On Halloween, (how fitting!) I finally got a chance to watch the much-anticipated Halloween/Rocky Horror themed episode of "GLEE." It's too bad my cable was out during the actual episode airing because of a little event I've taken to calling foxvisiongate (Fox fought with my cable company and pulled programming for a few weeks). Bitterness aside, I really enjoyed the episode. With my long love/hate relationship with GLEE, I have to say this was one of the best episodes of GLEE I've seen in weeks. In a season plagued by unnecessary plots, secondary characters, and pretty boring musical numbers, this one was really a breakthrough.
This episode was great for several reasons. For one thing, the episode was an ensemble piece. It was not all about Rachel or Kurt or Mr. Shue. Everyone really got a chance to shine and to sing (even Ms. Pilsbury, and the love of my life - Mr. John Stamos). The success of the episode was based on each character's performances. For once, Sam didn't act too annoying.
Another thing that was crucial to this episode's success was to balance the musical aspect of the show and the storyline. All too often, shows get caught up in the "school play" aspect, like season 1 of 90210 and the painful episodes-long production of Spring Awakening. There were some nice story lines - the new kid (Sam) trying to use his physique to impress Quinn, Mercedes taking over the lead role (for once), and Mr. Shue trying to impress Emma (and her great rendition of "Touch Me." Plus, we saw the return of the cable news segment "Sue's Corner," where Sue says horribly offensive things in the name of defending small town Ohio. Most importantly, for once, I wasn't repulsed by a Rachel-Finn duet. I enjoyed hearing them sing "Dammit, Janet."
My favorite part was the cast-wide rendition of "Time Warp." It was not only a well-sung and danced number, but it made the viewer enjoy the music. In a season that has been lacking strong cast-driven musical numbers like season 1's "Don't Stop Believing," this episode brought me back to that singular moment when I first fell in love with GLEE.
The one nagging thing about the episode was the final message. I was okay with them cancelling the musical. Then, I was okay with the idea of the kids doing the show "for themselves" and not letting anyone push them around. I was NOT okay with their interpretation of the message of Rocky Horror. This musical is not all about breaking boundaries, like the GLEE folks claimed. The main theme of the musical is about giving yourself over to pleasure, and the multitude of corruption associated with pleasure. Its much more of a moral, or rather, anti-moral message. Rocky Horror is not perpetuating the "stick it to the man" and "believe in yourself" messages that GLEE first perpetuated in the "Funk" episode from last season, and continued to honor in this episode.
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