Re: 5x03 "The Quarterback" Watch & Discussion thread

[M&M]

Finally just finished watching this episode. I had watched up through the Hummel scene and just could not go on. I sat and finished it today. I do think that some of the acting and dialogue was problematic, but I can overlook them because overall I thought it was a beautiful tribute. Several parts made me teary, but the part I thought would get me was Rachel's and believe me, I was very teary, but didn't cry. I was kind of surprised by that until the following scene. Re-planting the tree. I was going along fine and then Puck drives off into the sunset and they showed the carved "Quarterback" on the tree and I lost it. Loud, snotty, wailing lost it. I don't know why that in particular. I think maybe because it seemed so final at that point. Puck asking if anyone will know what that tree stands for in 50 years... It is so very sad. I will say this, in real life the school I went to had memorial trees for graduates who died in wars. I knew what those were 30+ years after they were planted so I have no doubt people will remember Finn/Cory.

[Buenos]

It's nice to see even some of the ass licking fringes of fandom liked this episode for the most part.

Warms my heart to see it got such high demos and large live audience.

One thing I do find sad is that it's obvious that Finn's fate for S5 was to be Will 2.0 and prop up the Noobs and Blame all season long in Lima, swaying in the background for them and helping them with their dreams, all as 19 year old man.  I loved Cory's voice, it was so rough and genuine  and even that was getting sidelined.

It's funny how some "loved" Finn in S4, neutered to the point he was background for the ND.  I'm glad at the least he was spared that indignity for S5 (and no, of course it doesn't make what happened in real life any less horrible)

[Glorfindel]

The highest iTunes ranking:

Top 1500
8. Make You Feel My Love
21. Seasons Of Love
35. If I Die Young
56. I'll Stand By You
73. Fire And Rain
105. No Surrender
282. Here Comes The Sun
312. Let It Be
389. Yesterday
553. Hey Jude
661. I'll Stand By You
963. Don't Stop Believin
 
 
Top 1500 Albums
1. The Quarterback




So all songs of 5.03 except 1 (No Surrender) broke the top 100. Rachel/Lea's song was in the top 10.
And the original 'I'll Stand By You' was back in the charts again too (at 661).  
The Glee episode was #1 on the charts as well for a while.

[Jellyrolls]

Just goes to show how loved Cory was, and also how loved the original cast was.

[Glorfindel]

^Yes.  


This was great:

 
x    ^Night of Neglect

[Jellyrolls]

You know, when you think about it, Finn's quote really describes how Glee has been the past couple of seasons--all over the place

[Buenos]

God I miss Cory.  

[Buenos]

I suspect Lea's song will be the best seller of the year as far as Glee singles.

My guess is that it sold between 40-45K for the first week. It would be nice if it hit 50k.

The best selling week of Season 4 in singles was "The Break up" which featured only older cast , and I suspect that " the Quarterback" will be the best selling week of S5, with once again, features the older cast.

[MoviesAreLife]

-Lea broke my heart. I wasn't sure where Lea ended and Rachel began, but it didn't matter to me. Lea channeled her pain into Rachel and did a damn good job at doing, well, her job under these awful circumstances. The "my person" comment was so much better than the word "soulmate". Rachel is lost now, not knowing what to do now that her "Honey, I'm home" fantasy cannot be acted out. I love how Kurt was the one who escorted her to the locker memorial.

-Sue, Sue, Sue. When she actually dropped the bitch act and let her feelings show, I liked it. I loved her straightforward approach of this not being a teachable moment and of it being the waste of a human life.

-I don't agree about Burt apologizing for the "faggy lamp" outburst years ago. He was right to call Finn out for saying those words.

-Carole!!!!! D: My heart broke for her. A childless parent. The comment about forgetting for a split second every morning she wakes up seems very true for all victims/survivors of awful situations. The Carole/Burt/Kurt hug was so sad.

-"God, his arms were long." Awwww.

-Kevin stood out without saying a word. His expressions say it all.

-"He's dead. All we have is his voice in our heads. It's time to be your own quarterback". *bawls*

-Seasons of Love was perfect, though I missed the high note. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that they let Kurt sing with the males.

-Mark was good in almost everything...the tree stealing scene was so pathetically sad. The crying in the locker room. I thought the "If I start crying, I'll never stop" yelling came across as very forced and awkward. "No Surrender" was one of the saddest numbers for me. The lyrics fit Puck and Finn perfectly. That empty chair was just so sad.......ugh......

-Will's tortured crying over the jacket was beautifully/powerfully acted by Matt.

