Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The RBI Report: "On My Way"





















The RBI Report Card...
Musical Numbers: B
Dance Numbers: B
Dialogue: A
Plot: C
Characterization: A-
Episode MVP: Dave Karofsky and Quinn Fabray


  1. I am really evaluating Glee and wonder if the purpose all along was to get Quinn and Rachel together. I harken back to the Season 1 scene where we see Quinn's doodles in her notebook of a caricatured Rachel with hearts all around it. What was that about? This is nothing new. I think the secret is out! Glee IS Faberry from day 1!

  2. I honestly believe the best relationship on this show IS between Quinn and Rachel. If anyone looked deeper into their interactions, you can tell that there has always been SOMETHING between them. They always had to be SOMETHING to each other. Enemies, kinda friends, to the kind of friend that stops you from making life altering mistakes (like marrying Finn). However no matter what they were to each other, they are the only characters on glee that has always been there for each other. Think about it. Personally I think Rachel needs Quinn, and Quinn definitely needs Rachel. Whether it be romantic or just as friends, well, thats up to Glee. BUT I would love to see them as endgame.

  3. I must say I really appreciate this review over any others I've read online regarding this episode, which in other reviews it is met with too much cynicism while you point out what the motif behind this episode was yet constructively point out why you believe it didn't work. I feel like I'm the only one who liked this episode because of how sensitive and realistic they handled gay teen suicide which I found struck close to home for me due to my circumstances as a gay teen in high school considering suicide many times. The scene I thought was perfect INCLUDING the Blaine solo, probably the only Blaine solo I've appreciated this season, due to the mood and lyrics of the song which was also sung by someone who faced the same circumstances as Karofsky when coming out, remember he was bashed before the ball for wanting to attend it the with a guy. I also loved the "It get's better" sentiment in the Kurt and Karofsky scene as I've never seen something that powerfully effective towards this matter. It was also the first time in a long time where I actually liked Mr Schue as a teacher, which although seemed clunky, actually worked well with pointing out how many teens feel that helpless. I also believed that the Kurt and Quinn argument was supposed to point out flaws in both of their arguments, Quinn's being shallow and Kurt's being overdramatic, which resulted in reaching to the ultimate lesson of "it gets better" by the end of the episode. I also felt that Quinn's involvement in this also foreshadowed her events to come, as someone who has got everything going for them and then lose it (I however don't approve of this due to Quinn's past problems, it's like RIB wants her to suffer). I don't know, maybe I'm being far too easy on the writers who do constantly get it wrong, but I think people forget that this show is more of a social commentary with valid lessons learnt, not the other way round. Also, my theory towards the Rachel-Finn-Quinn development in these past few episodes is kind of a symbolic use of Rachel's future, as Quinn represents the future Rachel set out for herself in Season 1 where it was all about her, while Finn represents the future where Rachel still goes for the same goals but also being apart of other people's lives instead of hers. I believe this made sense to Quinn's question to Rachel, as Quinn finally realised that Rachel now cares for others besides herself and a future where she can share the spotlight with others and thus steps back and approves of Rachel's decision. I would of liked this however not to be brought up through teen marriage, as the whole thing is ludicrous for having seen first hand a marriage crumble due to the bad decision of marrying when you're a child not knowing what's in stall for adult life, but alas this is Glee.

  4. "But, I have seven months to wait." Don't you mean 7 weeks? I sure hope so ;) great recap by the way!!! I truly enjoyed your detailed and sharp reviewing of the episode! Thx for sharing!

  5. I dunno, I think this episode had good intentions and tried hard, but was ultimately pretty terrible. There were way too many plot threads that were only tenuously related, and the pacing was such that it was just... all over the place. "Suicide! Regionals! Oh, we won! Wedding! Truck!" I realize that at this point in the show's life, dedicating a whole episode to regionals is pointless (you can now predict the result of the contest with 100% confidence - New Directions win, the rivals we've heard of come second, and We Exist Only For The Purposes of This Episode High come last). But two additional plotlines, plus the introduction of a third... just felt like too much. The Karofsky story was the best part of the episode, but was rushed to the extent that the character reactions often seemed forced. This needed to be its own episode; sharing top billing with regionals just detracted from an important story and meant the tone felt really off.

