Re: 5x09 "Frenemies" Watch & Discussion thread

[Divalicious]

Episode done, and Rachel is an idiot. Santana is insensitive, and has obviously cut out the oxygen to her brain by intensely tight clothing. So it seems that Kurt's sole reason for existence is to create interesting stories that other characters can hijack or duplicate. Rachel moves out and stays with Elliot, even though she isn't even bothering to show up to band practice because she is so busy being a star. What!!? Artie and Tina, actually being supportive friends (after starting out by being idiots) but it is Blaine who gets to be Valedictorian because Artie and Tina apparently split the vote. How about cut Blaine out period, and make one Valedictorian and one Salutatorian. How the writers are, mocking the audience. Blaine, and Rachel always win and never ever question their right to the universe at their feet. Yawn.

Kurt was great, and had a lot of fun, but not a whole lot of anything else. Far too much time spent on Rachel seething and Santana being a crap friend. Not new stuff, of course. Yawn.

Still trying to get over the annoying thing that Kurt can't get one man in the entire freaking state of New York to realize what a find he is that isn't immediately written out. Why can't something flipping pine after Kurt.

Glee is like illegal narcotics. Not good for you, make you look like an idiot, but you just can't give it up. Well, Chris is, not Glee.

[Buenos]

Still Kurt in a stripper pole...   

[Buenos]

Itunes placements so far...

142. Brave
183. I Believe in a thing called love.
184. Every breath you take
197. Don't Rain on my Parade
212. Breakaway
404. Whenever I call you Friend
428. My Lovin, You never gonna get it.

[valkeakuulas]

I did like the scenes at the loft with Rachel, Santana and Kurt a lot. Just before the slap you could sense the tension in the air. Good scene, but why make it violent? Just as they were actually getting amazing scenes together, they will be separated.   

And how funny was Kurt's psychotic conversation with Elliot before going to the music shop? I love it that I can still laugh while watching this show. And Elliot sussing Kurt out.

But Rachel has really painted herself into a corner now...I don't think she'll be fine without Kurt, or Santana for that matter. In NY she need someone to tone her down. Besides where is she going to live? With Sam? Or Mercedes?

[Buenos]

135. Brave
176. I Believe in a thing called love.
180. Every breath you take
191. Don't Rain on my Parade
215. Breakaway
390. Whenever I call you Friend
422. My Lovin, You never gonna get it.

[tanita_mors]

violence or not, santana really earned that slap IMO. the way she was going, riling rachel up more and more, i wanted to slap her stupid face to be honest.

this was a pretty solid episode actually. the weakest plot line was the artie /tina one, but it had it's decent moments as well - their hallway fight was just delicious and i kind of love "you are never gonna get it". jenna was halfway decent this episode. i like the vocals of breakaway, but the visuals in McKinley were "been there, seen that a million times already", the stuff with Rachel kind of saved it.

i kind of loved all the shade blaine was getting in this episode from both artie and tina after being valedictorian. that kind of bite rang so true. the guy is not even aware how annoying he is at being just perfect. he is like one of those characters from "pleasentville" with i guess are based on 50's american tv shows like "i love lucy" where everybody is just PERFECT.

and for some reason the santana/rachel fued really worked for me, because it showed how magnanimous rachel is when everything is going her way but the moment it's jeopardized the claws come out. she was way over the line, because santana is her friend and she should have been happy for her, landing that job. maybe there is fear that santana will get better reviews in the role and steal her spotlight. i get the fear, but boy did she over react. and her lining kurt with santana was the most insulting thing, but looking at their goodbye hug she must have realized what she did before leaving. i don't think this santana and rachel friendship will be easily repaired if at all.

as for the songs, i liked all of them by those two. i'm not to in love with the popified DROMP, or the arrangement of EBYT, but the scenes and vocals kind of worked for me, particularly with EBYT. Brave was fantastic.

And now for our boy Kurt. I like the fact that his insecurities about his place in the spotlight continue. He is just so used to be overthrown or just passed by that he sees it everywhere, even in want were clearly innocent comments by Elliot who is really excited being in the band. The half fantasy conversation was golden and Chris was fantastic, not to mention that Adam Lambert has proved that he can hold his own in a scene decently. And while i wouldn't have minded some nookie for Kurt from a new hot guy, i like that they are friends and that kurt has a male friend he can have fun with and go out and goof around. it's something that has been missing in his life. and they really have a very easy onscreen chemistry.
IBITCL was just FANTASTIC. it was fun, happy, enegetic, had pole dancing and great vocals all around. One of my favorite Kurt numbers in the show to date.

all in all, a fearly decent return episode for glee, and if other are like it. this show may have just improved, if only marginally.

