Well, if there’s one thing I like better than sitting on a knife or finding out that I need $1,600 of dental work, it’s watching a self-righteous sausage-shaped humanoid creature attempt to wrestle a temporarily disabled starlette out of her wheelchair on her prom night!
In any event, Glee’s achieved a style of Suckdom so Sucky that this episode was almost “okay,” just because it didn’t rocket me into a homicidal rage. In fact, my overall feelings of apathy for this episode are accurately reflected in how long it’s taken me to write this recap (and perhaps in the quality of this recap) — that being said, I do have a pretty serious rant about the first scene, so let’s just muff-dive in, shall we?
We open with Rachel monologuing in her bedroom about the “death of [her] dream” and then we move to the formerly-hallowed hallways of McKinley High, where Rachel continues monologuing with strained chipperness and masked devastation.
i knew i never should've done that GQ shoot
Rachel: “In some ways, it’s a relief– to be part of the crowd. My dreams are smaller now, maybe even more real — the wedding, winning Nationals — but first, prom. I’ll never walk the red carpet as a Tony or Golden Globe nominee… Next to my wedding, my prom dress will be the most important gown I ever wear… I’m surprisingly okay with it all. That dream was just a favorite old sweater that I kept around even though it didn’t fit anymore. I can grieve it and move on. I may have lost NYADA, but I still have Finn. So I’m not going to get everything I thought I wanted. Doesn’t make me a loser.”
So, there goes Rachel’s personality!
although honestly, our relationship is mostly just for PR purposes
Okay. Do you have five minutes to listen to me tell a personal story and then rant? I hope so.
This happens. I mean — what’s happening to Rachel. I feel like I’ve been there, sort of. Like Rachel, I’d comforted my anxieties regarding “not fitting in” with my self-assurance that I was somehow exceptional — smarter, more talented, something like that. When did this change? At some point difference got exhausting and I just wanted a boyfriend, like the other girls had, and didn’t understand why the boys at my school (University of Michigan) didn’t like me, speficially — why I was hookup material and homework-helping material but never girlfriend material. “Girlfriend material,” it seemed to me at the time, required 100% heterosexuality, lifelong sorority membership, a submissive personality, tailored designer jeans, limitless bank accounts, realistic life plans and weighing 90 pounds or less. (I realize in retrospect wanting a boyfriend so desperately was all part of the “overcompensating” stage of my queerdom, but whatever.)
So I met a boy at my waitressing job who attended a nearby college. Over our 1.5 years together, he never once asked to see my writing or the films I’d made. He didn’t read, he’d never seen a play and he hated my friends. I’d always planned on moving to New York City after graduation but when I took him there, he hated it, and he hated it because it was so hard to find a parking spot. Instead, he campaigned for a post-graduation move to Las Vegas, because there’s no property tax there. He cared more about the perkiness of my breasts than about my alleged exceptionalism and since nobody told me I was too good for him, I assumed that I was not. This was me. I was not so exceptional after all. I was just another girl watching her boyfriend play Beer Pong.
I know this is becoming a too-long-story but here’s the point: at some stage of this dull, anxious stasis, I began resigning myself to the traditional future he envisioned for us, and there was something very comforting about that. I could do this! I thought. We could be just like the rest of his friends. My relatives would be thrilled! I could get excited about specials at Applebees and consider home ownership in the suburbs and watch sporting events with his frat brothers. It was almost a relief, freeing myself from the expectations of this alleged exceptionalism. I’d be choosing a tried-and-true life pattern enjoyed by 95% of the country’s population, nobody would question that! I was released from all the uncertainty and guesswork that came with pursuing “talent.” He thought I was “normal” (Obviously, I’d already quickly muted all of my ‘charming’ quirks) and he was “normal,” so therefore I was “normal” after all! Yay!
[Clearly this sentiment changed eventually, but that’s another story altogether.]
For Rachel, I think part of of feeling “exceptional” is feeling like the people around her are living a life she could live, if she wanted to, but she just doesn’t want to. It is feeling a little bit better than that. It’s being a snob, even when that snobiness is, when it all comes down to it, mostly a defense mechanism.
And so Rachel’s obnoxious temporary transformation in this episode, in all its anti-feminist glory, is actually one I potentially could relate to/believe — and do, in bits — but unfortunately cannot endorse because SHE DIDN’T APPLY TO ANY OTHER FUCKING SCHOOLS AND I CANNOT BUY ANYTHING ELSE THAT HAPPENS TO HER FROM HERE ON OUT.
