Gleeks, last night's Glee touched on a sensitive and tragic topic homophobic violence, Rachel quits NYADA, and Mercedes and Sam explored their relationship. Let's recap, shall we?
Candlelight Vigil
The episode opened with our gang singing at a candlelight vigil for a recent victim of gay bashing. The camera focused heavily on Kurt, foreshadowing the violence that would later befall him.
Mid-Winter Exams
Carmen Tibideaux is back and she's grading the NYADA mid-winter exams. (How awesome is Whoopi?) Turns out Rachel and Blaine go rogue and perform a duet when Carmen explicitly told them not to. Blaine adapts and chooses another song, while Rachel protests. She already had to ask for time off from "Funny Girl," she doesn't want to have to ask again. Carmen reminds Rachel about committing to NYADA. Miss Berry decides NYADA won't stand in the way of her Broadway dreams and quits school. Whoa!
Hmm it's an unpredictable Broadway road out there. I hope Rachel knows what she's doing.
Bash
After Kurt and Rachel get into a heated argument, Rachel leaves Kurt by himself. While walking home, Kurt comes upon another guy getting beat up by the same homophobic jerks in an alley. Kurt bravely steps in and ends up getting beat up by the bigots. The bashing scene was heart-wrenching for so many reasons and particularly struck home for me because I have gay family members and that is my worst fear. I couldn't imagine getting that phone call.
Then when Burt showed up it was waterworks and a little laughter when Burt said, "Your beautiful face" and Kurt replied, "I hope I get a scar." Burt also made a good point, if you're not safe in NYC, where are you safe? The sad fact of the matter is close-minded people are everywhere, you can't run from them, but you can choose how you react.
Sam and Mercedes Relationship Update
Mercedes and Sam waffle back and forth about their relationship. At first Mercedes, caves to the record industry image pressure, worrying that no one will buy her album if she's dating a white guy. After a heartfelt merry-go-round song rendition of "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" and much pondering, Mercedes says screw it, let's date.
Later at pot luck dinner, everyone is like that's awesome you're dating, but your relationship has been a confusing mystery. Haha.
Favorite Songs of the Night
Kurt's mid-winter exam song "I'm Still Here" gave me chills for so many reasons. First and foremost because of what just happened to him, and also because it really showcased his amazing vocal range.
I also enjoyed Rachel and Blaine's duet. We don't often get musical pairings from them, and their performance was endearing.
LOL Moments
Sam watching The Facts of Life and his musings about Mrs. Garrett and her girls. Also when Blaine reads fan fiction to Sam.
Memorable Quotes
Sam: "How's it going? Call me white chocolate."
Sam: "I just got a haircut also in case anybody was wondering."
Mercedes' friend: "Girl, he's not just white, he's blonde. He's practically albino. You can see the veins in his temples."
Sam: ""When we were in Glee Club there was all types of people, gay, straight, black, white, Tina!"
Burt: "Look at your beautiful face."
Rachel: "What, I’m texting my publicist...That was a joke!"
Music featured
"Colour Blind"
"No One Is Alone"
"I'm Still Here"
"You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman"
"Not While I'm Around"
Gleeks, next week Blaine appears to be experiencing the Freshman 15 and one of our Gleeks has an STD. Yikes! See you next week!
