Re: 5x09 "Frenemies" Watch & Discussion thread

[Ranwing]

One interesting thing about Kurt is that he gets people (he's probably the most intuative people on the show). He knows that Rachel is self-centered and crazy and there's nothing he can do to change that. He knows that Santana uses insults as much for affection as for insult and there's nothing he can do to change that. It doesn't stop him from accepting who the both of them are and still having them as friends. The way he can read people almost seems psychic at times.

[Glorfindel]

^This.

Kurt doesn't let Santana 'get' to him with her insults because he knows she likes him anyway. And more importantly: he decided at some point it doesn't bother him anymore so it really doesn't.
Same with Rachel's diva beaviour (unless it gets out of hand).

Not that it doesn't bother me anymore: I absolutely hate that the writers keep doing that.  

[ColferInspired]

This was quite a good episode.

I think Santana only become Rachel's understudy because of the gimmick factor that they both came from Ohio and from the same school to sell to the media to gain more interest in the show.

Santana had every right to audition, and to do it behind Rachel's back is understandable in some ways because Rachel would have tried to stop her.

Tina looked sorry after she accidental caused Artie to fall from his wheelchair. For once in such a long time I didn't hate her.

Blaine was just meta and he is still an attention whore, and still why I don't like him.

I laughed during Kurt's scenes. Chris has such a talent for comedy.

Starkurt is the perfect friendship.

Becky does bring scenes down and is so unnecessary.

I am guessing but is this one of the new writers that wrote this?

It wasn't that offensive and was quite a consistant episode.

IBITCL was amazing. I could tell everyone had a lot of fun during this.

The songs fitted the scenes and stories perfectly.

I liked the writing for the New York side because it flowed really well together.

Rachel bragging about being a star would make me if I was Santana want to try and one up her.

This story put both girls in the wrong.

Santana with her speech, I am glad they left out Finn, and I think she touched on some of Rachel's insecurities about popularity.

Rachel wants popularity, she wants fame, and to be reminded of that by Santana that she was the one that was popular at school and not her would have opened up wounds when she had slushies thrown in her face and bullied by the Cheerios.

Kurt had some really good valid points.

Rachel doesn't own the song, and Santana had every right to audition.

Rachel always feels that Kurt takes her side and it was probably a shock to her that this time he didn't, when really he wasn't, he was right in agreeing with Santana.

Rachel felt betrayed by him so it was realistic for her to in that moment not see him as a friend.

Rachel is really insecure and is holding onto the role so desperately. 

Santana was seen as popular and better than Rachel in high school outside the Glee Club, before she came out.

Why shouldn't Rachel be worried that the same could happen now out in the real world?

[Glorfindel]

The enjoyable moments with Kurt and company were a welcome juxtaposition to mirror the crumbling friendship of Rachel and Santana and the test of endurance and empathy given to Tina and Artie by Sue. Well-played and subtly so, one of the many joys of last night's show was overall attention to detail and development of plot to go with the spectacular show-stoppers - such as: the raucous and glittery rock opus "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" was fueled with fire and flair by Lambert alongside Colfer, making the duo looking likely to be set for future duets, as well, it would seem - on and offstage. Let's hope - at least for the former, if not the latter (apologies to Klaine fans).

Broadwayworld

[ColferInspired]

The enjoyable moments with Kurt and company were a welcome juxtaposition to mirror the crumbling friendship of Rachel and Santana and the test of endurance and empathy given to Tina and Artie by Sue. Well-played and subtly so, one of the many joys of last night's show was overall attention to detail and development of plot to go with the spectacular show-stoppers - such as: the raucous and glittery rock opus "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" was fueled with fire and flair by Lambert alongside Colfer, making the duo looking likely to be set for future duets, as well, it would seem - on and offstage. Let's hope - at least for the former, if not the latter (apologies to Klaine fans).

Broadwayworld

I love seeing these reviews.  

I know Fox wants to bring the trust back with the fans, which helps when they didn't lie that they were getting rid of the McKinley side.

But the fandom have been lied to and mistreated via their disgusting and offensive storylines and not giving their favourite characters storylines, it will be hard to gain that trust back.

[Buenos]

The enjoyable moments with Kurt and company were a welcome juxtaposition to mirror the crumbling friendship of Rachel and Santana and the test of endurance and empathy given to Tina and Artie by Sue. Well-played and subtly so, one of the many joys of last night's show was overall attention to detail and development of plot to go with the spectacular show-stoppers - such as: the raucous and glittery rock opus "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" was fueled with fire and flair by Lambert alongside Colfer, making the duo looking likely to be set for future duets, as well, it would seem - on and offstage. Let's hope - at least for the former, if not the latter (apologies to Klaine fans).

    

[ChrisColferFan1]

I know it won't happened.   But if Klaine breaks -up again I would love it if Kurt and Elliot/Starchild get together. I enjoy their scenes together. In my opinion the Kurt and Elliot/ StarChild scenes were the best thing about the Frenemies episode.

[ChrisColfersLightning]

The enjoyable moments with Kurt and company were a welcome juxtaposition to mirror the crumbling friendship of Rachel and Santana and the test of endurance and empathy given to Tina and Artie by Sue. Well-played and subtly so, one of the many joys of last night's show was overall attention to detail and development of plot to go with the spectacular show-stoppers - such as: the raucous and glittery rock opus "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" was fueled with fire and flair by Lambert alongside Colfer, making the duo looking likely to be set for future duets, as well, it would seem - on and offstage. Let's hope - at least for the former, if not the latter (apologies to Klaine fans).

