306 — Mash Off

Best Song

Everyone – Hit Me With Your Best Shot / One Way Or Another

Sophy says: Oh my god this whole thing was so adorable and hilarious right up until the physical abuse started. LIKE. RACHEL’S LITTLE PIGTAILS. AND QUINN’S ROARING. AND SANTANA’S SEXY WALK. CAN’T.

This kind of performance is what Glee is all about for me – fun and friendship. And if I just end it on Finn’s “Good game” when the Troubletones best the New Directions then I can pretend that’s really what the whole thing was about. Plus it reminded me of this. Which.

I felt that the songs worked relatively well together, and the fact that it was structured as an Us versus Them piece given the context the wider plot and of the dodgeball game, meant that the choppiness actually worked for the performance rather than against it. I’m generally very picky when it comes to mash-ups. In 99% of cases I think they just don’t work and ultimately feel pointless. That’s why I couldn’t choose the Adele number for best song – both are great songs individually, but together? Not so much. To be specific, the ‘Don’t forget me, I beg’ coming in above ‘Rumor has it’ felt seriously out of place and dissonant, and no matter how many times I’ve listened, it just won’t stop jarring.

That is a criticism of the arrangement though, not the performance. I thought both Amber and Naya sounded wonderful – and Naya’s acting was brilliant, especially the briefest nervous glance after But baby is that what you really want?

By the way, I should probably be honest. I kind of wanted to choose ‘Hot For Teacher’ because oh my god I just laughed and laughed and squealed and squealed the whole way through it. But Rin veto’d it. I think she has a problem with teachers and students having sex or something. ?

Anyway, I thought it was a brilliant and hilarious performance. And let’s take a moment to compare the way the New Directions handle teacher/student with the way the Warblers handle teacher/student.

We’re taking a moment.

And we’re done. And left once again asking that age-old question: “That Dalton Academy, is it a gay school or is it just a school that appears gay?”

I mean…

Seriously.

Rin says: I don’t recall veto-ing it. I think I merely steam rolled you on it.

BECAUSE HOW GREAT IS THIS FUCKING SCENE? It’s amazing. I saw gifs of some dodgeball shenanigans (just in tumblr-passing), and I was like, ‘heh funny I guess?’ but I never expected THIS. It was so wonderfully refreshing to me because of how unabashedly fun it was. Glee actually used the cliche of dodgeball to their advantage by setting it up as some serious throwdown — and honestly, what isn’t funny about these kids fully kitting up in opposing colours, getting way too competitive about throwing balls at each other? And I haven’t even gotten to the song yet.

I freaking love the two songs individually and together they worked really well. The choreography was perfect too, especially when they threw the dodgeballs in time with, ‘I’m gonna get you, get you, get you, get you.’ But you know what made it work more than anything else? The fact that it was all the kids singing/dancing together again, even if they were playing opposite each other, they were all included.

And there were so many funny faces.

And Santana singing with the slow mo? Perfect. AND NAYA’S SMILE AS SHE BESTED FINN. Perfect.

Also, Sophy, you pointed out Rachel’s pigtails which are in itself, but also Quinn has matching pigtails too. The only conclusion we can draw is that they did each others hair just before the game.

Oh, so many of you are probably scratching your heads wondering why the Adele mashup isn’t here. Like Sophy said, I didn’t feel it worked as a mash-up, but unlike Sophy, I do like mash-ups. I remember the first episode when they started to do them in season one was one of my favourite eps at the time! Anyway. In the case of the Adele mash-up, I really only connected with, and liked, one part of the song which was Santana during the first verse from Someone Like You. For me it’s the only part that works for Someone Like You and the increased tempo of Rumour Has It, the rest is just jarring for me.

And yeah, I don’t think it was bad. Obviously it was verrrrrrrrry popular, if not one of the most popular Glee songs from all seasons so far, but I just preferred the other two mash-ups more. They make me feel like I just drank 5 energy drinks in a row, whereas the other one doesn’t make me feel very much at all. It’s hard to top Adele when she already has this hauntingly unique voice paired with beautifully written songs. One thing Sophy said to me as we were discussing why we didn’t connect with the song was that when you do Adele, you have to really make it your own, otherwise it’s just never going to stand up to the original. Rolling In The Deep was a success because it was A Capella and they introduced a male voice. Turning Tables was a huge failure because Gwyneth. And at this point I’m surprised they didn’t throw Set Fire To The Rain in the mix just to get the complete set of “Most popular songs from Adele – 21.”

Anyway, I think I’ve gone a bit off-kilter now.

So let’s leave it at this.

Forever. And ever. Amen.


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Biggest LOL

“I’m Sue Sylvester. I have a human heart, and I approve this mes…”

Sophy says: Seriously these videos. Vintage Sue Sylvester and vintage Glee.

