A Not So Glee-Ful Return: Hell-O

It’s been awhile since the mid-season hiatus of Glee, and in the interim I’ve fallen in love with some other television (I know, it feels like cheating). Therefore, when I settled in last night – I wasn’t sure quite what to expect from a series that I had been quite in love with earlier this season.

I wasn’t really expecting to find it as distasteful as last night’s episode: Hell-O. It wasn’t terrible, just…bonkers. The pacing of the show has never been its strong suit, and last night it was out of control.

Fast-pace works well for parody, and it works well for legal dramas. Both of these things Glee is not. It’s a comedy with snippets of drama tossed in, and its always a shocker when the drama works well. There were only two moments last night that the show felt even remotely authentic, and those were outside the musical numbers (which usually have more impact and contextual meaning). Those moments were articulated by Rachel Berry and Emma Pillsbury to their respective partners. They felt real and poignant – something that I’ve come to enjoy about Glee. Despite all the meth-ed out, over-the-top musical numbers – there has always been a striking element of reality or some kind of dramatic soul lurking beneath.

If nothing else, at least the motivations of the characters have felt fairly authentic up to this point.

But it seemed like last night was an attempt to undo all of the effects of the previous 13 episodes, and in a single hour bring back Sue Sylvester as a nemesis, destroy two fledgling relationships and introduce two new love interests for the main characters. None of which was really believable. Especially Will Schuester making out with the opposing choir director, and Finn Hudson suddenly realizing that Rachel is the most annoying girl on the planet. Musicals are best when they can capitalize on their few moments of believability. Last night, did not have much success in convincing me.

It feels that perhaps the writers, producers, and directors are not as adept at handling an ensemble cast as they would like us to believe. We still haven’t spent much time with many of the side characters, yet are continuously thrust into the relationships of the main characters, Finn and Rachel, as well as Schuester’s many tangled affairs.

But the show, for me, is at it’s best when it’s telling simpler stories about some of the quieter, more relatable side characters. As a show that promises to revel in the marginalized, it’s minority characters are often just that – kept out of the spotlight so we can bask in the glory of the fancy singing white people.