Re: 4x18 "Shooting Star" Watch & Discussion thread

[Lottie2303]

I watched the episode and voted for ‚okay‘. The shooting itself was done in a rather well executed way. The silence in the choir room, while this musical thingy was ticking throughout the entire period was very unnerving. Also Britanny at the toilet was surprisingly enough the most disturbing moment and really touched me. Becca and Melissa did a good job as they truly seemed to be unnerved.

However, there were most defiantly weak moments. First off, the entire internet flirting storyline was totally misplaced and actually bordered on suicidal tendencies. Ryder called DURING the shooting (aka the time they suspected a madmen is walking through the halls) his internet crush to get to know her. He didn’t only endanger his life, but the life of anyone else involved. I’d never talk to him again. Still don’t know who it is as I had to get to work and didn’t have time for the last 5 minutes. I also don’t care.

All prejudices aside, Darren did not do a good job. A) He was almost non-existing; and b) those moments were not particularly strong. Also Jenna didn’t convince me. Her standing outside the school felt rather flat and not heartbreaking. I wish they’d incorporated the view of parents more, as that perspective was solely missing. I also was disappointed that Artie didn’t get a ‘goodbye’ moment, as it was his camera after all. I am curious about the future of Sue.

Overall: some nice touches and the truly sensitive topic was handled good for my liking. However the inner relationships and actions within the episode didn’t make sense and proved once again that Glee is nothing just with the Newbies.

Congrats that the Twitter campaign was mentioned by legit internet sources! Overall that was a good article and I am happy that media finally starts to call out FOX, RIB and the very obvious demand of the GA. I cannot wait when Blaine is outside of MK and suddenly all his fans discover that NYC (or wherever he ends up) is the best place and MK can be scrapped.

[Jellyrolls]

Another thing I'll say about Glee is that there didn't seem to be very much trending going on last night. Usually when I'm tweeting during Glee, I'll see things trend for a long time but last night, thngs were only trending for few minutes (with the exception of #Glee). The only other glee related trends I noticed were Ryder, Brittany, Bieste, Sue, and Becky.

I really hope the ratings are as low as we are hoping.

[tanita_mors]

that is the thing. i know that the show can create the atmosphere that is unnerving (i have watched american horror story - and in season 1 you have an actual school masacre that is just chilling in no small thanks to the episode director and Evan Peters, the actor involved), but the point is, can it deliver of the emotion, development and constancy for the characters. and to be honest, glee really shouldn't take these flying leaps into total drama or terror. because it gets cheapened by some of their other offensive episodes and storylines. it's a show what wants to be taken seriously one day and as a joke another. and that can never, ever work.

[Jellyrolls]

Spoiler TV has a poll asking what people thought of shooting star. Right now, 56% say it was awful.

http://www.spoilertv.com/2013/04/poll-what-did-you-think-of-glee.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[sheny]

i still haven't had the chance to watch the episode yet, but was my boy lord tubbington as masterful in his performance as i expected him to be.

Lord Tubbington was the best thing in the episode. I lauged so much when Brittany totally ignored Sam and only cared how to show her cat how much she loves him before the world ends.

All prejudices aside, Darren did not do a good job. A) He was almost non-existing; and b) those moments were not particularly strong. Also Jenna didn’t convince me. Her standing outside the school felt rather flat and not heartbreaking. I wish they’d incorporated the view of parents more, as that perspective was solely missing. I also was disappointed that Artie didn’t get a ‘goodbye’ moment, as it was his camera after all.

Artie has a ''goodbye'' moment but it is in those last 5 minutes you haven't watched yet.

[tanita_mors]

[Glorfindel]

I'll try to recap for those who haven't watched the episode:

- Brittany tells everyone there's a meteor heading for Lima, but it turns out to be a dead lady bug at the end of her telescope, which is a Pringles can. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
But instead of someone calling a mental institution to admit Brittany, a lot of people believe her (including Will and Beiste!), because Brittany is the president of the astronomy club (which she gets to disband after she finds out she was wrong, and hardly any other member protests).

- Meanwhile Sam is jealous of Lord Tubbington, and we find out that Lord Tubbington is not fond of Sam either as he sends him hate mails(!). Sam helps Brittany declare her love for LT by getting all ND to sing for him, and Sam "starts a family" with Brittany by getting LT a lady friend: Lady Tubbington (duh).
Notice: Sam keeps this lady cat locked up in a zipped bag in his locker all day!

