I will never get tired of her line of the band being the true artists in the choir room. They needed more love and I am still trying to figure out how to write fan fiction just around the band and side characters.
@@gabrielleduplessis7388 No because, that’s one of my favorite sue rants too. In passing she acknowledged how Will ignored the black dancer (Matt) into oblivion. It takes me out every time😂😂
@Gabrielle Duplessis The best Sue rant I always think of is when she talks about getting Schue a cat and waiting for him to fall in love with it and then sneaking into his house to.....punch him in the face 😂
She might have been the best person on the show. One of the very few that didn't do anything horrible or act horribly to anyone else. It's been a little while since I've watched the show though
She deserved waaaaay better. She was overlooked by everyone. I hated how much she had to advocate for herself and her talents. I also hated that she did not get the role of Maria. After seeing the 2021 version of West Side Story, it convinces me that her casting would not be a big deal. While I loved Rachel’s performance, I wanted to see what Mercedes would have done with it.
Think about who wrote the show, three white men. And instead of hiring people of color as writers to help, nope, let’s just use her in the most cliche ways possible. Amber get a damn broadway show or tv show? She deserves it.
As an Autistic person, I always interpreted Britney as Autistic. She thinks in a very black and white way, can often speak in monotone, doesn't always understand what's okay to say in the moment and is incredibly intellegent with numbers despite not always being the most socially intellegent. It's never brought up because she's classically pretty and popular, autism often goes Undiagnosed in girls, especially those who are able to excel socially and have special interests that are deemed socially acceptable for girls ie. Cheerleading or singing.
I had never thought of it that way, but that would make a lot of sense, perhaps at one point they may have intended, or at least wrote and acted in a way for her character to be autistic, but never did anything about it. Either that or they just wrote her to be the 'dumb blonde' character
Absolutely agree! Even the awkwardness and misunderstandings related to sexuality make sense considering how people often treat undiagnosed neurodivergent girls, especially autistic girls.
oh shit now that i think about it with that lens, the things i felt as though i had in common with her make so much more sense. i find this very compelling, and its nice to have a sweeter (pun intended) and more sincere representation of my neurotype than sugar motta
marley is honestly a real depiction of a highschooler. I loved her sm, because of how relatable she was. She was the least problematic character in this show, the only reason she’s “boring”.
She's not boring, she's realistic. Not everybody in high school is a mean cheerleader or a dumb bully jock. People like Marley is the common type of high schooler. Nerdy, shy, sweet, girl next door image.
@@MertayEfeoglu I literally said that lmaooo. I’m a marley myself, and I made the “boring” joke because people like to complain that she’s “boring” as a way to say she’s “unlikable” You clearly didn’t read my comment, and that’s okay.
@@TrentvsTheWorld I read your comment, i just added. There's too many people who dislikes Marley and calls her boring. That's why i liked your take and commented.
my problem with Marley as a character comes from that though, realistic is not always fun to watch, realistic is often boring. im glad you felt seen by her character though
I love this breakdown so much and I completely agree with your rant on Mercedes don’t even apologise , I hated how they pretended that she was lazy when she was able to keep up with the dancing in the show and had an amazing stage presence and voice . They just used her as the stereotypical black girl and didn’t build on her character after that don’t even get me started on how they threw away her friendship with Quinn after they lived together . I also hated how the writers treated Quinn they would write development for her and when they needed drama they would regress her character . The first season of glee was honestly the best season to me , I know a lot of people say it’s the second season which I also love and how they built on Santana but the first season in my opinion had this charm to it that they were just kids trying to build this club where they could express themselves. It’s true what they say nobody hates glee more than glee fans istg😂
Season 1 and Season 2 are my favorite seasons. It balances, some days it’s 1 other days it’s 2 hahah. For one , I look at season 1 as great tv show with great writing and it’s also a Glee that would never really come back. Season 2 for me is great teen drama, and it’s what all the other seasons (except season 6) would be modeled after - but season 2 did it best. And yeah it’s so odd that Mercedes was in the delivery room with Quinn yet they barley interacted later on 🙄😂
@@TheVhsTapeYT This💯💯💯I 100% agree with you season 1 is my favourite in terms of writing and season 2 is my other favourite in terms of it being a teen drama even though they write some characters terribly that season I will forever love how they fleshed out Santana in that season . Other than that I’m still annoyed as to how they threw away the friendship with mercedes and Quinn and barely developed Mercedes character . I feel like the reason why I didn’t like 3rd season as much is because when I first watched I didn’t like the fact that the narrative was focused around the music which just made it confusing to focus on , this narrative shift honestly started to me anyways in the power of Madonna
Finally someone speaking out how on they did Mercedes DIRTY! Also I’m so tired of the sassy loud black girl stereotype. This stereotype negatively affects black women in real life. Mercedes Jones deserved better.
On Mercedes: First she's a hardworking character who knows what she wants, then they... contradict her completely and then say she's lazy?? COME ON, she deserved to be number one
out of all the micro aggressions that one was the most egregious 😭 those writers looked at the best technical and powerhouse vocalist who fought for her spotlight and called her…lazy. interesting
They hinted at Mercedes' perceived laziness in season 2 when she told Jesse that she doesn't need to practice her singing because she feels her music (which is the antithesis of Rachel, who we are shown practicing singing and dancing on multiple occasions), and at the beginning of season 3 when she said she wasn't going to do booty camp because she saw herself as a park and bark, where she just stands in the middle of the stage while everyone else dances and sings around her.
I definitely agree on the Mercedes part, she deserved way more storylines and songs and just a lot better in general (so did pretty much every other female character except from Rachel). The bit about Quinn and Puck was interesting too as not nearly enough people talk about the fact that he took advantage of her as their encounter wasn't fully consensual and he put her health at risk, got her drunk, wasn't truthful about protection and pretty much coerced her so it's quite uncomfortable and wrong that it tries to present them as a 'cute' couple later on.
I think the whole consent issue with Puck/Quinn is another example of the writers not getting black comedy across very well in real actions (like the crack house, vaporape, or ED discourse) and they never actually intended for it to come across that way because Quinn first says “I had sex with you because you got me drunk on wine coolers and I felt fat that day,” which is supposed to be an obviously satirical statement but I think a lot of the fandom missed bc of inexperience with alcohol. They even go out of their way in Blame it on the Alcohol to say that no one is going to get drunk on wine coolers at Rachel’s party. Obviously there’s still a consent issue regarding contraception but they do address that multiple times- it’s a real thing that lots of high schoolers do.
Yeah, the whole way that their encounter that led to them conceiving Beth is talked about/framed is really wrong as he definitely took advantage of her (and the fact that it was her first time) and coerced her while deceiving her about protection so it's pretty gross however you look at it, I'd say.
tbh out of quinn's romantic relationships, I loved her with sam alone. Yeah, they were kind of boring compared to her other relationships, but I liked how mundane they were (I mean painting coasters as a date? I love that) and I wished they were given issues that challenged quinn's personality as well as sam's in their relationship rather than cheating that seemed to be a constant in the glee club. On the other hand, I did love samcedes in season 3, tho i am a die hard quinn and sam shipper
Thank you for standing up for Mercedes!!! I felt like they leaned into black stereotypes WAY too much. Thankfully that didn't overshadow her gifts as a vocalist!! Some of my favourite Mercedes songs are: "Jump" "Disco Inferno" "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You" "Spotlight" "How Will I Know" "You Make Me Feel Like A (Natural Woman)" "Aint No Way" "Shake It Out" "TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS" "Human Nature" "I'll Stand By You
The more I think about glee, the more I wanted Emma as the glee teacher. Her episode where she substituted for Will at sectionals made me question why she was not. She stood up for them. She motivated them and encouraged them. In another episode, she is the one who told Will that he overlooked many members in Glee which led to more of them participating in competitions. Trebltones should have had more performances and their mashup of I will Survive and Survivor was a waste of their talents. There were so many songs that fit their iconic ranges better. I had a bog crush on Rory and he needed more screen time. Sugar had potential. She did become nicer and I loved her loyalty to the Glee club. I always wanted Blaine to be bisexual. His kiss with Rachel was not just because he was drunk. He looked like he enjoyed that kiss. I pictured him maybe not liking Rachel romantically, but she was still a bi awakening for him. I also shipped him with Tina. Their chemistry and friendship was iconic to me. People say they pictured Sam as bi and I could see why, but now after hearing how Sam was originally supposed to be Kurt’s love interest, it is making come up with more head cannons. To be honest, I did not see the issue with him doing a duet with Kurt. Girls can duet without being seen as gay. The guys did duets that weren’t romantic. Why was it gay for Sam and Kurt to do one. It felt hypocritical to me. Oh great, I am picturing a Heartstopper story with them now. Don’t at me.
I agree with most of this except for the Blaine and Tina thing. She was genuinely creepy towards him and didn't respect his boundaries or his relationship. In fact, it's a plot point (that was played as a joke) that she "vaper raped" him. Basically she assaulted him while he was asleep. It really grossed me out.
