Glee: The Landslide Will Bring You Down

There has been a lot of discussion about this weeks episode of Glee, and I wanted to put in my two cents as well. I am only really going to go over the Santana Brittany storyline of this episode because I feel like I have a lot to say about it. I have been going over it and over it in my head for the last two days.

Tempted by the Fruit of Another: After Brittany discovers that the stork that built a nest outside of her window is not bringing her a baby, she goes over to Santana’s to put in a Sweet Valley High DVD and get her cuddle on. While they were getting dressed after their sweet lady kisses (which isn't cheating because the plumbing is different) Brittany wants to talk about her feeling. Santana immediately shuts this down; she can’t talk to Brittany about her feelings because they are locked behind a steel door. If she lets them out then there is no turning back. Brittany convinces Santana to talk with an adult with her to try and figure out what is going on between them. Right here, this look Santana gives Brittany at this moment is the moment that the armor around Santana begins to break and she starts to give into her feelings.

Sexy Sharing Circle: The two girls go to Miss Holiday for some advice and someone to talk to. She brings them to her classroom where they sit in a “sexy sharing circle.” The scene is shot with a camera circling the girls which (although it made me dizzy at some points) allowed the audience to see the reactions of everyone as the discussion was happening with no abrasive cuts. I think it helped with the flow of feelings that were being discussed. Holly knows all about the gay feelings because she went to an all girls college where the only industry in the town “was the manufacturing of softball equipment.” Really lesbian softball jokes never get old to me. Holly suggests that they sing a song to share their feelings. It can help them get their emotions out without using their own words. Immediately Santana knows what song to sing, because it is probably the song she listens to when she wants to think about Brittany without admitting to herself she is in love with her.

Landslide: Santana decides to sing Stevie Nicks “Landslide” to show Brittany how she feels. I know a lot of people have criticized the fact that Santana and Brittany were not the leads in this song. To me this made sense. Santana is not emotionally strong enough to sing this song to Brittany by herself in front of the Glee Club. She hasn’t accepted these emotions yet. If she was to sing to Brittany alone it would have been too much for her to handle. On the other hand, Brittany shouldn’t have been the main vocals either because it wasn’t her song to sing. She helped in harmonies when Santana needed help and strength, but she was on the receiving end of the song. The song, the lyrics, the melody, everything about this song expressed how Santana feels about Brittany. Santana has built her life around Brittany; she has built her life around hiding her feelings for her. When Santana starts crying that steal door, that armor that was supposed to guard her emotions from the harsh realities of the world starts to crack.

It takes all of her strength to fight against that door busting open and from all of her deepest fears coming out. She takes a deep breath and when Brittany asks her “is that really how you feel?” ahe is able to breathe because she has opened herself up and her best friend, her love, is still there.

The Confession: The next day at school Santana walks up to Brittany at her locker. It is not the fierce strut that Santana usually has but instead reserved and slow steps. When she says “Hi” to Brittany she sounds out of breath because it took so much effort to say that two letter word. And then Santana does the thing she has been dreading for so long. She does the most honest raw and emotional thing one can do. She cracks open her steal door and all the emotions that have been building up, pushing against that strong door, come pouring out. Here is the clip.

Here is this girl who, for the whole world, put on a front that she was the shit. She was the best and didn’t care about what anyone thought of her. But it was just that, a front. She cared so much about what people thought of her that she built this hard shell around her soft inner core, because her inner core couldn’t take any attacks. One of my favorite things about this scene is Santana’s quick glances to other students in the hall. It makes it so much more real. They are not in their own world, they are in high school. Santana is a normal teenager who has fears of rejection, who cares what people think and ultimately just wants to be loved. She finally lets it out and tells Brittany that she wants her and only her. She then begs Brittany say she loves her back “Please say you love me back. Please.”

At first she gets the response she wants, the Brittany does love her back, but the catch is that there is also Artie My heart dropped, and I am pretty sure millions of other Americans hearts dropped as well. It was heartbreaking. Santana’s response to this was shock, Artie had never even been a thought in her mind. Her and Brittany were meant to be together, and the only thing holding them back was Santana. She is confused, angry and doesn’t understand and she says it all with “He’s just a stupid boy.”

This episode and this storyline was just so amazing. You are probably annoyed with how many times I have said this already here, but I can't help myself. I know there are also a lot of people angry at Brittany, but I am not. It wouldn’t be in her character to just break up with Artie. She wouldn’t do that. What I think is going to happen is that Santana is no longer going to be able to hang out with Brittany anymore. It will be too painful. You can’t open yourself up like that and just close the door. It is funny how it works that way, you can love someone for so long and keep it to yourself and still hang out with them, talk to them, bond  with them. But once you admit it outloud, once that person knows, there is no way to ever go back to the way it was. I mean look at her at the celibacy club meeting.

Santana still has an open sore and whenever she sees Brittany alone or even Brittany and Artie together she will be reminded of her rejection and pain. I think that Brittany will have a hard time dealing with this and miss her friendship with Santana which will cause a strain in her and Arties relationship.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Let me know,
APB