Broadwayworld

(apologies to Klaine fans)   Sad how the media have to give the babies their bottle so they wont throw a hissy fit!    They wouldn't want to hurt the widdle babies feelings by saying they'd want to see a thing between Ellikurt now would they?      

I think it is ridicules that media sites and news can't say they want to see StarKurt happen because Klainers will throw a tantrum, people are allowed to like what ever they want and change their minds about an old paring or boring characters and faded chemistry like Klaine and Blaine, not their fault Klaine has become more boring than a rock.    Not to mention I think everyone is sick of St Blaine getting any and everything handed to him and then spoon feeded to him since he is that hapless to do it himself.   

Any who! Am I the only one who at first shipped StarKurt just because I hated Klaine, but now really just see them as friends? Like I honest to god want them to be Bff's and nothing more! But if something did happen, they are both super hot so I wouldn't mind it   

After watching IBIATCL for the thousandth time, I saw how cute they were in public, Elliot starts it off by flirting a bit with the first guitar player and then turn to Kurt, and Kurt takes his que and finds another boy and flirts with him. I thought it was cute!

It seems like Elliot can be a great mentor and friend to Kurt, and judging by the looks the boys gave them, they thought they were hot!   They would tear up New York together as friends    I can just imagine those to getting up to shenanigans together! Causing awesome impromptu sing and dance crazes where ever they are and flirting with hot guys  and rocking out     

I realllllyyyy want StarKurt friendship with single Kurt    He does not need to be tied down, if anything he needs a good friend and a wing man who can show him the ropes like Elliot could.
I want Single!StarKurt friendship so bad!  

[valkeakuulas]

I suppose now we can say that the Broadwayworld loves Chris as much as The Backlot loves Darren, right? No favorites anywhere, no? OK.

[Delight]

I've downloaded the episode because I was enticed by the gifs of pole-dancing Kurt; and was quite surprised to find out that it's a pretty good episode overall. It really makes a big difference when Kurt, Rachel and Santana get the majority of the screentime, and the songs are sung by people who sound good in them.

One little gripe I have-- and that's basically because I'm an insatiable Kurtsie-- is that StarKurt only got one duet for their frenemy storyline. All the other frenemy couples-- Artie and Tina (and Blaine), Rachel and Santana got at least two duets each.

... 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.  

Chris was brilliant in that scene. There were no big emotions that were acted out, just really subtle ones-- an eye blink here, an inflection there, and all under the guise of a friendly near-psychopathic smile. And yet, we could tell that Kurt's behaviour isn't normal and that he's feeling somewhat insecure.  

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.

Mind twin!

I also thought that there's too much meta in this episode. I could identify at least three:
-Tina arguing that the vapo-rape was being blown out of proportion
-Artie declaring that most people thought that Tina’s body was invaded by an alien that had turned her into a shallow and desperate person when she became a senior.
-Blaine claiming that he feels that "sometimes things just get handed to" him.

More evidence that the writers trawl the forums and fan comments, acknowledge the problems with the show and choose not to do a damned thing about them.

I also agree that Becky is getting really too nasty to be palatable on this show.

Lastly, is it just me or did Kurt's twirling of those drum sticks remind you of Sai-twirling? The IBIATCL performance is truly fun to watch.

[YaoiChick]

Any who! Am I the only one who at first shipped StarKurt just because I hated Klaine, but now really just see them as friends? Like I honest to god want them to be Bff's and nothing more! But if something did happen, they are both super hot so I wouldn't mind it   

After watching IBIATCL for the thousandth time, I saw how cute they were in public, Elliot starts it off by flirting a bit with the first guitar player and then turn to Kurt, and Kurt takes his que and finds another boy and flirts with him. I thought it was cute!

It seems like Elliot can be a great mentor and friend to Kurt, and judging by the looks the boys gave them, they thought they were hot!   They would tear up New York together as friends    I can just imagine those to getting up to shenanigans together! Causing awesome impromptu sing and dance crazes where ever they are and flirting with hot guys  and rocking out     

I realllllyyyy want StarKurt friendship with single Kurt    He does not need to be tied down, if anything he needs a good friend and a wing man who can show him the ropes like Elliot could.
I want Single!StarKurt friendship so bad!  

He would be a way better mentor then Blaine was, and now a days, better friend too (sorry to those who like him).

[bayth]

OMG!!! I LOVE this guy!!!   

It’s been over a month and a half since we last witnessed the show on our screens and what a wonderful hiatus that was! This week we come to the conclusion that Rachel (Lea Michele) is still the immature drama queen she was in the freshman season and Blaine (Darren Criss) is still annoying as ever. And that’s what you wish you missed on Glee!

Arguments between friends can be quite petty, so there’s no doubt that Rachel out of all people is one of those that causes these fights, especially in this episode. As Santana (Naya Rivera) has only had a nationwide advertisement as her biggest deal in New York, she has been trying to get something bigger, so, as she saw the opportunity to be an understudy (key term!) for Rachel, she went for it. Rachel somehow took this as a dig to her, yet, there should be nothing wrong with it. Is Rachel that insecure about her talent that she cannot handle having an understudy?! Let’s be real here, if she cannot take the pressures of somebody beneath her taking over for her in case of sickness etc. then she should not be on Broadway just yet. Rachel should step out of the pressures of New York and go back to Ohio until she feels that she is ready to trust herself with the highs and lows of show business. At the moment, Santana is still below Rachel and Rachel has higher authority than her. So why is it an issue? Because Rachel is not ready for Broadway, despite her talent, her mindset is not there just yet. Do you want further proof of this? Well, somehow Santana cannot play the role of Fanny Brice as Santana is not Jewish – let that sink in.

