Yeah It Makes Me Smile

I know I said yesterday that I was going to write about Steven Seagal: Lawman, and please trust me when I say that blog post is on its way, because OH MAN is that show funny. But I’ve decided to preempt Steven Seagal: LingeringCulturalRelevancyMan for a few words on last night’s Glee.

Also awesome this week: piano man

Um…weird things happened on last night’s Glee. For instance, a dramatic shift occurred which will require long-term plot ramifications. Also, Matt Morrison had to play an entire scene where he was weepy and furious without once resorting to cheery, naïve optimism. And further, Quinn Fabray has developed almost to the point of becoming a believably rounded, dynamic character. (By the way, words like “developed” and “rounded” are meant to refer to her growth as a fully-realized person, not her gradually expanding waistline. Whoops, add “growth” to that list.)

Glee appears to have reached a critical mass of plot and initial character sketches, a point after which it either becomes a fossilized structure peopled by caricatures, or it abandons exposition and moves further into new territory. “Mattress” suggests that Glee is moving in the second direction, and of course I’m pleased that’s the chosen path. I would much prefer to watch ditzy Cheerio Brittany become an interesting person than be continually reminded of her unchanging airheadedness. I’m particularly happy that the shift toward dynamism tolled the death knell of Ye Olde Fake Pregnancy Plot, which I would have happily chucked out the nearest window ten episodes ago.

Come on down to Mattress Land; even Sue's Corner was weirdly cruel this week

Even given this promising movement, “Mattress” was odd enough to make me wonder whether Glee could ever actually sustain this new tone. The whole episode felt tense and a little uncomfortable, a good place to be narratively but a distinct change from the show’s previous surreal exuberance. The few musical numbers were for the most part appropriately ambiguous, including the brilliantly chosen Lily Allen song “Smile,” but where musical scenes in the past have been sudden leaps of self-confidence, these all sounded like singers trying to convince themselves to keep singing. The rendition of “Jump” was a return to the show’s previous musical tone, but inside this episode it seemed incongruous. It was so strange to watch a bunch of high schoolers promoting a local mattress store, largely because it was so far outside the usual “I sing because I love it” message.

Some of the oddity also came from the abruptness of this shift. Moving directly from last week’s incredibly saccharine performance of “Imagine” to “at first, when I see you cry / it makes me smile / yeah it makes me smile” without explanation does not do much to set up the subsequent emotional breakdowns. Up until the moment Will demands that Terry lift up her shirt and swiftly snatches away her fake pregnant belly, I was sure the show would swerve away from the revelation, or at the very least, let it play out in a more comfortable, stylized way. Instead, tears roll down Will’s face as he storms out of the apartment, and for once, a flippant acapella choir doesn’t accompany his exit.

Don’t get me wrong, here. I think Glee would be great with some more darkness in its plotlines, a good dose of strife to balance the sweet and cut through the glibness. I was astonished by the Will/Terry breakdown in a good way. Still, this is not how Glee has billed itself, and fights between adults that actually get scary do not segue well into a snappy mashup of your favorite pop songs.

As with everything else on right now, Glee is heading toward its winter hiatus, and after next week’s mid-season climax, will be gone until April 13^th. I think the next episode will go a long way toward signaling whether this was a momentary diversion into realism or whether the show will revert to its previous, cheerily satirical self.