'Glee'-cap: "What the World Needs Now"

Raina Deerwater ‘16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Amber Riley, Naya RIvera, Heather Morris and Lea Michele in the Glee episode "What The World of Needs Now." Photo Credit: Mike Yarish/FOX.
Amber Riley, Naya RIvera, Heather Morris and Lea Michele in the Glee episode “What The World of Needs Now.” Photo Credit: Mike Yarish/FOX.
Every once in a while, things surprise us. People surprise us. Even long running disappointing musical television shows surprise us. It’s hard to process, but some things are not what they seem. What this reviewer is trying to say is, Glee was actually pretty decent this week.
Now before you all close out of this tab and start throwing things at your screen, you must remember that our standards are so incredibly low. Especially after last week’s unmitigated disaster that some call an episode of television. There were far less new kids, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) and creepy puppets this week, so that already makes it far superior. And by no means was this week’s episode perfect. It had many many flaws.
Chord Overstreet in the Glee episode "What The World of Needs Now." Photo Credit: Eddy Chen/FOX.
Chord Overstreet in the Glee episode “What The World of Needs Now.” Photo Credit: Eddy Chen/FOX.
First of all, this show is trying very hard to push Sam (Chord Overstreet) and Rachel (Lea Michele) together. Because she is the one female he hasn’t dated yet. However, they deal with it pretty well, shockingly. There is only one mention of the insane plot device that was hypnotism in the previous episodes. Also, Mercedes (Amber Riley) comes back and tells Sam he should move on from her. It’s sweet.
Yet, even better than that, she tells Rachel that her place is not here in Lima, Ohio, it is back in New York City. She says it’s terrible for Rachel to have given up on her dreams at the age of 21. Which we all knew, but the characters on the show are historically pretty slow on the uptake. After some encouraging, she goes to an audition in New York. It doesn’t matter if she gets it, Mercedes says, it’s the fact that she tried. Oh my lord, it looks like the sow is actually going back to the lessons it preached five years ago. What’s happening? Hopefully this means that the series will end with Rachel and the others doing more than coaching sad cardboard cutouts of their former selves.
A scene from the Glee episode "What The World of Needs Now." Photo Credit: Tyler Golden/FOX.
A scene from the Glee episode “What The World of Needs Now.” Photo Credit: Tyler Golden/FOX.
Another ludicrous plot is when it’s revealed at the start that Ken Jeong (known for Community and The Hangover) is not in fact Brittany’s (Heather Morris) real father. It’s in fact, the one the only Stephen Hawking. Yup, cause Brittany is now a math genius; it is the only acceptable explanation for her heritage. I bet at least one person had that fan theory (of everything). So that plot is clearly complete garbage. Luckily, it only lasts for about five minutes and during the rest of the hour, Brittany is actually being a pretty great fiancé to Santana (Naya Rivera).
We go back to one of the most poignant plots that Glee has every done, back when she was coming out as a lesbian. Her Abuela (Ivonne Coll, literally the Latin-American grandmother on every TV show on the air) has never accepted Santana’s sexuality. In this episode, Brittany and then Santana try to convince her to see otherwise now that they are getting married. It does not work. Brittany than gives a heartfelt, mean, and pretty ballsy speech to Abuela Lopez about how her generation will die out soon and then there will be less homophobia in the world. It was pretty rough, but not untrue at times. Then the glee club (including Will [Matthew Morrison] and Blaine [Darren Criss] for some reason) tells Santana that she doesn’t need her Abuela because her real family is the people who accept her for who she really is. Then they sing to her. It’s a little over the top and very cheesy but it has the sentiment of found family that made Glee so great in its early seasons. This felt like these were people who were there for each other in times of need when the world got them down. It may be a cheaper, more ridiculous, and worse written version of what Glee had in 2009, but it felt like something at least. And with 7 episodes left, we’ll take it.
Overall Episode Grade: B-
(Side note: If this week’s review was too positive, next week’s episode is called “Transitioning” and this reviewer might do something drastic.)

Show More

2 Comments

  1. Rachel isn’t slow on the uptake either. She has been in Lima for only a few weeks and has already said she wanted oto go back to NY several times.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button