- Beiste declares her love with Will (poor Dot: they are destroying her character), and the reaction of Will is to put her private information and pictures online on a dating site. And she thanks him for it!!!

- Ryder spots the girl he thinks he was chatting with and sings for her, but it turns out someone used her pictures and she isn't Katie (his facebook gf). And stupid Ryder ignores that girl, who is a gorgeous sympathetic blonde who is into his abs and singing and asks him to call her, completely when he finds out she is not the one screwing with his mind on facebook.
Instead idiotic Ryder calls Katie when they are all locked up in the choir room, endangering the lives of everyone present. And guess what: one of the phones in the piled back packs goes off, so he knows it is someone from ND. But when he makes a date (by text) to meet this person noone shows up, so he goes to ND practice instead (episode end song). I mean, wtf? He already knows it is one of ND. Can this storyline die, please?

- Most ND kids get trapped in the choir room when the school goes in lock down. Those scenes are intense, and although not everyone's acting was stellar, it caught you by the throat. Crying messages to parents, kids freaking out: emotional manipulative shit, but oy.
What irritated me personally was everyone hiding and staying quiet, but then people started texting while yo could hear their phones ticking (when they hit the buttons): noone silenced their phones! Plus they kept shifting positions, to sit with other people and whispering real loud confessions to one another. And the worst was a fallen down metronome that kept ticking. It was meant to enhance the drama, but to me it felt like a cheap trick, and if everyone was scrambling around the room constantly anyway why did noone stop that damned metronome from ticking!!!

- Brittany gets trapped in a bathroom (and Heather acted that very well, imo), and Sam wants to go find her (also a good scene from Chord, imo), but Beiste and Will prevent him from going. Will goes instead (stupid, stupid, stupid), finds Brittany and several other kids and brings them to the choir room.
After the "All clear" everyone share a group hug, Will tells them he loves them, and those strnge kids look unintentionally awkward trying to get into the hug from the outside.

- Tina is outside crying, but Jenna really messed up that scene. A day later she and Blaine share a hug, and this only scene of Darren is cringeworthy to watch. Also: they hold hands several times and if you wouldn't know better you'd think they were dating.
BTW: Blaine tells Tina he was up all night hugging his parents, so bye bye to all the "Blaine has abusive parents" headcanon crap.

- The shooter turns out to be Becky, who brings a gun to school to protect herself, and when she shows it to Sue it goes off, twice. Sue covers up for her and tells Figgins it was her gun and she accidentally fired it. Sue gets fired.
Which is stupid too, because if Becky really had access to a gun and thought bringing it to school (loaded!) was a good idea it should have been reported to the school and her parents, if only for her own sake. Sue feels responsible for Becky, but there are hundreds of other kids at McKinley and they need protection too. Any teacher, including Sue, would feel responsible for them too and do the right thing. And what did she do with the gun? Wouldn’t Becky’s dad miss it at some point and put 2 and 2 together? Ugh, why even rack my brain over this.

- The episode ended with the obligatory group number, which was actually nice, when all the kids came together and hugged, but it was ruined by showing some more of those phone messages to their parents. Manipulative shit.

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

All in all the episode was a mess, imo. Some of it was good, and the cast and crew did a good job, but the tonal shifts were awkward, and of course this whole plot should not have happened in the first place.
I wrote this on TWoP:

I felt manipulated. I felt manipulated into liking these kids because they got scared to death and feeling emotions noone should have to feel in their entire lives and certainly not at their age. I mean: they left crying messages for their parents! That’s some twisted, shitty way to try to make your viewers finally care for these new 2.0 kids, when it was the writers’ own constant failure at writing a decent show that caused these kids to be nothing but boring cardboard characters that still managed to annoy the crap out of me the 17 episodes before.
And you know what? This emotional manipulation might actually have worked on me if the rest of the episode hadn’t been such mindless crap (as per usual lately), with Brittany mistaking a ladybug on a Pringles can for a meteor and Lord Tubbington writing emails to Sam, if there hadn't been a lot of clunky dialogue and a glaring tonal shift between the scenes, if they hadn't minimized the actual shooting incident and its consequences, and if I wouldn’t suspect that next episode all of this will be forgotten and ND is on their seemingly neverending merry way to Regionals again, singing and goofing around like nothing happened.

