A Predictable Season Without Consequences: Glee Season Three Jumps The Shark.

The Good: Moments of humor, Moments of performance, Moments of character.
The Bad: More produced sounds, Acting and plots that fall dramatically short.
The Basics: The third season of Glee has the show becoming utterly inconsequential and not worth watching.


The third season of many television shows are the peak or first truly wonderful season. For so many projects, it takes years to get off the ground and truly hit the stride a show needs to achieve greatness. By the third season, the actors have a firm idea of their characters (usually), the writers know how to write for them and the producers have an idea where they want the show and series to go. So many shows come into their third season with a renewed sense of purpose and a higher standard of quality relative to the earlier seasons.

Glee is not one of those shows.

Instead, the third season of Glee easily and quickly reveals the fatal flaw for the series. The producers of Glee made a mistake that killed the series and the third season of Glee is the season where the impending death is foreshadowed as the episodes bleed out and it loses its charm, originality, and purpose. The fatal mistake Glee’s producers made was making each season a full school year. Following the first season – when FOX realized just how popular the show was becoming – the producers should have made Glee’s seasons represent a half school year each. This would have allowed the show to continue with a cast of characters that viewers actually cared about.

As it is, Glee Season Three is split into the usual two parts: the road to Regionals and the subsequent road to Nationals. The first half of the season is diluted (in school) with a race for class president and (outside the school) a race for the Congressional seat for the district McKinley High is in. The second half of the season has the members of the Senior Class preparing for graduation and lamenting about the end of their high school experience.

Usually, the evaluation of a season of television has me exploring each character, going through the overall plot of the season, and judging the acting. Glee Season Three left me so unenthused that I cannot get muster the enthusiasm to devote that much time to the season and boxed set. The primary reason for my lack of eagerness to devote time to the season is that the episodic elements of the season – by this point, Glee is utterly formulaic in the way it has the New Directions glee club presenting popular music that follows a theme each episode – are predictable and the serialized elements (the character growth that builds upon itself with each episode) are without consequence. Glee Season Three includes big life events for some of the characters – Kurt’s father and Sue running for office, Quinn getting into a car accident, and Coach Beiste getting abused by her spouse, but none of those events have lasting or significant consequences. The most disappointing aspect of this is how the theme episodes lose their resonance because the producers refuse to have significant consequences for the events.

As a result, episodes like the one that deals with teen drinking and “I’m On My Way” which has Quinn texting and driving lead to nothing. None of the members of New Directions drink and get date raped, break limbs or get incarcerated. Quinn’s texting and driving accident is so worthlessly rendered that by the end of the season, all consequences of the accident are erased.

So, the producers of Glee struggle through the third season to progress the established characters of Glee and add new characters who might take their place in season four. Unfortunately, the religious zealot, the spoiled tonedeaf idiot, and the exchange student who are focused on in the third season do not have any sense of character or intrigue that any of the prior characters have. Even Santana in the first season was more interesting than any of the new characters are in the third season of Glee.

Additionally, the time devoted to preparing to replace the established characters in season three further weakens many of the principle characters from Glee. Sue Sylvester is not featured as prominently in the third season and Mercedes and Artie are dismissed more frequently than they are used well. Until her accident, Quinn is a virtual nonentity as well.

Now on DVD, Glee Season Three has featurettes and deleted scenes, none of which make the primary programming any better. As much as I enjoyed the prior seasons of Glee, Glee Season Three is a messy melodrama that replaces substantial character growth with easy answers and that takes what was once a surprisingly meaningful franchise and guts it completely.

For prior Glee works, please check out my reviews of:
Glee - The 3-D Concert Movie
Glee - Season Two, Volume Two
Glee - Season Two, Volume One
Glee - The Complete First Season
Glee - Season One, Volume One: The Road To Sectionals

3/10

For other television reviews, please click here to visit my index page on the subject!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

The Second Season Of Glee Finishes Erratically With Glee Season Two, Volume 2!

The Good: Moments of humor, Moments of performance, Moments of character.
The Bad: More produced sounds, Moment of character, acting and plot that fall dramatically short.
The Basics: The second half and the second season of Glee take the show into much more predictable places that take the viewer on a weird emotional roller coaster.


Just as I did with my review of the first season of Glee (reviewed here!), I open with an objection to the merchandising around Glee. Fox annoyingly breaks the season into two parts. The first half of the second season is reviewed here! I'm not going to repeat that analysis, but the bottom line for Glee Season Two ought to be this: if you're going to buy it, buy it as the Complete Second Season, not in the two separate volumes. As separate volumes, the show is disproportionately expensive and that does a real disservice to the fans.

Glee is a gimmick show and in its second season, it begins to show some serious flaws in that gimmick. That said, I cannot recall a recent show that left me tearing up as much as the latter half of the second season of Glee. It is a series of serious contradictions and that erratic quality makes me suspect that its time is now and that this will be one of those television shows that people largely forget about once it is no longer on the air, like Wings. Glee in its second season is a formulaic melodrama focusing on McKinley High School's glee club, New Directions. It oscillates between musical numbers and character-driven scenes that have angsty emotions and witty lines.

Glee is a dramedy that has a split personality disorder in many moments and episodes. The roller coaster of emotions in the average Glee episode comes from characters who are interesting, but are almost universally tormented by their circumstances or each other. Angsty characters are mixed with song and dance numbers that are frequently incongruent with the emotions of the characters in the scenes preceding the number or are used as a weapon to express emotions that the characters are too timid to say. And I'm a fan of angst, but Glee is hampered by attempting to service about eighteen characters. In the second season of Glee, some of the most popular characters are neglected or given the more plot-convenient arcs in order to let some of the previously-neglected characters more of a voice. In the second half of the second season, one of the problems with the show is that it bothers at all with some of the main characters, giving them forced melodramatic arcs that are less compelling than those of some of the characters who are actually getting their chance to shine.

