Gleecap: Ballad (S1E10)
Jun. 23rd, 2011 09:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegeekFast Forward Count: 4! (Oh god, it was agonizing!)
So this week's project is to sing ballads, but my ability to care about this is swiftly diverted by the horrifying revelation about football-jock Matt having a SPIDER in his EAR. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! *gag*
Okay, that taken care of, Will is going to be replacing him and so shoves his name into the top hat of fate that will determine the partners. The standings?
Puck-Mercedes
Artie-Quinn
Finn-Kurt (Much to Kurt's delight and Finn's consternation)
Tina-Other Asian (I guess that would be poor-undeserving-of-a-name Mike?)
Santana-Brittany
Rachel-Will (She is going to drive him up the wall, I just know it)
Rachel cues up ″Endless Love″ to provide the club with an example of a ballad, despite Will's objections about appropriateness (What about the sexing up sexy young things song you did to them a couple of episodes ago, Shue? Where was your concern then?). Kurt voiceovers that he'd love to sing the song with Finn, but he wouldn't give up the Diana Ross part. Don't worry, Kurt, I don't think Finn is likely to fight you for it. Puck and Finn also VO inappropriately. Nice job, boys.
Okay, we're having too many creepy closeups on Will and Rachel. And Rachel VOs about Will's eyes and teeth. Shit. Please tell me that this isn't going where I think it's going. Ohgodohgodohgod. I hate the teacher-student thing. Hate with the power of a hatey-hate. Maybe that's too strong? At the very least I am dramatically uninterested and rather squicked by most cases of teacher-student pairings. (There are occasional exceptions, I'll admit. But those were generally in books/fics where a teacher-student pairing was not initially present and evolved over a period of time, so I was well forewarned and able to decide at what point I was no longer interested in dealing with it) Please tell me that I'm not going to have to watch this unfold for the next 40 minutes.
Will, for once, isn't a completely oblivious moron and is freaked out. Alright, I'm done with this. Time to hit the Fast-forward. Man, I clearly got too cocky after a couple weeks of minimal use.
Despite my immediately visceral ick reaction to the events onscreen, I am able to force myself to listen to the duet and admit that they sing it rather prettily. Nice job. You pervs.
Alright, now we're onto Quinn, dressed in a pristine white dress, and her alcohol sipping mother as Mommy Dearest tells Quinn how proud she is and how important the Chastity Ball is to Quinn's politician father. Oh, I guess this is a sign that Quinn's pregnancy will be revealed this episode, isn't it? About damn time!
Quinn is putting on weight and her specially tailored dress doesn't quite fit. She attributes this to thefetus currently occupying her uterus big lunch she had that day. Her mother thinks its because she quit the Cheerios and spends all her day sitting in the dark singing instead of exercising. Quinn does not respond.
Someone walks down the hall with a wrapped gift in hand. I have a nasty suspicion about where this is going, and am swiftly proven correct. Rachel is bringing Will a present. I don't know what it is or what they said because I hit the FF button and skipped this bit for the sake of my sanity and embarrassment squick.
So then Will is talking to Emma about the situation. Emma confirms that singing ″Endless Love″ with Rachel may not have been the best idea. Yeah. Got that now, I think. And then Will starts telling Emma about previous ″issues″ he's had in the area in the past. Okay, so apparently Will is the mack daddy of the hot young teachers? I don't think I'm going to like this either, am I? I FF through the Susie bit until she girl starts calling him at home in the middle of the night and breathing creepily into the phone. It wakes Terri up as well who snatches the phone from Will's hand and tells Susie Pepper off, including threats of potential homicide. Nice, Terri.
So Will VOs that he decided to be frank with Susie and tell her that he wasn't at all interest, and then we cut to a scene where young Ms. Pepper walks down the hall crying to her locker, picks up a specially ordered ridiculously hot pepper, and puts the entire thing into her mouth and starts chewing. The camera zooms back to Will explaining to Emma that the girl required an ambulance, hospital admission, and medically induced coma for three days.
Emma tells Will that if he's afraid of a repeat performance from Rachel then instead of talking to her, he should sing to her. She considers this ″letting her down easy.″ I call this ″a terrible fucking idea.″ Let's see who turns out to be right.
So now we close-up on Kurt telling Finn to sing to him. ARGH! Teenage angst: one of the main reasons I was so reluctant to start watching this show in the first place. This is going to end terribly, isn't it? Finn freaks out and starts yelling at Kurt about the unrealistic expectations everyone has for him. Kurt calls him on his crap and Finn apologizes and starts revealing his worries and regrets about never getting to know his daughter. Kurt tells him to let it out and suggests ″I'll Stand By You.″ And oh my god it's like watching Pinky and The Brain up there on the stage. Finn is huge and Kurt is tiiiiiiiny in comparison.