The issue was the glee guys were still new to accepting being seen as uncool, and they knew their homophobic bullies would see it as gay to sing a duet with a gay dude. They said so in the episode
@@leahdavis9434 but they contradicted it many times throughout the show which is my original argument. Also the double standards of the girls could sing duets without being gay and straight guys can sing “straight” duets with each other, but the one time (at this point in the show) Kurt wanted to duet with someone, it was gay. That is the issue I had with it.
Blaine was a catalyst for Kurt’s growth and it’s upsetting that the writers never bothered to give Blaine a catalyst for growth. I mean they gave him layers which they could’ve delved so well into but they didn’t. Also in my opinion, Blaine was one of the most realistic characters especially after the seasons went on. I understand why people think he’s whiny and annoying but I thought his character always had a strength behind it and a kind of curiosity that should’ve been handled better. He had so much potential too, with the family drama and the depression (mentioned god knows how many times) and all his other shit. But they didn’t explore him because deep down it was Blaine’s purpose to make Kurt look better and to be this superficial happy character. Which is a bummer.
i will NEVER forgive the writers for calling mercedes lazy. she worked her ass off and almost never got her dues, despite being imo, the best singer in the club
YESSS finally seeing someone who hates beistes transition. like... she already had a trans narrative!!! being perceived as masculine when all she wanted was someone to treat her as a woman... thats a transfem narrative, even though it wasnt intentional. if anything, her being made a trans man just felt transphobic lmao, like ohhh the masculine womans actually a man⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️ then what was her introductory storyline😩
I remember hearing Michael Buckley explain during one of his gleecaps that in “The Quarterback” Santana breaking down and running out of the classroom was Naya losing it during filming it.
This also explains why out of all people Mike and Will worried the most here, two characters she's not too close with, but I think Naya was close with Harry and Matthew.
I remember being a 13 year old American Idol stan when Glee's pilot was CONSTANTLY being plugged on commercial breaks. I was totally captivated by it (it felt like "high school musical but juicier" lol) but my parents wouldn't let me watch it so i had to sneakily watch clips on youtube for the first couple seasons before I got a laptop and could access Netflix. 😆 This video was fantastic, this show really was a cultural touchstone for its time.
A couple of thoughts here: Thanks for breaking down the writing. Even though the first two seasons were cohesive, you could sometimes feel tiny shifts between episodes, and now it's connecting that "rib" had different writing styles. The seasons break down. Wow. Just Wow. People always just say "this season was good, or this season was bad" but never go into depth when they're breaking down the show. You really have an eye for detail. (I also enjoyed your Gilmore girls breakdown, especially the seasons part). I didn't notice how the color palette changed. Season 1 was so real and grainy; I don't understand why when shows get bigger budgets, they decide to make everything look so fake and plasticky. Last thing thank you for talking about the band, that part really made me chuckle. The Matt part too. BRAVA BRAVA. I'd love to see you cover One Tree Hill and older 2000s and 90's shows too.
The way you described Mercedes is what I thought the entire show. Thank you!!! The stereotype of the ghetto loud black girl needs to stop. We are people just like everybody else. Give us more substance.
I actually just started rewatching Glee yesterday and I got recommended this video. This video is absolutely amazing and you did an amazing job breaking down all the intricacies of the show and the characters. Despite it flaws and how I don't really like the later seasons, I do love Glee and it'll always hold a special place in my heart. It really was just such a pivotal part of my growing up and I don't think it can ever be repeated, it was literally lightning in a bottle.
Carol and Burt are parent goals! I loved them so much and even though it took him a minute to accept Kurt, I love how much Burt was in his corner but also willing to put him in his place when he needed it.
Yes I remember Chris not wanting to go down the most predictable path. Especially since early season Kurt was known for his fashion sense so they kind of went back in that direction.
blaine's character getting ruined felt like something they did to keep him with kurt. kurt's character development feels like one of if not the most natural character development on the show, so they just kept changing blaine so they could keep klaine together. in season 2 he was confident with himself and helping kurt get to the same point, but once he did and kept gaining more and more confidence they started making blaine more and more insecure, possibly to keep their original dynamic? i dont know, either way, i hate it season 2 blaine was my favourite character and im so mad that they didnt keep him at dalton or at least send him back when they did that goofy ahh superhero episode
I absolutely love your breakdown, especially when you mention your experience in the Glee fandom and the audience reactions while it was airing. I first watched Glee in 2018, so I never got to experience it live and I didn't enter the fandom until 2020. Something I've noticed in the fandom is the difference in hate that season 4 gets depending on the viewer. A lot of the people I've spoken with who didn't like season four were people who watched the show live and didn't enjoy the sudden changes and fell off the show during the week to week airings. On the other hand, a lot of the people I know who love season four didn't watch it live and instead binged it. Obviously this doesn't apply to everybody on both sides, but I think the hate of it could have been affected by the fact that people were having to tune in weekly to watch these obvious changes rather than the other group who can just get to the next episode and not have to be annoyed that they waited a whole week for an episode they found underwhelming. I'm not sure if this is coherent or not but hopefully it makes sense. Also loved your Marley segment, I never know if somebody is going to like her to not. I know the fandom used to hate her, but at least as far as Glee twitter goes it seems like people like her for the most part.
This was a beautiful love letter to a show that impacted my life in more ways I care to admit, you are completely right in saying no one loves/hates Glee more than Gleeks. Thank you for all the time and energy this must’ve taken. This was fantastic work.
I‘m only 25min into the video but I gotta say upfront thank you so much for actually doing a deep dive with background info and real ANALYSIS instead of just recapping each episode with no further details for 5 hrs and calling it a day
So happy youtube decided to recommend this video to me! I love how clear everything was and I definitely agree with you about most things. I’m glad to see someone mentioning Coach Beiste’s transition as it has also always striked me as weird. As you said their whole character development in the earlier seasons revolved around how much they struggled with people not viewing them as a woman because they didn’t present in a traditionally feminine way so having them transition really felt like backtracking. Also happy to hear someone mention how old the crackhouse debate is, like we get it one person in a show about horrible people did something horrible can we please move on 😭. Anyways, this was a lovely watch, can’t wait to check out your other videos :)
@@alim.9801in a recent ep of Kevin and Jenna's podcast, they talk about this. They weren't sure how to show Artie getting into the pool. Everyone else jumps in, he can't because he can't stand. In discussing it during filming, someone joked that he could just be rolled/pushed in, so that's what they did! 😂 It's an iconic moment.
1:37:37 another will crime people don’t talk about enough: singing ‘fix you’ by coldplay to his mentally unwell fiancé who’s in the middle of an episode after a very triggering event. like bro she’s not a broken doll you can fix with your showtunes, she’s a person with issues that need to be treated by a professional. carl supremacy for life.
This was SUCH an excellent Deep Dive!! You really did the show Justice and delved into what made it such a cultural touchstone. You highlighted both aspects that made it great as well as some of the less flattering parts.
I absolutely love this, and this video deserves all the likes. I still stand by what I said in your Tina video in that her character should have grown into being a fashion designer and that her arc should have revolved around her realizing that even though she isn't the star her role is important. I mean, wouldn't that be such a great message, that you can find a new dream after realizing your first one may not work out for you? I'm a card carrying adult and I'm still trying to figure out my dream lol Also, Blaine in my opinion eventually felt like the writer's self insert, and once you look through that lense you can't unsee it
I used to think season 6 was the worst season simply cuz I didn’t care for the new kids, but they really brought the show back to what the seasons after 1 always should’ve been. Rachel got humbled and her success was more deserving. And Sue especially was a highlight, that Klaine stuff was perfect
As someone who comes from a small town the 2 Asian characters on the show having the same last name is pretty realistic. I just finished coaching swim club in a small town and I had 3 Asian athletes, who had no relation to each other, with the same last name. That same thing also happened a lot throughout my high school years.
I don’t think Blaine necessarily SHOULD have been bi, but I wish they’d at least continued that conversation. It’s fine for someone to be unsure of your sexuality. Just because Blaine didn’t end up liking girls, doesn’t mean that Kurt’s biphobic comments were okay, and I feel like they could have showed that message, they just… didn’t.
I'm with ya!! The fact that Kurt was actually right about Blaine in that specific instance really served to kinda justify the biphobia in the show and honestly it kinda bothers me
And it was so out of character for Kurt imo, they needed to explore that more to show he said that out of hurt, that it wasn't right or ok, and it wasn't at all how Kurt actually felt.
