Glee Finale!

The last few nights spent hitting the Preston rush hour have been softened greatly with the radio presence of some of the Glee cast: last night, Artie (Kevin McHale) aka Glee Radio1 superfan, appeared with Scott Mills and again at 5 today my heart turned to mush as Matthew Morrison aka Schuester graced the airwaves and let slip his solo album plans. I swear I can hear that cute crooked half-smile of his.

Of course, it's all been in aid of plugging the hard sale of Glee MP3s and promoting the season finale, shown on E4 last night which finally tied up all the questions we'd been waiting to be solved...since they'd tied them up and then unravelled again mid-way through the season. Rachel and Finn, Schue and Emma, Sue's malice, baby questions... it's like someone's just pressed a massive re-set button and we're back to the beginning.

Don't get me wrong, I bloody love Glee, and it was a fantastic end to the season; I was still mopping up the tears long after the credits rolled. However I think the scriptwriters need a bit of a shake-up. They may have sung a Journey medley last night but I found it hard to recall how much the cast have really progressed with every episode being laid out the same way: big drama, Sue vs. Schue faceoff, assignment for the week, more drama, solution through song. It would be interesting to veer away from this tried-and-tested formula and mix it up a little,although I can’t help thinking of the old adage “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

I often find that the storyline jumps about quickly and enormously: for instance, even though the Quinn/Queen mashup was mind-blowing (how many mothers mid-labour do you get quoting Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics ?), it was a little too far out of the realm of believability and just a little shallow - I was hoping for greater focus on the relationship between her and her baby rather than the quick-fix the Glee scriptwriters conjured up. What about the other week when Schue decided to "seduce" Sue (wrongwrongwrong)? That little diversion was over with pretty quickly. Sometimes the script romps along so merrily that it simply skims the surface of the point it's trying to make.

On another note, I hope that the next series brings greater depth to some of the characters who have been sidelined. I’m a complete Gleek (even though use of that word does make me shudder) and yet find it terrible that I still can’t remember those other two football players’ names. What happened to that hilarious whorish teacher who leapt on Schuh in the staffroom? Glee teeters on developing the other characters but when it comes to taking the plunge and making them more interesting and 3D it just can’t take bring itself to do it.

In a dream world, I'm hoping that next season not only brings greater depth and clarity to some of my favourite characters but that musically they might push the boundaries. I'm not talking thrash metal. I'm not talking Irish folk. I'm talking more of Matthew Morrison doing what he bloody does best and setting TV screens across the globe on fire with his scorching rapping and delicious dance moves. I hence prescribe a rampant recipe of Bobby Brown, Tyrese, Montell Jordan, Blackstreet et al. If there ever was a time for '90s r'n'b cheese to make a serious comeback, my belief is that Glee is the one to do it.

A cheeky taste here with the Thong Song:



Glee: its safe to say that I never will (and never have) stop believing in the magic of this show!

Originally wrote a version of this in response to Anna Pickard's article on the Glee finale

© Miranda Thompson 2010.

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