Glee 3.05

[rm]

1. Jesus Christ, Darren Criss has eyelashes forever.

2. What an appropriately sad gay bar.

3. Too much packed into that episode, and there were connecting moments that I felt needed to be there and weren't.

4. I'm going to state something wildly unpopular: Blaine is attracted to Sebastian. He's tall and lean and he's sexually aggressive, and Blaine likes it. Blaine wants to be pursued and not in that polite ay that Kurt did when they were just friends. And he's never had this experience before, but it's one he's fantasized about. He's not an asshole, and he's not going to betray his boyfriend, but he is flustered and interested and trying not to look naive and boring in the face of Paris.

5. So Brittany's first time... that was awkward. We needed one more line or it needed not to be there, because the people I was watching with asked, "wait, did Brittany get raped?" Which, you know, is valid in that that's a way first times go too, but throwaway line is ambiguous in a bad way about a character we don't want to remove sexual agency from. (Clarification: I don't think a history of rape removes someone's sexual agency, I think fandom interpretation of drive-by unclear data about Brittany is just likely to be a bad mess around that particular topic).

6. All this stuff about what it means to be a man, and Kurt and Blaine largely exempted from it -- but that felt positive and opposed to marginalizing -- it was one type of pain they weren't in.

7. Holy fuck, Chris Colfer can act. Every moment was PERFECTION.

8. Rachel Berry, you are testing my sympathy. Also, she and Finn are so alone together. It just doesn't work. TOxic.

9. I bet a voice over from Artie wasn't how you were expecting it to open.

10. Okay, NO ONE has sex in this episode. What I assume we get is both couples thinking about the lead up to it (appropriate to the song) while performing in the school show the next night. I am fine with no one having actually had sex in the episode, but I want to put this out there as people try to divine what type of sex was had based on the cute little cuddly scenes at the end. Yeah, no. They hadn't had sex yet. Also, hey, more marriage symbolism, and er, I like it, because it's all spiritual marriage and not "let's run off to together." -- ETA: This may be wrong. Tumblr found condom wrappers in the shot, I was convinced they were unopened, but a friend is looking at the image in HD and swears they are, so this may need to be revised. (And, ridiculously, it matters that I figure it out if I want to write about gendered expectations, the heterosexual audience, and Blaine's issues, so here we are).

11. THANK GOD THEY CUT THAT SCENE WHERE FINN ASKS FOR SEX ADVICE FROM SCHUE, HOLY CRAP.

12. Naya Rivera, could you be more beautiful?

13. "Uptown Girl" - weird, creepy, menacing thanks to the fantasy French teacher and EVERYTHING I didn't know I wanted. Er, I have weird feelings about Dalton.

14. Finn's freak out -- narratively important, did it need to happen a second and a half before he and Rachel get it on? Because wow, uncomfortable.

15. Blaine Anderson, I don't even have words... just EVERYTHING. (P.S., I still think something is not right with that boy, I just don't know what the hell it is. I used to hate all the theories about his sketchy relationship with alcohol, because he's 16, but now I have to admit to entertaining them. I also think my sexual abuse theory still holds, but certainly isn't going to be a plot point -- the alcohol may be).

16. Interesting to see Kurt's feminine clothing finally show up again this season.

17. I love how Kurt is hesitant and then just steels himself and goes for it over and over. Been there, Kurt. I get you. You rock.

18. Bieste -- needs more time or less. Is she part of a gender/sexuality spectrum for the girls like the one were getting for the gay guys? Or is it just a muddled mess?

19. Kurt, you are adorable in your cop uniform. Ahaahahaah, the baton when you're watching Blaine at the end.

20. Hey, Mike Chang, apparently your dad is the fanon Mr. Anderson. Good on Glee for not dropping that plot.

21. Tina is awesomesauce. Too bad she had that DREADFUL infodump.

22. Quinn -- please do something with her.

23. WHERE ARE BLAINE'S PARENTS? DID THEY NOT EVEN COME TO THE PLAY? WHAT IS GOING ON?

24. I think Burt Hummel is going to win this election.

25. Roxy Music? Really?

Comments

[calanthe-b.livejournal.com]

Fandom drama is making me miserable (as are students), but I love your thoughts. I am looking forward (tentatively) to the episode again.