Also, before watching this ep we were warned that Rory was all up in it, but to be honest, I didn’t find his limited presence too upsetting. In fact I actually laughed at one of his lines.

“You’re skinny like all the crops failed on your family’s farm.”

Just. What. It was really fucking cute. I can’t deny it.

Also Naya’s delivery of “Oh, and, guys, hurry up, go get some moist towels. We have to keep Finn wet before we can roll him back in the sea.” was flawless.

Rin says: These campaign videos were GLORIOUS. There is no other way about it.

They reminded me of the campaign video Cook made that slandered Naomi when he ran for president of the student body. I think it was an unseen. Anyway, both hilarious, both grotesque in the graphics department.

AND THE WAY SHE JUST SAYS, I HAVE A HUMAN HEART.

And agreed. Santana was on fire during this episode.


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Best Scene

“I’m so proud of you. You are truly a star, Rachel. And it’s all still out there in front of you. I’m not going to be the first person to be a little jealous of all the amazing things you have lying ahead. I’m just going to be the only one who’s also cheering you on.”
“Maybe you could come to my Broadway debut.”
“Ooh, don’t try to stop me.”
“Maybe you could write your own version of the letter.”

Sophy says: I can’t look at Lea Michele’s face in those last two caps. I’m concerned that if I do I might actually die from the levels of adorable, kicked puppy that are going on in them.

I absolutely loved this scene. Every little bit of it. From the fact that Rachel would swallow her pride and what is no doubt a deep-seated fear of rejection, and go to Shelby to ask her for a letter of recommendation. Because she has balls, you know? She has serious ambition and I think it’s admirable.

Idina’s delivery of “Ohh, don’t try to stop me” was absolutely lump/throat, and I love that we saw her recognize and remark upon the fact that this girl who might have been her daughter is a spectacular human being. And I love the fact that Rachel had written her own letter for her to sign. Because she would.

The show had better follow through here, and give these two a solid arc. And by that I mean, this had better not be the last we hear of that letter Shelby’s writing. And the letter had better not be the last of their gorgeous and aching little relationship.

I’d love to see Rachel and Shelby discuss the Troubletones at some point, namely how unsettling it must have been for Rachel to have this woman – her mother and not her mother – be complicit in the defection of members and friends from the New Directions, thereby most likely causing Rachel to miss out on her dream of competing at Sectionals (12 member rule, anybody?) I’d also love to see Mercedes be involved in that conversation, actually. I can’t imagine how awkward and hurt Rachel must have felt when Mercedes, who’s supposed to be her friend, decided to ditch her and make an alliance with Shelby, of all people. This is seriously rocky emotional terrain. I do hope they don’t just roll carpet over it by Rachel miraculously be fine with everything that has transpired.

Rin says: You can never roll carpet over emotional terrain. It always seeps through and starts to smell. And I like my Glee smell-free, tyvm.

I am incredibly invested in Rachel/Shelby. It’s probably second highest on the ‘THINGS I MOST WANT FROM GLEE’ list. And this scene absolutely hammered it home for me, because as soon as Shelby reached out and told Rachel she was proud of her, I felt it. I felt it as much as Rachel did, and saw how much she craved acceptance from Shelby. Because her face. HER TINY LITTLE FACE. It does amazing things, and reminds me why I really hate to see Lea Michele wasted on things like New Year’s Eve.

Also writing the letter herself, whilst yes, it is one hundred percent something Rachel would do, it also shows how little she wants to ask of Shelby. And she might also be a little scared of what Shelby might write, given the chance. But after they have their little moment of bonding, perhaps hearing what Shelby has to say wouldn’t be all that bad? And I’m with Sophy on this one. This better not be the last we hear of this letter. I want tears and blood.

Shelby signing the letter without thinking twice, or even reading it, was also a head in hands moment for me.

&

“You have no idea what it means to be a mother. It’s not about whose body she comes out of; it’s about accepting the fact that you don’t matter anymore…that your feelings, and that your life and that your body they all come second to making sure that that child is happy and safe.”
“Is that why you gave yours up for money? At least I did what I thought was best for my baby. You were just a cash whore!”

Sophy says: Oh Quinn. You had it coming, and I’m really glad you got it.

Even though I also want to hold you to my bosom forever in a totally nonsexual way.

I’m really relieved that Quinn’s insane plot to get her claws on Beth has been exposed and I hope it means Quinn’s storyline is going to change course. Not that I think the storyline has been bad up to now – I actually think it’s been particularly well-handled, in that it has managed to consistently strike that delicate balance between ridiculous and real. It’s just that it has kind of made me feel quite… well… sick.

Take this scene. I had a massive knot in my stomach and kind of wanted to look away the whole time. Because wow.

