Glee Review: Oops, They Did a Tribute Episode Again
Don't hate me, Gleeks. But this was a terrible episode.
There was no plot, no flow, no attempt at storytelling whatsoever. Heck, "Brittany/Britney" wasn't even an episode of television. It was mostly just a mash-up of music videos, as various Glee characters did their best Britney Spears imitations.
For about 30 seconds, it was very cool and impressive to see how well Heather Morris could pull off Britney. But about halfway into "I'm a Slave 4 U," I realized: I don't wanna see these actors impersonate a famous pop star; I wanna see them act as the characters I've grown to love, singing something that relates to whatever they are thinking or feeling, based on current storylines, relationships, etc.
The best Glee numbers connect the material to the characters in a very personal way. But most of these covers existed solely because there actually was a Facebook campaign for a Britney Spears episode. For perhaps the first time in television history, it's as if the fans wrote an episode - and the result was a mess of musical numbers that never came together at any point.
In its previous tribute episode, "The Power of Madonna," Glee didn't lose track of its storytelling. There were actually a few major developments, most prominently Finn sleeping with Santana and Rachel deciding not to do the same with Jesse. Each song helped to move the plot forward.
But, ironically, Rachel's rendition of "The Only Exception" was the only example of a similar single this week... and it was the only non-Britney cover of the hour! Moreover, every cameo of Britney herself felt out of place and forced.
Still, thanks to one number and a few memorable one-liners, there were some highlights:
- The group's performance of "Toxic" was one of the show's best to date. Ideally, this would have been the only Britney number. The episode could have kept the premise of Will refusing to take on Spears, only to eventually cave and show off for Emma in the same manner.
- Sue taught Becky how to make a citizen's arrest? Amazing.
- Every line out of Brittany's mouth was funnier than the previous one. ("This room looks like that room on that spaceship when I got probed.")
What did you think of the episode? Were you happy to just sit back and let the show pay tribute to Britney Spears for an hour, or would you prefer a more organic feel to songs that fit into the grander story?
Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.
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May 29th, 2011 5:11 PM
Heather morris can't sing. Period. She should just stick to swaying in the background, looking sexy, and stupid one liners. That's her talent. Her voice is flat in EVERY performance she's ever done. I'm sorry, but she has NO vocal talent. She's an excellent dancer, and they should keep it that way, so that people like Amber Riley, who ACTUALLY have talent get to shine.
This emphasis on Brittney's character in the second season completely takes away from all the things that made Glee work in season 1. Now it's just commercialized crap, popular songs and cheap laughs with absolutely no plot development.
November 5th, 2010 10:29 AM
Firstly, SHIT you guys write long comments.
Secondly, though the episodes premise wasnt gripping, it did have minor plot developments and major character developments. This episode was designed simply to show off Heather Morris' hilarity and dancing skill. It achieved that.
This episode wasnt the biggest in plot, but it wasnt nearly the overdone trainwreck you've all made it out to be.
I personally loved it.
Rank: New User
October 6th, 2010 3:43 AM
Too much hype. Not as good as the Madonna episode.
October 2nd, 2010 5:22 PM
i liked this episode a lot! I really liked how the main plot was how the cast were "not allowed" to perform britney songs and then the normal subplots expanded from there. I thought it was sharp how the directors and writers captured that essence of britney spears, the whole angst of not being allowed to watch, listen, or idolize britney and how the writers mirrored that same feeling between the cast and will. Many of the glee assignments and episode plots have to do with our pop culture and current views on society and this episode nailed what was a cultural phenomenon for many of the fans of glee (that fall in between the ages of 20-25 now) Its dance sequences with sex ripping out the seams, its mash up of britney scenes and videos, it all helps to aptly tell the story of that tension of growing up with such a sexually charged icon. Also all the glee members ironically use britney as a source of strength and confidence again commenting on our culture, as most people say she is an ina
October 1st, 2010 8:50 PM
Amadeus is your real name Chris Crocker?
You say tvfanatic should be "more objective" yet you go on about Spears as though she's the second coming. She's released a couple of good songs but she didn't write them herself, doesn't have the best voice and certainly isn't the best dancer in the world.
You are clearly a fan so you're hardly being unbiased yourself, be honest. She probably could have come on set and farted and you'd have praised her for 'being brave'.
It was a weak episode, and a lot of the sub-plots from it could have been easily played out to the same conclusion without the needless fawning over Ms Spears and using her music as some sort of genius song writing (it's one thing having the Glee kids going gaga over Madonna and the huge things she has done for pop music, I'm not a fan of her and even I can acknowledge the legacy she's created, but let's face it Britney hasn't done a huge amount compared to her and other great artists, she didn't create a new sound, start a
October 1st, 2010 7:23 PM
Well, the writer of this article must've been on a hot date with their platonic love while watching this episode to have missed so manny important points. First of all, it was a tribute episode! For all I know, it could've had ZERO story-telling and still be succesful! Who says that if it's not a good story then it's not good TV?! If you want story-telling, u can go to the next book-reading For your information, TV isn't just story-telling: TV is ENTERTAINMENT! And that's what this episode was: pure entertainment as a homage to one of the greatest entertainers of recent times.
That said, the episode did manage to advance some plot moves. Most importantly it was Brittany's well-deserved catapult into the spot-light. Let us remember that being this an episode mainly dedicated to Brittany (the episode's name was Brittany/Britney), it had to reflect who she really is. Needless to say, Brittany is a rather "simple-minded" character :) Then, there was no point in developing a complex plot
October 1st, 2010 6:51 AM
Awful episode, epic fail for Glee. For me, this is the bar none the worst episdoe they have ever done. This episode is not what this show is about. Way too much Heather Morris in this episode depsite her dancing ability. Glee is MUCH MUCH better then this, let's hope Ryan Murphy doesn't ruin this show as well.
Rank: New User
September 30th, 2010 7:02 PM
okay so i dont exactly agree with this review. yeah it was weird with all the hallucinations but i thought it was awesome the way brittany danced, she made me laugh the whole way through. they needed to breakout her character and what better way to do that then having her dance her butt off to britney spears.
i am a huge fan of finchel and i loved how they ended the episode especially with rachel singing the only exception and the part where finn stops talking to santana and britt to go and walk with her.
i thought it was a hilarious episode, and i cant wait for next weeks.
September 30th, 2010 3:20 PM
I worry for Glee. Being a fan of Heroes and having to endure it's painful demise due to the writers seemingly paying more attention to the viewers than what was best for the show I fear Glee is going the same way.
The Madonna was a great exception to the rule of doing tribute type episodes cos it moved characters forwards and actually had something to say (not to mention it didn't feel as though she was intruding on the show and completely taking over) with this episode it was as if Britney was suffocating everything and the fact that they were all so sick-makingly positive about her and not in the least bit critical made it so hard to swallow, this episode was purely for Britney Spears to get back in the public eye in a positive way by jumping on the Glee bandwagon. I mean she even had to beg on Twitter to make they consider her, it's all a bit pathetic really. She may have had a recent #1 or whatever but the music industry isn't what it was anyway, who knows who's number 1 EVERY we
September 30th, 2010 2:16 PM
I look forward to Glee every week. I thought the first episode (last week) was lame - this one was the worst episode of the series in my opinion. The character of Kurt was beyond annoying, Sue - who I adore - was too over the top. Hope they aren't losing their creativity. And I agree with the review, why did they have to do each routine as an imitation of a Spears video...weird and rather boring.