Re: 5x20 "The Untitled Rachel Berry Project" Watch & Discussion thread

[ChrisColferFan1]

I think Kurt settled for Blarren in the first episode of this season.  Chris has been playing Kurt as someone that has given up hope of ever finding anyone better than Blaine.  And that is sad.  Chris is the biggest Kurt stan, but he can't fight the writers/producers.  Glee became a job and that's it.

Chris is so smart to have planned things well in advance for his post-Glee career.  He has been careful in his choices of projects and has waited until Glee is finished to announce his next step.  Hopefully, Glee is done and Chris can go onto all the other things he has planned.  I can't wait for seeing the finished products.

Great post I agree. Chris is a big Kurt Stan and wants what is best for Kurt. Agree he can't fight  the writers/producers on what they have Kurt say and do ,even when/ if he disagrees  100%. Which I suspect he does at least part of the time.


Also ,Agree on Chris being smart of having plan  is post -Glee   career  well  in  advance. Looking forward to his   future roles

[Ireth]

So, is Chord.

Anti-Klainer.   

Is this Chord's twitter? Seriously, what's going on?...What if this tweet had an 'humorous' intention behind? sometimes friends has this sort of jokes.

I know the one about preferring Kevin is legit, but is this tweet legit?

[coxfire]

So, is Chord.

Anti-Klainer.   

Is this Chord's twitter? Seriously, what's going on?...What if this tweet had an 'humorous' intention behind? sometimes friends has this sort of jokes.

I know the one about preferring Kevin is legit, but is this tweet legit?

I thought its as a bad attempt at humour, maybe a private joke between them, I didn't take it at face value, honestly

[Lottie2303]

^ Yes, it is.

[ChrisColfersLightning]

I just realized we do not even have the song ratings or song charts   

[Glorfindel]

^Ask and ye shall receive:

Top 1500
 
146. All Of Me
161. Pompeii
223. Glitter In The Air
302. American Boy
990. Shakin' My Head
1336. No Time At All
 
 
Top 1500 Pop - only new songs
 
...
620. Girls On Film
 
 
Top 1500 Albums
 
24. The Untitled Rachel Berry Project
279. Old Dog, New Tricks
828. The Back Up Plan
1404. The Quarterback


The high ranking of 'All of Me' and 'Pompeii' is probably also due to their originals still being very high up in the charts themselves. John Legend's own 'All of Me' is even in the top 10 (and that's probably why they gave that song to Darren, lol: they're so predictable).

[Buenos]

Even so " All of me" didn't even crack the top 30 highest placing Glee singles on Itunes this year.  

Darren as some sort of special itunes cash cow (never really accurate LBR) has been completely shattered the last couple of years.

Nothing against Darren but his Stans desperately trying to perpetuate that myth beyond its shelf life was so annoying.

No surprise that Lea and Naya sold the most itunes in the top 30.

[fantastica]

^ it's the song, not the singer.

[Buenos]

^ it's the song, not the singer.

Tell that to the Blarren fans , at least the sub group who are so fucking delusional.

Look, I get liking your fave to sing, (as a Kurt fan I want him to always sing more) I just don't like twisting stats and outright lying to try to perpetuate a mistruth that Darren sells consistently better than the rest.  

Was never true.

[ChrisColfersLightning]

^Ask and ye shall receive:

Top 1500
 
146. All Of Me
161. Pompeii
223. Glitter In The Air
302. American Boy
990. Shakin' My Head
1336. No Time At All
 
 
Top 1500 Pop - only new songs
 
...
620. Girls On Film
 
 
Top 1500 Albums
 
24. The Untitled Rachel Berry Project
279. Old Dog, New Tricks
828. The Back Up Plan
1404. The Quarterback


The high ranking of 'All of Me' and 'Pompeii' is probably also due to their originals still being very high up in the charts themselves. John Legend's own 'All of Me' is even in the top 10 (and that's probably why they gave that song to Darren, lol: they're so predictable).

