Note: The following review contains spoilers for all aired episodes of Glee, including the most recent, “Prom Queen.”
Well, “Prom Queen” is much better than last week’s episode, but unfortunately, that isn’t saying much, since “Rumours” was one of my least favorite hours that Glee has ever produced. Ruining my favorite album is, thankfully, something Glee can only do once. Unlike last week, I have no problem with any of the musical performances in this episode. In fact, the musical performances are the only parts of this episode that truly, fully worked for me.
As I have said many times in the past, Glee is at its best when its songs function as theatre, underlining or emphasizing dramatic moments–in other words, when they have a narrative or at least an emotional purpose, and even better, when they are creatively staged. And in most cases, this is true in this episode. Rachel and the returning Jesse St. James’ version of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” is a perfect example. It starts out seeming like it will be a typical Rachel-does-a-solo-on-the-auditorium-stage type number, and then suddenly, Jesse interrupts her, singing from the back of the room as he enters and approaches, and then suddenly, the kids setting up the stage start singing back-up to what has become an a cappella duet for Rachel and Jesse, the lyrics reflecting the pain and the hurt that his actions last season caused her, as well as their continued feelings for one another. It has the illusion of spontaneity in a way Glee rarely does. Whereas Gwnyeth’s Adele cover was a bit too close to the original and mostly reiterated why she isn’t as good a singer, this number wisely diverges from the original, putting a new spin on it that works beautifully, and the idea of the A/V kids turning into a chorus is just a great musical theatre moment, dynamically shot.
I’m a little less enamored of Artie’s Stevie Wonder cover, “Isn’t She Lovely?” Actually, I think the best acting in that scene was done by Chris Colfer, playfully reacting to it. But it is still entertaining to watch, and more importantly, does derive from character and is another example of a number in this episode being presented in a more unexpected way (and it also starts out a cappella). And later on, Artie, Puck, and Sam almost make “Friday” tolerable, in a fun, sped-up, all-male version that keeps its tongue firmly in cheek. The scene works because it doesn’t treat it as a legitimate song. And if there’s any doubt that Glee isn’t mocking it, Brittany’s line that it’s the “best prom ever” immediately afterwards makes it clear. Returning to plot-driven songs, Rachel’s “Jar of Hearts” is extremely effective because of the way it’s shot, the camera swinging from her impassioned singing to the various people on the dance floor, reacting, the tension bubbling underneath the calm surface. Blaine’s “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You” may be less necessary (besides commenting on the Jesse/Rachel/Finn triangle), but it is incredibly fun, with great, bouncy back-up from Tina and Brittany. Glee also again wins points by having Blaine sing a song with feminine gendered lyrics, and even more significantly, a song in which said narrator is crushing on a girl. And “Dancing Queen” is absolute perfection–a triumphant, dazzlingly and appropriately campy way to spotlight Kurt and Blaine’s dance. It’s moments like that which make me love Glee: that it crowns a gay boy queen, and makes his dance with his boyfriend the culmination of their prom episode, in the 8 PM slot on a mainstream network. Yes. Just, yes.
Less impressive, however, is what leads up to that scene, which would have been ten times as powerful if it weren’t for Kurt’s extremely out of character emotional meltdown upon being crowned Queen. I simply do not buy that the same boy who decides to go to prom in a kilt and to be purposely audacious and in peoples’ faces–and in a rather arrogant, obnoxiously self-righteous manner, in the earlier scene in which he refuses to compromise, despite the fact that his dad and Blaine make a good point–would be so incredibly wounded by this gesture. The Kurt I know and love would hear that he had won and rejoice. Remember, this is the boy who would often choose to sing with the girls in their numbers rather than with the other guys, and who did a duet with himself as both Victor and Victoria. I cannot imagine that he would actually be so hurt. Whether or not it was intended as an insult (and, you know what, I’m not even completely sure it was), he would strut up to that stage and own it, to hell with everybody. If anything, Karofsky should have been the mortified one who dashed away as soon as he heard that Kurt was Queen, not later, because of his extreme discomfort with being labelled as anything but masculine and heterosexual.
And besides all of that, though I am often willing to suspend my disbelief for Glee, I cannot suspend it to the point that I actually believe that there was a write-in majority for Kurt. Are we supposed to believe that the majority of people in that auditorium would rather mock the gay kid than elect the most popular girl queen? Also, again, I think that there is a possibility that at least a portion of the other kids would have thought of it as a kind gesture of support, letting Kurt own his inner diva, but since we never actually get to see the voting occur, it is impossible to tell what peoples’ rationales are. Overall, I felt that Kurt’s reactions and actions didn’t spring from his character, but from the episode’s writer, Ian Brennan, inorganically trying to telegraph a message through Kurt’s lips. I can respect Brennan’s motivations in trying to wring drama from this moment, but it wasn’t right for this character. A great writer cares about writing his characters in a way that is truthful to them rather than true to a particular message he or she is trying to impart. A character shouldn’t, at the drop of a hat, behave in a way that is not right for him or her simply because the plot requires it. This is clunky, lazy writing.
