Topic: Tom's Glee Marathon

[Tom]

Glee
Season 1.14 Hell-O
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Ian Brennan (Writer)
Director: Brad Falchuk
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Idina Menzel (Shelby Corcoran), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Patrick Gallagher (Ken Tanaka), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), James Earl (Azimio), Josh Sussman (Jacob Ben Israel), Max Adler (Dave Karofsky), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Jeanine Anderson (Waitress), Ayla Rose Barreau (Dottie Westerton), Ashley Fink (Lauren Zizes), Hayley Holmes (Liz Schneider)

The first episode after the season got extended to a full season. As these episodes were produced later, they already knew what the fans liked and what not. There is a slight shift in the editing style now. Also the roles of Santana and Brittany is enlarged.

Brittana:
They can be seen pinkie holding. Also they go to a date together with Finn (ordered by Sue so that they try to get him to break up with Rachel) and it is funny how they make fun of him in front of him.

Notable music:
The theme of the episode is songs with "Hello" in the title. There are some nice song performances. But I like Rachel's "Gives You Hell" best (she was pissed of and chose a song which only had the first syllable of "Hello" in the title). I hate it that it suddenly so hard to find Glee clips on YouTube. Either they are badly cropped (so that YouTube's auto-detectors do not find them so easily), or it is only audio. I found only the audio-only version of this song:



Rating:

[Tom]

Glee
Season 1.15 The Power of Madonna
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Ryan Murphy (Writer)
Director: Ryan Murphy
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Josh Sussman (Jacob Ben Israel), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Lauren Potter (Becky Jackson), Jose Cueva (Stilt World/Cheerleader #1), Rob Crites (Stilt World/Cheerleader #2), Tonya Kay (Stilt World/Cheerleader #3), Trey Knight (Stilt World/Cheerleader #4), Carin Noland (Stilt World/Cheerleader #5), Michael Nunez (Stilt World/Cheerleader #6), Brooke Olsen (Stilt World/Cheerleader #7), Darin Sanone (Stilt World/Cheerleader #8), Danielle Towne (Stilt World/Cheerleader #9), Erica Weindruch (Stilt World/Cheerleader #10)

A Madonna tribute episode. I am not really a fan of hers, but I enjoyed this episode.

Fun fact:
Brittany can clearly been seen talking to Artie in the background and having fun with him. Early in season 2 though Artie says, that she never talked to him before.

Notable music:
Glee's first tribute episode. This time, it's for Madonna. I have never been a fan of hers. But I enjoyed some of the songs in this episode.
For example the mash-up of "Borderline" and "Open Your Heart". Sadly I didn't find a clip on YouTube.
Another one I liked is "4 Minutes":

I also really enjoyed "Like A Prayer". I also found no clip from the show, but this live performance is really close to it:


Rating:

[Tom]

Glee
Season 1.16 Home
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Writer)
Director: Paris Barclay
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Kristin Chenoweth (April Rhodes), Mike O'Malley (Burt Hummel), Romy Rosemont (Carole Hudson), Michael Benjamin Washington (Tracy Pendergrass), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Noel Arthur (Guy), Earnestine Phillips (Nurse), Lauren Potter (Becky Jackson)

In this episode, April returns. And I am already tired of her character. First time around she was fun, now she is just grading.
There is a scene in this episode, where Quinn and Mercedes talk about weight and being home in their bodies. Generally the message they are conveying in this dialogue is great, but I think it is unfortunate, because in my opinion Mercedes should loose some weight to be healthy.

Brittana:
Santana putting her head on Brittany's shoulder during Kurt's song.

Favorite Scenes:
The scenes with Kurt's dad are again the highlight of an episode. The Kurt/Burt/Finn/Carol storyline is the saving grace of the episode.

Notable Songs:
No notable songs. Glee club plays second fiddle to April.

Rating:

[Tom]

Glee
Season 1.17 Bad Reputation
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Ian Brennan (Writer)
Director: Elodie Keene
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Molly Shannon (Brenda Castle), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Patrick Gallagher (Ken Tanaka), Stephen Tobolowsky (Sandy Ryerson), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), James Earl (Azimio), Max Adler (Dave Karofsky), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Olivia Newton-John (Herself), Mary Jo Catlett (Mrs. Carlisle), Jean Sincere (Ancient Librarian), Robin Trocki (Jean Sylvester)

This is a fun episode. Glee club gets their hands on a video where Sue does aerobic to "Let's Get Physical" and posts it on YouTube. This attracts the real Olivia Newton-John to do a remake of the old music video of this song together with Sue.

