281 replies to this topic

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Okay Gleeks! The back nine episodes officially aired tonight! So what did you think of "Hell-o?"

Additionally, here's Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) performing Madonna's "Vogue."
http://www.hulu.com/...2123/glee-vogue

[tdalton]

I thought that tonight's episode was easily the weakest of the series. For an episode that was supposed to serve as something of a second premiere for the series in order to grab some viewers who weren't already watching and get them into the show, I think that this episode failed miserably. The first 13 episodes were quite a lot of fun, with outlandish storylines and some excellent humor from everyone involved. Also, the first 13 episodes were focused more on the cast as an ensemble, rather than just on Rachel and Finn, which was all this episode was about. Aside from sitting in the background of Lea's performance of "Give Me Hell" (which was outstanding, and the only moment that really captured the vibe the previous 13 episodes had generated), were Dianna Agron and Mark Salling even in the episode?

Spoiler

Also, the need for several new "villains" just really helped to ruin the episode. Glee only needs Sue Sylvester, as there's only room for one "villain" like that, as the rest of the show should be quite lighthearted and fun (and even Jane Lynch's mean moments come across as quite fun). I'm split on the two new villains they've appeared to have added. Idina Menzel, from her brief appearance, looks as though she'll be immensely entertaining as the coach ov Vocal Adrenaline. Jonathan Groff, on the other hand, appears to be placed into a role that's somewhat equivalent to Brandon Routh's Agent Shaw on Chuck, and I could see the Jessie St. James character being much like Agent Shaw, in that he'll become very annoying very quickly and could end up being a detriment to the show. Nothing against Groff, who is by all accounts a talented performer, but I'm not sold on the idea of the character he plays.

On a positive note, the music was good, although it does need to be spread around a bit. Dianna Agron and Mark Salling need to be more involved on that front, as the singer/songwriter acoustic-guitar vibe that they really excel at needs to be exploited a bit more as a contrast to the over-produced music numbers the show typically goes for. Agron's "Papa Don't Preach" and Salling's "Sweet Caroline" are the types of numbers I'd like to see more of on the show, in addition to Lea's always fantastic show-stopping performances.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Tdalton, I would have to agree with you. While there were certain moments of the show that I liked (Sue: "You may be two of the stupidest teens I've ever encountered. And that's saying something. I once taught a cheerleading seminar to a young Sarah Palin.), I felt like there was too much going on with this episode that just took away from the overall episode. For example, the whole relationship status of Rachel and Jesse, and Will and Emma and Will and Idina Menzel's character.(What's her name?) It felt like relationship overload. The funniest relationship was between the two cheerleaders and Finn ("Did you know that dolphins are just gay sharks?"), but they need to cut back with the relationships and focus on characters who haven't had any introduction.

Additionally, I didn't think that any of the songs from this episode were particularly catchy. They were good songs, but nothing like "Don't Rain on my Parade" catchy.

Oh, well. I can say that I'm eagerly anticipating the upcoming Madonna episode. Here's the Glee cast's version of Madonna's "Like a Prayer."

[tdalton]

Additionally, I didn't think that any of the songs from this episode were particularly catchy. They were good songs, but nothing like "Don't Rain on my Parade" catchy.

I completely agree with everything you said in your post, but would only have a slight disagreement with what I've quoted above (and I still largely agree with this statement as well ). For the most part, I thought that the music from "Hell-O" was largely forgettable (assuming we're not including Jane Lynch's "Vogue" ), but I found Lea's "Gives You Hell" to be one of the best musical numbers on the show in a while, perhaps just below the likes of "Rain on My Parade", "Somebody to Love", and "Don't Stop Believing", but still up there nonetheless. The rest of the music, though, I'm in complete agreement on.

Thanks for posting the full length version of "Like a Prayer", although I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed by it. To set the record straight, it is a very good performance of the song, but I think that it also goes to great lengths to show just how much better a singer Lea Michele is compared to the rest of the vocalists on the show. When they aired the promo that included just Lea's part of the song, I thought that it would have been easily the best performance ever on the show, given how exceptional her performance on the song was. The inclusion of the rest of the singers on this one song, however, weakens it a bit, IMO.

