This episode was a vast improvement on last week’s. With the exception of a pair of slightly grim inserts in the final third of the show – Rachel confronting Brody was a bit of a downer, but necessary, and the Chris Brown thing was unnecessary, but apt – it was the best episode we’ve seen all week. It’s been a crappy week for TV, with one bad, depressing episode after another. But this made us feel fully better. We’re feeling Gleeful again.
This may have a lot to do with the week’s theme – the eponymous “Guilty Pleasures” – and the fact that Mr Schu was out sick (we’re really just done with Matthew Morrison). The theme brought out all of our own favorite guilty pleasures. Yes, we’re occasionally Fanilows. Yes, we love “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”. And, yes, we loooove the Spice Girls. But our favorite part by far was Sam. Oh, Sam. We love Sam. As part of his big guilty-pleasures reveal, Blaine finally admitted he had feelings for Sam, and we found out that Sam has known all along. And is fine with it, of course. And is just the best guy ever. Swoon. We get it, Blaine. We understand.
We also enjoyed the somewhat surprising tension between Artie and Kitty. Do we sense a fledgling romance here? How many Glee girls would this be?
The episode also brought an end to that ongoing ‘Brody the Gigolo’ saga. Santana finally told Rachel (to stop her even thinking of getting back together with him), leading to the aforementioned confrontation and their final, this-is-it-for-good break-up. We can’t help but wish, though, that they had chosen a different song to illustrate the moment. It being Guilty Pleasures week, a little bit of Tay-Tay wouldn’t have gone astray…
Ryan’s Lesson of the Week (we’re thinking of having that trademarked) was incredibly contentious. We found it less heavy-handed than last week’s, but mostly because we so vehemently agree on the conclusion (prepare to be preached at) – Chris Brown. Should not. Be forgiven. Ever. We’ve read articles that suggest that the only reason Chris is getting such a continued backlash about the Rihanna assault is because he’s not white. To idiocy like that we counter: it has nothing to do with the color of his skin. It is entirely because of how public the beating was. The photos, the backlash, the Oprah interviews… that all made it impossible to forget. That Breezy continues to roam the streets with no consequences, free to get into brawls with Drake and Frank Ocean, free to get that neck tattoo of a battered woman? Those are only some of the reasons that he doesn’t deserve even a small modicum of success, or anyone’s forgiveness. Yes, he’s not the only star to be guilty of domestic abuse (which is abhorrent from any perpetrator), but he’s one of the least apologetic. He doesn’t deserve to still have 12 year-old girls buying his CDs and falling in love with him in that way that 12 year-old girls do. Here at Pond Hopping Girls we’ve always proudly said that we wouldn’t even illegally download one of his CDs. We still mean that.
And Jake’s counter that Rihanna isn’t a role model because she went back to Chris, and therefore shouldn’t be supported either, is ridiculous. There’s a big difference between assaulting your girlfriend and being an idiot.
We don’t want to end on a rant, so we’ll address the one aspect of the episode that bothered us: where was Katie? We wanted to see more of Ryder and his (probable Catfish) internet girlfriend! Come on, Ryan. Bring back the intrigue and mystery! – K
Quoteworthy: “Lord Tubbington’s guilty pleasure is Scientology.” – Britt
Stand-out performances:
Honorable mention goes to Jake’s performance of Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative”. The song itself – and even the performance – were only so-so, but his dancing? We knew he was good, but this is the first time he’s really showcased it. And we loved it! We can see why he was headed to Juilliard before he got cast in Glee.
This week, for the very first time, we’re also going to give a dishonorable mention. Radiohead’s “Creep” is a song that one should be very, very careful about messing with – advice that Adam Anders should have heeded. It started out so promisingly, then Rachel Berry chimed in and it all went to hell. We’re not blaming Lea Michele here. She was just singing the arrangement she was given. But, boy, did it grate.
Now, to the songs we did enjoy:
– Blaine’s rendition of Phil Collins’ “Against all Odds” was emotional and heartfelt, though we did have to wonder why he always gets so angry when he sits down to a piano.
– Marley, Kitty, Unique, Tina and Britt doing “Wannabe”? Made our hearts happy. Viva forever!