Re: 4x05 "The Role You Were Born to Play" Watch & Discussion thread

[M&M]

Marley is just too perky.

I really don't like Kitty. She is just too nasty.

They did the third nipple joke is frome friends.

Jake and Kitty's audition was OK. At least Jake sounds different than the other guys voices. I like the way his voice sounds on the longer notes. Kitty is weak.

Tina refuses to be in the same room with Mike. It's 33 minutes into the show, and where is Tina anyways?

Ugh. Figgy's comments about Unique. So inappropriate. She's got it going on?

Oh, a reference to Kurt by Sue. Too bad Kurt's broken heart wasn't important enough to address in the episode after they broke up.

Why do they always have to make Finn be such an ass? Was it really necessary for them have to make Finn say that retarded baby comment? Especially thinking back to the episode when Burt asked him if he would call Becky a retard and Finn said he wouldn't because it's mean? I've always felt that Finn is a decent guy with a good heart, and I hate that they always make him a bit bigotted when it serves a story.

What did Sue say about Kurt?

There was a scene in Figgy's office when Sue was trying to prevent Unique from being Rizzo. Finn called her a bigot, and Sue talked about the time that she quit being principal to protest the fact that they weren't doing enough to protect the gay kid in the school.

Thank you. Also, loving all your tweets tonight.

This is my favorite tweet I've tweeted tonight:

@mrrpmurphy Watching Glee without Hummelberry is like flying on a plane without wings-a quick crash and burn without the key parts!

— JellyrollsKaren (@ColferFanForum) November 9, 2012

LOL! I loved how many there were referencing Kurt, Rachel, or both. Well, before the Brittana stans started.

[ChrisColferFan1]

Marley is just too perky.

I really don't like Kitty. She is just too nasty.

They did the third nipple joke is frome friends.

Jake and Kitty's audition was OK. At least Jake sounds different than the other guys voices. I like the way his voice sounds on the longer notes. Kitty is weak.

Tina refuses to be in the same room with Mike. It's 33 minutes into the show, and where is Tina anyways?

Ugh. Figgy's comments about Unique. So inappropriate. She's got it going on?

Oh, a reference to Kurt by Sue. Too bad Kurt's broken heart wasn't important enough to address in the episode after they broke up.

Why do they always have to make Finn be such an ass? Was it really necessary for them have to make Finn say that retarded baby comment? Especially thinking back to the episode when Burt asked him if he would call Becky a retard and Finn said he wouldn't because it's mean? I've always felt that Finn is a decent guy with a good heart, and I hate that they always make him a bit bigotted when it serves a story.

What did Sue say about Kurt?

There was a scene in Figgy's office when Sue was trying to prevent Unique from being Rizzo. Finn called her a bigot, and Sue talked about the time that she quit being principal to protest the fact that they weren't doing enough to protect the gay kid in the school.

Thank you. Also, loving all your tweets tonight.

Yes, thank you.

[ColferInspired]

Fans that aren't Blaine stans found Darren's performance funny and have not much pity for Blaine.

So I think RIB failed in trying to get the rest of the fandom to pity Blaine.

And I put some pics and scene I think from next weeks episode in the spoiler thread, and Chris did do scenes with Kate Hudson.

[sahhar]

So I haven't watched tonight's episode online yet. Were the spoilers true then?, No Kurt, New York, or Hummelberry?, I'm so glad I didn't miss anything. Looks like he has scenes with Kate Hudson next week, wonder what that'll be about.

[ColferGirl]

^ Yes, there was no NY, Kurt, or Rachel at all.....

