4x20 "Lights Out" Watch & Discussion thread

[tanita_mors]

Man, if I see another pointless and less then truthfull "back to basics" line in one of these descriptions, I'm gonna off myself.

IT’S BACK TO BASICS WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT ON AN ALL-NEW “GLEE” THURSDAY, APRIL 25 ON FOX

Guest Stars Sarah Jessica Parker (“Sex and the City”) and

NeNe Leakes (“The New Normal”) Return

When the power goes out at McKinley High, Will and Finn enlist the members of New Directions to “unplug” and perform acoustic numbers. Meanwhile, Isabelle Wright (guest star Parker) asks Kurt to volunteer at the Vogue.com charity event, with Rachel and Santana in tow, in the all-new “Lights Out” episode of GLEE airing Thursday, April 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (GLE-420) (TV-14 D, L)

Cast: Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester; Lea Michele as Rachel Berry; Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson; Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones; Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel; Mark Salling as Noah Puckerman; Kevin McHale as Artie; Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina; Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez; Heather Morris as Brittany; Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson; Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans.

Guest Cast: Jacob Artist as Jake Puckerman; Melissa Benoist as Marley Rose; Becca Tobin as Kitty Wilde; Alex Newell as Wade Adams; and Blake Jenner as Ryder Lynn; Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson; NeNe Leakes as Coach Roz Washington; and Sarah Jessica Parker as Isabelle Wright.

You all know what to do.

[Jellyrolls]

Another Thursday, another episode of Glee.

[ChrisColferFan1]

I am DVRing it to watch later. Hopefully Chris/Kurt has a lot of scenes this week.

[Jellyrolls]

Recycle alert: Someone from the ND is spying on the competition.

Sure, Figgy, this it would be a really good idea to hand out candles to a bunch of high school kids in a black out.

Oh, another Santana intervention. Yay (sarcasm). How does Tina of all people know that? Have Tina and Santana ever even interacted.

Is it it just me or does Kurt's outfit look like late season 2 Kurt?

So, how long is this blackout lasting? If the blackout went into a second day, me thinks they would be cancelling classes.

So, Artie is texting. Is he the catfisher? Or are they just showing him texting to make us think he is catfishing?

Chord and Blake sound nice together, but the version of the song is pretty dull.

Yay. Chord is being a moral mouthpiece.

I love Isabelle. She is so great to Kurt. "Thank you fairy godmother" haha. Kurt.

[ChrisColferFan1]

Glad Kurt has already been in at least once scene so far.

[Jellyrolls]

Ugh. Did we really need the shot of Darren thrusting and in that weird yoga position. Ugh.

Darren looks really old in this scene. Yeah, Glee, he can pass for 18. Maybe 18 x 2. Honestly, he doesn't even look like Blaine in that aerobics scene.

Excited Kurt is so cute

Them mentioning Anne Hathaway is probably as close as she'll get to being on the show. Thanks, Ryan.

Little Kurt is so adorable

I normally like Blake singing, but he didn't put very much emotion in Everybody Hurts. It just lacked feeling for me.

So Ryder was sexually molested? Did they really need to go there? And where are they going with it? This came out of nowhere.

[Ranwing]

I got stuck late at the office and came in halfway through so I'll have to play catch up. Got in just in time or We Will Rock You. No one on this show other than Artie should be allowed to tackle Queen. Yes, I'm staring at you, Blarren. *glares*

Wow... Jane has really come such a long way as a singer.

[Jellyrolls]

I paid no attention to the Kitty/Ryder scene.

The concept for We Will Rock You was great, and scene was well done, but I think the darkness took away from the performance because you couldn't really see them well.

So, what is Sue doing at the school if she was fired?

It was nice to have them give Jane a song where she is actually singing. I know that they are just trying to garner interest in her Broadway stint this year. It would be fun to see her in the show.

[Ranwing]

I avoided listing to ATB until now. I love Naya's voice normally, but it's just not well suited for this song. Really wish that it could have been done as a straight trio with Kurt, Rachel and Isabelle. Hell... I just wish that we had more of Kurt singing.

