about 20 bad guys all by himself. Impressive for a man who was drunk and in jail less than 2 hours ago.

Another Blackout: Simon discovers that someone is accessing the mainframe of  the accelerator. Demetri starts freaking out and Simon is all like "Shoot me if you want but I am the only one who can stop another blackout you ass." Back at the FBI building, Mark has killing off most of the masked men and calls Wedeck to inform him about the next blackout. He wants to make sure that the country is prepared this time around so there will not be global devastation. Simon is working hard to turn off the machine but it does not work. Right as Mark is jumping out of the exploding building the blackout hits.

The Blackout: There is then a ripple seen throughout the world and everyone around the world is sitting or laying down blacked out. No one was heart during this blackout becuase of Mark. The fantastic Band of Horses' " The Funeral" is playing in the background. The camera zooms through different images and different peoples new flashforwards. The next flashforward is going to be near New Years 2015.  Leta is dressed in a nurses uniform and creepily wheels poor Janis away while she is passed out. Also the freaking kangaroo is back!!! The last clip we see is a grown up Charlie saying "They found him!" Does that mean they found Mark? Does that mean he is still alive?

I have so many questions left about this show, and they are useless becuase I know that they will never be answered. I would have loved this finale if there was going to be another season of the show. It left so much to the unknown. So many questions to be answered. As a series finale it sucked. There was nothing summed up, we have no idea what happened at all. I almost wish that the creators would write a book with what they had planned for the next four seasons.

I know this post was not worth the over-a-month wait I gave you guys. I am sorry and will be updating more frequently. I PROMISE.

APB

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Quick Update/Summer Television

Hey guys I wanted to let you know that my FlashForward is completed. Unfortunately it is saved as a word document on my computer and I left my charger at home. My charger is being sent to me as we speak. It will be up soon I promise. I am going to use my roomate's computer for the time being to keep the site updated. I feel completely naked without my laptop.

Also I wanted to know if anyone had any request for any summer television show that you want me to recap. I was thinking of doing recaps for Lie to Me and maybe even So You Think You Can Dance. I just started watching SYTYCD two weeks ago and I love it. How has it taken me so long to discover this show? So that is what I have on my plate at the moment. Let me know if there is anything else you would like to me write about. I can do recaps of old shows as well if I am able to get my hands on the DVDs or find them online.

Later,
APB

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Glee 1x22: The Journey that Revolutionized TV

The journey of this season of Glee has ended and I feel honored I was able to be a part of it. I have watched this show since last May when they aired the preview of the pilot and spent the summer feeling like a coke addict in withdrawal waiting for a new episode of the series to air.  This show has surpassed all my expectations for a television show with its superb writing, continuity, excellent acting, and vocals all coming together in extraordinary musical numbers. It has been a great journey and I am already itching for next season to begin.

Will is hanging up posters in the hallway to help get students to support the New Directions at Regionals when Sue drops the bombshell that, in addition to three other celebrities, she is going to be one of the judges at Regionals. Later that night Will has a get-together at his apartment with all the members of the club to celebrate their upcoming performance. Everyone is mega-depressed becuase Sue has told them as judge she is plans to crush them. They start discussing, and crying, about how once Glee is cut, everything will change. Puck and Santana will no longer talk to Mercedes and Tina because they are in different social groups. Everyone who used to be a loser will go back to being a loser. It was really sad, and the first of many times I began to tear up while watching.

Journey Medley (Faithfully/Any Way You Want It/Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'/Don't Stop Believin'): Will is distraught and goes to talk to Emma about how he feels like he has failed his students. Emma is sympathetic but is all like "What do you want me to say. I will give you advice, but you broke my heart, and now I am seeing someone new." Driving home from school Will is very sad and while radio surfing comes across Journey's "Don't Stop Believing." He gets so emotional that he has to pull over the car to cry. The next day he gets all the members together and gives them a pep talk. He says that life is not about winning or losing nor then end or the beginning. It is about the journey it takes to get to the end, and because of this, they are going to perform a Journey medley at Regionals.

