What I don’t get about the recent season finale of Glee, to be more precise (although a full-fledged post about everything that doesn’t make sense to me in that show could be interesting).
A disclaimer: It’s not that I hate everything about Glee. I watch the show, obviously. I like the music (mostly). And once in a while, there’s a gem of emotional reality or a good joke that draws me in. But then, there are features like the ones I describe below, and it kind of kills it.
1. Quinn’s ominous hint to Finn in the prior episode about her big “plans” for New York didn’t really pan out, unless her big plan was to be a jerk and ruin nationals to get back at Finn, which she must not have been too set on because her lust for vengeance was cured by a trip to the salon for a new (and admittedly cute) haircut.
2. Mr. Schu’s awesome plan to let the kids wait until they were actually in New York, with at most a few days (the timeline isn’t very clear in the episode) to write from scratch (and supposedly set to music, supposedly working with musicians) the two songs they expected to win Nationals with. Way to think ahead on that one, Will. Good thing Finn managed to bang out that duet, perhaps inspired by the day-long date he had with Rachel. No such luck with the second song, though, which sounded as if the kids just Googled “generic Ke$ha-esque pop number”.
If I were Glee director, I may have been more assertive about spending their precious time working on the songs, not having stereotypical pillow fights (do they even make pillows with feathers anymore?) and breaking into Broadway theatres.
Speaking of breaking into Broadway theatres…
3. Rachel’s strange and sudden change of heart concerning her relationship with Finn and her desire to pursue her Broadway dreams. She sings a song from Wicked with Kurt (thanks to the grumpy-with-a-heart-of-gold security guard who just let these two teenagers mess around a professional, Broadway set), and then she tells Kurt that she doesn’t need to choose between love and her show biz dreams, because show biz is her true love. But before we know it, she’s kissing Finn in the library and, we’re led to assume, embarking on their renewed relationship, which will likely last throughout most of the next season. So much for that speech to Finn backstage about how there’s nothing he could ever ever in a million years do to change her mind.
Except kiss her in the middle of their performance, of course. Then she’s hooked.
And Rachel wasn’t the only one making quick choices about her big dreams.
4. Just as Rachel’s brief moment on a “real Broadway stage” sealed her devotion for show biz above all else (except not), Will’s own impromptu, acapella performance on his own “real Broadway stage” was apparently enough of the limelight for him, and now he can happily let go of the dream he early confessed to Emma of wanting “so badly” and return to quiet Ohio for maybe one more year of teaching Glee Club. After all, it’s not like there are any underclassmen joining the club, so after the current Gleeks graduate I guess Mr. Schu will just have to teach Spanish full-time.
Sarah Dreams of Zombies 