[Jellyrolls]

Kurt's hair is looking exceptionally tall in this scene.

Naya has a nice voice, but she should not be singing Broadway songs. SJP sounds OK, but at least she puts character into her perforamance. That's what Naya was lacking in her part. Little Kurt

That was long. Was that the whole song? And was that longer than AIWNSG, which was the longest performance on Glee to date?

Awwwwww. Hummelberry affection. Awwwwwwwwww.

[ChrisColferFan1]

It looks like there are a lot of Kurt scenes.

[Jellyrolls]

Seriously, still a black out at McKinley? Figgy is horrible.

The lights are back. Finally.

This catfishing thing is going on way too long. I'm tired of it.

Son of frankenteen? Yeah, Glee we know that Ryder is Finn 2.0. Thanks for reminding us.

[Jellyrolls]

So NYADA has a night school? How convienent.

The Choreography for "The Longest Time" just didn't fit. I don't like the way it songs. The lead vocals are fine, but the background aren't rich enough to add the dimension the song needs.

[Ranwing]

That promo was full of oy... LOL at Burt's double-take at Blaine's announcement that he wants to marry Kurt. You could just tell what was going on in Burt's head. "Which Kurt? My son Kurt? The one who broke up with you six months ago and is dating a dashing Englishman? That Kurt?"

Oh goodie... more Rachel/Cassandra drama. Just what I didn't want.

[Jellyrolls]

If anyone cares, Blarren is doing a Q&A.

[ChrisColferFan1]

I am nervous about the last 2 episodes of the season.

[ChrisColferFan1]

If anyone cares, Blarren is doing a Q&A.

I don't care,but is for the last 2 episodes of the season>

[ColferGirl]

I actually really liked and enjoyed the episode, except for 1 - the blatant annoying objectification of Blaine during the unnecessary aerobics scene, and 2 - Artie and Sam's gross horrible comments to Ryder when he confessed he was molested. Seriously, WTF. I think I might revoke my Artie fan card over that.

The NY side of the episode, like usual, was flawless. I'm still loving Kurt, Rachel, and Santana's friendship dynamic. The glimpses of the three of them as kids in ballet class were all adorable. Kurt's scene with Isabelle was flawless. Not only was he precious, but I'm so glad that Isabelle is still so sweet and friendly with him - a true mother-figure. Fairy godmother, indeed. I love that his real mom also got a mention too. I was shocked that Glee did the entire At The Ballet song, but a pleasant shock. I thought the scene was beautiful and that the four of them looked stunning, and of course I like the song too, though I still wish Chris sang a little more (or that they didn't make his voice harder to hear in the harmonies).

Santana wanting to be a dancer makes no sense to me and came completely out of left field, but....Glee. I'm just happy if she's found her true dream and what she wants in life.

I'm so happy that Kurt seems so happy. I loved his Vogue.com outfit, and that Isabelle is still letting him work there. Hopefully next season, they'll actually let him do something substantial there....

I was really surprised about Kitty and Ryder's plot. Some hate Glee's PSA plotlines, but I didn't mind it, and for Glee they handled a molestation story pretty well. I even teared up during Kitty's confession. I'm personally happy the Nightbird scene was deleted. Not to spite Blaine fans, but because it's similar to the Kurt and Prom Queen scene to me. It's more meaningful for Becky to find that strength of heart on her own and confess the truth because she decides it's the right thing to do. I'm proud of Becky. And that's why I liked it better without someone telling her what to do - I'm glad she knew what was right, and did it on her own.

Most of the McKinley numbers felt stupid and useless, except for Ryder's, which was actually attached to his storyline. I love WWRY and FTLT, and bought them. The former scene was pretty fun to watch, the latter boring.

So, overall solid episode for me. I'm more excited for the next two episodes - Kurt solo, hopefully Kurt-Burt scenes, and more light on the proposal storyline.

[Lottie2303]

Totally thought it is Thursday and cannot watch the episode just yet. Damn, first time Kurt actually being present and I have to wait.

Reading some reactions: WTF with Ryder? Really??! First we need a school shooting so they try to emotionally invest me with the Newbies and now Ryder was molested?! Your writings and characters are BAD when those are the only reasons why I should care about a character! And they finally ruined Artie. Yes, it was only a matter of time.

