"FUNERAL"

       Death. Not the expected topic for a get-happy-musical-comedy television show. But, the can does get kicked in the latest installment into the “Glee” television series. “Funeral,” which premiered May 17 on FOX, is the first real dramatic episode the series has ever produced, which would’ve been hard to tell, if I had never seen the show before yesterday. The writing was good enough to bring a small tear to my eye. Of course, I would never admit it to anyone (wait a second….oops). Although the writing was very impressive, it can’t hold a candle to last week’s episode, “Prom Queen.” I personally have been lucky enough to have never experienced a death in my family. My grandmother died when I was less than a year old, so that doesn’t really effect me. I have two grandparents who are married and are 88 years old, and my ‘Pop Rocky’ who is 96 years old (nope, not kidding…96!!), so seeing this episode really made me think about how terrible a death can have on your life.  It was definitely a very unique episode.

            So, what’s going on with the glee club? The New Directions has a new show choir consultant, you guessed it: the greasy-haired, annoyingly sarcastic Jessie St. Douche Bag. In “Prom Queen,” he did mention that he wanted to create a program to help suffering glee clubs (wait…he was serious about that?). But, I guess Will figured, “What the hell? He’s just a college flunk-out, and just happened to destroy their chances at Nationals last year. LET’S GIVE HIM OUR MONEY!”. But he turns out to be a show choir bossy paints/jerk instead of a consultant. Of course, the glee club protests (with the exception of Rachel), but Will convinces them that Jessie can help them win at Nationals. Finn wants to sing with Rachel at Nationals, and he claims they ‘killed it,’ CUE QUINN’S B**** RESPONSE: “Yeah, killed us. We lost.” (haha) Jessie disagrees, and thinks they should have one star to perform at Nationals, and they will have auditions to decide who the lucky show choir member will be. It just so happens Jessie isn’t the only problem the glee club Has on its hands. Sue has recently hired Will’s insane ex-spouse Terry, who hired her assistant manager at ‘Sheets and Things,’ Howard (a.k.a. Panda Express) rerouted the glee club’s plane tickets from New York to Libya by hacking into the email account of Principal Figgins. The glee club isn’t the only one with Sue problems. Becky Jackson, a Cheerio with special needs, has just been kicked off the award-winning cheer squad by Sue for reasons unknown. Becky wishes to join the club, but Will says it is too late to join, but he welcomes her to try next year. Will approaches Sue, infuriated at her recent elimination to the Cheerios. She reveals that the reason Becky is off the team is that she reminds Sue of her sister, who has special needs. Sue reveals that her sister had past away the other day. Will is apologetic, but Sue bares a straight face. She delivers such depressing lines, but she seems to be holding in her sadness and depression. Meanwhile, the competition for the big spot at Nationals is surprisingly small. It’s down to Rachel, Kurt, Santana and Mercedes. Rachelo questions why Finn hasn’t signed up. He admits that he has really been effected by Jessie’s sudden appearance, and he is convinced that he isn’t good enough to take on something as big as New York City. Meanwhile, Emma is helping Will prepare to head to The Big Apple. As they clean out his closet (filled with sweater vests…haha) he finds the sweater he wore when he and Emma had first met. Emma is very supportive, and tells him that he needs to let go of the old memories, because he is going on to the big time. Sue is hiding herself in the privacy of her office when Kurt and Finn enter, bearing gifts for the mourning woman. When she questions why they bother, they explain how they both have been through deaths (Finn lost his dad and Kurt lost his mom). Sue reveals to them how it is too painful for her to go back to the nursing home, and that she doesn’t even think she will have the strength to plan her sister’s funeral. She questions why her sister had to die instead of her, and we feel the pain, even if she has not shown any tears. Seeing the pain, Finn and Kurt decide to get the glee club to plan the funeral. The glee club agrees, but Jessie protests saying that they should be focused on Nationals. Annoyed and pissed off at the comment, Finn takes matters into his own hands and, as a new-born leader, decides for the club. They are helping with the funeral. Will tries to approach Sue about the matter, and tells her how honored the club is, but Sue finds a way to sneak in her usual hair joke…like nothing has changed. The time has come to find The New Direction’s big solo. First up is Santana performing the episodes first musical number, “Back to