I also feel like Kurt was completely out of character in that episode… well, maybe not *entirely* out of character, since I do think it’s something he might say when lashing out; but I do think him not really apologizing for it or getting called out was an issue. Kurt seems like someone who should be MOST accepting of all different sexualities due to how much stigma he faced himself, and it bothers me that his character wasn’t really awarded a chance to showcase that in this episode (they needed the drama) or to have a small arc where he could learn more about bisexuality with Blaine. For context, I’m bi myself, and Kurt is my absolute favorite character from the show. This episode kinda hurt me though. I really wish it were handled better and actually did his character (and Blaine’s) justice :(
I feel like one of my only issues with Emma is just the way OCD is portrayed, which really rubs me the wrong way. The best example I can remember of her exhibiting an OCD symptom that wasn't the stereotype of cleaning was when she mentioned dating some guy and then 2 weeks later Versace was dead. That kind of thinking of feeling like you were responsible for a tragedy or that you should've done something to stop is something people with OCD do feel
i agree so much with your analysis about Beiste! Having them ending up as trans didn't really make sense with their previous storyline and development. The whole point was, that it's ok to be a woman with stereotypically masculine traits and a masculine build. That was her journey of self love and self acceptance. It felt like the showrunners wanted to show off how progressive they were by adding another trans character but ended up not doing either trans ppl or the character of Beiste justice.
sorry to bring up this alternative opinion about eight months late, but as a trans-masculine person who transitioned later in life i see enough echoes of my struggles with gender - perhaps what you were seeing was him struggling quietly with his bodily dysmorphia - in bieste that i wish cis people (presumably soz) would stop opining about whether or not his character transitioning was "necessary." the issues with bieste transitioning later on have a lot more to do with the fact that Dot-Marie Jones ain't trans, so its not like there was an underlying nugget of the actor's own truth (unlike with Unique, who was transitioning in tandem with Alex Newell, the actor playing her) than with the idea that More Than One Trans Person Is Too Many (thats how your criticism sorta comes across, please be mindful of that)
They did Mercedes so wrong throughout this show. She was super talented and honestly the strongest female vocalist next to Rachel. She did have some of the best singing moments 🙌🏽🙌🏽
The biggest problem for me was that the pilot made me excited for a television show about a showchoir, and more than a decade later, I'm still waiting for it. I don't think almost anyone involved in showchoir (or even who watched their friends in showchoir) could look at _Glee_ and say that *any* part of that experience was captured on the show.
Just started watching this video but the Glee pilot feels like a standalone little movie. In fact, every Ryan Murphy tv pilot feels that way, I watched many of his pilots back to back a few years ago and they all had this cinematic feel to them
Honestly it does make me wonder whether Ryan Murphy would be better suited as a film director. He’s very good at big flashy ideas and creating immersive fictional worlds, but long term consistency in characters and story telling is his weakness
A couple of things I will say: I believe it was brought up during the Brittany segment of this video about how she’s one of those characters that kinda dodges accountability based on the nature of the character itself. I would argue that the same could be said for some other characters as well in the context of the fandom, even if they aren’t portrayed the same way as Brittany was. re: the Kitty/Marley storyline in season 4, but around the time that year’s sectionals happened - and this may be an unpopular opinion but I’ll say it anyway - I personally didn’t buy Santana, a character who has body-shamed others on multiple occasions (namely Finn), standing up for Marley around that time period. Yeah sure, she was originally introduced as one of the mean girls who speaks her mind, but it got to the point where it felt like the show was almost targeting the actors’ physicality through her character (even Naya herself disapproved of the infamous speech/rant Santana made against Chris Colfer’s Kurt in season 6). It would have made more sense if Quinn or even Mercedes stood up for Marley in season 4, especially knowing what Sue put the Cheerios through in order to achieve a sense of perfection. That way, season 4 could make a simple yet effective callback to season 1’s Cheerios storyline for Mercedes + season 2’s Lucy storyline for Quinn, especially with characters who have obviously experienced what Marley was going through. And since Quinn was also Kitty’s mentor (and idol), that would have been a perfect way for Quinn to open her eyes to who looked up to her (and how) so she could teach Kitty how to properly conduct herself, despite being one of the popular girls.
Also, never apologize for the Mercedes rant. It was much-needed. It’s unfortunate that Mercedes was treated the way she was during the run of this show because imo, she truly had the best voice in the cast.
Marley's character always rubbed me the wrong way. I remember when she was introduced, I thought she felt a lot like a self-insert character. The shy, nice, innocent girl who is amazingly talented and gets a lot of attention from guys. Even a love triangle! It felt very wattpad. I'm sure, at some point, some character describes her as being "different." It was very out of place for a show like glee.
i could not like her after a mean girl sewed her costume smaller 1 or 2 inches every single day to make her think she was getting fat. and she believed it. i mean, all of her other clothes fit perfect. her thing was that she was ''poor''. that makes her 'different.'
I loved Sue. Yes, she could be brutal at times, and she pushed too hard at times, but she also cared about the kids. And if they had given Sue her own spin off, I would have watched it. Jane Lynch is brilliant. I also loved Rachel, even when she was being horrible; she was honest when she told Mercedes that she wanted to be a star at all costs, even if people hated her and she admitted that was not healthy, but it was who she was. One thing I loved about Glee was how they didn't go the route of having Burt reject his son flat out. No, he didn't always understand but he loved his son, and he stepped up and adjusted his world view and he fought for Kurt time and time again. I also like Lauren. I think part of the appeal she had for Puck was the fact that she didn't just fall at his feet the way other girls did. I missed her when they wrote her off. I would take her over Kitty any day. I know Rachel did horrible things, hell, they all did horrible things to one another, but Kitty had no redeeming quality whatsoever.
Yes I was on tumblr when this show first came on. And I was apart of the Mercedes Mafia still a proud member. I checked out after s3. I loved this analysis of the show seeing I only watched Mercedes/SamCedes scenes of s4-6. I loved how Alex and Amber have won a Tony and Olivier for their work after gLee/treatment. I’m with you on how disappointed I was in the Glee Concert movie. I wanted those skits in there not the how it is to be a gLeek. It’s why it underperformed at the box office was because of that imo. I’ve been feeling nostalgic for the show the past few days watching old songs and my favorite SamCedes scenes. I wish they had just followed the core group after s3. I mean Degrassi was another of my favorite shows at the time with a cast bigger than them and managed to give attention to all. Though we did have a core few. And they did it with 30min (20-22min) episodes compared to Glee hour (40-46min). It was just incompetence in consistency and storytelling. Which is why Ryan only successful show is AHS. But I digress great video. S6 looks fun I may have a watch. But so far haven’t been able to watch an episode since Naya’s death.
Your rant about Mercedes was so true! Don’t apologize! But also I’m a firm believer in the idea that the writers (not just RIB) underutilized a lot of the things they wrote into the show. For example, Blaine and the familial/general mental health issues, Beistes issues (instead just making Beiste trans), Kurt having “ocd” types of issues, etc etc
My personal favorite season is 4 and it’s funny for me to hear people be like “Everything after 3 was horrid” I honestly thought that season 4 brought back a level of chaos seasons 2 and 3 didn’t have. It felt much more satirical. Even through it’s ridiculously horrid romance plots and etc it had chaos. Season 4 was so frankly unneeded that it’s great. I didn’t love the new characters but like the chaos of even like Tinas quotes are so funny. I think it’s the fact they were scrambling so hard which makes me like s4. Also in my opinion, season four had the best covers of the entire show (maybe it’s because I love Blaine and Santana).
This was such a perfect breakdown of both the characters and the seasons of the show!! I was a huge Gleek at the time, but season 4 and then Cory's passing made me step away from the show. I came back for season 6 because it was the final one, and I loved how it was a back to basics season. This made me so nostalgic that now I have to watch the pilot again. Congrats on such an amazing video!!
I never watched the show but I will happily watch your 3 hour video explaining the show to me. Great job as always 💛 P.S. I admire anyone willing to edit a video the size of two movies lol.
@@0b13F4st3 the reason I thought of it was the literal thinking she displayed when answering the "what is the capital of Ohio?" question. I feel like theres probably more examples.
She's definitely gotta be some kinda neurodivergent. Generally she's not portrayed as dumb so much as kinda oblivious and not picking up on stuff so I feel like it fits
in my opinion (as an autistic person) brittney shows a lot of autistic traits even if they didn’t mean to do that (i’m pretty sure they didn’t) like she’s very socially unaware, gullible, easily manipulated, blunt, no filter, often has a flat affect, gives off airhead vibes but is a mathematical genius (many autistic ppl tend to have an affinity to numbers/math) like,,, idk it makes sense to me 😭 it’s sad that ppl make autistic traits often a punchline tho without calling it autism
@@TheVhsTapeYT yeah i mean i don’t think they were writing her that way but it makes sense. she also said things seriously but ppl always thought it was funny, which is a very common autistic experience lol
i thought how it was funny in the "wheels" episode how they didnt have money for the handicap bus but they did have money for like 10 wheelchairs for all of them lmao
This video just proves to me once again that season 6 had the most underrated (and possibly best behind Santana, Quinn, and Britney for me) characters from the entire series. 🤣 I'm sorry but Jane, Spencer, Myron, the twins Mason and Madison were all so good. Better than most of the newer characters we got from season 3, 4 and 5. My history with Glee is I watched all the way up to around season 4 when it was airing but the storylines were a mess and chased me away unfortunately. So when I actually decided to finish this show after it had left the air I witnessed season 6 and it is probably a top tier season for me and I really wish we had gotten more time with those newer characters.