I am looking forward for the Kurt/Isabelle scenes. The gifs on tumblr already look nice. Also I love they did the entire 'At The Ballet' songs. Even though it is still a shame about the lack of Kurt. But what did I expect .

[Glorfindel]

I'm so sick and tired of Glee I really don't have the energy to gather my thoughts and write down here what I thought of this episode in regards to Kurt right now. Glee is so disjointed and fake now, that the few minutes we get from Kurt once every few weeks is just not worth the trouble anymore.


I wrote something for TWoP, I'll just copy and paste it here:

Glee just seems to exist out of disjointed gimmicks nowadays.
Gimmicks like an electricity fall-out that lasts for days without the school being closed down, or someone thinking about opening the blinds or moving everyone to (class) rooms with windows like the teachers’ lounge. Gimmicks like singing only acoustic songs, due to gimmicks like said electricity fall-out, even when the electricity is back on and they really should get going working on their Regionals setlist. Gimmicks like having the new Nd kids end the episode with a "Look how cute we are!" group number with hardly any choreography, but wait...that's not a gimmick anymore, but just a predictable boring obligation by now.
Gimmicks like shoving Blaine’s ass in our faces for the upteenth time while every girl around him is having an (aerobics induced?) orgasm, oh and go flirt with that hot guy, "I-wanna-propose-to-Kurt" Blaine. Gimmicks like kids confessing their PSA of the week, somehow also ‘unplugged’ by gimmicks like said electricity fall-out, without following them up properly. (“You WILL sympathize with the newbies, dammit!”)
Gimmicks like trotting out a guest star who really has overstayed her welcome and who was only funny the first time, sorry Nene Leakes, to spout more insults. Gimmicks like dropping 2 actors’ real names to break the 4th wall just to troll tumblr, and hey: why not use the overused gimmick again of insulting one of your actors? I’m sure Mark appreciated that.
Gimmicks like Ryan being “obsessed” with Sarah Jessica Parker singing a certain song on Glee, or wanting to advertise Jane Lynch’s upcoming stint on Broadway with an Annie song. Songs that weren’t suggested to serve the storylines, but forced the storylines to serve them, so that they had to resort to gimmick fantasy scenes to be able to shoe-horn them into the show and make them at least somewhat fitting, and lol: screw continuity and the canon that sprouts from it. (notwithstanding that ‘At The Ballet’ and ‘Little Girls’ were the musical highlights of this episode, imo)

Jeez, and I thought that the forced theme/word of the week was bad back in seasons 2 and 3.

What I liked in this episode was, once again, the New York side. We saw that Kurt still is working at Vogue (who would have thought that, huh?), and that he and Rachel are their usual adorable bubbly theatre nerds while Santana is their delicious sarcastic killjoy. Still, these roommates may live on different planets sometimes, but they also care for each other, and their dynamic is always witty, energetic and on point.
And although SJP was the unintentional reason the ‘At The Ballet’ prompted storyline was forced into the canon, Isabelle was a saving grace in it: a fairy godmother indeed. SJP, Naya, Chris and Lea can make the clunkiest writing work, and unfortunately that is often sorely needed on this show.

As for McKinley: Ryder is acting so stupid about being catfished I almost want him to find out that ‘Katie’ is Brad the pianoplayer, who became a child molesting creep due to having to sit in that choir room for 4 seasons straight (and 2 more to come: poor Brad, you should have run far, far away after ND lost Sectionals).
Speaking of child molesting: once again Glee tries to make us sympathize with characters we don’t really care about by giving them a trauma. Instead of the classy gimmick of exposing the entire school to a traumatic lockdown over nothing, this time they gave Ryder and Kitty a past trauma that’s being told instead of shown and will probably not have any consequenses or even be mentioned again on the show after today (much like Blaine being gay-bashed at his first Sadie Hawkins dance). If they put Ryder and Kitty romantically together because they bonded over this, I’m gonna puke.
Oh, and kindly STFU Sam, Artie and Marley.
Having said that: Blake and Becca are decent actors and I feel sorry for them. Other positive remarks about the McKinley side: Jacob Artist really is an excellent dancer, and I’m glad they finally let Kevin sing instead of the hot boys club of generic bland voices.