From the first half of the season, it is Coach Beiste and Lauren Zizes who lose the most airtime. They are relegated very much to the back burner, as are Tina and Mike. The songs continue to range from the popular ("Born This Way," "Rolling In The Deep") to the obscure and, for the first time, the original. No longer just covering familiar songs makes moments in the latter half of the second season of Glee both enjoyable and utterly ridiculous - Rachel makes a song for her headband and Brittany makes a song about cups.

So, why is it at all worth watching the second season of Glee? Well, I'm always one for a show with a pro-gay agenda. So, when Kurt comes back into the picture in a meaningful way - having fled to Dalton Academy earlier in the season - the show is wonderfully accepting. But more than that, Santana, the angry background performer leaps to the front of the characters when she comes to accept that her love for Brittany is actual love and she struggles with getting Brittany to accept her. Santana has an amazing character arc in this season whereby she actually becomes more than the monolithic angry character who has been bitchy, making constant quips at the expense of all of her peers. She is vital and her arc is one that anyone who has struggled with the true wrenching angst of young love is liable to absolutely fall in love with.

And, of course, there is Sue Sylvester. Sue is one of the reasons to watch Glee and though she sits out a couple of the late second season episodes, she absolutely steals the show for what she is in. Having lost her Cheerios, she becomes more bitter and is revitalized by Will Schuester's attempts to show her kindness. Being exposed to the positive message of New Directions actually has an effect on Sue. Equally important is the loss Sue experiences late in the season. That loss gives Jane Lynch a real chance to shine and explode with a performance that is deep and heartwrenching to watch. The moment I realized I would recommend the second season of Glee came in "Funeral" when I found myself crying as I watched Jane Lynch's facial expressions.

What is not worth watching in the second season of Glee is the main character struggle between Quinn, Finn and Rachel. Finn and Quinn have found themselves back together, with Rachel focusing on herself when she is not pining for Finn. As Quinn becomes obsessed with getting voted prom queen, Finn has doubts about the relationship and the viewer works up the interest in any of their struggles. Also problematic is the return of Jesse St. James who makes for a particularly disappointing recurring character and forced character conflict with Rachel.

In the second season of Glee, the main characters are:

Coach Shannon Beiste - Takes Will out for a night of drinking,

Sam Evans - Has a rough time after his break-up with Quinn, made worse by his father losing his job and forcing his family to live in a seedy motel,

Terri - Joins Sue's League Of Doom briefly before finally leaving Will once and for all,

Mike - Continues dating Tina and embraces his dancing over the singing,

Lauren - Becomes Mercedes's manager when Mercedes becomes a diva. She also keeps leading Puck on and does everything she can to ruin Quinn's prom queen campaign,

Blaine - Finally admits his love for Kurt and accepts Kurt's departure from Dalton and return to McKinley,

Brittany - Is dating Artie when Santana comes out to her and she remains surprisingly faithful to Artie until he insults her. She starts her own vlog,

Santana - Goes beyond getting angry all the time and accepts that she is absolutely in love with Brittany. Quickly deducing the way to run a serious campaign for prom queen, she blackmails Karofsky into being her beard and she takes a militant stance against bullying in the school,

Tina - Shows up and continues to date Mike. Her high point is when she is heckled during a benefit for New Directions,

Puck - Continues to pursue Lauren and joins the Celibacy Club,

Mercedes - Tired of being constantly put behind Rachel, she practices being a diva by making outrageous demands,

Artie - Keeps Brittany until he calls her stupid and spends the rest of the season regretting that slip,

Kurt - Returns to McKinley and becomes distressed over how no one appears to care anymore about his homosexuality. He is growing into love with Blaine and advises the girls on prom outfits,

Quinn - Works to keep Finn and is actually decent to Sam after their breakup,

Emma - Has serious issues in her marriage and then begins to be truly crippled by her obsessive compulsive disorder,

Sue Sylvester - Survives the loss of her cheerleaders and then tries to destroy New Directions yet again. But, between Will and her personal loss, she is set off on a new direction herself,

Will Schuester - Holds New Directions together, tries to get over Emma by dating Holly. He is given the chance to work on Broadway when April Rhodes returns,

and Finn - He looks out for Kurt, romances Quinn and tries to stop loving Rachel.

On the acting front, Jane Lynch is, of course, amazing. But the real winner for the second season is Naya Rivera. Rivera plays Santana and she takes the background character and makes her into an essential, vibrant and tortured character. What Rivera manages to do is make the radical transition seem not only plausible, but entertaining.

Glee Season 2 might not directly lead into the Glee 3D (reviewed here!), but it is the high-water mark for the series so far.

Season 2, Volume 2 DVD set - 5/10
Season 2 DVD set - 7/10

For other television reviews, please click here to visit my index page on the subject!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Not The Best Seats In The House: Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie Is Glee Without The Character!

The Good: Moments of 3-D, Moments of fun
The Bad: Direction, Sound quality, Much of the use of 3-D, Interspersed glee-fan stories are chopped awkwardly, Out-of-context elements.
The Basics: Fox rolled the dice and loses big with Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie, a mostly charmless exploitation of the latest big trend on the network.


Fox might be the king of killing things before their time, but the television network also appears to have learned from its mistakes. Sure The Simpsons Movie was fun, but if it had been released about a decade sooner, it would have probably done far, far better. Similarly, when The X-Files feature film (reviewed here!) hit theaters, it caused a delay in the subsequent season, arguably killing the momentum the series had. So, with Glee being the current phenomenon for the network, it is in some ways unsurprising that the network would try to buck the trend and release Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie, a movie I bet would dominate the box office its first weekend out. It didn't even make the top 10. Having seen it now, I can honestly say I am not at all surprised.

Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie is exactly as its name implies, a concert film shot in 3-D of the cast of Glee in character performing at various stadiums the songs they made popular through the television show. Interspersed between the songs - there is a break about one every three songs - are documentary-style conversations with people who have been affected by Glee. The result is part concert, part behind-the-scenes, part fandom epic and it does not do justice to any of the three styles.

