Glee Grades

Glee Grades and Semi-Reviews (Initial Reaction)

These are the grades I'm giving these episodes based on memory. Eventually I'll do a thorough re-watch and probably change many of the grades. But for now...

Pilot (1x01) - A+ -Although this episode no doubt has many of the same flaws that I will subsequently complain about, I don't think it unfair that I grade the pilot differently than the rest of the show. The only true purpose of a pilot is capture the audience and introduce the main elements of the story. This episode did that perfectly!

Showmance (1x02) - B+ - Not a bad episode, by any means, but not one of the best. "Push It" is the highlight.

Acafellas (1x03) - C - Both of the main storylines are a bore, but they're not bad. The best part of this episode was the increased role of Puck and "Bust Your Windows" (Holy Cheerleaders, Batman!").

Preggers (1x04) - A+ - The show gets back to Pilot form. So many great things from this episode: the introduction of the pregnancy storyline, the introduction of Quinn/Puck, the Single Ladies dance, the introduction of the Burt/Kurt relationship, etc.

The Rhodes Not Taken (1x05) - A - The introduction of the first of many love interests for Will that I enjoy much more than Emma. April Rhodes is a great character, and I enjoy it any time she's on the screen. Her rendition of "Last Name" remains one of my favorite performances and "Maybe This Time" is great too.

Vitamin D (1x06) - A - First Annual Boys vs Girls Mash-Up Competition was a great success. Terri was a wonderful addition.

Throwdown (1x07) - B - Don't remember much about this episode.

Mash-Up (1x08) - A minus - This had Puckleberry and Fuinn trying to be cool, but it also had a crap-load of Wemma.

Wheels (1x09) - A+ - One of the better episodes of season 1. Introduces Becky, shows Sue's soft side. Has some great Burt/Kurt stuff.

Ballad (1x10) - B - Has a great Brittana moment, but other than that I can't remember much about it.

Hairography (1x11) - B - Mostly relationship drama stuff, with awkward After-School Special moments mixed in.

Mattress (1x12) - A - For Will finding out about the sham pregnancy alone, this episode is great.

Sectionals (1x13) - A+ - Brittana is made canon! Finn finds out about the pregnancy lie! They all come together in the end! Rachel's solo at Sectionals is phenomenal, and the group number is good too.

First 13 Overview: A couple of great, lots of good, some bland, only one dud. This part of the season seems more than the sum of it's parts, though. It had interlocking story lines, interesting relationships, and a driving force. All these things have become more and more scarce as the show has gone on.

Hell-O (1x14) - A+ - Amazing Brittana moments, and also the establishment of several other major storylines of the Back 9.

The Power of Madonna (1x15) - B minus - The sudden misogyny of the guys, Artie especially, really takes away from this episode. If you have to completely assassinate your characters to justify a story line, don't do it. Plus Santana slept with Finn. Yuck.

Home (1x16) - B+ - The return of April is good, but everything else is kinda forgettable.

Bad Reputation (1x17) - B - Again, nothing super memorable about this episode.

Laryngitis (1x18) - B - The Puck storyline was good, and the Finchel was good. But the "magical cripple" was cringe-worthy.

Dream On (1x19) - B+ - I should like this episode more than I do, because it has NPH in it and it's directed by Joss Whedon...but it's another forgettable ones of the Back 9.

Theatricality (1x20) - A+ - This episode, on the other hand, really sticks with you. A great Kurt storyline, great performances, great costumes, and the Shelby/Rachel relationship really started to gain some depth.

Funk (1x21) - A minus - Pretty good episode. I liked Quinn's performance, I was shocked that Jesse turned on Rachel, and I liked the Funk performance at the end.

Journey (1x22) - A+ - Great episode, as finales often are. The performances were among the best the show has ever done, especially "Don't Rain On My Parade" and "Bohemian Rhapsody". All the emotional threads were brought together and done well too.

Back 9 Overview: Not at great as the First 13. The cracks in the writing style and the show begin to present themselves. A lot of it was just treading water, waiting for the finale.

Auditions (2x01) - B+ - I barely remember a thing that happened in this episode, even the music was completely forgettable.

Britney/Brittany (2x02) - D minus - It was awesome that HeMo got a showcase, and she completely rocked all her performances. If the show had actually spent more time on her the episode might have been better. But the "bad teeth" storyline was just so ridiculous and the non-Brittany performances so bland that the episode was nearly impossible to sit through. The last number really symbolizes this episode's problem: Toxic was amazing, and would have probably been my favorite performance ever...if they hadn't kept cutting to Jacob Ben Israel screeching in pleasure and doing his O-face. The writers really shot themselves in the foot with this episode, taking what could have been amazing and making it decidedly sub-par.

Grilled Cheesus (2x03) - C+ - Preachy and largely forgettable, but there were no fatal flaws. And Chris Colfer's rendition of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" was phenomenal. One of the best solo performances of the show.

Duets (2x04) - A+ - Phenomenal episode! Easily the best of the season, maybe the best of the entire series. All the performances were amazing. My personal favorite duet was "Sing!", while my favorite song was "Le Jazz Hot". Everyone was in character, the drama was compelling, and the comedy was great too. And, yeah, I'm a little happy that my favorite ship got it's first dose of development!