My, hasn’t Quinn Fabray become scary? And so very, very sad.

Shelby points out how absurd and useless Quinn’s scheming has been when she asks if she really just thought the authorities were going to come here, see all the lolsy nonsense she planted, and “hand my baby over to you”? And that’s the moment when I remember how young Quinn is, when I realize that however much she’s been through she’s still so naive, and this whole baby mama drama business is more pathetic than it is Machiavellian. The slightly vomitty, breathless and small way Quinn says “She’s my baby,” is the kicker.

Because she’s really not. Beth is really not Quinn’s baby. And Shelby is quite right when she tells her she wouldn’t know the first thing about being a mother. She’s also completely right to tell Quinn she doesn’t feel comfortable having her around Beth anymore, but that doesn’t mean my heart didn’t just about cave in on itself when Quinn couldn’t quite help asking “Is Puck going to get to see her?” I don’t know, you guys. It was something in Dianna’s tight, miserable delivery, and the childish turn of phrase than was just gutting. And you can see that she’s already regretting it – all of it – from sticking the label on the hot sauce to calling Shelby a cash whore.

And you guys can we talk about the absolute genius of the throwaway “Mr Schue won’t miss me.” I just can’t. It really drove home just how low Quinn’s self-esteem has slipped and just how utterly lonely she feels, whether rightly or wrongly. In a season that has focused heavily on how Mercedes and Santana feel Will lets them down by not giving them enough opportunities to shine, this remark made me realize with a pang how useless and unwanted Quinn feels. And it’s on a whole other level from thinking she should get all the solos.

I think Shelby was right to put Quinn in her place. And I think her parting shot was absolute perfection:

“I hope you see this as a wake up call. Just because you take out your nose ring or dye your hair blonde again, it doesn’t make you any less lost.”

Because it shows that she gets it, you know? Whilst she has a responsibility to put Beth’s wellbeing first, and that means keeping her cray cray birth mother at arm’s length, Shelby does understand that Quinn isn’t evil – she’s just so very lost. I hope Quinn does see this as a wake-up call, and I hope that Shelby goes to Emma next school day and tells her that Quinn needs psychiatric help. Because the poor girl really, really does. This is way beyond being bitchy or selfish, though we know Quinn is very capable of being both of those things. This can’t be construed as anything other than a serious emotional breakdown.

Quinn/Therapy. Now.

Meanwhile can I just say that there’s nothing like watching someone who’s about to get told slowly realize that their sheer awfulness has been found out. As much as I think Puck owed it to Shelby to tell her what was going on with Quinn, I do feel that it might have been nicer of him to tell Quinn he was going to and give her the opportunity to do it herself. Or at least tell her before she walks into the mama lion’s den and completely humiliates herself. I say that not because Quinn deserves a softer blow, but because I’d like to see Puck be a better friend. I mean, these two made a baby together, you guys. Remember that moment at the end of season one, when Puck was gorgeous to her with the “Now more than ever”? Where did all that go?

Come on, show. Give us some beautiful platonic Puck/Quinn. You know you want to.

Meanwhile, as awful as Quinn has been in this whole plotline, Shelby and Puck are giving her a run for her money in the wrong stakes. I mean, I hope this little romance between them won’t proceed any further, but either way it’s downright morally and possibly legally wrong for Shelby to be in engaging in that kind of behaviour with a student. Not to mention that it’s so, so, so not in her daughter’s best interests. Making out with her teenage bio-dad is never going to lead to good places – at the very least it could lead to her missing out on having Puck in her life in a healthy, normal way. Bad, Shelby. Bad. And as for Puck, seducing his way into Beth’s life is nearly as creepy as what Quinn was trying to do. Sure, Idina Menzel is a very attractive woman, but you can’t kid me that Puck would be just as interested in starting a relationship with her if it didn’t mean he got to be his baby’s step-daddy.

Which. Fucking weird, show.

Rin says: You know what I love right now? That people are reading your comment thinking that it was really long.

AAAAAAAAHAHA. So wrong. You’ll see.

So Quinn Fabray. First things first.

“Even though I also want to hold you to my bosom forever in a totally nonsexual way.” I call bullshit to the last part. 

The reason I love Quinn and care about her is probably because Glee cares about her. In the way where it’s her storyline that has been carried through right from the start of the series till now. We’ve been more exposed to the many sides of Quinn, so for all the times she’s been a bitch, we’ve also seen all of her vulnerabilities. So that’s why, even after all of her crazy, it’s so easy to sympathise with her. We know what she’s been going through, because she’s been struggling with it for so long now. And it’s kind of great on Glee’s behalf that they’ve never let the baby-gate go, because really, do you ever stop dealing with something like that?

