Glee: The Complete Second Season [Blu-ray]
The second season of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee premiered on September 21, 2010 on Fox in the United States, and is expected to consist of 22 episodes. The season will initially air in the 8 pm (ET) time slot on Tuesdays, then move to the 9 pm (ET) time slot on Wednesdays after a special episode following the 2011 Super Bowl. The season was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Ryan Murphy Television, with series creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk as executive producers, alongside Dante Di Loreto.
The series focuses on a high school glee club called New Directions, set within the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. Season two will follow the club through sectional and regional show choir competitions, to the national competition in New York City.
Glee Season 2 Full Episodes Review
Glee Season 2 started off with a great self-effacing recap that I thought bode very well for the season. The writers had clearly listened to some of the feedback on the web and from critics and anytime you become self-aware about your work, it stands to reason it will get better. This has turned out to be somewhat true for Glee in it’s sophomore season but there are definitely a few problems that have developed that have given me a reason for concern. However, first the good:
Glee: The Complete Second Season DVD
The Positive:
+ Coach Beiste is a welcome addition and is a better fit than Tanaka. More opportunities there.
+ Chord Overstreet as Sam is also a nice addition and replaces Matt in the group.
+ Naya and Heather being promoted was a good call. Both bring some great things to the table and add to the diversity in the group. In the same light, Harry Shum also getting promoted was a good call.
+ The Rocky Horror tribute was well handled
+ John Stamos fit in with the cast and this show like a glove.
+ Gwyneth did an pretty nice job as well.
+ Nice balance of music/story/comedy in most episodes.
+ Also loved Charice’s guest spot. Very talented and fit nicely with the cast.
+ Darrin Criss is awesome and a very likable character. Also love the warblers. Not a Katy Perry fan but I did like their version of Teenage Dream a lot.
+ Corey sounds a lot better this year so far.
The Negatives:
+ The Britney episode was very clumsy. It was a fine idea and I don’t have a problem recognizing her impact on music, but the way it was executed just seemed forced.
+ Parts of the the Wedding episode were also very clumsy. Sue marrying herself didn’t work. It was absurd and should have stayed in the writers head. Waste of a perfectly good Carol Burnett guest star. (I did enjoy their duet together)
+ Way too much focus on Kurt to the exclusion of other characters. I do like some of what they’ve done with his character this year. I always thought it was unfair that Finn took all the blame for the situation down in Kurt’s basement when Kurt was equally to blame and to the writers credit, they covered that. I also liked the “picked on” angle where Kirk is getting singled out by an in-the-closet guy even if the “tough guy turns out to be gay” was not much of a surprise. Obviously kids get picked on for many reasons at school and how painful that is makes for great TV. (Though I wish they’d make the point that more than just gay kids get picked on.) However, there is so much focus on Kurt – and sometimes inappropriately so like the over the top wedding episode – that the other characters suffer because of it. Clearly, Chris is a very talented actor and singer. I enjoy his presence on the show and think it works great. However, I wish it didn’t have to be at the cost of all the other characters because right now I’d love to see some Puck, Quinn, Sam, Rachel, Will/Emma or even some Santana or Mercedes story lines.
+ Not nearly enough Will and Emma (especially the Emma part)
+ Lea’s character isn’t getting a whole lot of opportunity to sing much this year which is a shame given how talented she is. Yes, I know she got lots of chances in Season 1, but we’ve almost swung too far the other way this season.
Perhaps things will balance out over the remainder of the season and the characters that are being left in the background will get their chance for a storyline as well, but right now it feels like far too much focus in being placed on a select few and some of what made the show so strong in Season 1 is being overlooked as the show tries to tweak it’s formula.
Overall I still really enjoy the show and will continue to watch and hopefully as Season 2 unfolds a better balance will be struck and we’ll get back to the show we all loved in Season 1.
