After introducing us to the newbies all the way back in the two-hour Season 6 premiere, Glee finally returns its focus to Roderick, Jane, Spencer, and the rest of the McKinley glee club in tonight’s episode, “Child Star.” However, while I was incredibly happy to see the series finally start to tell stories about these new characters that all had such promise back at the start of Season 6, putting them at the center of “Child Star” yielded mixed results.
Let’s get the negatives out the way: Alistair and Myron are quite possibly the two worst characters that Glee has ever given us. One a hipster that likes to “jam on his uke” and the other a spoiled, obnoxious 13-year-old, neither of them brought anything remotely compelling or even funny to the storylines they were a part of tonight, and that’s a shame because there is an interesting story in Spencer finding a guy he likes and going after him. Unfortunately, Alistair is already insufferable, and he’s barely even spoken or sung.
Problems with Spencer persist in his attempts to help Roderick lose a few pounds. The whole plot feels a little undercooked, as we don’t really get much insight into what’s driving Roderick besides the laughter of his peers and a quick inner monologue as he climbs to the rope to rescue Myron (who, by the way, he should have just left up there), and that lack of insight into Roderick’s mindset causes a disconnect. We don’t believe in his appreciation of Spencer and his methods because we don’t really understand what Roderick has gone through aside from the typical “overweight kid” clichés, and those clichés don’t allow us to get to know him any better and only make Spencer appear more as an overly “saintly savior” rather than a genuine friend.
However, the stuff we get with Mason, Madison, and Jane works as well as it can, given that we learn most about Mason and Madison’s brother/sister relationship though exposition. The explanation that their parents have pretty much been nonexistent figures in their lives sheds some light on Madison’s overprotective need to control Mason’s life and actually gives the pair some depth instead of Glee simply using them as a walking, talking Jamie and Cersei Lannister incest joke. Despite the lack of authentic build-up, the scene in which Madison explains how it was difficult for her to not be the only woman in Mason’s life anymore actually works incredibly well. And Mason and Jane? They’re cute and fun, a potential couple that reminds me of something from earlier seasons of Glee–I hope we see more of them together.
And the little bit of “Child Star” that doesn’t focus on the newbies also works pretty well, too, as I’m always up for Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch exchanging barbs, no matter how many times Glee has done it before (I particularly enjoyed Will calling Sue “Susie Q” and want to see that become a recurring nickname). I’m not all that excited for Sue returning to her “Hurt Locker” (dear God, you remember how terrible those two episodes were?), but that’s countered by the genuineness of Will’s scenes with Rachel. Their talk earlier in the episode, where he encourages her to find out more about the kids and allow them to express themselves, is nicely capped off with their final exchange of the night, where Will describes how amazing it’s been to watch Rachel evolve from the high school sophomore he met back in Season 1 to the intelligent and driven young woman working alongside him today. It’s a nice moment of reflection for Glee, a series that always seems to be constantly charging ahead and neglecting events that happened seasons (if not just episodes) before, and it’s the type of scene I hope we see more of as the series heads into its final four hours.
Other thoughts:
– I really dug most of the performances tonight, outside of Myron’s. “I Want to Break Free” and “Uptown Funk” were particularly enjoyable.
– The fact that both Myron and Alistair will apparently be sticking around bothers me to no end (come on, Glee, even you are better than these characters), so I can only hope that they fade into the background and virtually never speak, similar to Matt and Mike in Glee‘s first season.
– No Kurt and Blaine in this episode. I’m guessing they’re still on their honeymoon.
– Kitty continues to be a constant joy on Glee, something I’ve thought since about midway into Season 4, when the writers stopped making her irrationally cruel. Here’s hoping that Becca Tobin will be back on my TV soon after Glee ends.
– And speaking of Kitty, this completely ridiculous exchange got the biggest laugh of the night from me: “There is no tougher audience than–” “Jews!”
What did everyone else think about tonight’s episode of Glee?
[Photo via FOX]
Follow Us
