Glee seems to be a show that incites a lot of rage and frustration, even amongst its ‘gleeks’. Now that the show’s fourth season is on the home stretch, I wonder how fans and critics, alike, have found its massive premise change since the end of Season Three. Graduating high school characters is never an easy task, and usually it is avoided for as long as possible on other tv shows (Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill).
So, I’ve decided to list the key problems that I, as a fan, have identified and feel, with some minor (and also some more major) adjustments, Glee could easily recover from its recent ratings lag, in time for Season Five.
5. Last Lap for Lima
Ryan Murphy said he didn’t want to have the characters in high school for the whole show. So, I was kind of glad that RIB were, at least, being a bit original and didn’t stretch whole years over two seasons like other shows have done. But, if this was to be the case, then what was the need to introduce a new batch of high schoolers? What’s worse, why make them main characters. At this point do we really want second-rate rip-offs of all the original students? Seriously, Kitty: NuQuinn, Unique: NuMercedes, Ryder: NuFinn and Jake: NuPuck.
Honestly, if new high school students was an absolute must, couldn’t they have got a bit more creative as well? Marley seems the only one with a drop of originality. Even still, there was an abundance of original characters, from The Glee Project, just waiting to be used. Even the ones that did win The Glee Project – Alex (Unique) and Samuel (Joe) – might as well not be there for as much as they’re used.
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12 Comments
THIS. The show as much as I can respect it and enjoy it, needs a major overhaul in terms of how they structure seasons and deal with new characters and old favourites – e.g. the Puck and Mercedes in LA storyline would have been amazing to watch (their voices are amazing together, I agree) and following the Unholy Trinity in NYC or LA would have been cool too. I could even have gone with a three-way split between Kurt/Rachel in New York, Puck/Mercedes/others in LA and then Tina/Blaine/Sam/others in Lima.
The thing that’s annoyed me the most is the inconsistent storytelling – one minute a character’s this way, then they’re doing complete 180s and having half-assed motivations and arcs. Maybe they’ll sort it out in S5 – but I’m kind of done with Glee and it’s a damn shame. Great article. :)
Thanks Chris, I’m glad you agree :) I just don’t understand why certain characters, *cough*Rachel*cough*, get complete coverage, even when the episode theme/tone doesn’t particularly suit their character/storyline. Then the writers seem to realise they’ve neglected the others (Quinn, Puck, Tina, Mercedes) and – like you mentioned – come up with random plots / arcs for them at the last minute.
I really hope they just bite the bullet and have done with Lima in S5. It’s not really worth staying there for the lacklustre new characters.
It’s so dumb – they’ve put too many characters to service them all properly and those that do dominate (Rachel, Kurt etc). What would have been cool would have been to make it an actual spin-off – Rachel and Kurt get their NYC time as well as Mercedes, Puck, Santana, Mike and Quinn in LA or wherever. Then ‘Glee’ gets left for Tina, Sam, Artie and the new guys so they can devote proper screentime and development to them.
Yeah that way the could have the Graduate spin-off and make it a little more grown-up whilst have Glee follow the Lima lot. Although I don’t know what they’d do with Tina, Blaine, Sam or Artie after Season 4? Maybe they’d just be recurring characters.
ok @ omitting Artie as an original. He’s been there since the pilot and is more of an original than Blaine, Sugar or Joe.
Sorry I thought I’d added him. My mistake. I’m really not too bothered about Sugar actually. Joe could’ve been interesting though. That just proves how underused Artie is, so much so I forgot to mention him :D
Whilst I agree with you about your points on Will, the ridiculous number of musical numbers and the fact that some of the plotlines are a little tired, I feel as though your idea that Sectionals/Regionals/Nationals should be omitted in favour of Mercedes and Quinn’s fabulous adventures as older people renders most of your argument inconsequential. The title is not “High-School Graduates”, nor is it “People Finding a Place in the World” – it’s Glee! The central purpose of the show was always an underdog glee club in a small town, and I think that the fact they’ve deviated from that lovely steer that was the source of the show’s acclaim in the first and second seasons has only proved to work against them. The fact that the show’s creators are too focused on graduated characters is dragging the plot line down – they have graduated, they are not a part of the Glee club anymore! With the exception of characters who have some connection to the mains in Lima, there’s really no reason to continue telling their stories so comprehensively because they’re no longer a part of the show’s central premise.
Even though their ability to produce original, two-dimensional characters can very quickly be called into question, I think the show would have managed to pull through its original charm if the characters earmarked for ageing had properly left and been replaced by new, different characters.
I see your point, Josh, and I don’t necessarily disagree with you. I think different fans have different opinions on what made Glee what it is today.
Personally, I feel simply creating a new batch of underdogs year after year is a tired plotline and I find myself wondering more and more what the Graduates are getting up to.
Any good tv show knows when its original premise needs revitalised. Now that the New Directions perform, by and large, Top-40 songs, I find the idea of them being unpopular at McKinley is becoming more unbelievable, given that most of them are good-looking and extremely talented. It kind of worked in Season One, when they performed Showtunes and 80′s rock songs, but now, I’m not convinced. So, for me, I’ve become more invested in the original characters, not the original setting.
However, I might have thought differently had they – as you said – given ALL the Graduates appropriate and worthy exit storylines and introduced the new glee clubbers a bit more seamlessly. What they’ve ended up with is the original glee club (Season One – Three), the new recruits (Season Four +) and this sort of forgotten generation of Joe, Sugar & Unique.
Everything you said is 100% true!! I’ve been pointing out these same issues since season 2 (but of course I keep watching). The writers have catered to the teen girl fan base and forgot that this was once a respectable adultish comedy/drama. More Will, real storylines, less songs, and end the recycled characters with no personality. Also, the writers are ruining the original characters… everything each of them have done this season has been completely out of character. Sad to say but Glee really died for me after the Regionals win in season 1.
I feel your pain! It’s so frustrating to see a show you like so much go more and more off course. I agree that when Glee first started it wasn’t really ‘teen’ viewing. We saw outside of McKinley all the time and each episode didn’t completely revolve around the teenage, angst-filled relationships.
I know a lot of people say that the first 13 were the best episodes and I agree to an extent (I really didn’t like Acafellas or Hairography much). There does seem to have only been a handful of memorable episodes since then. I really hate them using songs that really don’t have anything to add to the plot, but are used because they are popular.
I too miss the original characters, their storylines are just not moving on, but are stunted and it’s obvious the writers are struggling to find ways to keep them included. I would have rather they’d kept them in high school for a few more years like they do on other teen shows.
What I enjoyed about the original thirteen episodes was that it was almost a mini-series. It had a strong script and intertwining storylines and it kept moving forward. It had a beginning, middle, and end. Rachel finally got her spotlight, New Directions made a name for themselves, Will found out about the fake pregnancy and got together with Emma, Finn found out about Puck and Quinn etc. And at the same time, it left you wanting more: the question of Rachel and Finn, WIll and Emma, Quinn and the baby, etc. The first half of the season was strong because they had a set endpoint due to the possibility of the show not being picked up. From then on, the writers stropped worrying about a through line and only focused on trying to keep it afloat with the viewers.
I agree with you a 100% Brandon. I kind of wish it wasn’t extended to 22 episodes for Season One. Maybe with a longer break the initial hype around the show would have died down and the writers would have had more of a chance to really think of a proper beginning, middle and end for Season Two, like you said. I do feel, like you, after the first 13 the show became so erratic and really began to lack continuity.