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| Mercedes belts out a groovy 70s hit with her back-up dancers, Santana and Brittany. Image property of Fox. |
I wasn't overly thrilled when I heard Glee was doing a disco-heavy musical tribute to Saturday Night Fever. As the kids all shouted out when Mr. Schuester suggested they perform disco numbers, "DISCO SUCKS!" However, despite having no desire to download any of the episode's 8 songs, I thought the episode was pretty decent.
Mr. Schuester is worried about several of his graduating seniors, but mostly Mercedes, Santana and Finn. Why? He just doesn't feel like they have any dreams or ambition. So given the assignment to "find themselves" through disco music, Santana decides she wants to be famous at any cost, Mercedes wants to be a powerful diva like Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston, and Finn... well, we'll get to Finn in a little bit.
Santana's declaration of "famous no matter what" gets the better of her when Brittany, with the brain the size of a child's fist as Sue points out, decides that a sex tape will get Santana the notoriety she so desires. It just so happens that McKinley High's hottest lesbian cheerleaders made a sex tape of their own already, so Brittany just went ahead and posted it online... but not before splicing it with some footage of her cat Lord Tubbington doing household chores. What's the name of the video? "Two Girls One Cat"? Anyway, Santana soon realizes that she doesn't just want to be famous... she wants to really do something worthwhile with her life. Maybe even go to college.
Mercedes delivers a powerful vocal performance, as usual, but admits to the group how very scared and nervous she is about her future. She has no idea how to get to where she wants to be. Sam took the initiative to record her performance on his phone and upload it to YouTube. I'm surprised Mercedes never thought to do that before. When he tells her what he's done, she's surprised to see that it has quite a few hits and lots of positive feedback. She thanks him for his support and he swoops in for the kiss. I bet she's regretting breaking it off with him now, eh?
And Finn has no idea what he wants to do with his life. Rachel takes a moment to play the supportive fiancee and encourages him to go to college. She even says that she'll wait on Broadway to make sure he's doing something that he loves first. But after a trip to the guidance counselor, Finn throws all the college applications away. Mr. Schuester confronts him about this, and Finn launches into an argument that he's a loser with no potential. Having felt that way myself more than a time or two, I understood where he was coming from. By the episode's end he has decided to become an actor, and with as equally an unrealistic goal as Rachel, the two are once-again the happy couple.
The last storyline involves a student named Wade from Carmel who stops by to talk to Kurt and Mercedes... well, mostly Kurt. As one gay man to another, Wade comes seeking some advice. He identifies himself as a woman named Unique and his dream is to dance in drag for his school's regional competition. Mercedes and Kurt try to talk him out of it (although Sue thinks they should egg him on, hoping the performance would destroy their competition), but in the end Wade performs as Unique and it was probably my favorite number of the night! That boy makes one helluva woman!
The Pros:
- Despite the initial dread over disco, the music wasn't half bad. It managed to be far more fulfilling than "The Spanish Teacher" which featured some of the worst music in Glee history. Of the 8 songs featured in a 45-minute show (yeah, they really jammed them in there) my favorites would probably be "Disco Inferno" by Mercedes rocking a really sexy red dress, Rachel's "How Deep Is Your Love" sung to Finn, and "Boogie Shoes" featuring The Glee Project finalist Alex Newell as Wade/Unique. Just watch this clip:
- On Alex Newell's appearance, I find him to be much more interesting than the others who have joined the cast from that show. And I know people are going to be hating, but I think it's kind of awesome that a transgendered character is being represented.
- We haven't had some awesome Brittany S. Pierce in a while and I was very glad she was given some dialogue again! She is seriously so funny and sweet.
- And speaking of Brittany, we even got Lord Tubbington back! Ha ha! Shots of him mopping and doing dishes were pretty great.
- I liked Puck's scene with Finn. Beneath the tough guy attitude, he's a good guy.
- Seeing Sue dance is always a fun sight. Even more fun when she's dressed like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever!
- I know that sometimes characters need to take a backseat, but they should at least be visible in group shots. Quinn was inexplicably absent as was the Irish kid Rory and his girlfriend Sugar. Last week Mercedes was MIA. It's weird!
- A lot of the disco songs are sung really high and hearing Blaine, Finn and Mr. Schuester sing in screechy falsetto wasn't exactly my favorite.
- People probably wouldn't react so favorably to a cross-dressing high school student in Ohio, but maybe they just thought it was a girl?
- Jesse St. James. I just don't like him anymore. Make him go away.
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