Regardless, the two duets that Michele and Rivera shared together were absolutely brilliant. “Brave” by Sara Bareilles was wonderfully done with a bit of a dream sequence where Santana imagined that she was in the photoshoot with Rachel, which, she ended up getting in the end. And then their take on The Police’s “Every Breathe You Take” was also quite astonishing. The two vocals placed together was fantastic and very admirable.

Back in McKinley the New Directions were preparing for graduation and Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Artie (Kevin McHale) were chosen to compete for Valedictorian for the graduation ceremony. The two have been academically brilliant and tied for this position, so had to compete. After Tina, during her duet with Artie on En Vogue’s “My Lovin’”, accidentally pushed the misogynistic creep onto the floor, which, he totally deserved, things took a turn when they both dedicated their competitive speeches to each other. Whilst they reminisced on Artie helping Tina in season one, the two ended up having a tie, again, and guess who gets the position? Yes, it was Blaine! For some reason the writers decided to bring Blaine into the situation because in this episode there was no other way to fit him in a song without forcing Criss’ bland vocals in the “Breakaway” (Kelly Clarkson) number at the end. The song at the end was great, if one were to edit Criss from the number and allow McHale and Ushkowitz to let their abilities to shine.

So now, let’s discuss the valedictorian a little more. Remember in season three when Finn (Cory Monteith) was the valedictorian? Was he the best at academics? No, and by far! Yet he somehow was rewarded with the role of valedictorian… So why must we now focus on grades? Oh, right, because that way we can get away with having Blaine having the opportunity as if it were any other way, it would be easy to argue against. Somehow Blaine is extremely smart in his academics yet he didn’t pay attention to when he was taught common courtesy (seriously, his “apology” seemed more fake than Lea Michele’s interviews). And to “make up” for this, he decided to sing instead – because we all want to see that happen!

And the best part of the episode was left until last because Glee is so frustrating lately that we have to make the most out of it. Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Elliot (Adam Lambert) had a bit of a feud where Kurt believed that Elliot was trying to “take over” the band, Pamela Lansbury, so he followed the idiotic advice from his even more idiotic boyfriend, Blaine, to keep his friends close and enemies closer. Fortunately, Elliot caught on to this and handled it wonderfully – that ended with a cheek kissing selfie with Kurt! So it was great to see the two of them actually being friends now, especially as their relationship has had so much potential to be great. It would be nice for Elliot to remain in the show until the end and become Kurt’s best friend, if not, boyfriend, but unfortunately the writers of the show are under the pressure of the inevitable and the frustratingly annoying Klaine/Blaine fans so cannot afford to give Kurt a male friend that is not Blaine – because they’re such strong headed writers! So this is my message to you, my fellow Kelliot shippers, whether you love them as a couple or as friends, make the most of it, because Elliot will be gone, and it will not be pretty. The writers will destroy Elliot’s character and make Blaine the hero. So hold on to this wonderful ship, and prepare to lose them by as soon as next week.

RATINGS
Acting: 6/10 – The overall ensemble was wonderful, but it was Darren Criss that let the cast down. Blaine is supposed to be a sincere character, as you can tell from the script. Yet somehow everything Blaine does sounds completely insincere. Was Blaine sorry for taking the valedictorian position? Of course not, if he truly were he would have given it to the both of them – especially as they can now “sing” on stage with him – but regarding the acting, it was possible to make this seem more sincere, but Criss failed to do so. However, the rest of the cast, Rivera, Colfer, Michele, Lambert, Ushkowitz, Lynch and more, did absolutely fantastic.

Continuity: 6/10 – For Glee, the continuity was pretty impressive. We still have Blaine being annoying, but we also got nice continuity like the reminiscing on Artie and Tina’s relationship in the freshman season. Also, Rachel, back in season one and two, would always try to be the star of the show, and would always try to sabotage her friends that stood in her way. Whilst this is an immature thing to do, regarding continuity, it makes sense. But it does very little for the development Rachel’s character had in the previous episodes and season four, so that makes the score come down a notch.

Entertainment: 7.6/10 – The musical numbers were very entertaining, and the 12 minutes before Blaine’s face appeared on the screen were also very enticing. It was a good episode, for Glee, especially.

Humour: 6/10 – The only funny parts of the episode were delivered by Sue (Jane Lynch). She was great in every way possible, and pretty formed this score entirely upon herself.

Writing: 5/10 – The valedictorian storyline was fine, but the ending was like somebody running in with a paintball gun during a laser tag game. Also, Rachel leaving the loft and saying that Kurt was not her friend was very annoying to see, but I guess we have to go through the bad to see the good – but we can never trust this show.
OVERALL: 6/10
A great improvement from the 4.2 received back in December, so that’s wonderful! But regardless, a 6/10 for a show that used to be so successful… Hmm…

Glee airs every Tuesday at 8pm on FOX!

source

[YaoiChick]

OMG!!!  I LOVE this guy!!!    

It’s been over a month and a half since we last witnessed the show on our screens and what a wonderful hiatus that was! This week we come to the conclusion that Rachel (Lea Michele) is still the immature drama queen she was in the freshman season and Blaine (Darren Criss) is still annoying as ever. And that’s what you wish you missed on Glee!