And if I think of all the (young) viewers who watched this episode unspoiled and unaware (as Glee only gave them promos of Rachel and Kurt in NY and Finn and Puck partying! WTF?), just expecting to enjoy a nice, funny hour of song and dance of Glee but then being surprised by a laden and possible triggering plot twist as a school shooting…..
Not cool Glee, not cool at all. Disgusting, actually.

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

i still haven't had the chance to watch the episode yet, but was my boy lord tubbington as masterful in his performance as i expected him to be.

Lord Tubbington's cat actor deserves an Emmy, imo, but I am so tired of that ridiculous LT shit. It was fun when Brittany thought he was reading her journal, but they have him sending emails now and phoning the police (no kidding!).

Another thing I'll say about Glee is that there didn't seem to be very much trending going on last night. Usually when I'm tweeting during Glee, I'll see things trend for a long time but last night, thngs were only trending for few minutes (with the exception of #Glee). The only other glee related trends I noticed were Ryder, Brittany, Bieste, Sue, and Becky.

#cancelGlee was trending worldwide.

[Glorfindel]

Victims advocacy groups have warned people in Newtown about this episode. And there was this article:

A school schooting at McKinley High in ‘Glee’ comes too soon for Newtown parents
Thursday night episode shows students hiding in the chorus room when shots ring out. The Newtown Action Alliance urged to watch with caution.

Critics say Glee's episode "Shooting Stars" is too reminiscent of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn. In this scene, teacher Will Schuester (Matt Morrision) leads a group of students to safety after they hear gunfire.

The new episode of the Fox TV show “Glee” that aired Thursday night depicted a school shooting — and some families in Newtown thought it was “too soon.”
No characters were harmed in the incident at the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio.
But the “Shooting Stars” episode featured a harrowing scene in which gunshots rang out, running footsteps and screams were heard and tearful students desperately scrambled for cover.
In the show, some of the “Glee” stars hide in a dark, locked choir room and one cowers in a bathroom stall, weeping, while ominous music plays in the background.

The episode was obviously meant to impart a heartfelt lesson: before, during and after what turned out to be an accidental shooting, the characters discussed how important it is to communicate with your loved ones when you and they are still around.

Newtown Action Alliance says the episode's airing comes "too soon as our kids and our wounds are still too new" following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

“The members of New Directions are prepping for Regionals, but when an unthinkable event occurs at McKinley High, perspectives are put into order,” the network promo read.

But the images of students crying, hugging and watching breathlessly as someone attempts to enter the locked choir room from outside were always likely to reopen fresh wounds in the bucolic Connecticut town where Adam Lanza committed his massacre four months ago.

“Start texting, tweeting,” glee club teacher Will Schuester tells his mortified students after they hear two gun shots fired elsewhere in the school. “Let everyone know what’s going on. But don’t tell them we’re here. Shooters have smart phones too.”

The Newtown Action Alliance caught wind of the episode before it aired Thursday and a member of the group posted a warning on Facebook.
“I would suggest if you do watch this TV show to either not watch it tonight or watch with caution,” said the post to the official Alliance Facebook page.

The episode had been in production for about six months, since before the Newtown shooting, a Fox source said.

The network declined to comment on the record Thursday.

Andrew Paley, the father of twin sons who were at Sandy Hook Elementary School for the shooting and who survived, commented on a later Newtown Action Alliance Facebook post with his own words of warning.
“Those of us with kids that survived the shooting do not need to watch this episode,” he wrote.
“It’s too soon as our kids and our wounds are still too new. I understand keeping it in the minds of the Nation but dammit, at least let the people of Newtown know before hand. I found out because an old friend who blogs about the show have (sic) me a heads up.”

But Anthony Lusardi, the boyfriend of substitute teacher Lauren Rousseau, who was killed in the Newtown shooting, expressed a different view.
“As long as it keeps the subject in the public’s mind I’m all for it,” Lusardi wrote on Facebook.
“My Lauren was a huge fan of the show. So I’m sure she would have approved.”

