"The Substitute" Analysis

I'm getting behind. There's a new episode tomorrow night, and I still have analysis to do on the previous two episodes. So before I (FINALLY!) finish "Never Been Kissed," let me discuss "The Substitute," because I think the analysis will be easier and more concise.

"The Substitute"...
I LOVED IT!! GREAT episode!! The fun was back in Glee this week, although the bullying storyline wasn't on hiatus either.

I didn't have a strong opinion on Gwyneth Paltrow before this episode. I've seen a few of her movies, I like her, that's about it. Evidently some people really can't stand her, and I don't know why. I thought she was excellent on Glee. Her character was interesting and funny and I was quite impressed with her singing voice. She seemed to have terrific chemistry with the entire cast, and they have all been praising her for days. I didn't feel that she took time away from the other characters; we were still treated to healthy doses of Mr. Schue, Sue, Kurt, Rachel, Mercedes, and even Mike Chang.

The dialogue in this episode was SO hilarious! The writers outdid themselves! Where do they come up with this stuff? There were way too many funny lines to write down, but here were some of my favorites:

"I thought we were friends" Will
"That got boring" Sue

"But first I think I should get you guys a sitter" Will to the class of mini-me's

"I'm shaking - and its either from low blood sugar, or rage" Kurt

"You smell homeless, Brett...homeless" Kurt

"Hey gigantor (to Finn)...we're all gonna swap names, yo" Artie

"I'm Mike Chang" Brittany

"I'm banning potater (sic) tots" Sue
"Outstanding!" Becky

"You kids love me" Will
"Sue doesn't" Rachel

"Hoarders is great, but animal hoarders is better!" Sue and Holly

Sue calling Mercedes "Jacque"

"You know what this is?" Sue to Mercedes, holding up broccoli
"Toilet brush" Mercedes

"Rachel...you suck!" Holly

"In fact, right now I'm tempted to sell your scalp on the black market as a tiny, full length shearling coat, for only the most fashionable of premature babies" Sue to Will

"Oh my gosh, I open my mouth and a little purse falls out" Kurt (I almost choked on my hamburger bun on this one!) :)

"Oh, way to break the stereotype!" Kurt to Blaine

"You can rest assured that I and my attorney, Gloria Allred, will be pressing charges" Sue to Mercedes

"You a porn star or a drag queen?" Terri to Holly

"You irritate me, William. You make the underflaps of my breasts burn, like when I used to rub them with poison sumac" Sue

"He taught me how to tie my shoelaces" Sam, about Will

"Mr. Schue taught me the second half of the alphabet. I stopped after m and n...I felt they were too similar, and got frustrated" Brittany

"You know, William, one thing I learned in my time as president..." Sue
"...principal..." Will

"Shut your gash, Nancy..." Sue to Will

Now a word or two about the songs:

C-Lo's "Forget You"
I've never heard the original, so I can't make a comparison. I thought the performance was great fun to watch; everyone looked like they were having a blast. Now that I have the song on my ipod I am enjoying it even more.

"Make 'em Laugh" and "Nowadays"
I have seen a few Broadway shows, and I have really enjoyed them, but I am not a theatre geek. So while I can appreciate the great performances of Broadway shows, they are not my favorites on Glee, and I won't make a lot of comments about them. I'm happy for all the Rachel/Lea fans as she stepped back into the spotlight for "Nowadays." And I really enjoyed the dancing on "Make 'em Laugh." Harry and Matthew make a super team.

"Singing in the Rain/Umbrella" mash-up
I am listening to this multiple times a day on my ipod. I really enjoy both Matthew and Gwyneth's voices on this. Some people are tired of the mash-ups, but I think they're great. They expose kids to classic songs and get adults to listen to current hits. The dancing is wonderful, and unlike some people, I don't care that a high school wouldn't have the budget for that kind of special effect. Many of Glee's performances would fall out of the range of a high school budget.

What I didn't like about this was the inability to see anyone else's faces except Will and Holly. Obviously we see Artie in the beginning, and catch a glimpse or two of Mike and possibly Brittany, but that's pretty much it. And maybe that was the effect they were going for; maybe they wanted it to look like a group of Will and Holly clones. One commentor even speculated that since the choreography was so challenging in that number, the show might have used professional dancers to stand in for the cast, and that's why we couldn't see anyone else except Heather Morris and Harry Shum Jr, who are excellent dancers. I don't know if that's the case. I thought I caught a glimpse or two of Chris and Amber as well, but I'm not sure. I know there was a shot of Chris in one of the still photographs, but that doesn't mean he was in the performance.

I just really loved the outfit that the guys were wearing. That combination of shirt, vest, and hat was a very hot look for all the guys in Glee, and I wanted to be able to see all of them looking that sharp. :)

Now a word or two about the storylines:

I liked the Holly Holiday storyline, and I hope Gwyneth does make a return appearance on Glee. I do feel like maybe we should have seen the students fight a little bit harder to get Will back. Maybe this should have been a two part episode. I feel like it got wrapped up a little too quickly.

UGH, the return of Terri. My least favorite character on Glee. I have been SO much happier in season 2 without her. I do agree that Will treated her really badly, but I don't want them back together. Ever.

As I predicted, Mercedes was jealous of Kurt and Blaine spending time together. I hope the storyline is afforded more than one episode, but it might not. Some people felt that Kurt should have apologized to Mercedes, that he was too strong with her. He should have considered her feelings more. While I understand that sentiment, as a person who has been where Mercedes is more than once, I can now admit that sometimes the girl in straight girl - gay guy relationship needs a healthy dose of tough love. If Kurt had been too soft with her, she probably would have made everyone involved miserable. Hyperfocusing on the person you're interested in at the expense of close friendships is an unfortunate aspect that occurs in both straight and gay relationships. Usually, though not always, patterns eventually even out.

Some people were very upset that Glee portrayed Mercedes turning to food (the tots) as a way to deal with her jealousy and loneliness. What some see as a stereotypical portrayal I view as realistic. It would make sense, unfortunately, that Mercedes would focus on food to help her cope. But even more than seeing the tots as food, I saw them as a motivation factor, a cause that she could adopt. Appointing herself the leader of the "save the tots" campaign (Norma Rae homage included) made her feel important and needed. She was working toward a goal that meant something to her.

And going back to the tots as food for a minute, didn't we all get excited over at least one cafeteria food item in school? Sure, most of it was awful. But at most schools the tater tots do rock. At my junior high school the buttered rolls did too. I think you could buy just the roll for like a quarter or something. There were quite a few kids who stood in line just to buy a roll, myself included.

If you look closely, you can definitely see a change in Kurt in this episode. Usually Kurt sits in the back of the choir room and is one of the last of the students to join the song and dance routines. When he does make the effort, its often because Mr. Schue or someone else pulls him in. Otherwise, he's sitting and looking either superior, bored, exasperated, or a combination. Glee club should be the place where Kurt fits in the most, but he still often feels out of place and uncomfortable.

In this episode, however, Holly wagged her finger at him at the beginning of the song, and Kurt was up and dancing immediately. He danced around the piano, danced with Holly, danced by himself, he even danced with Santana! Whether Blaine is a friend or more than a friend at this point, having him in his life seems to be a good thing for Kurt.

gleekette