[flaming-muse.livejournal.com]

That gay bar is so, so sad.

Wait... people don't think Blaine was attracted to Sebastian? Because it sure read on my screen like he was (and flustered and flattered by the attention), but he's just not a jerk and is in love with his boyfriend. But I don't think Blaine knows what to do with himself with that kind of guy.

And I just loved every minute of Kurt in this episode.

They need to explain something about Blaine's parents. We can ignore them in fanfiction if we choose, but where the heck were they in canon?

[calanthe-b.livejournal.com]

where the heck were they in canon?

Same place as Rachel's Two Gay Dads usually are?

[sayuri-rose-k.livejournal.com]

18. Bieste -- needs more time or less. Is she part of a gender/sexuality spectrum for the girls like the one were getting for the gay guys? Or is it just a muddled mess?

I sympathize with Bieste. I'm a masculine girl and most of the time I feel ostracized because every guy I've liked always went for the pretty girls. It made me sad every time. I hope that I don't have to wait as long as she did.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I love her and the idea of her, I jsut feel like she's vastly underwritten too often. This was the closest they've come to getting it right since Never Been Kissed, I thought.

[crown-of-weeds.livejournal.com]

Why is Brittany's agency compromised now because she's been raped?

I am going to have more to say about Britt later, but....the most conservative estimates for rape--not abuse, not harassment, rape--for girls with developmental disabilities is 70%.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I don't think is has been. I think fandom may interpret it that way.

[sizequeen.livejournal.com]

Yes. Yes. Yes. Blaine was definitely turned on by Sebastian. He had managed to suppress his frustration with the slow romantic courtship with Kurt.

Then Sebastian comes along. And he leers and makes all kinds of naughty suggestions. He's confident and seems sexually experienced, and Blaine's tight control just...slipped. The boy was legit horny from the moment he met Sebastian on.

Which is why he had to emphasize that Sebastian meant *nothing* to him in his apology to Kurt because Sebastian was the partial source of that melt down in the car.

[escapisms.livejournal.com]

5. So Brittany's first time...

I had the exact same reaction your friend did. This worries me. I worry about Brittany in the real world, to be honest.

23. WHERE ARE BLAINE'S PARENTS? DID THEY NOT EVEN COME TO THE PLAY? WHAT IS GOING ON?

Yes. Specifically in the auditorium when he is DESPERATE for Kurt to be proud of him because who else will be?

Um, hello. Can I just live inside your brain? You always say everything I am thinking far more eloquently than I seem to be able or you think it all up before I even get there and I am left trying to catch up to your leaps of logic.

[jazziethinks.livejournal.com]

Ditto

[sillygleekt.livejournal.com]

Tumblr is all "my creys" (in a happy way) about Blaine saying "I miss Dalton every day. But McKinley is where my heart is." and I'm all OH FUUUUUUCK.

And then Blaine being basically in tears at Kurt saying "I was so proud to be with you." And his response wasn't "Thank you" or "I'm glad" but "I hope so. I want you to be." Blainers, you don't need to hope... he just said he IS PROUD to be with you. I am so so so sad about that. SO sad. Even more of my buttons, but yeah.

The scene w/ Mike and his dad. I basically had that exact same thing happen in a slightly less extreme way (he didn't threaten to renounce me, but he did threaten not to support me). And I didn't stand up to him the way Mike did. And even though a couple of years later I took steps to right that self-abandonment, it's still something that eats at me. Because that's a parent explicitly putting conditions on their love in a way that is very very hard for a teenager to deal with, especially when they are still a dependent.

Anyway... yeah. This was a REALLY REALLY tough episode for me.

I mean, ultimately there was some really sweet Klaine stuff that I'm very happy about. But mostly, I'm just really sad.

ETA: Also, lots to say about everything else. Just... it's too much right now.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Blaine's absent parents, easy tears (in a very different way than Kurt's), fucked up relationship with alcohol (because here it felt like he was faking his inebriation in order for them not to have to discuss the sex), desperate need for approval and tendency to interpret shit that is not approval as approval (hell, Sebastian) is really... something is not good there.