Later on in Thursday night’s episode, it turns out that the shots were fired by accident by a student who brought her father’s pistol to school because she felt afraid of life after graduation.
And the episode delves into the gun control debate with a thoughtful conversation between the principal and a teacher who takes the fall for the shooting.
“The safety net of the public mental health system is gone,” teacher Sue Sylvester claims.
“Parents with troubled kids are too busy working three jobs to look after them, and the gun yahoos have everyone so worked up about Obama taking away their guns that every house has a readily available arsenal,” she adds.

But no matter what its intentions, the scary plotline touched off a torrent of tweets by shocked and distraught Glee fans.
“A SCHOOL SHOOTING IN GLEE I’M SCREAMING AND CRYING,” one Twitter user typed.
“Glee had me terrified tonight!” another tweeted.
With all of the gun shooting stuff going on, I think I'm scared to go to school!”

Last week, “Glee” co-creator Ryan Murphy tweeted proudly about the episode.
“It is the most powerful emotional Glee ever,” Murphy typed. So proud of the cast & crew.”

nydailynews.com

No way did they plan this 6 months ago. What a f*cking lame excuse.

And if they had planned it ahead so long before, they should have had the decency to not air it now, or.....I don't know, maybe GIVE SOME PROPER WARNING BEFOREHAND SO PEOPLE HAD THE CHOICE TO AVOID IT!!!!!!

Bastards.

[Glorfindel]

ABC News reported about the episode:

[Jellyrolls]

And poor Cory was used in the clip.

[tanita_mors]

i stared watching this thing. i'm gonna type as i watch.

the start with the asteroid/meteor/meteorite/comet is dumb dumb dumb. lord tubby is a star but everything out of brittany's mouth so far has been just plain rubbish.

ryder - poor guy, but he really step into it himself. i mean he didn't even ask her "so you are katie". all would be avoided. i liked blake in the confrontation scene with jarley - not bad and very emotive, angry yet vulnerable and hurt. the guy has some natural talent.

big mistake, to transition from such a serious scene to blam singing to lord tubbington. wtf ??? honestly, sam singing to her and she is singing to her cat.
also, nd is taking all that so effing seriously, i mean mood setting and the works. everything is so over the top.
ok, bit redeemed with everyone's look when she went to lord tubby.
brittany, all time high on stupidity with this plotline.

so many "we are going to die" wink wink jokes that it's making me want to puke. also, why are all the adults taking this end of the world thing so seriously and to heart.
beiste - STOP !!! also, i'm not sure will is single. aren't him and emma rediscovering their relationship and romance. she is totally blind if she tinks he wants anyone else but emma. the man was going o marry her 4 episodes ago.
i wish they just stopped with theses plotlines for beiste. she doesn't have to be all emotional compromised every episode she is on.
and i like how will treated. he was an adult, she on the other hand showed the emotional maturity of a teenage girl.

again, going from ryder semi-serious plotline, to the ridiculousness of brittany. the tonal shifts are just all over the place.
i'm cringing for heather that she had to say those lines about the bug and her "telescope".
the bright spot in this scene "STONER BRETT IS IN DA HOUSE"
so much foreshadowing with becky, it ain't funny . the pinky promise moment was a nice and warm touch though.

again, will is giving his best to move pass the awkwardness between them. i don't think i liked will so much in the past 3 years at least, and it's been like 17 minutes in.
the gun shots weren't as lowed as i thought and i like it came out of nowhere. that musical tact machine constantly ticking - nice effect and reminder of time ticking away. the footsteps - sound like a woman and the 3rd gunshot is obviously a door slamming. the atmosphere is good - jercky camera movements, not sticking to long on one face. from a directing stand point, this is a really good job.

the tonal change is really glaring. it's like watching two completely different shows.

heather - finally some actual emoting from her. i don't think i have seen her show more emotion on the show then she does in that 20 or so second bathroom stall with zero dialog (and that includes the looker scene from 2x15 with santana)

the kids are doing a good job so far. i doubt anything will make me care for them, but the actors took this situation for what it was and are work for it. sam - bit over done, but how would i know how someone reacts in a situation like that. becca was excellent - i still think she is a good actress, just has an unfortunate character to play. the scenes are good, but boy are they tailor made to be manipulative. it almost makes me angry that i like the way that they approached the whole thing. as i said the direction of this particular part of the episode is stellar to me. cudos to the director.

darren, blake and kevin are kind of stone faced during this entire segment. that sort of doesn't gel with the rest for me. but again, matt morrison is the star of this episode so far.

