The Purple Piano Project

Glee's third season kicked off tonight. I wouldn't quite call the episode a rousing success, but after the very uneven second season, it certainly felt like a step in the right direction. The emphasis in the hour was clearly on character, and starting off some story lines that can continue over several episodes -- and not so much on wedging in songs to sell on iTunes.

Rachel and Kurt are still an entertaining and compelling pairing. They're better supporting each other than they ever were against each other. And seeing them brought face to face with a group of talented, super-type-A kids was a nice awakening for both of them. If the writers can keep the thread of their college dreams going, this should provide solid material for the season.

Spinning people out of the glee club also seems like good material for Quinn (who I can easily believe would try to reinvent herself) and Santana (who I can easily believe is most comfortable lashing out rather than fitting in). The show has always tried to present the glee club as the outsiders, but now these two characters are positioned to be real outsiders, each on her own. Assuming the writers let them flounder for a while, here again is more solid material for upcoming episodes.

Will and Emma as a couple left me indifferent, as did the newest feud with Sue. But in the latter case, "indifferent" is probably a step up. Sue had become an impossibly cartoonish character by the end of the second season, so extreme that the only way to redeem her, bring her to earth, and humanize her was to kill her sister. In this premiere, she seemed closer to the level of her original, season one brand of crazy. Hopefully they resist the temptation to take her farther.

Blaine's transfer to McKinley was inevitable but still welcome. We'll see how long it takes before seeing him singing with the club (and without the Warblers) seems natural.

A mixed bag on the songs, I thought, and in the way they were presented. Season two started on the exact same premise, with "let's perform songs in public places around the school and make people want to join the glee club." (They even did one on the steps outside.) So I didn't think much of "We Got the Beat" or "It's Not Unusual." And I was bored by Kurt and Rachel's "Ding! Dong! The Witch Is Dead!" -- yet another Oz-related diva-off for the two of them. But the NYADA members' mashup of songs from Anything Goes and Annie Get Your Gun was pretty strong. And the closing number, from Hairspray, was pretty high octane awesome.

I'd rate the episode a B+. Now let's hope they can build up again from there.