Glee asks me to suspend disbelief every single minute but somehow this particular storyline’s improbability is particularly grating. It’s not Wacky and Over-The-Top like Brittany’s IQ, Inconsistent like Sue’s pregnancy or Unlikely like Quinn getting into Yale. I mean, let’s not even get into the fact that college applications are due in December or January, not June, or that the show has completely forgotten the tiresome hullabaloo around Kurt/Rachel’s apparent former conviction that “student council president”/”lead in the school musical” were crucial to their “applications.” (Disclaimer: I attended an arts boarding school and my boyfriend, roommate, and many of my best friends were theater students, so I know WAY too much about the audition/acceptance process for undergraduate theater programs, which causes/”doesn’t help ease” my frustration.) Let’s disregard the preposterous situation of NYADA coming to Nowhere, Ohio, to see Kurt & Rachel audition. Let’s not ask why Rachel doesn’t just audition for “The Actor’s Studio” with her impish boyfriend, as apparently they hold auditions whenever Finn wants them to! (Sidenote: as much as I’d like to make fun of Finn applying to a TV show, “The Actor’s Studio” is an actual drama school. It used to be part of The New School and I think the students in the TV show’s audience are usually Actor’s Studio students. Since 2005, TAS has been part of Pace University — BUT! — it’s just an MFA program, which means Finn would need a BA or BFA before he could matriculate at The Actor’s Studio, so it’s still stupid.) Let’s not discuss why Rachel didn’t apply to the nearby University of Michigan, or perhaps Carnegie-Mellon, Northwestern, CalArts, DePaul, Ithaca, NYU, NCSA, USC or even Julliard!
It’s supposed to be just another little detail we oughtta accept as part of this fake world. But it’s not, because it’s not just about college admissions, it’s about HOW LIFE IS, how human beings operate and how civilization is structured. We date multiple people until we find “the one,” we try on several dresses before purchasing, we apply to many jobs, we visit a number of apartments, we shop around for the best cell phone plan — for Rachel Berry herself and Berry’s aspirant parents to allow her to apply to one crappy imaginary theater school with no back-up plan is just completely and totally insipid. It would never happen and as a plot device, it’s the weakest weaksauce ever.
And when Rachel says, offhand, “that’s what you get for not having a back-up plan,” it’s just another example of Glee’s obnoxious meta nods to audience critique that leaves you wondering — “if you recognize that this is a problem, why don’t you JUST FIX IT?!” Because honestly, despite how improbable it is that Rachel would get rejected from any school, let alone many schools, this whole situation would have way more emotional impact and resonance if she’d applied to ten theater schools and been rejected from all of them. Flukes like that sometimes do happen. That’s a true thing.
Anyhow, thus Rachel moseys into the Ladies Room to find a bitchy yet earnest Becky Jackson practicing her Prom Queen wave, because she doesn’t have mirrors at home. Becky tells Rachel she’s a loser and SCENE.
stop blocking my light, becky
Cut to Principal Figgins’ lair, where Brit-Brit’s been summoned for a smackdown regarding her insufficient actions as student council president. Apparently her sole accomplishment has been an ill-conceived memo regarding “drilling for babies,” which she later retracted, and Figgins is questioning her suitability for the position.
what happened to topless tuesdays, huh?
It turns out that Brit-Brit’s failing her classes and Figgins is suddenly concerned that her iminent de-throning would completely destroy her chances of admission to Imaginary St. Imaginary College Of Students Who Failed All Their Classes, which I’m guessing is in Bowling Green. Furthermore, he threatens to eradicate the Student Body President position altogether if she doesn’t up her approval rating, which’s non-sensical and arbitrary, just like the rest of this show.
Brittany: “I now realize I wasted an entire year belaboring the nuances of my fluid teen sexuality and getting caught up in Lord Tubbington’s Ponzi schemes. Then for a while, I stopped talking. But don’t want my presidency to be the last one at McKinley, I don’t want that to be my legacy.”
Couldn’t agree more — a better legacy would be “made out with Santana for two hours at graduation.”
aka "tonsil hockey with my girlfriend"
Thus, Brit-Brit drops in on the three unfortunate losers of the Prom Committee, whose earnest pursuit of prom themes like “Stairway to Heaven” and “Castle in the Sky” are derailed by Brit-Brit’s assertion that castles are too heavy for clouds and stairways aren’t wheelchair-friendly, or whatever.
oh my god it's the girl from that beyonce video
Brit-Brit re-routes the thematic conversation to her own idea for a theme — “Dinosaurs!” It’s brill, truly bril.
Girl: “That’s the worst prom theme ever.”
Brittany: “When you insult my dinosaur prom theme, that’s bullying, and I will not accept it. By the power vested in me as president, you’re all fired.”
and see, the unicorns are attending a foam party!
Smear to Sue’s office, where Sue (who shines like a sunflower this episode, sidenote) is announcing the nominees for Prom King and Queen as Becky roosts adjacently with her limbs dangerously close to a xylophone unknowingly experiencing its last living moments.
"come at me bro"? what does that even mean?
Prom King nods go to Rick “The Stick” Nelson, aka that hockey guy who runs for everything, Finn “Bet You Never Knew A Potato Could Look This Human” Hudson and our very own President Brittany S. Fierce. Three cheers for smashing the gender binary!
Prom Queen runners include Missy Gunderson, Santana Lopez and Quinn Fabray. Becky, hopes dashed and aspirations toppled, smashes the xylophone defiantly in the manner I’d like to smash Finn’s stupid face in.
And onward ho to another directionless meeting of The New Directions, kicked off by a newly-empowered Brittany S. Fierce, Queen of the School, announcing the Prehistoric theme of this year’s fiesta. Mr. Schuster buoyantly enthuses that Figgins has invited the New Directions to sing at prom, as if these kids need an official invitation to sing anywhere.
unfortunately we will not be engaging in the Neanderthal past-time of naked oil wrestling
Brittany: “Hello my fellow Americans, the theme for this years prom will be Dinosaurs.”
Santana: “Sheer genius.”