Is it just me or did they shorten this song in a really awkward way? Whatever, we cut to Finn in his bedroom singing the song to the DVD of Quinn's ultrasound and bonding with his kid. And then his mom walks in and catches him. Apparently failing Teenager 101, Finn neglects to close the screen to his laptop and his mom realizes what she's seeing. Finn starts to cry and his mom figures it out instantly. He collapses against her in tears and she shushes him and tells him that it will be okay. This is a far less alarming reaction than I suspect Quinn's parents will have. Go Finn's mom.
So then Quinn yells at Finn in the hallway for telling his mom, and Kurt continues his painfully transparent efforts to put Finn off women altogether, with the assumed resultant switch to the other team. Good luck with that, Kurt.
Oh look, we get to see how Kurt and Finn met! A bouncy Kurt is walking down the hallway corridor when Puck shoulder-smashes him into a locker while walking with Finn. Finn calls him on his crap, saying, ″Dude, impulse control,″ turns, and offers a small smile-and-nod. And thus Kurt fell in love with his knight in dimly-gleaming armor. This is all fine and good, but earlier episodes clearly show Finn among the posse that regularly tosses Kurt into dumpsters, so you would think the appeal would have worn off, wouldn't you?
Oh Kurt, your grand plan is revealed. Help Finn with Quinn until she drives him insane and/or away. You are not a master strategist, do not look so self-assured.
So for Will and Rachel's ballad practice, Will drags along Emma (much to Rachel's dismay) and tells his young admirer that he's prepared a mash-up of ″Young Girl″ and ″Don't Stand So Close To Me″ and that he hopes she'll really pay attention to the lyrics and take a freaking' hint. I have my finger poised over the FF button. Will's plan does not seem to be working because Rachel just seems charmed. Crap. Incidentally, Emma, too, seems rather taken with Will. Again. But then, when isn't that the case? He should perhaps try to dance less provocatively when trying to get the ladies off his ass. Just a thought.
OH NO! SUSIE PEPPER IS IN THE BUILDING. CODE RED! CODE RED!
Finn and Kurt are bonding over having dead parents (Kurt's mom and Finn's Dad). Oh, hmmm. Is that a plot contrivance in the making? Oh, actually, Kurt is helping Finn choose clothes to go out to dinner with Quinn's parents. And Kurt continues with his plan to support Finn by buffing up his courage.
Will returns home to his apartment, sits on the couch, and grabs the beer offered to him from someone behind him. He thanks the offerer, who responds back with a serene, ″You're welcome.″ Will does an amazing spit-take. It's Rachel. Oh god, did she murder Terri and bury her in the basement?
Awww, nuts, Terri's just using Rachel for free labor around the apartment. I mean, not that that isn't funny, or that I was particularly rooting for Terri's untimely demise, but it would have been an excellent plot ″twist,″ no? Anyways, Will and Terri argue and Will leaves to take Rachel home. Great idea, numb nuts. Get in a car with her, that'll go well.
Hah! He makes her sit in the back because she's a child. She pouts. She has also made him a mix CD. I am deeply disturbed.
At school, the Pepper-girl warns off Rachel. Rachel does not take the warning.
Puck goes looking for Mercedes to practice their ballads and finds out that the rest of Glee has decided to sing a group ballad for Quinn and Finn. He is annoyed at all the attention that Finn constantly gets and admits to Mercedes that Finn isn't the baby's father – and that he is. OH SHIT! The walls are coming crumbling down! Mercedes tries to put Puck in his place by telling him that he's already messed up her life enough and that being a father is far different than being a baby-daddy, and that Quinn has already decided who she wants the baby's father to be – Finn. She tells him to back off. Puck looks ticked. I'm, not sure if this means that Mercedes is fine with the idea of Quinn lying to Finn about the kids paternity, or if she thinks Finn is in on the whole thing? I don't know. But while it's fine to warn Puck off from forcing himself into the situation when Quinn clearly decided she didn't want him involved, supporting the lie to Finn is Not Cool.
And now Finn is having dinner with the Fabrays. Mr. Fabray stands up to give a toast and Finn's hearing goes all wonky. Would that be guilt? I don't know. Anyways, he cuts off Quinn's dad and runs for the bathroom. He doesn't know where it is, so apparently this is the first time he's been there? How long have they been going out? Finn calls Kurt in a panic for reassurance, then overshares about his potential bathroom habits.
