GLEE 1.14 - "Hell-O"

WRITER: Ian Brennan
DIRECTOR: Brad Falchuk
GUEST CAST: Jenna Ushkowitz, Jonathan Groff, Idina Menzel, Iqbal Theba, Patrick Gallagher, Naya Rivera, James Earl, Josh Sussman, Max Adler, Heather Morris, Harry Shum Jr., Dijon Talton, Ayla Rose Barreau, Ashley Fink & Hayley Holmes

[SPOILERS] Glee returns for its second half, and because the show was only guaranteed 13 episodes before it became a smash-hit, "Hell-O" finds writer Ian Brennan mostly dismantling things to an earlier state. It's a little frustrating, but then again Glee's always had a very relaxed attitude when it comes to consistency and plausible development. More importantly, this episode had conviction and laughs...

After their success at sectionals, the glee club members expect their popularity at school to soar, but they're still getting slushies thrown in their face. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Mr Schue (Matthew Morrison) reminds the group that they now have to focus on regionals, where they're up against famous rivals Vocal Adrenaline, so assigns them new homework: to come up with a brand new opening number incorporating the word "hello" in the song title. Rachel (Lea Michele) busied herself trying to find the perfect song, in-between smothering boyfriend Finn (Corey Monteith) with so much attention that he began to feel trapped.

Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) has regained her position as coach, having drugged Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) and staged a compromising situation with him in her bed, to blackmail him into letting her return to work. And now she's out for revenge against Schue –- recruiting cheerleaders Brittany (Heather Morris) and Santana (Naya Rivera) to help her ruin glee club by coming between Finn and Rachel. It works, and the heartbroken Rachel tries to distract herself by focusing on the "hello" assignment in the library, where she meets Vocal Adrenaline's star singer Jesse St James (Jonathan Groff), a boy who's equally as self-absorbed and egotistical as she is.

Schue's relationship with Emma (Jayma Mays) looked to be going very well, now they're free to romance each other without feeling guilty about his wife Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig), but it was interesting to see that Schue soon went cold on Emma after she told him she's a virgin. In fact, while visiting Vocal Adrenaline's choirmaster Shelby Corcoran (Idina Menzel) about his suspicion that Jesse St. James has only started dating Rachel to spy on New Directions, it takes all of 10 seconds before Schue and Shelby are locked in a passionate embrace. He's clearly a mess of emotions (or very insensitive, you decide), and after Terri reveals to Emma that their nascent relationship has certain similarities to her own with Schue, Emma realizes that Schue's not really over Terri and decides to call off their romance.

"Hell-O" was ironically more about goodbyes, as Finn/Rachel and Schue/Emma both ended their couplings. This episode was essentially a big reboot of Glee, but it worked surprisingly well considering it spent an hour tearing things apart. I expected to be more angry that so much of the show was reset, but it actually felt refreshing to see Rachel swooning over a new boy and Schue perhaps likewise about to get involved with "the enemy". Or will Terri get her claws back into him? I also think it helped that Ian Brennan, for my money, is Glee's best writer, certainly of the three co-creators who shoulder a lot of the writing duties. Brennan just crafts funnier dialogue and gives more screentime to the glorious tracksuited monster that is Sue, so I tend to enjoy his episodes a lot more.

Overall, this was a very confident and entertaining recapitulation of the show, giving us fresh characters, a new villain in Vocal Adrenaline (the evil twin of New Directions?), great dialogue, and the songs were pretty good, too. I was a bit disappointed Schue and Emma didn't last longer as a couple, so their breakup could feel a bit more tragic, but other than that this was a very strong return. I just hope Glee can take us to some interesting new places in the lead-up to the regionals season finale, as the biggest danger Glee faces is repetition.

Asides

• Guest star Idina Menzel is a big Broadway star, and Gleeks mounted a campaign to get her involved as Rachel's mother, because they both look quite similar. So here she is in a different role as an evil choirmaster, but maybe a family connection to Rachel will be revealed further down the line?
• I had to laugh when Jesse and Rachel's impromptu rendition of Lionel Richie's "Hello" on a piano in the library somehow attracted a few violin players who just happened to be sat nearby. The world of Glee's just inches away from pure musical fantasy.
• I find it funny that the show's now referencing the fact Corey Monteith can't dance very well. I especially liked Finn's response when Brittany and Santana praised his dance moves: "But I was hardly moving my feet."
• Speaking of Brittany; she's becoming Glee's version of Ralph from The Simpsons. A character who pops up and spews a hilarious non sequitur or two. My favourite here was Brittany's "did you know dolphins are just gay sharks?"
• Check out the orgasmic delight in Kurt's face when Finn came dancing up to him.
• Wise move to get Finn more involved with basketball than football, as the latter just doesn't work that well in drama. Faces are obscured, non-Americans don't understand the rules, it always requires outside filming, etc.
• It amuses me that Sue keeps targeting Schue's hair. "You have enough product in there to season a wok." She's jealous.
• Terri's a big fan of Jerry Bruckheimer's work and has Bruckheimer Nights!

19 APRIL 2010: E4/HD, 9PM