Brittany: “I was inspired by the new girl Joe who reminds me of a cavewoman. The refreshments will be berries, meat and rainwater…”
HAR. But dearest Blaine is stunned when Brittany declares a Prom Hair-Gel ban, due to some backwards Brittanyism regarding the Paleolithic era — or maybe “stunned” isn’t the right word. Horrified. Blaine is horrified.
what if we pulled a little "there's something about mary'" action, huh? what then?
I too am horrified, because it appears Kurt has massacred a plaid factory and the evidence is all over his head and mid-shirt-area.
Rachel, in her sixth outfit of the episode, tears mercilessly through the barely-hallowed hallways of McKinley High, shocked by the poorly designed “Finn & Quinn 4 Prom King/Queen” poster perched on the innocent walls of their fine educational institution. Rachel determines was Finn’s doing ’cause “Quinn can’t reach up that high.”
but you said that i was the prettiest princess!
Rachel doesn’t want Finn and Quinn to dance together, but no worries there —
Finn: “If you haven’t noticed, Quinn can’t dance. She just about died coming to our wedding. She asked me if I would campaign with her and I figured it was the least I could do for our friend.”
Finn calls Rachel selfish, Rachel caws that she’ll be spending prom the same way she began high school, which’s watching Finn and the pretty blonde cheerleader bask in apparently offensive attention but IF I COULD JUST MENTION that the pretty blonde cheerleader, while still pretty and blonde, is no longer cheering, because SHE GOT HIT BY A TRUCK AND IS IN A WHEELCHAIR. Furthermore, she’s been given the unfortunate assignment of lusting after the Glee Project kid who, much like the other Glee Project kid, reminds us weekly why The Glee Project is a terrible, terrible idea.
Rachel’s become a harpy bitch, ’cause that’s what happens when one actually focuses on what they have in the present rather than what they might have in the future! No really, it is. That’s another thing about aspiration — it saves you from putting all your eggs in the basket of another fallible human being you’ve got no actual control over. That’s also why Quinn keeps reiterating her plans to go to Yale — it’s something bigger than where and what she is. It takes the pressure off the present, with its assorted thwarted expectations.
Cut to physical therapy, where Quinn’s once again insipidly paired with Teen Jesus and — surprise! — manages to walk a teeny tiny bit for a little while!
i really appreciate the fall-mat here
Teen Jesus is ready for Quinn to walk on water, but Quinn’s got other plans —
Quinn: “You know, maybe if I practiced a lot, I could walk into the choir room or into prom. So until then, promise me you won’t tell anybody.”
this is a kelly kapowski inspired getup
Back in the plastered-yet-hallowed halls of McKinley High, Becky Jackson’s completely losing her shit in what is, honestly, one of this episode’s best situations.
i'll vote brittany for king of my pants
But Sue swiftly summons her unruly minion to the Bitch Chamber to tell Becky that “first you declared war on xylophones, then you ransacked the cafeteria line” and while Becky understands this to be true, she doesn’t understand Sue’s problem with it.
the good news is you can buy a crown like that from oriental trading company for like 50 cents and nobody will know the difference
Sue explains that it’s Becky’s ruthless bitchy attitude that drew Sue to Becky in the first place, but “being a bitch doesn’t win you any votes.” This is patently false, obviously, although I can’t speak for Dear Dear Missy Gunderson, I believe Santana’s thrown out a few zingers in her day. But whatever.
Cut to the McKinley High auditorium, where Rachel launches into a lame stripped-down version of the intolerable Fergie song “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” which’s more-or-less endurable until Kurt’s head voice strides in, swallowing the room with its enormous this-is-out-of-your-rangeiosity.
i'm so glad we all decided to take oxy today
Blaine asks Rachel if that’s the song she’s chosen for prom — SILLY BLAINE! The songs performed in the first 20 minutes of Glee are never the songs “chosen” for the last 20 minutes of Glee — and suggests that if it is, she oughtta look into something a tad peppier. I’d just like to throw this out there:
Rachel admits she’s not feelin’ prom, and Blaine agrees:
Blaine: “How do you think I feel with Brittany’s insane ban on hair gel? It’s prom, there’s gonna be balloons all over the place, not to mention the taffeta and the silk blends. The sheer amount of static electricity in that room is going to be terrifying.”
Anyway, Kurt points out, they don’t have to go to prom at all, do they? They do not.
Smear instantly to another directionless meeting of the New Directions, where Rachel jubilantly announces The Anti-Prom, which’ll take place at the Rooster Express Suite Hotel and involve “libations,” catered delicacies and all-night entertainment. Quinn asks her running mate if he’s in on this, and he assures her that he can indeed handle two women in one night.
and then i will pluck all the stray hairs out of your eyebrows for free!
Santana: “Okay how is everyone welcome when this is clearly just a party for you and the two gay Winklevii twins?”
Rachel: “Actually Santana, we’ve invited most of McKinley’s underclassmen.”