The Glee concert film lures viewers in on the promise of being Glee, but it is not. It is a self-referential work tangent to the Glee universe. Thus, there is no struggle, no defining character moments, only commentary from the characters (the actors, to their credit, stay in character for the documentary-style moments behind the scenes) on what the phenomenon has been like. Viewers are jerked around in this context by bits where Rachel is told Barbra Streisand is in the audience, but we never see her (nor is there a duet).

But where this becomes a letdown is in the lack of context. First, Glee succeeds because it is charming as all hell and frequently funny, turning a moment from laughter into significance or breaking a dramatic moment with a quick turn of phrase. Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie does not have a plot, it is not set at McKinley High, it's a concert. The lack of context hurts the concert because it is, again, too self-referential. Artie singing "Safety Dance," for example, was a profound dream sequence on the television show because the young man confined to a wheelchair - pining for the love he desperately wants to impress - gets out of it and dances. It's just a dance; this is just a concert. In Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie, Artie performs it as just another dance number and it lacks any resonance. It's just a dance; this is just a concert.

Moreover, some of the characterization during the concert happens contrary to the characters from the show. Puck sang "Fat Bottomed Girls" to Lauren in season two of Glee (reviewed here!) in a misguided attempt to show her he is okay with her body shape and she puts him in his place, telling him how offensive the action was. In the concert movie, Lauren is grooving out to it as Puck makes a spectacle of the song. It's not what Glee is at it's best; but then, this is just a concert.

So, then, the movie has to simply live up to its name and be judged on its merits as a concert. Alas, there Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie undoes itself with a weird mix of underusing the spectacle and failing to capture the moment . . . instead capturing fan reaction to the moments. What I mean is this: the movie has a crappy sense of direction. Kevin Tancharoen will, no doubt, get a nomination for a Razzie for his direction of Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie and for my money, he deserves the win. Why? First, there are a plethora of times when he simply does not frame or capture the movement on screen in a notable way . . . or at all. During big dance numbers, just as the characters are delivering exciting lines or impressive dance moves, Tancharoen cuts to fans' reactions. It's the concert equivalent of watching a horror movie, but everytime someone gets slashed instead of seeing it, we get a film clip of the audiences reaction to it. That happens frequently and robs the movie of many of the most (potentially) emotional moments. And keeping the camera so very far away from Kurt during his sad, sweet rendition (another one that loses something out of context) of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" robs the song of its intimacy or emotional torment.

Then there is the 3-D. The 3-D is noticeable (but seldom noteworthy) in two places: close-ups (usually of Rachel, as she turns facing the camera with her microphone and the viewer feels like their eyes will be impaled) and long distance shots. The distance shots capture the depth of the stadium experience and that is neat, though the subjects on stage are so small as to be almost unmentionable. The problem with the 3-D in this film is that far and away most of the shots are done in the middle distances and the 3-D does not significantly enhance the experience. In other words, for large portions of the film there are two rows of people dancing, but they are dancing fairly close to one another; our brains process that as 3-D anyway, so the effect is so unpronounced as to almost be nonexistent. It's like before the movie began and my local theater had a commercial for J.C. Penney's and my wife asked me "is it in 3-D?" as she was getting stuff together. I watched it and I couldn't tell and I said as much and it didn't matter because the commercial features kids writing on the air, so it is inherently three dimensional and the brain processes it that way, regardless of it being filmed that way. In a similar fashion, much of the Glee movie falls flat because the 3-D effect would have been processed that way so it is almost invisible for the many, many middle distance shots.

Then there are the documentary bits. I like the concept of them. Three different fans of Glee are given the chance to speak about what they love about the show and they tell conceptually wonderful stories. A young woman, who happens to be a dwarf, talks about being a cheerleader and getting voted prom queen, a young man talks about how he was outed and a young woman with Asberger's Syndrome discusses her obsession with the character Brittany. Unfortunately, here director Tancharoen again makes some devastating cuts. The young homosexual's story is cut the first time at a horrible point, making it seem worthy of despair before cutting to a cheery number. And Tancharoen uses footage from the young woman with Asberger's Syndrome whereby she implies (I'm sure she didn't mean it) that having Asberger's Syndrome makes her a bad person. Yes, that's a ridiculous concept, but the fact that Tancharoen uses her statement of how discovering Glee after being diagnosed made her want to go out and be a good person . . . well, that's what she is saying whether she meant to or not. Now, unless Tancharoen withheld a whole bunch of footage where the woman talks about setting cats on fire and the like, she's got no reason to be saying that and it comes across as a pretty horrible slip of the tongue whereby she is giving a pretty un-Glee message. Again, I blame the director for not getting (or using) better footage.

As for the acting, I am guessing that first-billed Dianna Agron was contractually-obligated to appears she had almost no presence in the film. Jane Lynch is also notably absent, with scenes excised bound to appear conveniently for the DVD release. The real star of the film is Heather Morris, as Brittany. Morris is a professional dancer and she is front and center in wild outfits that catch the eye and she dances amazingly. Only the surprise guest upstages Morris and one has to believe that when the Glee phenomenon ends, Morris will have plenty of work.

As for the others, the cast is large and the movie does not service them all all that well. The result is a concert movie hinging on the nostalgia that comes from foreknowledge. Sadly, the theater I was in seemed to have a pretty crummy soundsystem (I never noticed problems in it before) and more frequently than not, the instrumentals drown out the singing or the background singers prevented the primary vocalists from being heard.

Ultimately, I can live with a concert movie, but it has to be phenomenal. The best concert film should give the viewer the best seat in the house or the "floating eye" for the best possible experience. That takes a director who can look at the stage and interpret both where the best place to be is and how to capture it at the best angle for any given moment. Kevin Tancharoen does not do that and Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie comes across as lazy, confused and/or an auditory jumble. Glee fans deserve better, as do those looking to get into the phenomenon.