Finncompetence:
This episode shows that Rachel has much more chemistry with other characters than with Finn. In this case with Puck (or Puckleberry how their romance was known in school and to fans). Even the fandom's name of the pairing sounds stupid: Finchel.

Brittana:
Brittany and Santana play angels in Rachel's music video.

Notable music:
There are some fun songs in this episode.
Will is rapping again, but this time around I enjoyed it. He did "Ice Ice Baby".

Another funny music scene is when some of the Glee club members are trying to be badass by singing "You Can't Touch This" in the school's library. But it backfires.


Another funny music scene is Rachel's video to "Run Joey Run".


My favorite song in this episode though is "Total Eclipse of the Heart", but I may be partial to it. Since I saw the musical "Tanz der Vampire" where this song was covered, I am a fan of this song.


Rating:

[Tom]

Glee
Season 1.18 Laryngitis
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Ryan Murphy (Writer)
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Mike O'Malley (Burt Hummel), Zack Weinstein (Sean Fretthold), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Eve Gordon (Mrs. Fretthold), Josh Sussman (Jacob Ben Israel), Rizwan Manji (Dr. Gidwani), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Ashley Fink (Lauren Zizes)

This is a really great episode with a lot of really funny scenes. I especially like the reactions when Puck had his mohawk shaved and the scene where Rachel looses her voice without noticing it herself.
Or the storyline where Kurt behaves more "country" to try to appear less gay. This episode again has some great scenes between Kurt and his dad.

Glee continuity:
Rachel promises the paralized Sean singing lessons by coming by his house once a week. But he has never been mentioned again.

Notable song:
This episode is full of great songs.

One of the few Finn songs I enjoy: Jessie's girl


Really fun was Kurt singing country. Also his "Rose's Turn" was nice to watch.

Another great song in this episode is U2's "One".


Rating:

[Tom]

Glee
Season 1.19 Dream On
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Writer)
Director: Joss Whedon
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Neil Patrick Harris (Bryan Ryan), Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Idina Menzel (Shelby Corcoran), Molly Shannon (Brenda Castle), John Michael Higgins (Russell), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Paul Vogt (Herb Duncan), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Molly McCook (Sophomore Singer), Wendy Worthington (Woman Auditioning)

Brian, an old rival of Will's, shows up, played by Neill Patrick Harris. I enjoyed this episode.
Also in this episode Rachel finds out, that Shelby (the coach of the rival Glee club) is her biological mother. This storyline has been chosen by the producers because fans have been saying that Idina Menzel (Shelby) and Lea Michele (Rachel) look a lot alike. They were not wrong as you can see in one of the music clips below. Menzel has starred in "Wicked" on Broadway. I only knew her from the movie version of "Rent" before this.

Tina-Watch:
She has some great scenes with Artie.

Notable music:
There was a short rendition of "Piano Man" sung by Brian and Will, which I enjoyed.
Another song I enjoyed was "Safety Dance", a dream sequence in which we see Artie out of his wheelchair for the first time. Before this I wasn't aware that the actor playing Artie wasn't paralized in real life:


Another song I really enjoyed in this episode is Brian (Neill Patrick Harris) and Will singing Aerosmith's "Dream On". And I also enjoyed Artie singing "Deam a Little Dream of Me".

My favorite song in this episode is sung by Shelby and Rachel. "I Dreamed a Dream" from LesMis. Sadly I only found a clip for it where the spoken parts are dubbed in Spanish:



Rating:

[Tom]

Glee
Season 1.20 Theatricality
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Ryan Murphy (Writer)
Director: Ryan Murphy
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Idina Menzel (Shelby Corcoran), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Mike O'Malley (Burt Hummel), Romy Rosemont (Carole Hudson), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Max Adler (Dave Karofsky), Josh Sussman (Jacob Ben Israel), James Earl (Azimio), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Ashley Fink (Lauren Zizes), Hayley Holmes (Liz Schneider)

I enjoyed this episode.

Burt the man:
I think I have to make it its own category. Burt (Kurt's father) again steals the show. The scene were he is dressing down Finn to defend his son is great.