-What can I say about Chris and Kurt? Poor Kurt. It's really wrong that he is used to death touching his young life by now. He is torn up over it, obviously...but he is also a fucking rock for those around him. Such a strong character. He comes across as so mature here. I adored his moment with Santana in the auditorium the most. Kurtana is a great pair. I loved how Chris straddled that line between "ugly crying" (the scene with Carole and Burt) and just looking exhausted and on the verge of tears (I'll Stand By You)...to even looking stoic and strong (the dumpster scene). Lots of emotions going on there. I had two songs on my wishlist for Kurt to sing for this episode (one of the two would have been fine). "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" was one....another was "Man On the Moon" by REM to parallel Cory's "Losing My Religion". The lyrics do deal with the death of a specific person (the comedian Andy Kaufman) but the lyrics are...specific and brilliant...maybe a little too specific for the Finn storyline. But they also deal (cleverly) with the feeling of disbelief that someone larger than life is now dead...."this can't be happening, he's going to be there".

-Tina...just shut up now.

[MoviesAreLife]

-Something I forgot to add. Quinn was a big part of Finn's life and the fact that she wasn't there was hard to miss.

[ColdFlame96]

.-Seasons of Love was perfect, though I missed the high note. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that they let Kurt sing with the males.

Not just that, be was the male lead. His lower register has come such a long way since season 1. It's really a damn shame that RIB wastes his talent to promote Whine Blanderdouche and his minions of pod people.

[Buenos]

This year they have used Kurt's/Chris lower register range in songs.

Don't get me wrong, I love his higher register but I didn't like it when his counter tenor voice was the automatic "go to" voice for him in songs, such as songs like "White Christmas" and "CWM"where they deliberately use his higher register to contrast with a lower register. It annoys me.

Since "You are the Sunshine of my life" he's been singing in his lower register for all his songs. Now if only he can get a solo before the hiatus.

Are we projecting only 8 episodes before the winter break?

[brisallie]

-Something I forgot to add. Quinn was a big part of Finn's life and the fact that she wasn't there was hard to miss.

Although, I also believe Naya did a good job with her scenes, still I believe that some of them whould have been delivered by Dianna. I just feel they would have been more appropiate. When it comes to Santana, I try to see it as she felt guilty because didn't tell Finn how important he was for him or that he actually didn't hate him that much. But I insist that Diana should have been there, I imagine Quinn being the one who confronted Sue for being so insensitive as regards Finn.

Now that you mention you liked that Kurt/Chris was allowed to sing with the males, it is me or you can hear his voice clearly since the moment the old gang walked in to the stage? It just took me by surprise he was like the male lead voice o.o

[Glorfindel]

I love how Kurt was the one who escorted her to the locker memorial.

This was a nice touch, yes, and I'm really glad they did that. It wasn't necessary for the impact of the scene, but I loved how they showed Kurt as Rachel's rock and how they hang on to one another.

This brings me to thinking that noone really was there for Kurt this episode, besides Carol and Burt obviously. But Kurt was there for them too, plus for Santana, Rachel, Mercedes and even Blaine.
On the other hand I think that Kurt needs to be there for the others, that it helps himself too. If he's useful to others at least he can get some positive feeling out of the whirlpool of sadness a death like that causes. And having been through a lot all by himself gives him the insight that being there for others is a great gift to give, so it's something he can do and maybe even be appreciated for without being judged or ridiculed.
So him being there for Rachel again while he was going through the same loss didn't bother me in the slightest this time, as they both got something out of that: Rachel got someone to hold on to, and Kurt got to be usefull and wanted. He's a great friend, and a rock indeed.

Please Glee, don't mess this up in future episodes: let Kurt grieve and go on with Rachel instead of it all being about her again.

Now that you mention you liked that Kurt/Chris was allowed to sing with the males, it is me or you can hear his voice clearly since the moment the old gang walked in to the stage? It just took me by surprise he was like the male lead voice o.o

Yes, you can very clearly hear him. They turned Chris' voice a little louder at the exact moment he and the other graduates walked in, plus he was also the one who lead that specific line of the chorus practically as a solo.
In fact: the other characters in the beginning (the new ND and the seniors) were just lipsynching to the iTunes track, which only has Chris, Amber, Mark, Jenna, Naya and Harry singing.

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

I have a question for @AnneNeville:
In interviews about this episode Ryan and Brad said that there often was only 1 take filmed which they used, so the emotions were 'raw'. But in almost all scenes there are angles from several cameras.

E.g. the Burt/Kurt/Carol scene: obviously all their monologues were filmed seperately, but I'm talking more specific about Carol's monologue. At the moment that Carol breaks down we see Burt and Kurt rush to her to comfort her, rubbing her back, and next we see a transition of that particular camera angle to a quick shot of Carol starting to hug Kurt, but then we get a wide shot from across the room with all 3 of them crying on the floor.

My question is (with the Hudmel scene as an example but it applies to many scenes in this episode) if they maybe used 2 or 3 cameras at the same time, allowing for the shifts in angle but it all still being filmed in 1 take?
Or is this impossible because the cameras have to be really near to the actors for the close-ups and therefore that close-up cameraman would be visible in the wide shot (if it had been filmed simultaneously)?