It still isn't below 100!    Lea and Naya songs just a few months ago got in the 90's, Darren stans are delusional claiming he is the only one with top hits! He haven't had a hit in 2 years!

Plus I think Glee spent more money buying Glitter in the sky, All of me, and Pompeii then they sold, I bet they was thrilled to hand over the two cheapest songs they had for years and tossed them in Chris episode so they can spend all their money on trying to give Bland and Lea, I mean Rachel, a hit song and popularity!

Is it sad that I legit LOL'ed that even though King Darren went on Windy show, sung some 'swoony tunes'    and promoted the 'iconic only reason left to watch Blee' Klaineand STILL ratings dropped so low while Chris episode was barely advertised and CHRIS himself had to do his own promotions while everyone was silent and did not help him promote? Like I know I should move on and I AM

Chris blessed us with amazing news, I just had to laugh a little that while Chris episode may have been too soft for some people and D rated (Looking at you AV club -.-) Glee big bang finale that was a MUCH WATCH that Ryan and Darren were gushing about got under 2 mil, it is ironic in a way that makes me petty and bitchy enough to have satisfaction from that.

I love Chris, and when I feel like his awful work place, boss, and cast mates try to throw some shade at him, I can only feel a bit smug at how well my Idol handle himself and his fabulous thriving career  

[Glorfindel]

Nothing against Darren but his Stans desperately trying to perpetuate that myth beyond its shelf life was so annoying.

And there was even a campaign from the (K)Blainers this episode, to buy 'All Of Me' multiple times to support Klaine and to let the network know that Klaine is the best there is on Glee evvaaaa!!!!111!!!1!!!!
I think they did this after all the Daleastreet news and hearing nothing about Kurt and Chris. Not that they are that interested in Kurt and Chris besides him being the ringbearer and accessory of Blaine in the Klaine engagement. They want their wedding, come what may (pun intended).

And lol, how typical that they tried to get 'All of Me' high in the charts, a Blaine solo, and not the Klaine duet from the same episode.   

^ it's the song, not the singer.

Tell that to the Blarren fans , at least the sub group who are so fucking delusional.

Look, I get liking your fave to sing, (as a Kurt fan I want him to always sing more) I just don't like twisting stats and outright lying to try to perpetuate a mistruth that Darren sells consistently better than the rest.  

Was never true.

Lbr: they only kept saying that to excuse all the songs that Darren got in the show, especially after the backlash and irritation started from the rest of the Glee fandom.

Darren stopped being one of the best iTunes seller of Glee after the Warblers stopped backing him up.
Although they kept trying by giving him the popular current top 40 songs. If any of the other cast members had gotten those songs they'd sell just as well.

Plus I think Glee spent more money buying Glitter in the sky, All of me, and Pompeii then they sold, I bet they was thrilled to hand over the two cheapest songs they had for years and tossed them in Chris episode so they can spend all their money on trying to give Bland and Lea, I mean Rachel, a hit song and popularity!

This was so obvious.
Chris had to include 'Werewolves in London' and 'I Melt With You' in his episode (and he did a good job, imo) because Glee needed to dump those songs before the season ended, after having paid for the rights. They couldn't put them in the season's finale (or apparently in the episode they initially bought them for, as planning was never Glee's biggest suit) because that was Blea heavy. They just as easily could have used 'I Melt With You' instead of 'All of Me' as Blaine's solo in 5x20, but he needed to have the hot top 40 song to boost the iTunes sales.

[Ranwing]

Gittler in the Air, in my opinion, was completely wasted on Rachel. It was pretty, but devoid of heart and soul and it had absolutely nothing to do with her storyline. It ended up being just another throwaway solo that added nothing to her story.

I would have loved to have seen it as a Kurt solo. And not just because I would love to see another Kurt solo and this is one of my favorite Pink songs (which he would totally have owned), but because it would have fit his storyline. His whole story in the finale was about throwing caution to the wind and chosing to trust your partner (even when he has thus far proven unworthy of that trust). It would have many sense for him to sing that particular song in this particular episode. And he would have given it the emotional resonence that Rachel's version completely lacked.

