Total Number of Ratings: 11
RECAP: 'Glee' Season 1, Episode 4
First Published: Thursday, September 24, 2009 3:53 AM
Last Saved: Thursday, September 24, 2009 10:23 PM
"Preggers"
or
"And Now I Can't Get Goddamn 'Single Ladies' Out of My Head"
Kurt's Deadliest Catch watchin', plaid shirt wearin' pops walks in on him lip-syncing to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" in the basement with Tina and some other random chick. Kurt convinces his pops that he's on the football team and that this is part of "practice". Cardio or some such. Perhaps pops isn't too sharp. Or he's in denial.
Title card!
Will and Terri go through birthing practice with Terri's shrewish sister and everything I see and hear in this scene reinforces my endorsement of the Don Draper style of childbirth -- as far away as possible from the events at hand, nursing a bottle of whiskey. After freaking out over the prospect of Will giving her a stomach massage, Terri is forced to reveal to her sister that she's not really pregnant. Does her sister freak out when she finds out that Terri is possibly a sociopath? Hell, no! Her sister tells Terri that dishonesty is food to a marriage and they'll have to get her a baby... somehow. Is this show going to suddenly become Law&Order: Special Victims Unit?
(A Glee/Law&Order: Special Victims Unit crossover could be awesome. Just sayin'.)
It's awkward times in the teacher's lounge when the only available seat Will can find is with new (desperation) couple Emma and Ken the Oaf. Do all of these teachers eat together and all at the same time? Who's watching the kids? Emma reveals that she saw Jane Lynch on the local news giving a pro-caning opinion piece, because apparently the local news decided to give her an opinion segment because she and her Cheerios are local big shots. Jane Lynch shows up to hand out donuts and gloat about the overnights. Those are television ratings. No one cares.
At glee club rehearsal, Tina is given the West Side Story solo. Man, Rachel just cannot win! First, Quinn got her solo last week and now Tina. This is no way to treat a diva so the diva storms out. Apparently she does that a lot. It's what divas do.
Kurt shows up at the football field with Finn, dressed like he's trying out for the lead in 42nd Street. It seems as that not only is the football team terrible but their current kicker is 0 for 12 in field goal attempts. So Kurt's here to try out for the team and he has arrived with musical and dance accompaniment. The rest of the team finds this awesomely hilarious. Kurt does a little dance to "Single Ladies" (also hilarious to the team) before nailing the ball straight through the uprights. Not so funny now, is it, meatheads? In a surprise to all, including all of us, Kurt makes the team!
Jane Lynch gets an unexpected visit from her news station boss. He has heard about the growing popularity of the glee club (his daughter goes to the school) and he is concerned that if Cheerios are defecting to glee club then the Cheerios won't be able to win nationals, and without winning nationals Jane Lynch would lose her popular new editorial spot on the news.
But wait! Here comes the big shocker!
Quinn the virgin and president of the Celibacy Club is pregnant! (That almost never happens in real life!) With Finn's baby! But... but... they've never had sex! They had a dalliance in Quinn's hot tub that involved more of Quinn's premature ejaculation problem... and... somehow... that did it? What exactly do these kids learn in health class? Oh. Right.
In a development that surprises no one, Sandy the drug dealer wears a kimono while at home. It looks comfortable and I might look into it. Jane Lynch pays him a visit to offer this sad sack a new job at the school -- arts director, which would put him in charge of all the clubs, including glee. She blackmails the principal into allowing Sandy back to school. And what's their nefarious plot to destroy the glee club? Pry their most talented member from the group. And that means Rachel.
(We need to take a moment to note the revelation that Sandy's full name is Sandy Ryerson, which is very similar to Ned Ryerson. Let's move on.)
Sandy's going to put on a musical -- Cabaret -- and he and Jane Lynch have cast an ecstatic Rachel in the lead role.
And Will's like so pissed! He sits Rachel own for a heart-to-heart. She's feeling unappreciated in the glee club. Will tells her he gave Tina the solo to help Tina's confidence and thus her performing. Will says that everyone in the club slacks off because they know that Rachel will come in to blow the doors off a song and make everyone look good. Will needs to spread the solos around to get everyone sharp. Rachel wants to know why she has to be hurt to prop up everybody else's self-esteem. She's still being tormented in the hallways. She still has no boyfriend. She's still miserable.
Will declares silent war on Sandy and Jane Lynch.
Tina rehearses her first big solo, singing "Tonight". Her rendition is kind of shrill and she's obviously not very confident. But she is stuttering less, so she's got that going for her. Tina lobbies for Rachel to get the solo. Will makes an uncomfortable face.
Finn stumbles into the rehearsal hall after everyone else leaves and he's crying. Will consoles him and they go eat dinner. Finn tells him all about the baby and that Quinn is keeping it. Finn sees his future all laid out before him -- Teenage father, stuck in their small town, working a dead end job, caged forever. He won't accept that future. He needs to get out. He needs a football scholarship! (Unlikely) Will can help Finn out by helping the football team play better, maybe even win, by loosening them up via the art of dance!
