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Everyone’s favorite high school glee club returns for more laughs, teen drama, and lots of singing and dancing. This is the third season of Fox’s hit show Glee, and that means that some of the original characters are facing graduation and the rest of their lives. So it’s appropriate that this season contains story arcs for all of the seniors. The rest of the cast is included, too, but mostly as parts of the seniors’ stories. Every fan has a favorite character in the choir, and the show does its best to conclude each story in a way that fits the character.
As with the last two seasons, the show mixes comedy with anything-but-funny drama. Jane Lynch’s Sue Sylvester is still as funny as ever with her put-downs, but she’s at least evenly matched by the new synchronized swim coach, Roz Washington (NeNe Leakes). The writers spend the season finding all kinds of new ways to insult people using the voices of these two characters. Meanwhile, the non sequitur one-liners continue from Heather Morris’s Brittany, and Naya Rivera’s Santana is her usual sarcastic self.
Glee is no stranger to in-your-face drama when it comes to the culture wars with prominent gay characters, but this year it aims at a place closer to everyone’s homes. For instance, there’s a story featuring a teen suicide attempt that’s disturbing no matter how many times it’s viewed. I remember being very unsettled watching it the first time it was shown on television; I’d never seen anything like it. Texting while driving is featured in Quinn’s (Dianna Agron) story, along with a teacher/student relationship in Puck’s (Mark Salling) story. All of these stories—and the ones that aren’t listed—are treated seriously and soberly by the cast and writers, who’ve found an outlet for both a laugh and a commentary on serious matters that affect everyone.
The writers have also been able to tell a story through the songs selected. For example, after a devastating setback, Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) sings the following songs in order: “Cry” (Kelly Clarkson), “Big Girls Don’t Cry” (Fergie), “I Won’t Give Up” (Jason Mraz), “Flashdance…What a Feeling” (Irene Cara, from the Flashdance soundtrack), and “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” (Celine Dion). You don’t need to know anything about psychology to get a feel for what’s going on here.
The writers wrap up Rachel’s high school career with “Roots Before Branches.” Surrounded by friends at the train station, she sings that she needs to know who she is before she can be what she wants. Her friends are her roots—a message that stands in stark contrast to “On My Own,” the song Rachel sang when she was first introduced.
But Glee’s main focus is still the choir. New Directions has been around for three years, and it shows in all of the areas that matter for a glee club. The singing is better—individually and as a choir—the choreography is more complicated, and the arrangements of the songs still provide many surprises. My favorite full-choir song is a cover of the song “We Are Young” by Fun. I hadn’t heard the song before, but I loved it from the first hearing. It reminds viewers of how young the cast is in real life—most in their twenties. They can set the world on fire indeed.
I found a new copy of the season on Blu-ray for about half of the suggested retail price—and it’s definitely worth it at that price. This is the best season of Glee for the original cast, and since many won’t be returning, it may be the last place to find them. It will be interesting to see if viewers stick around next season, for the music and the new members of the glee club.
Blu-ray Review:
The Blu-ray release of the third season of Glee contains special features on each of the four discs. For the first time, there are deleted scenes from a few of the episodes, along with plenty of behind-the-scenes features and other funny bits from Coach Sue Sylvester.
The Glee Jukebox returns on each of the discs, containing many of the songs from the episodes in performance-only segments. One thing I did notice while viewing the jukebox is that there’s less dialogue during the performances. It’s just the music video. This is a change from previous years, when characters would comment during a performance. One glaring omission from the jukebox is “Take My Breath Away” from the prom episode. However, this is one of those performances that were interrupted by conversation, which may be the reason it’s not included.
Also new to the Blu-ray is the season mode, which plays all of the episodes without interruption from wherever you want to start. I don’t really see the need or usefulness of this feature, since it doesn’t skip over the credits or the beginning recap. Its only use seems to be to warn you if you accidentally put in the wrong disc.