The song that I'm looking forward to the most on Tuesday is "Borderline / Open Your Heart", of which the preview I heard (including only the chorus to "Open Your Heart") sounded phenomenal as a duet between Lea and Cory Monteith. I can't wait to hear that one in its entirety, as, assuming that its kept primarily a Lea vocal, it could very well end up being one of my absolute favorite performances of the series.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Tdalton, really? You didn't like "Like a Prayer?" Personally, I like it! I do agree that adding in the whole cast was a little much. However, I can't wait for the music on Tuesday (I preordered it on iTunes!).
Also, here are two previews for the Madonna episode:
http://www.eonline.c...ester_does.html

There's just one thing I don't understand: how can the guys in the club be sexist? They've been tolerant of just about everyone in the series, but the girls? Really?

[tdalton]

Tdalton, really? You didn't like "Like a Prayer?" Personally, I like it! I do agree that adding in the whole cast was a little much. However, I can't wait for the music on Tuesday (I preordered it on iTunes!).
Also, here are two previews for the Madonna episode:
http://www.eonline.c...ester_does.html

There's just one thing I don't understand: how can the guys in the club be sexist? They've been tolerant of just about everyone in the series, but the girls? Really?

I liked "Like a Prayer". It's a very good performance. The source of my "disappointment" with it was that, based on the promo where we only heard Lea's part of the song, I thought that it would turn out (had it only been a Lea solo) something well beyond anything that they had done on the show before, and could have been better than Madonna's version of the song, as I have that much respect for Lea as a vocalist. As the song currently is configured, it's a very good performance that I do enjoy quite a bit.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Oh, okay.
Well, I have MORE Glee/Madonna: Here's some previews for the upcoming songs for the next episode:



As a side note, from now until the end of the semester, a couple of friends and myself get together to watch the new episodes of Glee and we are just laughing at the many hysterical lines in the show. So, I really hope that this show stays around for a long, LONG time...

[tdalton]

Oh, okay.
Well, I have MORE Glee/Madonna: Here's some previews for the upcoming songs for the next episode:



As a side note, from now until the end of the semester, a couple of friends and myself get together to watch the new episodes of Glee and we are just laughing at the many hysterical lines in the show. So, I really hope that this show stays around for a long, LONG time...

I do think that, overall, this next episode will be the strongest episode musically, as all of those previews sound pretty good. I will say, though, that "Borderline / Open Your Heart" just sounds phenomenal. "Open Your Heart" is quite firmly entrenched as my favorite Madonna song, and I think that Lea just knocks it (or at least the chorus, as that's what we get in the preview) completely out of the park.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

I think that the song I'm looking forward to hearing the most besides Sue Sylvester's "Vogue" is Kurt and Mercedes' "4 Minutes." It just sounds so awesome!


Last Glee news for a while, I hope: Read this if you want to know more about the relationship between Idina Menzel's character and Rachel Berry. Be warned, there are spoilers:
http://www.eonline.c...ina_menzel.html

[tdalton]

Last Glee news for a while, I hope: Read this if you want to know more about the relationship between Idina Menzel's character and Rachel Berry. Be warned, there are spoilers:
http://www.eonline.c...ina_menzel.html

I'm not sure that I'd like it if they went that direction. As the author said in the article

Spoiler

Idina Menzel's character sending Jessie St. James to seduce her daughter to ultimately ruin New Directions would be, at the absolute very least, creepy, and way too much so for a show like this. As the author also said, its possible that Menzel's character wouldn't know about her being Rachel's mom (which I wouldn't be able to buy for one second, but lets accept it for the sake of argument), but it would still make the Rachel/Jesse storyline creepy beyond belief.

[tdalton]

The Madonna episode music is now up on iTunes. I must say that, what I've heard thus far, is phenomenal. "Express Yourself" and "Borderline / Open Your Heart" are amongst the best performances in the entire series, sitting right alongside "Don't Stop Believing" as the best performances of the series.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

I'm actually glad you told me this! I'm going to iTunes right now to download the songs (I've been stuck in our own Glee meeting all night tonight) and listen to them all day tomorrow. Hope my professors don't mind it, lol.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Alright, Gleeks! What did we think of this week's episode, "The Power of Madonna?"
Personally, I think that this episode was the season's best episode and the music in the show was PHENOMENAL!

