“Glee” “Special Education” Episode Falls Short of Past Competition Shows

Given how uneven “Glee” has been in this fall portion of its second season, “Special Education” was far from a disastrous episode. It furthered storylines, it found a role for Kurt that did not involve his playing a martyr and it pulled many of the principal characters into the mix.

But given the standard set by prior “competition” episodes, whether it was how properly “Sectionals” culminated the show’s brilliant first fall season or how well “Journey” made up for the largely uneven back nine, “Special Education” was nothing short of a letdown.

Granted, it differed in that it was not a finale of any sort, but it still missed the mark in its attempt to recreate some of the magical elements of the prior two competition segments.

There were definitely some major flaws in the execution, but one cannot entirely fault the writing staff behind this specific episode. In many ways, “Special Education” was doomed for failure based on how poorly plots had been developed in the season’s prior eight episodes.

Among the biggest black marks on season two is the absolutely horrific scripting of the Will Schuester character. Matthew Morrison earned an Emmy nomination for last year’s performance as a good-hearted motivator who showed a true commitment to the betterment of his New Directions. This season, the character has become a self-obsessed creep, deriving many of his decisions from a pathetic, uncomfortable quest to reclaim the affections of Emma. If that meant involving himself in compromising musical numbers with the kids, so be it. If that meant re-arranging his setlist to impress his crush, so be it.

And, while Will has never shied away from a flirtatious rapport with the female characters, he even made his psychotic ex-wife Terri sympathetic after callously misleading her for the purpose of a one night stand.

With his hardly admirable behavior at the forefront, Will’s attempts at motivating the team came across as excessively hollow. His words of “inspiration” felt like things the coach had to say rather than things he actually believed. His largely insincere words carried no weight, and it thus felt entirely improbable that his final speech could have united the dysfunctional, embittered group to come together for the performance at Sectionals.

Worse, it made all the storyline build-up appear worthless. At some point, issues like royal couple Finn and Rachel having a fight, Kurt leaving the group, Mercedes continuing her resentment over not getting a chance to shine and a ‘changed’ Puck recruiting a downer into the group need to have an adverse impact on the New Directions’ ability to perform. If “Glee,” at its core, is about a group of social “losers” getting the chance to be winners on stage, should not some of the plot development actually hinder that quest?

Even in the group’s loss at regionals in the “Journey” episode, it was due to questionable judging and the excesses of the competing glee clubs–it was not due to the internal strife leading to flawed performances.

A phoned-in speech from Will Schuester, especially the Will Schuester from season two, should not be enough to, even temporarily, right all of the wrongs affecting the group.

The female component of the current Will Schuester storyline was also struck with the bad scripting bug. Emma’s sudden marriage to Carl, albeit somewhat effective in creating a hurdle for her love story with Will, simply did not come across as believable. While Emma has always been impulsive at the first sign of stability, the viewer has not seen nearly enough of her relationship with Carl to accept the success of the relationship. The viewer sees she is occasionally creeped out by Will, but he also sees a woman who still, at every turn, seems to be internally burning for the New Directions’ head coach. Worse, for all the talk about the success of the relationship with Carl, none of the happiness, romance and supposed-chemistry is ever really conveyed for the viewer.

Part of creating a long-term love story is the introduction of honest, threatening obstacles. No one really believes Emma is going to remain with Carl forever, but for a show that has many episodes still to come, it sure would not hurt to make the relationship at least appear legitimate. Marrying the two does not add credibility to the Emma-Carl pairing; it just adds silliness to an already-tired storyline.

Elsewhere, the obnoxious Rachel-Finn relationship (apparently) came to an end, albeit in the most predictable manner possible. As had been teased in recent episodes, Santana finally revealed to Rachel that she and Finn slept together in “The Power of Madonna,” sending Rachel on a pathway of anger that resulted in her throwing herself at Puck (who, out of loyalty to Finn and regret over what happened last season with Quinn, rejected her further advances after a makeout ensued). Obviously, Rachel’s offense was much worse–Finn slept with another girl while the two were separated; Rachel, in fact, had been dating Jesse at the time. In this case, Rachel cheated on her boyfriend. The breakup ensued.

Rachel’s total lack of self-awareness in playing the “poor me” card ruined what had otherwise been a great episode for Lea Michele. Her scenes with Chris Colfer, building on the mutual respect Rachel and Kurt have as ‘divas,’ were truly fantastic and absolutely the highlights of the episode. Lea Michele is a tremendous actress with wonderful musical talent, and the sarcastic arrogance she displayed while having believable, honest human interactions with another person definitely allowed her abilities to shine.

If the Finn breakup results in Rachel having similar, less dramatic interactions with other characters, then it was absolutely a victory for the show. If, however, it results in the re-emergence of “emo Rachel,” it will probably do irreparable damage to the credibility of the show’s best female performer.

