Starring: Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Jessalyn Gilsig, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, Jenna Ushkowitz
Mr. Schuester splits the Glee Club into pairs to sing their favorite ballad, but when one kid gets sick, he’s forced to step in and winds up in a sticky situation. Meanwhile, Finn and Quinn have to face the music when dinner with her parents goes awry.
Glee is one of those shows that in one episode deals with heavy issues related to teen angst, while in another, focusing on a frivolous high school girl’s crush on her teacher. The series is still working on balancing the serious tone with the irreverent humor towards teen issues, and while they look for the balance, they serve well in creating some hilarious scenes with its quirky cast of offbeat characters. Even though there was no Jane Lynch this time around, the show managed to maintain some funny and touching scenes.
At the beginning of the episode Mr. Schuester splits the club into pairs, and is unfortunately stuck with Rachel after one kid is absent. The two sing a duet together and immediately Rachel becomes smitten with the now terrified teacher who catches her fawning over him. The best part however is the narration during the ballad in which we hear both Rachel and Mr. Schuester thoughts, and we see him trying to keep his distance from her as he notes to himself, “she looks crazy.”
The awkward crush was treated well, never taken too seriously or in the danger of going overboard. Rachel meeting with Mr. Schuester’s past student, Suzy Pepper (Sarah Drew) who once shared the same feelings as Rachel was a nice touch. Suzy warns Rachel to stay away from Mr. Schuester not out of jealousy but because her feelings for him aren’t real and are simply a reflection on Rachel’s self esteem issues. As soon as she realizes this, Rachel apologizes for her inappropriate behavior.
Finn is invited to dinner at Quinn’s house by her parents and reveals Quinn’s pregnancy, through a song through a song of course. They immediately disown her with her father declaring his shame and disgust with Quinn. Dianna Agron does a fine performance trying desperately to plead for understanding, but with no luck. This is probably the most dramatic scene in Glee, and rightly so, since this is the climax of the pregnancy storyline.
There was however a strange and less effective moment with Mercedes and Puck. Either with the slip of the tongue or completely intentional, Puck admits that he is the father and not Finn. So you would think Mercedes would be surprised, upset, or floored by the news. Her response? Telling Puck to get over it and accept that Quinn chose Finn over him. Really? The biggest news in the Glee universe and Mercedes quickly dismisses it, even coming off cold about it. Anyway, at least Emma returned although for a brief moment. It was great seeing her and Rachel mesmerized as Mr. Schuester sang “Don’t stand so close to me” as a message to Rachel. Anytime Emma and Mr. Schuester are together you can’t help but smile. Hopefully more of Emma is on the way since she was missing in the last episode and only briefly seen in “Ballad.”
Finn and Kurt were quite the pair this time around as Kurt advises Fin on how to handle his relationship with Quinn. This is what I mean about Glee, the characters have vastly different personalities but the relationships and friendships they develop come off genuine and a joy to watch. Its obvious Kurt has feelings for Finn, who may or may not notice considering he’s not exactly the quickest guy in the club, but Finn certainly values his friendship with Kurt, no matter their social status.
It’s a juggling act with Glee, trying to manage an ensemble cast while giving each character their moment in the spotlight. While some may come off more developed than others, Glee is improving on character development in relation to the larger story. Quinn and Finn finally admitting to their parents about the pregnancy was progress for the series and showed the storyline was heading to close. A lot happened in the last two episodes of Glee setting up engaging new developments in several promising storylines.
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BALLAD - Glee Season 1 Episode 10
