TV Review - Glee - Episode 1.3, Acafellas
Revelations, Syncopations, Familial Relations, and Josh Groban?
Sep 19, 2009
In this, the third episode of Glee, the seams are already starting to show. The difficulty of sustaining a weekly narrative musical series for television becomes more and more obvious with each successive installment.
This week, Rachel (Lea Michelle), spurred on by the newly recruited "Cheerios" cheerleaders, gets enough courage to confront Will (Matthew Morrison) about how cheesy-bad his choreography is for the group's numbers. She feels they'll have no chance against the amazingly polished Vocal Adrenaline in the Nationals competition without stepping up their game, so to speak. Will brushes her concerns aside, adding to the group's frustration at his recent absences from rehearsals. The group then decides to take matters into their own hand by seeing if they can hire Vocal Adrenaline's choreographer, the talented but notoriously mean Dakota Stanley (Whit Hertford).
The Boys In The Band
The reasons behind those missed rehearsals are kind of a character contradiction for Will. At first, he seems to just be stressed at the thought of becoming a father, but then in a completely random scene, Will, gym teacher Ken (Patrick Gallagher), Sheets 'N Things worker Howard (Kent Avenido), and ex-glee director Sandy (Stephen Tobolowsky) sing a perfectly harmonized version of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" for returning shop teacher Henri (John Lloyd Young). This gives Will the idea to form an acapella group with the boys and perform at local venues, which takes even more time away from glee practice.
After the concern Will has shown for the kids in the first two episodes, why would he all of a sudden abandon them for his own selfish reasons? Probably as a flimsy excuse for more singing and dancing. Seeing Morrison and the "Acafellas" perform Bel Biv DeVoe's "Poison" is a treat, but like many other numbers on the show, it is all at once enjoyable while being borderline cringe-worthy. Josh Groban's presence at one of their performances is predictable and clearly pandering to the show's demographic (P.S. - he doesn't even sing in the episode).
Defaming of a Shrew
Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig) continues to be a blatantly annoying and crazy caricature, keeping up her lie about being pregnant even in the face of Will's parents (Victor Garber and Debra Monk). Perish forbid she should be portrayed as believably human or sympathetic in any way. That might make Will's inevitable choice between her and cute germaphobe Emma (Jayma Mays) a challenge.
A Back-lit Proscenium
Mercedes (Amber Riley) has her first true spotlight number as she heartily belts out a rendition of Jazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows", after Kurt (Chris Colfer) rebuffs her advances. Surprisingly, this is only the second time in the series that a character breaks the internal reality of the show to burst into song, a trope of more traditional musical theatre pieces. And perhaps therein lies Glee's salvation.
Removed from the confines of a Broadway stage, random musical numbers, larger-than-life characters, cornball humor, and clunky plot contrivances seem out of place on a TV series. So instead it may be best to approach Glee as a weekly musical that just happens to be on TV. With this altered perception it might just be possible to look past its faults and enjoy the goofy, fun ride. It'll certainly be worth it if Jane Lynch, as vengeful cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, gets to keep her job as the driest and funniest member of the cast.
Glee airs Wednesday nights on Fox at 9PM.
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