jenna - love you girl, but just NO. bad, bad acting. darren criss looks close to 30 in that camera phone shot. shave your face dude if you are playing a 16-17 yo. the goodbye's : blake, jacob, unique and artie - i ain't what you are selling, mellisa, becc - nice and actually felt genuine. sam turning the phone off - reaction was spot on and was his message. heather/bathroom - some of the best acting she has done on this show. i have been hard on her in the past and rightfully so, but she has delivered and credit from me when credit is due.

enough with the stupid katie plot. it was obvious from a mile away that it's someone in the glee club.

wow, never though i'd se an effing swat team on glee. will the wonders never cease.

talk about a total emotional manipulation. lasts 10 minutes of the episode but it will be the only thing anyone will talk about.

who the hell is that nobody guy that is hugging with nd. that is totaly random.

i'm not feeling sue in that lounge room scene with will and beiste at all. talk about heartlessness. i'd expect more from sue, because she has proven again and again that she really does care about the students. but the, her face during wills tangent about finding the gun, you know that she knows not only that it was a gun, but who has it and who fired it. man, jane is a master compered to the low life forms that are in this episode. she is great in the figgins office, but the whole speech gives of such fake vibes, like there is nothing behind it but just a speech. guess given that it's all a lie, that makes sense. jane = acting godess. she is truly too effing good for this shit show.

blaine and tina - WOODEN as hell !!!! also, i we sure they aren't you know, dating, with all those shots of them holding hands.

beiste and will - best as friends. never again try to pair them up. OMG, coach Tanaka !!!!!!! long time no see. that is just perfect.

man, blam starts of actually affectionate and normal and i think there is another nice brittany moment, and then they bring lord tubbington in again. i love him, you all know that, but that whole plotline has been STUPID CENTRAL the whole episode. that said, lady tubbington hissing at sam - highlight of the night !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sue and beccy continue to be excellent, but bringing a gun to school and what was she getting ready for. life ???
either way, sue in the absence of my boy kurt, is trully a great person. she just didn't want this act of thoughtlessness to completely ruin becky's life. that is what great teachers should do.

again, all these shifts between the shooting/ryders catfishing/lord tubbington fell so unnatural and take you out of the moment. who ever decided to place all these storylines in one episode and edit it like this needs to have his head examined. and honestly, to end the episode with a song was a mistake to me. it felt sort of impersonal and kind of offensive.

this episode is a huge mess. and i mean huge. when it's great it's great, but when it's awful is is beyond any hope or slavbation. there is weakness in the script, the editing and overall pacing. the topic is contraversial and i still feel that a show of glee's caliber should be involved in these kind of storylines because all they other mockery cheapens all that is good. the acting was more or less solid all around (there very high and low moments for all the kid actors), with clear exemptions of jane lynch and matt morrison who very on in every single of their scenes.

on an end note, i may start to write my thought and opinions of future episodes as i watch them, because this is the biggest review i have written and i don't particulary like this episode. it isn't the most awful, but it sure as hell ain't even close to (preggers, wheels, sectonals, laryngitis, grilled chesses, DUETS, never been kissed, original song, silliy love songs, born this way, prom queen, i am unicorn, the first time, ..... you get the point)

[ColferInspired]

ABC News reported about the episode:

And the shitstorm begins.

Nice one Ryan using something like this to make people care about your newbies and the McKinley side, you egotisical prick.

[AnneNeville]

I haven't watched the episode yet but from what I saw on Tumblr Blaine has only one scene with Tina in the episode. He doesn't talk much. Even the spoiler about Blaine leaving a message to his parents was fake. He only mentions his parent during the Blina scene. Now I feel angry at myself for getting so frustrated about the lack of message for Kurt.
I don't understand why that woman gives false spoilers. From what I've read she has done it before too. I won't believe anything that comes from her from now on.

Since the person doing the spoiling saw the episode a bit early, it is possible that a phone call was edited out before the show aired, I suppose. It was remarkable how little Blaine had to do. Reminded me of one of the other spoilers--about some of the actors, and one in particular, being shockingly awful. There might have been some editing jujitsu to cover that up.

[ColferInspired]

I haven't watched the episode yet but from what I saw on Tumblr Blaine has only one scene with Tina in the episode. He doesn't talk much. Even the spoiler about Blaine leaving a message to his parents was fake. He only mentions his parent during the Blina scene. Now I feel angry at myself for getting so frustrated about the lack of message for Kurt.
I don't understand why that woman gives false spoilers. From what I've read she has done it before too. I won't believe anything that comes from her from now on.