Flash to the hallway where Rachel tries to sell the event to an unimpressed Becky Jackson, and then smear back to the Directionless Meeting of the new Directions, where Santana continues smearing the Smack Down all over Barbara Berry:
Santana: “Can we just talk about what this really is? Rachel Berry isn’t getting her way, so she’s punishing the rest of us –”
Rachel: “Santana, that’s not the case at all.”
look, if you don't come to prom, then we're gonna give Sugar your spot in the post-prom threesome
Santana: “Stop acting like you’re fine and start dealing with your crap. Look, you choked at your big audition. I get it. I’m sorry, but it happens. And I understand that you’re pissed off at the universe, but imploding on one of the last nights that we have to spend together because basically you’re just not in the mood to dance, is maybe the pettiest thing you have ever done. So have fun at your ‘I’m a victim’ party, acting like you’re not some selfish, self-centered, lame-ass wannabe diva from hell, because I’m gonna go to my senior prom with my girlfriend and my friends.”
Every time Santana says “my girlfriend,” I smile.
Back to the propaganda-ridden hallways of McKinley High, where Finn and Quinn are conversing on a topic I’ve long since forgotten when they’re interrupted by Prom Committee Girl #2, who finds Quinn way inspiring. “Your healthy normal legs are beautiful,” Quinn tells her following a monologue about the actual horrors of her situation. The girl commends Quinn on her bravery.
"i'd be so much happier if it was even 3.5 inches, or 4"
The girl exits the frame and St. Finn starts in on Quinn for “using her disability” to earn votes, because Finn is the Expert of the Universe who knows exactly what everybody else should and shouldn’t do all the time, forever and for always. This is how Finn makes me feel:
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I wish someone would acknowledge that Santana called Quinn a crip. To her face. And I feel like crip is a word kind of like dyke, like how if you’re gay and your friend’s gay it’s usually okay to say dyke, but then when the straight girl calls someone a dyke it gets awkward. I know Santana has used slurs before, but this one really bothers me. Especially because none of the recaps I’ve seen have talked about it beyond quoting the dialogue. I just feel like there’s an ability double standard to go along with all the other double standards on Glee, you know?
oh hm, i just interpreted it as a super-close-friend thing, like my best friends and i refer to each other using the most derogatory ridiculous offensive language ever, when we’re alone — including all the taboo slurs in the book, including a straight girl calling me a dyke or making holocaust jokes ’cause i’m jewish. if she’d said it in front of anybody else, i could’ve gone off the rails, but within context it seemed like just a thing they do? but you make a really valid point, too, so i could be way off-base on this one, thank you for saying something.
This. If you’re friends it’s a totally different context. Then again I haven’t seen the episode, so.
I took it this way too. That’s just kind of how Santana & Quinn interact; they insult each other but they both know they don’t really mean it.
Okay. I’m down with that interpretation too, sort of. Like, it totally fits with the dynamic of Quinn and Santana, but even so, it’s not a word that “should” be used, and with the many other lessons that Glee loves to teach, I think it’s unfortunate that they left the word in there: it seems like they’re saying it’s okay.
She’s used it when talking about Artie before and wasn’t called out on it then, either. The amount of ableism on the show when it comes to Artie is really appalling if you think about it.
…and I guess not so appalling when you remember it’s Glee. :P
Ok, I know it’s Glee and I am not meant to take it seriously and that it’s stupid to be offended by it because…it’s Glee.
BUT WHAT THE FUCK FINN AND THIS WHEELCHAIR THING I CAN’T EVEN.
I can’t. I just can’t.
First of all plenty of people in wheelchairs can walk/stand for a limited amount of time/under certain conditions. There are so many things that can put someone in a wheelchair, it’s ridiculous to expect the same symptoms from everyone. (For awhile in the greater disability community there were these shirts going around with a wheelchair on them and they said “I can stand! It’s a miracle” on them, snarking on this attitude) Finn doesn’t even listen to her about HER OWN DISABILITY. I mean, it would be fine if Finn EVER received consequences for his borderline psychopathic behavior, but he seems like he has all this impenetrable douchebag armor and no one calls him on what a giant ass he is pretty much constantly. The wrestling her out of her chair is so glaringly inappropriate I can’t even believe this happened. A person’s mobility device is like a part of their body. DO NOT TOUCH IT OR TRY AND REMOVE THEM FROM IT/TAKE IT AWAY.
GODDAMIT.
Can we just give Finn the Check Your Privilege Award for being the most privileged asshole on the show. So far we have:
a) Flaunting his male privilege by outing Quinn’s pregnancy to her parents
b) Flaunting his heterosexual privilege by outing Santana as a lesbian to the whole school, and there was probably some point where he did this with Kurt as well
c) Flaunting his able-bodied privilege in this episode with how he treated Quinn
I feel like Will has probably had some moments like that too but nobody does it as horribly as Finn.
Oh yeah, with Kurt there was the moment when he wanted a chance to try out for the football team and asked Finn for “a favor” and Finn did that straight person asshole move where he automatically assumed Kurt was hitting on him. I mean, it did turn out that Kurt had a crush on him later but Finn didn’t know that then and that wasn’t what Kurt was asking about and really ok Finn is just a huge dick.
Finn’s refusal to stand up for his step-brother against Karofsky because he was scared for his reputation, while the other guys all rallied around Kurt like awesome friends should.
Finn calling Kurt’s decorating style “faggy”.
Finn telling Sam not to have a duet with Kurt because that would be “gay” and would be the social equivalent of suicide when Sam gave no fucks about what other people would think.
I really enjoyed the captions in this one. Like, what DID happen to Topless Tuesdays? and I think the scariest/funniest part of ‘come at me bro’ is that you really don’t know what it means. I loved that one.