[Kurt addict]

On a lighter note I just read this on EW recap and I could not stop laughing "Rupert after finding out Santana and Rachel know each other: “One high school produced both of you?” Oh buddy, you don’t know the half of it."

[Glorfindel]

My TWoP post:

With the well deserved heavy focus finally on the characters in New York I’d say this was a very decent episode for Glee. And as there were no noobs and Blam in sight except for in the background, and almost no Blaine, I consider the McKinley part tolerable in this episode too.

Although I despise the obsession of Glee to have these catfights between girls who are being and being called bitches all the time at least the feud between Rachel and Santana was actually rooted in their past characterisation and history with one another (besides the stupid retcon of Quinn not being Rachel’s biggest bully). That made this storyline interesting (it sure got the people engaged in this thread alone) even though the whole Fanny understudy drama, indeed the entire ‘Funny Girl’ storyline imo, is so forced and devoid of any realism when it comes to how musical theatre works. For starters: “Noone can sing in this town”: I mean,… really?  

‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ was a lot better edited/mixed in the episode, and although I still think Santana should never have gotten the understudy part for Fanny because of vocal/technical reasons (among other things the need of the orchestra to lower the key for all Fanny’s songs when an understudy has to be able to jump in at the last minute), she really made an entrance with that song, which lbh was an unfair task for Naya to begin with.

I’ll be Kurt in the Rachel/Santana fight: not taking sides. They were both right about some points and also both wrong about some others, and both definitely crossed lines that shouldn’t have been crossed. But violence like slapping is never allowed imo: deducting points from Rachel for that, so Santana ‘wins’ this fight by a nose.
Rachel denouncing her friendship with Kurt just because he decided to be Switzerland is another reason for me to not have much sympathy for her side of the story.


Kurt and Elliot were so much fun together and provided a fresh breath of air in this episode. They actually had a real, mature conversation to clear things up between them, which is a rarity on Glee. Adam is turning out to be a great addition to the New York narrative and Chris is such a comedic actor: the fake friendliness was dripping from Kurt’s voice while he was grilling Elliot about his ambition in the band.  


‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’ was also a joy to listen to and watch. Adam is a very charismatic performer, and I don’t mind at all that he challenges Chris (as Elliot challenges Kurt) to go out of his comfort zone and let loose a little. The chemistry between them is apparent and energizing: so more Starkurt please.
I’m itching to use the hashtag #FreeKurt right now, especially when the contrast of Starchild with high school valedictorian (ugh) Blaine was again made so painfully clear.


There were some funny moments in the feud between Artie and Tina, but there also was too much meta for my liking and the character Becky can kindly go away now. The whole valedictorian feud was just so childish and petty (as are most McKinley related storylines these days), and the outcome made me gag even though it was as predictable as the sun rising again tomorrow that it would be Blaine getting the prize handed to him in the end.
Humble “I can’t help it that the writers blow smoke up my ass all the time but I’m willing to give you guys the crumbs left after my mandatory solo!” Blaine might be even more irritating to me than creepy, whining baby Blaine. Okay: maybe it’s a tie.   
Well,… at least the songs were nice?

[Glorfindel]

The Kurt edit is available at kurtedit.tumblr.com 

[Buenos]

97. Brave
140. Every breath you take
143. I Believe in a thing called love.
149. Don't Rain on my Parade
168. Breakaway
301. Whenever I call you Friend
330. My Lovin, You never gonna get it.

[Ranwing]

Glad to see Kurt's song in the top grouping. It was an amazing number.

I said it before and I really need to say it again. Rachel need to Grow. The. Fuck. Up. I'm not giving Santana a pass here because she knows exactly what buttons to push with Rachel and once Rachel started the argrument, Santana gave it back to her with both barrels. All the progress that they made in the past year where they really learned to care about one another undone because Rachel can't keep her fucking ego in check for 5 fucking minutes.

We've seen this in Rachel before - that she has to be #1 and can only be supportive of the ambitions of others if they aren't infringing on her self-appointed territory. She really needs a serious wake up call because she is now in the real world where no one is going to give a rat's ass about her issues and her insecurities and her claims of ownership to the entire Streisand songbook. Kurt and (to a lesser degree) Santana ignore these quirks because they know what to expect out of Rachel, but in the real theater world. That's the kind of behavior that makes you a laughing stock. And deeply disliked.

If Rachel can't get her behavior in check, she is risking her job. She is a no-name actress with no track record of carrying a show. If she can't manage to get along with Santana, at least so much as they can work without disrupting the show, then the director will have to take steps. Actors who cause trouble behind the scenes not only find themselves out of work (because unless you are a major draw like a Bernadette Peters or Hugh Jackman, any actor is replaceable if they're too much trouble), they may find themselves unemployable. Rachel should ask Cassandra how forgiving the theater world is for making drama instead of just buckling down and being a professional.