Right before the performance Finn walks up to Rachel and tells her he loves her and which gives her all the confidence she needs. They enter the auditorium from the back the of the theater, reminiscent of their earlier "Don't Rain on My Parade" performance. They get to the stage, the curtain opens and the rest of New Directions is behind them adding to the vocals. The group looks very classy with the boys wearing black shirts and gold ties and the girls wearing gold dresses with black straps. They transition from the slow ballad of "Faithfully" to the upbeat and catchy mash-up of "Any Way You Want It/ Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin.'" The crowd stands up and starts clapping along with the music and in the New Directions tradition they start their weak yet entertaining choreography with Mike Chang outshining all the other guys.

Then there is the transition to the song that started it all for the group and for the show; the song that sucked viewers all around the world into the universe of Glee and made them fall in love with it... "Don't Stop Believing." They start the song how the same way they did so many months ago. One by one each member turns to the audience until they get to Finn who starts the song off. Instead of just having Finn and Rachel as lead vocals all of the members get a chance to shine. The performance was hands down phenomenal. It showed what this group is all about: heart. They are getting on stage to perform and have fun. They are doing what they love, and loving who they are doing it with and it shows.

Bohemian Rhapsody: This song was performed by Jesse and Vocal Adrenalin, but the entire performance is intertwined with Quinn giving labor so let my first give you some background on that. The members of New Directions are all smiles running off the stage with a huge performance high. They are all super pumped about how their performance went and are sure that they placed. As they are going to their waiting room Quinn's mom is waiting there to be Mrs. Buzzkill. She tells her that she kicked her father out of the house because he was having an affair with a "tattooed freak." (Is this the same man who kicked his daughter out for getting pregnant? You definitely have your values straight Mr. Fabray). She tells her that she wants Quinn to move back home with her and Quinn's response is "my water broke." This makes me a little nervous since she is not due for another month but its all good.

After the commercial break, Vocal Adrenalin is on stage with the impeccable choreography they are known for. They never miss a beat in their dancing and no one is ever out of place. Jesse is main vocals and starts off playing the piano (sounding extraordinary as always). The scene cuts to Quinn being brought into the hospital with the rest of the team rushing in after her.  The rest of the performance goes back and forth from the auditorium to the hospital. The cuts to and from the hospital were executed perfectly and Pucks face during Quinn's labor is priceless.
The only part I did not like so much was when Quinn was shouting "let me go!" I thought those lines were too forces and orchestrated. In the end Quinn has a beautiful baby girl, and like all newborns on television, she is adorable. I thought this performance was pieced together very beautiful. The climax of the song was echoed with the climax of Quinn giving birth. The song ends on a soft and peaceful note that paired perfectly with Quinn holding her newborn baby in her arms.

Mothers and Daughters:After the performance though Rachel goes to talk to Shelby. Rachel tells her that New Directions beat them today and that Jesse is a great singer but he has no heart. I agree that this is true and it can be seen in their performance; it was executed perfectly, but it did not move me or engage the audience at Regionals to the point that it brought them to their feet (which New Directions did). Rachel asks Shelby to come and coach Glee at McKinley high and teach her things that only a mother can teach her. Shelby declines saying that she does not want to be a coach for Glee anymore. She wants to start a family, and have what she never got to have with Rachel. Shelby goes to the hospital to see how Quinn and the baby are doing. She asks them if they had named her yet and Puck responds "Beth." It is adorable how much Puck cares for the child now.

And the Winner Is: The judges room was as idiotic as I thought it would be. No one really cared about the performances, only about their own celebrity status. Olivia Newton John was a little diva and a bad actress (whose face still looks completely plastics). Everyone is wondering, why, if it is a celebrity panel, Sue Sylvester is there. From the start, the judges were biased against New Directions, leaving for the first time ever, Sue to defend the group. First announced was the runner up (second place) which was the "not at all stupidly named" Oral Intensity. Next up was the Grand Prize, which after a long wait, turned out to be Vocal Adrenalin. It is cruel to announce 2nd place and then 1st place so the person that gets 3rd thinks they have a shot at 1st and perhaps only done on the show to increase the suspense of the moment. Everyone in New Directions is crushed knowing that becuase they did not place, New Directions is over.

