The Kurt Locker

Day 14: Hell-O

I'm determined to keep on schedule with this project, despite still reeling slightly from last night's Golden Globes show. Seriously, I haven't shrieked like that in ages! Then watching all of the fun backstage stuff and cute interviews today...it's like a happy bomb detonated.  :)

Today, I venture into the infamous "Back 9".  Infamous because, for good or ill, the final nine episodes of season one set Glee's precedence for change.  After a long, agonizing hiatus, "Hell-O" was designed to introduce fans to the new and improved (?) Glee. A Glee that we were promised would be "bigger and better". More music, more showbiz, MORE EVERYTHING. During the hiatus, I think many fans were excited about that idea. Myself included! There was such a hunger for new material that MORE sounded like a fantastic idea at the time.

It's not that I don't like "Hell-O" or the back 9 in general, because I actually really do. What I'm saying is they feel different from the first 13. It's sort of like installing a system upgrade on your computer: it takes some time to adjust because the old one was so comfortable and familiar. After that adjustment period, you might still find yourself longing for the ease and carefree interface of the old system, even if the new one is perfectly fine. Now, if these episodes had comprised the first part of the season, I would have still glommed on to the show. Would I have fallen hopelessly in love with both the show and the characters? It's hard to say. For me, all the MORE occasionally eclipsed the little things that made Glee so special to begin with. More songs left less time for story, less story meant less character development.  It suddenly felt more commercial and less intimate.  I enjoyed these later episodes overall, but for very different reasons than I enjoyed the earlier ones. I think they are perfectly fine, but I sometimes miss the old system!

That being said, I love all the music here. The Doors, Lionel Richie, and The Beatles all in one episode? Yes, please! I notice that thus far, season two has skewed younger music-wise.  I hope this will not always be the case, 'cus I love my classics! The setup for the major second act storylines is also well done--a tantalizing promise of more messy drama to come.

Mmmmm...messy drama! Stay tuned...

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