Born This Way

Tonight's new episode of Glee delivered a lot of the elements I was missing from last week's episode. On the one hand, I'm not entirely sure the extra-length 90 minute episode was really necessary -- most of the extra time seemed to be used to do full-length treatments of songs we'd only get a couple verses of in a regular episode. But on the other hand, the episode did have plenty of character-driven story to unfold, so I won't begrudge the alchemy that got it there.

Of course, the big development was Kurt's return to McKinley. (And just as importantly, the return of his wild fashion sense.) Not only was it great to get him back again at last with the rest of the gang, but he delivered what I felt to be the best performance of the night with his show tune from Sunset Boulevard.

It wasn't the only strong musical entry of the episode, though. I found the mashup of "I Feel Pretty" and "Unpretty" to be the most effective mashup the show has ever done. Not only did the songs actually sound like they blended together, but the messages of the songs blended together. And I also think that singing with Lea Michele brought out a better performance from Dianna Argon as well.

The title number, Lady Gaga's "Born This Way," was a mixed bag in my mind. The cast served it up fine, and reading the different sayings on the T-shirts was great for laughs... I just don't think much of the song itself. The chorus is pretty much a knockoff of "Express Yourself" by Madonna -- a song that Glee has already tackled too. I just don't buy it as the uplifting anthem it's meant to be. (Or at least, that the show intended it to be.)

The rest of the songs were rather forgettable, I thought. Finn was overly autotuned in his take on the Sammy Davis Jr. song (undercutting the "can't dance" message with "can't sing either" tones); the Warblers were uncharacteristically low energy (and with what might be their last song on the show too!); and the dance number in the mall was trying too hard (and failing) to re-capture the visceral thrill and fun of season one's "Safety Dance."

But like I said, there was plenty of plot in the episode, more than enough to overshadow a few musical shortcomings. The highlight for me would have to be the continuation of the great Santana storyline. From her shrewd opening monologue, to the execution of her plan (and Kurt's detection of it), to Brittany's sucker punch confronting of her at the end -- never a false beat.

I was also pleased with the Emma plot. Will was a bit irrational with the whole "let's dive right into conquering your demons with this mass of unwashed fruit," but at least she was in the therapist's office where she needed to be by the end of the episode. I've found Emma's increasingly odd and unaddressed behavior to be even more distracting than some of Sue's irrational eccentricities, and I'm glad that the show is going to address them head on. And I say "is going to" because I'm hopeful this plot will be continued in upcoming episodes. I can't imagine them casting an actor like Kathleen Quinlan to just play that one scene and never appear again.

The Rachel nose job storyline wasn't as compelling, but it did set up the Quinn storyline that was much stronger. I'm not sure if learning about her past makes it more or less believable to me that she'd revert personality after her pregnancy the way she has, but either way it made for some strong moments in this episode.

Overall, I'd call this episode a B+. After a stumble last week, Glee seems to be moving back in the right direction.