To Sir With Love: After Will admits to Emma that he loves her, Rachel walks by and asks Mr. Schu to come to the auditorium. When he gets there the entire group is sitting on stools on the stage. Each member tells Mr. Schuester how Glee Club has changed their lives in the past year by saying who they were at the beginning of the year. Mercedes was a closeted diva before she joined Glee and Santana and Brittany hated everyone in the Glee Club. Mike Chang gets another line on the show and admits he was afraid to dance outside his room. Good thing he joined  the club because his moves should be shared with the entire world. Kurt was not honest about who he was. And the last and most touching was Finn, who before glee, lacked the father-figure he found in Mr. Schu (well he kinda actually has two father figures if you count Kurt's father still). All of that changed though when they joined the club and had Mr. Schuester as their role model. Their words were so touching and I cry every time I watch this scene and the following performance.
"To Sir With Love" has always been in my Top 20 favorite songs of all time. I loved the movie To Sir With Love with Sidney Poitier and when Lulu sang the song at the end to him.  This was the perfect song to sing to Mr. Schu and I commend the show yet again for exquisite song selection. There is not a single dry face in the room during this song, boys or girls. I think I cried the most when I saw Santana crying because she was the person who was the least emotionally attached to the group. It also hit me pretty hard when Mike Chang was crying because I love Mike Chang. As the song was coming to an end the camera pans to the back of the auditorium where Sue is watching with tears swelling up in her eyes.

Over the Rainbow: Sue goes to the choir room as Will is packing everything up. They show a scene of the voting room and reveal that Sue had actually voted her 1st place vote for New Directions. She tells Will that she has proven that she can destroy Glee Club, but she does not know if a world without Glee Club is a world she wants to live in. Don't worry guys, it is not because she feels the joys of music, it is because she would not be able to live in a world where she cannot make fun of Will's hair. Because of this, she asked Principle Figgins to give Glee Club another year because she does actually have a good heart.

Will announces to everyone that they have another year and everyone is ecstatic. Since they sang to him the other day he wants to return the favor and sing a song for them. He recruits Puck to play guitar as he play the Ukulele to sing "Over the Rainbow." It was a sweet and soft song, and a great song to end the series with. I think it explains what they have been through, the group has been over the rainbow. They can fly, their dreams have come true, they are a group they are together and they have done the impossible. As they are singing all the members start holding hands and swaying. In one of my favorite parts of this scene Mercedes and Quinn reach out to hold each others hand across Kurt's body who is in between them. Kurt just looks down and joins in with the hand holding.

During the song they show Shelby adopting Quinn's daughter. When asked what name she wants on the birth certificate without a beat she answers Beth. I think this was the perfect song to end the season with.

So there it is, the season finale of Glee. Do you think that Idina is going to be back next season? Do you think that she will let Quinn and Puck see their child so they can create a bond with Beth that Shelby never got to form with Rachel? Those are really the only questions that the show really left me with (good becuase Lost left me with enough for a lifetime). I thought it was an excellent finale. The spring season had its ups and downs and would go from an episode that was absolutely flawless to an episode that was mediocre. So when you add it all up, as a whole, the season was very good. They added more characters and delved deeper into the characters they already had. I am so glad that they explored Kurt's relationship with his father and his fathers acceptance of Kurt's sexuality.

What did you think of the finale? Did you enjoy it? Was it a let down? Let me know.

APB

(All photos courtesy of Fox)

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Glee 1x21- Glee Gets Funky

Sorry for the really long wait everyone. I am going to try and post both this weeks and last weeks recaps of Glee today and then FINALLY the FlashForward finale tomorrow. Like last week’s episode of Glee I have been in somewhat of a writing funk. But to not fret, I am back and ready for action.

Another One Bites the Dust:
Just as Artie, Mercedes, Tina and Kurt are walking down the hallway, talking about how they have good chances to win regional’s, Rachel runs by and tells everyone to come to the auditorium. When they get there Vocal Adrenalin is on stage and Jesse announces he has transferred back to Carmel High and is no longer part of New Directions. Dressed in blue, Vocal Adrenalin performs "Another One Bites the Dust" with Jesse as the lead. Vocal Adrenalins' performances are so much different than New Directions'. Their choreography is, well, they actually have choreography. New Directions usually is just frolicking on stage in somewhat synchronized movements. Sometimes. Also Jesse’s Vocals are amazing. This was a very clean and well executed performance.

