With each new episode of Glee, I come away convinced that the show has reached a new high that it will be hard to top. Last night was no exception, filled as it was with more hilarious one liners from Sue Sylvester and a riotously funny climax where the entire football team busts a move on the field to Beyonce.
Best of all, though, was Kurt. After last week's amazing episode, I didn't think Chris Colfer could possibly impress me more than he already had, but I was wrong.
Last night's episode started with Kurt and two friends recording themselves doing the choreography from Beyonce's Single Ladies video (for Youtube, perhaps?) before being interrupted by Kurt's father.
This was the first time we'd seen his dad, though we found out last week that he'd given Kurt a new car in exchange for a promise to stop wearing form fitting sweaters that stop at the knee. We also knew that he had later taken said car away after discovering Kurt's tiara collection. So, we were obviously prepared for someone who wasn't very accepting of the person his son is.
When his dad walked in on the Single Ladies dance, Kurt tried to get him to believe that the unitard he was wearing was all the rage with jocks as work out gear and one of his friends 'helped' by claiming that Kurt was on the football team now, as a kicker.
Later in the episode, Kurt approached Finn after Glee rehearsal. Before Kurt could ask him his favor, Finn jumped to conclusions and told him that he already had a date to prom but was flattered, since he knew dances were important to teen gays. This could have been done in a mean spirited way, but instead it was perfect, showing Finn to be not only at ease with Kurt's sexuality but with the fact that Kurt might even be interested in him.
Kurt quickly denied that he was gay, though, and then said he just need to ask for a favor. The next scenes were on the football field, where we found out that the two guys had been 'rehearsing' together for Kurt's 'audition' as kicker, which was about to take place.
To the derisive laughter of the team, Kurt started in on his 'warm up', which was the Single Ladies dance routine, only culminating this time in a perfect field goal at the end, which shut the team right up. The coach quickly announced that they'd found their new kicker, while Kurt gave a beauty queen wave to the team. It was beyond hilarious. I watched those scenes three times before I even finished watching the rest of the episode, I loved them so much.
Later, for his own reasons, Finn asked Mr. Schuster to help loosen up the losing football team by teaching them to dance, which lead to Kurt teaching them the Single Ladies routine during practice. When the game finally arrived, the team was losing 6 to nothing before Finn convinced the guys to do their 'ring on it' play.
As the other team watched in amazed confusion and the stands went crazy with dancing of their own, the football team did the Single Ladies routine before Finn made a pass to his buddy Puck and they scored a touchdown. Then, of course, it was up to Kurt, who kicked the winning field goal as his dad went wild with pride in the stands.
Of course, it's only in the movies or on TV that anything like this could ever possibly happen, but that doesn't make it any less wonderful to watch.
The best was yet to come, though. At the end of the episode, Kurt's dad told him how proud he was of him. Kurt was glad that he'd made his dad proud, but said that he had to tell him something, that he couldn't lie anymore. Being in glee and in football had shown him that he could be anything- "And what I am is... I'm gay."
Again, Chris Colfer played this scene so perfectly. Kurt's fear in saying those words to his father was crystal clear, as was his determination that they finally be said. The way he said 'gay', suddenly softer than the rest of his speech as if he was stumbling over the word itself, was somehow right on the mark.
Surprisingly, Kurt's dad was accepting. He told Kurt that he'd known since his son was three years old and only wanted a 'pair of sensible heels' for his birthday! He said that he didn't love the idea, but that if it was who Kurt was, he couldn't do anything about it and still loved him just as much. He did pause to ask if Kurt was sure, though, as if there might still be a glimmer of hope that his son was just confused.
At first, it seemed like this reaction was a bit too implausible, given what we knew about Kurt's dad from last week: that he'd bribe his son to, essentially, dress less 'gay'. But I think the real clue to his character came when he was watching Kurt take the field to kick the ball during the game. Kurt's father looked almost afraid and said to himself "He's so little."
I think, then, that anything he might have done to try and make sure his son fit in more with the rest of the guys at school was out of fear that he'd end up hurt if he didn't. The end of the show demonstrated that this is a father who, though he doesn't really understand his child at all, still loves him very much and accepts him because he can't change him. That certainly sends a great message.
Kurt and his Dad nearly moved me to tears, after another episode that had me laughing out loud for most of the hour. Glee does this mixture of hilarity and heart so well that they've already ruined me for other shows. This is hands down my favorite series on the air.
The best part is that with each passing week, the characters are given more depth. Kurt, of course, over the past two episodes has grown into a fully realized character, but even the supporting cast is beginning to move beyond their own high school stereotype. For instance, two of the teen 'villains' on the show, football player Puck and cheerleader Quinn, were both made a bit more human by their own stories this week.
This show has it all at the moment: an incredibly talented cast (especially, it must be said again, Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester!) and fantastic writers.
As you can imagine, I'm more than a little bit excited for next week, when Kristin Chenoweth guest stars! Just when it seemed Glee couldn't get any better!
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