Black.” In my opinion, this was Santana’s break out performance. This was the first time I’ve ever seen her really break out of her shell. Very nice performance, well at least, not in Jessie’s eyes. With an insulting analogy, Jessie-the-Smart-Ass was threatened by Santana who claimed “I’m about to go ALL Lima Heights.” (haha). Next up is Kurt Hummel performing another number from the Broadway classic “Gypsy,” “Some People” (he previously performed “Rose’s Turn” in the Season One episode “Laryngitis”). While watching this at my friend’s house, I found myself singing along, which my friend found annoying. Sorry! It’s a very catchy tune, and was performed very well by Cris. Jessie responds to the flashy performance by questioning Kurt’s ability to rise up to the expectations of someone to sing that song (famously performed by Bette Midler, Patti LuPone and Ethel Merman, among many other lucky actors to be given the chance to play the part of Rose). And with that stinger, Kurt leaves. Jessie has pretty much taken over the auditions at this point. “Jessie St. James definitely Jessie. St. Sucks!” says Kurt as he enters the classroom (You tell ‘em). The cockey Santana agrees, saying that she “kicked that song square in the balls”. Mercedes, confident, enters the stage, and blows the roof off the auditorium with “Try a Little Tenderness.” Will expresses his admiration for Mercedes’s star performance, and says that she reminded him of why he started the club: to turn an ordinary high school student into a star. CUR JESSIE’S A-HOLE RESPONSE: “You’re not a star, you’re just a girl who can really sing.” He expresses his concern for her lack of rehearsal, and questions her capability to rehearse it day and night. Will believes in her, but Jessie doesn’t. Mercedes grabs the microphone and storms off.  And, finally, it’s down to one. Rachel takes the stage and belts out a magnificent performance of “My Man” from “Funny Girl,” famously performed by Barbara Streisand. This performance even brings Kurt to tears as he admits, “She may be difficult, but boy, can she sing.” Of course, to only this performance does Jessie respond positively. The others claim that the competition is rigged, but Will assures the others that he makes the final decision by the end of the week. Back at the nursing home, Kurt and Finn have cleaned out Sue’s sister’s room. It’s filled with newspapers, magazines, photo books, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (her sister’s favorite movie) and some old home movies. Sue tells them to throw all of it out, and she takes one stuffed animal which her sister received when she was six years old. Kurt and Finn try to get her to keep some more things, but she asks why they aren’t rehearsing whatever stupid song that they’re planning to sing at the funeral. In annoyance, Kurt asks her why she even bothered to allow them to plan the service, and she says that she just thought her sister deserved a full house at the funeral. Well, the day of the service has come, and Sue enters the funeral home. Will tells her how people from the home and their families have all come for her. When she enters the room, it is like a scene from “Willy Wonka.” It is absolutely beautiful. When Kurt and Finn approach Sue, they tell her how they wanted her funeral to be as special as her sister. Sue is baffled, but still doesn’t shed a tear. When it is Sue’s turn to speak, she calmly steps up to the front of the room and begins her eulogy. “I miss my sister. Every night, at 10:00 or so, she would call and when I asked her why, she told me that her body told her that she needed to hear my voice.” With that treasured memory, Sue breaks down in tears, the ones that she has been holding inside for all of this time. Will steps up to the microphone and finishes for her. (I found this moment especially touching, so I thought I should include the entire eulogy):

“I miss my sister. The smell of her shampoo. The way she could always convince me to read her another book. When you love someone, like I loved her, they’re apart of you. It’s like you’re attached by this invisible tether, and no matter how far away you are, you can always feel them. And now, every time I reach for that tether, I know there’s no one on the other end, and I feel like I’m falling into nothingness. Then I remember Jean. I remember a life led with no enemies, no resentments, no regrets—and I’m inspired to get up out of bed and go on. I miss my sister so much. It feels like a piece of me has been ripped off. Just one more time, I want to hold her. Ten more seconds—is that too much to ask? For ten more seconds to hold her? But I can’t and I won’t, and they only thing keeping me from being swallowed whole by sadness is that Jean would kill me if I did. So, for now I’m just going to miss her. I love you Jeanie. Rest in peace.”