For other works featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, please visit my reviews of:
Contagion
Glee - Season Two, Volume 1
Iron Man 2
Iron Man
The Royal Tenenbaums
Bounce
Shakespeare In Love

1/10

For other film reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

| | |

The Rest Of The World May Have Drunk The Kool-Aid, But For Me, Glee - Season 2, Volume 1 Is More Mediocre Than Great!

The Good: Continues the story well, Social messages, Dance/Music numbers are engaging and fun, DVD bonus features.
The Bad: Exceptionally repetitive, Soap opera feel, Value of the volume (only ten episodes).
The Basics: When Glee returns for a second season, the writers, producers and cast do little to shake up the successful formula, including ripping off the fans with a half-season!


It is a very rare thing that I let a work I've seen go for a while before reviewing it. Truth be told, it usually only happens when I get too busy to do any reviewing and in the case of Glee - Season Two, Volume One it has been two months since I watched the ten episodes in this three DVD set. It has taken me so long to review the set for two reasons: I knew I enjoyed the content a lot more while I was watching it and I knew I would pan the pathetic DVD release because the full season release was going to be a much better use of fans' dollars.

Glee is one of those shows which I enjoy a great deal more when I am watching it than any other time. I do not find myself contemplating it when it's not on and while I'll admit I've not thought to add it to my permanent collection, if I were to, the three-disc (barely!), ten episode set Glee - Season Two, Volume One collection would not be something I would purchase, especially with the full Season Two release only a few months away now. This DVD release is a cheap excuse to exploit the fans of Glee by pushing out more products faster and keep the merchandising current. Patience is the reward for the fans who pick up Glee Season Two, which will include these three discs, plus all of the content that finishes off the season.

What kept me from reviewing the set most, though, was that Glee - Season Two, Volume One is largely unmemorable. The show continues to do what the first season did exceptionally well in that it has exceptionally well-designed song and dance numbers and it raises any number of social issues neglected by other shows, like atheism, gay and lesbian civil rights and bullying. But these issues come up in frequently melodramatic ways opposite the safe and pleasant song and dance routines, diluting their impact. It's almost like the show's executive producers, Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Dante Di Loreto figure the best possible way to keep the show popular throughout the entire country is to sneak their liberal commentary in between pop dance numbers and, hey, if they offend anyone, they'll probably forget why by the time Brittany is done dancing. It's insulting to anyone with a brain or liberals who actually stand by their principles of gender and sexuality equality, safe public schools, and religious freedom. Two months after watching the episodes in this season, I had no particular memories of anything save the kids using anesthesia to remake Britney Spears videos and Meat Loaf and Barry Botswick appearing for a Rocky Horror production that doesn't see the light of day.

In other words, there is nothing bad in Glee - Season Two, Volume One, but there is nothing unpredictable or unfamiliar either. Opening with members of the McKinley High glee club, New Directions, coming back for the new school year and discovering they are still the lowest rung on the social strata, the glee club looks for new members to save their team by getting their numbers back up. This comes at a turbulent time for the football players in the glee club as the new football coach, Coach Beiste (pronounced "Beast") demands more from the football players, like Finn and Puck. After a rocky start at McKinley, Beiste and Will become friends and worth to thwart Sue Sylvester's machinations.

Amid a series of soap opera-like events, Finn and Rachel have their new relationship tested and broken, Quinn begins dating the new football playing member of New Directions, Sam, and Artie pines for Tina after Tina begins dating Mike Chang. Kurt has the most intense arc, however, when his father has a heart attack and slips into a coma and his atheism is countered by the faith of most of the rest of the glee club members. Kurt is harassed by a football player, Karofsky, who beats him up until Kurt is left with no choice by to leave McKinley High.

Thematically, this volume of Glee is conceptually wonderful but is annoyingly guarded in its execution. "Grilled Cheesus" finds Finn having a crisis of faith and praying to a grilled cheese he thinks has the face of god in it. This comes when Kurt's father has his heart attack and while Kurt is able to articulate his objections to the spirituality of his fellow New Directions members, Mercedes is persistent enough to wear down his resolve. As an atheist, there is something offensive about watching a show where the counterarguments to Christianity are made in articulate ways, but fall entirely by the wayside because pushy people with faith just keep going. Atheists are not weak-willed people who will simply flip when they are badgered about god enough.

Similarly, Sue Sylvester's anti-bullying campaign is a great idea. Her coming to Kurt's aid is a great character arc and it's wonderful to see the show push for an anti-bullying message. But the fact that Kurt suffers the consequences for Karofsky's abuse weakens the message. What are viewers supposed to think; bullying is okay because the bullied can transfer schools? Kurt's life is saved (the bullying is escalating to dangerous levels) only by the fact that his father and step mother happen to have a windfall. And why shouldn't the poor or middle class be protected from bullies?! On the character level, it makes even less sense for Sue's arc. Until the anti-bullying storyline where Sue reveals her hatred for bullies, due largely to how her sister was bullied as a kid, Sue was a bully to . . . well, pretty much everyone. It doesn't soften the character to have her say she's not a bully when she continues to make life hell for the members of the glee club.

This volume of Glee is appropriately filled with great mixes of current popular music from Britney Spears, Cee Lo Green, Alicia Keys, and All-American Rejects. The music is good and well-presented and the dance numbers are often extraordinary. But they are nothing particularly different than viewers saw in the first season. There is just more of it.

I suspect that in the years after Glee jumps the shark (it hasn't happened yet!), analysts will see that it was a show that got exceptionally lucky; Glee fills the niche audience of fans of music videos (who no longer are able to get music videos through the channels formerly devoted to them!) and reality television shows. The psuedo-reality of the competitions along with the high school melodrama of relationships for teens is presented with the engaging backdrop of music, sets, costumes and choreography that is fun to watch. But it is little more than fun - cotton candy for the television audience - and Glee - Season Two, Volume One is overpriced fluff. Hold out for the full second season, which is bound to get a much more thoughtful, thorough and timely review from me than the cashgrab that appeared right around the time that Glee was getting amazing exposure with its post-Super Bowl episode.