I thought the episode was pretty boring personally....and didn't like it, despite some funny lines....but it's probably cause I still haven't warmed up to the newbies or care about their love triangles/feuding/feelings, I'm definitely over Wemma, I love Mercedes and Mike but they were basically useless cameos.....I'm mad at Artie for being reluctant to cast Wade, for being a blatant biased Blaine stan, and I'm STILL mad he'll give a damn lead role to Blaine if he sings a girl song, but nooooooo, not Kurt.....Rider was Rory 2.0, he's a better actor, but he was introduced similarly to Rory (recruited and befriended by Finn, his mentor), and so it felt like been there, done that....and most of all, no Kurt or Rachel. It's just not the same without them, not even Finn was enough for me, and Finn was pretty much all I liked in the episode. Except for his self-pity moment at the garage, and his comment about Sue's baby - that made me disappointed in him.

Now I wished I hadn't joined in the whining about Blaine taking over the show, because if that's how much screentime they're gonna give him, then.......well, it's nothing to complain about (though his overabundance of solos is still irritating). He was in like 5 minutes, tops. It's basically how they used him last season - trot him out for a solo, let him say a few words, push him aside (though I'd imagine episode 7 will have a true Blaine centric-storyline, like Big Brother). I'm glad they didn't frame him giving up Danny as some sort of grand gesture for Kurt, but just him feeling like he couldn't do the role justice considering how sad he is about his own breakup. I will also have to concede that, in his dialogue of this episode, he showed symptoms of depression (trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, crying spells, general melancholy and sorrow). He's definitely depressed, but I still hesitate to say it's clinical. It's natural to be depressed right now - it's if he's still depressed even after he and Kurt reconcile, then we've got a problem. If he's just sad because he royally screwed up and hurt the person he loves (or, if he's sad for himself and his own guilt), then that's understandable considering his situation. Then it's just a situational depression.

I know the Kurt scrapbook Blaine had was supposed to be cute, but I just found it a little odd, even creepy, I'm not sure why. But not as weird as how they staged a portion of HDTY on the football field. That made no sense at all to me, and was emotionally dissonant. I'm proud of Kurt for not giving into Blaine's attempts to contact him, and refusing his reconciliatory gifts - which are clearly not good enough an apology, and shouldn't be. Kurt should take as much time as he needs to recover, the very least Blaine can do is wait for him to get to that point. I still wish they had had at least ONE scene with Kurt's POV in this episode though, or as I think rosario mentioned on GF, switched to scenes of him during HDTY, being heartbroken and comforted by Rachel, that way we still see how Kurt felt in the aftermath, too.

And I'm mad Tina didn't audition just because of Mike. I wish she was playing Sandy. I'd just like more Tina, period. I also felt for Wade this episode, I'm easily emotionally manipulated and got a little teary when he cried in the library scene. As for the songs, the only one I liked was Jake and Kitty's "Everybody Talks", which is now on my Itunes.

[CloveGlee]

Dear lord Grilled Cheesus. Darren's acting tonight was.... TERRIBLE. You all know I will give the guy his props if I think he deserves them, but this SUCKED. Actually, this episode careened from offensive to so-bad-its-funny to mildly entertaining to very boring.

These newbies cannot carry the show, and I hope the backlash they are already getting from people besides the folks in my twitter campaign convinces them that they must NEVER LEAVE NEW YORK OUT again!

[M&M]

Dear lord Grilled Cheesus. Darren's acting tonight was.... TERRIBLE. You all know I will give the guy his props if I think he deserves them, but this SUCKED. Actually, this episode careened from offensive to so-bad-its-funny to mildly entertaining to very boring.

These newbies cannot carry the show, and I hope the backlash they are already getting from people besides the folks in my twitter campaign convinces them that they must NEVER LEAVE NEW YORK OUT again!

I didn't watch (but I did tweet). I am hoping someone puts his scene up because everyone is saying it was terrible and I like a good laugh.

[ColferInspired]

I see one thing they haven't changed about Blaine he cared more about the how he could play the role than about Kurt at the end of the song. He is selfish and will always put his interests first.

I don't how RIB think the rest of the fandom would end up on Blaine's side, but maybe that isn't what they are looking for.

But it a relief that it wasn't Finn or Will that would have wanted Blaine for the lead. It was expected to be Artie, he is his biggest fanboy.