Karofsky’s plot continues to be far better handled that Kurt’s has been lately, though even that has its odd moments here. I can accept that Karofsky has gotten to a place where he feels truly ashamed of how he treated Kurt, and even genuinely apologetic. He’s going through a great deal right now. But–and this a big “but”–never in a million years would he make this sort of apology to Kurt and even break down into tears while standing in a hallway filled with other students. This is even more unbelievable than Santana crying in front of Brittany in the school hallway, because at least there, it seemed to be later in the day with less people around. It just seems to be another case of the writers or the production team not truly thinking out a scene fully. All they would have had to do would have been to move it to an empty classroom to make it more effective and truthful.
Meanwhile, while it is a genuine pleasure to see Jonathan Groff again, it is because I am still nostalgic for the old days when he and Lea Michele were in Spring Awakening, and because they have genuinely great chemistry, particularly when they sing together. It is not because Jesse St. James makes any more sense than he did last season. And while I do appreciate the almost-meta joke about how Jesse’s actions were random and illogical in the past, going from telling Rachel he loved her to egging her with no dramatic transition, that doesn’t excuse or make up for the fact that he is still a hodgepodge of ideas not fully formed rather than a character (not unlike Blaine). Additionally, ever since leaving Rachel for Quinn, Finn’s motivations have been so hard to understand that his fight with Jesse barely registers. This is becoming a serious problem for the show. “Ah, it’s one of those episodes where Finn is suddenly in love with Rachel again,” I thought. Just like “Comeback” was one of those episodes where Quinn suddenly forgot she had ever evolved, a single week after displaying depth in “Silly Love Songs.” And “A Night of Neglect” was one of those where she wasn’t even popular enough to get a handful of people to show up to their benefit concert, even though she seemed a serious contender for Prom Queen the next week, because she is so beautiful and everyone loves her.
As far as Glee episodes go, “Prom Queen” is a fairly middling affair, elevated by some excellent musical selection and musical performances that make it, for fleeting moments, truly fly. But then the script keeps bringing it crashing down with a thud. I can’t help worrying that as the weeks go on, this show will just keep getting more and more broken. Has the writers’ room utterly collapsed at this point, with no communication between Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan going on whatsoever? Because lately, it honestly feels like for every fantastic episode, we get three or four duds, and for each wonderful plot thread, we get three or four that don’t work at all. (What is up with that fourway date? Or the original threeway idea? Are we actually supposed to believe someone who looks like Sam couldn’t find a date? And yes, I know that it’s actually due to his being poor now, but it’s still a really oddly developed plot point.) “Prom Queen” has some good–even terrific–aspects, but this is, at best, a first-draft script that needed more work before being filmed, to correct those moments that didn’t ring true. Episodes like this make me worry that the writers have stopped caring all together.
In 2009, Glee was my top show of the year. In 2010, it was the second. At this rate, for 2011, I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t even make the top ten.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
There is no writer's room at Glee, which is the problem. There are only three writers; Ian, Brian and Ryan; and it really seems like they rarely speak to each other. I think having more people in the mix with different points of view would lead to a better show. The inconsistencies between episodes alone would not happen if there was better communication. At this point, Saved by the Bell had better continuity than Glee does these days.
Absolutely. And, yeah, I know about the lack of writers' room. Was speaking more about the proverbial writers' room that all shows should have so that…what's happening on Glee now doesn't happen. ;)
yeah, character continuity is a problem….
I have to say, at least last night's episode left me wanting more, which certainly didn't happen last week.
And I was totally thrown by the Kurt wins Prom Queen thing. When Figgins said his name, my first reaction was jubilation…then Kurt was upset, so I realized I was supposed to be upset too. It was confusing to watch, because you're right, Kurt should have been elated.
Side note on Sam, though. I feel like Sam probably didn't have a date because he didn't even want to go. How many girls would do what Mercedes and Rachel did? Buy cheap dresses, walk to prom, get flowers from the garden, and get the all-you-can-eat cheap pasta dinner?
And what was up with his hair? It looked SO BAD during this whole episode.
Jesse St. James: glad to see him back, but last night he seemed even more shallow and vapid than he did at any point last season.
