I won't deny that the phone call was cute, but.
One of the things that made the breakup arc so poignant was the fact that it illuminated some of Kurt and Blaine’s major character failings (namely, Kurt’s self-centred obliviousness and Blaine’s crippling insecurity and tendency to commit self-destructive behaviour instead of actually talking about his feelings). And I personally think that a great way to finish off this arc would be for both of them to realize these failings they have, learn from them, and become better, wiser people at the end of it all.
I want them to get back together, but before that happens, I want them to learn something about themselves first.
Don't let RIB take ruin what's yours
I’ll write my feelings on this ep tomorrow when I’ve had time to process. However, there’s something I want to say now.
I came to tumblr Glee fandom as an observer, an analyser, and what I found here has constantly impressed me. I’ve seen a lot of bad reaction to this week’s episode. And I get it, I promise I do. Lots of fans, mostly Quinn and Rachel fans saying they were done with a show that keeps breaking their heart. I say don’t let them win.
I say keep writing fiction in which the promise of Yale and a future of her own making keeps Quinn fighting. Fic where the girls of new directions rally around to tell Quinn that one day she’ll be in a relationship where she’s loved for her devouring of literate and affinity for 60s pop, not her looks. Where Rachel realises her needs should always be something she holds on to.
Take those single frame images of Quinn and Rachel and Santana and whoever else and turn them into the stories you want to see. Make funny gifs and stupid comics and heartbreaking romances. Don’t let bad writing stop you enjoying the Glee you’ve created. They don’t own the Glee you love anymore because they stopped making it. The Glee you love is in the collective work you make, in the way you respond to each other’s creations. RIB can’t destroy that.
So don’t watch Fox these final 4 Tuesday nights if you don’t want to but don’t let go of what you’ve made, it’s a thing of beauty.
(from a reluctant convert who couldn’t help but lose some of her objectivity)
People need to calm down and just realize what this is.
Its a good thing that Rachel is moving on. If she weren’t people would be pissed that she finally has her dream of New York and she just spends all her time pining over Finn.
Realistically there’s no win-win situation.
This is great character development for Rachel and then in comparison for Finn, because when they do finally reunite we get too see these characters actually contemplate their futures for real.
Not just make empty promises and plans, things are different, they’re different. They’ve both had to grow up in their time apart.
Rachel had to learn how to navigate in a new city, deal with people who are just as talented as her and she had to do it all without someone always on her side, encouraging her that she’s the best, that what she’s doing is great.
I am all about the angst that’s going to come from this. Can we all just image the jealous from Finn but even more than that the sadness and realization that not only has Rachel ‘moved on’, that she has been achieving these great things and Finn wasn’t there to ever share them. In a sense she now has a life that Finn was never a part of, they now have to explore each other from the very beginning.
I know that as Finchel fan’s its a shock to our system to see Rachel/Lea with someone else, but I think deep down we all know that Finchel is end game, and if they were just suddenly together we’d all know how unrealistic it is.
I am okay with this because I know we will have our happy ending
Why don't you watch glee? what is the reason? and is Quinn aka Dianna leaving the show for good?
Haha, because it makes me horribly angry.
It angers me that they care more about record sales and ratings than integrity and quality. It angers me that a show I thought I could so connect with and sincerely loved all but disappeared for no reason other than writers that were drastically unprepared to handle a project with such a great following and who’s judgement buckled under the pressure of the spotlight and demand.
It angers me that the writing has become so lazy that they can’t even write their own original characters anymore and have resorted to using their actors, especially in Lea’s case, as their characters. Ryan has said as much that his writing is inspired by his actors(Chris, anyone on the glee project) so maybe it’s just never been as blatant until recently. I mean we always knew Rachel was originally inspired by Lea but at this point to morph her into a present day Lea(ex. the makeover, doing away with Rachel’s veganism[when the show started Lea was vegan and is no longer], her mannerisms are decidedly less neurotic and more flirtatious). It’s like they didn’t know what else to do or a more creative way to go than to make Rachel less Rachel and into someone who’s had a different life than she has regardless of their similarities in personality and situation and using it as character growth. Not to mention using Lea outside of the show to keep certain fans happy.