[tanita_mors]

on the whole, i rather enjoyed this episode. the lima stuff was a lot weaker then NY,but that is to be expected these days.

kurt was fab this week. virtually in every single scenes. "bless you fairy god mother"
that hilarity in the first one where kurt and rachel are outraged by santana's imo ok jobs, and kurt making those boob hand gestures. i was laughing out loud. also, love the "you are the most talented person i know, save for me and kurt of course". so rachel and so true. loved all the baby versions of the three of them and i'm satisied that they didn't bangs us over the head with "santana wants to be a dancer/ballerina". it was what she wants to get back to know, but how knows what future may bring.

at the ballet felt soooo long though and it's kind of boring song. i wish they cut it to be honest. the whole think sort of took you out of the episode because it's clearly a fantasy sequence, but soo out there. SJP was very good. i really wish we saw her a few more times this season, a scene or two. she and chris (and lea and naya) really work well together.

as for lima. how long did that black out last. 2 or 3 days I think, which is totally unbelievably. if the school has no power = no classes. and it couldn't have been all the same day, as right in the middle of it blaine was at sue's new job and ryder and kitty had their dinner date.

the molestation storyline - i didn't mind the idea of it and god knows it happens far too often and people just hide it instead of confronting it head on and calling to those pedophiles to justice they deserve. and blake and becca really sold it to me. i enjoyed the acting and emotion form that side. BUT I was disgusted by artie and sam - "you got some serious game". seriously ??? no 11 yo (imo no one before 16 at least) is sexually mature for gods sake, both physically but most importantly emotionally. you can really see the "american pie" culture infuence in those comments.



i wish they would just take the hint and stop with the PSA EVERY SINGLE WEEK !!!! jesus glee, it's not your job to educate the american and world youth, particularly if they have parents to to that for them and given your louse track record with these types of storylines.

thank god that blaine only had one scene. got to admit that i found darren hilarious in the aerobics scene, but he had to ruin it with that bad piece of acting in the conversation with sue afterwords.

sue totally misses the school and the squad. he fantasy sequence unlike at the ballet felt oddly appropriate and i loved it. jane sound fantastic when not processed and on this type of song.

i only liked two songs. we will rock you - because artie is the man when it comes to singing and i love queen, and the closing number sounded great. didn't enjoy the routine as much, but what can you do. also, is this like the 3rd or 4th episode in a row that ends with a closing number. i guess they are going back to basics in one way at least.

all in all, i though as a rather solid episode. more kurt then last two weeks so that raises the bar automatically.

[Glorfindel]

the molestation storyline - i didn't mind the idea of it and god knows it happens far too often and people just hide it instead of confronting it head on and calling to those pedophiles to justice they deserve. and blake and becca really sold it to me. i enjoyed the acting and emotion form that side. BUT I was disgusted by artie and sam - "you got some serious game". seriously ??? no 11 yo (imo no one before 16 at least) is sexually mature for gods sake, both physically but most importantly emotionally. you can really see the "american pie" culture infuence in those comments.

Overall I think they did handle this child molesting storyline fairly well (for Glee standards that is), if it hadn't been so obvious that they did it not out of some fake concern for what kids experienced and are still experiencing because of that (as Glee has to tackle every PSA out there), but because they wanted us to feel sympathy for the noobs, after shamelessly exploiting the fear of a school shooting to have us care for them evidentally was not enough.

Compare these throw away traumas of this current Glee with everything that happened to Kurt (and maybe Quinn and Finn) throughout the seasons. It was painful to watch at the time, but we actually saw it unfold, how it affected him, and it kept playing a part in his characterisation long afterwards.
They didn't give this any serious attention, no flashbacks or build up in other episodes, and it will be forgotten again next episode. It's sheer emotional manipulation, and just as with the school shooting (or Blaine's gay bashing in season 2) they do this to get a cheap effect they are not able to create with decent writing (caring for some characters), but without giving a hoot about people who are actually triggered by such storylines. The goal does not justify the means here.

