TV: Glee - 3.02 I Am Unicorn (Review)

Episode: 3.01 "I Am Unicorn"
Network: Fox
Airdate: September 27, 2011
Writer: Ryan Murphy
Director: Brad Falchuk
Description: New Directions faces a shake up when Shelby Corcoran comes to McKinley High and Rachel has to deal with the return of her biological mother. Meanwhile, Kurt starts his run for class president with the special help of Brittany.

The ramifications from Will Schuester's (Matthew Morrison) decision to deny Sugar Motta a spot in the glee club last week show up immediately in this episode when Will runs into former Vocal Adrenaline glee coach Shelby Corcoran in the staff room and finds out that Sugar's rich father gave McKinley High a blank check to have a glee club that would take his daughter.

Sue Sylvester's (Jane Lynch) campaign against the arts finds a face in the scared and confused Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron). Unfortunately for Sue - but luckily for Quinn - her convincing Quinn to portray her sob story as the fallout from participating in the arts leads to frank conversations with Mr. Schuester and Shelby, who adopted Quinn's baby Beth at the end of season 1. Along with the visibly maturing Puck, Quinn seems to come around and makes an effort, but her words to Puck suggest she is pretending in an attempt to get her daughter back.

Mr. Schue has the glee club's less able dancers attend a "Booty Camp" to improve their dancing. Mike Chang helps teach the sessions with the likes of Kurt, Mercedes, Blaine attending but the focus is on Finn and his lack of dance moves.

Kurt Hummel gets some advice for his campaign from Brittany to embrace who he is and be a unicorn but his early disagreements with her ideas leads Brittany to decide to run for herself instead of helping Kurt run.

The school musical begins auditioning with Coach Beiste, guidance counselor Emma Pilsbury and glee club member Artie Abrams running it while Mr. Schue focuses on Nationals. Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) auditions for Maria and seems to be the early favorite but Kurt's audition for Tony did not seem to go over well and Blaine's (Darren Criss) audition for a lesser role wowed the judges enough for them to ask him to try for Tony.

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It was great to see Finn get some character development, at times it feels like he gets shafted to the side for other characters despite being the lead of New Directions. The conversation with Rachel in the auto shop was great to get both of their perspectives on the future and Rachel continuing to try to push Finn to fill out his potential. Then to see him persevere in the "Booty Camp" and adequately perform the steps was a nice top off for him in the episode.

Something that is going relatively under the radar is that despite being co-captain of the Cheerios and being kicked off of New Directions, Santana has been a lot less bitchy and insulting overall and more of a supportive friend to Brittany. It also looks like the beard relationship with Karofsky is over since he has been nonexistent this year.

And my favorite part of the school musical is that it gives some of my favorite GLEE characters screen time. I am talking about Coach Beiste, Emma and Blaine. Also if the casting goes the way the episode hints I will not be adverse to seeing some more Rachel/Blaine interaction after absolutely loving that episode last season where Rachel crushed on him.

While there were those that disliked GLEE season 2 for the move to more produced performances away from the character songs that were heavy in season 1, I enjoyed those times like the "Singing in the Rain" bit with Gwenyth Paltrow or the Britney Spears episode and I am hoping there will still be some of that this season and less of Kurt moving around on a metal scaffold.

I am worried about the direction Quinn's character is going, every season it has felt like there is a goodness to her that gets ignored for the more vindictive, selfish, catty version. In season 1 it was cheating on Finn and the baby fiasco with Terri. Season 2 was cheating on Sam and trying to keep Finn and Rachel apart. Now in season 3 it looks like she is going after Beth without any regard for what's best for her or the baby, something I refuse to believe Quinn is all about.

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Assuming Quinn is accepted back into New Directions, that leaves two spots open in the glee club that needs to be filled. Will Santana be far behind? And what of Sugar Motta? She seems to be a constant presence for someone not in the glee club, will she eventually find her way into that last spot? All yet to be answered questions and I expect Mercedes will be auditioning as well for Maria and how will Kurt and Blaine's relationship be affected by the musical? Plenty of fun left to be had this season without focusing on Quinn's less than positive motives.

TV: Glee - 3.01 The Purple Piano Project (Review)

Episode: 3.01 "The Purple Piano Project"
Network: Fox
Airdate: September 20, 2011
Writer: Brad Falchuk
Director: Eric Stoltz
Description: It's fall and that means back to school for the students and faculty at McKinley High. The New Directions clan returns after a devastating loss at Nationals, so Mr. Schuester assigns a project to get them back on track. Meanwhile, Sue Sylvester starts her congressional campaign.

For the premiere of season 3 of GLEE, change is the name of the game. The glee club is down three members: Trouty mouth Sam moved away, Lauren Zizes quit and broke up with Puck, and no one had heard from Quinn for months. Mercedes has a new boyfriend and Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) is now living together with Emma. Then Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron) shows up at school with new hair (pink!), a nose ring, a new tattoo (of Ryan Seacrest), a new attitude and a new group of friends called The Skanks.

Yet with all this change, some things stay the same. Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) needed a hook for her struggling campaign and found it after destroying a purple piano and getting praise from a fellow teacher, the arts in schools must die! And just like that Sue vs Will round three begins.

Sue makes Becky and Santana co-captains of the Cheerios and starts to drive a wedge between Santana and the glee club that quickly becomes a chasm when Mr. Schue blames Santana for the purple piano bursting into flames thanks to the Cheerios and bans her from New Directions.

Kurt and Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) begin the journey to their Broadway dreams by going to a mixer for NYADA (New York Academy of Dramatic Arts) and get a shock to their system by the performances of the other attendees. After a good cry in the car, this leads them to look towards expanding their horizons, with Kurt deciding to run for school president and Rachel seeking to star in the next school musical.

And the drive for new members starts with Mr. Schue's idea of planting three purple pianos throughout the school and directing the glee club to burst into song when they come upon one of these pianos with the hopes that these performances would help attract the type of person that cannot help but sing.

Last season their attempts attracted the interest of Sam and Sunshine (who Rachel drove away by directing her to a crack house), but this year the New Directions was not as lucky only getting one audition by the girl that cannot sing a tune, Sugar Motta. However, the newly transfered Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) joins by the end of the episode.

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The songs are still the highlights of GLEE and the episode makes good use of the entire school with New Directions performing "We Got the Beat" in the school cafeteria, Kurt and Rachel performing "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead!" in the auditorium and Blaine's solo of "It's Not Unusual" in the courtyard. Throw in a mash-up of "Anything Goes" and "Anything You Can Do" at the NYADA mixer and a Rachel Berry-led "You Can't Stop the Beat" to cap off the episode and GLEE has itself a great musical start to the new season.

Coming off a slightly subdued finish for Sue in season 2 it is nice to see the show get her back to what makes her so deliciously entertaining - trying to take down Will Schuester.

I was also worried that taking Blaine away from Dalton Academy and the Warblers would mean a diminishing role in musical performances but to get a solo right out of the shoot in season 3 gives a good sign for the rest of the season.

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I do wonder if the new assertive Will Schuester that showed up in this episode will be sticking around because it just did not feel right, at times it was like he was yelling and ordering around the glee club in a way that was reminiscent of the advice Jessie St. James gave last season when New Directions was heading to Nationals.

And what of Quinn? Mr. Schue's hard stance on Santana should carry to Quinn if she tries to rejoin the club right? It was her cigarette that finally put the purple piano ablaze.

Either way, it is clear that GLEE is hitting the ground running with season 3 and with the high bar the first two seasons set, that can only mean viewers are in for many more memorable moments this season.