Honestly, I’ve been in the mood for TV series and there’s is an endless amount of shows I need to catch up on or just simply start. Netflix doesn’t make choosing very easy and I probably end up taking more time trying to choose what to watch than actually watching the movie. Either way, Glee was updated with Season 5 maybe a week or two ago and I started it up right away! One thing is that, Glee ended recently and its always a happy and fun show to watch. The last two seasons haven’t been great on story or content but I always liked how the Glee cast mash up the songs and put it into the context of what was going on.
Let’s check this out! 🙂
Glee (Season 5)
Creator: Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy
Cast: Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer, Naya Rivera, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Darren Criss, Chord Overstreet, Becca Tobin, Jacob Artist, Melissa Benoist, Blake Jenner
In case you are not current with Glee, Glee follows McKinley High School’s Glee Club called New Directions lead by Mr. Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison). This group is not the cool kids and they are always bullied for being different from the rest of the group. At the same time, cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) is always out to get in their way. In Season 5, the first group has already graduated including Rachel (Lea Michele), Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Santana (Naya Rivera) who have moved to pursue their dreams in New York City. While at the same time, the glee club in McKinley is lead by now seniors: Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz), Sam (Chord Overstreet), Blaine (Darren Criss) and Artie (Kevin McHale) and with the younger blood, they hope to win the Nationals a second year in the row, in fact with the changes at McKinley, a lot lies on them winning it.
In a nutshell, that’s what Glee is about. I guess if you didn’t watch the first 4 seasons, you probably won’t be inclined to watch this one. Season 5 was a step up from Season 3 and 4. What works here is how they now incorporate whats going on in Lima and McKinley and NYC and the graduates. In fact, the song choices and themes are pretty good (for example, The Beatles). The season started a little rocky and I wasn’t really sure if I could get into it but they did find some sort of balance. While the young blood isn’t quite as strong plot wise. Let’s face it: the original Glee club had a lot of drama in the first two seasons to make up for everything that they didn’t really have much to work with and be different. But they were still good singers and they were going somewhere, except they weren’t enough to build a deep connection with the audience (at least they didn’t with me). As much as I enjoyed watching them, I didn’t really mind whether they were there or not and it felt like the focus was on the original members of Glee club anyways.
Another factor that had some of the best episodes was how they kept Finn (Cory Monteith) and his death into it. There was a lot of tugging heartstrings to keep that feeling there. It wasn’t just the tribute episode, which was done extremely well, and I have to admit that I did shed quite a bit of tears there. But then, they chose Seasons of Love to open the episode and I love that song. That episode was definitely the best one in the whole season. They didn’t stop there though. Finn’s character was a constant reminder throughout the entire season and I respect that, except at some point, I started wondering if it was really a way to keep the dedicated viewers to keep coming back since he was a key character. Still, I liked how they added that in.
On the New York City tangent, a new deeper friendship develops between Santana being part of Kurt and Rachel’s life. At the same time, they also have guest appearance for a few episodes with Adam Lambert. I was never too familiar with him except for the few songs that hit the radio but this guy is pretty good. I like his style and flair that he added to the show. Plus, once the focus of the show landed more on New York City after graduation and phased out McKinley a little, the tone changed and it made it feel a lot more like it was watching Glee from the first few seasons but just in a different place. Its not a bad thing and they work hard to give them more older decisions that have to determine their future. Glee was always a lot about these kids following their dreams and fighting against the norm and it seemed to be reaching for those roots again and I personally really appreciated that.
Overall, Glee Season 5 kicks it up a little more. Maybe its that season 4 helped build liking the new blood in New Directions and also getting used to flipping between New York City and McKinley so it works out better. At the same time, Cory Monteith’s death gave his character a lot of heartstrings that were being tugged as we remembered his character and all the influence it had on the plot and the show in general. He is definitely missed. The music they choose was really good and I enjoyed it all for the essence of what Glee is. It may be a new place but seeing the old cast appear as guests for a few episodes also really added to it all as well. I definitely enjoyed Season 5 of Glee and I look forward to how they end it all in Season 6.
Are you or were you a fan of Glee? Have you seen Season 5? What do you think of it? Have you finished the show?
Tranquil Dreams 