And like Sophy, I’m so glad that Shelby has confronted Quinn because now hopefully we’re going to move on to something else. Quinn’s crazy plan has definitely run its course and I’m pretty excited to see where things go from here. I’ve read a lot of dislike for the CrazyQuinn plot, and it was coming from people whose opinions I greatly value, so I was at a loss as to what they exactly had a problem with. Is what she’s been doing ridiculous? Of course it is! But it’s no more ridiculous than anything else that has happened on Glee before. Her actions are those of a 17 year old girl who is desperate and clearly not in her right mind. When she called Shelby a ‘cash whore’, so many alarm bells went off in my head because of course Quinn Fabray would resort to childish name-calling. She was quickly losing the battle and when she’s backed into a corner she lashes out the only way she knows how. The way Queen Bee Quinn Fabray would. What she doesn’t understand is that no matter how similar hers and Shelby’s stories are, Shelby is no longer a teen and they’re not on the same level. Shelby has more than learnt from her mistakes and is a very capable mother. Everything she’s said about motherhood has been quite thoughtful and very true.

And just, Quinn literally has nothing left to lose at this point. And it’s sad. Ever since she got pregnant she’s been losing and losing. You could say she gained some real friends as the Glee club supported her through her pregnancy, which she did. She totally did. But where are they now when she needs them the most? I can understand Puck’s betrayal. But I’m looking at people like Santana and Brittany. I loved their moment during the finale last season because it was a rare insight as to why they’re actually friends. And I understand that friendship is a two-way street and Quinn blew them off when they tried to reach out in 301, but the three of them are supposed to be close. And that’s why I was a bit sad when Santana only thought of Brittany when she abandoned New Directions and joined the Troubletones. Mercedes too. Which like, isn’t Kurt Mercedes best friend or something? God I really hate the Troubletones.

Sorry. Sometimes I get locked on when I think about the Troubletones.

DIANNA! Dianna Agron! Look how far she’s come since the start of the series! And perhaps that’s more of the reason why fans are unhappy with her storyline because they wish for better things on Dianna’s behalf. But guys, all of it has led to this scene which has shown her off so spectacularly. This and some of her previous scenes have been some of her best work on Glee (‘Do you know how hard it is to do something perfectly?’). I distinctly remember in the early days of Glee, Sophy and I were talking about the characters and how we weren’t that invested in Quinn because she was fairly one-note. She was a very pretty girl, but not much more than that. As the episodes have piled up, Dianna really started to own her character and subsequently we’ve grown to love Quinn more and more. It’s all in the nuances and Dianna has some really lovely ones.

This for instance, was perfect.

Plus it’s all kind of made sense to me. Her actions, that is. I was so happy that Quinn wasn’t fixed the moment she decided to come back to Glee, and focused all of her attention onto getting Beth back. No matter how absurd it was, it was in line with how Quinn works. (And jfc that gif is the most DISTRACTING THING IN THE WORLD!!!!) Always thinking about her next step and what she’s going to be. Never about who she is. And that’s exactly the way she’s been conditioned to think of herself as, always a what and never a who. In her mind, her life has already been written for her and she has resigned to it because she doesn’t have any hope or faith in herself. And the only way she could bear it is if she had something to call her own i.e. Beth.

Now with that out of the picture, I do wonder if she’ll go even further off the rails or be done with it all and settle for rock bottom.

Either way, they both sound like a job for one Rachel Berry. (Come on, she’s the only one left who showed they cared and hasn’t turned their back on her.)

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Best ‘Brittany is random’ Moment

“Although she knows it to be untrue, my opponent Brittany stated that my face was used as a template for Hasbro’s successful line of My Little Ponies.”
“Yep.”

Sophy says: I LAUGHED AND LAUGHED. JUST. MY LITTLE PONIES. AND HER LITTLE SILENT ‘YEP’. AND RACHEL’S AFFRONTED EXPRESSION. CANNOT.

Rin says: I want Kurt Little Ponies. I do. I do.

Sophy says: If I had one I would comb and brush its hair.


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Rophy Says No!

Finn once again being used as the punching bag of Glee.

Sophy says: Okay, let me preface what is sure to be an obscenely long rant by saying that I’m not necessarily saying no to the show. What comes next will make up my mind on that score.

I am saying no to a section of fandom and to the prospect of Finn putting on his Lady Gaga gear again.

We weren’t writing Glee recaps when the whole Finn/Kurt showdown happened, but I felt strongly enough about it to blog. I was deeply dissatisfied with that storyline, specifically with the way a hot-button word was used to demonize Finn, and to shove all of Kurt’s wrongdoings under the carpet. We got an unpleasant echo of that a couple of episodes ago, when Finn blurting out that Brittany’s an idiot was used to distract from the fact that Santana was exploiting Brittany’s very stupidity. And now, I fear, we may be in for a full-blown repeat, and I just can’t, show. I just… please do not make me watch that cheap, manipulative crap all over again?