Hard agree on Sam. Like, they had whole storyline about his homelessness and having to wirk at a strip club to suolort his family, showing that he had to grow up way faster than the other members. Then season 4 he suddenly became the most childish of any of them. Not to mention it feels like any idiot could've seen a storyline popping up from his bidy image issues and modeling being linked to the aforementioned stripping. Also, honestly while Samcedes was great I actually kind of wish they'd given him an Tina a shot.
Ohhh noooo, just the little part talking about Sue's relationship with her sister and why she she then adored Becky just did something to me and the waterworks began. It's a touching part of the show that I've always appreciated and can never get through a rewatch without crying. Especially when her sister dies.
As someone who blocked season 6 out of her mind bc of how bad it was (as far as I remember, which isn't very much aside from the last episode and that awful love story for Sam and Rachel), I was shocked to find that season 4 is widely hated. I always liked it and the change it brought (aside from the newbies, never liked them, or the kids from season 6). I also never really saw season 3 as messy, it's actually my favorite season. But I do think it should've ended after season 3. Glee's glory days were over. And while yes, Glee is very flawed and hasn't aged well, I was raised by it. It introduced me to Broadway and broadened my musical taste, and made me believe in myself and my dreams. This essay was amazing, tho! Found out a lot about Glee and the bts stuff I never knew.
Girrrrrrl you said a mouthful about Mercedes and i really wanna add on cause you hit the nail on the head but now I've gotten lazy lol so i might just have to comment later on.
I also wanted to add that i’m glad you have a way better analysis of this show then most, you didn’t just bash it and get on every little detail, you took it for what it was and didn’t blow it out of proportion. I personally love seasons 1-3 despite their flaws and I on and off enjoy 4-6. Overall this is a great video!
Re coach bieste THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. That is the SAME ARGUMENT I've been making SINCE that story line. Shannon was the ONLY masculine woman. Even sue was extremely feminine, Shannon was the only masculine woman. I loved her and loved her character after still for the same reason as you (stability) but that was doing her specifically dirty.
I’m going to stay salty about Kurt’s NYADA rejection for the way the storyline was treated. I respect Colfer not wanting Kurt go a traditional theater route…but in that case, why have Kurt audition at all? Why have that as such an integral part of his season 3 arc? Furthermore, why have him give such an incredible audition with glowing praise only to be rejected? There are so many better ways this storyline could have been written and it wasn’t. I have a lot more qualms with it than that, I’m working on my own Glee-search project, but it’s frustrating to hand-wave criticism with “oh well the actor wanted it this way.” The way I see it, the storyline of him getting rejected isn’t the problem. It’s how the storyline was handled. That being said, your Mercedes “rant” is completely correct and you should not apologize for it. I also love how you actually addressed Puck taking advantage of (date raping) Quinn. That does not get brought up enough and it’s incredibly refreshing to hear someone state that what it is.
My guess is the storyline was handled the way it was because at the end of the day it’s all for entertainment. If TV shows resolved things in a linear and logical way, it would cut tv and film material down to 15% 😂. That being said, I do agree with you that it wasn’t handled the best (typical glee), but my mentioning it was more trying to be fair about the show because people don’t get how Rachel got in and Kurt didn’t (this was not a case of Rachel favoritism as it usually is)- RIB was notorious for making last minute changes (Heather Morrison only found out she wasn’t graduating when filming the last episode and was actually very upset about it) it may very well be that Kurt was set to get in but Chris convinced them otherwise last minute. Also him thing rejected was supposed to show that it’s not the end of it all because you got a no. He didn’t let his NYADA rejection stop him from going to New York and pursuing something he was equally inspired by. I’ve also heard from numerous theater kids that even though Kurt’s performance was stellar, his high school career as a whole wouldn’t balance well with other extremely competitive kids. He might have not gotten booted because of his performance but there may have another equally talented student like Kurt who had more to show for himself and took Kurt’s place. Idk though, I try to make sense of most of Glee just for my own piece of mind 😂😂😂😭😭😭
@@TheVhsTapeYT oh, that’s entirely understandable!! I hope I didn’t come off like I was attacking you and I apologize if that is how I came off. I’m just forever frustrated at the last-minute decisions and clumsy storytelling (as you said, typical Glee lol). Especially with everything the show was trying to accomplish, I just think we as viewers deserve better.
@@pennyraehawkins9788 oh nooo, not at all!! I totally appreciate and get your comment. As much as I love Glee, we all have aspects that infuriate us 😭😭 yours are more than valid !!!!
"Blaine should have been bisexual" unlocked a memory of me saying the exact same thing and cringing with all the biphobia in that short storyline. I get that they didn't want to have Rachel be unhinged and ruin Klaine but my god, Blaine could 've been written as bi and still draw hard lines choosing Kurt, damn. It felt so wrong to watch back then as a bi girl.
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Disregard the Sue having cancer part, I don’t know why I thought she mentioned having cancer. Just ignore it…
Glee
Glee made many many mistakes but it also gave us Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester and that’s something I’ll forever be grateful for
I will never get tired of her line of the band being the true artists in the choir room. They needed more love and I am still trying to figure out how to write fan fiction just around the band and side characters.
@@gabrielleduplessis7388 No because, that’s one of my favorite sue rants too. In passing she acknowledged how Will ignored the black dancer (Matt) into oblivion. It takes me out every time😂😂
@Gabrielle Duplessis The best Sue rant I always think of is when she talks about getting Schue a cat and waiting for him to fall in love with it and then sneaking into his house to.....punch him in the face 😂
@@kacao6561 honestly, you just never know where she’s going to go with the rants it’s willddd 😂😂
She might have been the best person on the show. One of the very few that didn't do anything horrible or act horribly to anyone else. It's been a little while since I've watched the show though
Don't apologize for that Mercedes rant! The disrespect of her character is always swept under the rug. She was a core character, for crying out loud!
Yes that and the Sam part was spot on too… they completely destroyed his character too
She deserved waaaaay better. She was overlooked by everyone. I hated how much she had to advocate for herself and her talents. I also hated that she did not get the role of Maria. After seeing the 2021 version of West Side Story, it convinces me that her casting would not be a big deal. While I loved Rachel’s performance, I wanted to see what Mercedes would have done with it.
They also never showed Mercedes’s parents, they did for every other glee member except her.
She deserved better writers
Think about who wrote the show, three white men. And instead of hiring people of color as writers to help, nope, let’s just use her in the most cliche ways possible. Amber get a damn broadway show or tv show? She deserves it.
As an Autistic person, I always interpreted Britney as Autistic. She thinks in a very black and white way, can often speak in monotone, doesn't always understand what's okay to say in the moment and is incredibly intellegent with numbers despite not always being the most socially intellegent. It's never brought up because she's classically pretty and popular, autism often goes Undiagnosed in girls, especially those who are able to excel socially and have special interests that are deemed socially acceptable for girls ie. Cheerleading or singing.
I had never thought of it that way, but that would make a lot of sense, perhaps at one point they may have intended, or at least wrote and acted in a way for her character to be autistic, but never did anything about it.
Either that or they just wrote her to be the 'dumb blonde' character
Absolutely agree! Even the awkwardness and misunderstandings related to sexuality make sense considering how people often treat undiagnosed neurodivergent girls, especially autistic girls.
as an autistic woman who is clueless & very naive it’s shocking how i am actually functional lol.
oh shit now that i think about it with that lens, the things i felt as though i had in common with her make so much more sense. i find this very compelling, and its nice to have a sweeter (pun intended) and more sincere representation of my neurotype than sugar motta
This.
marley is honestly a real depiction of a highschooler. I loved her sm, because of how relatable she was. She was the least problematic character in this show, the only reason she’s “boring”.
She's not boring, she's realistic. Not everybody in high school is a mean cheerleader or a dumb bully jock. People like Marley is the common type of high schooler. Nerdy, shy, sweet, girl next door image.
@@MertayEfeoglu I literally said that lmaooo. I’m a marley myself, and I made the “boring” joke because people like to complain that she’s “boring” as a way to say she’s “unlikable” You clearly didn’t read my comment, and that’s okay.
@@TrentvsTheWorld I read your comment, i just added. There's too many people who dislikes Marley and calls her boring. That's why i liked your take and commented.