Arguments between friends can be quite petty, so there’s no doubt that Rachel out of all people is one of those that causes these fights, especially in this episode. As Santana (Naya Rivera) has only had a nationwide advertisement as her biggest deal in New York, she has been trying to get something bigger, so, as she saw the opportunity to be an understudy (key term!) for Rachel, she went for it. Rachel somehow took this as a dig to her, yet, there should be nothing wrong with it. Is Rachel that insecure about her talent that she cannot handle having an understudy?! Let’s be real here, if she cannot take the pressures of somebody beneath her taking over for her in case of sickness etc. then she should not be on Broadway just yet. Rachel should step out of the pressures of New York and go back to Ohio until she feels that she is ready to trust herself with the highs and lows of show business. At the moment, Santana is still below Rachel and Rachel has higher authority than her. So why is it an issue? Because Rachel is not ready for Broadway, despite her talent, her mindset is not there just yet. Do you want further proof of this? Well, somehow Santana cannot play the role of Fanny Brice as Santana is not Jewish – let that sink in.

Regardless, the two duets that Michele and Rivera shared together were absolutely brilliant. “Brave” by Sara Bareilles was wonderfully done with a bit of a dream sequence where Santana imagined that she was in the photoshoot with Rachel, which, she ended up getting in the end. And then their take on The Police’s “Every Breathe You Take” was also quite astonishing. The two vocals placed together was fantastic and very admirable.

Back in McKinley the New Directions were preparing for graduation and Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Artie (Kevin McHale) were chosen to compete for Valedictorian for the graduation ceremony. The two have been academically brilliant and tied for this position, so had to compete. After Tina, during her duet with Artie on En Vogue’s “My Lovin’”, accidentally pushed the misogynistic creep onto the floor, which, he totally deserved, things took a turn when they both dedicated their competitive speeches to each other. Whilst they reminisced on Artie helping Tina in season one, the two ended up having a tie, again, and guess who gets the position? Yes, it was Blaine! For some reason the writers decided to bring Blaine into the situation because in this episode there was no other way to fit him in a song without forcing Criss’ bland vocals in the “Breakaway” (Kelly Clarkson) number at the end. The song at the end was great, if one were to edit Criss from the number and allow McHale and Ushkowitz to let their abilities to shine.

So now, let’s discuss the valedictorian a little more. Remember in season three when Finn (Cory Monteith) was the valedictorian? Was he the best at academics? No, and by far! Yet he somehow was rewarded with the role of valedictorian… So why must we now focus on grades? Oh, right, because that way we can get away with having Blaine having the opportunity as if it were any other way, it would be easy to argue against. Somehow Blaine is extremely smart in his academics yet he didn’t pay attention to when he was taught common courtesy (seriously, his “apology” seemed more fake than Lea Michele’s interviews). And to “make up” for this, he decided to sing instead – because we all want to see that happen!

And the best part of the episode was left until last because Glee is so frustrating lately that we have to make the most out of it. Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Elliot (Adam Lambert) had a bit of a feud where Kurt believed that Elliot was trying to “take over” the band, Pamela Lansbury, so he followed the idiotic advice from his even more idiotic boyfriend, Blaine, to keep his friends close and enemies closer. Fortunately, Elliot caught on to this and handled it wonderfully – that ended with a cheek kissing selfie with Kurt! So it was great to see the two of them actually being friends now, especially as their relationship has had so much potential to be great. It would be nice for Elliot to remain in the show until the end and become Kurt’s best friend, if not, boyfriend, but unfortunately the writers of the show are under the pressure of the inevitable and the frustratingly annoying Klaine/Blaine fans so cannot afford to give Kurt a male friend that is not Blaine – because they’re such strong headed writers! So this is my message to you, my fellow Kelliot shippers, whether you love them as a couple or as friends, make the most of it, because Elliot will be gone, and it will not be pretty. The writers will destroy Elliot’s character and make Blaine the hero. So hold on to this wonderful ship, and prepare to lose them by as soon as next week.

RATINGS
Acting: 6/10 – The overall ensemble was wonderful, but it was Darren Criss that let the cast down. Blaine is supposed to be a sincere character, as you can tell from the script. Yet somehow everything Blaine does sounds completely insincere. Was Blaine sorry for taking the valedictorian position? Of course not, if he truly were he would have given it to the both of them – especially as they can now “sing” on stage with him – but regarding the acting, it was possible to make this seem more sincere, but Criss failed to do so. However, the rest of the cast, Rivera, Colfer, Michele, Lambert, Ushkowitz, Lynch and more, did absolutely fantastic.

Continuity: 6/10 – For Glee, the continuity was pretty impressive. We still have Blaine being annoying, but we also got nice continuity like the reminiscing on Artie and Tina’s relationship in the freshman season. Also, Rachel, back in season one and two, would always try to be the star of the show, and would always try to sabotage her friends that stood in her way. Whilst this is an immature thing to do, regarding continuity, it makes sense. But it does very little for the development Rachel’s character had in the previous episodes and season four, so that makes the score come down a notch.

Entertainment: 7.6/10 – The musical numbers were very entertaining, and the 12 minutes before Blaine’s face appeared on the screen were also very enticing. It was a good episode, for Glee, especially.

Humour: 6/10 – The only funny parts of the episode were delivered by Sue (Jane Lynch). She was great in every way possible, and pretty formed this score entirely upon herself.