Santana and Brittany were awesome/adorable the whole episode. and I think they really confirmed that Brittany is in deed the top.
Everything about Rachel’s storyline and crazy personality change baffles me, but I was most suprised that she didn’t make a speech when she won prom queen. although, really, thank god.
before seeing the caption to Blaine’s fuzzy hair picture I thought “he looks like a character from Spring Awakening”…so thanks for reading my mind!
Okay I’m definitely not watching the second hour next week because The Rachel Maddow Show > stupid Glee. how are we supposed to give a horse’s ass about Finn when we could be looking at the insane awesomeness that is Rachel Maddow?
Jesus Christ, this episode was such a waste of time for the most part. I watched this with my girlfriend and we kept wringing our hands at Rachel and Quinn and Brittany’s asinine offensiveness. Rachel’s okay with giving up her lifelong dream BECAUSE SHE STILL HAS THAT LUMP OF SHIT NAMED FINN?? And the audacity of having her dress up as Barbra while being relieved at her dream being dead???? Then bringing back S2 Quinn for no fucking reason, only to have Finn shit all over her sense of worth and VERY REAL INJURIES??? FUOPGJAOPHRJOP.
But then Faberry happened, and I was calm reading the recap until this line, Riese: “Alas, before Quinn can tell Rachel how much she loves gardenias” Then I promptly lost control over my emotions and just want to share all my feelings. THAT. SCENE. WAS. FUCKING. FANON. I was in complete shock throughout the whole scene until Santana said “Stop making out with Berry”, then my gf and I both screamed and we had to rewatch the scene three more times until we heard everything.
JFC, this show. Why do I keep watching it?
You keep watching because lesbians. Duh.
For once I didn’t really feel like the Faberry scene was genuine, Santana went and validated it with that comment. I did a squeee!
BEFORE I READ THIS:
1. Finn you are a twat
2. It is never okay to tell someone to get out of a wheelchair
3. Someone slap that bovine [riese, 2012] pile of mashed potato
I don’t understand the difficulty in believing that teenagers only apply to one school, their dream school. Teenagers do dumb ass things all the time. There were 3 or 4 people in my senior class that made this decision; I thought it was stupid then and I think it’s stupid now but it happened. They were absolutely convinced it was the ONLY acceptable school and never considered that they wouldn’t be smart enough or talented enough to get in.
That being said, once again Finn removes someone’s choice as to when/where/if they share something personal and private. Because he knows what’s best for everyone else. *Bleh* I wanna twist his nuts until he falls to his knees and admits that he’s a douche bag and doesn’t know shit. But I’m not bitter. Not at all.
I was happy with Brit and Santana and Kurt and Blaine. Huh.. that sounds like Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice without the heterosexuality.
I was indifferent about everything/everyone else.
But Rachel is not a regular teenager, that’s the whole point. The Real Rachel Barbra Berry would have had all of the potential schools mapped out in a PowerPoint presentation that she’d force her parents, Finn, and friends to sit through. Rachel would not have fucked up singing Barbra Streisand – she would have had at least 4 songs perfectly memorized to audition with, just in case something happened. The Real Rachel would never, ever, EVER have compromised New York because her fiance (if she’d even agree to marrying that asshole in the first place) wasn’t sure about his own goals past high school. And The Real Rachel would never have complacently accepted the death of the one thing that gave her purpose and meaning in that shitty little town.
Never.
There seems to be a problem in believing that Rachel is vulnerable to her own superiority complex when it comes to her talent. The point is that SHE didn’t believe she could fuck up a Streisand song either. She does have many of the qualities of a regular teenager; infallibility, hubris and a certainty that things are going to turn out exactly the way she wants.
The issue with Finn is separate from her choosing a school; I don’t have any problem with agreeing that it was completely out of character for her to be willing to voluntarily surrender what was to her, at that point, a certain future in NY to stay with him in Ohio.
I don’t believe she has accepted the death of her dream. She’s been shaken, she’s lost confidence because the unthinkable happened and she has to come up with a new plan, but she won’t be down for long. She’ll come back. People like her always do.
Always.
i don’t think rachel’s parents would’ve let her only apply to one school! i didn’t know anyone who did that — i knew only one guy who only applied to two schools — columbia and harvard. he got into both. went to columbia and dropped out within a year to play music or something. which he’s still doing, professionally, i guess. sigh. baby geniuses.
i think, honestly — i would’ve bought it more if it had been julliard. like “nothing but the best for rachel berry.” some people do that — either they get into julliard, or they try to make it on their own, but anything beneath that they deem a waste of their time. and that’s a place kurt wouldn’t have gotten into, not ever, they accept 12 boys and 12 girls a year. but i think NYADA is supposed to be AMDA, and i can’t imagine rachel berry JUST applying to AMDA, that seems weird. but also, i agree with everything i already said and what paper0flowers said.
if she truly was only applying to one school because of all the reasons you say, then i think they should’ve highlighted that instead of made it seem like we were supposed to just accept that as normal — i don’t trust the show over my own instincts anymore, not ever. she wasn’t confident that she’d get into NYADA, that wasn’t her attitude at all. she worried constantly about not getting in. it seems like anyone with a brain who has that kind of attitude would consider tempering that nervousness by applying to another school.