[monkeyforlove.livejournal.com]

#7 - yes yes yes! chris colfer is stunning and amazing.

#10 - thank you so much for saying this. I was thinking this same thing but I thought I was maybe the only one. I found it impossible to believe that Kurt and Blaine had gone from "not granting our hands visas to travel south of the equator" to full on (assumed?) penetrative sex. Maybe something a little more, sure - but the other is such a jump, I can't really see Kurt taking it that far in just a few days. I also thought it was interesting he was wearing so much safari camouflage in that scene, although I don't yet have any idea what it could have meant.

I also find your thoughts on Blaine really interesting. I want to think some more about what you said, so I'll probably come back to this post later, but I agree that something is a little off-kilter there, and he was DEFINITELY attracted to Sebastian. If that guy is sticking around, there is drama yet to be played out. It makes me think about the post on your page a long time ago about how Blaine takes on the more "passive" role in their courtship (like saying "I've never been anyone's boyfriend before") and how Sebastian is that "I come after what I want" type that probably does really appeal to him, in contrast to Kurt's soft and patient, yet determined, way.

You're awesome as usual!

[rm.livejournal.com]

I figure after the episode ends there are probably non-simultaneous hand jobs (sorry, these kids are not up to multitasking) that end very quickly, and a lot of cuddling. Maybe there's blowjobs and fingering for round two. If the Hudmels and Blaine's parents are both just gone for the weekend, maybe Blaine and Kurt just NEVER leave the house and experiment as much as they can for 48 hours (other than WSS performances) and yeah, I can see in weird determined Kurtland, that actually getting to penetration, but jeez, those boys are going to need some time to process first orgasm with other person they are ridiculously into. They may not need a lot of time, but they are going to need it. Also, they both have body-shyness issues (Kurt's layers, Blaine's _awkward_).

[zunmo.livejournal.com]

I was so frustrated by this episode, because there were parts (and by parts I mean whenever Chris Colfer was onscreen) that I thought were phenomenal. I mean, about as good as Glee gets, which is pretty awesome or I wouldn't keep watching. It was just that there was so much packed into one hour. I love Mike Chang, I'm glad they're following up on his thing with his dad, but I honestly would've preferred a little more time with Rachel explaining herself or something about Blaine's parents. Their pacing is always so hit or miss, and tonight really could have been the best episode of the season if it had been good.

[flightjacket.livejournal.com]

AGREE WITH ALL THE THINGS.

Blaine was definitely attracted to the attention Sebastian was showing him. I think it's intriguing that the ep established Blaine liking "interesting" things and, of course, liking to BE interesting. That's such a universal desire, and felt particularly by teenagers. But there's obviously a whole world of difference between Sebastian's materialistic form of interestingness that's attractive to Blaine's youth and hormones and Kurt's soul-deep kind of interestingness that's what ultimately won Blaine's heart last season. The auditorium scene did a lot to show that Blaine understands that already, but I'm kind of disappointed there wasn't much lead up to it.

I think I wanted Blaine to struggle more with being a stupid teenage boy. But maybe, seeing as the audience has already been made to learn all the levels of Kurt's amazingness, there wasn't enough there for the writers to give Blaine that personal learning moment without straining the audience's sympathy. I admit it does pretty firmly establish his emotional maturity, even if in general his maturation is still a WIP. And of course, there was already so much happening in this episode, and there's definitely a possibility of revisiting it in future eps...

Still, that was a place where the lack of connecting moments you mentioned left something to be desired with me. I definitely wanted a bit of the ~awakening maturity~ that Rachel got this ep (in her monologue recontextulizing Tony and Maria's romance) to go more explicitly to him, too, and not only be implied by their narratives' association.

I'm only now realizing how heavily female that virginity plot was, especially in the way that it was offset by Artie and Finn's highly personalized issues with manliness. Seb and Blaine talking over A Boy Like That definitely aligned Blaine with Maria rather than Tony in the WSS narrative in a literal way. Which could explain why they gave that moment of maturity during the WSS production to Rachel and not to Blaine--since subtextually it was a ~girl thing~ that they were both working through. I dunno how I feel about that, to be honest, or even if that's what I actually think happened there. I did like that the virginity plot had a sense of shared experience, with the gay bar and the girls' meeting, as opposed to Finn and Artie kind of walking alone in weird and sometimes icky ways.