[Ireth]

^ Yes, it is.

Ok, thanks.   

I couldn't find it on his timeline, that's why I was asking. Two tweets like this against Blaine/Darren is serious shade.

[sheny]

The "Darren Criss you lied to Kurt" tweet looks like a joke between friends to me. IDK about the other one. Maybe Chord was annoyed because that fan asked him about his favourite Blaine song instead of his own character's.

[Buenos]

The one that I thought was tacky was saying his favorite Chord romance SL's were the Quinn/Sam and Quinn/Britt.  This after he was just now was filming the Samcedes one?      Fine, it's his opinion but he could have been tactful and said they were all good in different ways but sorry that was a shade of Amber , since it's the only one of those SL"s that had actual , you know, adult dialogue in it.

The Sam/Brittany was like two idiots drooling together.

My own  bias is seeping through because I thought both those earlier ones were boring as fuck, hell even Ryan Murphy admitted he was bored of Sam/Quinn.

[Glorfindel]

^Would you have felt the same if Chris had tweeted he prefered Kurt/Adam and Kurt/Santa over Klaine?
Chord is just as entitled to have his own opinion as Chris is.

There can be many reasons why an actor prefers a certain pairing of his character over another one, and I don't think Chord had to say Samcedes because that is the last relationship his character was in, nor is he in any way dissing Amber (or her looks) just because he clearly prefers skinny blondes himself.
It's true that Samcedes had more adult dialogue, but except for Chris' episode Sam was treated mostly like an irresponsible horny child in that relationship. At least when he was with Quinn Sam still had a brain, and though that brain was reduced when he was paired with Brittany they still had quite some songs and storylines together, and he was Brittany's hero/helper. Maybe he liked that. With Samcedes only Mercedes seemed to decide things, and sing.

The "Darren Criss you lied to Kurt" tweet looks like a joke between friends to me. IDK about the other one. Maybe Chord was annoyed because that fan asked him about his favourite Blaine song instead of his own character's.

Oh, that's possible. Maybe he got so many Blaine, Klaine, Blam and Darren questions from the Blarrenstans that he just got pissed.  

[Buenos]

^Would you have felt the same if Chris had tweeted he prefered Kurt/Adam and Kurt/Santa over Klaine?
Chord is just as entitled to have his own opinion as Chris is.

Like I said earlier,  I have no problem with his actual opinion, just my personal spin is when you are in a current SL with another actress which is for all intents your longest running arc with anyone (Samcedes was set up at the end of Season 2, took up most of Season 3, and was picked up for the second half of Season 5) on the show, and for all you know is the one actress you will continue to have a SL until the show ends; that wasn't necessary.  It doesn't seem like the gentlemanly thing to do (I know that sounds so sexist and dated...LOL) to even go there.

Chord knows how the Glee fans are, so no, it wasn't the most egrevious thing to say but I'm still surprised that that was the question he bothered to answer unequivocally.

If Chris had tweeted he preferred Kurt/Adam or Kurt/Elliot that would be such glorious shade, and TBH, the Klainers would know he was shading them.    

AS far as Chord saying he preferred Kevin vocally, yea I could see him pissed that all the Blaine fans were taking up the twitter space.  How stupid to ask him what Blaine song was his favorite, talk about tacky fans.   

[Glorfindel]

Chord knows how the Glee fans are, so no, it wasn't the most egrevious thing to say but I'm still surprised that that was the question he bothered to answer unequivocally.

If Chris had tweeted he preferred Kurt/Adam or Kurt/Elliot that would be such glorious shade, and TBH, the Klainers would know he was shading them.   

But then what is the difference? Chris' character is also currently in a relationship with Blaine and probably will be so till Glee ends. But if he prefers Kadam or KurtSanta he would be throwing glorious shade, whereas Chord preferring Quinn or Brittany was unnecessary and insulting to Amber and Samcedes fans?

