One of the most difficult things about not having cable is that you pretty much have to avoid any form of social media for fear of seeing Chris Colfer’s latest hair evolution before you’ve even had the chance to watch the season premiere of Glee.
Only me? I doubt it. The fourth season of Glee’s storyline is spread out as thin as Burt Hummel’s hair. With recent William McKinley High School graduates split across the country and current glee club members left behind in Lima, this season is heading towards soap opera-esque (extra emphasis on the opera) plots. While they’ve been able to handle a large cast of story lines in the past, I’m predicting that it won’t take long for the creators to lose their already loose grip on the show’s plot.
In new season fashion, the show has thrown in a plethora of new characters including a potential love interest (who may or may not have a South African accent in real life) for Rachel, a Rachel clone in Marley as well as a walking anger management problem that might remind you of a mohawked ex-glee clubber. Season three favourite Unique/Wade Adams has also transferred to WMHS.
Make sure you’re taking notes because we don’t even know what’s happening to any of the graduates aside from Rachel and Kurt at this point, so I’m sure that most of them will be back with problems to boot.
Speaking of which, it seems that the first major issue the writers will be tackling this season involves alcoholism in the character of Cassandra July, Rachel’s ruthless dance teacher. July, played by Kate Hudson, was one of the major highlights of the first episode dishing out the insults that Sue Sylvester appears to have become too maternal to say herself.
Finally, where would Glee be if not for the music? Featuring a slightly harmonized rendition of “Call Me Maybe,” a “Spanish” mashup of Gaga’s “Americano” and J. Lo’s “Dance Again,” and a Blaine solo of “It’s Time” choreographed to the extent that only Darren Criss could pull off, the playlist for this episode felt like the tail end of summer being put to rest.
While I wasn’t thrilled with the premiere, you can be sure that I’ll be keeping up with this season if only because Glee is like an addiction that can’t be kicked. I’ve taken my own advice to a degree and set up a bulletin board with each character’s face affixed to their location on a map of the US. That way I can attach strings to who and where the drama is occurring, à la Sherlock Holmes, while hopefully still appreciating the top 40 hits that I’m already sick of.