Writing: 5/10 – The valedictorian storyline was fine, but the ending was like somebody running in with a paintball gun during a laser tag game. Also, Rachel leaving the loft and saying that Kurt was not her friend was very annoying to see, but I guess we have to go through the bad to see the good – but we can never trust this show.
OVERALL: 6/10
A great improvement from the 4.2 received back in December, so that’s wonderful! But regardless, a 6/10 for a show that used to be so successful… Hmm…

Glee airs every Tuesday at 8pm on FOX!

source

Love it! Spot on, on every point.

[fantastica]

oh i have to find out if that guy is my hubby's long lost twin if he had one. toward the end when blaine started to talk/sing, my hubby was like: "this grease-haired bow tie creep is ruining the show for me! everything was cool until he showed up!". that was his exact words. i smartly ran back to the kitchen when mckinley part came up.

[Glorfindel]

^Your husband described Blaine perfectly.   

One little gripe I have-- and that's basically because I'm an insatiable Kurtsie-- is that StarKurt only got one duet for their frenemy storyline. All the other frenemy couples-- Artie and Tina (and Blaine), Rachel and Santana got at least two duets each.

That botheres me too, but Kurt always gets less songs in his storyline than others.
At least Starkurt's song was the one most people talk about.   

I also thought that there's too much meta in this episode. I could identify at least three:
-Tina arguing that the vapo-rape was being blown out of proportion
-Artie declaring that most people thought that Tina’s body was invaded by an alien that had turned her into a shallow and desperate person when she became a senior.
-Blaine claiming that he feels that "sometimes things just get handed to" him.

Another one:
- Sue saying that Tina and Artie had perfect attendance scores while other students/ND members (can't remember which) sometimes disappeared for months without explanation (Joe and Sugar).

Lastly, is it just me or did Kurt's twirling of those drum sticks remind you of Sai-twirling? The IBIATCL performance is truly fun to watch.

Kurt twirled drum sticks before, and other objects too (like the dirty whisk in 'Prom Queen'   ). I remember the drum sticks from 'Born This Way' (right before the song 'Born This Way').
I'd say it's the same technique whether you use sai swords or sticks.

OMG!!!  I LOVE this guy!!!   

source

Wow, he sure doesn't beat around the bush.  

[brisallie]

OMG!!!  I LOVE this guy!!!    

It’s been over a month and a half since we last witnessed the show on our screens and what a wonderful hiatus that was! This week we come to the conclusion that Rachel (Lea Michele) is still the immature drama queen she was in the freshman season and Blaine (Darren Criss) is still annoying as ever. And that’s what you wish you missed on Glee!

Arguments between friends can be quite petty, so there’s no doubt that Rachel out of all people is one of those that causes these fights, especially in this episode. As Santana (Naya Rivera) has only had a nationwide advertisement as her biggest deal in New York, she has been trying to get something bigger, so, as she saw the opportunity to be an understudy (key term!) for Rachel, she went for it. Rachel somehow took this as a dig to her, yet, there should be nothing wrong with it. Is Rachel that insecure about her talent that she cannot handle having an understudy?! Let’s be real here, if she cannot take the pressures of somebody beneath her taking over for her in case of sickness etc. then she should not be on Broadway just yet. Rachel should step out of the pressures of New York and go back to Ohio until she feels that she is ready to trust herself with the highs and lows of show business. At the moment, Santana is still below Rachel and Rachel has higher authority than her. So why is it an issue? Because Rachel is not ready for Broadway, despite her talent, her mindset is not there just yet. Do you want further proof of this? Well, somehow Santana cannot play the role of Fanny Brice as Santana is not Jewish – let that sink in.

Regardless, the two duets that Michele and Rivera shared together were absolutely brilliant. “Brave” by Sara Bareilles was wonderfully done with a bit of a dream sequence where Santana imagined that she was in the photoshoot with Rachel, which, she ended up getting in the end. And then their take on The Police’s “Every Breathe You Take” was also quite astonishing. The two vocals placed together was fantastic and very admirable.

Back in McKinley the New Directions were preparing for graduation and Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Artie (Kevin McHale) were chosen to compete for Valedictorian for the graduation ceremony. The two have been academically brilliant and tied for this position, so had to compete. After Tina, during her duet with Artie on En Vogue’s “My Lovin’”, accidentally pushed the misogynistic creep onto the floor, which, he totally deserved, things took a turn when they both dedicated their competitive speeches to each other. Whilst they reminisced on Artie helping Tina in season one, the two ended up having a tie, again, and guess who gets the position? Yes, it was Blaine! For some reason the writers decided to bring Blaine into the situation because in this episode there was no other way to fit him in a song without forcing Criss’ bland vocals in the “Breakaway” (Kelly Clarkson) number at the end. The song at the end was great, if one were to edit Criss from the number and allow McHale and Ushkowitz to let their abilities to shine.

So now, let’s discuss the valedictorian a little more. Remember in season three when Finn (Cory Monteith) was the valedictorian? Was he the best at academics? No, and by far! Yet he somehow was rewarded with the role of valedictorian… So why must we now focus on grades? Oh, right, because that way we can get away with having Blaine having the opportunity as if it were any other way, it would be easy to argue against. Somehow Blaine is extremely smart in his academics yet he didn’t pay attention to when he was taught common courtesy (seriously, his “apology” seemed more fake than Lea Michele’s interviews). And to “make up” for this, he decided to sing instead – because we all want to see that happen!