Will tells Terri all about Finn and Quinn's problem with the unwanted pregnancy. You can practically see the light bulb going off over her head. It's time to get her a baby!
As you might imagine, the football team is not all that excited about learning the art of dance. Coach Ken the Oaf says they have to do it because they suck at football. They suck real bad. And guess what? They suck at learning to dance too, even when Kurt tries to teach them the "Singles Ladies" dance. Enough with that goddamn song, Kurt! After dance pract-- er, rehearsal(?) Puck notices there's something wrong with his best buddy Finn. He reveals the pregnancy and Puck is pissed because... HE SLEPT WITH QUINN THE VIRGIN AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE CELIBACY CLUB AND HE KNOCKED HER UP! That's his baby and he wants... to... take care of it? Wow. He would be kind of noble if he wasn't such a douche. Quinn wants nothing to do with the douche and his stupid mohawk.
Crying and stumbling through the rain, Quinn finds Terri is waiting for her... inside her car! HOW DID SHE GET IN HER CAR? Was Terri a car thief in her youth? Terri wins an angry Quinn over by giving her pre-natal vitamins. What do you want from me, random and possibly crazy lady who is in my car?
I WANT YOUR BABY!
Well, she doesn't say that, but you know she's thinking it.
It's game time! Will and Emma sit together and the team debates dancing together on the field. No way, the team says! Dancing on the field is gay! Wait, they are going to dance... on the field? I thought it was just going to be practice to loosen them up. On the field? Really? No matter, they refuse to do it, with Puck leading the way. The game starts and Kurt's pops shows up to watch and Kurt is actually really excited and proud to see his dad there. It's a really sweet moment. With the team losing 6-0 with only a few seconds to go (it must be a REALLY exciting game) Finn calls a time out. It's time to dance their way... into the endzone!
And dance they do.
They dance, the crowd dances, members of the other team even start to dance. That is the power of Beyonce. Oh, yes -- it's more "Single Ladies". The dancing ends (how long is that timeout?), everyone's loose and they score a touchdown! Game's tied at 6. And now it's all up to Kurt! He does his own "Single Ladies" dance after the ball is snapped (which takes forever and, really, he would have been tackled already) and kicks the winning field goal! Celebration! Quinn and Finn kiss! Puck is jealous!
Later that night, Kurt's night time skincare ritual is interrupted by his pops who has come to tell him how proud he is and that he wishes his mom were to still alive to see him. Kurt works up the courage to tell his pops that he's gay. Pops tells Kurt that he already knew (Kurt, everyone knows) and that he loves him just as much. They hug. It's a really nice, genuinely touching moment.
Finn gives Quinn his baby blanket. Puck comes up and makes a bunch of not-at-all veiled pregnancy jokes. He's jealous and angry. Quinn is guilty and angry. Finn is just angry.
Three football players join the glee club -- including Puck! -- just as Will gives the West Side Story solo to Tina and not to Rachel. Rachel quits the glee club to join Sandy to do the musical full-time.
Take that, bitches.
I am so glad I read Conor's original article about the pilot episode. I watched it on-line and couldn't wait for the show to start. Now that it has, I love it. Great stuff!
Crackpot theory of the the night: Perhaps the preponderance of plot lines is, in part, perpetrated by paranoia. That is, maybe the writers were so terrified of being canceled during production(It is Fox, after all), that they tried to cram as much of the story they wanted to tell into as few episodes as possible.
I often yell at homeless people, "Hey! how's that homelessness working our for you? Give not being homeless a try huh?"
So many cringe-worthy scenes in this show! I love it anyway!
There are things to like about the show, but my patience is approaching its limits. The first episode had a spark of something that has failed to materialize in subsequent episodes as far as I am concerned. This world where the TV news producer knows and cares what's going on in the high school show choir and ruthless Bob Fosse wannabes shake down teenagers for thousands of dollars is veering into the realm of science fiction, and that baby storyline is grounds for immediate dismissal from the DVR. If only there weren't those engaging characters...!
Hey, I didn't pay attention to the glee club count. With the three new footballers, but the loss of Rachel, what's the total count of the kids.
Is that eleven kids? They need twelve for going to regionals, right? (I'm certain this number will go up and down as the episodes roll on, but its fun to keep track.)
I laughed out loud more times reading this synopsis than I did watching the show. I didn't like it as much as the earlier episodes. For me it was the change in tone that took some getting used to.
But if there's Kristin Chenoweth and Queen songs coming up, I'm so there!
Kristin Chenoweth AND Queen songs, no way!
Kristin was great on Pushing Daisies. I can really see her fitting into this show.
As a funny side note, I've been listening to the podcast War Rocket Ajax which uses the Flash Gordon soundtrack as their Bumpers; and I always come away from one of their shows wanting to listen to more Queen.
Conor, I blame you for my situation! I have so very little time, and because of you I watched the first episode of this show AND NOW I'M HOOKED!!!
Don't you understand how busy I am? Oh the humanity!!