If you watch the scene with Karofsky in the hall, it was hardly "while standing in a hallway filled with other students"
By the time he did that, the bell had rung and there were NO students in the hall.
Sam didn't have a date because he had no money.
I do agree with Prom queen. It may not have even been mocking. He's always played more on the feminine side. He should have embraced it right away.
There were actually a bunch of students you could clearly see in the background, passing by, and early on in their conversation, it looks like someone's even passing between them. But either way, this is still not an in-the-middle-of-a-school-hallway conversation. re: Sam, I was mostly being facetious, but his lack of money doesn't make the threeway/fourway date any less oddly presented.
One other thing, Brittany said "Best Prom ever" not "Best song ever"
I could be wrong about the Brittany line, but that is what it sounded like to me after replaying it a few times.
I'm willing to believe the school hallway conversation, because it's the only time that they interact. I am probably suspending reality too much, but that's me :)
There were basically three moments of this episode I really enjoyed:
- Jesse's return, and the accompanying duet.
- Dancing Queen.
- And this: http://tumblr.com/xop2h31iqc
And I agree; the writers' issues with continuity used to be amusing; now it's extremely worrying.
P.S: What the hell was with the Artie/Puck punch-spiking plot? No build-up , no climax, no pay-off. I think the writers realised that Artie was going to spending the episode staring wistfully at Brittany.
Get the red pandas ready cause I am finally here.
Now I totally agree with you about the musical numbers. They were great, fun and at least mostly worked into the plot. And I love the continuing joke of Puck, his guitar and the other male glee club members show up when Artie starts singing. Work that cheese grater Mike Chang! Work it!
And I do not think this is a perfect episode by a long shot. The pacing was way off, as it normally feels with Ian penned episodes. He spends most of his time with the set up and then rushes through the climax because well i dont know but I suspect if the Glee DVDs EVER included deleted scenes they may run for like 9 days straight.
For once we agree on the Karofsky storyline…while I continue to doubt the actual sincerity of his "redemption" (And I personally will never come around to feelign for a character that leveled a death threat for whatever reason so effectively that Kurt, Burt, Finn, and Sue all believed he was serious AND his own father believed he made the threat.) I am right with you with that eye rollign scene in the hallway. not only did it come out of nowhere, I counted at least five students passed between Kurt and Karofsky while they were talking about this big huge secret Karofsky is terrified of getting out. Not only that, it was stated they were in front of a classroom….and look I know kids get tunnel visioned when they are doing their routine walk around school I think the biggest bully in the school talking to his most identified target would draw some attention…especailly if he started CRYING in the middle of it.
although to be perfectly honest, I'm still stuck on how a guy the show said in season 1 was only known because of HOCKEY (not football) and being a bully is suddenly so popular that he can win prom king.
as for Kurt's reaction….red pandas Rob…red pandas….just keep thinking red pandas. I bought mainly because of what Kurt said right before the eye rolling with Karofsky. No one had said anything to him. he hadn't been shoved into lockers. He didn't think everyone had decided to wave a rainbow flag and march in a pride parade but maybe they just didn't care anymore. AFter all….Blaine had obviously serendaded him in front of the school and no one had said boo about it. After months at Dalton, where bullying was not tolerated period…coming back to McKinley where Santana and Karofsky are doing what he knows is a fake anti-bully campaing but hey it seems to be working for now since he's not been targeted since he returned….I can see where the admittedly false hope came from.
As for the motivation…I assumed ballot stuffing. Again in episodes Ian does it's often murky about what actually happened to casue something to happen…but given the stunned silence of the crowd and teh fact it was way more than teh glee club applauding Kurt's return to the stage….I took it to mean someone (my guess was Azimio) stuffed the ballot box without the help of the rest of the school.
To be honest, this was the first episode in a long time the kids felt like 16 year olds…not mini-adults. Completely caught up in their own drama (see Quinn and Santana's break downs over not being prom queen and Brittany of all people saying "buck up…it's a lot worse for Kurt right now") and being completely contradictory (Kurt being determined to wear a kilt but hurt by a prank.) and to not knowing what to do (Blaine not really knowing how to help Kurt but ultimately just listening to him rant).
and not to spam your site but can we have a moment of love for the line "Go with God Satan…Santana" cause honestly…top three lines of the night.