[Buenos]

I can't help but feel "Funny Girl" is going to crash and burn.

[Ranwing]

I think it will. And it's going to be devestating for Rachel if it does. She's had all this publicity and if the show fails, she's the face of a failed show. That's not something she's going to bounce back from professionally or emotionally overnight.

[Glorfindel]

On a lighter note I just read this on EW recap and I could not stop laughing "Rupert after finding out Santana and Rachel know each other: “One high school produced both of you?” Oh buddy, you don’t know the half of it."

Or this one:

Blaine has decided that his valedictorian speech will be of the musical variety (because Blaine is the Blaine-iest Blaine to ever Blaine)

EW  



From tumblr:

Will in 4x01:we win as a team, I don't wanna hear any more of this 'New Rachel' stuff
Will in 5x09:lol yeah Blaine can have a solo cos he's the new Rachel

x    

[Buenos]

Let me just say the NY background people in both "Brave" and especially " IBIATCL" were fantastic.

They enhanced without overwhelming the musical numbers. I want those music shop extras again!

[Buenos]

Ratings are in and they are not pretty:

Time Net Show 18-49 Rating 18-49 Share Viewers Live+SD (million)
8:00PM NBC The Voice 3.7 11 12.97
CBS NCIS 2.6 8 16.89
ABC The Bachelor (8-10PM) 2.4 7 8.12
FOX Glee 1.2 3 2.92
CW The Originals 0.8 2 1.88
tvbythenumbers.com

9:00PM NBC About a Boy -R 2.4 7 8.34
CBS NCIS: Los Angeles 2.2 6 13.10
FOX New Girl 1.4 4 2.85
CW Supernatural 1.1 3 2.44

9:30PM NBC Growing Up Fisher -R 2.0 5 7.05
FOX Brooklyn Nine-Nine 1.3 3 2.63

10:00PM NBC Chicago Fire 1.8 5 7.091
CBS Person Of Interest 1.7 5 10.78
ABC Mind Games -P 1.1 3 3.60

Worst performing FOX show and first run Major network show of the entire Evening.

Fucky you, FOX for waiting so long to make a change, and double fuck you to Ryan Murphy..

[Buenos]

96. Brave
137. Every breath you take
139. I Believe in a thing called love.
148. Don't Rain on my Parade
169. Breakaway
301. Whenever I call you Friend
332. My Lovin, You never gonna get it.

[YaoiChick]

I loved Tina and Arites friendship so I was happy to see it again   even though the valedictorian story was stupid   

Rachel and Santana both annoyed me. Though when Santana said she waited until after to tell Rachel since she knew they'd fight is a good point. Rachel needs to learn that the part does not belong to her.

The thing with Blaine just proves what everybody already knew, the writers check different forums and know we're annoyed by Blaine, they just don't care   

Kurt was fabulous as always   and when he was on that stripping pole?   I liked that Elliott let Kurt "check" the "competition" and then maturely reassured him   

I felt bad for him when Rachel looped him with Santana, and for the whole fight he kept saying they were all friends and that they were going to far   

[fantastica]

its a shame that the rating is so low. big hiatus, a change of dates and time, all screwed things up.

[Buenos]

I'm going out on a limb here so don't hate me...

I did not like that Kurt didn't have Rachel's back.  Now, I completely agree with his telling Rachel she was taking it too far and that DROMP is not her personal property, etc, BUT , they are BFF's and he should have told Santana, "that was not a nice thing not telling Rachel you auditioning for her understudy role."

He didn't have to go ballistic like Rachel, but she didn't want to have him be so stoic impartial that he didn't acknowledge some of where she was coming from.

[Ranwing]

its a shame that the rating is so low. big hiatus, a change of dates and time, all screwed things up.

The episode had a lot working against it. New time, new day, no strong lead in. The last episode didn't leave any unresolved issues so not a whole lot of suspence to push the general audience into tuning in and too many months of poor buzz to get those on the fence to give Glee another chance. My hope is that with the new, more mature storyline and good media buzz that things might turn around slightly. But I'm not optimistic. I think that too much damage has been done.

[Ranwing]

I'm going out on a limb here so don't hate me...

I did not like that Kurt didn't have Rachel's back.  Now, I completely agree with his telling Rachel she was taking it too far and that DROMP is not her personal property, etc, BUT , they are BFF's and he should have told Santana, "that was not a nice thing not telling Rachel you auditioning for her understudy role."

He didn't have to go ballistic like Rachel, but she didn't want to have him be so stoic impartial that he didn't acknowledge some of where she was coming from.

I don't think that Kurt really had any options. Rachel might be his BFF, but Santana is his friend too and it wasn't right of either of them to expect him to choose sides. Not when both of them were equally wrong in this fight.