    On that Quinn/Kurt scene, I don't think either party went up in my estimations from it, but when I heard Quinn voice the "suicide is selfish" opinion, I swore out loud. So she's never felt the urge to kill herself. Good for her. But "I've never experienced X, therefore people who experience X are weak and selfish" argument is such bullshit. You can apply it to anything: Depression, addiction... hell, it's a commonly-used anti-gay argument. And it's equally stupid for all of them.

    That said, I don't hold it against Quinn, because this was definitely a case where the writers wanted to express two extremes of an argument, and Quinn had the misfortune to be the mouthpiece for the stupider side. Kurt didn't do himself any favors either - the logical rebuttal is that everyone responds to emotional pain differently, but instead he launched into this "our pain is greater than your pain" crap.

    Just when the last episode's surprisingly sensitive handling of the conflict between religion and sexuality came close to vanquishing the horror that was Grilled Cheesus, this one felt uncomfortably similar in places.

  6. I agree, this episode is stuffed with too much, things are brought up without having been properly developed and other are resolved randomly. Kurt and Karofsky bullying/redemption storyline needed several episodes and that's why it worked and felt real. Like in "New York" of last season, we are missing at least one episode here. They can't resolve conflicts, present new ones, put a wedding and a competition in the middle of them and addressing an HUGE issue like teen suicide in an hour!

    Evil Sebastian turns into compassionate gay bro in about half a second, Quinn changes her mind about the wedding...why? Because Rachel sang a song to her fiancé? Hello? Continuity please?
    I am curious about where they are going with the Rachel-Quinn-Finn love triangle... I don't dislike it at all, especially because now is Rachel, not Finn, in the middle of it. And, although the writers are teasing us a lot, I don't think that there is any intentional sexual attraction between the new BFF. I agree that Quinn is being used as a symbolic choice for Rachel and their relationship will set her struggle for the rest of the season. Is kind of symbolic too that Quinn's accident is the reason that presumably stops the wedding.
    Although I would have loved to see Hiram faking an epileptic attack!

    For me, the best parts of this episode are as usual the Mr Berries! (And finally we see the parents showing up at a competition!). Max Adler is really great and Kurt and Karofsky moment is true and touching, but the suicide storyline wasn't fluent in the narration. Why did they have to stuff Regionals in it? The songs and the performance were weak and even weaker when you see the same scenes over and over again: overproud Schuester dancing backstage, the main rival choirs supporting each other at the last minute, slowmotion victory enthusiasm...
    Was someone annoyed as I was? Are the writers copy and paste script from past competition episodes?
    And was it necessary to say "Life is too short!" twice? Once is unnecessary enough (WE GOT THE MESSAGE) twice was unsuffarable!

    And ahahaha, I love how you always hate the hero-victim-man-leader-Finn, I do too! Maybe because my boyfriend has apparently the same syndrom :-)...

  7. I think we watched differents episodes because, as far as I know, Rachel didn't bring out the cyberbulling that she was the victim in the past made by Quinn (who went from a nuts to sane person in a few episodes and now thinks that knows that is the best for people). It was more like "I love and I don't care what people would think about you. And I'm going to perform at Regionals because it will help my application for NYADA". For me Rachel was right and Finn was angry and kind of selfish but understandable. If he was painted as the victim, he wouldn't go to her locker, apologize her and say that he doesn't care what people say about him except for her. I think that this time Finn was the one who learned the lesson.

  8. No, I don't think the writers are suggesting Quinn & Rachel (Quinchel?) are attracted to each other romantically.

    Other than that, I agree with She Bloggo's take on the episode. Too much going on.

    One big problem I have with the "serious" side of Glee is that I don't trust the writers to do a job with serious subject matter. And this episode tells me they don't really trust themselves either, which is why the "suicide attempt" plot was dropped mid-episode.

    And let's look at Sebastian's blackmail threat, and how it's dealt with. Artie gets the rule book. Will says "I talked to Dalton's headmaster..." and we don't get to hear what happened because someone interrupts him. That's "idiot plot" material right there. Because if Will talked to the headmaster, that gets Sebastian out of the picture(am I the only one who remembers that Dalton has a "zero tolerance" policy on bullying? I'm guessing blackmail is considered "bullying") But no, we've got to have another "this will ruin my life" moment from Finn.

    Speaking of Sebastian (his turn from good to bad wasn't believable, what we've seen of him he would've been sending "better luck" e-mails to Dave), I hope this is the last we see of him and the Warblers and Dalton. That arc is finished and there is no concrete reason to keep them on the show.

