Friday, September 14, 2012

'The New Rachel' by Glee

Last night was the season premiere of the fourth season of one of my favorite shows ever, Glee. This season is much different than the last three because the show takes place both in Lima, Ohio and in New York City where Rachel is attending NYADA. We find out that Rachel is homesick and hates her roommate (who sleeps with every guy in the school) and her dance instructor, Kurt's working at the Lima Bean, Sue's had her baby Robin, we meet new characters, and Kurt makes a very bold move. Oh, and we find out who is the "New Rachel."

The episode started off with Blaine, Tina, Wade/Unique and Brittany auditioning in front of Artie to become "the new Rachel." They each took turns singing lines, and eventually it turned into a "who can outshine who" competition with each of them singing over each other. It was fun to watch, but I would have loved for them to rearrange the song to Glee-ify it.

This was one of my favorites from the episode. We are introduced to Cassandra July (played by Kate Hudson) who is Rachel's tough as nails dance instructor. She shows Rachel that she's still got it by performing a mash-up of GaGa's 'Americano' and J-Lo's 'Dance Again'. As with all Glee's mash-ups, the performance was amazing. Kate Hudson is a good singer, and a great dancer. The performance was on fire and showcases the level of professionalism that I come to expect from the show.

Since the New Directions have lost so many of their key vocalists, Mr. Schue holds auditions, and after a barrage of some crazy characters, we are introduced to Jake Puckerman. He comes on stage and sings this beautiful song so flawlessly. I was actually surprised at how good of a voice he has, and it looks like he's going to be a great addition to the show. I would have liked to hear more of the song on the show, but I understand why Will cut him off. Jake has a temperament issue, and so I think it'll be interesting to see how that develops, and how he ultimately will become a part of the Glee club.

In what was a very interesting technique, both Rachel and newcomer Marley duet on this song as they both audition for the first time. Rachel is in her first class with Madame Tibideaux and Marley tries out for the New Directions. This was by far my favorite song of the night. It's an incredible song to begin with, but the instrumentation was beautiful and their voices together was magical. Marley has an incredible voice, one that could almost rival Rachel's, and they complemented each other beautifully as they sang. The ending was pretty spectacular as they belted their last few notes. It was interesting for them to duet hundreds of miles away, but it worked perfectly and it'll be interesting to see if they can keep this kind of thing up throughout the season.

My second favorite number of the night came from none other than Blaine, who also was chosen as the "New Rachel." I think you can probably predict what I'm going to say: I loved it! After telling Kurt that he needs to go to NYC to pursue his dreams, he performs for him in order to let him know that it's okay and they'll be fine as a couple. The song takes place in the common area of the school and the Cheerios join in with a rhythmic cup banging. Blaine's vocals as always were flawless, and it was such a beautiful song. A highlight of the show for sure.

As the only new member to be selected, Marley gets to sing lead on Adele's first hit. This song really shows off how incredible Marley's voice is. She sings it with such emotion, and her voice is strong enough to handle the song. She reminds me a lot of Rachel, and I believe she is going to be one of my favorite characters this year. Great casting decision!

I have to say that I wasn't wowed by the episode, but neither was I let down by it. It was a decent episode that had some great moments but also some flaws. I think all the new characters were cast perfectly, and they are going to make a great addition to the show. The new Cheerio Kitty is worse than Quinn ever was so that's going to be a lot of fun. Sue started off the episode with some hilariously snarky comments. Brody Weston as Rachel's new possible love interest should be interesting to watch. As much as I want to root for Wade/Unique, I just can't. Alex Newell is a terrible actor, and I hate how the writer's have created the character. Suddenly Wade is this big shot who thinks he should be the new Rachel. His attitude is horrible and it's really turned me off to him. Having him on the show is such a great thing, but making everyone hate him isn't making acceptance of different people any easier. I also really loved the relationship with Marley and her mother who happens to be a cafeteria lady. I really hope we get to see more interaction between them because it was so heartwarming, almost as good as the relationship between Kurt and Burt. Which leads me to my next point of love for the show: Burt saying goodbye to his son. That scene almost made me cry watching Burt tear up as Kurt walks into the airport. So perfect. And then the big reveal at the end!! This season's going to have a lot in store, and hopefully it's going to be done right unlike a majority of last year. Well, that's my first Glee-cap of the year so come back next week to see what I thought of the new Britney Spears tribute 'Britney 2.0'!

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