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Glee Fodder

Glee: Acafellas - and Some Thoughts on the Kids

Episode 3 opened up with seasoned stage film and television actor Victor Garber being revealed as Will's father. The episode shifted gears a little from the previous 2 and settled into a more controlled pace. A fantastic heart to heart between the father and son set the tone for the rest of the episode.

Rachel's need to be the best has certainly not gone unnoticed as the rift between diva and teacher continued...with the help of 3 very "helpful" cheerleaders who helped suggest hiring a hotshot choreographer to make up for Will's lack of obvious dance skills. The argument punches will in the heart of his insecurities.

Sandy returned to support the shop teacher coming back from losing his thumbs. An all male bonding session happens with gives birth to the "Acafellas". The group resurrects some 90's hits we all remember - or like to forget.

The cheerleaders under Quinn sow discord everywhere they go, encouraging Mercedes to throw herself at the less than hetero Kurt, as well as pushing the tension between Finn and Rachel. All of this is possible of course due to the puppet master herself: Sue Sylvester.

The Acafellas give will a way to be indifferent to the obvious turmoil of the glee club as the guys live out their midlife crisis. An interesting rivalry between Terry and Emma takes root as Terry notices on multiple occasions how Emma looks at Will.

Terry has her own problems of course as she has to find a way to get pregnant before the lie spirals out of control. This leads to a voracious sex life with Will which he mistakenly thinks is due to his boyband (manband? anyone help me on this one..)

Personally, I understand what the Acafellas were doing but the numbers seemed a bit long and distracted from the rest of the episode. It did lead however to the hint that Josh Groban would be coming to the next performance as he's looking for an opening act and a Myspace friend of Sandy's. (Good job Fox. Keep plugging Myspace, I mean you DID dump a bazillion dollars buying the thing)

Meanwhile the ever growing Scooby Doo club venture off to find this mystical choreographer that will make all their dreams come true. A visit to Vocal Adrenalin provided a convenient way to showcase yet another smash song and dance number with their rendition of "Mercy". Unfortunately the choreographer proved to be way too much to hire, dampening their spirits.

The identical thing happens with the Acafellas when the pressure causes 2 of the members to drop out. Enter a disheartened Finn and shockingly Puck the mohawked bully. A humorous cut scene reveals why Puck wants to sing in the group. Apparently he's into moms...really into moms, and he needs a way to serenade them.

Poor Mercedes. She ignored the "Gayvention" of Rachel and Tina and embraced what she felt to be a growing relationship with Kurt. After mistakenly interpreting that Kurt is in love with Rachel she busts his windows with a fantasy number of "Busted Windows". By the way...how awesome are the dancers on this show. Those cheerleaders were so awesome I almost broke my tivo button rewinding that number to count all the changeups they did. (I want to dance but unfortunately I can lose rhythm breathing much less moving).

The carwash provided some great dialog between the scheming Sue Sylvester and Emma who really seem to anchor the 2 major dynamics of the show.

Kurt took one foot out of the closet with a heart to heart with Mercedes. Chris Colfer has been with the exception of Dianna Agron, the most promising of the Glee kids in showing huge potential in working film and television jobs in the future. He has an extremely natural connection to his character and a look that can make him adaptable to a variety of future roles. The pseudo coming out scene showcases all of that and I wouldn't be surprised to see this guy popping up in small but poignant supporting roles in major film productions. I did mention Dianna Agron but we'll revisit her at the end of this wrapup.

It'll be interesting to see if Kurt's proclaimed love of Finn causes complications in the future.

The Glee kids end up finding a way to to hire the choreographer who inadvertantly does perform a miracle in bringing the best out of the kids. After berating Finn's height (Frankenteen is born!), Mercedes weight (her meal plan simply read "coffee"), Artie's lack of mobility, Kurt's umm flamboyance and Rachel's nose (Lea you're adorable with everything the way it is); Rachel and the originals find it in themselves to embrace the inperfections and rely on who they are. The choreographer is fired and all is right with the world. Well almost...

Will's big moment in arrives with the newly reformed Acafellas. They do a humorous number of Color Me Badd's "I wanna sex you up" with Sandy sticking out like a sore thumb and Puck stealing the show.

Josh Groban visits the backstage area to serve a restraining order on Sandy with a disturbing list of things he's been subjected to; shattering the hopes that the Acafellas would open for Groban.

The two characters that start the momentum of the episode also serve it's lesson. First Will's father delivers some sage advice "It's never too late to grow a pair and go after your dream".

Secondly after Sue's tirade on how disappointed she is that all her plans caused the exact opposite of her intentions, Quinn delivers yet another lesson "When you really believe in yourself you don't have to bring other people down". It seems Sue's grip on her protege bitch in the making is loosening as Quinn is slowly finding her place in the world as well.

I promised I'd get back to Dianna Agron/Quinn. Agron seems to masterfully connect to her character so much so, that even the quirkier moments are perfectly believable. It's no easy task to share time with Jane Lynch in scenes and the glance back to coach Sylvester was as real a moment as you can get out of an actress. We tend to get lost as an audience in the silly, but each and every one of these characters are very real and somewhat to the left or right of normal; as we all are. With that one line, the audience at once see's the human in Quinn and the need for her to find her place in the world. It's instantly recognizable that Quinn is becoming her own person. Agron also has a look and feel that is adaptable to more work in the future. Her work on Heroes was brief (but so was that disaster of a season with it's broken storylines and all...) but Glee has given her a chance to shine. With the 13 episodes already shot (and hopefully fully ordered soon), I wouldn't be surprised to see Agron racking up a few guest stars on the other shows that are currently shooting as well as some substantial supporting roles in some studio films in the off season.

This isn't to say that the rest of the Glee kids don't have the same potential as Agron and Colfer (I mean good lord all of them are wonderful); but they do seem to have separated themselves from the pack early as ready to go. Monteith seems to get ever more comfortable in each episode with American television and Lea Michele has shown that she can get off the stage and into a film/tv style. Amber Riley is a diamond in the rough and has shown the chops of a more seasoned actress. Jenna Ushkowitz simply hasn't much screen time as of yet but has shown a phenomenal understanding of her character and Mark Salling and Kevin McHale draw the camera in like magnets. It's just that in the case of this episode; Agron and Colfer really got it done on a level not expected of "newcomers".

The other guy who stole the show like I mentioned was Salling. Let's face it, the guy looks like a bonafide movie star. He has proven to be fearless in embracing the Puck character and it will be interesting to see the more human side of Puck develop to the audience. If he can do that, life after Glee will have huge potential (and more hair) indeed. His story on how he got to Glee was extremely moving, nearly giving up and moving back home. Instead he gave it one last try and the rest as they say...is history. He has huge potential, should he continue to grow. The upside for him and for all of the kids is that they are constantly surrounded with some powerful mentors. Between the adult series regulars and the parade of All Pro guest stars, the Glee kids are getting a master class on how to develop and maintain a long career with dignity and class. In this case life does draw some parallels to the art and it's exciting to watch both grow and flourish before our eyes.


As always I can be reached on twitter @ZorbaTheGleek



Posted by Zorba the Gleek on September 17, 2009 1:02 AM
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