[M&M]

People should be tweeting again. Ryan is onlt looking at his feed during the LA airing. It's on now. We need to get Kurt backup there.

[sheny]

So I watched it and I have new #1 on my list called "The most boring episodes of Glee". I lost interest after the first 10 minutes and almost fell asleep. I'm not exaggerating it was that boring.

Blaine didn't look depressed or devastated at all, bad acting I guess and surely didn't look like he is not sleeping or eating. I don't think Sam is the best advice giver if we take a look at his love life history. It's not that easy not get over Kurt Hummel Sam, he is one and only. Just because you forget about Mercedes so fast doesn't mean everybody is like you.
I don't find Blaine's scrap book with Kurt's photos creepy. I think it's normal and common thing especially among teenagers or young people in general to have that kind of things, where they keep memories about their boyfriends or girlfriends. It's even sweet if I try to forget for several seconds what Blaine did and thenI remember last time in this same room he was poking and texting someone else and I hate him again. Darren sang the song well, but there was no real emotion and the lyrics except the title of the song maybe were not appropriate. Kurt is not pushing Blaine away for fun he is heartbroken.

Was the line about buying a lighthouse supposed to be funny? Because the only thing I could associate it was the profile photo of the guy Blaine cheated with. Was that on purpose? It was not funny, just made me mad.

I'm quoting this recap because it's exactly what I thought watching that scene.

"Following his break-up with Kurt, Blaine mopes around school. He doesn’t even put gel in his hair on the weekends! He’s super sad that his dream of spending the rest of his life with Klurt is no more. “THEN WHY DID YOU CHEAT ON HIM?” That’s what I yelled at my TV, but sadly, Blaine did not respond.

I’m actually loving sad Blaine because he’s SOOOO miserable that it’s actually becoming comedic. The fact that he auditions for Grease, then drops out because he doesn’t deserve to play a character in a love story, is hilarious."

— BuddyTV.com’s recap of 4.05 The Role You Were Born To Play [x]

I loved Jane Lynch as always, Sue mentioning Kurt, I'm glad they still remember that he was a cheerio but some of the things she sad to Wade/Unique were offensive.
I don't like the new characters but "Everybody talks" was my favourite performanceit. "Blow me (One last kiss)" I know I said this like 10 times already but seeing it the the episode didn't change my mind. It was still AWFUL.

I love Kevin why do they make me dislike Artie so much. Giving the damn role to Blaine and not imagining brunette Sandy (one more time).

The highlight of the episode was Chris Colfer as Kurt's photo. I can watch this for 43 minutes instead Kitty and Marley arguing about boys.

[Vir Cotto]

Were there any songs in this episode? I ask because none of the songs are on the itunes top 100 chart, and usually several glee songs are on it after a new episode airs.

Mayhaps nobody gave a flying monkeybutt about Blaine and newbies? (Blaine did sing didn't he? Oh, who am I kidding) I guess the itunes audience is just as bored as we are.

I can't wait to see the ratings.

[M&M]

Were there any songs in this episode? I ask because none of the songs are on the itunes top 100 chart, and usually several glee songs are on it after a new episode airs.

Mayhaps nobody gave a flying monkeybutt about Blaine and newbies? (Blaine did sing didn't he? Oh, who am I kidding) I guess the itunes audience is just as bored as we are.

I can't wait to see the ratings.

The three that I see are

HDTY 150
Blow Me 160
Everybody Talks 178

I hope they stay there or get worse.

[Vir Cotto]

Were there any songs in this episode? I ask because none of the songs are on the itunes top 100 chart, and usually several glee songs are on it after a new episode airs.

Mayhaps nobody gave a flying monkeybutt about Blaine and newbies? (Blaine did sing didn't he? Oh, who am I kidding) I guess the itunes audience is just as bored as we are.

I can't wait to see the ratings.

The three that I see are

HDTY 150
Blow Me 160
Everybody Talks 178





I hope they stay there or get worse.