  9. Ah... Faberry. Wishful thinking that any of that text/subtext is intentional.

    So, someone explain to me how Rachel, who I believe is underage, is getting married without her fathers permission ( required in Ohio) ? I'm assuming they didn't give permission if they are trying to break them up/ stop the wedding. Or did I miss that somewhere?

    Here's hoping this most recent Quinn-cident puts a damper on the marriage plans. And maybe Quinn will spend the rest of the season in a coma, preventing the marriage from happening, and preventing the further mangling of her character.

  10. Like you, I was a little disappointed by the focus on Karofsky... but I was watching the Kurt-Blaine subtext. I found myself wishing that they had moved that from subtext to text, that Blaine had talked with Kurt about why he would sing Cough Syrup. That Kurt (or either of them) might add their own "I did" on that stage.

    I think they didn't go there because so many young fans were already crying over Karofsky. He may only have appeared in three episodes this season, but he has quite a following of people who identify with him. I think if they'd moved the Kurt-Blaine subtext into text, it would probably have been too much for the audience.

    I found Kurt's blaming himself to be VERY believable, because I watched a friend go through much of the same story. Personally, I even believe Sebastian. I think if Sebastian were straight, he would have laughed it off the way you suggest. But because Sebastian is gay too... and we don't actually know what brought him to Dalton... I believe it made him re-think things.

    I liked the performances, generally. I think it showed both the Warblers and New Directions processing all the history they had from the past several weeks. It reminds me of speed skater Dan Jansen.

    I've bought several of the songs from this episode off of iTunes. Because I'm always looking for inspiring music to help me get through life.

    I will agree with you that Finn's line, "It's now or never." was inappropriate. I hope somewhere, he gets called on it. Because they certainly could re-schedule the wedding for another week, another month, another year.

    I don't have a lot to say about Quinn's car accident. I know the cliffhanger was to keep us interested over the 7-week hiatus. OTOH, car accidents are not uncommon among young people. I've known of several teens and twenty-something who died in car accidents. My brother-in-law had a near miss, he got caught trying to skip school. The friends he was trying to meet got badly hurt.

  11. Suprisingly, after re-watching the episode a few times, I feel like Stronger really does fit in with Karofsky's storyline. It makes his suicide attempt seem like, "Look at all the things you would be missing if you had succeeded. And now take this and go be awesome!" From my point of view, he is going to look back on his decision and use it to give himself strength in the future, hence Stronger.

  12. What I was disappointed in is how the New Directions turned Karfosky's suicide attempt which was the result of bullying into YOLO. Most of all of the New Directions had been bullied in the past with slushies and being tossed in dumpsters. Any one of them could have decided to end their lives. I think the episode could have been a lot better if the team visited Karfosky and he asked them how they dealt with it and they articulated how they never let bullying get them down.

  13. Thank you for calling out this episode so objectively. Like you, I appreciate in a very loose sense what Glee tried to do - but ultimately lost and failed to achieve with teen/gay suicide. The victim-shaming, personal hardship point-scoring of Kurt and Quinn, and completely transparent random reintroduction of a tertiary character for the purposes of a 'shocking' storyline were completely unacceptable. The rest of the episode was a complete fan-service muddle, and the usually fun and rousing competition performances fell flat when placed so awkwardly next to a teenager trying to end his life.

    Simple solution: they should have made this Very Special Episode focus on the one topic, and use it to explore Blaine's backstory better and place the teen suicide lesson in his character's past. In him, they've already got a leading gay role who has yet to be given satisfactory development, and who we know has experienced a severe hate crime. Max Adler was only brought on again because his fans are actually more rabid than Chord Overstreet fans; but for anyone who isn't a teenage fangirl of Max's, it was a bizarre turn to have this character most of us haven't seen in months suddenly get the most serious and dramatic storyline of the season. Blaine on the other hand is directly and consistently attached to the show's biggest gay lead, Kurt - so the 'lesson' fell flat by giving it to a character who has mostly been seen either abusing Kurt, or stalking him in a gorilla suit. If it was an attempt at redeeming Karofsky's character, then forcing Kurt into a friendship he has never wanted and has actively avoided, by shaming him with a suicide threat, was the wrong way to do it.

  14. @Katie, or they could have given the gay suicide storyline to Santana since they already did the self-hating closet gay is outed before they're ready. Blaine's a little too gary-stu to have a believable suicide storyline.


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