Oh god, that got so long and rambling. Apparently, I've decided to workshop my own meta about this ep in your comments.

Also, seriously, is Tina only allowed to speak in aphorisms now?

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Reba or Lucy or Ginger. Sad bar is sad.

Brittany WHAT??? No one in the room heard that?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Brittany mumbles something about losing her virginity at cheer camp, says some dude climbed into her tent, it was like an alien invasion. It was unfocused and unsettling and was possibly a joke hinged around non-consensual alien anal probe stuff? I don't know. But it was weird.

[dsmoen.livejournal.com]

I don't watch Glee, but I do <3 your recaps. :)

[thatwordgrrl.livejournal.com]

I am adamantly opposed to character bashing. But 'swelp me, this season's iteration of Rachel may cause me to rethink that. I mean yes, most people have at some point had sex for the wrong reasons (even first-time sex). But as a form of method-acting? Really?

Finn needs to curb her.

I did like the Karofsky moment. It was the perfect bittersweet coda for both of them.

People are seriously analyzing, like, *positons* for Blaine and Kurt? SRSLY? *They are not goddamn zoo animals mating for your voyeuristic amusement.* I'd bet nobody drags out that analysis for Rachel and Finn.

[sin-fuego.livejournal.com]

Re: 4

I do think Blaine likes the attention & pursuit from Sebastian but I'm not sure if he's genuinely attracted to him. Flattered and cognizant that Sebastian is an attractive & aggressive guy while filling that (unconscious?)fantasy experience.

I really enjoy reading your thoughts on the show.

Yes!Roxy Music

[molly-claire.livejournal.com]

It goes with the whole dapper thing. I'm sure he has a collection of Oscar Wilde that he reads while adjusting his pocket square.

[not-sally.livejournal.com]

Thank you.
I'm still reeling from bad-touch Blaine and nice Karofsky.
WTF?

[yamx]

15. Blaine Anderson, I don't even have words... just EVERYTHING. (P.S., I still think something is not right with that boy, I just don't know what the hell it is. I used to hate all the theories about his sketchy relationship with alcohol, because he's 16, but now I have to admit to entertaining them. I also think my sexual abuse theory still holds, but certainly isn't going to be a plot point -- the alcohol may be).

Ummm, so... I was convinced Sebastian (who, you'll note, had that beer ordered, opened, and waiting on the counter before our guys even came in) had slipped Blaine a mickey. Am I the only one who read it that way?

Because in the car scene, Blaine says at one point, "I only had one beer," and Kurt doesn't contradict him, and there is NO WAY a boy Blaine's size should be that wasted after only one beer (American beer, no less), even if it had been his first alcohol ever.

[calanthe-b.livejournal.com]

Actually, Kurt kind of rolls his eyes and mutters 'Sure you did'. Though Blaine may not have noticed Sebastian substituting a full bottle or two for an empty one...

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

1. Doesn't he, though? I wish he were about ten years older so I wouldn't feel like such a letch when I look at him.

4. It doesn't surprise me that people are all freaking out about Blaine being attracted to someone else. Look at the insane notions put into people's heads by stories like Twilight - the idea that someone can have a boyfriend and yet still be attracted to someone else is unthinkable.

8. Rachel has never been one of my preferred characters (the continued "she has the best voice" in Season 1 kept making me grit my teeth - I'd pit Mercedes' voice against Rachel's any day), and I agree that the relationship between her and Finn is toxic. Sadly, I'm starting to come to the same conclusion about Kurt and Blaine, the more hints that keep coming out.

10. Given all of the warning bells, if they did in fact... well, it just makes everything all the more heartbreaking for me.

12. Oh my yes!

18. There are things I absolutely hate about the character, but I can't deny she's compelling and interesting (much more than Schue). I do wish she'd show more growth and change, though. We adults can change, too, for the better!

23. I wonder if they are modeling his parents on the European model of "We send our kids away to boarding school and only see them during winter and summer break?" somehow? So perhaps they are traveling? I don't know. I mean, the obvious conclusion to draw is that they don't approve of their son, and it's probably the one the show will go with if/when they decide to address the issue.

