Glee Review: Return of the Mac

I didn’t laugh too often during this week’s Glee, and for once, that wasn’t such a horrible thing. I actually spent a good amount of time tearing up. There are a few serious matters that the writers delve into vigorously, but that’s few and far in between. Yes, Glee is not down with bullying, and Glee can argue themselves as a great advocate for the young gay community, but I’d be hard-pressed to find many other societal issues that are taken so seriously with such gusto and verve. This week, however, we got to see how the recession can affect a child or teenager’s life, and through the eyes of a fairly minor character. Honestly, I was very touched by this episode, and the fact that it was truly unexpected was a nice bonus. “Rumours” could have easy been wholly sensationalized, but I should have known the truth when I saw Ryan Murphy with the writer credit. He knows how to make a point while making you cry.

“Rumours” debuted Brittany’s new web series Fondue for Two and also saw the return of the Muckracker, the school’s newspaper turned gossip rag. Brittany as a gossip show host/“hard-hitting journalist” may have been the funniest bits of the entire episode. She introduced us to the fattest cat in the world, Lord Tubbington. She made fondue relevant again, even if Mercedes and Tina thought it tasted like “a baby’s diaper smells.” And she dared to ask Schue if he preferred pantyhose or lace panties.

As rumors ran amok with the return of the Muckracker, Santana was left feeling exposed with allegations of closet-dwelling, Brittany felt a little more carefree knowing Santana could step out with her, and Finn acted completely jealous with a little back-up from the pining Rachel. With the rumor of a potentially “outted” Santana, Brittany thought that she and her bestie could actually be together and maybe even attend prom together. Artie finally saw the connection between the two and voiced his concern, and he might have been able to keep her until he called her stupid. He was the only one at school who’d never described her with those words up to that point. There goes another teary moment. Finn, on the other hand, couldn’t get out of his head the idea of Quinn and Sam messing around behind his back. With Rachel fanning the fires, Quinn had enough and offered an ultimatum: leave duets with Rachel behind or forget about her. I was on Team Quinn here. She shouldn’t be making demands when they affect the group. Didn’t she learn anything from Mercedes? But she had a right to be mad. I’m all about Finchel, but a woman should never flirt with a taken man in front of their actual woman. It’s just wrong! Luckily, the theme of the week, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album (arguably their best album) really helped the kids express those dark, twisty emotions.

This may have been the first time in a while that I didn’t cringe at this week’s chalkboard scrawling. Can anyone deny the emotion and power of the Mac? Their music and talent is so raw and real and honest, and I consider them to be timeless. Plus, this was also the first time Glee ever focused on just one album, and I could feel the album’s cohesion pervade through the storyline. Nothing truly felt out of place, except for Sue. I’ve gotten more and more disappointed with how the show has been using this award-winning, comedic actress. This week, she was relegated to dressing up like David Bowie and Ann Coulter, and that’s about it. Sue needs to get bigger and badder, and if not, she needs another storyline than just thwarting the glee club. Remember her sister? Remember when she tried dating? Maybe, those storylines weren’t perfect (I can beg to disagree), but at least they were something new.

Terri, the Honey Badger, finally flexed some of her League of Doom, evil skills. First, April Rhodes returned to Lima, after a failed attempt at an all-white The Wiz, and she and Will were inspired to write her story as a musical for Broadway. It was pretty horrible and not very funny, but Will was further motivated to go for his dreams again. No, not that Acafellas, boy band dream. Even Emma supported him, but he couldn’t leave, breaking down in tears to her while talking about how he can’t leave the kids and how she and glee club basically saved his miserable life. So instead of following in Sue’s footsteps, Terri came up with her own idea to coerce Will into heading to NYC. She’d plant some information in The Muckracker about Will planning to leave the club. This would make it easier for Will to leave because he’d be off the hook. He wouldn’t have to tell the kids which I assume is the hardest part, but I didn’t really see the connection. I don’t think it was so much about telling them as much as actually caring about them and leaving them. But this is the same woman who attempted to fake an entire pregnancy until she could steal a baby of her own!