Oh sweet, sweet, schadenfraude!

[msjoanlucette]

I only watched the hopelessly devoted to you part online. random, but, did anyone else notice the lip synch being off? :O I know a lot of people on tumblr that said the scene was really sad, but I just saw it and it was not as I expected. I'm not really a good judge when it comes to great acting. and I know Darren can do make heart eyes at Kurt, but his "sad" scene was really bad, that I could tell... o.o I'm sorry if I'm being mean. Please just ignore me if I am.

I did love seeing those pictures of Kurt. I was happy at that part cause I got to see Kurt again.

[Ireth]

The episode wasn't as bad as I expected (maybe because I saw it right after an exam), but it was still one of the most boring Glee episodes, because Kurt and Rachel weren't in it.

I'm really starting to dislike Artie more and more, which is sad because I really liked him right at the start of Glee. His crush on Blaine cannot be anymore obvious and he's too narrow-minded.

Figgins is such a creeper.

I was so happy to see Mike and Mercedes again, but they didn't really serve any purpose.

Songs were mostly unremarkable, but I liked Born To Hand Jive...it was a fun group number to watch.

[Glorfindel]

The episode wasn't as boring as I thought it would be, but I really missed Kurt and Rachel.
The performances (except Blaine's) were fun, and maybe if I wasn't so attached to the old characters and saw Glee for the first time now, I might have liked the episode.
Although the newbies certainly do not 'pop'. Marley is irritating me with her puppy blue eyes and fake pouting. I wasn't impressed by Ryder (Blake) and Kitty is so one-dimensional I can't even enjoy Becca's good singing. The only one of the newbies I really enjoy is Jake. He's got a great voice and good stage presence, and he can act.
Imo they chose the wrong people for Danny and Sandy.
The newbies make Glee as bland and shallow as High School Musical. If I think back of the first season of Glee, with that remarkable cast and the snarky/funny/smart dialogue, this teenagers' Glee 2.0 cannot begin to hold a candle to that.

Cory, Jane, Matt, Jayma and Dot Marie (and even Iqbal) carried the episode. Their acting, if not their storyline, was very good. If it weren’t for them it would have been a flat snorefest.
I liked Wemma, and particularly Will this episode. I miss the good old days when the adults were equally as important as the kids. Figgins is a creep, but I laughed because of the faces of Iqbal in that scene. Jane managed to keep Sue from being a charicature, but only just this episode. The writing for her is so bad.

Finn again had a serious case of foot in mouth, but Cory acted him sincere and that saved Finn, imo. But I can't believe RIB threw him under the bus again: that "retarted" comment was completely unnecessary for the narrative, because Sue would have had enough reasons to hate Finn without that insult added to it.
And it was against canon, because Finn told Burt in the famous 'Theatricality' scene that he would never call Becky a retard.


I was touched by the Finn+Unique scene, despites Alex's horrible acting. But I couldn't help but being very bitter that Finn was so supportive of Unique now, when he dropped the ball many times when it came to Kurt in the past, especially when it came to Kurt's position in ND (remember 'Duets'? when Finn said Kurt was poison if he sang with another boy?).
I guess Finn shows progress?
I didn’t like the ~hero edit Finn got a couple of times in this episode. Do RIB think that the more they have the characters say Finn is a hero on the show it might come true some day? Not working.
I mean, I love Finn and can forgive him for a lot, but even I get irritated by that.

Blaine’s solo was horrible. Not only the singing, but the derp faces, the football field scene (really, what’s up with that?), the scrapbook (and Kurt’s pictures alone were stealing more focus than Blaine’s acting in the entire song), the Blangst of it all. And the scene right after the singing was maybe the worst Darren has ever acted.
The Blaine solos seem almost completely severed from anything else going on in Glee: his songs always get the whistles and bells (I still can’t fathom why he was on the football field) and the grand stage finale. I can’t help but get the impression that all the smoke and mirrors are just there to hide his bad singing and acting.
In the mean time his ~manpain doesn’t ring true at all, the song choice was sooo wrong, and he looked like a whining gummy bear during the episode. Plus: constantly calling, texting, and sending Kurt gifts after they broke up is just….. creepy stalkerish.