And I then recommended this show to my wife, and she loved it too! Now we're going to have another way of bonding through entertainment.
What were you thinking?! Have you no shame!
. . .
Okay, enough of the joking around. I immensely enjoy this show. Thanks for spotlighting this, Conor!
I enjoyed this episode. I laughed when the football team was dancing, and Kurt's dad was watching and I thought about how at the beginning of the episode Kurt was talking about how this was the way the team warmed up, and now the dad had actual proof!
And I like the touching moment between Kurt and his dad at the end, because it helps balance out Kurt's over the top characterization.
Hey, does this mean Kurt isn't being thrown in the dumpster anymore? I suppose so!
The pregnancy was an interesting direction. Will this be a possible Juno situation?
I hope they include that little scene where someone throws shake in Rachel's face in every episode. That's exactly how I often felt in high school. It so symbolic. This is so much better than Gilmore Girl reruns.
I find it fascinating that so many people didn't like this episode. I thought it was the most emotionally truthful so far. It also had the least amount of fantastical elements and in that way felt almost like a normal teen drama rather than the musical farce that it is. Maybe the tonal downshift through people off?
i think it was out of balance. they got "real" more than the other shows, but also pumped up the remaining unreal to ludicrous levels.
i do my best to suspend my disbelief for this show and it's usually pretty easy, but when they pull stuff like magical musical (what high school does cabaret?!), i hear that record scratching sound.
@Kelly: It's funny, I thought the ridiculous in this one was at historically low levels (for this show). In terms of suspension of disbelief, GLEE ranks lower than a lot of shows I watch.
@conor football players dancing to beyonce, sandy's home, jane lynch.
there may have been fewer ridiculous moments, but the ones left were intense.
Last night's episode almost talked me out of the show, but I am willing to give it another week.
They are teetering between intelligent satire and brainless kitsch.
one more week.
I was left feeling pretty disappointed after last night's episode. Maybe it's just because they're trying to dive into too much too fast, or they're setting up so many plotlines for the future, but I felt like this week's show (and last week's for that matter) was all over the place. They need to start melding some of these storylines together fast, or I'll lose interest even faster. Clearly they began doing that with the pregnancy thing, but the pace isn't fast enough.
Also, what's with the whole one woman show that Rachel thinks she's starring in? So she's playing Liza by singing Celine and the cheerleading coach is directing? Even she isn't that naive.
The football scene was cute and they dealt with Curt's coming out really well, but I don't think any of that was good enough to redeem the whole episode.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I'll continue watching week to week to see how the season develops, but at this point, I'm hoping this series didn't already peak.
So which is it, are they moving too fast or not fast enough? :)
Rachel has always been starring in a one woman show in her head. She only includes Finn because she's in love with him.
I think last night my sister (a teacher) summed it all up nicely by saying: "Ok now I know I REALLY have to suspend my disbelief to enjoy this show. But that's ok, I'll do it." We were a little sad at the lack of music in this episode.(except of course for Single Ladies at least, what, 5 times?) Very excited for Kristen Chenoweth!!
The dancing on the field was weird. And you can't cross the line of scrimmage before the snap, especially not to dance!
Overall I quite enjoyed the episode though. Glad it was picked up for the full season.
i didn't care for the tone of this episode. i hope it's a simple "now that you're hooked, we need to get some serious plotty stuff out of the way" interlude instead of settling into what the show's going to be like.
I think this was the best episode since the pilot, which is bizarre because it featured the least amount of music.
The babysnatcher subplot might make dealing with the Terri scenes a lot easier. Up to this point she was just frustrating. Now she's BONKERS.
I was happy with this episode. Favorite joke of the night though was Finn's amazement at the idea of a library. "Did you know you could borrow books from there? But not the encyclopedias." Sadly, the books about how pregnancy actually occurs probably don't reside in the school library.
This whole baby plot is creepy and seemingly out of left field. Didn't quite expect the show to suddenly veer into SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER territory. Looking forward to seeing how this all develops this season.
Probably the best episode since the pilot.
The Quinn stuff absolutely blindsided me. And then again with Puck. I just figured the episode title had to do with Terri.
I have to side with Will on the fight with him and Rachel, but did he really have to pick another West Side Story song at the end of the episode? Seems like a very poor decision.
And yay, Kristin Chenoweth is in the next episode!
Respond
If Kurt's dad new he was gay since he was three, how come he's asking if one of the girls he is dancing with is his girlfriend in the beginning scene? Would a married man not really notice that his wife is wearing a fake pouch all the time? Would a teenager even as dumb as Finn is being portrayed really believe he could get a girl pregnant in a hot tub?
Jane Lynch continues to be the best part of this show by far.
I enjoy the show and have no real problem suspending belief but I think my objection is more in the realm of disorganization. I know the object is to get people in glee club and to compete at regionals but I'm not sure I understand how this process is moving forward. Do they compete in other contests before regionals? How much longer can they continue the proces of integrating new people into their act? When the hell do the Cheerios ever practice?