Glee Review: Drama, Drama, Drama!

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This episode of Glee would have been a lot more powerful if the show had spent time actually building up the drama that came crashing around everyone on "Special Education."

Instead, after weeks of practice, in a rushed, panicked move, Will suddenly changed up everything about the group's Sectionals performance. The show may have been trying to prove a point about how much he's whipped by Emma, but it came across as manufactured drama instead.

Santana and Artie

Elsewhere, Emma married Carl.

Again, instead of actually feeling bad for Will, I felt manipulated by the writers. We haven't seen Emma in weeks, and she's given every indication over the last season-plus that she's pretty much the last person on earth who would ever take such a rash step in a relationship.

This is the kind of problem Glee can run into when it spends so much time focusing on societal issues over character development and storylines: all intrigue, suspense and emotion feels rushed and unearned.

Two more complaint before I get to the parts of "Special Education" I loved: first, after dedicating so much time to the issue of bullying with Kurt, why is everyone - within New Directions itself, no less - allowed to just lay into Rachel?

I find her irritating, as well; and I acknowledge nothing she's going through is on the same level as what Karofsky was doing to Kurt. But am I the only one who feels like there's a double standard at work here, when the show makes the issue of bullying a gay student so substantial, yet is perfectly fine with Quinn telling Rachel she wants to punch her in the face every time she talks?

Second... a tie?!? Seriously?! What a cop-out. It's safe to assume any competition such as this would give us an odd number of judges as a safeguard against that possibility.

Fortunately, a few aspects of this episode saved it from ruin. Among them:

  • A trio of truly wonderful performances at Sectionals. The Warblers take on Train, followed by Sam and Quinn having the time of their lives and Brittany and Mike absolutely tearing up the dance floor on Santana's "Valerie" were all-time greats.
  • Brittany is in a motocross club.
  • Brittany thinks adultery is when one acts like a dolt.
  • Brittany believes in throwing possums at those she dislikes.
  • Okay, Brittany in general.
  • It was also nice to see Kurt actually miss his former group, as opposed to instantly adjusting well to life with at Dalton Academy. For all their fault, New Directions are like a fun family.

What did everyone else think of the episode? Were you moved by the shocking break-up of Finchel and marriage of Emma? Or did these storylines feel rushed and forced? Sound off now!

Special Education Review

Editor Rating: 3.7 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.0 / 5.0 (115 Votes)

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.

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Glee Season 2 Episode 9 Quotes

You used to be just sort of unlikeable, but now I feel like punching you every time you open your mouth.

Quinn [to Rachel]

You're a constellation of stars. I just hate to think you might be ignoring some of them because they don't burn quite as bright.

Emma