Notable music:
In this episode they did Lady Gaga and Kiss songs.
I never saw the appeal of Lady Gaga. I never really got into her music. But since I saw some song of hers covered on Glee, I began to appreciate them more. Though I still haven't gone out to buy her music.
But I have to say, that I really love the cover of "Poker Face" in this episode. I enjoy it a lot more than the original song. It is sung here by Rachel and Shelby:


"Bad Romance" was also okay:


Rating:

[Tom]

I received the third season on Blu-ray today. Originally I had planned to have finished the first two seasons by then. But for various reasons I was a lot slower than I had anticipated. If there is interest I will keep the marathon going and finish the first two seasons before diving into the third season. If not, then I will conclude this marathon after I have finished the first season.

[Tom]

Glee
Season 1.21 Funk
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Ian Brennan (Writer)
Director: Elodie Keene
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Idina Menzel (Shelby Corcoran), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Stephen Tobolowsky (Sandy Ryerson), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Kent Avenido (Howard Bamboo), Josh Sussman (Jacob Ben Israel), Keisuke Hoashi (Peter Gow), Brian McGovern (Brett Paxton), Tonita Castro (Imelda), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Jeanine Anderson (Waitress), Taisha Monique Clark (Giselle)

One of my least favorite episodes in the first season.

Stupid storylines:
Will seducing Sue is a stupid storyline. And that it even worked, goes against the character of Sue.

Continuity:
The close friendship between Quinn and Mercedes established in this episode lasts for a whole of two episodes. It is forgotten like it never happened with the start of season two.

Notable music:
"Another One Bites the Dust" performed by rival Glee club Vocal Adreniline is okay, but nothing special.

The song which works best in this episode is Beck's "Loser":

I didn't really case about the other songs.

Rating:

[Tom]

Glee
Season 1.22 Journey to Regionals
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Writer)
Director: Brad Falchuk
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Josh Groban (Himself), Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Idina Menzel (Shelby Corcoran), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Charlotte Ross (Judy Fabray), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Bill A. Jones (Rod Remington), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Olivia Newton-John (Herself), Carole Gutierrez (Nurse #1), Jennifer Saygan (Nurse #2)

The season one finale. I enjoyed it and it was a great conclusion for this season.
I liked that they lost the competition and only get another chance for a second year because Sue had a change of heart and shows compassion for the Glee club.

Brittana:
Linking pinkies during Will's performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Notable music:
Vocal Adreneline's performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" was good, but cannot beat Queen's original. They just don't have any heart to it (which may be the point).

I enjoyed the Journey medley they perform at the competition. Especially their redux of "Don't Stop Believing" which they first sang in the first episode:

Another good song was the last one in this episode when Will is singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to the kids.

Rating:

[samuelrichardscott]

Great thread Tom. Just ordered Season 1 Volume 1 which has the first 13 episodes but was only £1.56 delivered from Amazon Marketplace on DVD. I looked at prices and buying volume two this way would still work out cheaper than buying the whole season set (I'm not fussed about losing extras on TV shows). I've seen a few episodes but never in order, and at that price and with this thread, I couldn't say no.

[Tom]

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on these first 13 episodes.
And don't worry about losing extras. Sadly the Glee sets do not really have any noteworthy. Except that you are able to play all songs in order, but I am guessing that your set will have this feature as well.

I am still unsure about continuing this thread. There are a few possible ways to go:
1) I am continuing as originally planned with season 2 (my favorite season so far) and follow it up with season 3
2) I am taking a break from this marathon and watch season 3 without reviewing it now. But continue this marathon at a later point by rewatching season 2 and 3
3) Completely abandon this marathon

Depends on the interest here and my mood. Currently I am taking a short break from this marathon and am watching my "Big Bang Theory: Season 5" set (almost finished with that). Also "The Office: Season 8" is on the way, so I might also watch that one next.

[samuelrichardscott]

I'd like either options 1 or 2

[DJ Doena]

I regularily come into this thread - sometime just to pick a song and listen to it again.

[Tom]

I will try to go for option 1
As season 2 is my favorite, it wouldn't seem like a burden just to get to my new season 3 Blu-ray.

I regularily come into this thread - sometime just to pick a song and listen to it again.

I do this sometimes with YouTube, even though I own the Blu-rays which have direct access to the songs.