Artie’s mancrush on Blaine is getting ridiculous, and even more ridiculous was everyone lamenting that there was [i]noone[/] in McKinley who could play the male lead in the school musical besides second-coming-of-Christ Blaine. Oh, and ~hero Finn of course, because there aren’t many guys/jocks like him in glee club (really Glee? How about Puck, Sam and Mike?), and only jocks can be male leads of course. Ugh.
Also side-eyeing Artie for not wanting Unique as Rizzo, and thinking a brunette could not play Sandy. That’s why God invented wigs and hair-dye, Artie.

It was good to see Mike and Mercedes again, but they had no purpose at all but cheer the others on and sing a song that didn’t allow them to shine.
And again Tina and Mike only get 1 or 2 lines for their storyline, if you can call it a storyline at all. They don’t even care about giving the reason that Tina gets shafted again some effort.
And did Samcedes ever exist, or did I imagine all their solos and duets full of pining for one another last year?


Overall: a boring episode because of the newbies and the bad writing, but interesting because of the ‘old’ characters and adults. And I was glad that this at least was an episode about music and glee club. I can’t say it was a bad episode perse, because of the actors I already named lifted it up to a higher level than simply “it sucked”, but it was definitely one of Glee’s worst episodes.
And God, did I miss Chris and Lea. Glee is nothing without them.

[tanita_mors]

Overall, this episode wasn't as horrible as I expected. I think having the Blaine crap over in the first ten minutes helped, and the fact that Cory, Matt, Jane, Jayma, and Dot Marie carried the storylines, with minimal support by the newbies. I thought Blake held his own tonight. He's definitely the best out of the guys from the Glee Project who have made it on the show.

Have to agree. Not nearly as horrible as I feared it was going to be. I kind of liked the Wemma storyline, because it really rang true for both of those characters and their scenes felt real. Their absence makes you forget just how great actors Mat, Jayma, Jane and DotMarie really are.

I think I'm probably the only person in the Glee world who doesn't hate Kitty. IDK, but I'm not bothered by her on my screen (though she looks far to old with that hair style). Jacob isn't much of an actor, but boy can the kid dance and sing - loved his and Kitty's audition - favorite number of the episode. Ryder - he is mediocre talent wise as far as I can see, but miles better then Damian, Samuel, Alex (I'm not feeling his acting, singing or his character this episode at all). The less said about downer Blaine the better. Thank God his part of the episode ended after the first 5-6 minutes.

As for Finn - he is a duchbag, but that is consistent and I loved the fact that during his "holier the thou" speech to Sue he says the "R" word, because that is SO Finn. They were singing his praises far to much though. Finn isn't special. He is you variate everyday, normal, slightly stupider then average guy. Stop encouraging him to have dreams he can't possibly reach because the failure is gonna hit him even harder. I think it's complete foreshadowing that Finn is going to become Will, aka a high school teacher of some sort. Also, was I the only one who thought that Will's line about how he made "the boy Finn into a man" sounded so sudo-sexually creepy.

[arina]

I am torn about Artie, I love Kevin, his personality, his singing (how can someone with his singing abilities sings on the show so little?) and dancing and I wish for him more on Glee considering he is also one of the original kids. But often when I see Artie on screen I just want to punch him...

I have to wait for the subtitles to make final opinion about this episode but I agree that I was expecting something worse.

[Ranwing]

Blaine didn't look depressed or devastated at all, bad acting I guess and surely didn't look like he is not sleeping or eating.