And the best part of the episode was left until last because Glee is so frustrating lately that we have to make the most out of it. Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Elliot (Adam Lambert) had a bit of a feud where Kurt believed that Elliot was trying to “take over” the band, Pamela Lansbury, so he followed the idiotic advice from his even more idiotic boyfriend, Blaine, to keep his friends close and enemies closer. Fortunately, Elliot caught on to this and handled it wonderfully – that ended with a cheek kissing selfie with Kurt! So it was great to see the two of them actually being friends now, especially as their relationship has had so much potential to be great. It would be nice for Elliot to remain in the show until the end and become Kurt’s best friend, if not, boyfriend, but unfortunately the writers of the show are under the pressure of the inevitable and the frustratingly annoying Klaine/Blaine fans so cannot afford to give Kurt a male friend that is not Blaine – because they’re such strong headed writers! So this is my message to you, my fellow Kelliot shippers, whether you love them as a couple or as friends, make the most of it, because Elliot will be gone, and it will not be pretty. The writers will destroy Elliot’s character and make Blaine the hero. So hold on to this wonderful ship, and prepare to lose them by as soon as next week.

RATINGS
Acting: 6/10 – The overall ensemble was wonderful, but it was Darren Criss that let the cast down. Blaine is supposed to be a sincere character, as you can tell from the script. Yet somehow everything Blaine does sounds completely insincere. Was Blaine sorry for taking the valedictorian position? Of course not, if he truly were he would have given it to the both of them – especially as they can now “sing” on stage with him – but regarding the acting, it was possible to make this seem more sincere, but Criss failed to do so. However, the rest of the cast, Rivera, Colfer, Michele, Lambert, Ushkowitz, Lynch and more, did absolutely fantastic.

Continuity: 6/10 – For Glee, the continuity was pretty impressive. We still have Blaine being annoying, but we also got nice continuity like the reminiscing on Artie and Tina’s relationship in the freshman season. Also, Rachel, back in season one and two, would always try to be the star of the show, and would always try to sabotage her friends that stood in her way. Whilst this is an immature thing to do, regarding continuity, it makes sense. But it does very little for the development Rachel’s character had in the previous episodes and season four, so that makes the score come down a notch.

Entertainment: 7.6/10 – The musical numbers were very entertaining, and the 12 minutes before Blaine’s face appeared on the screen were also very enticing. It was a good episode, for Glee, especially.

Humour: 6/10 – The only funny parts of the episode were delivered by Sue (Jane Lynch). She was great in every way possible, and pretty formed this score entirely upon herself.

Writing: 5/10 – The valedictorian storyline was fine, but the ending was like somebody running in with a paintball gun during a laser tag game. Also, Rachel leaving the loft and saying that Kurt was not her friend was very annoying to see, but I guess we have to go through the bad to see the good – but we can never trust this show.
OVERALL: 6/10
A great improvement from the 4.2 received back in December, so that’s wonderful! But regardless, a 6/10 for a show that used to be so successful… Hmm…

Glee airs every Tuesday at 8pm on FOX!

source

I'm sure I've read his recaps before, and I also love him as he usually say the truth, or in other words what most people think about Glee...and blaine.

@Delight, I saw a discussion in which it was said that probably Starkurt only had one duet because they're just starting their friendship unlike Santana/Rachel and Tina/Artie who had been friends for longer.

[Glorfindel]

@Delight, I saw a discussion in which it was said that probably Starkurt only had one duet because they're just starting their friendship unlike Santana/Rachel and Tina/Artie who had been friends for longer.

Which is utter bullcrap, because that didn't stop Blam from getting a load of duets as soon as they were thrown together out of the blue in the beginning of season 4.  

It would have been really easy and fitting if Kurt and Elliot had sung another song together in the loft after Elliot assured Kurt he was not trying to take over the band. They had just bought a guitar for Kurt, for crying out loud! That would have been a very organic moment to insert a song.

Whereas the Blaine/Artie/Tina song 'Break Away' was shoe-horned in very badly: "Let's sing a song together because I was made valedictorian, even though principal Sue forbids it".   

[YaoiChick]

@Delight, I saw a discussion in which it was said that probably Starkurt only had one duet because they're just starting their friendship unlike Santana/Rachel and Tina/Artie who had been friends for longer.

Which is utter bullcrap, because that didn't stop Blam from getting a load of duets as soon as they were thrown together out of the blue in the beginning of season 4.  

It would have been really easy and fitting if Kurt and Elliot had sung another song together in the loft after Elliot assured Kurt he was not trying to take over the band. They had just bought a guitar for Kurt, for crying out loud! That would have been a very organic moment to insert a song.

Whereas the Blaine/Artie/Tina song 'Break Away' was shoe-horned in very badly: "Let's sing a song together because I was made valedictorian, even though principal Sue forbids it".   

We all know Blaine has to sing at least once our they risk everyone forgetting he's there (wish I could).

And knowing Glees track record with continuality, ex. the fact the tattoos and tounge piercing disappeared, we'll never see Kurt with his own guitar   

[brisallie]

We all know Blaine has to sing at least once our they risk everyone forgetting he's there (wish I could).

And knowing Glees track record with continuality, ex. the fact the tattoos and tounge piercing disappeared, we'll never see Kurt with his own guitar   

Although since episode 5 haven't been mentioned the tattoo, and knowing Glee will probably never mentioned again, in my head is still there. Unless we get a new shirtless scene to prove otherwise.