Let’s be clear on two things.

One, I did not cheer when Santana slapped Finn. And that is despite the fact that I have never been invested in Finn as a character and have, on numerous occasions, sort of wished I could give him a good slap myself.

Two, I did not cry a river for Santana. That is despite the fact that a) Her situation is cruel and awful, b) I am somewhat invested in her as a character, and c) Naya’s face during the final performance could probably melt really cold penguins.

It’s such a shame, you guys. Because if this had happened to Santana in a context in which she hadn’t happened to spend an episode viciously bullying people with a smile on her face, I would have been in floods of sympathetic tears during the final moments of the show. As it is… I acknowledge her pain. I wish she wasn’t going through this. But it’s hard for me to really feel for her on a personal level.

If this had happened last season, when she was miserable because Brittany was with Artie and she was struggling with the truth of her feelings and what it meant about her sexuality… I would have felt so much more for her. But as it is, all I really think is that she didn’t deserve to be outed, simply because nobody deserves to be outed.

Well. That’s actually debatebale. The führer probably would have had it coming.

At the end of the day I probably would have felt more sorry for Karofsky if this had happened to him, because his vile bullying of Kurt was so clearly and directly linked to his very lonely struggle with his sexuality and his immense fear of being found out. Whilst Finn is right that a part of Santana’s insecurity comes from being afraid Brittany won’t love her back the way she loves her, the bottom line is that Santana is not suffering and struggling in this episode, she’s not lonely and pining like she was last season. She and Brittany are dating and being cute and sexy and happy and couply. Comparatively speaking, Santana is on a cloud in this episode, and yet she still feels the need to tear other people down.

You can’t handwave all of her wide-spread and nonchalant cruelty as a response to a deep struggle with her emotions and sexuality. And even if you could, it’s really no excuse for her behaviour. Not every closeted gay girl who’s afraid she won’t be loved back is a bully, you know?

And just on Santana/outing. Whilst I don’t look at what happened to her as something she deserves, or payback, or karma, it is hard to feel cuddly and protective with a character who has pulled the same shit on other people – only not by accident, with clear malice aforethought. She threatened to out Karofsky to blackmail him into doing what she wanted. And I can’t with the people who say it was okay because she revealed to him that she was gay too. That’s like saying it’s totally fair for someone to say: ‘Do what I want or I’ll punch you in the face. Afterwards it is within your power to punch me in the face equally hard, if you choose.’ Santana certainly didn’t give him the impression that she was equally terrified of being outed and that therefore her threat was empty. Bottom line, she was exploiting his fear of being outed to manipulate him. Further to that, way back in season 1 when Kurt was hesitant about coming out of the closet, Santana had no qualms making jokes about his sexuality in front of the whole Glee club, none of whom knew and loved each other like they do now. Two wrongs don’t make a right, sure, but nasty hypocrites don’t make me want to hug them either.

Santana crosses the line from funny to bully a lot. In this episode she was crossing it like she was trying to weave a bitch-basket or something. She was downright cruel and reveling in it. Her gleeful physical attack on Rory after the dodgeball game actually made me feel a little queasy. And there is just no logic under which the things she said to Finn at the end of this episode were anything but abuse.

I’ve seen two things said around fandom since the episode aired. 1 ‘All she did was make fun of Finn’s appearance’ and 2 ‘Making fun of people’s appearance isn’t nearly as bad as outing someone.’ The first statement is simply untrue (Santana insulted Finn’s appearance, made fun of his weight, made fun of his dancing and singing, as well as his lack of sexual ability, implied that he had no future, and was doomed to ride his girlfriend’s coattails for the rest of his life). The second, frankly, boggles my mind. Cruelty is cruelty, and verbal taunts about one’s appearance can have just as damaging and just as lasting effects as an outing. I mean, raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of an eating disorder? Because I have. And even if you don’t wind up slowly killing yourself, verbal bullying, whatever the subject, can lead to a life-long battle with depression just as surely as outing someone can.

I’ve also seen it said that it’s okay because ‘Those things didn’t really hurt Finn’. There’s no evidence to suggest that they don’t hurt him. Frankly, how could being on the receiving end of that stuff not hurt someone? And don’t even try and tell me that it’s okay to mock someone for being fat as long as they’re not actually overweight. Again, raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of an eating disorder. Case closed.