I've finally nailed down just what it is about Darren's acting that irks me so much - it's all external. He has completely failed to internalize the emotions that Blaine's supposed to be feeling. He's only able to convey what we're being told Blaine is feeling with exaggerated facial expressions, appropriate musical numbers and external cues and dialogue. But there was nothing in his carriage or demeanor that really displays the level of devestation that he's supposed to be feeling. It's been weeks since he saw or spoke with Kurt. His efforts to reach Kurt have been firmly rebuffed. He said that he's not eating or sleeping and can't focus, yet he carries himself as he usually does, without a single hair out of place. It just doesn't click and Blaine's angst comes across as contrived and insincere.

We can compare this performance with the ultimate gold standard of angsty performances on Glee - Chris in Grilled Cheezus - and it becomes even more laughable. Chris has mastered the art of completely internalizing Kurt's emotions, which allows him to express volumes with no dialogue or external cues at all. He wore that grief like a garment and it never completely went away, even when Kurt was being snappish or trying to put on a brave face. I just think to that one shot of him in the library when Finn was singing Losing My Religion. He was just sitting there, but you could see that he wasn't reading the book held open on his lap. His eyes were puffy and half-closed, and you could just feel how completely he was shut off from everything going on around him and was completely swallowed up by his sadness. All without a single word of diaglogue. I hurt for Kurt there, because his pain was so completely real.

Chris is one of the few performers on the show that can pull that off. Cory is another one. I may not always like Finn, but I never question what he's feeling. Jane is certainly one - that moment when Finn called her baby retarded? You could just see the rage building in her and I was expecting her to rip out Finn's spleen with her bare hands and feed it to him. But Darren's acting (much like Lea's at times) becomes mugging for the camera and I not only find it offputting, but it makes it absolutely impossible for me to buy the performance and to give a crap about Blaine's feelings. And this isn't a problem of the writing. It's strictly Darren's ability to convey what the scene is calling for. His performances are one-dimentional and lack even an iota of the depth that Chris is able to show.

I don't think Sam is the best advice giver if we take a look at his love life history. It's not that easy not get over Kurt Hummel Sam, he is one and only. Just because you forget about Mercedes so fast doesn't mean everybody is like you.

In all honestly, I don't think that Sam has really been through a bad, ugly break up or even been in love with any of his girlfriends. Quinn was the closest, as he had given her a promise ring and the relationship ended with Quinn cheating on him (which for me should make Sam more sympathetic to what Kurt is feeling, but whatever...) but I don't think he really loved her. Santana was there for convenience (on both their parts) and his relationship with Mercedes was never clearly defined. It just petered out and he didn't seem the least bit happy or upset to see her back at McKinley. So Sam telling Blaine to just get over Kurt? Yeah... right.

[tanita_mors]

You know, as hard and strange as it is to say this, Kurt and Rachel really didn't have a place in this episode. The flow would have been completely out of whack if they were in it. The main problem isn't that they weren't in it, but that the writers allowed themselves to be cornered like this in the first place. I wish were explicitly told that there were going to be episodes without NY in in the show. They hinted and tried to avoid it, when they could have had the balls to just say "Yes, some episodes won't have the NY side at all". Particularly after saying that Rachel will be in EVERY EPISODE this season. False advertising much ???

Not to mention that you can hardly convey a storyline that involves a couple if you completely disregard on of the sides in an episode, which happened here. Another problem is that what is left of the young cast in McK. is rather weak on the acting side. They mostly range from terrible to mediocre at best, with Cory and the adults carrying most of the weight.

[Jellyrolls]

Blaine didn't look depressed or devastated at all, bad acting I guess and surely didn't look like he is not sleeping or eating.

I've finally nailed down just what it is about Darren's acting that irks me so much - it's all external. He has completely failed to internalize the emotions that Blaine's supposed to be feeling. He's only able to convey what we're being told Blaine is feeling with exaggerated facial expressions, appropriate musical numbers and external cues and dialogue. But there was nothing in his carriage or demeanor that really displays the level of devestation that he's supposed to be feeling. It's been weeks since he saw or spoke with Kurt. His efforts to reach Kurt have been firmly rebuffed. He said that he's not eating or sleeping and can't focus, yet he carries himself as he usually does, without a single hair out of place. It just doesn't click and Blaine's angst comes across as contrived and insincere.