[tdalton]

Alright, Gleeks! What did we think of this week's episode, "The Power of Madonna?"
Personally, I think that this episode was the season's best episode and the music in the show was PHENOMENAL!

I haven't gotten a chance to see the episode yet, but I listened to all of the songs off of iTunes, and I agree that the music was phenomenal. "Express Yourself" and "Borderline / Open Your Heart" are my favorite performances of the series.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

I haven't gotten a chance to see the episode yet, but I listened to all of the songs off of iTunes, and I agree that the music was phenomenal. "Express Yourself" and "Borderline / Open Your Heart" are my favorite performances of the series.

Then I promise not to spoil anything until you've seen it, lol.
I agree that the "Borderline/Open Your Heart" mashup was very nice and it works nicely in the scene, too.

[tdalton]

I haven't gotten a chance to see the episode yet, but I listened to all of the songs off of iTunes, and I agree that the music was phenomenal. "Express Yourself" and "Borderline / Open Your Heart" are my favorite performances of the series.

Then I promise not to spoil anything until you've seen it, lol.
I agree that the "Borderline/Open Your Heart" mashup was very nice and it works nicely in the scene, too.

Thanks.

I hope to watch it within a couple of hours, assuming my DVR decides to cooperate with me (a 50-50 proposition at best). If not, I'll be eagerly waiting for it on Hulu. Can't wait to be able to discuss it, though, as everything I've heard has said it's one of the best TV episodes to air this season for any show.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

I hope to watch it within a couple of hours, assuming my DVR decides to cooperate with me (a 50-50 proposition at best). If not, I'll be eagerly waiting for it on Hulu. Can't wait to be able to discuss it, though, as everything I've heard has said it's one of the best TV episodes to air this season for any show.

What has technology come to? lol
I'll just say that everything that you've heard is correct. It is one of the season's best episodes.

[tdalton]

I hope to watch it within a couple of hours, assuming my DVR decides to cooperate with me (a 50-50 proposition at best). If not, I'll be eagerly waiting for it on Hulu. Can't wait to be able to discuss it, though, as everything I've heard has said it's one of the best TV episodes to air this season for any show.

What has technology come to? lol
I'll just say that everything that you've heard is correct. It is one of the season's best episodes.

Without even having seen the episode, I feel I'd be safe in assuming that it's a significant improvement over last week's disaster of an episode.

[SecretAgentFan]

Only two episodes left in my Season One-DVD. Already missing the show. But I couldn´t help getting the three CDs. I never thought I would love a compilation of cover versions. But somehow these really work for me.

Of course, being a teenager of the 80´s, I´m instantly in favor of those tunes whenever they get remade on "Glee".

And the cover of "Don´t stop believing"... dare I say it... is even better than the "Journey"-version.

By the way - here´s the setlist for the next "Glee"-CD arriving in May:

http://www.broadwayw...ounced_20010101

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Just read an article about Glee on Eonline.com regarding Rachel's love interests:
http://www.eonline.c...elebrities_glee

BTW, if you want to know more about the Puck story that supposed to be incredibly sad, enjoy this earlier snippet from Eonline:

"Well, Lea Michele told my friend Marc Malkin that Rachel's 'heart is with

Spoiler

Finn'

(yay!), so that's definitely good news for you

Spoiler

Finn

and Rachel shippers. As for Puck and Rachel, I'm hearing rumblings of a very sad twist for Puck (Mark Salling) that's so serious I don't even want to hint at it for fear I'll cry."

[tdalton]

Finally got to watch last night's episode, and I'm somewhat split in my reaction to it. First of all, just for the record, it is one of the best hours that we've had on TV this season, period. The music was, for the most part, head and shoulders above anything the series has done to this point. "Express Yourself" and "Borderline / Open Your Heart" both sit atop the list of Glee performances, and it was fantastic to see the light-hearted nature of the show return after last week's uncharacteristically cold episode.