For other works featuring Dianna Agron, please check out my reviews of:
I Am Number Four
Glee - The Complete First Season
Glee - Season One, Volume One: The Road To Sectionals
Heroes - Season Two
Veronica Mars - Season Three

4/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



| | |

Exactly What It Appears To Be, I Am Number Four Establishes The Next Science Fiction Franchise Well!

The Good: Good story, Surprisingly good acting, Moments of character
The Bad: Familiar aspects, Some details made unclear, Big special effects battle portion.
The Basics: It's Buffy The Vampire Slayer meets Heroes as I Am Number Four attempts to establish itself as the next big cinematic franchise for young adults.


Hollywood is in crisis right now. You might not have heard about it, but it is. Hollywood is looking long-term and it is flailing about like a behemoth struggling for air and prey. The fundamental problem it is experiencing is this: the cash cows are leaving the stable and there is nothing on the horizon to take their place. With the conclusion of the Harry Potter franchise imminent and the end of The Twilight Saga similarly near, Hollywood is looking for the next big thing. The commercial failure of The Last Airbender (reviewed here!) left Hollywood without a successor. What will get the late teens through thirty year-olds to the theaters outside movies based on comic books now? Enter I Am Number Four and you have your answer.

I Am Number Four is based upon a novel series and right off the bat, I want to mention that I had not read any of the novels, nor did I do any research on the direction of the franchise before seeing the film. This is a very pure review of the new film I Am Number Four, so when I reference it as the beginning of a franchise that is because the movie felt entirely like that is what it was trying to be. This is the opening act of a larger story and it was good at that. The most simple distillation of the movie and the franchise is that I Am Number Four is Buffy The Vampire Slayer meets Heroes. That's all there is to it.

In the jungle, two people are killed by an alien beast and its handlers, which segues awkwardly to the life of Daniel, a young man on the West Coast who seems to be living a carefree life. But the death in the jungle follows that night with the appearance of another brand on Daniel's leg and the psychic message that the aliens are coming for him next. In a progression of alien kills, he is the fourth intended victim and he and his protector, Henri, leave the West Coast for new lives in Paradise, Ohio. In Paradise, Daniel becomes John Smith and Henri - his protector who poses as his father - set up new lives for themselves.

While Paradise initially seems like just another place to hide out with John getting into the usual high school dramas, it quickly turns into something else. While John befriends Sam, the local geek, and Sarah - a Senior with a camera and an inquisitive nature, Henri investigates groups nearby that seem to have intimate knowledge of both the surviving Loriens and the Mogadorian hunters who threaten their lives. John tries to avoid the bullying popular Mark while Henri springs a trap that alerts the Mogadorians to the presence of their prey in Paradise. As John learns to use his newfound talents - superpowers bestowed upon him by his alien heritage - the Mogadorians close in on him and threaten all he cares about.

I Am Number Four is sufficiently complex to both feel like a decent franchise and to keep the viewer engaged through the entire movie. Number Six, for example, appears for two teaser scenes where her legacy (superpowers) are hinted at before becoming an integral part of the film's final conflict. She is teased, but one has the impression she is incredibly important in the subsequent works. Similarly, at the outset of the film, a shapeshifting lizard is introduced and the viewer has to wait to see what side John's dog (as it becomes) is actually on.

The movie, then, has to stand most on a lot of exposition. The viewer is told almost immediately that Number Four knows he is an alien and that he is a hunted Lorien. I Am Number Four tells the story of the critical moment in his life when Henri shares with him the information he did not have before this point; that he has legacies which will develop and which he might use to defeat the Mogadorians, especially in conjunction with the few other fated Loriens (there were nine total). So, in the course of the film, while John goes through the motions of re-establishing a high school identity, he is working to understand his newfound super strength, super speed, enhanced dexterity and the glowing hands which allow him to manipulate objects and fields from afar. Number Four essentially has the Force and he uses it to levitate objects, light things up and push people and things. It's a pretty funky ability and it is cool when he has the chance to fight alongside Number Six.

But I Am Number Four is far from flawless. Going into the film, I saw so many conceits in the setup that anyone who knows the hero's classical journey knows that John will lose Henri and that this is the story of him coming to accept a truth larger than himself. There is an obvious bit to the film that is not unpleasant, but is utterly unsurprising. Add to that, the whole order in which the Mogadorians must kill the Loriens is not satisfactorily explained. The fact that Number Six was once within their thrall enough that her protector could be killed, yet she was not taken out, is not convincing. But her survival allows her to play the Faith to Four's Buffy.

What also works in general is the acting. Dianna Agron plays Sarah and fans of Glee (season 1 reviewed here!) will be pleased to see her in this role, though most will suspect that her portrayal of Sarah would be identical to any form of pre-Season 1 flashbacks of Quinn that Glee might ever produce. Teresa Palmer masterfully makes Number Six a convincing badass, just as Jake Abel's bullying Mark is convincing. In fact, what is far less convincing than Abel playing the jerk is the unexplained (there is a reason, but it is not as plausible as it is executed in the film) turnaround in his final scene. Timothy Olyphant is suitably wonderful as Henri and the viewer buys immediately that he is a character with skills and a deep sense of honor and obligation to John. Callan McAuliffe plays the geeky kid just fine.

But it is Alex Pettyfer who is saddled with selling I Am Number Four. He does it. More than just good looking as John - his introduction into the film as the jockish jetskier initially set the hairs on the back of my neck arising - Pettyfer is given moments where he is able to shine in surprisingly distinctive ways. Key among these is a moment where John is sitting at Sarah's house, silently listening to Sarah's family and the viewer can tell that John is longing for the simplicity of the family. That is the power of Pettyfer's performance.