It angers me that even though they can’t keep up with the characters they already have, they still insist on adding more redundant characters and neglecting the ones that already have storylines that need follow through, not just 10 minutes in 1 episode to be forgotten the next week.
It angers me that a show supposedly about acceptance and the unity of a team cares more about relationships than friendships and butchers those whenever possible. There’s one thing to have conflict for drama. It’s another when that constant use of conflict completely contradicts the relationships they want us to believe in and care about. At some point I just stop caring whether or not they resolve any of it because it’s not like it’ll matter next week on Glee.
The only thing more angering than Glee’s identity crisis is it’s complete disregard for continuity under the guise of “But it’s Glee…” Spongebob Squarepants has better continuity than Glee does.
Another thing that angers me? Their worship of Finn Hudson. That right there is enough to get me to stop watching frankly. He’s flawed just like everyone else which is fine and can be endearing when handled properly(like in season 1), but at some point that stopped working. He went from dim witted quarterback who just wanted a father figure and occasionally made selfish choices to a a self-centered, immature man-child who no one faulted for his mistakes. He never learned from them and at that point his whining just became INFURIATING frankly and it pissed me off. So yeah, not enjoyable for me.
The misogyny has just MAGNIFIED so dramatically and it’s so blatantly ridiculous. Every time a female character has a problem on this show it’s solved by a man. God WHAT would these girls do without those men?! HOW WOULD SANTANA COME OUT AND THEN COME TO TERMS WITH BEING OUT? WHAT would Quinn do if Artie and Joe weren’t there to support her? HOW would Rachel survive if Finn hadn’t dumped her onto that train to New York?!(whoops pun intended).
Just writing this is giving me acid reflux.
Oh and to answer your second question, Dianna is coming back for episode 7.
I honestly think that Fox is what's preventing Faberry so Ryan Murphy (because his episodes have the best moments) is giving it to us sub textually. First of all, we all are aware of the mistreatment Britana has faced this season, which is a sharp turn from the proper handling it got in s2. I don't believe the writers would turn in on itself so bad. The writers of Glee have bosses that they need to please, and with it being fox in pretty sure they're creative freedom is limited 1/2
This is also the case with Finchel and the gratuitous destruction of Rachel Berry. It’s like FOx gave glee a gay quota and Ryan Murphy picked the plot that was more special to him. I could also say something about how people are more sexist than homophobic but I’ll digress. Second there is no such thing as 3 seasons of unintentional subtext. Subtext is MEANT to be seen. And we all know that our favorite writers like to rehash their old plots. Look at Popular and where it was supposed to go. 2/2
I agree that they’re told to tiptoe around the gay couples plots but they’ve also gotten away with a lot. It’s not just Fox breathing down their necks but the people who watch Fox and the organizations who sponsor it. The people who pay for the network to stay on air run the network and Fox has no choice but to yield to them. I’m sure Ryan was careful with how he maneuvered around the restrictions given to him. I think the reason they got away with what they have is because Glee is such a money machine for Fox. As long as the cash is coming in, they basically have to choose the lesser evil. Have people like the PTC and Fox news bitch about them or take the cash.
I also agree that the subtext is there for a reason though I think we take it more seriously than they do. I think Ryan has a soft spot for Faberry because of Popular and now that the rest of the writing team has taken the helm while he does other projects, maybe he feels more free to go after them the way he originally wanted. Without the entire show resting on his shoulders I think he has that freedom.