Moreover Finn has actually been shown in the Rocky Horror episode to have body image issues already, so Santana knows this is a sore spot for him – and should know that it’s potentially dangerous to his well-being to press it. And on the subject of whether her comments actually hurt him or not, let’s not forget that just last episode he was devastated by the realization that he wasn’t talented enough at anything, felt he had no future and was riding on the coattails of Rachel’s dream. I don’t see how having all of those things he’s sensitive about spewed at him could not hurt.

I said above that ‘cruelty is cruelty’. Bullying somebody is cruel. And outing somebody is equally cruel. If you do it on purpose. Finn didn’t do it on purpose.

Here are the ways in which Finn did not intend to out Santana:

1) Unlike Santana he was sorely provoked and said what he said under pressure, having tried previously to defuse the situation and be friendly.

2) As far as Finn was concerned, Santana’s sexuality was an open secret. As he says to her “The whole school already knows – and you know what? They don’t care!” Let’s not forget that Brittany already basically outed Santana accidentally on Fondue for Two. Of course everyone already pretty much knows. Or at least have their suspicions. Otherwise how does Finn have his suspicions?

3) All Finn is doing is making an allegation based on what he’s seen. He’s not pulling a Mini McGuinness and stealing pictures of her and Brit scissoring and putting them up all over the school. He’s not taping her private conversations to get a ‘gotcha’ line to disseminate over the loud speaker. He’s not even “yelling at the top of his lungs” as I’ve seen some of the more hysterical kids say.

At the end of the day Finn didn’t intend for this to be an outing. And Santana didn’t take it as an outing. She’s shocked when he says those things to her, but that’s because he’s hit a nerve, not because she’s freaking out about being outed. Several days pass after the incident in which Santana’s life proceeds as normal and she does not seem in the least concerned about the incident. When Brittany tells her again that she shouldn’t be so horrible to Finn, she doesn’t say ‘Why? He outed me. He’s evil.’ She’s comes back with a nonchalant “Manatees have really thick skins.” Bottom line, she’s fine, nobody cares. If Santana hasn’t realized it was an outing, why should Finn have known it would be?

Everyone who is blaming Finn for outing Santana has the wrong culprit. Finn was careless and foolish, to be sure. He needs to learn to connect his brain more firmly to his mouth. And he should apologize for his part in this. But he didn’t not intend to out Santana.

There is another person who clearly did intend to out Santana. And that’s the grown man who decided to use her sexuality in a hateful political campaign.

Think of it this way. Someone accidentally leaves the gate open and the dog gets out. The dog gets run over. I’d be pretty mad at the person who was stupid enough to leave the gate open. But let’s look at another analogy. Someone accidentally leaves the gate open and the dog gets out. The dog then gets cut into little pieces and strung up in the trees at a local primary school by a bunch of Satanists. You wouldn’t look at that situation and say “Oh my god that asshole who left that gate open, I just cannot.”

Finn is the doofus who left the gate open in this situation. The evil campaigner is the bunch of Satanists. Perspective.

I’d also like to address the fact that I’ve seen people saying that Santana being outed has put her in serious physical danger because McKinley is just that hostile to gay students. I’d say this was a gross exaggeration for several reasons. 1) Santana is a heck of a lot tougher than Kurt – she can dish the locker slams out, I don’t think she’d be too worried about taking them, 2) that one death threat was made by Karofsky to Kurt in a very specific, personal context, 3) Karofsky is gone, 4) Karofsky is reformed, 5) Remember that whole deal where he and Santana cleaned up the homophobic bullying at the school so Kurt would come back? 6) Remember how Kurt was indeed able to come back to the school, and run for class president whilst being openly in a  relationship with Blaine, and receive no further physical attacks or threats to his life? 7) Everyone knows – they don’t care.

It’s horrible that Santana has been outed to the whole of Ohio including her parents. It really is. I’m sure Finn will feel really bad when he learns the outlandish heinousness that his actions made possible. But the bottom line is… it was a mistake. He didn’t mean to hurt her like that. Whereas Santana absolutely meant to hurt him – and every other person she verbally or physically abuses on a regular basis.

Glee walks a fine line. It uses Santana’s bitchiness so successfully as a comedic device, and you know, some of the insults she was dishing out were highlights of the episode for me. I mean I was laughing like crazy and clapping my little hands and adoring her in all her wonderful awfulness. Because it’s Glee. Real world standards of conduct do not apply.

But the trouble is that the moment the show turns around and treats Santana’s pain as real, all the pain she dishes out must be treated as real too.

Finn made a big mistake in this episode, and I’m sure we’ll see him regret the consequences. I just hope we see Santana regret her own intentional, vicious bullying at some point. If he’s going to apologize, she’d damn well better apologize too, show. I’ll be watching.

On another note, I really liked that there was nothing homophobic about what Finn said to Santana. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I found it rather touching that he acknowledged the depth and sincerity of Santana’s feelings for Brittany instead of just being like “lol you’re gay.” It’s nice to see how far he has come in that regard.