Back at the dinner table, Finn begins singing to Quinn, against her requests, the ballad, ″You're Having My Baby″ and revels all the shenanigans. I am skipping the details because the fast-forward button called my name. Even in FF it seems to take the Fabrays an inordinately long time to get the full impact of the song. The fallout comes swiftly as Mr. Fabray kicks Finn out... and Quinn, too. And Quinn reveals that Mrs. Fabray knew (or at least suspected) about Quinn's pregnancy and did nothing, even though Quinn needed her. Wow. Quinn's parents are a huge disappointment.
Finn asks his mother if Quinn can stay with them for a few days. She replies, speaking to Quinn, that she can stay as long as she wants. Okay, I think we know whose parent(s) are better under pressure, don't we?
Back at school, Susie Pepper attempts to school a stubborn and completely out-of-touch-with-reality Rachel. Pepper has some insightful things to say to Rachel, information gleaned from years of psychotherapy, and declares herself to be a cautionary tale. My question? What the hell is Pepper doing in school anyways, and how does she know about Rachel's mega-crush? Anyways, whatever the cause, Pepper's intervention apparently worked because Rachel brings apology flowers to Will and admits that she feels like an idiot just as he finally grows a pair to flat-out tell her that her behavior has been inappropriate. Well, that was a quick-fix, wasn't it?
Finn reveals the outcome of the previous night to Kurt. Wow. Apparently Quinn's parents gave her 30 minutes to pack and get out, even going so far as to set the alarm on the microwave in their kitchen. I'm really rather disliking these pathetic examples of people right now. Anyways, Finn is glad the news is finally out in the open and changes the subject towards Kurt's ballad. Kurt reveals his love for Finn, which Finn (I'm assuming purposely since he makes a point to avoid eye-contact) takes as the name of the song, rather than a true confession. The moment is interrupted by Mercedes who calls Finn into the music room for a surprise.
The entire Glee club sings ″Lean on Me″ to Finn and Quinn, and even I am touched. Puck's contribution is somewhat half-assed, but at least he's there, I guess. Artie's voice is rather impressive, isn't it? Both Kurt and Puck offer little messages to the objects of their affections, and focus of the songs, and it is somewhat distressing to me because this cannot possibly end well.
So this week's project is to sing ballads, but my ability to care about this is swiftly diverted by the horrifying revelation about football-jock Matt having a SPIDER in his EAR. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! *gag*
Okay, that taken care of, Will is going to be replacing him and so shoves his name into the top hat of fate that will determine the partners. The standings?
Puck-Mercedes
Artie-Quinn
Finn-Kurt (Much to Kurt's delight and Finn's consternation)
Tina-Other Asian (I guess that would be poor-undeserving-of-a-name Mike?)
Santana-Brittany
Rachel-Will (She is going to drive him up the wall, I just know it)
Rachel cues up ″Endless Love″ to provide the club with an example of a ballad, despite Will's objections about appropriateness (What about the sexing up sexy young things song you did to them a couple of episodes ago, Shue? Where was your concern then?). Kurt voiceovers that he'd love to sing the song with Finn, but he wouldn't give up the Diana Ross part. Don't worry, Kurt, I don't think Finn is likely to fight you for it. Puck and Finn also VO inappropriately. Nice job, boys.
Okay, we're having too many creepy closeups on Will and Rachel. And Rachel VOs about Will's eyes and teeth. Shit. Please tell me that this isn't going where I think it's going. Ohgodohgodohgod. I hate the teacher-student thing. Hate with the power of a hatey-hate. Maybe that's too strong? At the very least I am dramatically uninterested and rather squicked by most cases of teacher-student pairings. (There are occasional exceptions, I'll admit. But those were generally in books/fics where a teacher-student pairing was not initially present and evolved over a period of time, so I was well forewarned and able to decide at what point I was no longer interested in dealing with it) Please tell me that I'm not going to have to watch this unfold for the next 40 minutes.
Will, for once, isn't a completely oblivious moron and is freaked out. Alright, I'm done with this. Time to hit the Fast-forward. Man, I clearly got too cocky after a couple weeks of minimal use.
Despite my immediately visceral ick reaction to the events onscreen, I am able to force myself to listen to the duet and admit that they sing it rather prettily. Nice job. You pervs.
Alright, now we're onto Quinn, dressed in a pristine white dress, and her alcohol sipping mother as Mommy Dearest tells Quinn how proud she is and how important the Chastity Ball is to Quinn's politician father. Oh, I guess this is a sign that Quinn's pregnancy will be revealed this episode, isn't it? About damn time!