The biggest secret, however, was uncovered by Rachel and Finn and not in the most admirable of ways. After staking out Sam, they witnessed Kurt coming out of a hotel and giving Sam a hug before leaving, and then days later, they saw Quinn exit the same room. Who in their right mind would ever believe that Kurt would cheat on Blaine or that Quinn would jeopardize that prom crown? But Finn and Rachel couldn’t let it go and were sure something nefarious was going on. And even if Rachel didn’t really think that, she got to spend a lot of time with Finn. Finally, Sam blurted out to everyone that his dad had lost his job, and he, his parents and his younger brother and sister were living in a one-bedroom motel room. It was all so sad. Kurt was bringing him clothes, and Quinn was helping to babysit. I felt so embarrassed for the boy who displayed another level of depth, but with his secret out, he was able to get even more help from the club. Everyone chipped in their own money to buy back the guitar he sold to help his family, and Rachel and Finn reaffirmed how important he was to the group.

All-in-all, it wasn’t the most hysterical episode, however, I found it incredibly refreshing to jump into a new storyline and spend some time with a character who’s been pretty silent the last few episodes. What really spoke to me, though, was the music. It morphed the episode from just an emotional one to something heartbreaking and gut-wrenching and moving. Thank you, Fleetwood Mac.

The Songs by Fleetwood Mac from the Rumours album
“Dreams”
Sung by April Rhodes and Will Schuester
Grade: B+

Anything that showcases Kristin Chenoweth’s glorious voice is inspiring in my books, and it was the perfect song choice to introduce the kids to their weekly assignment.

“Never Going Back Again”
Sung by Artie Abrams
Grade: A

Every word of the song fit perfectly with Artie and Britanny’s abrubt breakup, and Artie needed a soulful, hallway-rolling ballad. It’s been too long.

“Songbird”
Sung by Santana Lopez
Grade: A

Santana visibly struggled, throughout the episode, with her near-bursting feelings for Brittany. She even gave her lady love an intimate performance, demonstrating how much she really cares for the girl and how much Naya Rivera has grown as an actress. Now, can she do that in front of everyone?

“I Don’t Want to Know”
Sung by Quinn Fabray and Finn Hudson
Grade: A-

The seething hatred and lust emanated from this performance, but will the sexy drama tear them apart or pull them together? We’re nearing the finale so my bets would be with the former.

“Go Your Own Way”
Sung by Rachel Berry
Grade: B+

I love it when Rachel gets a power ballad and gets to channel her inner feminist. Hopefully she can take her own advice and let Finn go find his own way or he’ll never make his way back to her.

“Don’t Stop”
Sung by New Directions
Grade: A-

Rachel, Finn, Quinn and Sam got solos in one song! Coming together to support one of their own is what glee club does best, and everyone was there for Sam to give him a shoulder, lift his spirits and rock out. It was a perfect way to fade to black.

Memorable Moments

• “Lord Tubbington is allowed to eat cheese because he’s on Atkins.” – Brittany
• “Tune in next week when we will be dipping raw meat into boiling chocolate.” – Brittany
• “Santana told me to never speak alone to you because you’d try to steal all of my gold.” – Sam
• “Like newspapers everywhere we’re leaner, meaner, no longer concerned with facts, fact-checking, integrity, or facts.” – Sue
• “The Muckraker motto: ‘If I heard it, it’s probably true or something.’’” – Sue
• “’What prom-queen candidate is spending a lot of time in the closet?’ That’s garbage! Quinn’s claustrophobic.” – Finn
• How badly April wanted Will to ravish her and all he could do was whine about the kids.
• “I sold mine for drugs. Kidding! Ha! Nope. I actually did that.” – April
• Santana acknowledging piano playing Brad as basically furniture.
• Becky’s “Bite me, Fabray” to Quinn.
• Rachel: Look at all of the different combinations that we’ve had. Finchel. Puckleberry…
  Tina: Tina Cohen Chang-Chang
  Artie: Artittany
  Puck: Pizes
• “I’m still mad at you; I know you started smoking again.” – Brittany
• “What did I do?” – Rachel
  “I’m sure you did something.” -Santana
• “You know what I call an afternoon when I’m getting drunk? An afternoon.” – April
• Those kids in the final number…so freaking charming.

For another take on this week’s episode, check out Muckrakin’ by Alana D.

Season 2, Episode 19: Rumours (originally aired March 3, 2011)

Glee airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Fox.

Images courtesy of Fox and IMDb Pro.