Great Scenes on Glee

I just finished watching this week's episode of Glee and I had to write about how impressed I was by Chris Colfer's performance as Kurt.

First of all, it was another great episode with enjoyable musical performances and laugh out loud moments. The incredible Victor Garber made his debut in the role of Will's father and their scenes together were perfect and surprisingly sweet.

Even the guest appearance by Josh Groban as himself (which I wasn't thrilled about beforehand, since I don't want to see this show become all about This Week's Special Musical Guest) turned out to be surprisingly funny, specifically in his second scene where he tried to pick up Will's alcoholic mother while speaking of himself in the third person.

I know that some are bothered by the character of Sandy (and I am, too), the closeted former Glee club teacher who was fired in the pilot for coming on to a male student, and who made a return appearance this week. I think the negative stereotype he represents is at least balanced out by Kurt and by Rachel having gay fathers, though, so it doesn't bother me as much as it would otherwise.

Besides, most of the characters on the show are comedic stereotypes to a certain degree, but there's a lot more to them, as we're finding out. Maybe Sandy will turn out the same way, though I'd also be more than fine if we just never saw him again since I don't think his particular stereotype is all that comedic.

Now, on to what I really loved about the episode.

Last week, I noted that I'd like to see the Glee kids, aside from Finn & Rachel, get some character development. I never really doubted it was coming, of course, since this was only the third episode of the series. I was just hoping it would be sooner rather than later. My wish was granted this week with Mercedes and Kurt's subplot, which lead to an unexpectedly moving scene.

The cheerleaders, or Cheerios as they're called, have infiltrated the Glee club on Sue Sylvester's orders, with the mission of bringing it down from within so that the cheer team can have its full budget restored. Sue, who was on the strike team that helped bring down Noriega in Panama (!), advised her girls to target the members of the club individually.

Mercedes and her friendship with Kurt was their first striking point, as they encouraged the lonely young woman to believe that there was a chance that Kurt could become more than just a friend.

Now, Kurt is written as someone that is pretty obviously gay: he's into fashion, he's in Glee club, he plans to take Mercedes to a Sound of Music sing along. It would be easy to assume that he's already out, but this is high school, the place where no one wants to stand out as different in any sense.

So, Mercedes quickly became enamored of Kurt, who thought they were just hanging out. Rachel and Tina tried to warn Mercedes, staging a 'gaytervention' to let her know that Kurt wasn't capable of returning her feelings, but Mercedes didn't want to hear it.

At a fundraising car wash, Mercedes pointed out that she and Kurt had been out three times already and asked if they should just make it official that they were dating. Kurt, looking like a deer caught in the headlights, admitted that he was in love with someone else. He was staring over her shoulder at Finn as he said this, but Mercedes thought he meant Rachel and Kurt quickly agreed that he'd loved Rachel for years.

This lead to Mercedes smashing his car window and performing a rousing fantasy rendition of Bust Your Windows before telling Kurt that he'd busted her heart.

Later in the episode, Mercedes apologized to Kurt for breaking the window and told him that he and Rachel would have cute, if loud, babies together. Kurt, clearly struggling with his feelings, admitted that he'd lied to her. He didn't like Rachel, he was gay.

Mercedes asked why he hadn't just told her, and he admitted that he'd never told anyone before. She told him not to be ashamed of who he was and that he should tell the kids in glee, at least, since the whole point of the club was to express what was inside of you.

Kurt told her that he couldn't do that, that he just wasn't that confident.

It's important to remember than even those whom the world pegs as gay from the start have to experience coming out and that it can be just as difficult for them as for anyone else. I thought these scenes were beautifully done (and clearly, Kurt's coming out process is far from over, so we'll be seeing more in future episodes) and Chris Colfer actually moved me to tears in the final scene between Kurt and Mercedes.

The way he played the scene was perfect, from Kurt's nervousness and fear, to the obvious catch in his voice as he said the word gay, and the pain in his eyes as he said that he couldn't tell anyone.

I've come to think of Glee as being fun and hilarious, but this was the first time that I saw how capable they are of delivering truly powerful moments on an emotional level as well. Each week, I love this show more and more.