Meanwhile can we talk about the utter ridiculousness and legal-mine-field-ness of someone running a political campaign based on a teenage girl’s sexuality. I can’t. This stuff doesn’t actually happen in America, right? Please tell me it’s on the same fantasy level as campaigning via the means of baboon hearts? Cat-poo candy?

Rin says: I feel like your response to this category deserves a name of its own. So when we want to reference it, we can be like, ‘Whoa, I went on for a while there! But it’s nowhere near as much as that time you wrote <insert name>!’

I don’t feel like there’s much I can add because Sophy pretty much covered how I feel about the situation too.

I do want to bring a bit more attention to the incident after the dodgeball match where they attacked Rory. They threw them till he was brought to the ground, and then continued to throw them at him. It was honestly one of the most outrageous acts of bullying that has been shown on Glee thus far. They may as well have walked up to him in the hallway and punched him in the face for no reason. As much as I was upset that Rory got two solos in the previous ep, that was more about Glee and their fucking Glee Project than the actual character, so I don’t mind the guy at all (as long as he stays where he belongs). But these girls don’t even know the guy, yet took to physically abusing him? How is that okay, ever? How do you even rationalise that when absolutely nothing provoked it? And we can’t even leave it at that because they clearly enjoyed it. Which is perhaps, the most sickening part.

And who initiated it? Santana. Who seemed to get the biggest kick out of it? Santana.

I like Santana. I really do. She’s included (Finn isn’t) in the handful of characters I actually feel invested in on this show. And for the most part the scene was probably put there in the first place so Kurt could take his stance against dodgeball for his campaign. But I also feel like the attack on Rory easily adds to Finn’s anger/frustration/dislike towards Santana because Rory is Finn’s friend. After seeing something like that go down, there’s obviously going to be a breaking point for Finn, so after the barrage of insults that’s when he broke and went for the jugular. And I think the important thing is that the jugular wasn’t even the gay thing for Finn. Because hello, his brother is hanging-curtains-gay and he’s already gone through all of that. It was completely about Santana’s insecurities over Brittany. Not her sexuality. His intent was never to out her.

And that’s why I’m sick of all the Finn-bashing. Yes he’s a useless lump. But it’s not like he’s the scum of the earth bastard man-shaped thing. You can’t place the entirety of the blame on him, because the real scum of the earth is the grown-ass man who used Santana in his campaign. Which. What the fuck even?

And JUST SO WE’RE CLEAR. None of this is us saying Santana deserved to be outed. It has proven to be a very controversial topic in fandom, and rightly so. I think the reason we ourselves felt we had to pick this apart, hair by hair, is because we’re strong believers in ‘it’s never black and white.’ With something like an outing, of course it’s going to bleed into our real world values and what we think is right or wrong. Ultimately we should all be on the same side, because it’s truly unfair that Santana wasn’t able to come out when she was ready. And yet, we can’t pretend to rally behind her in full force because of what an outstanding human being she is, because she’s not.

However, there is hope. A LOT of hope. Because there was a hint of instant regret on Santana’s face after she slapped Finn. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll lead to some sort of resolution that involves both of them admitting they were in the wrong.

&

“I would like to join the Troubletones.”

Sophy says: NO YOU WOULDN’T, QUINN. GO FUCK YOURSELF OH MY GOD.

The above was more or less Rophy’s reaction to this moment on yahoo. Like.

Whilst I still seethe just looking at these caps, I definitely blame Quinn way less for trying to defect that I do Mercedes and Santana, because, you know, at least she was doing it because she’s crazy. When it comes to joining the Troubletones I can forgive people whose reason is ‘CRAZY, LOL’ much more easily than people whose reason is ‘I hate sharing’.

(I think Shelby probably feels differently though.)

Furthermore, I like that Quinn at least actually gave a thought to whether the group would miss her. It’s more than you can say for the others.

Oh and let’s get one thing straight. If you think the Troubletones are better than the New Directions it’s because you think a group consisting of Santana, Brittany, a bunch of professional dancers, and the actresses who play Sugar and Mercedes, are better than the New Directions.

You can’t have random Cheerios show up who never wanted to join a Glee Club in their lives before, but mysteriously do now because the show needs back-up dancers, and call it a legit group. Remember how tough it was for the New Directions to find a 12th member? They had to settle for Lauren, who cannot sing or dance, for god’s sake.

As for Sugar, she’s just a hot writing mess. When she meets Will she’s a frighteningly entitled girl with delusions of grandeur who absolutely cannot sing or dance. For the Troubletones, despite the fact that the group was created for her, she’s a) happy to be put in her place and lip-sync in the background, and b) suddenly able to dance to the best of Vanessa Lengies’ ability.

