Glee-ful Noise

(don't click to watch, it's disabled)

Glee returned true to musical form last night, in the episode entitled "Yes/No" and kicked off the show with a sentimental favorite, Grease's "Summer Nights". Sam and Mercedes, pursued by their friends to tell the story of their romance, sing this adorable classic to perfection and keep to the original. To say I LOVED it, is an understatement, and any self respecting Grease fan was loving it right there with me.

Love and marriage was in the air when Coach Bieste tells Emma that she and Cooter eloped! This news sends Emma scrambling for answers as to why Will/Mr. Shue hasn't proposed. Emma goes into an internal song, singing the Laura Nyro and the 5th Dimension "Wedding Bell Blues" with Bieste and Sue as back up. While this song was cute, nothing was funnier than Sue waltzing down the hall behind Emma, dressed in full on bridesmaid, wearing Princess Beatrice's abominable hat from last year's royal wedding. It's the little things like this that make me love Glee.

That and little things like casting reality star, Real Housewives of Atlanta's NeNe Leakes, as the synchronized swimming coach. Sam, determined to get a letter man's jacket to win Mercedes' heart, joins the synchronized swim team. While most of her lines were overly cliche and questionable, "I had a dream," and "40 acres and pool", NeNe was spot on and surprisingly worthy of the role.

Becky decides that Artie will be the object of her affections as we learn in her internal dialogue, complete with Dame Helen Mirren's elegant voice overs, "In my mind I can sound like whom ever I want, so lay off haters!"Not wanting to hurt Becky, Artie invites her to come and see him perform the mash up, "Moves like Jagger/Jumping Jack Flash". Could you guess that this would be My Download Pick Of the Week? Am I that predictable? Maybe so, but even though I was moving like Jagger myself, it's a toss up for two songs this week, this one being the first. This was pure magic. Artie, the strongest male voice on the show, handled it with ease and I can hardly wait for this one to make it onto my beloved iPod.

Finn learns that the truth sucks. He grew up thinking that his dad was a war hero, and he tells Mr. Shue that he is contemplating enlisting in the army so he can honor his father. A concerned Mr. Shue calls his parents and Finn's mom breaks his heart by telling him the truth. His dad was dishonorably discharged and then died of a drug overdose in Cincinnati. Poor Finn. Why must they turn this kid into a loser? A depressed Finn, Rachel and Kurt console each other over dinner and Rachel sings David Guetta's "Without You" to Finn. I'm a sucker for love and this one pulled me right in, as it was intended to and my second Download Pick Of the Week.

A somber girls chorus sings Roberta Flack's, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" for Mr. Shue. Rachel, Santanna, Tina and Mercedes do this sultry classic justice with the right amount of emotion and soul and prove that soulfulness transcends generations.

Sam tell Mr. Shue he has an idea about his proposal to Emma, and the next thing you know we are at the pool, with the synchronized swim team and the glee club while they serenade Emma with Rhianna's "We found Love". At first, I thought this was an adorable way to propose(even if Artie and his wheel chair made it into the pool), then they ruined it. Mr Shue in a cheesy white tux with a white satin top hat walking on water? No..please...because if that wasn't bad enough, he then dives into the pool and comes out soaking wet for the proposal. A little too much for me, and I love this show. Emma evidently didn't feel the same way I did, because she said yes.

But will Rachel say yes? Finn proposes to Rachel and while the actual proposal does not seem out of place, the fact that the story line has left Finn with nothing else even slightly redeeming for his future is tragic. He went from hero to zero, all in the span of 4 seasons. The show ended without Rachel's response so we will have to wait till next week for Rachel's answer.

But for now, we have the music. Ah yes, the glorious music.