In fact, I Am Number Four only suffers when it tries to be like every other science fiction or fantasy franchise. When the final battle occurs, the effects are like pretty much every big comic book movie series and that is a disappointment. By that point, the viewer wanted to expect more of the film and its degeneration into the obviously familiar is disappointing. But that is the only real disappointment in the movie. The rest is exactly what it appears to be; this is the establishment of a new franchise and here at the beginning there are enough elements to it that make it seem perfectly viable.

For other works featuring Dianna Agron, please check out my reviews of:
Glee - The 3-D Concert Movie
Glee - Season Two, Volume One
Glee - The Complete First Season
Glee - Season One, Volume One: The Road To Sectionals
Heroes - Season Two
Veronica Mars - Season Three


7.5/10

For other film reviews, please be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



| | |

Glee Season One Is Capped Off Erratically With The Road To Regionals

The Good: Funny, Great choreography, Decent performances, Moments of character
The Bad: Seems melodramatic at too many moments, Repetitive feel
The Basics: The second half of Glee Season One does not pop quite like the first half, though the overall season is more than worthwhile.


It is rare that I actually review two things at once, but the truth is, I found myself stuck on how to review Glee Season One. I was annoyed with Fox for releasing the season in two volumes, the second of which was released concurrent with the Season One boxed set as Glee: Season One, Volume 2 - The Road To Regionals. I had reviewed Glee: Season One, Volume 1 - The Road To Sectionals (check it out here!) and ultimately downrated it because there was the full season set and I always opt for the full season over the consumer-exploitative season breakdown when there is a full season of the show to buy. As far as reviewing it goes, I felt the review of The Road To Sectionals was very thorough, so I was not eager to repeat content in reviewing the full season. So, while this might read as more of a review of The Road To Regionals, I would advise the reader go read the other review before reading this one and buy the Season One boxed set instead. The only plus side here is that The Road To Regionals is all that those who already have The Road To Sectionals needs to complete Glee Season One. There is no original or unique content in the Season One boxed set that is not in the two volumes that comprise it.

As a result, Glee Season One is more than the sum of its parts. The two halves of the season - the full season is only twenty-two hour-long episodes - hold up less well on their own than the season does together. That said, The Road To Regionals is far from flawless. Indeed, the second half of the season does not have the focus and sense of purpose and intent that the first half and as a result, it holds up far less well than the first half did on its own. For those unfamiliar with Glee the story oscillates between faculty members and students at McKinley High School. The show is a dramedy that focuses on the glee club, New Directions, at McKinley High School in Ohio.

On the faculty side, Mr. Schuester is excited that New Directions has a chance to move on to Regionals, but he is equally excited by the potential represented by his impending divorce. This opens him up to having an actual relationship with the guidance counselor, Emma. But between having a flirtation with the coach of the competing Vocal Adrenalin and Emma's uncertainty about taking the relationship to the next level, Mr. Schuester finds himself particularly vulnerable when Sue Sylvester makes her reappearance. After blackmailing principal Figgins, Sue returns to McKinley to try to ruin New Directions and insinuate her own agenda at the school, an agenda which includes promoting her cheerleading squad the Cheerios and pumping Madonna's greatest hits over the loudspeaker at the high school constantly. As Regionals looms, Mr. Schuester finds himself under attack by increasingly strong competing interests.

On the student front, Rachel's new relationship with Finn hits the skids almost immediately as Rachel's eagerness to be in a relationship leads her to a control freak level which he finds intimidating. While Finn waffles, Rachel moves on to a relationship with Jesse, the lead singer of Vocal Adrenalin. But the lies surrounding her relationship with Jesse quickly come to an end when Jesse jumps school districts and joins New Directions. This changes the power base of New Directions and with Finn no longer the male lead, Kurt is displaced, Artie is marginalized and Mercedes comes to realize she will not be shining as a soloist in the group.

The second half of the first season of Glee is riddled with a sense of melodrama that the first half did not seem quite as mired in. Sure, there is a whole soap opera quality to the first season of Glee with baby drama, high school and adult relationship drama and the inherent competition that comes from people trying to shine in a theatrical setting like glee club. Unfortunately, what this does for the first season of Glee is make is erratic on the character and plot level. The Road To Regionals lacks the sense of urgency and pace that made The Road To Sectionals work so much. Almost every episode in the first half of the season references the impending Sectional competition, but Regionals seems like a peripheral event, despite the need for New Directions to win it to keep its funding.

As a result, The Road To Regionals drifts some on the plot front until *bang!* the season comes to an end with Regionals. This is not to say nothing happens. The relationships with Rachel and Jesse, the quest for love Mr. Schuester is on, the machinations of Sue Sylvester, they all play off one another well, but the second half of the season does not feel like it is going somewhere until it gets there. It becomes more about the melodrama than the characters and that does not work nearly as well as the first half of the season did.

Especially lost in the mix is Schuester. Schuester is working on getting a divorce and he skanks around in an unfortunate way given his characterization in the first half of the season. He makes out with three women, which is problematic when he is characterized as such a good, loving guy in the first half of the season. It's like in The Road To Regionals Schuester goes from being an upstanding guy who a lot of people would be interested in to a pretty average and obvious Guy. It's disappointing and those who like Schuester in the first half of the season have to make a lot of excuses for him in the second half of the season.

On the flip side, Finn's character becomes more interesting and he grows at a realistic pace. When Kurt sets Finn's mother up with his own father, Kurt's plans range from the loving (he truly cares about his father's happiness) to the utterly self-serving (he has a crush on Finn). But in the first half of the season, Finn was uncomfortable with Kurt's crush and when the two move in with one another, that internal character conflict is not simply swept under the rug. Finn has a very normal character arc as he tries to become more tolerant of Kurt's homosexuality and the idea of living so close with him.

