After six episodes of highs and lows, I’ve finally figured out why Glee frustrates the hell out of me.
There will be spoilers as I explain myself.
Here’s my problem: Every episode of Glee seems to be written backward from the final scene.
In other words, it’s as though creator Ryan Murphy and his staff go into an episode with a goal in mind—say, getting boys from the football to join the glee club—and then they manipulate the script into any shape necessary to reach that conclusion. It doesn’t matter if that means violating the show’s existing structural rules, changing fundamental traits about the characters, or eradicating any semblance of logic. Apparently, so long as the linebackers are singing by the final act, any old action will do.
Sometimes, the shenanigans are delicious. In the recent episode guest starring Kristen Chenoweth, for instance, the final goal was to get bratty, talented Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) out of the school musical and back into the glee club. To do that, the writers used Chenoweth’s character April as a prod.
April, you see, is a middle-aged high school dropout (and former singing star) who gets to re-enroll in the glee club after agreeing to finish her diploma. She simultaneously wows everyone with her talent and debauches them with her boozing and slutting around. Meanwhile, the school musical’s director is a diva freak who insults Rachel all the time. This sets the stage for a dramatic finale where April screws some things up and Rachel, newly appreciative of what glee club offers her, gets to come back and perform with her friends at a crucial moment.
That structure is emotionally satisfying, really funny, and consistent with what we know about the characters. Of course Rachel is going to come back to glee, since the other kids both need her and praise her. She doesn’t grow a new, egoless heart, but she does reveal some endearing vulnerability as she sashays back to power.
But let’s take a step back. What about this musical that lured Rachel away from glee club in the first place? In that episode, quitting glee is the endpoint of her arc, so the show’s villains cook up a production of Cabaret to seduce her. Sure, Rachel’s ego is going to make her audition, but why don’t any of the other glee kids try out? And who are the other cast members in Cabaret? Why aren’t they filling out the glee club’s roster? Are you telling me Rachel is the only overlap between those two worlds? In this school she is, because the musical only exists as a device.
Last week’s episode featured the series’ most egregious manipulation: Terri Shuster’s fake pregnancy. The writers have decided that one of the major arcs of this season will be the budding romance between glee club coach Will Shuster and guidance counselor Emma Pilsbury. The major complication to their love, however, is Will’s belief that his hateful wife is pregnant.
It isn’t that he likes his wife, you see. How could he? She’s a shallow, screeching harpy who barely seems human, let alone marriage-worthy. It’s frankly a stretch to believe that a character like Will would ever have liked her in the first place. She knows that, though, and so she has cooked up a phony baby to make him stay with her.
I think all of us can write the inevitable scene where Will discovers that his wife isn’t really pregnant, blows up at her, etc. Sure, the writers have added a subplot about a pregnant cheerleader whose baby Terri plans to adopt and pass off as her own, but there’s no way that’s going to happen. This is a sitcom, not a soap opera.
Yet despite the fact that the ending is painfully obvious, this arc is being drawn out week after week. By now, it’s forcing us to accept all kinds of ridiculous stuff. As in, Terri’s wearing a fake pregnancy belly, but her husband doesn’t notice. Like, wouldn’t someone who’s this excited about fatherhood ask to feel his wife’s belly? The show is heightened, sure, but it’s not that heightened.
And I know, of course, that writers need endpoints in mind. But by putting more emphasis on the conclusion of a story than the coherence of the steps that take us there, Glee is turning into Frankenstein’s monster as it lurches awkwardly into our living rooms.
11 responses so far ↓
1 rev s // Oct 12, 2009 at 12:24 am
“This is a sitcom, not a soap opera.”
It’s a hour-long dramedy, more closely related to soap operas than the situation comedy and even more so when I view it through your lens. With sudden cancellation constantly looming, it seems season-long arcs are sacrificed for the week-to-week action, leaving the writers room to wrap it all up at once if need be.
