Episode Review: GLEE, "Wonder-ful"

After a stretch of downer and/or disappointing episodes, Glee came back with what felt like an old-school offering in "Wonder-ful" with it's fun songs and uplifting storylines, but it also miscalculated how much we care about those at the center.

It's apparently a new tradition for former members of New Directions to return to Lima in order to coach the newbies because Mercedes and Mike came back to whip the gleeks into shape... again. Mercedes did her part by stroking the egos of Marley and Jake, but hers was shattered when a record deal she had vanished because of her looks. Of course she didn't let it get her down though. Elsewhere in Ohio, we were reminded that Burt had cancer (but he's in remission) and Blaine asked him for Kurt's hand in marriage. And there was a bit about Kitty pushing Artie to follow his dreams of being a filmmaker.

In New York, Rachel prepared for her Funny Girl callback, and for some reason that meant Cassandra July was back to torment her... until she surprised her with some NYADA rite of passage and admitted that she was only hard on her because she saw so much potential in Miss Berry.

Honestly, I should've liked "Wonder-ful" more than I did because it did try to recapture some of the magic that made Glee special in the first place, but I could not muster any emotion for those who drove the action. I've never liked Artie, so why should I care about his relationship with his mother? And don't get me started on the mismatch of him and Kitty. Mercedes has been so underdeveloped that I didn't buy her "record deal" for a second. My disinterest in everything New York has been well established, so I'll skip that plotline altogether. Ugh.

Other Odds and Ends:

• I'm sure plenty of people complained, but Will being Rachel's first call does make some sense and reminds us that teachers can be extremely influential and important. I liked that moment.
• Another Brittany-less week, but Heather Morris has more important things to take care of at the moment.
• Is everyone going to end up in New York?
• What a waste of Gemma Teller Morrow.
• I'm at least glad the show was self-aware enough to mention what a trainwreck the Finchel wedding was, and yet here we go with a Klaine one. Does this show ever learn?
• Musical Highlight: "I Wish"

It's not like "Wonder-ful" was a bad episode because I was able to respect what it was trying to do. It's just a shame that the writers tried so hard to turn formerly insignificant characters into important ones seemingly out of nowhere. They had three seasons to make us care about Artie and Mercedes, and they wasted their opportunities. Why try to make up for lost time now?

Last Episode: "Lights Out" >>

<< Next Episode: "All or Nothing"