I had other things to post. Honestly, I did. I was going to talk about the “Grey’s Anatomy” finale, maybe comment some more on the Leno backlash, and probably call it a day as I try desperately to find this blog’s footing. But that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that I just finished watching the pilot episode of FOX’s “Glee” online, and now you need to do it too. Because if there is one thing that I know that this blog is about, it’s television that wraps you up in its characters and makes you feel. I don’t mean that it startles you with twists, or makes you laugh, or react to the show; I mean that it ties you to one or more of the players involved and links your emotions to theirs whether or not you intended to have it happen. Glee does that, and I’m speaking as someone who never participated in a cappella or theater, or any dramatic pursuit that defined my identity among my peers. I’m speaking as someone who understands passion, and because everyone with a pulse falls into that category, everyone needs to give this show a shot.
Quick rundown of the situation as it stands: Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison, who is wonderfully aloof here) is a high school Spanish teacher. Upon learning of the firing of the director of what was once his high school glee club, Will takes the group over and begins recruiting members. Drama diva Rachel Berry (Lea Michelle), Beyonce wannabe Mercedes (Amber Riley), disabled geek musician Arty (Kevin McHale), rocker girl Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz), and overtly gay fashion king Kurt (Chris Colfer) form the initial band of castaways. Through a little underhandedness, Will manages to get football quarterback Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) to join up as well. Also, there are "villains" such as the cheerleading coach (the always great Jane Lynch) who show promise, but don't factor in too much in the pilot. From there, the show takes you through the struggles of the group to come together, anchored by Will’s own struggle to keep the group alive (he needs to win at regionals to do so) and keep himself involved. To that last point, Will is being nagged by his shrewish wife, Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig), to become an accountant and leave high school behind.
That’s the basic setting for the drama, and I won’t ruin too much of the pilot explaining what happens. What I will say is that this show, for all of its over-the-top singing and characters, does what few other shows dare to do and puts its characters in painfully vulnerable situations, and it wins because of it. Watching each of the members of the glee club face their “loser” status, be crushed by it, and eventually embrace it leads to some of the most cringeworthy moments of the show, but these are also the moments that tied me to these kids, dragging me through their suffering to let me eventually revel in their joy. To that end, Lea Michelle and Cory Monteith are fantastic, opening their characters up beyond stereotyped clichés and instead letting viewers see them as real, aching people yearning to be special. It’s that search, one to which almost everyone can relate, that acts as the engine for the show.
Will’s own search for what makes him special is the other, wonderful half of “Glee”. In a final scene with school counselor Emma (Jayma Mays, who is perfect, perfect, perfect here), Will, having left the glee club to find work that will provide for his newly pregnant wife and their soon-to-arrive child, is challenged to decide exactly what it is he wants to “provide” for his newfound family: “The understanding that money is the most important thing, or the idea that the only life worth living is one that you’re really passionate about.” That passion for being exactly, almost embarrassingly what it is, a quirky musical dramedy about a high school glee club, separates “Glee” from other shows about high school, or about almost anything, for that matter. By the end of “Glee,” if you’re not being pulled into the thrill of watching these so-called losers pull together for one what may be the greatest ending sequence of any episode of television ever shown on the FOX network, I’m not sure what can be done for you. Go enjoy the manufactured participation of “American Idol” or the easy distance of a police procedural. I’ll be singing along, and loving every second of it.
