Episode Review: GLEE, "Thanksgiving"

Leave it to FOX to keep an episode titled "Thanksgiving" for the week following the actual holiday, but thankfully it had little to do with its name sake and more to do with Sectionals... and random New York shenanigans.

Most of the Class of 2012 was back to celebrate turkey day, and they all reconvened in the auditorium. After a little ditty, Finn asked them to help him out by being mentors to the glee club's newest crop of talent. Puck was given Jake, Santana got Marley, Mike was assigned to Ryder, Mercedes teamed up with Wade, and Quinn took Kitty under her wing. In classic Glee fashion, Finn announced their set list only days prior to the competition, and for some reason he picked "Gangnam Style" as their big group number. Since the performance revolved around dancing, the boys had to try out to see who would join Brittany, and Jake decided to let Ryder shine since his new bro was so cool with him dating Marley. Things took an interesting turn though because a malnourished Marley was freaking out before they went on stage, so Ryder insisted that Jake take his spot to take some pressure of of her. Things were going fine until she passed out on stage and cut to black.

In the past, competition episodes were hit or miss but usually responsible for some interesting moments, and "Thanksgiving" fit the bill for the most part. After last week, I wasn't in love with McKinley's newest love quadrangle, but Jake and Ryder's budding bromance made it a little more tolerable and I'm already more invested in their relationship than whatever they have with Marley. Speaking of our newest ingenue, I was equally unsure about her eating disorder arc up until this point, and while I thought it was short-changed while also somehow prominent during this episode, I did appreciate how Glee built up to this moment rather than just throwing it in at the last moment to create drama. I was just expecting more fallout and for Kitty to pay a penance, but hopefully we're going to be getting that next week since the episode just stopped.

Look, I'm all for a good cliffhanger and two-part episodes, but the way things were handled during "Thanksgiving" was not only jarring but mildly annoying. I don't blame the Lima side of the equation because I was genuinely excited for Sectionals, but we just had to waste time in New York on characters and storylines I no longer care about. Seriously, we had to cut away from one of the most important competitions of the year to watch Rachel, Kurt, Sarah Jessica Parker and a whole bunch of quirky New Yorkers dance around for no apparent reason. That spin-off idea's sounding a lot more appealing now because at least then I wouldn't have to be subjected to such giant time-sucks. Ugh.

Other Odds and Ends:

• The Unholy Trinity!
• Did we really need a Quinn vs. Santana catfight?
• Dating a professor? Wow, Quinn really is a cliché at this point.
• Aww, Joe saying a prayer was a nice touch.
• What were the Warblers singing?
• That poor turkey.
• Who cares about what a "kiki" is?
• I was more entertained by the singing Mennonites than by everything that took place in NYC.
• Should I be offended by the fact that Tina's first competition solo was "Gangnam Style"? Probably, but she's such a non-character so why bother.
• Musical Highlight: "Homeward Bound/Home"
• "I knew it. Mercedes was cloned."
• "Wanky."
• "Oh, speak of the devil I knocked up."
• "Quinn always was a genius slapper."

If the action had stayed in Ohio, "Thanksgiving" would have been vastly better than how it turned out, but we just had to jump back to New York. I understand that Glee cannot exist without Rachel and Kurt, but that's a shame because so far the show's not been successful at juggling both locales. Either that or the writers cannot make NYC interesting. Regardless, I'll McKinkey over NAYDA or Vogue every single time.

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