The trouble with Glee

It’s a shame when a good concept ends up being ruined by the same problems that seem to plague TV shows.

Glee is currently the shining beacon in TV critic land but how long will this last when they insist on focusing on Rachel, Finn and Will yet again as well as giving them the main leads in the songs. I’m not saying Lea and Cory aren’t talented by really some of the other cast members are way stronger singers. Plus the characters themselves are moving from being merely grating to plain annoying.

The insistence of the writers to continue the drama between Rachel and Finn seems like a big mistake to me, one minute she wants to be with him the next he dumps her to play the field and within mere minutes Rachel is falling for rival Jesse St James only to be told by Finn at the end of the episode that he really wants to give their relationship a try. I get that teenage relationships change more frequent than the colour of Sue’s tracksuits but its getting pretty ridiculous now. Same with Will, newly separated from his wife and High School sweetheart he jumped into a relationship with Emma at the end of the first half of the season, only to be freaked out by her confession of virginity, so what happens? He ends up making out with Vocal Adrenaline coach oh and that song he picked to dance with Emma too, turns out it was his Junior Prom song with Terri, and we are meant to like this guy?

I let the fact that they focused mostly on a few of the characters slip in the first half the season as the show was finding its feet, but clearly the writers still haven’t listened to what the audience and critics have said, we want more time dedicated to the other characters like Artie, Mercedes, Tina and Kurt – you know the ones that can actually sing and are interesting. The only saving grace of the episode was the continued put downs by Sue and the brilliant one liners Brittany gets.

The problem seems like it won’t be changing anytime soon judging by the publicity and photo shoots the show has been getting its all about Rachel, Finn, Will, Quinn, Puck and Sue. Can you spot the common thread with those characters compared to the ones excluded? Not a trick question by the way, it’s a simple answer, the ones excluded are minorities (ethic, gay, disabled), is this deliberate? Unfortunately yes it is, Hollywood and the TV Networks like to harp on about being inclusive but in reality they have a long way to go before it will ever truly be a diverse place to work in.

Its troubling and equally frustrating, when Glee first hit our screens last spring with its pilot it was refreshing, a show about high school that had enough snark to put it ahead of shows like Gossip Girl and 90120, but now it seems every week we are hearing more about the big named guest stars appearing and have now been told characters like Kurt won’t be getting his boyfriend till Season 2. Yes its a big cast and its hard to include all characters at all times but maybe a Rachel lite episode once in a while wouldn’t be a bad thing, believe it or not we are interested in everyone in the show.

So will I continue to watch it? I’m giving the benefit of the doubt for the next few episodes because I want to love it, don’t think I don’t want to!

Tags: glee