2 katy // Oct 12, 2009 at 8:18 am
I’m loving Glee, but the Terri Shuster character makes me a little uncomfortable. She’s just such a plot contrivance, as you say, and so much a caricature that the whole show seems to be doing apologetics for Will’s inevitable infidelity.
Plus, the scene in the second episode or so when she found out her pregnancy wasn’t real? I was squirming, and not in a good way. I mean, after all, finding out you miscarried / never had a pregnancy when you wanted one is potentially devastating, and the scene was played for laughs. It just didn’t work for me — nobody’s so big of a caricature that I’m going to be able to laugh at such a sincerely sad yet obviously-tossed-in-for-plot scenario.
As was the case with Nip/Tuck, Ryan Murphy seems much more sympathetic to his male characters than his female characters. I just try to grit my teeth and stick with it though, because I love the goofiness and the music. Plus he seems to be on Rachel’s side right now, and she’s my favorite. And Jane Lynch is such a hilarious monster that I can’t help myself.
3 Gryph // Oct 12, 2009 at 8:35 am
I tried watching Glee. I got through two whole episodes. But really? I am not much of one to demand a strict adherence to reality in my shows, but I can’t hack this. The few characters that are actually likable aren’t enough to make up for everyone else.
4 Lis // Oct 12, 2009 at 9:37 am
I could not agree with you more about the stupid pregnancy arc. I can not buy that a woman as conniving and mean as Terri wouldn’t have faked a miscarriage to garner sympathy from her husband rather than this whole stupid stupid baby adopting, pregnancy belly wearing contrivance. It’s painful to watch. As it is now I mostly DVR and fast forward through her parts because I find them so annoying, and that’s not good news for this show.
5 Michael // Oct 12, 2009 at 10:17 am
Grouchy old sod mode on: Tried watching Glee with half-attention once; will try again with fuller attention, but I’m decidedly skeptical. Part of it is its currency with a group of particularly giggly and trivial students who can’t stop eagerly bubbling about it: it would help if they were doing their classwork. Harrrrrumph!
6 Krista // Oct 12, 2009 at 11:34 am
I’m watching, but the fake pregnancy is stretching my enjoyment. Occasionally after the noon news I’ll catch the first few minutes of “Days of Our Lives” and that plot just happened to Nicole.
I have all but the pilot on my dvr and continue to watch the musical moments. I’ve accepted that I’m just watching for that and plot is just something that sets up the songs.
7 InfoMofo // Oct 12, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Hmm, I commented on one of your earlier posts (http://www.thecriticalcondition.com/2009/03/23/heroes/) that I am a “love em and leave em” series watcher. Generally, I find that a lot of TV shows have an interesting enough premise or device or cast or initial plot to keep me interested through 1 or 2 seasons, and then I get totally bored and move on.
So for Glee, I’m still in the burn-in phase. I still love the punchy musical numbers, the spot-on satirical characterizations, and the wacky plot. I’m actually totally ok with the application of “tv logic” to these relationships, as I find Glee to be more of a comedy than a drama. It’s like how you don’t really question why Bayside High is having prom halfway through the schoolyear, or why you don’t question why Monica’s apartment is rent controlled, and Joey’s isn’t, but they swap roommates every few months and no one seems to care about this rental price discrepancy? Hm, I guess I did question that a bit.
On the topic of Glee, did they cast Lea Michelle, or did they grow her out of a petri dish from some cells scraped out of Idina Menzel’s cheek? Seriously.
8 Sarah // Oct 12, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Still watching Glee at this point. Not sure if I’ll stick with it forever, but so far the musical numbers are enough to keep me watching (the “Single Ladies” week was my fave so far).
One of my problems with the show is Mr. Shuster. I feel like we are supposed to love him/root for him based on what the show is telling me, but so far there is something missing that keeps me from doing so. I know there is the “heightened reality” thing going on, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy the main character. I feel like it is the actor more than the writing, but I just can’t put my finger on it.