Oh, that line was amazing. Santana was also full of awesome lines last night. She has totally stolen both Sue and Brittany's thunder as funniest-sayer-of-killer-throwaway-lines. :)
As for the ballot stuffing, good point, though I really do think that this is a case where confirmation was needed. Because there is a big difference between entire-school-is-against-you and there's-one-or-two-jerks. I get that Brennan wanted to make Kurt's announcement a surprise, but without either an establishing scene to explain how this came to pass, or even a shot of two or three bullies snickering and perhaps one line about them succeeding, it's too out of context. To be honest, I'm also getting a bit tired of Glee's "have every character explain exactly what they are feeling" approach to dialogue. Even if Kurt were upset and had to run out, the speechifying to Blaine was unnecessary. Blaine is most definitely in the choir, no pun intended. We know why Kurt was upset. We don't need it spelled out for us. Meanwhile, things that should have been more clearly spelled out–like what actually happened with the votes–are left to the imagination. We're just not going to agree on Kurt's immediate reaction to it, but that's ok. Red pandas!
Totally confirmation was needed. There is a HUGE difference between the entire school is in on this and one person was out to seem like the new bad ass. (I have to be honest my suspicion of that was due to the comment at the beginning of the episode of Puck loosing his rep becuase Lauren is perceived as tougher than him. ) Again I have a feeling a scene explaining that was likely cut to justify some other scene running longer. i've heard many cast members talk about how much stuff ends up on the cutting room floor for every episode.
Red pandas are totally awesome! As is Santana….and i'm needing more Kurt/Santana interaction in my life.
I think you're giving Kurt too much credit. While he is proud to be himself and let the world know, this is the same kid who left McKinley to go to a private school after he couldn't take the extent of the bullying anymore. It isn't completely unbelievable that the kids could form a big enough group to vote him Prom Queen as a vile joke, though I would have to agree with your suspension of belief point. I would doubt that most schools would say a guy's name for Prom Queen since it is nothing but offensive; most would have counted it out and went with the girl that had gotten the highest amount of votes.
Just because Kurt has no trouble flaunting his true colors doesn't mean that he would add fuel to the joke by accepting. Sure, he could act like he doesn't care, but that's a pretty big pool of hate to ignore. Everybody has a breaking point. He could shake off a bully or two's ignorance, but when there are so many votes cast with the intent of going against him, it's much harder to shake off. Thing is, he just needed a short breakdown this time to do so since it was such an unexpected moment.
One of the writers' (based on what I had read, it was an unanimous decision by all three) ambitions for this episode was a surprise ending. At the least, it could be said that they succeeded in this area since the Prom King and Queen were not easily predictable. Even though a few details had to be overlooked, in some cases an unexpectable ending has to come from unbelievable circumstances. Surely Kurt's crying to Blaine was a more interesting scene than an explanation for the results; it showed how the votes brought out a weakness in him that he was able to quickly overcome by talking it out.
Kurt was not out of character actually. Poor Kurt actually believes the best in people. The fact that everyone nominated him behind his back HAS to hurt. No matter how "queeny" he can be at times , he's still a man and naming him queen is just an insult to his gender.
If he had actually entered the race willingly, I would agree with you. But you're wrong about Kurt being OOC. He continues to believe the best in people, in joy and happiness, even after Blaine told him his story about being beaten up.
Remember, this is the person that refused to dress as Dr. Frank because he didnt' want to be seen as a tranny. This is the person who told his dad "Guy stuff? I'm a guy…"
Kurt loves scaves and kilts and hats, but he still has a penis and he's proud of it.
His meltdown was utterlly heartbreaking and the best acting i've seen on the show to date.
@CarpeDylan Yes, totally, that Sue/Artie plot was completely pointless. Also, if he had only spiked it with lemonade, Sue makes a good point. Why DIDN'T he tell her right away? The reason is because Brennan thought the joke would be funnier if she asked him that. Pointing out the plot hole does not excuse it!
@Michael re: the crying, I disagree. I would much rather have had context for what led to the voting. The scene felt empty to me, because there was no narrative explanation. If Brennan wanted to keep it a surprise, there is no reason he couldn't have explained what happened afterwards.
@Tracey The problem with any of the character writing on "Glee" is that it is so inconsistent, week-to-week, there are at least three versions of every character. So, while, yes, in some episodes, Kurt wants to not be considered different than any of the other guys, in other episodes, he wants to be one of the girls. Just like, in the episode where he felt the need to leave McKinley, I completely bought his fear, but then his willingness to visit McKinley again didn't ring true, because once he was sent to Dalton, the writers dropped the ball on his character development. If he was actually in fear of his life, he should *never* have visited McKinley again until that meeting a few weeks ago, if that.
And while I definitely see that there's a difference between Kurt choosing to indulge in his feminine side and having it thrust upon him so to speak, a big melodramatic crying scene in which he explains in detail why being gay in high school is so hard was not necessary. I actually found it one of Colfer's weaker performances, but it was so hamfistedly written, I don't think anyone could have made it work. One of my followers on Twitter suggested it would have been more powerful and more likely if there had been a subtle moment where we could tell Kurt was hurt–maybe a wounded look between Blaine and him–but he instead marched right up there to accept, and then the episode ended on him crying to himself afterwards.