Since the person doing the spoiling saw the episode a bit early, it is possible that a phone call was edited out before the show aired, I suppose. It was remarkable how little Blaine had to do. Reminded me of one of the other spoilers--about some of the actors, and one in particular, being shockingly awful. There might have been some editing jujitsu to cover that up.

A lot fans that aren't Blarren stans have suspected that, and also suspect during the filming of the messages by Artie that Blaine's was cut. Maybe the reviewers saw the one that had nothing of Blaine edited out but an edited version was shown instead. Maybe the one reviewer wasn't the only one that thought Darren's acting was bad, more did, but didn't have the guts to actually mention it, like this one that made the comment but didn't name names.

And by the way welcome to our family here.

Wow, this is week of new people. This is wonderful.

If there are others reading this forum please join or please post. It is lovely to meet new people and read others thoughts on here.

[tanita_mors]

one more thing.

NEVER BEFORE HAVE I BEEN SO GRATEFUL FOR CHRIS'S LACK IN AN EPISODE OF GLEE THEN HERE. I'M GLAD HE, LEA, NAYA AND CORY WEREN'T A PART OF OFFENSIVE FIASCO.

[Ireth]

I haven't watched the episode yet but from what I saw on Tumblr Blaine has only one scene with Tina in the episode. He doesn't talk much. Even the spoiler about Blaine leaving a message to his parents was fake. He only mentions his parent during the Blina scene. Now I feel angry at myself for getting so frustrated about the lack of message for Kurt.
I don't understand why that woman gives false spoilers. From what I've read she has done it before too. I won't believe anything that comes from her from now on.

Since the person doing the spoiling saw the episode a bit early, it is possible that a phone call was edited out before the show aired, I suppose. It was remarkable how little Blaine had to do. Reminded me of one of the other spoilers--about some of the actors, and one in particular, being shockingly awful. There might have been some editing jujitsu to cover that up.

The editing could be true, as there was no message from Blaine to his parents, but I suspect the one who stood out as a bad actor was Jenna, for her scene with Figgins. And the two surprisingly good actors must be Chord and Heather-Sam trying to get to Brittany, and Brittany in the bathroom was well done. Lauren, Becca and Blake acted well too, and all the adults were really good. But what have they done to Beiste? When she set up the locker room for their "date", I just knew they would make her confess to Will and I hated it. But like you Ivana, I was happy to "see" Coach Tanaka again. Jane Lynch was really remarkable, her storyline brought tears to my eyes (because I'm a sap).

The meteor thing was so stupid, and why did anyone believe Brittany? Will and Beiste of all people! The thing with the cats was kind of stupid too, but the cats were awesome. Seriously angry at Sam for locking Lady Tubbington up while she was zipped up in a bag. That was not funny at all. And I guess Sam asking his parents to get Lady Tubbington and feed her shows that his parents are back in Lima?

[Jellyrolls]

I haven't watched the episode yet but from what I saw on Tumblr Blaine has only one scene with Tina in the episode. He doesn't talk much. Even the spoiler about Blaine leaving a message to his parents was fake. He only mentions his parent during the Blina scene. Now I feel angry at myself for getting so frustrated about the lack of message for Kurt.
I don't understand why that woman gives false spoilers. From what I've read she has done it before too. I won't believe anything that comes from her from now on.

Since the person doing the spoiling saw the episode a bit early, it is possible that a phone call was edited out before the show aired, I suppose. It was remarkable how little Blaine had to do. Reminded me of one of the other spoilers--about some of the actors, and one in particular, being shockingly awful. There might have been some editing jujitsu to cover that up.

Welcome to the board, Anne!

I didn't watch the episode, but I had been wondering if the person saw an early version, and that the Blaine scene got cut.

Considering that RIB seems to have Darren on a super high pedestal, it does seem odd that they had him so little in the episode, but I do have to wonder if that is because they realize that he can't deliver the goods with the emotional impact that we see from more natural actors on the show like Chris, Naya, Matt, Cory, and Jane (and even Blake--who I actually really like after seeing him on the Glee Project, but thinks he's gotten crap storylines).

[AnneNeville]

And by the way welcome to our family here.