I feel like he should be more like the title character on “Ed”…immensely irritating at times, sure, but in the end you still love him and his misguided actions. On this show, I find myself wishing that Emma really would just move on and find someone new to connect with – and based on the witing, I’m sure that is not the feeling I’m supposed to get!
Something is missing for me with Glee so far and I wish they’d figure it out before it is too late.
9 Gonzalo // Oct 12, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I’m with you on the fake pregnancy plot (yuck), and the overall unevenness of the show. Although I think the main problem with the pregnancy is not about how unreal it is. For me, “tv logic” does apply here, and I’m happy to suspend my disbelief, and (kinda, sorta) buy that she’s faking a pregnancy and her husband doesn’t know. But I think Mrs. Shrew-ster is such a thankless, abhorrent character, that she’s just annoying to watch. She’s, by all accounts I’ve read or heard, universally disliked (and not in the “I love to hate her” way, as is the case with Sue Sylvester). Poor Jessalyn Gilsig… this is clearly a waste of her talent.
My overall problem with the show is less about how unbelievable it is (I think that may be besides the point here), and more about the uneven tone within each storyline in each episode. Part of Glee’s beauty and appeal is that its tone is wildly shifting, and goes all over the map: absurdest comedy, earnest teen drama, musical joyride, teen show parody. But it’s hard to take the Emma/Will/Mrs. Shrew-ster love triangle seriously when that storyline jumps all over the map in tone and style *within a single episode*. My reactions to that sub-plot last week: “Oh, cute, she wiped the mustard off his nose!”. “Haha, how ridiculous, she’s fake pregnant and got a nursing job without any experience”. “Oh, snap, Emma! Cat fight!”. “Awww, poor star-crossed lovers”. “No, Emma, are you that stupid, why would you marry *him*?”. Except by the end, I was just too confused to utter those reactions. I think the show works best when it strikes an even tone for each plot throughout each single episode (or when it does shift tones, it does it in a thoughtful and an effective way, like with Kurt’s coming out storyline).
Still, for all its ups and downs, I still find it a fascinating show, and I’m glad it takes more risks than most things out there, even if they don’t all pay off. We’re only 5 eps in, and there’s a lot of room to grow, so let’s give Ryan Murphy some slack for not getting it always right, and stop judging him for all those Nip/Tuck fiasco.
Also? I have the Halo/Walking on Sunshine mash-up on repeat right now. Last week it was Maybe This Time. Most of the musical numbers in this show still make me giddy, so I’m willing to forgive it a lot.
10 Doug // Oct 12, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Totally agree. But what bothers me more than the fake-preggers storyline is how mismatched The Schusters are. I hate when writers do this, make a husband and wife so incompatible we have nothing to support why they’ve been together for as long as they have or fell in love in the first place (Juno also comes to mind).
But I love the individual musical numbers. My favorite so far: Mercedes’ “Bust Your Windows” cover.
11 Rachael // Dec 4, 2009 at 11:48 am
If this show gets cancelled, I will be sad. Yes, the plot is questionable. Yes, Mr. Shuster is basically… annoying. YES its so predictable it hurts. BUT!… It is, written and acted, just like a Musical (not high school musical either). Any Musical, Les Mis, Cats, Parade, Cabaret, Evita, etc etc, has this like, crazy bust into song at any given moment, forcing a story to grow when its not ready, for the satisfaction of big swelling musical numbers. This is not about the plot. This isn’t ‘Wonder Years.’ Its a sitcom MUSICAL. And I love it. The cheesiness is perfect. The songs are awesome. And, the tongue in cheekiness of it makes me laugh. So, its FAR from typical, and thats why I like it. If this show is cancelled, and TV land dosen’t supply me with SOMETHING, Fame revival, etc etc I will be so so sad. Because really, I dont watch TV. And this has me watching.
Because… i’m a cheesy poof. That is all.
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