But the one who has the best arc - not only of the second half of the season, but of the first season entirely - is Quinn. Quinn is the bratty Cheerio who is a part of the Celibacy Club who is pregnant and in the second half of the season, she is ready to burst. But the socialite girl actually goes on a character journey as she wrestles with her feelings for Puck (the baby's father) and her loss of status. This leads her to a surprisingly good presence in the penultimate episode of the season, "Funk," and makes the initially annoying blonde chick worthwhile to watch.

But the real star of Glee is Jane Lynch. Lynch plays Sue Sylvester and she plays her as one of the greatest villains to grace television in years. Indeed, not since Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito's character on Taxi for those not of a certain age!) has there been an antagonist in comedy that has been so compelling and well-conceived, as well as well-acted. Lynch steals every scene she is in and when Glee gives her a bigger canvas in the Madonna episode, opposite Olivia Newton-John in "Bad Reputation," and in a key role in the first season finale, "Journey," Lynch proves she is worthy of each and every award she has been nominated for (and, mostly, won!) for the role.

I suspect Glee Season One either will replay less well over time or that this show will suffer from Boston Public Syndrome. The first season of Boston Public was amazing, but it never recovered from it and it is, arguably, the only season of the show worth watching. Glee has a lot to come back to with its second - and beyond - season, but it also has a formula and with The Road To Regionals, Glee illustrates that it might have shot its best out early and is finishing more on hype than substance.

For other contemporary television shows, please visit my reviews of:
V Season 1
30 Rock Season 4
The Big Bang Theory Season 3

The Road To Regionals - 3.5/10
Season One - 7.5/10

For other television episode or DVD boxed set reviews, please visit my index page.

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



| |

Glee: Road To Sectionals Starts The Quirky Comedy Off Wonderfully (But Isn't Worth Buying Now)!

The Good: Very funny, Good character depth, Decent musical performances, Good DVD bonus features, Good acting.
The Bad: Soap opera quality is disappointing, I'm sick of handheld cameras.
The Basics: A LOT of fun, Glee overcomes its predictable elements at the beginning of its first season by presenting wonderful song and dance numbers which are entertaining.


[I originally reviewed "Glee" Season 1, Volume 1: The Road To Sectionals before "Glee" Season 1 made its way to DVD. My rating for the DVD set was 8/10. I've got a pet peeve now. I'm sick of television shows putting forth partial seasons just to earn an extra buck off fans. Instead of being patient and releasing the entire season, shows like "Glee" have rushed to market DVD sets with a partial season. I've lowered my rating on this DVD set to 4/10 because it is now obsolete and ought to be avoided. All of the content on these discs is in the full "Glee" Season 1 DVD set. But for those who haven't discovered the series, here's a primer as I await the full boxed set to review!]

It seems pretty wonderful that the morning after my wife and I finished watching Glee Season 1: The Road To Sectionals that the show was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Comedy. The nod to Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester for Best Actor is nice as well (he won't win, though, largely because his character seldom has anything funny to do - my bet is on Jim Parsons) and this promises to make the Emmy Awards at least entertaining for the actual competition this year's nominees represent. My wife and I sat down to watch the DVDs of the first season of Glee largely because we had heard good things about it, but never managed to catch it on television. What we didn't know at the time was that "The Road To Sectionals" is not the complete first season. We felt like we might actually be missing something and now that we have seen it, we were right; we WERE missing something.

Glee, which is often hailed as unlike anything else on television, seems to fill the same niche that Arrested Development once filled for FOX as a comedy based on humor with awkward deliveries and handheld camera work. The characters are largely self-centered and unlikable (also like Arrested Development) and the show has several "secrets" built in that make it have a soap opera quality that draws the audience back to it week after week. Glee simply does what it does with a lot more flair and music than the more deadpan Arrested Development. On DVD, it is nice to have the episodes all together because the serialized nature of the story truly does progress nicely and make one want to watch the next episodes.

The Spanish teacher at William McKinley High School, Will Schuester, used to be in the Glee Club there and when the previous faculty advisor to the club is fired for inappropriate relations with a student, Will sees his chance to reclaim his glory days. But almost immediately, Will finds his life plagued professionally by Sue Sylvester, whose cheerleading squad, the Cheerios, dominate the budget for extracurricular activities and who loathes the glee club. But as New Directions, the glee club, seems to be a good launching point for Rachel Berry, most of the rest of the school sees the club as dumb and social suicide. Eager to make his team competitive, Schuester blackmails the high school quarterback to join New Directions and he creates a powerful singing couple when Finn teams up with Rachel.

Unfortunately, as Will's wife Terri becomes pregnant and resentful of Will's time spent with New Directions, Finn also gets in serious trouble by getting the head cheerleader, Quinn, pregnant. Terri's pregnancy, though is a hysterical one and she soon enlists Quinn's aid in deceiving her husband by taking her baby as her own when she give birth. But Quinn's pregnancy is more complicated than that, arguably because the cheerleader had sex with Puck and her unborn baby was fathered by him and she cannot bring herself to be honest with Finn about that. While Sue Sylvester sends Cheerios into New Directions to spy on the club and ruin it, Will tries to hold the club together and prepare them for Sectionals where a win means continuing the competition and losing means losing the club for good. All the while, Will is fawned over by the guidance counselor, Emma.

Glee is, in many ways, a soap opera comedy that breaks out of its assumed niche largely because the plot is frequently broken up by song and dance numbers that are not seen frequently on television these days. The result is a show which feels like a variety show when it is a tongue-in-cheek comedy. The humor in Glee is frequently verbal – though there is a recurring slapstick gag involving slush drinks being tossed in the faces of members of the glee club – and most of the deliveries are very dry humor. The frequent straightman is actually Will Schuester, which is why I think his nod by the Emmys is more a nod for the show than a legitimate bid.