🖤
my problem with Marley as a character comes from that though, realistic is not always fun to watch, realistic is often boring. im glad you felt seen by her character though
I love this breakdown so much and I completely agree with your rant on Mercedes don’t even apologise , I hated how they pretended that she was lazy when she was able to keep up with the dancing in the show and had an amazing stage presence and voice . They just used her as the stereotypical black girl and didn’t build on her character after that don’t even get me started on how they threw away her friendship with Quinn after they lived together . I also hated how the writers treated Quinn they would write development for her and when they needed drama they would regress her character . The first season of glee was honestly the best season to me , I know a lot of people say it’s the second season which I also love and how they built on Santana but the first season in my opinion had this charm to it that they were just kids trying to build this club where they could express themselves. It’s true what they say nobody hates glee more than glee fans istg😂
Season 1 and Season 2 are my favorite seasons. It balances, some days it’s 1 other days it’s 2 hahah. For one , I look at season 1 as great tv show with great writing and it’s also a Glee that would never really come back. Season 2 for me is great teen drama, and it’s what all the other seasons (except season 6) would be modeled after - but season 2 did it best. And yeah it’s so odd that Mercedes was in the delivery room with Quinn yet they barley interacted later on 🙄😂
@@TheVhsTapeYT This💯💯💯I 100% agree with you season 1 is my favourite in terms of writing and season 2 is my other favourite in terms of it being a teen drama even though they write some characters terribly that season I will forever love how they fleshed out Santana in that season . Other than that I’m still annoyed as to how they threw away the friendship with mercedes and Quinn and barely developed Mercedes character . I feel like the reason why I didn’t like 3rd season as much is because when I first watched I didn’t like the fact that the narrative was focused around the music which just made it confusing to focus on , this narrative shift honestly started to me anyways in the power of Madonna
VYU 💜
When Mercedes auditioned for Maria and said "why does nobody ever want to hurt her feelings?" That was SO real
Finally someone speaking out how on they did Mercedes DIRTY! Also I’m so tired of the sassy loud black girl stereotype. This stereotype negatively affects black women in real life. Mercedes Jones deserved better.
Yeah I really hate it because it just makes the characters hard to relate to for the general public, it’s such an annoying easy route that writers use
On Mercedes: First she's a hardworking character who knows what she wants, then they... contradict her completely and then say she's lazy?? COME ON, she deserved to be number one
Like be coherent 🙄 always bending characters to fit their narrative
@@lunabrown260 the writers are SO guilty of this omg
out of all the micro aggressions that one was the most egregious 😭 those writers looked at the best technical and powerhouse vocalist who fought for her spotlight and called her…lazy. interesting
@@genesiselaine called her lazy, and not only that they made an entire episode where she only cared about food
They hinted at Mercedes' perceived laziness in season 2 when she told Jesse that she doesn't need to practice her singing because she feels her music (which is the antithesis of Rachel, who we are shown practicing singing and dancing on multiple occasions), and at the beginning of season 3 when she said she wasn't going to do booty camp because she saw herself as a park and bark, where she just stands in the middle of the stage while everyone else dances and sings around her.
I definitely agree on the Mercedes part, she deserved way more storylines and songs and just a lot better in general (so did pretty much every other female character except from Rachel). The bit about Quinn and Puck was interesting too as not nearly enough people talk about the fact that he took advantage of her as their encounter wasn't fully consensual and he put her health at risk, got her drunk, wasn't truthful about protection and pretty much coerced her so it's quite uncomfortable and wrong that it tries to present them as a 'cute' couple later on.
Also, I could be wrong but I think the older guy Kurt dated was called Walter and Adam Lambert played Starchild in S5.
I think the whole consent issue with Puck/Quinn is another example of the writers not getting black comedy across very well in real actions (like the crack house, vaporape, or ED discourse) and they never actually intended for it to come across that way because Quinn first says “I had sex with you because you got me drunk on wine coolers and I felt fat that day,” which is supposed to be an obviously satirical statement but I think a lot of the fandom missed bc of inexperience with alcohol. They even go out of their way in Blame it on the Alcohol to say that no one is going to get drunk on wine coolers at Rachel’s party. Obviously there’s still a consent issue regarding contraception but they do address that multiple times- it’s a real thing that lots of high schoolers do.
Yeah, the whole way that their encounter that led to them conceiving Beth is talked about/framed is really wrong as he definitely took advantage of her (and the fact that it was her first time) and coerced her while deceiving her about protection so it's pretty gross however you look at it, I'd say.
tbh out of quinn's romantic relationships, I loved her with sam alone. Yeah, they were kind of boring compared to her other relationships, but I liked how mundane they were (I mean painting coasters as a date? I love that) and I wished they were given issues that challenged quinn's personality as well as sam's in their relationship rather than cheating that seemed to be a constant in the glee club. On the other hand, I did love samcedes in season 3, tho i am a die hard quinn and sam shipper
Thank you for standing up for Mercedes!!! I felt like they leaned into black stereotypes WAY too much. Thankfully that didn't overshadow her gifts as a vocalist!!
Some of my favourite Mercedes songs are:
"Jump"
"Disco Inferno"
"Rumour Has It/Someone Like You"
"Spotlight"
"How Will I Know"
"You Make Me Feel Like A (Natural Woman)"
"Aint No Way"
"Shake It Out"
"TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS"
"Human Nature"
"I'll Stand By You
Disco inferno is so good! So underrated!
THE BUST THE WINDOWS OUT YOUR CAR SONG
I love aint no way.
Honestly loved when Mercedes joined the Treble Tones because she deserves the spotlight
The more I think about glee, the more I wanted Emma as the glee teacher. Her episode where she substituted for Will at sectionals made me question why she was not. She stood up for them. She motivated them and encouraged them. In another episode, she is the one who told Will that he overlooked many members in Glee which led to more of them participating in competitions.
Trebltones should have had more performances and their mashup of I will Survive and Survivor was a waste of their talents. There were so many songs that fit their iconic ranges better.
I had a bog crush on Rory and he needed more screen time.
Sugar had potential. She did become nicer and I loved her loyalty to the Glee club.
I always wanted Blaine to be bisexual. His kiss with Rachel was not just because he was drunk. He looked like he enjoyed that kiss. I pictured him maybe not liking Rachel romantically, but she was still a bi awakening for him. I also shipped him with Tina. Their chemistry and friendship was iconic to me.
People say they pictured Sam as bi and I could see why, but now after hearing how Sam was originally supposed to be Kurt’s love interest, it is making come up with more head cannons. To be honest, I did not see the issue with him doing a duet with Kurt. Girls can duet without being seen as gay. The guys did duets that weren’t romantic. Why was it gay for Sam and Kurt to do one. It felt hypocritical to me. Oh great, I am picturing a Heartstopper story with them now. Don’t at me.
I agree with most of this except for the Blaine and Tina thing. She was genuinely creepy towards him and didn't respect his boundaries or his relationship. In fact, it's a plot point (that was played as a joke) that she "vaper raped" him. Basically she assaulted him while he was asleep. It really grossed me out.
The issue was the glee guys were still new to accepting being seen as uncool, and they knew their homophobic bullies would see it as gay to sing a duet with a gay dude. They said so in the episode
@@leahdavis9434 but they contradicted it many times throughout the show which is my original argument. Also the double standards of the girls could sing duets without being gay and straight guys can sing “straight” duets with each other, but the one time (at this point in the show) Kurt wanted to duet with someone, it was gay. That is the issue I had with it.
The biphobia on the show was kinda wild when you go back and watch
@@hellopeople6138 yes that scene and storyline were so gross. Like completely ruined any sympathy for Tina for me and it was treated as a joke 😮💨
Blaine was a catalyst for Kurt’s growth and it’s upsetting that the writers never bothered to give Blaine a catalyst for growth. I mean they gave him layers which they could’ve delved so well into but they didn’t. Also in my opinion, Blaine was one of the most realistic characters especially after the seasons went on. I understand why people think he’s whiny and annoying but I thought his character always had a strength behind it and a kind of curiosity that should’ve been handled better. He had so much potential too, with the family drama and the depression (mentioned god knows how many times) and all his other shit. But they didn’t explore him because deep down it was Blaine’s purpose to make Kurt look better and to be this superficial happy character. Which is a bummer.
Amber Riley and Jenna Ushkowitz deserved so much better.
And Dianna Agron, the writers (especially Ryan Murphy) hated her because she made Quinn more than just the typical bully/villian
i will NEVER forgive the writers for calling mercedes lazy. she worked her ass off and almost never got her dues, despite being imo, the best singer in the club
YESSS finally seeing someone who hates beistes transition. like... she already had a trans narrative!!! being perceived as masculine when all she wanted was someone to treat her as a woman... thats a transfem narrative, even though it wasnt intentional. if anything, her being made a trans man just felt transphobic lmao, like ohhh the masculine womans actually a man⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️ then what was her introductory storyline😩
YESSSS I WAS SO ANGRY
RIGHT like we need more trans rep but it truly didn't make sense for Beiste specifically!! And Beiste is like my favorite character 😭
I remember hearing Michael Buckley explain during one of his gleecaps that in “The Quarterback” Santana breaking down and running out of the classroom was Naya losing it during filming it.
