Glee - So Far So Good!

As of tonight, I've now seen four new episodes of Glee. And as of tonight I think the show has hit a new level of awesome.

I should start off by saying that I probably would've liked Glee no matter what. The pilot totally won me over and it's a freakin' musical in a TV show! It hits all my happy buttons. But there is always the pesky matters of plot and characterization to consider when you make a commitment to a program.

The first two new episodes, "Showmance" and "Acafellas" were good, but I was starting to wonder about consistency with the story lines - people keep ducking in and out of the club, the whole fake pregnancy thing - and neither episode really popped for me. I loved Josh Groban's cameo in "Acafellas" but was bitterly disappointed when he didn't sing. The man has the voice of an angel, damn it! Still funny, though.

Last week's ep, "Preggers", again introduced a plot element that I'm not certain about. A character is pregnant, she's telling one boy he's the father when he's not, and another character wants the baby because she's lying to her husband about being pregnant. Huh. But the whole thing with Kurt having the whole football team dancing to "Single Ladies" on the field was priceless. Plus, a great library line; "I got this from the library. Did you know you can just borrow books from there. All of them. Well, except the encyclopedias."

As for tonight's episode, "The Rhodes Not Taken"...now we're getting somewhere! Guest star (and recent Emmy winner) Kristin Chenoweth, one of my favorite singers/actresses, was an absolute hit, not only delivering showstopping numbers (I've already downloaded the track "Alone", a duet with star Matthew Morrison) but also a hilarious and real performance as a former Glee member with issues joining the current Glee club. Plus, there was more drama with the teens and their teacher, Rachel finally ate a slice of humble pie, we now have a full Glee club, and their first big performance ended on a high note. The whole episode felt solid and was just a joy to watch.

Hopefully we'll have more of that flavor in the weeks to come. But at least Glee seems to be living up to the hype. Yay!