Three episodes of Glee have aired since the pilot premiered back in May. I was certainly excited about the show coming back because I loved the pilot so much; it kind of reminds me of the Battlestar Galactica miniseries pilot in that it seemed almost cinematic in its scope (although the Glee pilot certainly wasn't feature-length). However, with a 4-month interval, I definitely felt some withdrawal and doubts. Was the pilot really that good? How could the show go on every week without some of the characters becoming caricatures? For as great as the pilot was, and it certainly was, characters like Terri, Quinn, and Puck were barely shown, and what we saw was not much more than 2-dimensional archetypes. Furthermore, aside from Rachel and Finn, we didn't really get to know any of the other members of the club, and as we learned in the second episode, the club would have to expand in order for them to qualify for regionals (which is what the season is moving toward).
So how is the show after these last few episodes? Fortunately, it remains hovering somewhere around amazing. It has definite faults, faults which should irk me much more than they do, but the great aspects of the show convince me to overlook them to a degree. So far, Terry and Puck have been developed enough for me to accept them as characters. They are still not good people (though not villainous in the way that Sue is), but some of their internal conflict is starting to show. Puck even joined the Glee Club tonight. As for Terry, it is amazing to watch the lengths she will go to in order to keep Will loving her. Her perspective of the world is warped beyond belief, but in her mind, she is doing everything she can to keep her husband. Quinn still has to prove herself as a worthy character, but I have faith that the writers will give her some redeeming qualities and/or conflict to make her someone worth watching.
The show also continues to display a subversive sense of humor. The series points out the folly of blindly following the perceived status quo and turning a blind eye to alternative ways of living or expressing oneself. Quinn is the leader of the Celibacy Club, and the viewpoints expressed in those meetings are extremely ass-backwards, yet most people present take them as fact. On tonight's episode, Kurt showed the football team that they could improve their performance by dancing (it could loosen them up). Yet no one other than Finn wanted to try it, out of fear that they would become laughing stocks (never mind that they already were due to their poor performance on the field). Ken, the coach, was onboard with the plan to get the players dancing in theory, but once he saw them in practice, he got uncomfortable with the situation. However, it worked out in the end; check out its awesomeness here:
The Glee kids act as counterweights to the status quo views. Rachel pointed out the fallacies that the Celibacy kids believed and Kurt isn't afraid (to a degree, anyway) to fully express who he is, even though he knows that people won't accept him and will pick on him. But they are by no means perfect. Rachel is arrogant and self-centered, while Kurt is egotistic. With any luck, Tina, Artie, and Mercedes will get fleshed out in coming weeks, and we will learn their strengths and flaws.
And that's as good a place as any to start discussing the show's failings. The cast is large, and not everyone gets enough screentime. I'd be more forgiving about this if other shows hadn't proved that it was possible to devote enough time to everyone in large casts to fully develop (nearly) every character (LOST, Galactica, Deadwood). Along those same lines, the plotlines can be a bit choppy. Every character has a life outside of Glee Club, and although the show tries to sufficiently cover everyone, people and plots get lost. A plotline will be introduced at the beginning of an episode, won't be discussed until two acts later, and then sometimes even resolves at the end of the episode before the show has time to fully develop the story. For example, Mercede's sudden infatuation with Kurt was over and done with before there was enough time to derive significant dramatic tension (read: pain), and Will's a capella group disbanded for little or no reason.
Still, even if I didn't like the show, I'd probably still TiVo it just to fast forward to the musical numbers. The "Don't Stop Believin'" routine from the pilot is still my favorite, but so far, every big number has been superb. Their renditions of the songs are fantastic, and I find myself loving songs that I don't like when sung by the original artist. You have no idea how absolutely psyched I am for the "Somebody To Love" routine that we have been promised since the preview at the end of the pilot.
Glee still is far from perfect, but it is definitely worth watching.
Up next: Probably back to the Dollhouse...
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