Oh especially after Naya’s passing too, I haven’t been able to get through 5 minutes of that episode without losing it. 😭
This also explains why out of all people Mike and Will worried the most here, two characters she's not too close with, but I think Naya was close with Harry and Matthew.
As a kid struggling with addiction Cory’s story really resonated with me. Was sad to see him lose his battle. Rip
I remember being a 13 year old American Idol stan when Glee's pilot was CONSTANTLY being plugged on commercial breaks. I was totally captivated by it (it felt like "high school musical but juicier" lol) but my parents wouldn't let me watch it so i had to sneakily watch clips on youtube for the first couple seasons before I got a laptop and could access Netflix. 😆 This video was fantastic, this show really was a cultural touchstone for its time.
I’ll never get over the fact that they didnt develop more of Blaine’s story with his parents.
Exactly! We only met his brother and “Hello, I’m Blaine’s mother” line woman.
right! that would have been a great way to expand the story line a little bit more
🛌🛌🛌🛌🛌🛌🛌🛌🛌🛌
A couple of thoughts here: Thanks for breaking down the writing. Even though the first two seasons were cohesive, you could sometimes feel tiny shifts between episodes, and now it's connecting that "rib" had different writing styles.
The seasons break down. Wow. Just Wow. People always just say "this season was good, or this season was bad" but never go into depth when they're breaking down the show. You really have an eye for detail. (I also enjoyed your Gilmore girls breakdown, especially the seasons part). I didn't notice how the color palette changed. Season 1 was so real and grainy; I don't understand why when shows get bigger budgets, they decide to make everything look so fake and plasticky.
Last thing thank you for talking about the band, that part really made me chuckle. The Matt part too. BRAVA BRAVA. I'd love to see you cover One Tree Hill and older 2000s and 90's shows too.
The way you described Mercedes is what I thought the entire show. Thank you!!! The stereotype of the ghetto loud black girl needs to stop. We are people just like everybody else. Give us more substance.
Glee had so many stereotypes
I didn't know people hated Marley. I always liked her character, it's just the way the writers treated her that made me mad
I actually just started rewatching Glee yesterday and I got recommended this video. This video is absolutely amazing and you did an amazing job breaking down all the intricacies of the show and the characters. Despite it flaws and how I don't really like the later seasons, I do love Glee and it'll always hold a special place in my heart. It really was just such a pivotal part of my growing up and I don't think it can ever be repeated, it was literally lightning in a bottle.
Carol and Burt are parent goals! I loved them so much and even though it took him a minute to accept Kurt, I love how much Burt was in his corner but also willing to put him in his place when he needed it.
i never knew that fact about chris not wanting kurt to go to nyada. it definitely puts a better spin on the argument.
Yes I remember Chris not wanting to go down the most predictable path. Especially since early season Kurt was known for his fashion sense so they kind of went back in that direction.
blaine's character getting ruined felt like something they did to keep him with kurt. kurt's character development feels like one of if not the most natural character development on the show, so they just kept changing blaine so they could keep klaine together. in season 2 he was confident with himself and helping kurt get to the same point, but once he did and kept gaining more and more confidence they started making blaine more and more insecure, possibly to keep their original dynamic? i dont know, either way, i hate it season 2 blaine was my favourite character and im so mad that they didnt keep him at dalton or at least send him back when they did that goofy ahh superhero episode
I absolutely love your breakdown, especially when you mention your experience in the Glee fandom and the audience reactions while it was airing. I first watched Glee in 2018, so I never got to experience it live and I didn't enter the fandom until 2020. Something I've noticed in the fandom is the difference in hate that season 4 gets depending on the viewer. A lot of the people I've spoken with who didn't like season four were people who watched the show live and didn't enjoy the sudden changes and fell off the show during the week to week airings. On the other hand, a lot of the people I know who love season four didn't watch it live and instead binged it. Obviously this doesn't apply to everybody on both sides, but I think the hate of it could have been affected by the fact that people were having to tune in weekly to watch these obvious changes rather than the other group who can just get to the next episode and not have to be annoyed that they waited a whole week for an episode they found underwhelming.
I'm not sure if this is coherent or not but hopefully it makes sense. Also loved your Marley segment, I never know if somebody is going to like her to not. I know the fandom used to hate her, but at least as far as Glee twitter goes it seems like people like her for the most part.
This was a beautiful love letter to a show that impacted my life in more ways I care to admit, you are completely right in saying no one loves/hates Glee more than Gleeks. Thank you for all the time and energy this must’ve taken. This was fantastic work.
I‘m only 25min into the video but I gotta say upfront thank you so much for actually doing a deep dive with background info and real ANALYSIS instead of just recapping each episode with no further details for 5 hrs and calling it a day
This made me realize that I like Ian’s writing better, followed by Brad then Ryan’s in last place
Same here, Ian’s writing is my favorite. He’s sooo funny 😂😂
Brad actually wrote some of my favorite episodes but Ian's episodes were often the more outrageously humorous ones.
So happy youtube decided to recommend this video to me! I love how clear everything was and I definitely agree with you about most things. I’m glad to see someone mentioning Coach Beiste’s transition as it has also always striked me as weird. As you said their whole character development in the earlier seasons revolved around how much they struggled with people not viewing them as a woman because they didn’t present in a traditionally feminine way so having them transition really felt like backtracking. Also happy to hear someone mention how old the crackhouse debate is, like we get it one person in a show about horrible people did something horrible can we please move on 😭. Anyways, this was a lovely watch, can’t wait to check out your other videos :)
wow a 3 hour video? do you do all the editing by yourself bc that is DEDICATION
Yes😭😭! That’s why it took forever…. but I enjoyed every moment of it 😩
@@TheVhsTapeYT damn i applaud you!!
Awe thanks 😊!!
@@TheVhsTapeYT you're AMAZING!!!! That must have taken so long!! It turned out so great!! 🤘🏻🤘🏻
I would like to note that if Wemma happened in season one we never would have gotten Artie driving face-first into a pool🥲
Hahaha omg you’re so right 😭😭😭😭😭
WHY DID THEY MAKE HIM DO THAT 😭😭
@@alim.9801in a recent ep of Kevin and Jenna's podcast, they talk about this. They weren't sure how to show Artie getting into the pool. Everyone else jumps in, he can't because he can't stand. In discussing it during filming, someone joked that he could just be rolled/pushed in, so that's what they did! 😂 It's an iconic moment.
"prioritizing twerking over the safety of a trans kid" is a hell of a sentence lol well... that's glee for ya😭
1:37:37 another will crime people don’t talk about enough: singing ‘fix you’ by coldplay to his mentally unwell fiancé who’s in the middle of an episode after a very triggering event. like bro she’s not a broken doll you can fix with your showtunes, she’s a person with issues that need to be treated by a professional. carl supremacy for life.
Carl seemed like kind of a scummy dude at least at work but at the same time he actually seemed to GET OCD and Emma and treat her so much better
This was SUCH an excellent Deep Dive!! You really did the show Justice and delved into what made it such a cultural touchstone. You highlighted both aspects that made it great as well as some of the less flattering parts.
I absolutely love this, and this video deserves all the likes. I still stand by what I said in your Tina video in that her character should have grown into being a fashion designer and that her arc should have revolved around her realizing that even though she isn't the star her role is important. I mean, wouldn't that be such a great message, that you can find a new dream after realizing your first one may not work out for you? I'm a card carrying adult and I'm still trying to figure out my dream lol
Also, Blaine in my opinion eventually felt like the writer's self insert, and once you look through that lense you can't unsee it
3 hour glee video i was starved for, thank you for your service💅
I used to think season 6 was the worst season simply cuz I didn’t care for the new kids, but they really brought the show back to what the seasons after 1 always should’ve been. Rachel got humbled and her success was more deserving. And Sue especially was a highlight, that Klaine stuff was perfect
As someone who comes from a small town the 2 Asian characters on the show having the same last name is pretty realistic. I just finished coaching swim club in a small town and I had 3 Asian athletes, who had no relation to each other, with the same last name. That same thing also happened a lot throughout my high school years.
I don’t think Blaine necessarily SHOULD have been bi, but I wish they’d at least continued that conversation. It’s fine for someone to be unsure of your sexuality. Just because Blaine didn’t end up liking girls, doesn’t mean that Kurt’s biphobic comments were okay, and I feel like they could have showed that message, they just… didn’t.
Oh I def agree you! I was always more bothered by the way the episode was left off more than anything 😭
I'm with ya!! The fact that Kurt was actually right about Blaine in that specific instance really served to kinda justify the biphobia in the show and honestly it kinda bothers me
And it was so out of character for Kurt imo, they needed to explore that more to show he said that out of hurt, that it wasn't right or ok, and it wasn't at all how Kurt actually felt.