Throughout the first season, the main plot threads – Terri's faked pregnancy, Quinn's baby drama, and Emma's flirtation with the married Will – are planted like time bombs and there is a sense of inevitability to many of the revelations. Similarly, as the title of the first season suggests, there is the inevitable trip to the Sectionals competition which is smartly where the boxed set ends. Glee is heavily serialized in this season and as a result is ideal for a DVD presentation. But because there are so many plot threads one is waiting on, there are remarkably few actual surprises in the first season. It is of no real surprise, for example, when Kurt comes out (he spends the first few episodes prancing and lisping like a stereotype, so when he actually makes it explicit, few viewers will be surprised). What is far more intriguing is how Kurt's father reacts to the news. As well, the “surprise” involving Sue Sylvester when she admits a girl with Down's Syndrome to the Cheerios is no real surprise for seasoned television audiences (though it is still a pleasant reveal that I shall not ruin here).

Rather annoyingly, with all of the spectacle on the show in this boxed set and the infrequent use of several of the characters' names (one is solely referred to as “Other Asian” in this season), it is easy to miss many of their names and after watching the discs as a marathon the last few days, my wife and I were unsurprised we could not name all of the characters. This does not mean they are bad characters, in fact they are all pretty well defined in this season and while many of them do deplorable things, they are still entertaining to watch. In the first season, the principle characters include:

Will Schuester – The Spanish teacher who is trapped in a loveless marriage (and frequent sweatervests), he regains his love for life through leading the New Directions glee club at McKinley High. This puts further strain on both his marriage to Terri and his friendship with the football coach, Ken Tanaka. Emma, however, sees his devotion to the club as very attractive and she works to not make an overt move on him. As he prepares to become a father, he finds his distance from his wife difficult and his desire to see New Directions succeed becomes more important to him,

Rachel Berry – A 16 year-old girl, she has been practicing to be a celebrity and her talent becomes a key asset to New Directions. However, her own arrogance continually undermines her. She is Jewish and despite having a brief flirtation with Puck, she has a huge crush on the unavailable Finn. She often vies for the solos for the group,

Finn Hudson – Captain of the football team and the head quarterback, he is blackmailed by Will with pot that is not even his to join New Directions. There, he begins to find an exciting new outlet for one of his untapped talents. When Quinn tells him she is pregnant, he struggles to find a job and balance football and Glee club. As he is knocked down pegs on the social ladder as a result of his association with New Directions, he begins to learn a lot about himself,

Quinn Fabray – The head cheerleader of the Cheerios, she is also the head of the chastity club. However, a brief affair with Puck changes her fate when she gets pregnant. Unwilling to have the punk football player raise her child, she strings Finn along, making him believe he is the father. But as her pregnancy progresses and she is unable to sink New Directions, Sue Sylvester uses her for target practice,

Kurt Hummel – A gay student whose performances for New Directions give him the inner strength to come out to his father and the school. But when his father is hazed for his sexuality, he has a tough choice to make about getting a solo intended for a girl. He develops a crush on Finn,

Artie Abrams – Wheelchair bound, he complicates New Directions when the budget is cut and he requires a special bus to get the team to and from Sectionals. Vocally gifted, he plays the bass frequently and manages to keep up on many of the dance numbers from his chair,

Noah Puckerman - (“Puck”) He is a generally athletic and irresponsibly Alpha male at McKinley High. After getting Quinn pregnant, he tries to step up (though he keeps sending sexy text messages to Santana), though she will not let him. He is Finn's best friend and also on the football team. His experiences in New Directions leads him to apologize to Kurt for prior abuses,

Tina – An Asian student with a stutter, a week in a wheelchair as one of Schuester's assignments gives her a new respect for Artie,

Mercedes – A black student with an amazing voice, she often fights for more contemporary numbers and represents Rachel's best competition in New Directions,

Terri Schuester – Will's conniving wife, she finds herself unwilling to confess her hysterical pregnancy to her husband and instead works hard to make him think she is still pregnant. With her dippy sister, she snags Quinn for her deception and plans to take Quinn's baby when the time comes and pass it off as her and Will's,

Emma Pillsbury – The likable guidance counselor, she falls hard for Will. Realizing that he will never leave his pregnant wife, she allows Ken Tanaka to charm her. She is often Will's greatest ally,

Ken – The football coach, he is a friend to Will, until he realizes that Emma is more attracted to Will than she is to him. Still, he proposes to Emma and is shocked when she says “yes,”

Santana And Brittany – Two Cheerios who are sent by Sue to pass on secrets of New Directions that she may use to try to destroy the glee club,

and Sue Sylvester – Will's nemesis, the head coach of the cheerleaders, she is a militant woman with a dark sense of humor. Because of the endorsements she brings in for the Cheerios, Principal Figgins is frequently forced to look the other way on her antics. She gets her own television segment spouting her crazy philosophies and she devotes herself to destroying New Directions.

Jane Lynch plays Sue Sylvester and the moment she first appears on screen, she begins to dominate the show. Say what you will about the song and dance numbers, which range from show tunes to pop numbers to hip-hop songs presented a cappella, the reason to watch Glee is to see Jane Lynch rock as Sue. She is a master of the deadpan and the way she spouts some of the most ridiculous lines without ever cracking a smile makes the biggest laughs for these thirteen episodes.

On DVD, Glee Volume 1 has the first thirteen episodes and is loaded with bonus features. The last disc has introductions to several of the actors and behind the scenes auditions for many of the parts. There are also web and FOX featurettes that are included which show how the show was being promoted. But arguably the most fun and funny bonus feature is the “Introduction To McKinley High,” which has Principal Figgins walking new students through the school. It is entirely campy and makes for a great exclusive feature.

Ultimately, Glee stands out for style more than substance, but it works because the show is solidly entertaining and that makes for a great DVD release. Even so, because there is an even better DVD release which includes all of this material, it is impossible to recommend "Volume 1: Road To Sectionals."

For other comedy shows on DVD, please check out my reviews of:
The Big Bang Theory - Season 1
Sports Night
30 Rock Season 1

4/10

For other television program reviews, please check out my index page.

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



| | |