@Glorfindel, also I believe was unfair Starkurt didn't have a second duet. And remembering the discussion I saw, and taking the 'they're starting their friendship' reason, it was also implied that as they're not totally friends, they can't have a real feud, as only those people who have been friends for longer have. What? Even though they weren't friends and never will, as the bandmates they're, they can have their issues as regards what's better for the band. Isn't the same when it comes to classmates, co-workers?

[ChrisColfersLightning]

Any who! Am I the only one who at first shipped StarKurt just because I hated Klaine, but now really just see them as friends? Like I honest to god want them to be Bff's and nothing more! But if something did happen, they are both super hot so I wouldn't mind it   

After watching IBIATCL for the thousandth time, I saw how cute they were in public, Elliot starts it off by flirting a bit with the first guitar player and then turn to Kurt, and Kurt takes his que and finds another boy and flirts with him. I thought it was cute!

It seems like Elliot can be a great mentor and friend to Kurt, and judging by the looks the boys gave them, they thought they were hot!   They would tear up New York together as friends    I can just imagine those to getting up to shenanigans together! Causing awesome impromptu sing and dance crazes where ever they are and flirting with hot guys  and rocking out     

I realllllyyyy want StarKurt friendship with single Kurt    He does not need to be tied down, if anything he needs a good friend and a wing man who can show him the ropes like Elliot could.
I want Single!StarKurt friendship so bad!  

He would be a way better mentor then Blaine was, and now a days, better friend too (sorry to those who like him).

Sure would! Blaine is a horrible friend, mentor, boyfriend, person   

[ChrisColfersLightning]

OMG!!!  I LOVE this guy!!!    

It’s been over a month and a half since we last witnessed the show on our screens and what a wonderful hiatus that was! This week we come to the conclusion that Rachel (Lea Michele) is still the immature drama queen she was in the freshman season and Blaine (Darren Criss) is still annoying as ever. And that’s what you wish you missed on Glee!

Arguments between friends can be quite petty, so there’s no doubt that Rachel out of all people is one of those that causes these fights, especially in this episode. As Santana (Naya Rivera) has only had a nationwide advertisement as her biggest deal in New York, she has been trying to get something bigger, so, as she saw the opportunity to be an understudy (key term!) for Rachel, she went for it. Rachel somehow took this as a dig to her, yet, there should be nothing wrong with it. Is Rachel that insecure about her talent that she cannot handle having an understudy?! Let’s be real here, if she cannot take the pressures of somebody beneath her taking over for her in case of sickness etc. then she should not be on Broadway just yet. Rachel should step out of the pressures of New York and go back to Ohio until she feels that she is ready to trust herself with the highs and lows of show business. At the moment, Santana is still below Rachel and Rachel has higher authority than her. So why is it an issue? Because Rachel is not ready for Broadway, despite her talent, her mindset is not there just yet. Do you want further proof of this? Well, somehow Santana cannot play the role of Fanny Brice as Santana is not Jewish – let that sink in.

Regardless, the two duets that Michele and Rivera shared together were absolutely brilliant. “Brave” by Sara Bareilles was wonderfully done with a bit of a dream sequence where Santana imagined that she was in the photoshoot with Rachel, which, she ended up getting in the end. And then their take on The Police’s “Every Breathe You Take” was also quite astonishing. The two vocals placed together was fantastic and very admirable.

Back in McKinley the New Directions were preparing for graduation and Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Artie (Kevin McHale) were chosen to compete for Valedictorian for the graduation ceremony. The two have been academically brilliant and tied for this position, so had to compete. After Tina, during her duet with Artie on En Vogue’s “My Lovin’”, accidentally pushed the misogynistic creep onto the floor, which, he totally deserved, things took a turn when they both dedicated their competitive speeches to each other. Whilst they reminisced on Artie helping Tina in season one, the two ended up having a tie, again, and guess who gets the position? Yes, it was Blaine! For some reason the writers decided to bring Blaine into the situation because in this episode there was no other way to fit him in a song without forcing Criss’ bland vocals in the “Breakaway” (Kelly Clarkson) number at the end. The song at the end was great, if one were to edit Criss from the number and allow McHale and Ushkowitz to let their abilities to shine.

So now, let’s discuss the valedictorian a little more. Remember in season three when Finn (Cory Monteith) was the valedictorian? Was he the best at academics? No, and by far! Yet he somehow was rewarded with the role of valedictorian… So why must we now focus on grades? Oh, right, because that way we can get away with having Blaine having the opportunity as if it were any other way, it would be easy to argue against. Somehow Blaine is extremely smart in his academics yet he didn’t pay attention to when he was taught common courtesy (seriously, his “apology” seemed more fake than Lea Michele’s interviews). And to “make up” for this, he decided to sing instead – because we all want to see that happen!

And the best part of the episode was left until last because Glee is so frustrating lately that we have to make the most out of it. Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Elliot (Adam Lambert) had a bit of a feud where Kurt believed that Elliot was trying to “take over” the band, Pamela Lansbury, so he followed the idiotic advice from his even more idiotic boyfriend, Blaine, to keep his friends close and enemies closer. Fortunately, Elliot caught on to this and handled it wonderfully – that ended with a cheek kissing selfie with Kurt! So it was great to see the two of them actually being friends now, especially as their relationship has had so much potential to be great. It would be nice for Elliot to remain in the show until the end and become Kurt’s best friend, if not, boyfriend, but unfortunately the writers of the show are under the pressure of the inevitable and the frustratingly annoying Klaine/Blaine fans so cannot afford to give Kurt a male friend that is not Blaine – because they’re such strong headed writers! So this is my message to you, my fellow Kelliot shippers, whether you love them as a couple or as friends, make the most of it, because Elliot will be gone, and it will not be pretty. The writers will destroy Elliot’s character and make Blaine the hero. So hold on to this wonderful ship, and prepare to lose them by as soon as next week.

