“I’m proud of what we’ve all done.”
Back at the end of season 2 of Glee, I wrote a post about how bad the show had become. It really was a parody of what it was in season 1. The performances, relationships and all the story lines seemed very forced. It all culminated in what was an awful season finale. When this new season started, it seemed to be going on the same path as the last. I was basically ready to check out on this show. But then a funny thing happened; Glee put together a string of their best episodes to date, and seems to be on track to making season 3 even better then season 1
A major reason for this renaissance has been the refocusing of the show on the students.The 'kids" in the cast are all really talented, and with so many of them being of different genders, races, religions, economic backgrounds, and orientations; the show has a lot of story to milk their. The problem they ran into is that Jane Lynch was so good in a supporting role in season 1, they felt the need to jam her down our throats in season 2. It is sad to say, but a major reason this season has been so strong is because Sue's screen time has been minimal compared to last year. That is not to say that the show needs to rid itself of Jane Lynch, because the few times she has been on this season, she has been great, they just need to know how to do good things in moderation. Another role that has been largely marginalized has been Matt Morrison's. In his case though it was never an issue of talent being overused, i just find his role here to be really draining. Its been shown that his performances are never popular on the show, and every story line he enters into just seems to stop the show dead in its tracks. Are he and Emma even together right now? I cant remember, nor do i care. Lets keep the focus on the kids, and i think the success will continue.
At its heart, Glee is a musical television show and i think the performances have been much stronger this year. I am very happy that they have not really had any theme episodes this year so far. I feel like the last year, the writers would come up with a theme for an episode, and then let the them dictate their writing. This is not the way to write a successful TV show. The office has often had similar problems with its guest stars, announcing the starts first and then writing a character for them. The theme episodes often seemed disconnected and boring. This year, they have given a nice variety of songs and have been able to blend top 40 hits, oldies and songs from musicals almost seamlessly. It also has been nice to see different people get to perform their own songs. Last year was so heavy on Rachel and Finn, its been really nice to see people like Mike Chang, and Puck get to have the spotlight
Glee is not going anywhere anytime soon. the ratings are still very good and the show still gets recognition come award times. And while it could have just stayed the course after a terrible second season, i feel like they should be commended for listening to the critics and turning it around. Usually, Ryan Murphy shows come out the gate strong and right around season 3, they start to delve into the territory of annoying and ridiculous. It seemed like Glee was on that same path, but here's hoping this run of great episodes continues on.
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