Now, for the bad (and I want to state that, as a standalone episode, the Madonna episode is top-notch without question, and it is the best episode of the series by far). The problems that I have with this episode are not so much because of the episode, but where the story seems to be headed beyond this episode. Much like Brandon Routh's Agent Shaw on Chuck, Jonathan Groff's Jessie St. James just doesn't feel like a good fit on the series, primarily because he has about zero on-screen chemistry with Lea Michele, which is odd since the two are said to be best friends in real life. Also, and I'm even confused about this myself, despite having a voice that's just about inferior to everyone else on the show (and especially inferior to Groff's voice) and one that needs to be auto-tuned beyond recognition, Cory Monteith's voice just meshes so much better with Lea Michele's than does Groff's. I would just point to "Borderline / Open Your Heart" as prime examples, especially when compared to Groff and Michelle's "Hello" last week.

Another issue that I have with the episode was the "Like a Virgin" storyline running through it. It felt rather unnecessary and quite tacky, and that version of the song was even worse than the original (just for the record, I've never cared at all for the song). I found it a bit creepy the way the scene was shifting between three different couples singing vastly different interpretations of the song to each other, and none of them singing it particularly well.

On a positive and a negative note, however, we finally had a Dianna Agron sighting! And, for the bad, it seemed as though, in an episode where I would have hoped to have had her heavily featured (if anyone had to take on "Like a Virgin", it should have been Quinn, if only for the ridiculous sense of irony it would have carried), she only got a line or two of dialogue and one verse in "Express Yourself". And, somehow, they managed to find a way for her not to be appear pregnant in the performance of "Express Yourself". It's almost as if she's not even a part of the cast anymore, which feels like quite a shame, since amongst the main players, she's one of the most talented (behind only Jane Lynch and Lea Michele in terms of overall talent, IMO).

I know it probably comes across as though I didn't like the episode, but I did like it quite a bit. But, I am concerned about where they're taking the overall story heading into the Season 1 finale here in about a month and a half. The addition of the Jessie St. James character feels rather unnecessary, and not because it keeps Finn and Rachel apart, because I don't really care one way or another on that front, but because it's setting up for either a double-agent scenario with him there to tear the club apart from within, or he's just going to be an annoying character like Chuck's Agent Shaw was and one that ultimately drags down the season. Once again, though, not necessarily a knock on Groff, but I do think he may have been miscast in this role.





Also, some really good news for next season. A "sequel" to the Madonna episode is apparently in the works, according to EW.com

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Now, for the bad (and I want to state that, as a standalone episode, the Madonna episode is top-notch without question, and it is the best episode of the series by far). The problems that I have with this episode are not so much because of the episode, but where the story seems to be headed beyond this episode. Much like Brandon Routh's Agent Shaw on Chuck, Jonathan Groff's Jessie St. James just doesn't feel like a good fit on the series, primarily because he has about zero on-screen chemistry with Lea Michele, which is odd since the two are said to be best friends in real life. Also, and I'm even confused about this myself, despite having a voice that's just about inferior to everyone else on the show (and especially inferior to Groff's voice) and one that needs to be auto-tuned beyond recognition, Cory Monteith's voice just meshes so much better with Lea Michele's than does Groff's. I would just point to "Borderline / Open Your Heart" as prime examples, especially when compared to Groff and Michelle's "Hello" last week.

I tell ya what. I'm already sick of Jesse and I don't think that he joined New Directions just to be with Rachel. I've heard rumors that he's not even in season 2 which makes me concerned for New Directions and Rachel.

Another issue that I have with the episode was the "Like a Virgin" storyline running through it. It felt rather unnecessary and quite tacky, and that version of the song was even worse than the original (just for the record, I've never cared at all for the song). I found it a bit creepy the way the scene was shifting between three different couples singing vastly different interpretations of the song to each other, and none of them singing it particularly well.

Agreed. I felt it was a little too creepy having Mr. Schue and Emma, Jesse and Rachel, and Finn and Santana singing the same song while they're about to lose their virginity. Creepy...

Also, some really good news for next season. A "sequel" to the Madonna episode is apparently in the works, according to EW.com

Oooh, I like that idea. I wonder what they would do for that. And BTW, tdalton, what did you think of Sue's "Vogue?"
Personally, one of the things that I liked in the show (so small) were the costumes that you can see as Finn and Rachel are singing "Borderline/Open Your Heart." It's such a small detail, but I really like it.