Also aren’t most people who go to AMDA older? Like, I always got the impression that those types of schools were not something you applied to right out of high school but as a professional training type of situation either after college or after you’d been trying to break into the business for a while. At least, the couple people I know who went to AMDA or Circle in the Square were in their 20s, not right out of high school.
But it’s Rachel. RACHEL, who has dreamed her entire life of going to New York to become a Broadway star. The Rachel Berry from Season 1 would’ve been applying to every dramatic arts program in NYC and nailing every single audition. She’s sung on stage hundreds of times before then. I could believe that Finn would only apply to one school, but not Rachel.
This look right here was my favorite part of the episode.
Also that little laugh when Santana calls Quinn a “crip” – that was all Naya and I died of sexy/adorable.
I will never be able to stop watching this train wreck as long as she is a part of it.
Unf, the Quinntana sex-eyes was delicious. Also, how much did your heart ache when Santana rushed over to hold Quinn up during the end of Take My Breath Away??
That was my favourite bit. I didn’t see it as eye sex, she’s totally checking out if she’s okay. I loved it.
Apparently that wasn’t scripted, Naya just did it. I heart her more than is reasonable.
that was the best bit. santana is so wonderful i’m a big fan of her and her girlfirend and its also wonderful when she says ‘my girlfriend’ i agree. also how come brittany had so many lines?! they give characters such sporadic air time in this show. apart from finn who is just always there. also why can’t you here inside anyone elses head only rachel berry? finn is really gross. it’s weird how gross he is, why is he like that? theres so many questions about this show. why is every episode like a weird bible story and why do they treat disabled people in this weird patronising way? i feel like they turn them into a breed. its horrible. horrible. theres like this weird magnatism between all the minority groups, the asian kids are together, the black kids catch each others eyes across the room. ALL the gay kids, all four of them are in love, all the disabled kids are surrounded by this crazy discourse of jesus, all the jesus kids have this power to catch each otheres eye. every episode i just think what the fuck this show is nuts why do i enjoy it so much. that was really long. i’m sorry i don’t know forum etticate. or spelling
Apparently Naya Rivera ad-libbed that.
YES. I hate that the show seems to have forgotten that Quinn, Santana, and Brittany were close friends at one point. We get occasional glimpses of their friendship and then they don’t even talk for 10 episodes. So frustrating. This show would be so much better if it focused more on friendships and less on revolving romantic pairings. (Also I have a lot of ideas in my head about how those 3 first became friends and also I think Santana has always been attracted to Quinn, so.)
Oh my god I want to hear your headcanons re: Unholy Trinity. Message meeeeeeeee
Things I learned from this episode:
1. If you’re recovering from a disability, you’re somehow magically no longer disabled. So those eleven months during which I didn’t have a seizure, I no longer had epilepsy. Maybe even the days that I don’t have seizures count as days I don’t have epilepsy. Ah, to have Finn-brain.
2. Curly hair (hair like my brothers’, mine when it gets too long, or the constant mess of my pubes) is so horrifying that it must be shellacked to your head lest your peers stare at you in abject terror.
3. “Making a difference”=cheating so the white, pretty, talented, straight, able-bodied girl gets to be prom queen. Nevermind that the student body voted in a girl with a disability, which is pretty revolutionary in and of itself. Nope, she should give up her crown so that other girl who obviously deserves it more can dance with her douchey boyfriend.
4. A disabled girl who always wanted to be prom queen will be more than satisfied with a crown made out of an old beer case.
5. Glee will continue to suck and enrage me, but I will continue to watch it because I obviously enjoy pain that much.
Also, fuck you, Glee; fuck you, Glee; fuck you, Glee; fuck you, Glee; fuck you, Glee; fuck you, Glee.
Also:
Finn: “Look at me. You’re sexy, you’re beautiful, you’re an inspiration to every single person in this room, just like you are to me. From where you began to where you are now, you’re amazing.”
He looked so sweaty and EWWWWW when he said that. He was like breathing out of his mouth on her while talking like hey baby I’m validating you right now. Yuck Finn.
Agreed. And when he’s like, “you’ve come so far” I thought, yeah, she once had hopes and dreams and self respect and drive and hated superficial stuff like Prom and now she is dumb and your fiancee at 17 after being crowned Prom Queen. Amazing evolution, rejoice!
For real. The most annoying thing about Finn is he looks about 38…. Why can’t glee be more like skins and employ young actors?
I watched this episode on my computer, and when that happened, I actually covered Finn’s face with my hand.
I agree, he looked like a gross sweaty potatopedobear when he said “you’re sexy”. It honestly reminded me of the time I was 16 and got hit on by an old man.
I can’t stand Finn. I didn’t really mind him before but this season there are just no words. I wouldn’t be so mad if he was just annoying, I mean, Puck is annoying too, the problem with Finn is that he acts like a jerk ALL the time and does unforgivable things like hello, outing people and trying to forcefully make Quinn stand up and yet, it doesn’t look like the show portrays him as the bad guy. In fact, the plot always tries to emotionally manipulate the audience into believing everything he is doing is the right thing to do.
He tried to fucking drag Quinn out of her chair, AND YET he wins Prom King, has his stupid dance with Lea Michele (bc that wasn’t Rachel), gets his moment of glory, never apologizes. And the thing is, while Quinn didn’t really tell the truth to that girl in the hallway, did she really deserve to be called a lying bitch? Is it a lot for a girl in a wheelchair to actually CHOOSE the moment when she wants to walk again?!