It turns out that Sue gave Vocal Adrenalin the keys to the auditorium. Every year the group goes to their competitors schools to perform in order to funkify and freak them out before regionals. They also apparently TP the choir room and Artie even has to wear a face mask in order to clean it up. Anyway it completely worked and the members of New Directions are completely funkifyed.


Tell Me Something Good:
This performance was HILARIOUS. I loved Will’s voice and the whole story around the performance. Will realies the only way to defeat Sue is to win her heart and then break it. To do this Will sets up a ploy to get her into the choir room and then starts to compliment her. He asks her if she could critique this new number he is working on and proceeds to serenade her while not so subtly seducing her. He knocks over a pile of papers and bends slowly, ass in the air, to pick it up. He then rips off his jacket, sings while staring into her eyes, and then dances up against her. It was hilarious, hands down hilarious.

The next day as Sue is writing in her journal about how she now has feelings for Will walks into her office bringing her flowers that match her tracksuit. He also invites her to go to dinner at Breadsticks, which incidentally is the only restaurant the characters on this show eat at. Will stands Sue up and then she shows up at his door furious. At first I felt bad for Sue but after Will lists all the horrible things Sue has done I did not feel bad anymore.

Loser:
In order to get back at Vocal Adrenalin, Puck and Finn slash the tires of all 26 of their Range Rovers. Due to this prank they get sent to the principle and are in jeopardy of getting expelled. Shelby Corcoran, the Vocal Adrenalin coach, says that expulsion is not necessary. Everything will be fine as long as Puck and Finn pay for the damage they have caused. The two get a job at Sheetz and Things with Terri Schuster (Will’s ex-wife) as their boss. While working Puck and Finn perform this song. It was entertaining, but felt out of place. I did not fully understand it. I thought it was funny when Finn was play the guitar on a broom, but besides that it seemed more like a filler song.

It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World: This was the song that Quinn sings for the Funk assignment. As soon as Mr. Schu announces the assignment to the class, Mercedes says that this one is all her but, to everyone’s surprise, Quinn says that she is the perfect person to do it because Funk is about soul and anger, and she plenty of both.

The song was supposed to represent how she has been feeling since her pregnancy. She feels the looks everyone gives her and the shame of being pregnant. I understand the point of the song, and the message it was supposed to portray, but I really disliked this performance. First of all I did not enjoy Quinn’s vocals. They sounded forced and somewhat pained me to listen. Second she had a group of pregnant teens dancing for this performance. They danced around the room, put their hands all around their baby bellies and got down. Putting aside that I doubt girls that pregnant could move that well, it was just bizarre. I could not take the performance seriously and it is one of my least favorite of the series.

After the performance everyone in the group goes to hug Quinn but Mercedes. Later that day Mercedes comes up to Quinn and they have a cute and touching talk about what it feels like to be a minority. Mercedes then asks Quinn to move out of Pucks house and into hers so she can have a safe place to go home to. It was adorable.

Good Vibrations:
Terri realizes that Finn is going to be her Will replacement and she wants to take him under her wing. When he admits that he is having trouble with his latest glee assignment she tells him to search “funk” on “the itunes” and see what comes up. What came up was Marky Mark’s “Good Vibrations.” Puck and Finn were the lead rappers of the song and Mercedes sang the chorus. Finn and Puck are wearing dark jeans and a black jacket on top of a white tee. Finn's even sporting some bling around his neck.
Mercedes sounded phenomenal in this song, her voice was vibrant and full, and Finn didn’t even look horrible while dancing. At one point Puck and Finn start grinding up on Mercedes. You can tell they were having fun performing the song which made it even more fun to watch. It lifted up the spirits of everyone in the room. After the performance ended though, Mr. Schu ruined the mood by pointing out that the song was a hip hop song, not a funk song.