I thought that Sam and Artie's reactions (or Kitty's friends at her old school) were sadly realistic (although I don't think they would have said it outlike like that), but what the show failed to do was call them out on their wrong perception partly caused by those movies.
Mr. Shue reacted way too mildly to them, and even if he didn't want to react at that moment to spare Ryder, there should have been a scene afterwards in which he educated Sam and Artie on what child molesting really does to a person. Heck, they had no problem doing that to the girls in 'Choke'. (also: the babysitter had to be a girl, right? When probably 99% of child molesters are male, same with school shooters, btw.)
And Marley's "His truth is his truth" was awful: as if an older (gender/sexual appropiate) person touching a child really is awesome unless the child is for some reason bothered by it. So Marley basically said that Ryder feeling violated was just his personal problem, not an actual criminal offense.

What did this accomplish besides Kitty and Ryder bonding? What did it change, what was the purpose and what was the message? That getting touched inappropiately sucks? Well, I knew that.
And this is brass coming from a show who thought it romantic when Kurt got dragged into the back of a car, or kissed on the lips involuntary in a locker room, or thought it funny when Brittany was 'probed' in a tent or Puck having a threesome at age 7.
I don't mind the ugly realities of life being shown in a tv show like Glee, it always was a dramady, not a comedy, but for God's sake do it right or don't do it at all.



--------------------------------------------------------

On another note:
This episode reminded me of season 3's ‘Michael’, as it was disjointed and undefinable, mixed with too heavy handed plotlines that were forced and came out of nowhere, serious character retconning (Santana's uncaring father and her love for dancing vs. the Warblers turning into a bad gang), and compulsory songs that were shoe-horned in just for the sake of wanting to sing these songs. Oh, and of course the Blarren worshipping.
It gave me whiplash and the idea that I was watching a clunky variety show with a bad magician doing tricks I've seen a hundred times before and done better.
And to no surprise both episodes were written by mr. Ryan Murphy.

[Glorfindel]

The good about this episode:



Chris and Naya have the best reactions, especially when acting opposite each other.




Really: Chris and Lea should do a romcom together.

[AnneNeville]

Reading some reactions: WTF with Ryder? Really??! First we need a school shooting so they try to emotionally invest me with the Newbies and now Ryder was molested?! Your writings and characters are BAD when those are the only reasons why I should care about a character! And they finally ruined Artie. Yes, it was only a matter of time.

Artie has always had a tendency to say sexist and offensive things, and since characters on Glee don't grow (they only regress), I'm not surprised (only displeased) that he'd say what he did. Sam being party to that does shock me (see: character regression).

As for Ryder . . . I haven't watched the episode, but it is no secret to anyone who has followed my commentary here or on tumblr that I think Blake Jenner can act and has been terribly underutilized. And that the writers were missing a big opportunity and had wasted him.

I didn't expect them to dump a child molestation storyline on him in episode 20, though. I really didn't. And from what I hear, he did well with what he was given. But people might LIKE Ryder if they'd used his acting chops from the beginning (instead of that lame love triangle).

I wish that "finally using their strongest new male actor (and he's also stronger than Chord and Darren)" didn't translate to "dump a dramatic storyline on Blake last-minute." Because now no one will see his acting. Between this and the catfishing, they'll only see a desperate attempt to make audiences care.

I already cared. I think he and Kitty/Becca are the "breakouts" of the new New Directions. But no one is going to spend more than five minutes caring.

Just keep kicking the cutie, RIB. ::sigh::

[tanita_mors]

it's obvious that they have to dump storylines of this type on the noobs fast and this late in the game because nobody gives a shit. with kurt and santana, we had a natural progression of what was happening in their lives (even though i still think that santana's lesbianism came out of nowhere, it works and naya is selling it like nobodies business and that is the only thing that matters). with the noobs it's like "pick a nob and pick a teen problem and GO and go NOW". no emotional effect and relevance except what you feel in the moment and in the next moment you realize, where did that come from. no build up whatsoever.

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