Glee 'Mash Off' and 'I Kissed a Girl'

 

I haven't been all that faithful to Glee this season, watching a few episodes at a time and then waiting for more to pass but I do think it has improved upon its previous seasons. The show was always about the music and for a while there it got too caught up in the drama and lacked in musical numbers. This season the show is dealing beautifully with tough issues while still balancing it out with, for the most part, good musical choices. The last two episodes, 'Mash Off' and 'I Kissed a Girl' were particularly noteworthy for me.

'Mash Off' was dealing with the issue of competition between the Trouble Tones and The New Directions which has been brewing some time and lead by the diva Santana, at least when insults are concerned. The mash off is really just a way to deal with the real story about the outing of Santana where Finn played a big part, essentially outing her in the crowded hallway after having enough of Santana's insults. The gathering of Sue, Will and Burt to talk to Santana about the fact that she is being outed by a political opponent of both Sue and Burt was an amazing scene. Sue actually seemed to care about how her actions had affected Santana and Will and Burt both wanted to give her some comfort. It was a touching scene and one I'm sure doesn't happen often enough in real life. Of course her outing leaves her upset since she hasn't told her family or really admitted it to anyone but herself and the only way she can express herself is through song. One that I absolutely loved.

 

Santana and Mercedes' voices were perfect for this song, lots of power and raw emotion. I'm finding that I prefer the Trouble Tones with their choice of modern music as opposed to The New Directions and their choice of another 80s song which is getting old. The problem I have with the Adele mash up is that it wasn't an original take on the song. Yes, they took parts of both songs and but them together but the arrangement of the music was the same and I find that when they change the arrangement of the song it's much better, for example when Kurt sang 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' and when Finn sings to Santana in 'I Kissed a Girl' a slowed down rendition of 'Girls Just Wanna have Fun.'

 

I loved the rendition and it was a nice touching moment between Finn and Santana. I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed their performance of 'I Kissed a Girl' but Finn's song showed off more talent than mere karaoke.

With all the emotional turmoil in 'Mash Off' I was surprised to find that they continued with the theme in 'I Kissed a Girl' but its something I applaud the show for. I'm glad they followed through with it and I guess what I like the most is how they dealt with issue of coming out and Finn's concerns over Santana after hearing about other teenagers who have killed themselves over it. The support the glee club showed to Santana was heartwarming especially juxtaposed to Santana's revelation to her grandma who shuns her. Loosing that support of your family I think made the episode more real than if everyone was accepting.

This season Glee has raised its subject matter and has surprisingly been much better than what I expected with all the rumors of casting decisions before the season even started. I guess we'll see what the rest of the season brings especially since Rachel Berry cannot compete at sectionals.