Glee Season 3 thread (1 Viewer)

Did I miss a new episode tonight?

Nope. tonight was the last night of Fox's all sitcom Tuesday lineup. "Glee" comes back next week.

Thanks Adam. Entertainment Weekly posted a Darren Criss/Matt Bomer clip and I thought I'd missed a new ep!

EricSchulz said:

Thanks Adam.  Entertainment Weekly posted a Darren Criss/Matt Bomer clip and I thought I'd missed a new ep!  

Click to expand...

I would guess that based on the last episode there may be a major change coming up.
Maybe just a subtle lesson on texting while driving, but could be much worse.

Just a reminder for those who enjoy the show, Glee starts up new episodes tomorrow, April 10th.
Should be interesting to see how they deal with cast members who are "graduating" and how they introduce new characters. Not sure if it will survive the changes. A true ensemble show can rotate cast members in and out, but this seems to have its core group that they rely on. Hopefully the introductions of new characters will work out.

According to Ryan Murphy, he has something "revolutionary" planned for some of the graduating seniors so they can continue to be on the show next season.

As for tonight's episode, I did enjoy the sibling rivalry with Matt Bomer and Darren Criss. Some of the other storylines were as usual irritating, but I did like their love/hate relationship. Cooper's "acting master class" was among the funnier things Glee has done this season.

Of course kids in Lima OH go to Six Flags Magic Mountain all the time.

I'm struggling to remember why I liked this show to begin with.. this season has just been absolutely annoying. Tonight's episode setup some storylines that are at best poor, and at worst outright offensive

mattCR said:

I'm struggling to remember why I liked this show to begin with.. this season has just been absolutely annoying.  Tonight's episode setup some storylines that are at best poor, and at worst outright offensive

Click to expand...

That about sums it up. I'm watching for the musical numbers now, and have been for a long time. They don't put ANY effort into the characterization or storytelling anymore.

Originally Posted by mattCR /t/314944/glee-season-3-thread/60#post_3915263
I'm struggling to remember why I liked this show to begin with..

Click to expand...

It's called the first half of season one. It's really been a precipitous slide since then. I mostly continue to watch it because my wife still likes it, but like Adam, I'm only interested in the musical numbers. Even the Sue Sylvester schtick has grown stale.

mattCR said:

I'm struggling to remember why I liked this show to begin with.. this season has just been absolutely annoying.  Tonight's episode setup some storylines that are at best poor, and at worst outright offensive

Click to expand...

I also agree with you Matt. I haven't seen the latest episode yet, but the season overall has been dropped in quality. Even with the musical numbers, can't really say what's happening, but they don't seem to have the quality and professionalism of the earlier episodes. Almost like they are rushed to meet a deadline and they're taking shortcuts.

Originally Posted by Hanson /t/314944/glee-season-3-thread/60#post_3915347

It's called the first half of season one. It's really been a precipitous slide since then. I mostly continue to watch it because my wife still likes it, but like Adam, I'm only interested in the musical numbers. Even the Sue Sylvester schtick has grown stale.

Click to expand...

I'm very concerned the current Sue Sylvester storyline


Of Sue having a Down Syndrome child is going to go into wildly offensive territory.


There are lots of directions that storyline can go.. and almost none of them are good.

mattCR said:

There are lots of directions that storyline can go.. and almost none of them are good.

Click to expand...

Why would it necessarily be offensive? The show's treatment of people with disabilities has been widely-praised (though some groups took issue with things like the character of Artie going to an able-bodied person, etc), with particular reference to Sue and her relationship with her sister. That particular relationship was dealt with an extremely high amount of sincerity and, even, sweetness. There are simply no indications that this would be otherwise as between Sue and her daughter.

The handling of her sister's discovery of Downs was a nice, well done moment, and I commended it for that. Since then, though, let's talk about how disability has been used by Glee..

Artie had his wheelchair literally used as a battering ram/gimmick in a football game, we have a girl join the Glee club and tell them she's been "self diagnosed" as autistic and others chime in on the joke.. and then make that character a narcissistic villain.. (http://theautistartist.com/tag/autistic-girl-on-glee/ )

In fact, we've had episodes that equated a lot of things and have used disabilities in strange and often not-so-solid ways of looking at the world.


I'm not sure what groups "widely praised" them for handling disabilities when you're using disabled people as battering rams, equating them with lesser-then-people or tools, and when you have a character who's entire existence mocks a large group of disabled people

It was good that they portrayed Sue as having a soft side and caring for her sister.. have we really seen THAT Sue anytime recently?

This is probably why so many TV shows don't even want to open that box, and create recurring characters that have challenges or disabilities. No matter how much they try for diversity, there are always those who will still find fault with the portrayal, or find a way to be offended. I love the fact that Becky is not some saintly girl with Downs who everyone automatically admires because she's different. I don't see at all how Sugar mocks disabled people - she's shallow and selfish, and uses Asperger's as an excuse - which just makes her more shallow. Artie in the football game? Please. Why should one over-the-top moment undo all of the ways in which the series has developed his character into one that may be inspiring many others who are in a wheelchair to join Glee Club, where they might otherwise have been intimidated because of the dance element of performance? And by the way, the battering ram idea was Artie's - it wasn't like his teammates all thought it would be a great idea to push him through the defensive line.
The soft side of Sue? I saw it in the episode where she confessed to Emma how she wanted Will to be the father of her baby because of his innate goodness - and in last night's episode, when she expressed her admiration for the glee club after tearing them down in an earlier scene. We also saw it after Karofsky's (sp?) attempted suicide.