[tdalton]

Now, for the bad (and I want to state that, as a standalone episode, the Madonna episode is top-notch without question, and it is the best episode of the series by far). The problems that I have with this episode are not so much because of the episode, but where the story seems to be headed beyond this episode. Much like Brandon Routh's Agent Shaw on Chuck, Jonathan Groff's Jessie St. James just doesn't feel like a good fit on the series, primarily because he has about zero on-screen chemistry with Lea Michele, which is odd since the two are said to be best friends in real life. Also, and I'm even confused about this myself, despite having a voice that's just about inferior to everyone else on the show (and especially inferior to Groff's voice) and one that needs to be auto-tuned beyond recognition, Cory Monteith's voice just meshes so much better with Lea Michele's than does Groff's. I would just point to "Borderline / Open Your Heart" as prime examples, especially when compared to Groff and Michelle's "Hello" last week.

I tell ya what. I'm already sick of Jesse and I don't think that he joined New Directions just to be with Rachel. I've heard rumors that he's not even in season 2 which makes me concerned for New Directions and Rachel.

Another issue that I have with the episode was the "Like a Virgin" storyline running through it. It felt rather unnecessary and quite tacky, and that version of the song was even worse than the original (just for the record, I've never cared at all for the song). I found it a bit creepy the way the scene was shifting between three different couples singing vastly different interpretations of the song to each other, and none of them singing it particularly well.

Agreed. I felt it was a little too creepy having Mr. Schue and Emma, Jesse and Rachel, and Finn and Santana singing the same song while they're about to lose their virginity. Creepy...

Also, some really good news for next season. A "sequel" to the Madonna episode is apparently in the works, according to EW.com

Oooh, I like that idea. I wonder what they would do for that. And BTW, tdalton, what did you think of Sue's "Vogue?"
Personally, one of the things that I liked in the show (so small) were the costumes that you can see as Finn and Rachel are singing "Borderline/Open Your Heart." It's such a small detail, but I really like it.

Agreed with your points there. I doubt that Jessie St. James will be back next season, but I'm not too concerned about the club or with Rachel. I think the end result will be positive, I'm just worried about the direction they're taking to get there.

I liked "Vogue" very much, my third favorite song of the episode. Although when it's put that way, it might make it look as though I didn't like the song, but I just enjoyed "Express Yourself" and "Borderline/Open Your Heart" so much that it forces a exceptionally strong performance like Jane Lynch's "Vogue" into third place for the week.

Also agreed on the costumes seen during "Borderline/Open Your Heart". I'm assuming that you're talking about all of the girls dressed up like Madonna wondering the hall, which I thought was a visually striking choice to make there. I actually didn't even notice it until they had the one that was carrying the stuffed animal dog walk right in front of the camera, after which I found myself noticing that there were a whole bunch of "Madonnas" strolling the halls. Very subtly done, but once you notice it, it's a very striking visual image that works quite well.

As for the sequel to the Madonna episode, I hope that they include two songs in the episode for Lea Michele to perform. I'd love to hear her take on "I'll Remember" and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore", as I think she'd absolutely knock both of those out of the park. I also hope that they give Dianna Agron a solo during that episode as well. I thought she did a tremendous job on the reinvention of "Papa Don't Preach" as an acoustic number, and I think that she would do quite well with quite a few songs from Madonna's catalogue.

One other thing that's bugging me so far in these two episodes, though, is the lack of information on what's going on with Quinn. I know that Ryan Murphy said that they were scaling back the pregnancy issues, but it would be nice to know what's going on with her in terms of where she's living and just basically what's going on with her. She's been noticeably absent so far in the first two episodes of the Back 9 after having been one of the main characters through the first 13 episodes.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

One other thing that's bugging me so far in these two episodes, though, is the lack of information on what's going on with Quinn. I know that Ryan Murphy said that they were scaling back the pregnancy issues, but it would be nice to know what's going on with her in terms of where she's living and just basically what's going on with her. She's been noticeably absent so far in the first two episodes of the Back 9 after having been one of the main characters through the first 13 episodes.