As for the “destruction” of characters this season, here’s my theory. Ryan, Brad, and Ian originally created this show with outrageous characters. It was a sarcastic musical comedy that had a lot of adult humor. Then the show changed. In the back 9 you could see it, and that was because they wrote those episodes AFTER the mall tour and after they saw all those young kids and teens lined up for them. No one expected it to be that huge. It was a TV MUSICAL. I mean what even?? But I think that was when they started writing more the them, the fans, and it evolved into something different. So this dark satirical comedy became a show for young people. It wasn’t the show who stole High School Musical’s lunch money anymore, if more like HSM’s lab partner in science class.
Next you have Fox looking at these record sales and Golden Globe awards and tour sales. THEY WERE ON OPRAH. So now they’re Fox’s new cash cow. They’ve been mainstream-ized(pardon my hipster). Season 2 starts and it’s BIG PRODUCTIONS GUEST STARS LET’S BRING IN MORE CHARACTERS MORE SONGS TRIBUTE EPISODES BECAUSE THAT ONE WITH MADONNA WAS GREAT PUBLICITY. LET’S HAVE BRITNEY SPEARS ON. So now that more people are watching and Glee has this giant spotlight on them, they have to make their show more accessible to a broader audience. But those people aren’t accustomed to these characters that…are assholes but you LOVE them because you’ve seen what they’ve been through and you relate to them in some way. You ROOT for them because they’re different. Well all these people think Rachel is a bitch. So let’s change something. “Let’s have the boys control the show because in popular culture everyone listens to the males. And hey we’re guys, we can write about guys.”
But the problem was RIB created these characters, they can’t just stop writing them the way the had for a whole season by themselves. So S2 still has those glimpses into S1. We get glimpses of the old Rachel Berry in the second half of the season 2 and Brittany still has her funny one liners. But now they have another problem. All of those “mainstream” broad audience fans are clamoring for more finchel and more drama and more of the things that sprinkled in through Glee is great but making it the show’s foundation is like eating desert instead of dinner. Eventually you get sick. They also have another problem, all this work is too much for 3 guys.
So they hire new writers and THESE GUYS finish the job RIB started in season 2. They don’t have ties to the original characters so they have no issue changing them to fit their new audience they’re now trying to hold onto because ratings are down. And that, I believe, is what started the character evolution and why a lot of moments in S3 have been unrecognizable. There’s just inconsistency because there’s so many characters to deal with and stupid decisions like TGP and plots that are purely for hype that are forgotten about. Along with managing guest starts while straddling the line between a comedy and a drama that handles serious issues that’s it’s just NOT FUNNY anymore. sigh. But it’s Glee, it’s too big to really fail at this point. As long as they have that cast, who are undoubtedly talented and probably hold the show together, singing songs that are on the iTunes top 10 every Wednesday morning and entertainment websites/magazines/shows talking about them, they have a hit.
Here’s the thing - whether I “like” Rachel Berry or not is actually irrelevant. Rachel was long overdue for an actual and worthwhile rejection. This girl has pretty much stopped growing since S1, and has actually regressed in a lot of ways. She is someone who cannot handle even the hint of competition or rejection (crackhouses, impulsive decisions when things look like they won’t go her way, snide, passive-aggressive comments meant to throw competitors off their games), and her bombing her song in “Choke” is the epitome of this. Her competition was Kurt, those nameless faces who’ve already had their auditions and probably rocked it out, and, actually, herself ala S1, episode “Sectionals”. She psyched herself out, was actually granted a do-over - and caved under pressure. Glee wasn’t pressure-filled for her because she basically always got her way in that club (unless she did something to sabotage herself - throwing a duets competition or stuffing ballot boxes). That’s it. She’s had an entire arts program at her beck and call pretty much, even going so far as to get a man fired because he didn’t give her a solo (if she’d gotten that solo, Sandy Ryerson would still be there preying on students). So, for Rachel’s arc, this needed to happen. She’s been triumphing (and I don’t count New Directions losses as her personal ones because those are technically group efforts). She has family and school authority support, and even the support of her glee club, even if she can be tiresome and condescending to them more often than not. But, never worry - she’ll get what she wants eventually, but for once, she finally couldn’t avoid her biggest fear.