Quinn is putting on weight and her specially tailored dress doesn't quite fit. She attributes this to the
Someone walks down the hall with a wrapped gift in hand. I have a nasty suspicion about where this is going, and am swiftly proven correct. Rachel is bringing Will a present. I don't know what it is or what they said because I hit the FF button and skipped this bit for the sake of my sanity and embarrassment squick.
So then Will is talking to Emma about the situation. Emma confirms that singing ″Endless Love″ with Rachel may not have been the best idea. Yeah. Got that now, I think. And then Will starts telling Emma about previous ″issues″ he's had in the area in the past. Okay, so apparently Will is the mack daddy of the hot young teachers? I don't think I'm going to like this either, am I? I FF through the Susie bit until she girl starts calling him at home in the middle of the night and breathing creepily into the phone. It wakes Terri up as well who snatches the phone from Will's hand and tells Susie Pepper off, including threats of potential homicide. Nice, Terri.
So Will VOs that he decided to be frank with Susie and tell her that he wasn't at all interest, and then we cut to a scene where young Ms. Pepper walks down the hall crying to her locker, picks up a specially ordered ridiculously hot pepper, and puts the entire thing into her mouth and starts chewing. The camera zooms back to Will explaining to Emma that the girl required an ambulance, hospital admission, and medically induced coma for three days.
Emma tells Will that if he's afraid of a repeat performance from Rachel then instead of talking to her, he should sing to her. She considers this ″letting her down easy.″ I call this ″a terrible fucking idea.″ Let's see who turns out to be right.
So now we close-up on Kurt telling Finn to sing to him. ARGH! Teenage angst: one of the main reasons I was so reluctant to start watching this show in the first place. This is going to end terribly, isn't it? Finn freaks out and starts yelling at Kurt about the unrealistic expectations everyone has for him. Kurt calls him on his crap and Finn apologizes and starts revealing his worries and regrets about never getting to know his daughter. Kurt tells him to let it out and suggests ″I'll Stand By You.″ And oh my god it's like watching Pinky and The Brain up there on the stage. Finn is huge and Kurt is tiiiiiiiny in comparison.
Is it just me or did they shorten this song in a really awkward way? Whatever, we cut to Finn in his bedroom singing the song to the DVD of Quinn's ultrasound and bonding with his kid. And then his mom walks in and catches him. Apparently failing Teenager 101, Finn neglects to close the screen to his laptop and his mom realizes what she's seeing. Finn starts to cry and his mom figures it out instantly. He collapses against her in tears and she shushes him and tells him that it will be okay. This is a far less alarming reaction than I suspect Quinn's parents will have. Go Finn's mom.
So then Quinn yells at Finn in the hallway for telling his mom, and Kurt continues his painfully transparent efforts to put Finn off women altogether, with the assumed resultant switch to the other team. Good luck with that, Kurt.
Oh look, we get to see how Kurt and Finn met! A bouncy Kurt is walking down the hallway corridor when Puck shoulder-smashes him into a locker while walking with Finn. Finn calls him on his crap, saying, ″Dude, impulse control,″ turns, and offers a small smile-and-nod. And thus Kurt fell in love with his knight in dimly-gleaming armor. This is all fine and good, but earlier episodes clearly show Finn among the posse that regularly tosses Kurt into dumpsters, so you would think the appeal would have worn off, wouldn't you?
Oh Kurt, your grand plan is revealed. Help Finn with Quinn until she drives him insane and/or away. You are not a master strategist, do not look so self-assured.
So for Will and Rachel's ballad practice, Will drags along Emma (much to Rachel's dismay) and tells his young admirer that he's prepared a mash-up of ″Young Girl″ and ″Don't Stand So Close To Me″ and that he hopes she'll really pay attention to the lyrics and take a freaking' hint. I have my finger poised over the FF button. Will's plan does not seem to be working because Rachel just seems charmed. Crap. Incidentally, Emma, too, seems rather taken with Will. Again. But then, when isn't that the case? He should perhaps try to dance less provocatively when trying to get the ladies off his ass. Just a thought.
OH NO! SUSIE PEPPER IS IN THE BUILDING. CODE RED! CODE RED!
Finn and Kurt are bonding over having dead parents (Kurt's mom and Finn's Dad). Oh, hmmm. Is that a plot contrivance in the making? Oh, actually, Kurt is helping Finn choose clothes to go out to dinner with Quinn's parents. And Kurt continues with his plan to support Finn by buffing up his courage.