I also feel like Kurt was completely out of character in that episode… well, maybe not *entirely* out of character, since I do think it’s something he might say when lashing out; but I do think him not really apologizing for it or getting called out was an issue. Kurt seems like someone who should be MOST accepting of all different sexualities due to how much stigma he faced himself, and it bothers me that his character wasn’t really awarded a chance to showcase that in this episode (they needed the drama) or to have a small arc where he could learn more about bisexuality with Blaine. For context, I’m bi myself, and Kurt is my absolute favorite character from the show. This episode kinda hurt me though. I really wish it were handled better and actually did his character (and Blaine’s) justice :(
I feel like one of my only issues with Emma is just the way OCD is portrayed, which really rubs me the wrong way. The best example I can remember of her exhibiting an OCD symptom that wasn't the stereotype of cleaning was when she mentioned dating some guy and then 2 weeks later Versace was dead. That kind of thinking of feeling like you were responsible for a tragedy or that you should've done something to stop is something people with OCD do feel
i agree so much with your analysis about Beiste! Having them ending up as trans didn't really make sense with their previous storyline and development. The whole point was, that it's ok to be a woman with stereotypically masculine traits and a masculine build. That was her journey of self love and self acceptance. It felt like the showrunners wanted to show off how progressive they were by adding another trans character but ended up not doing either trans ppl or the character of Beiste justice.
sorry to bring up this alternative opinion about eight months late, but as a trans-masculine person who transitioned later in life i see enough echoes of my struggles with gender - perhaps what you were seeing was him struggling quietly with his bodily dysmorphia - in bieste that i wish cis people (presumably soz) would stop opining about whether or not his character transitioning was "necessary." the issues with bieste transitioning later on have a lot more to do with the fact that Dot-Marie Jones ain't trans, so its not like there was an underlying nugget of the actor's own truth (unlike with Unique, who was transitioning in tandem with Alex Newell, the actor playing her) than with the idea that More Than One Trans Person Is Too Many (thats how your criticism sorta comes across, please be mindful of that)
I definitely like Emma with Carl better than her with Will but the way they ended that relationship.
They did Mercedes so wrong throughout this show. She was super talented and honestly the strongest female vocalist next to Rachel. She did have some of the best singing moments 🙌🏽🙌🏽
All the dedication you put into this is phenomenal. I could never. Love your work, keep it up!
Oh my, thank you sooo much!! I appreciate you 😭😭
Oh I’m READY for this!! Amber Riley we ❤ you!
I wanted to see more of season 6 group because I actually like them more than the season 4 group.
Same!
The biggest problem for me was that the pilot made me excited for a television show about a showchoir, and more than a decade later, I'm still waiting for it. I don't think almost anyone involved in showchoir (or even who watched their friends in showchoir) could look at _Glee_ and say that *any* part of that experience was captured on the show.
Santana's father was a doctor, right? she said ''my dad is a doctor, not a tooth doctor, a real one''
Oh dear God,the day has finally come...
Just started watching this video but the Glee pilot feels like a standalone little movie. In fact, every Ryan Murphy tv pilot feels that way, I watched many of his pilots back to back a few years ago and they all had this cinematic feel to them
Honestly it does make me wonder whether Ryan Murphy would be better suited as a film director. He’s very good at big flashy ideas and creating immersive fictional worlds, but long term consistency in characters and story telling is his weakness
They said Tina was going to have a solo storyline about her being adopted but they shoved it
Man that could have been good
They did her so dirty
A 3 hour and 30 minutes video about GLEE? dont mind if i do
I love Kurt he develop so much he is one the most likable characters
A couple of things I will say: I believe it was brought up during the Brittany segment of this video about how she’s one of those characters that kinda dodges accountability based on the nature of the character itself. I would argue that the same could be said for some other characters as well in the context of the fandom, even if they aren’t portrayed the same way as Brittany was.
re: the Kitty/Marley storyline in season 4, but around the time that year’s sectionals happened - and this may be an unpopular opinion but I’ll say it anyway - I personally didn’t buy Santana, a character who has body-shamed others on multiple occasions (namely Finn), standing up for Marley around that time period. Yeah sure, she was originally introduced as one of the mean girls who speaks her mind, but it got to the point where it felt like the show was almost targeting the actors’ physicality through her character (even Naya herself disapproved of the infamous speech/rant Santana made against Chris Colfer’s Kurt in season 6).
It would have made more sense if Quinn or even Mercedes stood up for Marley in season 4, especially knowing what Sue put the Cheerios through in order to achieve a sense of perfection. That way, season 4 could make a simple yet effective callback to season 1’s Cheerios storyline for Mercedes + season 2’s Lucy storyline for Quinn, especially with characters who have obviously experienced what Marley was going through. And since Quinn was also Kitty’s mentor (and idol), that would have been a perfect way for Quinn to open her eyes to who looked up to her (and how) so she could teach Kitty how to properly conduct herself, despite being one of the popular girls.
Also, never apologize for the Mercedes rant. It was much-needed. It’s unfortunate that Mercedes was treated the way she was during the run of this show because imo, she truly had the best voice in the cast.
Marley's character always rubbed me the wrong way. I remember when she was introduced, I thought she felt a lot like a self-insert character. The shy, nice, innocent girl who is amazingly talented and gets a lot of attention from guys. Even a love triangle! It felt very wattpad. I'm sure, at some point, some character describes her as being "different." It was very out of place for a show like glee.
i could not like her after a mean girl sewed her costume smaller 1 or 2 inches every single day to make her think she was getting fat. and she believed it. i mean, all of her other clothes fit perfect. her thing was that she was ''poor''. that makes her 'different.'
Yeah she wasn’t an *awful* character exactly, she just felt so out of place in the heightened, cartoonish reality of glee.
I loved Sue. Yes, she could be brutal at times, and she pushed too hard at times, but she also cared about the kids. And if they had given Sue her own spin off, I would have watched it. Jane Lynch is brilliant.
I also loved Rachel, even when she was being horrible; she was honest when she told Mercedes that she wanted to be a star at all costs, even if people hated her and she admitted that was not healthy, but it was who she was.
One thing I loved about Glee was how they didn't go the route of having Burt reject his son flat out. No, he didn't always understand but he loved his son, and he stepped up and adjusted his world view and he fought for Kurt time and time again.
I also like Lauren. I think part of the appeal she had for Puck was the fact that she didn't just fall at his feet the way other girls did. I missed her when they wrote her off. I would take her over Kitty any day. I know Rachel did horrible things, hell, they all did horrible things to one another, but Kitty had no redeeming quality whatsoever.
Glee was so good in the first three seasons. It's sad so many Glee actors met tragic ends.
Yes I was on tumblr when this show first came on. And I was apart of the Mercedes Mafia still a proud member. I checked out after s3. I loved this analysis of the show seeing I only watched Mercedes/SamCedes scenes of s4-6. I loved how Alex and Amber have won a Tony and Olivier for their work after gLee/treatment. I’m with you on how disappointed I was in the Glee Concert movie. I wanted those skits in there not the how it is to be a gLeek. It’s why it underperformed at the box office was because of that imo. I’ve been feeling nostalgic for the show the past few days watching old songs and my favorite SamCedes scenes. I wish they had just followed the core group after s3. I mean Degrassi was another of my favorite shows at the time with a cast bigger than them and managed to give attention to all. Though we did have a core few. And they did it with 30min (20-22min) episodes compared to Glee hour (40-46min). It was just incompetence in consistency and storytelling. Which is why Ryan only successful show is AHS. But I digress great video. S6 looks fun I may have a watch. But so far haven’t been able to watch an episode since Naya’s death.
Your rant about Mercedes was so true! Don’t apologize! But also I’m a firm believer in the idea that the writers (not just RIB) underutilized a lot of the things they wrote into the show. For example, Blaine and the familial/general mental health issues, Beistes issues (instead just making Beiste trans), Kurt having “ocd” types of issues, etc etc
My personal favorite season is 4 and it’s funny for me to hear people be like “Everything after 3 was horrid” I honestly thought that season 4 brought back a level of chaos seasons 2 and 3 didn’t have. It felt much more satirical. Even through it’s ridiculously horrid romance plots and etc it had chaos. Season 4 was so frankly unneeded that it’s great. I didn’t love the new characters but like the chaos of even like Tinas quotes are so funny. I think it’s the fact they were scrambling so hard which makes me like s4. Also in my opinion, season four had the best covers of the entire show (maybe it’s because I love Blaine and Santana).
s4 was my favorite too, I enjoyed the new kids more.
This makes me want to rewatch Glee(but only like the 1st 3 seasons).
This was such a perfect breakdown of both the characters and the seasons of the show!! I was a huge Gleek at the time, but season 4 and then Cory's passing made me step away from the show. I came back for season 6 because it was the final one, and I loved how it was a back to basics season. This made me so nostalgic that now I have to watch the pilot again. Congrats on such an amazing video!!