“ Are we supposed to believe Finn when he calls Quinn a crazy liar and yells at her about how selfish she is? About how she has everything, and how Rachel has nothing? Last I checked, Quinn Fabray has never had everything. I would love it if other characters would stop negating Quinn's canon struggles and telling her she has everything she wants. Because even when it looked like she had everything, she really didn't, which, I repeat for the umpteenth time, was the point of the character. And she certainly doesn't have everything now, as she's recovering from a near-death experience and trying to regain her ability to walk. ”
—DR SHE BLOGGO xSo I’ve decided that SIO is about Santana, Mercedes and Tina acknowledging that their relationships might end once graduation happens. Samcedes, Tike, and Brittana are the only couples that haven’t talked about this.
DWS was supposed to be about the seniors finding it hard to let go. The only thing we’ve heard from Brittana is ”I love dancing with Santana best” and “Brittany will always be my girlfriend”. They still haven’t talked about graduation and I want them to.
We have heard nothing from Tike, mainly because the writers refuse to write for them. We got the glances during Mr. Schue’s speech and I Have Nothing. Still no solid conversation.
Samcedes can’t even get together to decide what they’re going to do when graduation comes.
We know Finchel plan to run away together and Klaine is going to do the whole ldr thing. So this is what this song is about to me, even though it will probably end up being about Rachel and NYADA.
I’ve broken up my head canon based mainly on the solo parts. The “devil” and the “horse” in the song is the issue that they’re not talking about: saying Goodbye. Of course the main lyrics that I highlight are the ones that have to do with the shipping.
And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back
Prom is coming up. It’s just another reminder that they’re getting that much closer to having to say goodbye.
Tina:
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues drawn
It’s always darkest before the dawn
I think this is pretty straight forward. Tina is not talking to Mike about how she feels. They’re doing the whole cutesy couple thing and ignoring the fact that, next year, they’re not going to be in the same school anymore.
Mercedes:
And I’ve been a fool and I’ve been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I also think this is straight forward. Mercedes was “a fool” when she thought that she had gotten over Sam. She realizes that he’s someone that she can’t leave him behind. She just can’t see herself doing that.
Tina and Mercedes:
I’m always dragging that horse around
All of these questions, such a mournful sound
I also think this is obvious if we go with my theory that the horse and devil in the song is them not talking about what they’re going to do after graduation.
Mercedes:
Tonight I’m gonna bury that horse in the ground
She’s finally going to talk about this.
Santana:
So I like to keep my issues drawn
But it’s always darkest before the dawn
Do I need to explain that?^ Also straightforward. She’s not talking about it but she’s going to have to eventually. I’m choosing not to talk about the chorus at this point. I’m just going to go to the second bridge.
Santana:
And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back
Mercedes:
And given half the chance would I take any of it back
Tina:
It’s a fine romance but it’s left me so undone
All three:
It’s always darkest before the dawn
All three sing this again with some solo lines in:
And I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t
So here’s to drinks in the dark at the end of my rope
And I’m ready to suffer and I’m ready to hope
It’s a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat
Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Looking for heaven, found the devil in me
But what the hell I’m gonna let it happen to me
They realize that whether or not they talk about what’s happening, it’s still going to happen. So they might as well suck it up and get it over with. They’re prepared for whatever the outcome might be, whether it’s a break-up or a long distance romance.
And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off
Yes I know that in Season 1 Tike dance together, it’s one of the first things we see them doing together, while Artie looks on sadly. Yes I know in the first episode of Season 2 we see Tike dancing together, again while Artie looks on sadly. Yes Mike’s dancing is one of the things that Tina fell in love with, besides abs. Yes they were one of the couples dancing together in the MTAW song.