In scripting season one’s “Preggers,” “Glee” writer Brad Falchuk revealed the extent of the asset the show had in Chris Colfer’s Kurt. Colfer’s dealing with his character’s homosexuality–even though he, personally, has no shortage of pride in being openly gay, he remains well aware of the societal obstacles he faces–became one of the show’s dramatic highlights, and gave the sarcastic, goofball comedy its heart. Recently, however, the character has been totally bastardized, moving from a character who is lauded for his strength and optimism into a martyr who is praised for his tolerance for pain and abuse. Kurt worked best as the source of drama when “Glee” needed to ‘go serious’ for an episode; with the bullying of his character as the primary storyline in season two, the character has become greatly overexposed and, sadly, almost unlikable in its victimization.

Falchuk, luckily, saved the day with his portrayal of Kurt in “Special Education.” With Kurt now settling into the Dalton Academy under the guidance of Blaine (Darren Criss), a fellow homosexual who has developed confidence and is embraced as the de facto star of the Warblers, the school’s glee club, bullying over his sexuality was not an issue this episode.

Instead, Kurt began facing a more intriguing challenge. After suffering so much anguish wishing he could ‘fit in,’ he discovered the downside of just being another part of the group. Whereas the New Directions valued Kurt’s unique qualities, the Warblers are, in Blaine’s words, not looking for stars and standouts. The result, ironically, save for Blaine, is a collection of anonymous singers who represent unity to the fullest extent. For someone who loves the spotlight and values being unique, the threat of being made anonymous is scary.

Support from Rachel and continued belief in Blaine helps Kurt get through his obvious disappointment, but it is clear Dalton does not represent the ideal home for Kurt. While he certainly does not want to be chastised for his differences, he absolutely does not want them to go unnoticed and unappreciated.

Hints at questionable motivations on the part of Darren Criss’ Blaine were also effectively conveyed. Despite showing signs of glee as Kurt auditioned for a sectionals solo with “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” when breaking the news that Kurt did not make the cut, Blaine explains that Kurt’s blatant attempt to stand out would not be welcome in the Warblers and that he needs to adopt a lower-profile as he pays his dues. Yet when it comes time for the group’s sectionals performance, there is Blaine, front and center, singing a rendition of “Hey, Soul Sister” with the rest of the club effectively serving as his backup vocalists.

Elsewhere, the relationship between Artie and Brittany was furthered as the couple took a step away from its standing as a mere placeholder until Tina and Artie can rekindle their flame. In many ways, Brittany represents the perfect girlfriend for Artie. Presumably based on a feeling of weakness spurred by his handicap, Artie clearly has an intense desire to be in control. Unfortunately for his love life, that desire seems to occasionally manifest itself as chauvenism, and Artie’s 1950s philosophy towards women did not fly with a girl like Tina.

With Brittany, however, Artie is able to feel empowered without being so offensive. Simple, dumb and naive, Brittany likes the safety of control–she wants to be encouraged and “led” by her boyfriend. Artie is totally up for the task, and “Special Education” started to reveal a legitimate connection between the two.

Although “Special Education” was not the fall finale, it does, in many ways, serve as a checkpoint for the current season. For all its flaws and cliches, the episode did create some interesting scenarios for future episodes, and if the “Glee” writers act on those scenarios properly, it could ultimately emerge as the episode that revived the creatively fading series.

Music Reviews:

“Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” — Though a great, passionate vocal showcase for Lea Michele and Chris Colfer, this again represented a “theatrical” turn for the show’s resident divas. It would be nice to see the two have a tender, emotional moment over something a bit more radio-friendly.

“The Living Years” — Though the comedy was far below that from prior competition episodes, competing group ‘The Hipsters,’ effectively representing a senior citizen version of the New Directions, made for a cute and amusing turn. The cover is nothing special, but the performance was definitely welcome in the episode.

“Hey, Soul Sister” — It lacked the punch and originality of his wildly successful “Teenage Dream” cover, but this again represented a showcase for Darren Criss. Over the past few episodes, the new faces (guest star Gwyneth Paltrow and new regular Criss) have been stealing the show as far as music is concerned.

“(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” — Made a bit more relevant by the current Black Eyed Peas single, a song like this still has no place in such an important episode. Worse, Chord Overstreet’s Sam and Dianna Agron’s Quinn were not really up for the challenge. They have phenomenal physical chemistry, but they simply do not bring much to the table vocally. Emma was way off in claiming Quinn has a beautiful voice (though it makes sense to feature the beautiful, charismatic Dianna Agron more extensively, additional singing, given her weak, nasally voice, is not the best use of her screen time) and while Sam definitely has talent, the excess of vocal enhancements on all of Chord Overstreet’s covers is a bit troublesome. The sound of his organic voice is still something of a mystery.

“Valerie” — Perpetually overlooked, Santana did an admirable job carrying the vocals, but this was clearly meant as a showcase for the dancing of Brittany and Mike. They absolutely took the performance to the next level.

“Dog Days are Over” — Likely to compete with “Hey, Soul Sister” as the best-charting cover this week, this was a very effective showing. The beginning vocals were a bit rough, but once the song got going, the excitement, energy and believability were all there. These are the kinds of performances “Glee” should be putting forth more regularly.