We can compare this performance with the ultimate gold standard of angsty performances on Glee - Chris in Grilled Cheezus - and it becomes even more laughable. Chris has mastered the art of completely internalizing Kurt's emotions, which allows him to express volumes with no dialogue or external cues at all. He wore that grief like a garment and it never completely went away, even when Kurt was being snappish or trying to put on a brave face. I just think to that one shot of him in the library when Finn was singing Losing My Religion. He was just sitting there, but you could see that he wasn't reading the book held open on his lap. His eyes were puffy and half-closed, and you could just feel how completely he was shut off from everything going on around him and was completely swallowed up by his sadness. All without a single word of diaglogue. I hurt for Kurt there, because his pain was so completely real.

Chris is one of the few performers on the show that can pull that off. Cory is another one. I may not always like Finn, but I never question what he's feeling. Jane is certainly one - that moment when Finn called her baby retarded? You could just see the rage building in her and I was expecting her to rip out Finn's spleen with her bare hands and feed it to him. But Darren's acting (much like Lea's at times) becomes mugging for the camera and I not only find it offputting, but it makes it absolutely impossible for me to buy the performance and to give a crap about Blaine's feelings. And this isn't a problem of the writing. It's strictly Darren's ability to convey what the scene is calling for. His performances are one-dimentional and lack even an iota of the depth that Chris is able to show.

You really pegged this well, Ranwing.

Honestly, I think being so tied at the hip to Chris has been detrimental to Darren's career. It's hard for people to not compare them when Chris has really been the only consistent acting partner for Darren in two seasons, and the difference between them is drastic. Darren just can not compete with Chris--though very few actors out there can compete with Chris.

I always say a good actor makes you believe the character, and a great actor makes you feel the character. There are a lot of good actors out there, but there aren't many who I consider to be truly great. Honestly, the only other actress I can think off off the top of my head who makes me feel the character the way Chris does is Anne Hathaway. Darren doesn't make Blaine believable, at least not for me, which is why I consider him a poor to sometimes mediocre actor.

Blaine would be a lot more likable if they used Darren properly based on his abilities, as they did the last few episodes of season three. Darren doesn't have the talent or ability to be a lead actor. He should get a couple of lines in most episodes, with no more than five solos over the course of the season, and an occassional meaty storyline. He should get the solos and storylines along the lines of what Sam or Artie get. Not the solos and storylines along the lines that Lea gets.

[Glorfindel]

I've finally nailed down just what it is about Darren's acting that irks me so much - it's all external. He has completely failed to internalize the emotions that Blaine's supposed to be feeling. He's only able to convey what we're being told Blaine is feeling with exaggerated facial expressions, appropriate musical numbers and external cues and dialogue. But there was nothing in his carriage or demeanor that really displays the level of devestation that he's supposed to be feeling. It's been weeks since he saw or spoke with Kurt. His efforts to reach Kurt have been firmly rebuffed. He said that he's not eating or sleeping and can't focus, yet he carries himself as he usually does, without a single hair out of place. It just doesn't click and Blaine's angst comes across as contrived and insincere.

That HDTY scene, especially the lines Blaine said to Artie and Finn, was undoubtedly the worst acting of Darren I've ever seen (and that is a high bar ).

We can compare this performance with the ultimate gold standard of angsty performances on Glee - Chris in Grilled Cheezus - and it becomes even more laughable. Chris has mastered the art of completely internalizing Kurt's emotions, which allows him to express volumes with no dialogue or external cues at all. He wore that grief like a garment and it never completely went away, even when Kurt was being snappish or trying to put on a brave face. I just think to that one shot of him in the library when Finn was singing Losing My Religion. He was just sitting there, but you could see that he wasn't reading the book held open on his lap. His eyes were puffy and half-closed, and you could just feel how completely he was shut off from everything going on around him and was completely swallowed up by his sadness. All without a single word of diaglogue. I hurt for Kurt there, because his pain was so completely real.