A BFF will have your back when things get rough (which Kurt certainly had done for Rachel time and time again), but they'll also call you out on your bullshit when it's warrented. Rachel had gone well past the point of being unreasonable and Kurt was trying to rein in the crazy enough for her to start thinking a little more rationally. In my mind, the only thing Rachel really had any right to be upset over was Santana not advising her that she was planning to audition for the understudy role. But Rachel really had no right to insist that Santana not audition because she had an irrational fear about her understudy being used to replace her and not wanting to share her "dream" with someone else.

This is why I thought that both Rachel and Santana were equally responsible for things exploding the way they did. Rachel had no real reason for Santana not to go for that job outside of the fact that she just didn't want Santana too. Santana showed her usual sensativity which just egged Rachel into futher heights of insanity. And neither of them seemed at all concerned that they were putting Kurt into a very difficult and uncomfortable postion by insisting that he chose between them. Given that Rachel was just as wrong as Santana, I can totally understand Kurt insisting on taking a neutral position. The fact that Rachel took that as betrayal is, again, Rachel's issues.

[Buenos]

I admit, part of this is colored for me by the passive/agressive way Blaine auditioned for WSS with a "Tony" number back in "I am Unicorn." I realize it's not the same thing, but Kurt of all people would know how Rachel would have felt a little blindsided. You could rationalize that Blaine wasn't trying for Kurt's targeted role specifically but I'm sure Kurt felt like crap regardless.

Considering their history, Santana wasn't exactly miss innocent snowflake in all this. BTW, I am soo glad that Finn was not invoked (at least for now). Considering Kurt and Rachel's history of outsiders and how hurt she has been by Santana in the past, AS A FRIEND, I think Santana acted badly. That is different from thinking Santana couldn't have auditioned for the role. If she had told Rachel and Rachel said "hell no" I would hope Santana would have said "screw you" and still auditioned, because in that case Rachel would be deliberating sabotaging their friendship. I dunno this way Santana gave Rachel a little "cover". not much I admit, but still...

[fantastica]

its a shame that the rating is so low. big hiatus, a change of dates and time, all screwed things up.

The episode had a lot working against it. New time, new day, no strong lead in. The last episode didn't leave any unresolved issues so not a whole lot of suspence to push the general audience into tuning in and too many months of poor buzz to get those on the fence to give Glee another chance. My hope is that with the new, more mature storyline and good media buzz that things might turn around slightly. But I'm not optimistic. I think that too much damage has been done.

exact same thoughts as the bolded. the thing is as glee gets more "mature" storylines, 8pm is so much worse than 9pm. i spent half the time cooking dinner. hubby couldn't get home early enough and he missed half the episode. on the other hand, we are probably the only adults left watching this show so...

you know, once people drops a show they will never go back. so the rating can only go further down as time go by. at least the show now has a smaller cast which means their cost of production goes down too.

[Glorfindel]

its a shame that the rating is so low. big hiatus, a change of dates and time, all screwed things up.

The episode had a lot working against it. New time, new day, no strong lead in. The last episode didn't leave any unresolved issues so not a whole lot of suspence to push the general audience into tuning in and too many months of poor buzz to get those on the fence to give Glee another chance. My hope is that with the new, more mature storyline and good media buzz that things might turn around slightly. But I'm not optimistic. I think that too much damage has been done.

Same.

Some fans may come back after several decent New York focused episodes, but the big bulk of GA viewers have already left for good.

I'm going out on a limb here so don't hate me...

I did not like that Kurt didn't have Rachel's back.  Now, I completely agree with his telling Rachel she was taking it too far and that DROMP is not her personal property, etc, BUT , they are BFF's and he should have told Santana, "that was not a nice thing not telling Rachel you auditioning for her understudy role."

He didn't have to go ballistic like Rachel, but she didn't want to have him be so stoic impartial that he didn't acknowledge some of where she was coming from.

To be fair: Rachel didn't really give Kurt much of a chance to say anything when she and Santana were fighting. The moment Santana came in the door after the audition Rachel started ranting and Santana did not hesitate to fire back.
Before Kurt could really get his say in and intervene the slap had already happened, and honestly: that was where Rachel crossed the line for me and imo lost any right on Kurt taking his bff side in the argument.

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

“After Kurt practically begs Elliot to teach him guitar, a freaked-out Elliot suggests Kurt buys his own, leading him to a guitar store for the sole purpose of a rocking duet to The Darkness’ “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” during which Kurt and Elliot have chemistry with everything in the store — people, instruments and structural elements. Glee has a hard time with rock, and this is no exception, but it’s easy to ignore any flaws when Kurt Hummel is pole dancing.”

Billboard

[Sponsored content]