Will returns home to his apartment, sits on the couch, and grabs the beer offered to him from someone behind him. He thanks the offerer, who responds back with a serene, ″You're welcome.″ Will does an amazing spit-take. It's Rachel. Oh god, did she murder Terri and bury her in the basement?
Awww, nuts, Terri's just using Rachel for free labor around the apartment. I mean, not that that isn't funny, or that I was particularly rooting for Terri's untimely demise, but it would have been an excellent plot ″twist,″ no? Anyways, Will and Terri argue and Will leaves to take Rachel home. Great idea, numb nuts. Get in a car with her, that'll go well.
Hah! He makes her sit in the back because she's a child. She pouts. She has also made him a mix CD. I am deeply disturbed.
At school, the Pepper-girl warns off Rachel. Rachel does not take the warning.
Puck goes looking for Mercedes to practice their ballads and finds out that the rest of Glee has decided to sing a group ballad for Quinn and Finn. He is annoyed at all the attention that Finn constantly gets and admits to Mercedes that Finn isn't the baby's father – and that he is. OH SHIT! The walls are coming crumbling down! Mercedes tries to put Puck in his place by telling him that he's already messed up her life enough and that being a father is far different than being a baby-daddy, and that Quinn has already decided who she wants the baby's father to be – Finn. She tells him to back off. Puck looks ticked. I'm, not sure if this means that Mercedes is fine with the idea of Quinn lying to Finn about the kids paternity, or if she thinks Finn is in on the whole thing? I don't know. But while it's fine to warn Puck off from forcing himself into the situation when Quinn clearly decided she didn't want him involved, supporting the lie to Finn is Not Cool.
And now Finn is having dinner with the Fabrays. Mr. Fabray stands up to give a toast and Finn's hearing goes all wonky. Would that be guilt? I don't know. Anyways, he cuts off Quinn's dad and runs for the bathroom. He doesn't know where it is, so apparently this is the first time he's been there? How long have they been going out? Finn calls Kurt in a panic for reassurance, then overshares about his potential bathroom habits.
Back at the dinner table, Finn begins singing to Quinn, against her requests, the ballad, ″You're Having My Baby″ and revels all the shenanigans. I am skipping the details because the fast-forward button called my name. Even in FF it seems to take the Fabrays an inordinately long time to get the full impact of the song. The fallout comes swiftly as Mr. Fabray kicks Finn out... and Quinn, too. And Quinn reveals that Mrs. Fabray knew (or at least suspected) about Quinn's pregnancy and did nothing, even though Quinn needed her. Wow. Quinn's parents are a huge disappointment.
Finn asks his mother if Quinn can stay with them for a few days. She replies, speaking to Quinn, that she can stay as long as she wants. Okay, I think we know whose parent(s) are better under pressure, don't we?
Back at school, Susie Pepper attempts to school a stubborn and completely out-of-touch-with-reality Rachel. Pepper has some insightful things to say to Rachel, information gleaned from years of psychotherapy, and declares herself to be a cautionary tale. My question? What the hell is Pepper doing in school anyways, and how does she know about Rachel's mega-crush? Anyways, whatever the cause, Pepper's intervention apparently worked because Rachel brings apology flowers to Will and admits that she feels like an idiot just as he finally grows a pair to flat-out tell her that her behavior has been inappropriate. Well, that was a quick-fix, wasn't it?
Finn reveals the outcome of the previous night to Kurt. Wow. Apparently Quinn's parents gave her 30 minutes to pack and get out, even going so far as to set the alarm on the microwave in their kitchen. I'm really rather disliking these pathetic examples of people right now. Anyways, Finn is glad the news is finally out in the open and changes the subject towards Kurt's ballad. Kurt reveals his love for Finn, which Finn (I'm assuming purposely since he makes a point to avoid eye-contact) takes as the name of the song, rather than a true confession. The moment is interrupted by Mercedes who calls Finn into the music room for a surprise.
The entire Glee club sings ″Lean on Me″ to Finn and Quinn, and even I am touched. Puck's contribution is somewhat half-assed, but at least he's there, I guess. Artie's voice is rather impressive, isn't it? Both Kurt and Puck offer little messages to the objects of their affections, and focus of the songs, and it is somewhat distressing to me because this cannot possibly end well.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-24 02:42 am (UTC)There's actually a hilarious Tumblr dedicated to PedoWill.I'm with you on the Student/Teacher thing, though I do have a thing for Spock/Uhura which is more of a "Spock you sly dog" and "Get it, Uhura" kind of thing.
no subject
Date: 2011-07-14 09:16 pm (UTC)This episode was so so so painful. I am amazed I survived. Fer srs.