And Chris has said he liked Adam and Santa, while not mentioning Klaine at all. Heck, he even said just recently that he would wish for Kurt to have a 2nd love interest.
Noone forced him to say that, he purposely chose to answer that way, just like Chord purposely decided to answer that tweet. When being asked that question (I believe it was a what would be on your bucket list for Kurt question) Chris could have named a lot of things for Kurt that had nothing to do with his lovelife, and yet he specificly mentioned wanting to have another love relationship, not Klaine.
That's not flattering towards Darren, Klaine nor their fans either.

I just fail to see why similar actions provoke opposite reactions from you, besides the obvious factor of who said it?  

[Glorfindel]

Was this here yet?

 
x   

[Buenos]

I have to admit, this is an interesting deconstruction of the Kurt/June/Blane SL conclusion:

http://kurtmatters.tumblr.com/post/86048644943/blaine-should-have-said-no-to-the-showcase-period

Blaine should have said no to the showcase period, not passively-aggressively forcing Kurt to tell him it was okay for him to do it.

He should have said no, not because Kurt was not included in it, but because June showed zero respect towards Kurt and towards Blaine’s relationship with Kurt. He should have said no the moment she told him he should choose between his career and Kurt.

Blaine lied to Kurt because of that, because he could not bring himself to say how June had framed her support of Blaine and he had still accepted it. In Blaine’s shoes, Kurt would have laughed at June’s face and gotten out the moment she started saying anything remotely scathing about Blaine.

Blaine still wants the showcase. And after the lie comes out - which he reveals because he’s forced to - he does the usual passive-aggressive thing (sorry, sorry, you matter more than anything to me), well knowing from past experience that stretches back to the McKinley days that Kurt will bless his decision to do the showcase. As he does.

At the showcase itself, Kurt is literally humiliated by June, but still stays around to support Blaine. Blaine does his performance with June and only then he does the “grand gesture” of inviting Kurt on stage.

This grand gesture, which Klainers like to read as some sort of selfless sacrifice, is completely pre-emptied by the fact that he has already had his showcase moment with June and therefore her endorsement. Moreover, by performing his “sacrifice” publicly, in a friendly environment, he basically forces June’s hand, who could never retaliate against him even if she wanted to.

In other words, Blaine risks nothing, sacrifices nothing, as always. And for this he’s rewarded with: a showcase, the promise that no matter how often he fucks up he’ll always get away with it, and the loft being changed to match exactly his own specifications.

[sheny]

I don’t understand how Blaine singing his duet with June before inviting Kurt on stage was going to stop her from retaliating against him. If Kurt didn’t impress her with his performance like he did, June could‘ve have easily destroyed Blaine’s career prospects for disobeying her.
The OP on tumblr tagged this post with “Kurt is a doormat”. I’m so tired of seeing this. Supporting your loved ones even if they don’t deserve it that much doesn’t make you a doormat.

[Glorfindel]

^I have to agree with this. June could just as easily ave stayed pissed at Blaine for singing that duet with Kurt. She probably would have said nothing at the showcase itself to save face, but retaliate later by pulling back her support from Blaine.

On the other hand Blaine did wait untill after the showcase was over and everyone had already seen what he can do before he invited Kurt, and he also made sure that the moment he finally defied and disobeyed June was in public, so she couldn't really react in a negative way if she had wanted to.
Maybe inviting Kurt for a duet was a spontaneous action from Blaine, but we didn't really saw a build-up to that in his manners/eyes right before he did it (like we were able to see Kurt thinking about deliberately sabotaging 'Defying Gravity' in season 1), so it could have been a planned, calculated risk as well.

Blegh, why even try to make sense of a stupid storyline like that?   


