Glee...I hardly know ye...

Hi everyone!

Is there anyone out there in the blogosphere who still watches "Glee"? I've been a fan of the show since its premiere in 2009. I've followed its up and downs and continue to stick with it even though more often than not I feel that it's become a show that's lost its way.

The first season was a brilliant take on contemporary high school, touching on issues that affect high school students with insight, satirical humor, and a fair bit of poignancy. Having been a high school choir and show choir geek myself--now over twenty years ago--I even related to the bond these gleeks have with each other set against the social exclusion and bullying they often encountered for being "different." At the end of its fourth season, there is still much to recommend about the show. I don't think there's any show currently on network television that succeeds as "Glee" often does in pulling at the heartstrings while 'teaching' worthwhile lessons about race, GLBT, teen pregnancy, and the universal desire to fit in regardless of one's socioeconomic status.

However...this season the show has been saddled with trite and treacly story-lines that don't really go anywhere and the characters themselves--who once possessed the charm and biting wit of the best of John Hughes--have been reduced to one-dimensional caricatures who are more annoying than they are relatable.

I, for one, am sick of the Rachel and Finn on-again/off-again romance and the will-they-or-won't-they get married plot inspires little more than indifference. Quinn, the mean girl pregnant cheerleader of the first and second seasons, who had always been my favorite character, barely registers on-screen anymore. A promising plot earlier this season wherein she and resident bad-boy Puck (the baby's father) conspired to steal their baby away from its adoptive mother--a rival show choir director at the high school--petered out as Quinn suddenly had a change-of-heart and then was reduced to serving little purpose other than as back-up singer. I am especially disappointed by the handling of Quinn's horrific car accident. This was the moment the Winter season finale built up to. It was a true cliffhanger in the classic 80s prime time soap tradition: Quinn was running late to Rachel and Finn's wedding. She's driving home to pick up her bridesmaids dress while texting a panicking Rachel and not paying attention to the road. A semi  slams into her car and the screen goes black. Like millions of gleeks around the country at that moment, I was stunned. For that reason I couldn't wait to see last week's spring premiere. And boy was I disappointed, even a little pissed off.

Little mention is made of the accident. Quinn appears in a wheelchair looking as pretty as ever. She's paralyzed from waist down but is optimistic she'll gain full recovery. The mean girl has become something of a nice girl martyr all the while serving as a rather heavy-handed PSA against texting behind the wheel. It made me angry. I felt robbed as a loyal viewer. I felt I deserved something better than this.

My complaints continue. Some of the show's best moments have traditionally revolved around Jane Lynch's ascerbic and genuinely funny cheerleading coach. Now she's having a baby and has lost her edge. Matthew Morrison's Will Schuester has nothing to do anymore except introduce the week's glee club assignments and share 'teachable moments' with the kids, though he had a nice turn last night in the "Stayin' Alive" musical number. Kurt and Blaine function as little more than gay poster-children, which is fine I suppose, but I miss the genuinely wrenching moments where Kurt dealt with his sexuality and his relationship with his blue-collar auto mechanic dad. These scenes used to move me to tears. Who can forget Kurt's impassioned performance of "Rose's Turn" a couple seasons back? or last season's prom episode? Blaine, played by Darren Criss who is always a show highlight, has some nice moments, particularly in his musical sequences, but again any plot that might have been gritty or riveting in a real-life scenario (like when Blaine nearly lost his eye after a particularly vicious attack) was all tied-up with safe and sanitized ribbons and bows. Everyone lives happily ever after.

With only a handful of episodes remaining this season--and half the cast graduating from high school--change seems to be afoot...or is it? We already know that Rachel and Finn (the show's anchors) will be back for a fifth season (will they or won't they move to New York so Rachel can attend the New York Academy of Dramatic Art?) which may or may not be a good thing depending on whether the writers are able to create a plot line for them that presents a more realistic portrayal of what it's like struggling to become an actor in New York. I hope Blaine and Kurt remain because I think it's important to present positive gay relationships on television (Santana and Brittney also serve this purpose in a more humorous but no less poignant presentation). Maybe a broadening of locations as these characters branch out into the "real" world outside of high school will provide a much-needed creative spark to Ryan Murphy and his team?

It's not surprising that ratings have taken a plunge this season. I've considered abandoning the show as well, but every so often the show still gets at my core and keeps me hooked and I keep coming back. Bring back the sarcastic ever-so-slightly precocious humor, give these characters and their relationships a total overhaul (or abandon them altogether and start new) and return to what "Glee" always did best: entertain while making us think and laugh and weep and make us take a deeper look at ourselves--who we are now as adults, and who were were in high school.

Mr. Murphy, give us a reason to come back for Season Five.

Ciao.