How can you follow something as emotional as that? By performing a beautiful rendition of “Pure Imagination.” As the classic tune continues, Sue turns her attention to the television, where home movies are being played. Her whole life flashes before her eyes in a mear 2 minutes and 24 seconds. The service ends, and Finn is in his car, crying, waiting for Quinn. When she comes, she says that she is so proud of what he did for Sue. When she asks why he’s crying he says, CUE FINN’S SHOCKING RESPONSE: “Because I’m breaking up with you.” (dun, dun, duuuuuun!!!) He says that he really tried to make things work and to move on from what happened last year, but he just can’t fix it. Quinn tries to help him, and says she will have to deal with his confusion with Rachel. He denies and she starts to cry. You can see that Finn is still in love with her, but she’s too emotional to go on, and she leaves Finn alone in his car (what a scene!). Back at McKinley, Jessie and Will are deciding who will be the star at the upcoming tournament. Will is unsure about the whole idea of picking one person, but Jessie assures him that if he picks Rachel, they will win at Nationals hands down. Meanwhile, Becky hands in her pom-poms and her megaphone to Sue, but Sue stops her, and apologizes. She then tells Becky that next year, she will be captain of the Cheerios. Becky is so thankful, but before she leaves, Sue asks for a hug. As they embrace, you can see that Sue has truly changed, and is looking forward to her new life. Sue then goes to Will, and wishes him luck at Nationals. She says that she sees a lot of Jean in Will, because they both have pure hearts. She also announces that she will no longer be attacking the glee club, due to her new campaign for the United States House of Representatives. She also announces that in a fit of rage, she rerouted the glee club’s trip from New York to Libya, but, out of the blue, Terry enters with first class tickets for the glee club to go to NYC. She says that after she told their sob story to the head of American Airlines (who happens to be a supporter of the arts) he gave them the tickets for free. Terry also announces how she will be moving to Miami and will manage a new branch of ‘Sheets and Things’. With the tickets set, and the bags packed, Will is all set, except with Emma, who appears in one of Will’s vests. He assures her that he won’t be in New York forever, but she encourages him to follow the right path, and do something for himself. She kisses him on the cheek and walks away (like she always does; crying; awwwww). In the auditorium, Jessie approaches Rachel and declares his love for her (but not before spilling the beans about the solo—Rachel has won). In a touching moment, they kiss, and Finn is there to witness it. As the two go off, Finn reveals a flower which was meant for Rachel (awwwwww). Instead of posting the winner, Will posts a call for an urgent meeting in the choir room. There, he reveals that no one will be getting a solo. They will be singing together as a group. Jessie tries to change Will’s mind, but Will is confident, and the group gets a head start at writing their original songs. Finn goes up to Quinn, and tells her that he’s happy that she didn’t quit glee club. She says that she wouldn’t dream of it, because her big New York plans would be ruined. When Finn asks what they are, she just says, “You’ll see.” (hot).

            Even though this episode lacked the excitement of “Prom Queen,” it was definitely a good episode. It truly locked into your softer side, and it was very entertaining. I’m very glad that we got to see a brand new side of Sue that was emotionally impacting (and possibly an Emmy-worthy performance). As for the writing, well, I’m sure whoever the brave soul was had a very tough time writing that eulogy, because to write something that personal, you need to really touch base with the character, so great job, Mr. Murphy. Well, next week’s episode is certainly one to look forward to. The Big Apple, baby! “Start spreading the news…”

RATING: ***

WHERE TO WATCH:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/239940/glee-funeral

http://www.fox.com/glee/full-episodes/

NEXT EPISODE: “New York” airing May 24, 2011 on FOX