All they had to do in season 4 is decide if the show is about the core 6 or the Glee club. They tried to have their cake and eat it too.
FI.NA.LLY… I’ve been waiting for this!!!!!!!!!
This literally just made me want to watch all over again for the millionth time 😂😂😂
I never watched the show but I will happily watch your 3 hour video explaining the show to me. Great job as always 💛
P.S. I admire anyone willing to edit a video the size of two movies lol.
Brittany is totally ADHD coded or maybe even AUHD shes not stupid her mind just works differently
As somebody who actually has autism. I agree with that headcanon.
@@0b13F4st3 the reason I thought of it was the literal thinking she displayed when answering the "what is the capital of Ohio?" question. I feel like theres probably more examples.
She's definitely gotta be some kinda neurodivergent. Generally she's not portrayed as dumb so much as kinda oblivious and not picking up on stuff so I feel like it fits
Agreed, and I'm an AuDHD person myself.
I'm 30 minutes in and omg thank you for feeding my gleek heart 🤤🥲😍!!!
This video is awesome! My new favorite glee retrospective! Totally agree with a majority of your opinions! Thanks for this great video! 😃
in my opinion (as an autistic person) brittney shows a lot of autistic traits even if they didn’t mean to do that (i’m pretty sure they didn’t) like she’s very socially unaware, gullible, easily manipulated, blunt, no filter, often has a flat affect, gives off airhead vibes but is a mathematical genius (many autistic ppl tend to have an affinity to numbers/math) like,,, idk it makes sense to me 😭 it’s sad that ppl make autistic traits often a punchline tho without calling it autism
Tbh I can totally see that now! The thought never crossed my mind because of how glee was built
@@TheVhsTapeYT yeah i mean i don’t think they were writing her that way but it makes sense. she also said things seriously but ppl always thought it was funny, which is a very common autistic experience lol
this was such a great breakdown!! thank you for taking the time and energy, we appreciate it so much
i thought how it was funny in the "wheels" episode how they didnt have money for the handicap bus but they did have money for like 10 wheelchairs for all of them lmao
YAAAASSS IM SO EXCITED FOR THIS
This video just proves to me once again that season 6 had the most underrated (and possibly best behind Santana, Quinn, and Britney for me) characters from the entire series. 🤣 I'm sorry but Jane, Spencer, Myron, the twins Mason and Madison were all so good. Better than most of the newer characters we got from season 3, 4 and 5.
My history with Glee is I watched all the way up to around season 4 when it was airing but the storylines were a mess and chased me away unfortunately.
So when I actually decided to finish this show after it had left the air I witnessed season 6 and it is probably a top tier season for me and I really wish we had gotten more time with those newer characters.
All minorities on glee are portrayed in a stereotypical way for example
Mercedes - sassy white girl
Santana - spicy Latina
Kurt- super flamboyant sassy to the point of being mean gay guy
Rachel as the American Jewish princess
Goddamn this is like.. the best analysis I have seen of any show. Probably ever.
Hard agree on Sam. Like, they had whole storyline about his homelessness and having to wirk at a strip club to suolort his family, showing that he had to grow up way faster than the other members. Then season 4 he suddenly became the most childish of any of them. Not to mention it feels like any idiot could've seen a storyline popping up from his bidy image issues and modeling being linked to the aforementioned stripping. Also, honestly while Samcedes was great I actually kind of wish they'd given him an Tina a shot.
thank you for the long up load !! so hyped to watch when i have the time !! :)
I fucking loved amber rylie and she deserved so so much more. She was their biggest asset. Period
Can’t wait to send this to my coworker that kept up a glee calendar on the workspace all year, xoxo
Ohhh noooo, just the little part talking about Sue's relationship with her sister and why she she then adored Becky just did something to me and the waterworks began. It's a touching part of the show that I've always appreciated and can never get through a rewatch without crying. Especially when her sister dies.
As someone who blocked season 6 out of her mind bc of how bad it was (as far as I remember, which isn't very much aside from the last episode and that awful love story for Sam and Rachel), I was shocked to find that season 4 is widely hated. I always liked it and the change it brought (aside from the newbies, never liked them, or the kids from season 6). I also never really saw season 3 as messy, it's actually my favorite season. But I do think it should've ended after season 3. Glee's glory days were over.
And while yes, Glee is very flawed and hasn't aged well, I was raised by it. It introduced me to Broadway and broadened my musical taste, and made me believe in myself and my dreams.
This essay was amazing, tho! Found out a lot about Glee and the bts stuff I never knew.
also, amber in real life is a soprano singer, so it would've fit better with maria's character on west side story
Girrrrrrl you said a mouthful about Mercedes and i really wanna add on cause you hit the nail on the head but now I've gotten lazy lol so i might just have to comment later on.
oh my god i never finished season 6 i never knew blaine dated kurts bully or that coach beast transitioned WHAT 😭😭
3 hours about glee? yes pleaseee
Quickest 3h of my life, well done that was a really good listen!
Marley - New Rachel
Jake - New Puck/Mike
Ryder - New Finn
Kitty - New Quinn/Santana
Unique - New Kurt/Mercedes
I just watched your glee videos and i’m so happy you made this :)
I also wanted to add that i’m glad you have a way better analysis of this show then most, you didn’t just bash it and get on every little detail, you took it for what it was and didn’t blow it out of proportion. I personally love seasons 1-3 despite their flaws and I on and off enjoy 4-6. Overall this is a great video!
Hey thanks a lot, I appreciate you 😊☺️!!!!
Re coach bieste THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. That is the SAME ARGUMENT I've been making SINCE that story line. Shannon was the ONLY masculine woman. Even sue was extremely feminine, Shannon was the only masculine woman. I loved her and loved her character after still for the same reason as you (stability) but that was doing her specifically dirty.
Oh this was so good, pls do more of these❤️
I’m going to stay salty about Kurt’s NYADA rejection for the way the storyline was treated.
I respect Colfer not wanting Kurt go a traditional theater route…but in that case, why have Kurt audition at all? Why have that as such an integral part of his season 3 arc? Furthermore, why have him give such an incredible audition with glowing praise only to be rejected? There are so many better ways this storyline could have been written and it wasn’t.
I have a lot more qualms with it than that, I’m working on my own Glee-search project, but it’s frustrating to hand-wave criticism with “oh well the actor wanted it this way.”
The way I see it, the storyline of him getting rejected isn’t the problem. It’s how the storyline was handled.
That being said, your Mercedes “rant” is completely correct and you should not apologize for it. I also love how you actually addressed Puck taking advantage of (date raping) Quinn. That does not get brought up enough and it’s incredibly refreshing to hear someone state that what it is.
My guess is the storyline was handled the way it was because at the end of the day it’s all for entertainment. If TV shows resolved things in a linear and logical way, it would cut tv and film material down to 15% 😂. That being said, I do agree with you that it wasn’t handled the best (typical glee), but my mentioning it was more trying to be fair about the show because people don’t get how Rachel got in and Kurt didn’t (this was not a case of Rachel favoritism as it usually is)- RIB was notorious for making last minute changes (Heather Morrison only found out she wasn’t graduating when filming the last episode and was actually very upset about it) it may very well be that Kurt was set to get in but Chris convinced them otherwise last minute.
Also him thing rejected was supposed to show that it’s not the end of it all because you got a no. He didn’t let his NYADA rejection stop him from going to New York and pursuing something he was equally inspired by. I’ve also heard from numerous theater kids that even though Kurt’s performance was stellar, his high school career as a whole wouldn’t balance well with other extremely competitive kids. He might have not gotten booted because of his performance but there may have another equally talented student like Kurt who had more to show for himself and took Kurt’s place. Idk though, I try to make sense of most of Glee just for my own piece of mind 😂😂😂😭😭😭
@@TheVhsTapeYT oh, that’s entirely understandable!! I hope I didn’t come off like I was attacking you and I apologize if that is how I came off. I’m just forever frustrated at the last-minute decisions and clumsy storytelling (as you said, typical Glee lol).
Especially with everything the show was trying to accomplish, I just think we as viewers deserve better.
@@pennyraehawkins9788 oh nooo, not at all!! I totally appreciate and get your comment. As much as I love Glee, we all have aspects that infuriate us 😭😭 yours are more than valid !!!!
Wow.... This is amazing. You put so much work into it. You deserve way more subs and views when you put out this kind of quality.
I am this 🤏 close to just straight up rewriting Glee on Ao3
Please do lol. I'm not totally into fanfiction, but I am into some fanfics like that depending on what the plan is
"Blaine should have been bisexual" unlocked a memory of me saying the exact same thing and cringing with all the biphobia in that short storyline. I get that they didn't want to have Rachel be unhinged and ruin Klaine but my god, Blaine could 've been written as bi and still draw hard lines choosing Kurt, damn. It felt so wrong to watch back then as a bi girl.
Did I sit here and watch this video over the span of like 3 days? Yea I did! Thanks boo