Give Up The Funk: Rachel receives a text message from Jesse to meet him in the parking lot. He has his huge Jesse grin on his face and Rachel starts running to him in slow motion. From the corner of the screen a boy emerges and throws an egg at Rachel. All of the members of Vocal Adrenalin come out of thin air and continue to egg Rachel until finally, in a slow and cruel process, Jesse breaks the last egg on top of her head saying "I loved you". This scene reminded me of Never Been Kissed when Josie gets asked to the prom by the most popular kid in High School. She is super excited because she was a big nerd in HS, but it turned out it was just a big joke. When the limo drove by her house, instead of stopping to pick her up, it slowed down so the boy could egg her from the sun roof. I cried when during this scene in the movie and teared up during the egging scene of Glee. How kids can be so cruel I will never be able to understand.

Rachel gets back to the choir room and everyone is brainstorming how to get back at Vocal Adrenalin. Mr. Schuester comes to the rescue though and decides that best way to get back at them is to take the high road. They should fight back by doing something Vocal Adrenalin has never been able to do, successfully perform a funk number.

Kurt walks out wearing tight red pants, and a gold jacket over of a white shirt collared and tie, singing “tear the roof off mother sucker” in a deliciously low voice. All the other members silhouette's can be seen behind Kurt through a blue and psychedelic screen. Finally everyone walks out from behind the screen sporting funkalicious outfits. Like most of their performances there was no real choreography, but everyone looked like they were having so much fun on stage dancing with each other. Towards the end of the song, the music sped up and each member got the spotlight to show their moves. It liked this a lot, it showed how connected this group is and that they can sing with heart. Most of all, it showed they are enjoying what they are doing.

Favorite Quotes:

Sue: You know for me trophies are like herpes. You can try to get rid of them but they just keep coming. You know why? Sue Sylvester has hourly flairups of burning, itchy, highly contagious talent.

Quinn:
Thinking trust me was a sensible birth control option

Terri(to Puck):
I thought Jews were supposed to be smart.


Thats all I got. Sorry for the wait.
APB

(All images courtesy of Fox)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Glee 1x20: Gaga Lovers and Gay Defenders

This week Glee decided to get decked out in Gaga gear. First Principle Figgins makes Tina change out of her Goth look (due to his fear of vampires). This combined with Rachel discovering Vocal Adrenaline is going to perform Lady Gaga causes Mr. Schuster to make the weeks assignment Gaga.

Funny Girl: Quinn, Mercedes and Rachel go to spy on Vocal Adrenaline’s rehearsal. While there, Shelby is trying to teach her team theatricality is not just about the outfits (which are spot on with Gaga’s) but about attitude and expression. To show them she performs Barbara Streisand’s “Funny Girl,” which Rachel says is exactly the song she would have chosen. After the first note leaves Shelby’s mouth, Rachel realizes that it is her mother singing. Rachel gets up from her seat, forgetting that she is not really supposed to be there, walks up to the stage and tells Shelby that she is her daughter.

I liked that they picked “Funny Girl” as the song for Rachel’s revelation. One obvious reason is that one of the songs Rachel is most well known for is her fantastic rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” which is from Funny Girl and sung by her idol Barbara Streisand. The second reason is because the song is about being an outcast, which Rachel is. Even though the song is about being an outcast for being funny, Rachel is an outcast because of her talent. Her talent is who she is like Fanny’s quirkiness defines who she is. I thought this was a very good song choice.

Bad Romance: All the female members (+ Kurt) come into school wearing a different Lady Gaga outfit. Tina and Kurt get chastised in the hallway by two jocks for being freaks but they stand their ground. Once they get to rehearsal (seriously do these kids ever have class) Mercedes announces that Shelby is Rachel’s mom. Everyone is scared Rachel will jump ship to Vocal Adrenaline but she walks in with her stuffed animal inspired Gaga outfit (stapled because her dad’s can’t sew) and says that will never happen.

Kurt was main vocals of this performance but others got their shot at a solo as well. I thought it was fun but not really show stopping. The costumes were great but, even though I can’t put my finger on it, I was not wowed. I was also really distracted by the fact they replaced “free bitch baby” with “freak baby.” This show has said bitch before, I do not get the censorship here.