Sigh.
This being said, I thought the Puck/Becky thing was kinda cute, Brittana were adorbs and Santana’s line about Faberry was delightful, but yeah. Finn ruined it all for me.
SO:
Yeah, Puck doesn’t bug me as much both because he’s mostly just a joke character this season (and last season) and because the show treats him like he’s acting like a douche when he’s acting like a douche.
Their reluctance to address Puck having non-consensual sex with Quinn in the beginning still paints a black cloud over Puck’s character, but yes, I much prefer Puck over Finn because Puck has at least shown growth.
Actually, they showed a flashback to their first-time sex in the first season finale (the episode where Beth was born) and, at least as far as I remember, she didn’t seem very drunk at all and certainly lucid enough to give consent. YMMV, though.
Umm. Quinn telling Puck that she felt fat that day and she was vulnerable and he kept telling her to drink more until she caved and said yes does NOT sound like enthusiastic consent. And really, the fact that Puck said he had a condom and LIED about it also negates any consent Quinn gave under the promise that he had protection. That boy has no fucking excuses.
Also: that image is frightening.
Quinn is pretty and blond who was a bitch but then got hit by a vehicle and now has a spinal injury. Quinn = Regina George?
Finn = Shane Oman
No, Shane Oman was funny.
I, too, had a Mean Girls flashback when Q rolled up onstage in her wheelchair.
like every week, this one was horrifically disappointing. besides the finnssues, can we talk about how many heterosexual couples kissed? including random(!) straight people in the background. and the only interaction santana and brittany had was gesturing to each other from on/off stage. at their senior prom. you would think this show was created/written by homophobes, not by actual gay people. everyone seems to be satisfied by a little wink here and a “my girlfriend” line there. that infuriates me further. santana, honey, you can say girlfriend all you want, but we want to SEE IT. i want to see my girls get their mack on.
Once again, thank you Riese, your recaps are frickin’ genius.
Mike Chang geeking out about dinosaurs was the best.
Agreed! Mike Chang is so cute. I just want to squeeze him.
Mike rocking out at the side of the stage while Tina sang back-up for Santana was the cutest thing.
New writers including an open lesbian, the promise to do something about continuity, Brittana being on… I had such high hopes for this season of Glee… *sigh*
Grab ass godbless!
“I’d always planned on moving to New York City after graduation but when I took him there, he hated it, and he hated it because it was so hard to find a parking spot. Instead, he campaigned for a post-graduation move to Las Vegas, because there’s no property tax there.”
…Jesus.
LOOK HOW I’VE GROWN AND CHANGED, AREN’T I AN INSPIRATION TO EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM
RIESE FOR PROM QUEEN
I VOTED FOR YOU!
#thatmeansyougivemepromqueen
#thatalsomeansIjustcomparedmyselfandriesetofaberry
#ineedtoprocessthesefeelings
According to Finn, ‘an inspiration’ means ‘dating a giant (<–literally) douchebag.'
I still can’t believe that Rachel-Quinn scene happened. I don’t know how the Faberry shippers are still alive.
Also Santana casually sashaying past and telling Quinn to stop making out with Berry was amazing. I have watched that gif roughly 3478 times.
I think a lot of us are just in shock still. Like. Cannot process. I equate that scene with Holding Onto 16 where the rest of the episode was completely worthless and infuriating and then the end is “OMGEWIONHEIRONEIONEIOBAGPONMOITIBUVIGUIVW H9042BJ EOK”
“She’s rescued — as we all are — by Teen Jesus (he like, died for our sins, you know?).” I actually LOL-ed!
Totally brills Riese, totally brills.
Anyone remember Purplesauras Rex Kool-Aid?
(I acknowledge that this is off topic, but I’d rather talk about Kool-Aid then this show)
Of course, it was awesome
duh
The cruel campaign of misinformation regarding college admissions that this show insists on perpetrating week in and week out DRIVES ME ABSOLUTELY BATSHIT CRAZY. Like, I can buy someone just “getting in,” no fucking sweat, to Yale, sure, AS LONG AS IT’S IN JANUARY.
I know Glee is a glowing bastion of awful on a myriad array of other things, but for some reason the horrible flights of fancy involving common sense high school logistics sticks in my craw every single time.
I really loved all the Finn photo captions in this recap.
Also, this seems like as good a time as any to mention that the prom king my junior year was female and it was super cool and there was a total of zero people who were upset by it, and that’s just one of the many reasons I loved my high school. (Of course, this led to me being excited for Kurt when I read the prom queen spoiler, and it took me a while to realize he was elected because all the students were being jerks.)
“…and we’re offered the sweet respite of a commercial break to really think about our lives and how we got to this moment, watching this show.”
Sums it up.
Also, the recap captions this week were amazing and the writing sharp – can’t count the number of times I laughed.
& when Brittany signed to Santana “I love you” I died and then watched it a dozen times.
I wanna quote everything in this recap
Glee writers’ thought process:
Hey, let’s regress Quinn’s character so we can punish her one more time! Let’s teach her just one more lesson, because the MILLION OTHER punishments and lessons we’ve heaped upon her poor character were not enough! Meanwhile, we’ll just pretend that FINN is not a total ASSHOLE over here and everything will be FINE AND DANDY.