May not be the greatest representation of disabled people, but at least they're trying. Not making them perfect, angelic people also works. Just because they're disabled, they've got personalities, likes and dislikes as we all do.
I honestly don't even recall Sugar as ever being labeled disabled, other than the fact of her horrible singing.
I'm actually taking a Disability Studies class in college right now. Doubt we'll ever talk about Glee, but looking forrward to learning more.
Haven't seen the latest episode yet, but Down syndrome is a major factor in older women like Sue having children. Seems like an interesting way to handle things rather than her having a perfect, healthy child. If the show lasts long enough, might see some more humanity and niceness in her character.

Originally Posted by DaveHof /t/314944/glee-season-3-thread/60#post_3915689
This is probably why so many TV shows don't even want to open that box, and create recurring characters that have challenges or disabilities. No matter how much they try for diversity, there are always those who will still find fault with the portrayal, or find a way to be offended. I love the fact that Becky is not some saintly girl with Downs who everyone automatically admires because she's different. I don't see at all how Sugar mocks disabled people - she's shallow and selfish, and uses Asperger's as an excuse - which just makes her more shallow. Artie in the football game? Please. Why should one over-the-top moment undo all of the ways in which the series has developed his character into one that may be inspiring many others who are in a wheelchair to join Glee Club, where they might otherwise have been intimidated because of the dance element of performance? And by the way, the battering ram idea was Artie's - it wasn't like his teammates all thought it would be a great idea to push him through the defensive line.
The soft side of Sue? I saw it in the episode where she confessed to Emma how she wanted Will to be the father of her baby because of his innate goodness - and in last night's episode, when she expressed her admiration for the glee club after tearing them down in an earlier scene. We also saw it after Karofsky's (sp?) attempted suicide.

Click to expand...

I think people would have dismissed the portrayal by Sugar, if others hadn't used it to pile on and label it as an "excuse" etc. In regards to Artie, I think he was an effective and solid portrayal of a person with disabilities.. until the disabilities started to be used for a complete prop (ie, Artie the bowling pin).
I think there are several shows that have made incredible use of people with disabilities and have been praised for their portrayals without devolving into goofball methods.. you have two of the best portrayals of people with disability on the air right now... Parent Hood and Switched at Birth both headline people of disabilities.
I think it's easy to say "oh, well, those people with disabilities always find room to complain!" But that's really just not the case.. forgetting the fact that the characters are disabled, the writing on Glee with regards to ALL characters, whether they are disabled or not has been crazy sloppy. It's because the characters themselves have fallen into these storylines that do nothing to make them into well fleshed out characters and have made them all complete props. Look at Sue Sylvester. While an over the top adversary, in Season 1, you also had the portrayal of her caring about the kids, just viewing Glee as a bad concept, and her love for her sister showed her as a hard nose etc. But now she's a mustache twirling goofball; and they add on extras in plots that make NO sense. Remember Season 1? When they pointed out her team had won the national title with the Cheerios for X years in a row.. and now, they are talking about replacing her?

This after a crazy run for the US House of Representatives in Ohio wherein she finished 6th in a race that both of the major parties seemed to bail on and a last minute write-in candidate wins a US House of Reps seat? Or how about a drinking episode that passively encouraged the fun of drinking, and how about turning in a pity-kiss for the coach who had struggled into a big event.. and then suddenly giving her a love interest that she's stolen from Sue shortly thereafter?

Neh, the problem isn't really Glee's portrayal of disabilities.. I mean, it is, but the problem is also that Glee is portraying all characters, disabled in a completely half-assed manner.

I'm not going to say you're wrong, but I do think that the series has been consistent (for good or ill) in the attention (or lack thereof) it pays to its characters and stories from the first season to the present. 'Glee' is an odd duck - it wants to address real-world issues and dispel stereotypes and generate discussions about serious subjects - religion, bullying, acceptance - but like most musicals it wraps that content in a highly-stylized, over-the-top presentation that is very easy to dissect and say, 'That would never happen in a real high school.'
The most common perception out there is that 'Glee' was better in season one and has gone downhill since. Season 1, as I recall, had Mr. Schuester's wife faking a pregnancy, and waiting for Quinn to give birth so she could claim that baby as her own. That may still be the most ridiculous story they've ever tried, and yet season 1 gets a pass from those who remember that season fondly. And Sue has, for me, always been an outrageously exaggerated character that would never hold a job for ten minutes in a public school - in season 1 she pushed the school nurse down a flight of stairs so Teri could take that job, blackmailed the principal by sleeping with him, and demanded that Madonna music be played over the PA system throughout the school day. I still love the character because I think Jane Lynch is a brilliant actress. There have been episodes where Sue has behaved abominably, and in the final moments she has something of an epiphany (the first Christmas show and 'Grilled Cheezus', for instance) and with minimal dialogue she conveys so much.
It's not a perfect show and never has been - but it is certainly one of the more ambitious shows we have now, and given the challenges of a large cast and numerous guest stars and intertwining music with plot and crafting full-out production numbers alongside intimate character moments, I think 'Glee' gets more right than wrong. This is one of the shows that will be a cultural touchstone for its generation, and though I am 20 years older than that demographic I still think it's marvelous.

Excellent post, David.

David, definitely agree with you about the phony pregnancy of Schuster's first wife. Couldn't stand that character and very glad she is gone. Something they definitely could have done without.
Sometimes I love Sue Sylvester, other times she's horrible. Her funny over the top dialogue is great at times. But then they pull out the mean Sue and she says some of the most cruel, awful things it really makes me really dislike the character.
Glee has always been an up and down show since it started. Great episodes at times yet it has had its share of lousy episodes also.
Since it has been renewed for at least one more season, maybe its quality will improve.