Yes dancing is also important to Brittana. Yes Brittany does tell Santana, in BTW, that if she loved her she would put on the “Lebanese” shirt and dance with her. Yes they dance together during Sectionals. Yes they dance together during the MTAW song. Yes Brittany does prefer dancing with Santana.
Yes Samcedes have been paired up as dance partners in competitions for Season 2. Yes they were dance partners in Singing in the Rain/Umbrella. Yes we did see inklings of them becoming a couple at a school dance. Yes they are dancing together at Prom this year and are dance partners at Nationals.
No I’m not going to talk about what this means. I don’t want to and you can’t make me.
Now I’m angry because the song WON’T be about this at all. It’ll be about something else and I’ll be crying that “we could have had it all”. I want this so much.
I want to write Leverage Glee!AU fic so badly....
This isn’t helping. I want amazing cat burglar!Brittany so badly.
I honestly wish that RIB+ could pull off the Cloud Cuckcoolander trope without making Brittany come across as a five year old who does not apparently understand important concepts like pregnancy (retconning from S1 in S2) and consent or any more of the Magical Comb bullshit.
I think the creator of Leverage has said that Parker’s lack of social skills are because of her childhood and because she has Asperger’s Syndrome (she does show signs of the latter - and quite believably too) but she’s shown to be an incredibly competent person. From as far I’ve seen, it’s not treated as a prop/dead-end joke. They don’t patronize/act condescending towards her (and if they ever do, it’s clear that they get told off by another character and they’re in the wrong) - unlike, again, the Magical Comb bullshit. Or even Santana dismissing Brittany’s ‘beautiful’ magical fantasy world.
This is not to say that aren’t jokes about her being quirky like it not be unusual for her to be wearing a nun outfit and about her not being great with people, but they’re never malicious and it’s not seen as a handicap. Everyone knows how capable she is and knows she’s the best as what she does. In The Juror Number Six Job, we see everyone helping her practice being comfortable talking with other people and ugh, I wish Brittany would get something like this in Glee.
Rewatched the Last Brittana Scene of S2
A few things still stand out to me
- Brittany refers to Santana’s anger about Nationals as “we.” As in, “We can’t be mad at Rachel forever.” Santana replies with the same “we.” The fact that Brittany considers Santana’s anger as a part of her own gives me a lot of feelings.
- Brittany’s line, “This year wasn’t about winning for me,” makes me think about the whole “not happy middles” idea and how S2 was the season for breaking up OTPs.
- Santana saying, “Yeah, well this is a club. This is not a family,” goes in part with my head canon for her background and how they probably won’t or don’t accept her sexuality.
- The mention of Mike and Tina’s wedding gives me hope that Tike is endgame.
Please be endgame. - And last, but not least: Anything’s possible.
I feel like they threw in workout guy in there for Blaine to have two second of a flirtatious glance with because they basically wanted to recreate the video but couldn’t have him do that with a woman so hence we got workout guy. It was all about recreating the video. But at least in this case they didn’t het it up.
Brittana was the only couple that actually broke my heart tonight.
Finchel proved once more that they’re not right for each other. They were great high school sweethearts, but that is where it should end.
Klaine should just be done. Because I can’t see how Blaine can be forgiven and he was never right for Kurt IMO.
Emma is awesome, Will is a douche.
Also Brochel is better than Finchel right now
Rewatching this season, particularly the first few eps post TBU, is really quite interesting.
They were obviously going in a different direction. Klaine was obviously meant to remain in the beta couple slot. Finchel was obviously supposed to be much more important this season.
I would pay a whole lot of money to see the results from that audience survey that happened in December…
Also - intentions mean nothing if you don’t have actions to back it up. The narrative may intend for us to root for certain characters, but when they lack the personal responsibility to actually better themselves - or at least attempt to with a real good-faith effort - then intentions fall with the reality of what’s on the screen. Namely, the intent is to root for the main characters on Glee, but their consistent, default actions make them harder to root for now than they were when they were first introduced, because they learn nothing from the lessons the narrative was intended to teach.
