The results are in! And, last night, after a month-long hiatus, GLEE came speeding back to the small screen with the spiffy and spunky new episode, "The Role You Were Born To Play" - a Michael Hitchcock-written, Brad Falchuk-directed entry to Fox's hit musical series centering on the auditions for this year's McKinley High musical, none other than the campy 50s musical comedy GREASE! And, indeed, GREASE is the word - and, furthermore, the musical GLEE was born to do.
GLEASE-d LightningSue Sylvester's curt comeuppance to a touching, tearful transgender commentary to a new love triangle in the making, the grand return of GLEE offered up many surprises and shake-ups to the structure and style we have come to expect from the ever-changing, eternally-evolving musical dramedy enterprise co-created by Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan and this week's director, Brad Falchuk - there's always something there to remind us that GLEE is a step ahead and beat beyond. With rapid-fire, rat-a-tat-tat repartee as snide, biting and bitchy as any drag race this side of RuPaul, GLEE continues to redefine the recipe of what works and what an audience will accept - continually pushing boundaries in both directions; conservative comedy ala Sue's outrageous call-outs to the incredibly progressive and prescient treatment and depiction of gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Beyond all of that, few current TV series pack as much entertainment value into each and every minute of each and every episode such as GLEE always has and continues to do - the comedy is as sharp as a flick knife and the performances as shiny and polished as a brilliantine-d 'do. Now, with GLEE taking on GREASE over the course of two episodes, we get not only a tribute to a beloved musical along the lines of past well-regarded homages to THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW and WEST SIDE STORY, but, also, the behind-the-scenes hubbub that helps us to hone in on the essential elements that drew us into this wild, wacky, wonderful and winsome world in the first place - the passion of the art.From the stunning debut of Lea Michele and the rest of the original gleeks to second season star standout Darren Criss all the way through to this new Season Four freshman crew - many of them selected from the Ryan Murphy-approved ranks of Oxygen's sister series, the reality casting competition THE GLEE PROJECT, as a matter of fact - GLEE is overflowing with talent, now as always. Optimally utilizing the best assets of the performers while still serving the story and plot as best as possible is the trickiest, most troublesome - and, admittedly, at times the most trying for die-hard gleeks - of all delicate balances to strike, yet GLEE has proven itself quite masterful in that regard over the span of 70+ episodes so far in its run - though wrong steps and sour notes strike more often than many would most like to admit. But, GLEASE, as it shall now be known, is the next logical step in the evolution of GLEE, exemplified in the manner of its depiction and pertinence to the plot (thematically, dramatically, actually and otherwise) over the course of this week and next week's GREASE-themed episodes - weaving the storylines all together into a seamless whole is the newfound series goal, more or less, and, while the NYC-set storyline is a bit uncomfortably shoe-horned in at this early stage of the transformation of the series into something new altogether, the early etchings of the pointillist painting coming into view is more precipitous in its accruing by the week. A masterpiece may be in the making after all - the dots are like notes and the symphony is starting to play; listen close and you can hear it still. Yes, some have lost faith in GLEE and it is not the ratings powerhouse it once was, but lighting can still strike twice.
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