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

That little moment between Kurt and Karofsky wasn't intended as closure, was it? It wasn't enough at all, at least not for me.

Blaine is obviously attracted to Sebastian, I'm just hoping he's too conflicted about it to do anything. I also think it might be significant that this is the second time we've seen him falling-down drunk.

I thought Artie asking Blaine and Rachel if they were virgins in the presence of a teacher was incredibly inappropriate. It actually made me angry, though I blame the writers rather than the character. And then he encourages them to have sex to improve their acting? Ugh.

[nicoli-dominn.livejournal.com]

Artie's been known to be a doofus before. This is nothing new. I honestly think the writers are just sticking to the idea that while he sometimes has good intentions, he mucks things up quite a bit in the process. Like the way he treated Tina over their summer relationship, or how he talked to Brittany when they were together and used her to try to make Tina jealous, or the way he went about the selection process for West Side Story actors. Sometimes he's brilliant - like the way he pulled off the play production, or his dance moves and visualizations - but sometimes the things that come out of his mouth, or the things he does, are just awful.

[penthea.livejournal.com]

Would it be okay if I processed my Beiste issues in your comments?

I vote muddled mess. So, so uncomfortable with her character. In a way I identify with her, as a physically strong and not very feminine woman who's good at a lot of manly things - but, with that background, I also feel like they're getting it wrong a lot of the time.

She's introduced as an example of a woman who doesn't conform to traditional gender roles. She's shown breaking all sorts of rules about femininity, and being punished for it. Sue tried to cast her as a sexual predator, in the case of Brittany, playing on the "dangerous lesbian coach" stereotype.

Then - tadah! - she's just a poor little straight girl in a butch woman's body, waiting for a man to tell her she's pretty.

It makes sense that she would have sort of turned off and disregarded the sexual part of herself, deciding that she's not eligible, but then what the hell is she doing talking about her lady parts and generally admitting desire and vulnerability all over the place? They get the "human, hurt, self esteem issues" part right, except I think a women like that would have kept her shit locked down a lot tighter than Beiste.

And are we supposed to believe that she's, what, 45, having spent most of her life looking like she does and succeeding in a male dominated environment, and yet she is completely stupid and clueless about the gender and sexuality issues that must have been everywhere around her, all the time, for decades? The way she says "Guy. I like guys", you get the idea that she's very used to people assuming wrong, which yes, she would be. But then shouldn't she at some point have actually had some thoughts in her head about that, allowing her to be less of a failure with Kurt?

It's like they can't decide if they're going to play her as off-putting for laughs, or as the "ugly women have feelings" moral lesson character, or if it's supposed to be funny or making a point that she's such a walking gay stereotype without being gay. It doesn't mesh, and the result is kind of terrible.

[aulamauriplenam.livejournal.com]

I have thoughts on Blaine, and what's going on with him (I don't tend to dabble in this often because my line of reference and interest are a complete polar opposite, I admit, but what the hell I'll give it a go anyway, sorry).

We have seen absolutely nothing of Blaine's parents or family, but I wonder whether his parents might be older than Burt or Mr Chang seem to be - maybe in their later fifties or older? If so, Blaine could have siblings that we don't know about, who are considerably older than him and therefore have already left home. If Blaine had older (straight) brothers, I think it would explain rather a lot. His father would already have a frame of reference for what his sons should be, and therefore Blaine would be attempting to fit into the role prescribed for him and failing before he even leaves the gate - hence the disappointment and a tried but failed attempt from Mr A to shoe-horn his son into that role.

Mr Anderson probably wouldn't consider disowning him, but their relationship could be a complete non-entity (I imagine awkward, silent meal-times and complete and utter aloofness). Meanwhile, Blaine just wants someone to be proud of him, and Kurt is his biggest support system right now. All he hears at home is about his brothers, who are older and successful and possibly marrying/having children by now, and though he can and wants to do the same, it probably won't be seen as equivalent to them. Thus, Blaine has issues.

To be honest, I don't see the alcohol as that much of a problem. That might seem bad, but teens his age (at least in the UK) probably drink more regularly and in much larger quantities.