Shout Out Loud: Finn get really insecure about his masculinity when he finds out about moving in with Kurt and the weeks Gaga assignment. He goes to Mr. Schuester and says that besides Kurt, none of the guys want to do a Lady Gaga performance. They decide to perform a Kiss song instea, decked out with Kiss makeup and all. While getting ready for the performance in the bathroom the same two asshole jocks come and bully Finn for wearing makeup.

This was a full out “theatricality” performance. They were wearing tight leather, metal bracelets, makeup and playing instruments. They also had fire and sparks exploding from the stage (impressive since they put this together in a day). Again it was a decent performance but I felt it was more like a group of guys getting together as a garage band instead of a Glee Club. It was fun though, I will give them that. After Will asks them what all the costumes represent AND WAIT WHAT IS THAT? DID MIKE CHANG JUST SPEAK! Wow I thought it never was going to happen; anyway he responds by saying they did their research and each explains their costume. Puck’s expresses his always present Jewishness with the Star of David around his eye.

Beth: Puck meets up with Quinn in the hallway to discuss baby names. He tell her that he wants to name the child Jack Daniels, or if it is a girl, Jackie Daniels. Quinn tell Puck that that this immaturity is the reason she is giving up the baby. After Puck Rock and Roll bad ass experience performing Kiss on stage, the boys perform another Kiss song “Beth.” He tells Quinn that it is more important to have a dad that is there than a dad that is a “bad ass” and he wants to name their daughter Beth.

Poker Face: Will asks Shelby to come to his office to discuss Rachel; he is worried about Rachel getting hurt because Shelby is not as into being a mother figure as Rachel thinks she is. She explains that she expected to feel different when she met her daughter, that it was going to be this special moment, but it wasn’t. She wanted Rachel to be her baby, but she is already a grown women. She feels it is too late for them to have a real bond.

Later she meets with Rachel to explain what she is feeling. Rachel asks if they can sing together, and Shelby agrees. They sing the acoustic version of Gaga’s “Poker Face.” I had not heard this version before the show and I thought this was so much fun. I don’t think there was a deeper meaning to the song choice but it was nice and heartwarming to see these two singing together and enjoying it as mother and daughter. Here is a video of Lady Gaga singing the acoustic version. Compare it with the Glee version and let me know what you think.





Kurt/Finn/Homophobic Storyline: I know I normally recap just the musical numbers but I wanted to discuss the storyline which did not directly relate to a specific performance. Kurt’s dad asked Finn and his mom to move in with him and Kurt, and she agreed. In order to live together Finn and Kurt would have to share a room and everyone but Finn seems to be happy about this move. Burt gives the boys money to redecorate the room so it works for both the boys. After their performance, when they are at home, Kurt asks Finn to ask the jocks to lay off him. Finn just responds like “just stop acting gay, we live in Ohio.” Kurt then tries to help Finn take off his makeup and Finn freaks out, slaps his hand away, and tells Kurt not to touch him.

The next day Kurt brings Finn down to show him the Morocco inspired room he created for the two of them. In between the two beds is a divider so they both have some sort of privacy. Finn’s first comment is “Are you freaking insane, I can’t live here. I’m a dude.” Suddenly all the fondness I have been feeling towards him in the last few episodes has quickly disappeared. He tells Kurt that he does not want to have to worry about Kurt having a crush on him in his own room. Finn starts screaming at him calling all sorts of things in the room “faggy” and Kurt’s dad comes down to give him one. Kurt’s dad storms down to the basement and defends Kurt’s honor. He tells him you can’t use the word “fag” without it being derogatory. He tells Finn that he thought he was different and he does not want him to live in his house. This was phenomenal, thank you Glee for showing this on a primetime television show. What you are doing for the gay community is so great and I commend you.



At the end of the week, Finn comes into school not wearing his Kiss costume like all the other guys, but in a Lady Gaga costume instead. As the jocks are bullying Kurt, Finn comes to Kurt’s defense. Finn has learned his lesson.

I liked this episode. They toned down the musical numbers and focused more on the dramatic aspect of the show, the storylines, and the characters. This show will burn out very quickly if they lose track of who the characters are and just focus on spectacle and music. I am happy they took a step back and dealt with real issues like homophobia and birth mothers. Good for you Glee.