RATINGS
Acting: 6/10 – The overall ensemble was wonderful, but it was Darren Criss that let the cast down. Blaine is supposed to be a sincere character, as you can tell from the script. Yet somehow everything Blaine does sounds completely insincere. Was Blaine sorry for taking the valedictorian position? Of course not, if he truly were he would have given it to the both of them – especially as they can now “sing” on stage with him – but regarding the acting, it was possible to make this seem more sincere, but Criss failed to do so. However, the rest of the cast, Rivera, Colfer, Michele, Lambert, Ushkowitz, Lynch and more, did absolutely fantastic.

Continuity: 6/10 – For Glee, the continuity was pretty impressive. We still have Blaine being annoying, but we also got nice continuity like the reminiscing on Artie and Tina’s relationship in the freshman season. Also, Rachel, back in season one and two, would always try to be the star of the show, and would always try to sabotage her friends that stood in her way. Whilst this is an immature thing to do, regarding continuity, it makes sense. But it does very little for the development Rachel’s character had in the previous episodes and season four, so that makes the score come down a notch.

Entertainment: 7.6/10 – The musical numbers were very entertaining, and the 12 minutes before Blaine’s face appeared on the screen were also very enticing. It was a good episode, for Glee, especially.

Humour: 6/10 – The only funny parts of the episode were delivered by Sue (Jane Lynch). She was great in every way possible, and pretty formed this score entirely upon herself.

Writing: 5/10 – The valedictorian storyline was fine, but the ending was like somebody running in with a paintball gun during a laser tag game. Also, Rachel leaving the loft and saying that Kurt was not her friend was very annoying to see, but I guess we have to go through the bad to see the good – but we can never trust this show.
OVERALL: 6/10
A great improvement from the 4.2 received back in December, so that’s wonderful! But regardless, a 6/10 for a show that used to be so successful… Hmm…

Glee airs every Tuesday at 8pm on FOX!

source

I'm sure I've read his recaps before, and I also love him as he usually say the truth, or in other words what most people think about Glee...and blaine.

@Delight, I saw a discussion in which it was said that probably Starkurt only had one duet because they're just starting their friendship unlike Santana/Rachel and Tina/Artie who had been friends for longer.

That guy is my fave! He lets Blaine have it! lol

[Ireth]

I also thought that there's too much meta in this episode. I could identify at least three:
-Tina arguing that the vapo-rape was being blown out of proportion
-Artie declaring that most people thought that Tina’s body was invaded by an alien that had turned her into a shallow and desperate person when she became a senior.
-Blaine claiming that he feels that "sometimes things just get handed to" him.

Another one:
- Sue saying that Tina and Artie had perfect attendance scores while other students/ND members (can't remember which) sometimes disappeared for months without explanation (Joe and Sugar).

Tina's been missing without no explanation as well ("Asian bird flu" is not an explanation). Though of course they're retconning everything about Tina.

OMG!!!  I LOVE this guy!!!   

source

I love it!

[Buenos]

Poor Jenna, I'm sure she is thrilled for the opportunity Glee gave her and the public platform and a great paycheck for 5 years.  Hopefully she will go on to other stuff but if she's invested wisely (5 years on a TV show) she will do fine.

Having said that, the writers had no problem crapping on her character, and this Frenemies episode was no exception.  Mocking her and basically making it a running meta commentary how unimportant and insignificant Tina was/is.  Plus she served no other purpose than to blow smoke up the Blaine's character's ass 24/7 and was reduced to a brown-nosing wretch of a character to make him look good.  It bothered me that they included Artie in this meta commentary, sure he's always been a supporting character but they never made fun of  him before because of that.



On a positive note, I like Jenna's singing, she has such a pure lovely voice that at least we get to hear her a few more times before the Glee  ships her off to offscreen Brown University.  I just don't want Tina with some last minute pairing to give her a fabricated "happy ending".  The poor gal has been crapped upon enough, (and I have no illusions that next week's episode is her groveling at the feet of Blam, kissing their asses and made to look pathetic and a loser in comparison to them, in other words, the usual Blamtina dynamics) so I would love for Tina to maintain some scrap of dignity once she leaves the show.

NOt even thrilled if they pair her again with Mike, since they skewered his character to make her look even more like a loser (ie he dumped her for not being asian enough).  I do love Jenna's voice and she is a pretty girl.   Jenna herself seems like a real sweetheart.

[Glorfindel]

^I was glad that this episode Tina was allowed to be critical and even cynical when it comes to Blaine (she was not pleased that he got valedictorian).   
Although of course the "I'll share a song with you because I won valedictorian" saccharin and plain stupid ending ruined it all.   


Also: sorry for being  pain in the a**, but could we limit the comments about specific people on other boards to the snark & bark thread, please, if you must go there at all?

[Buenos]

^I was glad that this episode Tina was allowed to be critical and even cynical when it comes to Blaine (she was not pleased that he got valedictorian).   
Although of course the "I'll share a song with you because I won valedictorian" saccharin and plain stupid ending ruined it all.   


Also: sorry for being  pain in the a**, but could we limit the comments about specific people on other boards to the snark & bark thread, please, if you must go there at all?

Duly noted, my apologies I'll try not to repeat that here again.

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