That was the most heartbreaking shot of Kurt ever.


And you are so right: Chris internalizes the feelings of his character, and as a result it pours out of his whole body without even doing something external.

Chris is one of the few performers on the show that can pull that off. Cory is another one. I may not always like Finn, but I never question what he's feeling. Jane is certainly one - that moment when Finn called her baby retarded? You could just see the rage building in her and I was expecting her to rip out Finn's spleen with her bare hands and feed it to him.

The way Sue looked just before she walked away from Finn: the anger and the hurt: that was masterful.
And if Cory wouldn't be such a good actor, Finn would have come insufferable a long time ago.

You know, as hard and strange as it is to say this, Kurt and Rachel really didn't have a place in this episode. The flow would have been completely out of whack if they were in it. The main problem isn't that they weren't in it, but that the writers allowed themselves to be cornered like this in the first place. I wish were explicitly told that there were going to be episodes without NY in in the show. They hinted and tried to avoid it, when they could have had the balls to just say "Yes, some episodes won't have the NY side at all". Particularly after saying that Rachel will be in EVERY EPISODE this season. False advertising much ???

Not to mention that you can hardly convey a storyline that involves a couple if you completely disregard on of the sides in an episode, which happened here. Another problem is that what is left of the young cast in McK. is rather weak on the acting side. They mostly range from terrible to mediocre at best, with Cory and the adults carrying most of the weight.

^This.
New York had no place in this episode, I agree, but we needed Kurt as a contra-weight to Blaine's POV in the Klaine storyline.
And the adults really saved this episode with their acting.

[Ranwing]

OMFG! The faces that he's making here! It's even worse in a GIF!

[ColferGirl]

The episode wasn't as boring as I thought it would be, but I really missed Kurt and Rachel.
Blaine’s solo was horrible. Not only the singing, but the derp faces, the football field scene (really, what’s up with that?), the scrapbook (and Kurt’s pictures alone were stealing more focus than Blaine’s acting in the entire song), the Blangst of it all. And the scene right after the singing was maybe the worst Darren has ever acted.
The Blaine solos seem almost completely severed from anything else going on in Glee: his songs always get the whistles and bells (I still can’t fathom why he was on the football field) and the grand stage finale. I can’t help but get the impression that all the smoke and mirrors are just there to hide his bad singing and acting.
In the mean time his ~manpain doesn’t ring true at all, the song choice was sooo wrong, and he looked like a whining gummy bear during the episode. Plus: constantly calling, texting, and sending Kurt gifts after they broke up is just….. creepy stalkerish.

And God, did I miss Chris and Lea. Glee is nothing without them.

I agree with all of this, but the bolded made me crack up, thanks for making my morning Marie.

Reviews from the critics for the episode are mixed, and it seems the ratings may have been even worse than the Makeover's according to ontd_glee, so this will be a series low. I hope RIB don't make it a habit to take Kurt and Rachel out of episodes, because this one proved to me that I'm definitely dropping Glee if they ever leave. I didn't enjoy the episode without them.

Spoiler:

.it must be better than the lame love square and Grease auditions and all the self-pity flying around in this one, at least. But I'd still rather have a Hummelberry episode over that, any day.

[tanita_mors]

Ratings. That is weak. Not unexpected, given that it's a return episode and it was against a return episode of Grey's Anatomy, but to be 4th behind The Office, it's weak. Also, their lead in X Factor, did even worse (2.3 rating).

ABC Grey's Anatomy 3.2 8 9.201
CBS Person Of Interest 2.9 7 14.73
NBC The Office 2.5 7 5.308
FOX Glee 2.4 6 5.732
CW Beauty And The Beast 0.7 2 1.852

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