As for Kurt being depicted as a doormat:
I think Kurt can become a doormat very quickly if they continu like this, but personally I don't think he's there yet. Yes, he tries to please his loved ones too much, plus he's way too forgiving and trusting for his own good. And his love for Blaine is definitely blind at times. But Kurt still gets fed up sometimes, letting frustrations grow and build inside him untill he can't take it anymore and bites back.
We saw it in 5x19 with Rachel (and thank you, Chris, for writing that) and before that in 'Bash'. He also kicked that lunchbag from the piano when he found out that Blaine had been lying to him, and literally fought back and won when Blaine tried to beat him in fencing class. And even though they hugged Kurt wasn't all smiles and heart eyes either after Blaine talked to him about needing to feel better/stronger than him (although that was also mainly thanks to Chris and his acting choices).

What I think is happening is that the writers indeed unintentionally are making Kurt a doormat to Blaine and Rachel, mainly because they need him to prop them up and to get to that confounded Klendgame. But they also still sometimes cling to the old Kurt, or at least they think they still are writing him like the iconic character he once was. They want their cake and eat it too. It's no coincidence that Kurt can still be snarky and his fabulous old self only around other characters than Rachel and Blaine (or when he's not involved in the conflict itself, like when Rachel and Santana were fighting).

RIB also don't want to give up on a Kurt being morally right most of the time: that's why Blaine is mostly in the wrong and Kurt then has to bend backwards to excuse Blaine's behavior, so he can forgive and take him back, again and again and again. And with Rachel Kurt is always the voice of reason and caution when she frivolously throws everything away for a new, better offer.

But most importantly: Kurt has to have the patience (and naivete) of an angel when it comes to both Blaine and Rachel because the writers always make them be the cause of the drama so they can be the main characters in the storyline.
Kurt never is the main character in their storylines together. He's just the character they bounce off of: the mirror, the judge, the opponent, the victim, the Jimminy Cricket. Blaine and Rachel have the POV and the inner conflict, while Kurt only has the supporting role (sometimes literally) and can only react. 

This all doesn't intentionally make Kurt slowly and gradually become a doormat, but just like Klaine becoming more unhealthy and abusive episode by episode it's one of the consequences of the horrible writing in Glee.
It's like back in season 2 and 3 the characters of both Rachel and Finn got damaged and degraded because of Finchel: stupid relationship drama being more important than continuity of their characters.

To me Kurt isn't a doormat yet mainly because of one of the few good things of Glee: Chris' acting. Most actors would have given up by now, unable to salvage their character after all the awful writing. But Chris keeps ploughing on, refusing to let Kurt be turned into the meek and obedient Stepford Wife.
There's still life and a fighting spirit in Kurt, and even though Blaine, Rachel, the other characters and even the writers seem to forget everything right after the inevitable make-up hug, Kurt still remembers all the details, all the lying and selfishness of Blaine and Rachel. Chris keeps showing those inner thoughts of Kurt in his acting, Kurt's doubts and suspicions, and that's what keeps Kurt from being a doormat and unredeemable in my eyes.

Kurt's fighting spirit and enormous resilience are at the moment unfortunately still aimed at and used for saving his relationship with Blaine and his friendship with Rachel, because that's what Kurt wants rn. He isn't blind to Blaine's faults and issues (nor Rachel's), he just chooses to continu the relationship in spite of them, in the hope things will get better as Blaine finally sorts his shit out.
(And we all know this is only the case because of Glee's Klendgame obsession.)
But his fighting spirit isn't gone completely, as it would be if he was a true doormat. Kurt can still leave Blaine behind if he wants to, he just doesn't choose to (yet), but he will if Blaine finally messes up one time too many.

I know it's frustrating for us because we've had enough, but that's just the horrible writing and us being fed up with Glee in general, not how Kurt as a character feels about himself and his relationship. Kurt is not forgiving Blaine again because he gave up and thinks he's settling, if you know what I mean. He's just a character who won't let go and give up easily when the odds are against him, and that is so IC for Kurt.
Yes, Kurt has all the signs of battered housewife syndrom, but imo he's smart and still strong enough to pull himself out of the relationships that hurt him, if things don't get better soon. That's why I hope there won't be a 6th season, as the Kurt of end season 5 still is very capable of dumping Blaine, but I fear what they'll do to him in another season.