The Rocky Horror Glee Show (2x05) - A minus - I'm a huge fan of Rocky Horror, so it was going to take a lot for me to dislike this one. But the show did Rocky Horror justice, and I had a good ole' time. My favorite songs were "Time Warp" and "Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me". My favorite Glee renditions of the characters were Kurt as Riff-Raff, Finn as Brad, and Brittany as Columbia. I thought I was going to hate Mercedes as Frank, but she did a much better job than I expected.

Never Been Kissed (2x06) - F - An utter travesty. Sloppy, lazy, horrible writing on all fronts. The characterization and continuity were at their all time low, and even the storyline the writers actually care about was riddled with holes and cliches. Karofsky being revealed as gay, although getting interesting as the episodes go on, is still a horrible choice. It sends absolutely the wrong message, and has been done a thousand times before. It would have been much, much more brave and interesting if Karofsky was simply an ignorant homophobe, who had been taught hatred his entire life. I would have loved to see this type of character slowly learn about love and acceptance. Blaine was a two-dimensional fantasy, and Dalton Academy was an unrealistic Utopia. The Puck/Artie/Brittany/Santana storyline was even worse. Everything wrong with this episode can be summed up by pointing out this fact: even in the midst of their Very Special Episode about how terrible and awful bullying is, the writers slip in the absolute most extreme example of bullying ever presented on the show (the revelation that Puck has pushed Artie down flights of stairs, resulting in injuries!) as nothing more than a throwaway joke. Ugh!

The Substitute (2x07) - A minus - Really good episode. A return to the fun and subversiveness that makes Glee good! I really liked Holly Holiday and hope she returns at some point. She had great chemistry with Will, much more than he ever had with Emma. And besides, Carl is a thousand times better with Emma than Will ever was. Anyways! The songs were for the most part good, and the comedy was hilarious. Holly's performance of "Conjunction Junction" was hot as hell!

Furt (2x08) - D+ - This is hopefully the high point, or nadir, depending of how you look at it, of the Kurt Show. The Wedding was absolutely ridiculous. Burt's vows being about Kurt is understandable, but Carole's being about Kurt is insulting to Finn. And Finn turning the reception into a tribute to Kurt was cringe-worthy. The only song that was even decent was "Sway". Sue's storyline was horrible, and her behavior toward Kurt was OOC. Just another example of the writers making a character go completely against characterization for their Very Special Kurt episode. Only the fact that I love Burt and Carole, and love that they're married now, keeps this episode from getting an F.

Special Education (2x09) - B minus - This episode was fun and enjoyable overall but was hampered seriously for my by the Bartie of it all.

A Very Glee Christmas (2x10) - F - I haven't been more pissed off by a storyline in a very long time than I was about Brittany believing in Santa. It just infuriated me, and there was nothing else good enough in the episode to distract me from it. The only good thing I can recall is the "Sue the Grinch" song and sequence. Overall, this was a fitting end to this travesty of a season.

Season 2, Part 1 Overview: Wow. Just wow. This was a sophomore slump on an epic scale, the likes of which are only matched by Heroes or Twin Peaks. Almost a complete breakdown in basic writing. Weirdly enough, though, the music improved over all. Many of my favorite performances came from this season, but they were coupled with some of the worst plotting and consistency I've ever seen. In this season, only "Duets" was able to truly marry together good plots and good music.

The Sue Sylvester Shuffle (2x11) - A minus - Fun episode made for the most casual of audiences. I liked the performance of the Zombies song, but wasn't really feeling the mash-up at halftime. I liked the Karofsky stuff, and love that the girls quit Cheerios.

Silly Love Songs (2x12) - A minus - Loved the Puck/Lauren stuff, as well as Santana in a candy striper outfit and her crying scene. Tina's performance was really bad, though, and still doesn't make sense.

Comeback (2x13) - B - Bieber. That's all I have to say about that. There was some funny Brittany stuff, but it couldn't alleviate the Bieber sickness.

Blame It on the Alcohol (2x14) - A - Good, fun episode mostly. Brittany's performance of "Tik Tok" was out of this world. Lots of good Brittana subtext. Brittany in my favorite outfit ever of hers. The Rachel/Blaine storyline was good, right up to the rushed and trite ending.

Sexy (2x15) - A - I wish I could give this episode an A+. If it were based only on Brittana, I could. But there were some cringe-worthy continuity errors. Brittany believing in the stork is in direct opposition to the fact that she knew babies came from sex last season. Emma is shrill and her characterization is totally over-played. But...besides those few issues, this was a wonderful episode. The Brittana we've been awaiting for a year...even if it ended in heartbreak. Naya delivered one of the best performances in the show's history.

Original Song (2x16) - A minus - Pretty good...the original songs made for some of the funniest performances ever on the show. Especially "Trouty Mouth". It was great to see them win Regionals. It was great that Kurt finally got his first real kiss, and that Blaine is finally interested in him. And there was some awesome continuity concerning the Brittana storyline.

Alright, that's it's for now. There's Spring Break coming up and a month-long hiatus until the next episode...so I will be getting started on a big re-watch pretty soon.