How much more powerful would it have been if the happy burst of sunshine that was "Dancing Queen" and the jubilation of the prom were undercut with a quiet, simple moment of Kurt finally allowing himself to break down? That would have been true to the character, rather than a case of simply turning him into an afterschool special message. "Glee" used to go to that dark place, particularly at the end of last season's "Mattress," with the bullies defacing New Directions' yearbook photo, but they seem to be more interested in ending on a feel-good place each week now. The writers also don't seem to trust that we, as viewers, can understand the "complexities" of the characters without them explaining exactly how they are feeling, word-for-word, which is lazy at best (it's easier to tell than to show), patronizing at worst.
I love your reviews and typically find most of your comments insightful. However, this is the one time that I found it difficult to agree with you on a lot of the points you made. I actually thought this one was one of the best episodes of the series. And not because you could compare this to any other quality show, but because it actually took advantage of all its flaws. Kurt having a subtle breakdown does not make sense; him running out of the room in a fit does. This show is not going to win any accolades for writing, it has horrible continuity problems (plot wise and character wise), however it's like a summer popcorn flick trying to cater to a large audience. Not everyone is going to be happy.
I really do like the comment the poster made about gender. I think it's an important one. I think being called voted a prom queen was offensive and he reacted offended. I don't think you can compare his always wanting to sing with the girls or included with the girls as a declaration of actually wanting to be a girl. I think Kurt likes being a guy and even though he does not engage in traditional gender role stereotypes, I don't think we should be confusing him with wanting to be a girl. He's gay, feminine not Trans. Also I think the crucial piece about the wanting to sing with the girls and be amongst the girls is choice. He chose to do that, this prom queen thing was not something he chose to do. It was another form of bullying (which sadly happens exactly like it did in this episode). People just don't talk about it. I think especially for Kurt who has been on a upswing lately with feeling more accepted, this blow may have been exaggerated because he thought he was being accepted.
Maybe I'm thinking too much about this but I thought for once (despite all the continuity problems and the many winks it gave to itself), this was true Glee and I for one thought it was a wonderful episode.
Oh, I never said I think he wants to be a girl. I just think that he's in touch enough with his femininity that he might not see the label "queen" as vastly insulting. Did he not just sing, "Don't be a drag, just be a queen" two weeks ago? Kurt has a lot of guts. He is willing to put himself out there on a regular basis, singing songs intended for women, and not caring about what people think of him. And so, knowing how brave and strong he is and proud of who he is, I don't think that this moment would have almost broken him the way it did. I think it would have made him even more resilient. I also find the fact that Glee copied this scenario from Ugly Betty very troubling, and even more so, because when Justin on Ugly Betty was announced homecoming queen, he did exactly what I wish Kurt had done: he stepped right up there, accepted his crown, and showed the bullies that they hadn't won even a little bit. Infinitely more powerful than Kurt's scene, and practically subtle in comparison. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L40BYCT5DxI
But the larger problem with this scene is really that the longer you think about it, the less sense it makes. Whether or not Kurt was picked as prom queen, shouldn't Figgins have stepped in and not announced it, particularly knowing that this boy left the school to escape bullying? Wouldn't any responsible principal have simply named the runner-up the winner in that situation? Shouldn't Karofsky have reacted negatively towards it immediately? Shouldn't the entire school not have stood there for at least five minutes while Kurt was crying in the hallway? What were they doing in the meantime, just standing there, frozen? Any way you look at it, the moment is riddled with holes to the point that I'm shocked it made it to air in this form.
There's one issue I really wish would be touched upon in more reviews, though I guess I'm probably the only person it really bothered: I hate the fact that the members of New Directions barely acknowledged that Karofsky left the room. They just keep singing and dancing, happier than before, without anyone (if I remember correctly, anyone *at all*) going after Karofsky to try to comfort him. Even without knowing the situation and the history behind him, someone should have been concerned. Even a teacher. But there was barely any acknowledgment. I'm sort of hoping that something serious happens with Karofsky as a result and that the Glee kids have to deal with it, but I'm sure it won't. Because he's just a self-hating closeted gay douche, right?
I've been doing marathon Ugly Betty watching having missed it when it first came out. When I saw Justin at homecoming, I thought "THIS is what they needed for Kurt!" so great. In fact, I'm so loving Justin that I'm sad he didn't get as much press as Kurt for being an inspiring gay teen character on TV.