In other words: was it really just 1 take, or did they have to tape several '1 take shots' from different angles, and Romy had to act that monologue in each one of them?

[ColferInspired]

This was a wonderful and moving episode.

It flowed better than the last to.

I started to cry when the showed his picture when they were singing "Season's Of Love".

Then I stopped. I have been seeing gif after gif day after day since this episode aired, so sort of knew what to except, probably why I am not bawling right now.

The acting was brilliant.

Kurt said the letterman jacket was Santana's shows to me that they are developing a close friendship.
I loved the Kurtana scene.  

Kurt is really the strongest most mature character on the show.

Naya was just brilliant as was Lea.

Romy almost had me crying again. Emmy worthy.

Mike was brilliant as well.

I could see that Kurt and Puck will never be friends.

[valkeakuulas]

-Carole!!!!! D: My heart broke for her. A childless parent.

I found that one a horrible thought as well.

For some reason I always wondered what the Hudson-Hummels would have looked if Burt and Carole had had a child together. Biologically it could have happened, I assume they were little under fourty in canon when they met, but because there are so many people in Glee, the family never got enough time IMO. (Some might call that utter BS since there family IS the only one truly focused in.)

I mean the that household could have been the main characters and the story would have worked really well.

[Buenos]

What I love about Chris/Kurt is the subtle power in that scene. Chris knows when less is more.

[Buenos]

Just flawless. This is how you show anger and power without overacting with OTP or derpy faces.

[brisallie]

Just flawless. This is how you show  anger and power without overacting with OTP or derpy faces.

What I like about this boy is that he's good at expressing emotions with his face, but he's not overreacting or make derpy faces. Is just the right amount of emotion and gestures, and also I've noticed that his strongest point are the eyes.

[bayth]

Yes, Chris is able to convey so much with his eyes.  I always think about the attack kiss off Karofsky.  Kurts' eyes and the horror of what had just happened are so telling:



And look at his hand. So tightly held.

[MoviesAreLife]

Just flawless. This is how you show  anger and power without overacting with OTP or derpy faces.

What I like about this boy is that he's good at expressing emotions with his face, but he's not overreacting or make derpy faces. Is just the right amount of emotion and gestures, and also I've noticed that his strongest point are the eyes.

This reminds me of when the medium of film was in its infancy. Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish are credited with inventing acting for the screen when no one quiet knew how to play to a camera yet. They muted the over the top, stagey gestures and facial expressions of early 1900's theater acting and began acting with their eyes, and this was noticed right away.

[MoviesAreLife]

-Something I forgot to add. Quinn was a big part of Finn's life and the fact that she wasn't there was hard to miss.

Although, I also believe Naya did a good job with her scenes, still I believe that some of them whould have been delivered by Dianna. I just feel they would have been more appropiate. When it comes to Santana, I try to see it as she felt guilty because didn't tell Finn how important he was for him or that he actually didn't hate him that much. But I insist that Diana should have been there, I imagine Quinn being the one who confronted Sue for being so insensitive as regards Finn.

Now that you mention you liked that Kurt/Chris was allowed to sing with the males, it is me or you can hear his voice clearly since the moment the old gang walked in to the stage? It just took me by surprise he was like the male lead voice o.o

I wouldn't give any of Naya's scenes to Dianna because many of Santana's scenes in the episode have redeemed her quite a bit for me so far. But I would've given Dianna something. Quinn has a history with Finn. To ignore that just felt...wrong. I guess I just strongly identify with the guilty feelings that Santana was having over Finn, so that's why Santana's scenes moved me so much in this episode.

I was taken aback by how well I could hear Chris in SOL. It was wonderful.

[brisallie]

@MoviesareLife, sometimes I forgot how much you love movies, and then you reminded us by bringing these fun facts about them. I had no idea about Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish , and what they did.

Probably saying "I would have put Dianna instead of Naya in some of the scenes" isn't proper to say, because in first place I'm sure they never had the intention of bringing her back, so is not like Naya did those scenes because at last minute Dianna wasn't able to be on the episode. But yeah, I totally agree they could have given something, or at least I wanted her to be mentioned, someone saying Quinn really wanted to be there, but she had some personal issues or is still struggling with this. Anything.

Is not because I'm biased when it comes to Chris, but his voice was the first one I heard clearly.

[Buenos]

People are always accusing old fans of the show of just comparing everything unfavorably to season 1 or 2.

However, I have to say that "Seasons of Love" is as good a group number as anything that Glee has ever done. Visually it was simple and yet the singing voices and harmonies were just the right note.

Amber just nailed her solo parts, her voice was just amazing. The distinct voices coming in the number brought a tear to my eyes.

How bittersweet that that was probably the very last group number we will see from the original cast of Glee. At least they went out on a high note.

[Buenos]

You just want to hug him...

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