(phew, long post)

[Ireth]

I agree, I think Kurt knows fully well what he's tying himself down to, and chooses to continue the relationship anyway. This means he'll willingly leave Blaine once Blaine screws up one time too many. And I think Chris' acting helps a lot in portraying Kurt this way. For example, he seemed thoughtful while Blaine clung to his neck in that scene with pigeons on the steps, instead of being all lovey dovey. He knows Blaine hasn't been very trustworthy, and he knows he's making the choice to still trust Blaine, and he knows that it might come back to bite him in the ass one day (again).

[Ranwing]

I agree, I think Kurt knows fully well what he's tying himself down to, and chooses to continue the relationship anyway. This means he'll willingly leave Blaine once Blaine screws up one time too many. And I think Chris' acting helps a lot in portraying Kurt this way. For example, he seemed thoughtful while Blaine clung to his neck in that scene with pigeons on the steps, instead of being all lovey dovey. He knows Blaine hasn't been very trustworthy, and he knows he's making the choice to still trust Blaine, and he knows that it might come back to bite him in the ass one day (again).

This was exactly how I took that scene. Kurt wasn't saying that he should just trust Blaine. He's not saying that Blaine has earned his trust. He's making a very deliberate and conscious decision to trust Blaine. It's not a given. It's not instinctual and should be taken for granted on Blaine's part. It's deliberate and thought out and the pros and cons have been weighed out and considered.

And in the end, it puts the onus on Blaine to rise up and show that he is deserving on that consideration on Kurt's part. Because he's failed to up until that point. Kurt knows what he's leaving himself open to and he's willing to risk it one more time in the hopes that Blaine will prove Kurt right and that he can be the kind of partner that Kurt deserves.

Now I'm not going to argue that Blaine was right in a lot of this. He was still willing to go along with June and further his ambitions even while June was being so disparaging towards Kurt and Blaine's relationship with him. Blaine was trying to have it both ways and at that moment in the rehearsal room, he was willing to hurt Kurt in order to keep June's sponsorship. The good thing is that Kurt wasn't letting Blaine off the hook and telling him that it was okay. He was rightfully very angry about Blaine lying to him and stringing him along while all the while knowing that June wasn't going to accept Kurt. And he still went through with the showcase and tried to get the benefit that he could from the exposure that June was providing before pulling Kurt into his encore. He was making a risk, but it was definitely a mitigated one.

Still, in the end he not only defied June in some small way, but he allowed Kurt to have the focus in the encore for his showcase (something Blaine has very rarely done - not since Candles has he allowed Kurt to have the primary place in one of their duet performances). Kurt was given the chance to proved June's assessment of his talent wrong (which she admitted to). And Kurt will get the same benefit of exposure that Blaine will, without having had to deal with June's games.

I don't see Kurt as a doormat for making a deliberate and conscious decision here. There was no instant forgiveness. While my preference would have been for Kurt to give Blaine the boot once and for all (because Kurt deserves much better than Blaine), when push came to shove Blaine proved Kurt right. So it's something that I can live with. For now.

[Buenos]

Being committed to a relationship doesn't make you a doormat.

Quite frankly, they haven't shown the Klaine relationship in NY as all lovey dovey ideal and I like that.

Showing Kurt feeling claustrophobic in the relationship in " New New York" was telling. Their battling in "Tested" where Kurt gives as good as he gets in Combat Class shows Kurt isn't willing to give up his new found confidence in the city.

Yet Kurt is willing to fight for the relationship which is what you are supposed to do if you love someone, and his fierce loyalty towards anyone he loves is a very consistent trait for Kurt. Always has been.

Of course,Now I question whether Blaine is worth it, as to me his insecurities and neediness seeps through in every scene. Yet that is separate to me then Kurt somehow losing his autonomy or free will.

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