Wow, this is week of new people. This is wonderful.

If there are others reading this forum please join or please post. It is lovely to meet new people and read others thoughts on here.

Thank you for the welcome! I've been lurking for a while, and I might not be a very vocal contributor, but I have to say that last night's episode (what I caught of it) really provoked me (I live-streamed it, as I don't have cable/tv). I had to post something somewhere.

A lot fans that aren't Blarren stans have suspected that, and also suspect during the filming of the messages by Artie that Blaine's was cut. Maybe the reviewers saw the one that had nothing of Blaine edited out but an edited version was shown instead. Maybe the one reviewer wasn't the only one that thought Darren's acting was bad, more did, but didn't have the guts to actually mention it, like this one that made the comment but didn't name names.

Ah... As I said, I watched on a live stream, and it got interrupted several times. Hubby also came home in the last 15 minutes, so I missed a huge chunk. Did they actually show any part of a Blaine recording? I did see the clips at the very end (Sam, Artie), but none from Blaine. In the close-up shots when Blaine, Artie, Marley, Sam, and Kitty were nearby made Darren's wooden expression stand out so much. It's like there was nothing going on in there. Like a mechanical doll that had come unwound (and I don't mean that as an acting choice).

[AnneNeville]

But like you Ivana, I was happy to "see" Coach Tanaka again. Jane Lynch was really remarkable, her storyline brought tears to my eyes (because I'm a sap).

I'm not sure I'm glad to see Ken suggested as a partner for Bieste. She started out as an awesome character and as I recall Ken was pitiful and mean. Didn't he spit on Emma's car out of spite?

[brisallie]

If anyone is curious Becky was the one who fired the gun. She stole her father's gun so she can protect herself. Sue found out and asked for the gun. Becky accidentally pulled the trigger when she was giving it to Sue. Then she dropped it and there was a second shot.
Sue covered for Becky and now she is leaving McKinley.
The whole shooting scene was 6-7 minutes long. Jane did a great job. I liked Becca Tobin. Kitty confessed to Marley all the things she did. Fixing her clothes and all. The rest was bleh. Definitely not Emmy worthy, maybe just Jane's performance.

Perfect summary. And it wasn't Sue's gun?

And for me the scene was well done, I could felt the worry in the room but the thing is how they put in the same episode a shooting and a cat storyline together? It was their way to say "hey we're still a comedy". Because I've read some comments that it says last episode was overdramatic, and Glee is supposed to be a comedy or at least a dramedy, so it took them by surprise. Also, those people who're saying last episode was good are referring only to those 6-10 minutes, and are not seeing the whole episode. And there's a comment that expressed well this " you can't say a episode was good, only based on 10 minutes".

On a side note : Heather and Chord surprised me with his acting.

P.S And for those blarrens who're complaining his scene was cut at the end, when Artie decided to record this diary video, one of the first to speak is Blaine. So I'd say that was his scene.

[AnneNeville]

On a totally different note, the girl (Marissa?) whose picture was stolen to catfish Ryder was extremely sweet and totally interested in him. And sympathetic, not creeped out, etc, when he mistakenly sang to her. I thought that was a nice touch--that she was kind. And of course, rather than give the girl who actually responds well to him a chance, he's going to moon over "Katie" instead.

Bad choice, Ryder. Maybe Marissa has something to offer!

I like Blake Jenner. I think he's a good actor--they really need to give him better material.

[tanita_mors]

the two parts of this episode just don't belong together. the basic problem for me isn't the school shooting. it's gonna sound insensitive, but you guys in usa have one every 6 months or so. when would be the right time for an episode with this content or to quote the chick who writes the after elton recaps :

"And it's always going to be too soon after a school shooting if we don't do something to stop school shootings. Sandy Hook wasn't the first. And it won't be the last. If you wait three months to tell this story, or six months, or a year, who's to say how many more school shootings will happen between now and then? "

the problem was that that part of the episode with i truly did find completing from a cinematic and acting point of view, just didn't gel with the rest of the episode. the shift was glaring. compere it with the comedic aspect of grilled cheeses. while it to was offensive and nonsensical at times, it worked, at least for me. the complete failure of this episode is the fact that the people involved were unable to connect the two opposing sides and create a cohesive product.

