Lights Out

This week's Glee was a largely dull affair, marked by the writers' tendency to get bored with their own ongoing storylines. Yes, we did check in on Ryder's catfishing plot, and Sue's post-school career... but both of those elements received fairly short shrift.

Instead, a brand new Ryder subplot was the focus of the school scenes, as he confessed a past molestation experience. In other words, put a pin in everything else, because Ryan Murphy wants to do a child molestation PSA this week. Blake Jenner sold it fairly well with his acting, as did Becca Tobin in her performance as Kitty... but the whole thing felt like it only looked skin deep in a subject matter that, if examined at all, deserved something much more profound.

The Sue subplot seemed worthy of a deeper look too. We got a hint of the real feelings she had behind the mask, but we are talking about a powerfully driven career woman forced to suddenly reinvent her life. Even for a caricature like Sue often is, that could be potent stuff. Instead, since they probably have to get her back to work by the end of the season (and since there are only two episodes left this season after this), things are on a rushed timetable.

Sadly, the thing the episode spent the most time on was by far the least deserving. The dreary ballet storyline culminated in an uncut, five-minute-plus performance of "At the Ballet" from A Chorus Line. The scene was one of the most drawn-out, boring things Glee has presented all season. A dull waste of precious screen time. At least the vocal performances were decent.

The same could not be said of most of the other numbers in the episode. The Stomp-esque take on Queen's "We Will Rock You" was quite bad for a New Directions ensemble number, and the arrangement of Billy Joel's "For the Longest Time" was lacking too (the a cappella numbers should be left to the Warblers, I guess). The one number I truly enjoyed this week was "Little Girls," though I think that had more to do with how rare it is we get to see Jane Lynch sing on the show than anything else. And even then, the whole thing felt like an inside joke, acknowledging that Lynch will be playing in the musical Annie on Broadway this summer.

A truly weak effort for the show, coming in the middle of a run of weak efforts. I give it a D+. It was just announced last week that Glee has been renewed for two more seasons, but I'm certainly ready for this season to end. I think Glee and I could use a break.