Glee delivers a strong opening episode to a potentially great season.
Shalom, Gleeks! Another fall means another school year with everyone’s favorite cast of singing misfits. It also means another year of angsty teen drama accentuated by pop songs and the return of “Will Schuester, The Insufferable.” Though I call out Will’s (Matthew Morrison’s) enraging characterization, much of the previous two seasons problems appear to be resolved. Much of the plot of the episode foreshadows future arcs, but these arcs look doable this season. No big stars and no crazy couple change ups are happening yet. Overall this season is looking solid.
“The Purple Piano Project” has Schuester delivering purple pianos to his club to help procure new members. The Gleeks are in need of more members since the departure of Sam (Chord Overstreet) and Quinn (Dianna Agron). Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) on the other hand would much rather destroy the Glee club for the sake of her new political campaign. Meanwhile Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Rachel (Lea Michele) begin pursuing their dreams of Broadway and glamor. As you can already tell Glee is setting itself up for some major arcs this season. It’s appropriate, since the word graduate seems to flow in and out of dialogue this episode.
Let me start off by saying that Glee really has tried to improve. The purple pianos are ridiculous and though they look like they were stolen from Peewee Herman’s garage sale, they do serve a purpose. They are a symbol for the Glee club and it makes sense to see Sue try to destroy something the Glee club cares about. What doesn’t make sense is Sue’s casual comments toward Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.) about her sister’s funeral. The Glee Club did a big favor for her family and she is not somewhat sympathetic? Though one could argue her “truce” with Will shows development, her thriving antagonism does not make sense. I mean it would make sense if she were bipolar, but no psychological problems other than narcissism have been established.
So yes, Sue’s characterization and development is spotty, but what of the rest of the characters? Well, Kurt and Rachel finally find their diva-assess humbled by a bunch of Les Mis wannabes bringing more of a challenge to their characters. The emphasis on their friendship means less focus on their relationships; this allows everyone to stay a happy couple this season. Yay! No more couple swapping…hopefully. Will has grown less insufferable since he started living together with Emma (Jayma Mayes) and the school still seems schizophrenic about its hatred for the Glee club. One minute cheerleaders are dishing out the slushies, the next minute they’re Blaine’s (Darren Criss’) Bratz dolls.
One final note, the song selection makes sense again. The songs serve the story now rather than the audience. Glee may be something that one can look forward to again.
Some stats and info about Glee, “The Purple Piano Project”
TV SHOW – Glee
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 3, Episode 5
AIRED ON – November 8th, 2011
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FOX/Hulu
GENRE – Drama, Musicals, Comedy
CREATED BY – Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy
CAST – Chris Colfer, Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Kevin McHale, Naya Rivera, Jenna Ushkowitz, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, Heather Elizabeth Morris, Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss, Harry Shum Jr., Cory Monteith, Jayma Mays, Dianna Agron
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.