HEY I CAN RELATE TOO!! I had a boyfriend for 4 years/similar overcompensating for my queerness/giving up on my dreams and personality just to be some shitty asshole’s girlfriend feelings. I don’t even remember stuff that happened in those 4 years. Because it was that much of a waste of my time.
And hey I only applied to 1 school too!
But… … … I got in. (;
Yeah, I narrowed down the field from the two grocery bags of brochures, visited two, picked the one school I wanted to go to and then I applied to it. I don’t think I ever worried that I wouldn’t get in. (I did, and I went, and it was wonderful.)
I didn’t feel like I was being overconfident or some sort of entitled brat or anything. The school just seemed like a perfect fit for me, and the admissions officers seemed excited that I was interested, so I just didn’t worry.
Blaine’s curly hair makes him look more like his true identity,
HARRY POTTER!
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC76BE906C9D83A3A
“I could get excited about specials at Applebees and consider home ownership in the suburbs and watch sporting events with his frat brothers. It was almost a relief, freeing myself from the expectations of this alleged exceptionalism. ”
This was me last spring, except we weren’t in an actual relationship, mostly i just thought we were going to get married and spend our time lying around watching his favorite movies and playing video games when we weren’t working at ordinary jobs.
Thank you for telling your stories, Riese, because now I’m here instead of there. <3
OK THE LAST FINCHEL SCENE MAKE ME PUKE AND CRY AT THE SAME TIME BECAUSE IT REMINDED ME OF THE WILLOW/TARA SCENE AT THE END OF FAMILY BUT THEN I REALIZED IT WAS FINCHEL AND I PUKED AND STARED LOVINGLY AT MY BUFFY DVDS.
AND THEN THEY MADE OUT FOR LIKE AN HOUR AND I REWATCHED THE ENTROPY KISS FOR ABOUT 5 HOURS TO GET IT OUT OF MY BRAIN.
Hermione Granger is to Bella Swan as Rachel Berry Season One is to Rachel Berry Season Three.
I’m so over Finn “my life isn’t fair even though nothing bad ever happens to me” Hudson.
Prayer circle might be required to survive next week’s two hour episode. That or a drinking game.
“Hermione Granger is to Bella Swan as Rachel Berry Season One is to Rachel Berry Season Three.”
This for life ^^^^
The only good thing about this episode was the picture of Brittany and Santana (that is totally HeYa). Oh, and of course HeMo’s legs. I’m obsessed.
Okay, I don’t know how it works necessarily for theater majors but I know that it’s not TOO different from what it is for music majors, which is what I am, and this makes me angry too. Like, was it really TOO hard for her to apply to a bunch of great schools (there’s also NYU and Carnegie Mellon and Michigan, for starters, in terms of great theater programs – Darren Criss himself came out of the last one!) and a few safeties, and then plan to attend some place like NYADA for grad school? They know a lot of kids are watching this who want to be theater majors, right? Don’t they feel some sort of obligation to show them the ropes? Acting like it’s all or nothing – you go to the best school or you live the dullsville suburban housewife life – is ridiculous.
It’s an attitude that I saw a lot with the music people I was around. They acted like because they couldn’t get into Juilliard, they should apply to ONLY safety schools or even give up on music entirely, and granted the first one is better than the attitude Rachel has here but still there’s a lot of stuff inbetween that they could have had a shot at if they had just tried. I always say that’s the only reason I managed to go to such a great music school for undergrad. Because I applied to a BUNCH of the schools I actually wanted to attend rather than listen to the people who told me I didn’t have a chance and should just give up. Because I believed in myself.
And I know this particular outcome is a lot more DRAMATIC than the reality but, come on, this is Rachel, she’s extremely driven, of course she’d make preparations for a Plan B if she doesn’t get her Plan A. She always does! The people I knew who gave up on their music dreams were not Rachels. She would never give up, and the fact that they’re having her do that is a degree of character derailment worse than anything they’ve done with Will or Quinn.
I’m still holding out hope that there will be some sort of deus ex machina in the finale episode that will allow her to have her Broadway dreams (like April Rhodes asking her to star in her musical? NYADA realizing she had a lot of talent despite her freak-out and giving her another chance?) but it’s not like that would make what they’re doing now any less ridiculous.
Also I just wanted to add in case anyone got the wrong impression that I’m not saying my grad school is not a great music school (in fact I’m super excited to go there next year! Yay BU!) but that I was coming from being a kid in a high school with a lousy music program and no one expected people who went there to go to top-notch music schools.
This show is so bad. Great recap. That’s all.
If you totally ignore all things Finn and Teen Jesus, and of course the massacre of Rachel’s character, I enjoyed the episode. Santana singing 2 songs!! I loved them both. Loved the Brittana, Santana/Quinn, and Santana/Rachel moments. Brittany got to talk, Tina was actually included in the episode for a bit, and Mike’s love for dinosaurs were also good moments
I own one of the unicorns from the castle in the clouds display, but in purple.
You can’t really tell from the picture, but its mane and tail are sparkly.
You can buy them at Michaels. They’re awesome.
I was going to leave a comment and I went through a lot of options before deciding that there were just too many things to be angry at so instead I googled pictures of kittens.