While I would not call myself a Gleek, I do enjoy Glee. It’s not like anything else on TV and has become a sort of multimedia sensation. When done right, an episode of Glee is one of the highlights of the TV week. Snazzy covers of pop songs, humorous dialogue, and characters that we actually care about. The only problem with Glee is that it is incredibly hit-or-miss. While a good episode of Glee is amazing, a bad episode is just plain awful. Season one was full of those good episodes yet season two seems to have more than its fair share of stinkers.
There are a few reasons behind the decline in quality this season. The most obvious reason in my mind is that members of New Directions no longer seem like the underdogs they were in season one. One of the reasons so many people love Glee is because of our nature to root for the underdogs. We’re not being given that opportunity this year. Another reason Glee just is not up to par also has to do with the members of New Directions. Last year they were the heart and soul of the show as we watched them go from being complete outcasts to being complete outcasts who now have friends. This year we aren’t seeing them work as a group. In fact, we are barely seeing some of them at all. Other than being involved with the new guy Sam, where is Quinn? She was a main character last year and now she’s merely the girlfriend. Mercedes is another underused asset. I love sassy Mercedes of season one but I’m just not seeing her anymore.
Instead of giving screen time to the characters I tune in to see every week, I am instead being given new characters that just seem to get in the way. Sam is the most obvious example. I’m not a big fan of this new character, although Chord Overstreet does a fine job playing him. His story is too similar to what we saw last year with Finn. Too many guest stars are also getting in the way. John Stamos, Gwyneth Paltrow, that Asian singing sensation Oprah discovered. I want to see Artie, not Uncle Jessie.
My biggest complaint about Glee this year comes with Kurt. I do like Kurt and think he is one of the most important parts of the show. I also like that a gay character can be viewed so positively by so many people. Kurt of last year was perfect. Kurt of this year is overused and is not nearly as multi-layered as the writers would like to think. Every episode of season two has Kurt dealing with his sexuality and is becoming a bit too preachy for my taste. He gets picked on for being gay by this person, then by this other person, so on and so on. Glee has made Kurt’s one personality trait his sexuality, there does not appear to be anything else but that this year. Give me the Kurt of last year who was an aspiring performer who just happened to be gay.
All this being said, there are many parts of Glee this year that I really do like. Brittany and Santana are being used much more prominently and make any scene they are in better. The Artie/Tina/Mike and Artie/Tina/Brittany and Brittany/Santana love triangles are hilarious. Just give me more of these characters I want to see and stop shoving other people on the screen.
Judgmental Day 