It’s similar with Mercedes. For ND Mercedes was a snotty, lazy diva, who “didn’t dance” and “didn’t need to rehearse.” For the TTs she’s willing to put in the effort and perform to the best of Amber’s ability. The only explanation the show offers for that is that Mercedes is willing to put in the work when she’s allowed to be the boss of things. You cannot put it down to superior coaching on Shelby’s part when we have not seen any of Shelby’s coaching.

And as for the people who think Shelby must be being wonderfully nurturing and inclusive off-screen to be getting these performances out of the Troubletones… um… last we heard about her coaching style it was a lot harsher and ends-justify-the-means than Will’s. The woman who coached Vocal Adrenaline certainly wouldn’t be interested in indulging performers’ needs to shine, and frankly, it’s pretty clear that that’s not what the TTs are about anyway. They’re about Mercedes being the boss and Santana being one of her stars.

Let’s face it, if Shelby took over the New Directions, based on what we’ve been shown about her up to now, she would likely turn it into a star vehicle for person she saw as the best performer – most likely Rachel Berry. Everyone else would be used as she saw fit, no questions asked.

Rin says: I cannot tell you how much we raged at the thought of Quinn actually being in the Troubletones. I could show you though.

I completely stand by what I said.

Quinn in blue is the best.

Sophy says: LOOK AT YOU, AIRING OUR DIRTY QUINN LINEN IN PUBLIC.

&

Is the costume department just fucking with us on this one?

Rophy says: No, Kurt.


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Head In Hands

“I hereby withdraw my candidacy and urge you all to vote for Kurt Hummel. He’s the only candidate here today who never went negative.”

Rin says: THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS. Because I hated that they were trying to tear them apart, but believe it or not, Glee had a plan! A plan that worked! Rachel/Kurt was one of the few beautiful things to come out of season 2, and I’m so relieved they weren’t going to throw it all away just to rehash on old stories for the sake of drama. Unfortunately they’re doing it in other places (read: Mercedes), but I guess I can be happy that they resolved these two before it got drawn out and too much damage was done that they’d have to be taken behind the barn and shot.

Also, can I just say that I love that this came about because Rachel’s eyes were opened by Shelby? Needs moar.

Sophy says: Oh my god I was so relieved. My kids, back together again. And yes, Rin is so right – Rachel’s sweetness was made doubly sweet by the fact that it was spurred by her conversation with Shelby.

LOOK AT KURT’S LITTLE FACE. I JUST WANT TO KISS HIS LITTLE CHEEKS YOU GUYS. AND MAKE RACHEL MY SPOUSE.

Before this moment came along I actually had my heart set on ‘Stop the violence’ for our head-in-hands because it was just so freaking adorable. But it kind of got tainted by the fact that Santana showed how little she respects Brittany’s wishes by immediately attacking Finn again. Alas.

&

Rin wouldn’t let me make ‘Hot For Teacher’ best song, but I am damn well including the following in the recap…

Sophy says:

Rin says: I approve this steam rolling whole heartedly.

And wish to add in my two cents.

Oh and whilst we’re still in a positive category, I wanted to quickly say that I was relieved and glad to see in the last ep that they’re carrying on with the Mike/Parents storyline. It was a nice, unexpected surprise.

Sophy says: AW, HONEY, YOU RINSCOPED. And yes, A+ to continuing the Mike/Parents thing.


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Most Rophy

“I guess I was just, you know, focusing on my dream of going to New York and getting into NYADA, but…then realized that part of that dream is going there with you.”

Rin says: So many of my dreams would be pointless without Sophy.

Sophy says: For real. Without me, New York was a broken pencil.


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Quinn Glory Shot

Quinn/Blue and Quinn/Dancing

Rin says: Um? The first cap might be one of my favourite glory shots ever?

AND JUST, NEVER STOP DANCING QUINN. NEVER EVER EVER. You never stopped when you were heavily pregnant, so why should you now?

AND ‘RACHEL BACKING QUINN’ IS OFFICIALLY A ROPHY INTEREST. Because, her face?

And how much did the 3 of them remind you of the ‘say a little prayer’ dance?

Sophy says: I can’t get over how great that second cap is. It’s just… the moment has been perfectly captured for all three of the girls. And I just love it. And those outfits were corny as fuck and AWESOME as fuck.

Rin says: 

Which BY THE WAY. Who asked Quinn to inappropriately flirt with Shelby during the performance? Cause that’s what it looked like. And just. I know she looks really similar to Rachel, but come on Quinn. That’s a bit screwed up, even for you.


Rophy says: And can we just say??

Rin says: ..and she thought she was being so careful.

Sophy says: “I’m not gay. YOU’RE GAY.”