[ColferInspired]

the two parts of this episode just don't belong together. the basic problem for me isn't the school shooting. it's gonna sound insensitive, but you guys in usa have one every 6 months or so. when would be the right time for an episode with this content or to quote the chick who writes the after elton recaps :

"And it's always going to be too soon after a school shooting if we don't do something to stop school shootings. Sandy Hook wasn't the first. And it won't be the last. If you wait three months to tell this story, or six months, or a year, who's to say how many more school shootings will happen between now and then? "

the problem was that that part of the episode with i truly did find completing from a cinematic and acting point of view, just didn't gel with the rest of the episode. the shift was glaring. compere it with the comedic aspect of grilled cheeses. while it to was offensive and nonsensical at times, it worked, at least for me. the complete failure of this episode is the fact that the people involved were unable to connect the two opposing sides and create a cohesive product.

The thing is these were young kids, little kids, not teenagers at a high school or college kids. Those are horrific and tragic, but what happened at Sandy Hook is a different thing all together. This is the difference, that these were young children which made it wrong for them to do a school shooting episode. Not even in six months should they have done this episode.

What that moron from AE said was insensitive and wrong.

I live in Australia and what happened at Sandy Hook it still effects me.

I cried constantly when a news item about this terrible tragedy came up on our news here.

But I understand what you are saying and respect all opinions.

Sandy Hook is why Obama and his government are trying to create gun laws.

RIB just used it for their on selfish reasons.

[sheny]

I haven't watched the episode yet but from what I saw on Tumblr Blaine has only one scene with Tina in the episode. He doesn't talk much. Even the spoiler about Blaine leaving a message to his parents was fake. He only mentions his parent during the Blina scene. Now I feel angry at myself for getting so frustrated about the lack of message for Kurt.
I don't understand why that woman gives false spoilers. From what I've read she has done it before too. I won't believe anything that comes from her from now on.

Since the person doing the spoiling saw the episode a bit early, it is possible that a phone call was edited out before the show aired, I suppose. It was remarkable how little Blaine had to do. Reminded me of one of the other spoilers--about some of the actors, and one in particular, being shockingly awful. There might have been some editing jujitsu to cover that up.

A lot fans that aren't Blarren stans have suspected that, and also suspect during the filming of the messages by Artie that Blaine's was cut. Maybe the reviewers saw the one that had nothing of Blaine edited out but an edited version was shown instead. Maybe the one reviewer wasn't the only one that thought Darren's acting was bad, more did, but didn't have the guts to actually mention it, like this one that made the comment but didn't name names.

Someone asked GOBr about Blaine's messages and they said it was not cut because such message was never filmed. From what I've read the person who spoiled it is famous with giving false information. Like Kurt and Blaine not going to bed together in TBU. We all saw they did.

I don't understand isn't she watching the same thing as all the other reporters or is she too busy doing something else to pay attention to what's really going on on the the screen.

[ColferInspired]

I haven't watched the episode yet but from what I saw on Tumblr Blaine has only one scene with Tina in the episode. He doesn't talk much. Even the spoiler about Blaine leaving a message to his parents was fake. He only mentions his parent during the Blina scene. Now I feel angry at myself for getting so frustrated about the lack of message for Kurt.
I don't understand why that woman gives false spoilers. From what I've read she has done it before too. I won't believe anything that comes from her from now on.

Since the person doing the spoiling saw the episode a bit early, it is possible that a phone call was edited out before the show aired, I suppose. It was remarkable how little Blaine had to do. Reminded me of one of the other spoilers--about some of the actors, and one in particular, being shockingly awful. There might have been some editing jujitsu to cover that up.

A lot fans that aren't Blarren stans have suspected that, and also suspect during the filming of the messages by Artie that Blaine's was cut. Maybe the reviewers saw the one that had nothing of Blaine edited out but an edited version was shown instead. Maybe the one reviewer wasn't the only one that thought Darren's acting was bad, more did, but didn't have the guts to actually mention it, like this one that made the comment but didn't name names.

Someone asked GOBr about Blaine's messages and they said it was not cut because such message was never filmed. From what I've read the person who spoiled it is famous with giving false information. Like Kurt and Blaine not going to bed together in TBU. We all saw they did.

I don't understand isn't she watching the same thing as all the other reporters or is she too busy doing something else to pay attention to what's really going on on the the screen.

Couldn't say I blamed her if she did.

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