There's a YouTube video of the Glee cast on Oprah. They show some behind the scenes scenes and there's a whole dance routine where Quinn is a little pregnant. Here it is. Watch it at 7:20:

[tdalton]

One other thing that's bugging me so far in these two episodes, though, is the lack of information on what's going on with Quinn. I know that Ryan Murphy said that they were scaling back the pregnancy issues, but it would be nice to know what's going on with her in terms of where she's living and just basically what's going on with her. She's been noticeably absent so far in the first two episodes of the Back 9 after having been one of the main characters through the first 13 episodes.

There's a YouTube video of the Glee cast on Oprah. They show some behind the scenes scenes and there's a whole dance routine where Quinn is a little pregnant. Here it is. Watch it at 7:20:

Thanks for posting that.

I actually saw it when it aired, but had forgotten about that small clip of the performance there at the end. I'm looking forward to that episode quite a bit, as I've found it odd that they've all but dropped a main character from the storytelling in these past two episodes.

That performance does look like it'll be quite a lot of fun to watch. I wonder what the context for the performance will end up being.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

That performance does look like it'll be quite a lot of fun to watch. I wonder what the context for the performance will end up being.

I wonder if that's the song they'll be singing at Regionals.
However, I do wonder what'll happen if they win Regionals. What's next? State? Nationals?
Personally, I think that the Glee kids should fail Regionals, and then Season 2 will be getting back to Regionals. That's just an idea I had...

[tdalton]

That performance does look like it'll be quite a lot of fun to watch. I wonder what the context for the performance will end up being.

I wonder if that's the song they'll be singing at Sectionals.
However, I do wonder what'll happen if they win Sectionals. What's next? State? Nationals?
Personally, I think that the Glee kids should fail Sectionals, and then Season 2 will be getting back to Sectionals. That's just an idea I had...

That would't be the worst direction to go. I could actually see that being an interesting way for them to take the series, since I think that it's pretty much assumed that their just going to go ahead and win the whole thing.

I did have one thought, however, as I was just re-watching the "Borderline/Open Your Heart" scene of the episode on Hulu. The part just before the performance, when Rachel's asking Finn to trust her and that she knows what she's doing. Since it's kind of assumed at this point (given the not so subtle hints) that

Spoiler

Jesse is there to destroy New Directions from within, what if Rachel's actually the one with the devious plan, and even though the "relationship" between the two started off somewhat innocently, and she's actually planning to take down Vocal Adrenaline by distracting Jesse with their romance?

I doubt that's where it's headed, but I think that it would be a nice twist if they went that way, since I doubt many would see it coming.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

That would be an interesting angle for the show. If New Directions goes down, then so does Vocal Adrenaline.
Also, I heard a rumor about one of the judges at Regionals. The rumor is that one of the judges will be

Spoiler

Sue Sylvester

!
I'll try and find the article, but what a shock would that be???

[tdalton]

That would be an interesting angle for the show. If New Directions goes down, then so does Vocal Adrenaline.
Also, I heard a rumor about one of the judges at Regionals. The rumor is that one of the judges will be

Spoiler

Sue Sylvester

!
I'll try and find the article, but what a shock would that be???

I was thinking of it being more of Vocal Adrenaline going down while New Directions goes on to the win at regionals thanks to Rachel sabotage effort against Jesse. What I think needs to happen for the group to win nationals anyway would be for the team to become a bit more cohesive, as there still seems to be a lot of infighting at this point. Rachel still seems to be very much an outcast within the group to everyone except Finn, but I think that by having her pull a fast one like that over on Jesse and propel the team to an unexpected win at regionals over Vocal Adrenaline would put her in the good graces of the rest of the team so that they could go forward as a cohesive group.

And the idea of

Spoiler

Sue Sylvester as a judge

would be absolute comedic gold. Can you imagine her arguing with that group of judges from the sectionals competition. I'm laughing at it already and I don't even know how exactly that would unfold.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Okay. Here's the article about the judges at Regionals:
http://ausiellofiles...inale-spoilers/

Also, here's another article regarding a possible relationship?
http://ausiellofiles...lee-terri-finn/