[cookiedough.livejournal.com]

10) The One Hand/One Heart performance was definitely flashback opening night, as Finn is there with the flowers, mentioned by Rachel directly afterwards.

I have more on this but I have two job interviews tomorrow and time continuity nitpicking is all I can manage right now.

Oh and 25) yes, and awesome, so backed - that was me in high school, I was like 'Oh my god, the 70s! Oh my god, Elton John, Bowie!' I seriously did not listen to any current bands/music until about 5 years ago, and I'm sure there are kids in any generation who go through the same thing, and I think Blaine could be weird like that. He obviously looks to other eras as far as style goes. I found Kurt's Noel Coward reference more unrealistic, I have this head-canon that Kurt is a lot less sophisticated and educated than he thinks he is, and quite shallow about his artistic tastes, but I guess not if he knows and cares for Coward.

[heddychaa.livejournal.com]

The first thing I thought of that gaybar was "Wow, did they come to Redneckville, Canada to film in that cowboy bar we all go to when we're too drunk to know better?"

This episode definitely had waaaayyy too many things going on. It was like every single character needed to have a moment so it was just this huge convoluted mess.

However I got teary-eyed over Bieste because I have so been there. ;_;

I think I missed the Britney line due to baby crying all the way through this episode. Does it really imply rape? :(

[nicoli-dominn.livejournal.com]

However I got teary-eyed over Bieste because I have so been there. ;_;

Me too. That's why I'm not entirely ready to write off her character, even if the writers are making her purpose confusing. She kind of should have her shit together as far as understanding other people by now (the things she said about/to Kurt were inexcusable, especially considering her own experiences), but the insecurity thing is very real. It doesn't matter how old you are: if you never wanted to be alone, and spent all of your life alone only because of how you look, then it's always going to be a sore subject. And just because a person comes along and flatters you doesn't make it any easier if you have preconceived notions that when it comes to the people you want, you're not what they want.

[therealycats.livejournal.com]

I feel like the Brittany line is just one of many rape jokes I've seen on TV this season--the other ones that come to mind are the shows Whitney and Two Broke Girls, both of which Whitney Cummings has a hand in. And it's very problematic, because it trivializes rape, obviously.

I'm interested to see what they do with Mike moving forward. It was nice to see some continuity where his relationship with his parents is concerned, though.

I've been really angry over a lot of things in Glee this season, and last night's episode had me going WTF just as much as usual. (I'm going to mention here that I watch Glee with ontd_glee, so a lot of my feelings may get exacerbated by that live discussion interaction.) Personally I had a lot of problems with Artie's decision to meddle in Rachel's and Blaine's sex lives; it was completely inappropriate, and then his conversation with Shannon...I just can't. There are so, so many inappropriate conversations that go on in this show between students and teachers--and I had no idea about the ditched Finn/Schue sex talk scene--and this was just one more to add to the pile.

[yamx]

Well, yes it is inappropriate, but--it's supposed to be. At least that was my reading. Artie did many inappropriate things last ep. (And I think he realized it during his almost-freakout just before the show.) He was just lucky that none of them came back to bite him in the ass (yet?).

An while it IS inappropriate, it certainly happens in real life. People meddle where they shouldn't all the time. Though it was certainly extreme in the ep, but taking real-life-things and pushing them to extremes has always been one of Glee's Things.

[melebeth]

I loved the Tina infodump. This show is so often so screwed up about the way it handles sexuality that I find it actively painful to watch, and it was nice to see some discussion of a sexual experience that was handled in a healthy, happy way. It got my teeth off edge for a bit.

This show is VERY hard to watch as a professional sexuality educator, because while I'm glad they do a reasonably good job with the gay characters, the straight characters are hot messes and disasters waiting to happen. I was very concerned about the rape issue with Brittney as well, because sometimes the way they play her makes me question her ability to consent.

Finally, I also LOVED Uptown girl. It was creepy and wrong and spectacular, and I wish we had more of the Warblers.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Okay, so it wasn't just me that "Uptown Girl" had weird predatory stuff going on? I don't see that sort of thing around every corner, but with my preoccupation with Dalton as faerieland and faeries are bad/creepy/dangerous/wrong, I felt completely freaked out by it, aided, I think by the inside/outside sound mixing with the number, which was super nice.