REVIEW: Glee “Heart”

Who would have thought that Rachel’s two dads could breathe so much wonderful gay life into the gayest show on television? Glee has really been struggling this year. The music has been boring for the most part and at least half the time I find myself not caring at all about what’s going on. There have been bright spots and Rachel’s dads are by far the brightest.

This week was all about Finnchel’s upcoming nuptials and how most rational people don’t think it’s a good idea. Imagine their surprise when Rachel’s dads Leroy (Brian Stokes Mitchell) and Hiram (Jeff Goldblum) as well as the Hudson-Hummels embrace the idea fully and join together for a family dinner to celebrate. Too good to be true right? Right. The whole thing is a ruse to force Finn (Cory Monteith) and Rachel (Lea Michele) to face the realities of what they are about to do. I really loved the conversation between Hiram and Burt about lube! After dessert they sent Finnchel upstairs for the “teenage lovemaking”. It was a clever ruse on their part, and we all know the gays are known for their cleverness, but the whole thing backfired and now Finn and Rachel are even more intent on heading to the Chapel of Love.

So what else went on? Mercedes (Amber Riley) gave Sam (Chord Overstreet) and Shane the boot and feels so guilt about her whoring ways that she formed The God Squad. Her little chastity club consists of Quinn (Dianna Agron), Sam and new kid/Glee Project alum Teenage Jesus (Samuel Larson). He wears sandals and looks like he might smell bad, but he has a really nice voice. The God Squad decides to make some extra cash singing Valentines messages to the students of McKinley. They find their first customer in Finn who orders a big courtyard production of Stereo Hearts for Rachel. Mercedes delivers her own Valentine message with a wonderful and remarkably poignant version of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You“. Rest in peace Whitney!

Also looking for some love is Santana (Naya Rivera) who finds her attempts to show Brittany (Heather Morris) any affection thwarted by Principal Figgins. The moment he bellowed “TEENAGE LESBIANS!” in the school hallway was my favorite of the show I think. I plan to wander the halls of my office today shouting it as well. Santana eventually hits up the God Squad for a song and Brittany gets her Valentine song, a mashup of “Cherish” by The Association and “Cherish” by Madonna.

Rory (Damian McGinty) got some air time this week as he had a montage-battle with Artie (Kevin McHale) for the affections of the tonally challenged Sugar (Vanessa Lengies). Rory’s speaking voice and Rory’s singing voice seem to come from two different people and I like both of them. He won Sugar’s attention with a soulful, puppy-eyed version of Michael Buble’s “Home” but it looks like he might have lied just a teeny bit about being sent back to Ireland. Bad form Rory. Bad form indeed. Artie’s “Let Me Love You” was a treat as well.

The big surprise this week was the reveal of Kurt’s secret admirer. He had assumed it was Blaine the whole time even though everyone with opposable thumbs knew it wasn’t. I’ll admit I was stumped by who the man in the monkey suit might be until he removed the mask and I was like “OF COURSE!”. I suspected Dave Karofsky (Max Adler) had developed tinglings in his boxers for Kurt when they ran into each other at that tacky gay bar a few episodes back and it was nice to see Dave again. Is he looking cuter than before or is it just me? Anyway, Kurt shot him down as nicely as he could but Dave didn’t take it well. I suspect this isn’t the last we’ll hear of it. Blaine finally did show up to sing “Love Shack” with the crew. Maybe he’s back from his Broadway hiatus now.

Between Rachel’s gay dads, Karofsky’s baby steps out of the closet, Santana’s stand against double standards for hallway smooching and The God Squad’s debate on homosexuality and religion this could have easily been preachy episode. Instead I thought it was all handled rather well. Hiram and Leroy were not over the top as they easily could have been. I worried that these two would end up being more like Armand and Albert Goldman from The Birdcage and that would have been a tad too cliche. The music was pretty good too with Mercedes’ Whitney number being the stand out for me. Mike and Tina’s “L.O.V.E” was very nice too.

Next week is the winter finale and REGIONALS! Who do you think will win? McKinley or Dalton?

Similar Posts:

• REVIEW: Glee “New York” Finale
• REVIEW: Glee “Special Education”
• REVIEW: Glee “Original Songs”
• REVIEW: Glee “Prom-asaurus”
• ‘Glee’ goes purple for the big premiere

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