WHY SOME EPISODES OF "GLEE" ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS

Lea Michele (Rachel) and Kurt (Chris
Colfer) on Duets episode of Glee

You're going to think I'm all sorts of crazy, but I think I've finally pin-pointed the reason behind the quality inconsistencies from episode to episode of Glee.  This topic came up yesterday in a conversation I had with fellow Gleeks who also noted the same, so I decided to delve into this a little further. 

For those of you who have followed my Blog for a while, you'll know how I feel about its increasing dependency on celebrity-themed episodes and cameos. So much of late that I feel the plot lines have been sacrificed significantly. Case in point, the Power of Madonna episode had resorted to slapping on a gospel number at the end to showcase Like a Prayer, thematically having nothing to do with the episode. In the Britney/Brittany episode, we are forced to believe that the music of Britney Spears has caused the students of William McKinley High School to have a Sex Riot. Seriously?

After perusing the show's Writing Credits, we see that each episode is delegated to a different Writer and Director. Even though this shouldn't have too drastic an impact overall considering that Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan are a team, the discrepancies are becoming noticable. I was shocked to discover that Producer/Writer/Director Ryan Murphy - gotta love him - is actually responsible for some of my least-liked episodes (i.e. the Madonna and Britney episodes). Brad Falchuk who also shares in the Directing responsibilities, claims the honour of writing the gem that was the emotional Season One Finale, culminating in The New Directions' show-stopping albeit uncelebrated performance at The Regionals.

Glee's strongest Writer (and sometimes Director) in my opinion though, is the man who wrote the Season Two premiere episode - Ian Brennan. Brennan, who tried his hand at Acting, landing minor roles on series like CSI and Law & Order, is a fantastic Writer and understands what draws people like me to the show. Sure, a lot of the draw is the songs, but more of it is the characters' relationships with one another. The same applies to last night's Duets episode, which also I felt was the perfect balance of storytelling and incorporating of song. An enchanting Mash-up of Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again was used to tie-up the episode beautifully, temporarily resolving the on-going Diva-Diva story line between Rachel (Lea Michele) and Kurt (Chris Colfer). Sam (Chord Overstreet) and Quinn (Dianna Agron) clearly are into one another in a juicy building story line, punctuated by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat's Lucky. The intra-racial relationship between Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Mike (Harry Shum Jr.) is unique, exploring the pushes-and-pulls of being someone who has to grapple with being Asian and also American; rarely explored on Television. Outstanding actor Eric Stoltz (Mask, Pulp Fiction) undoubtedly had a hand in crafting last night's superb episode as Guest Director and really should be invited back more often.

So there you have it. Like me if you're finding it a bit of a Crapshoot to whether or not next week's episode of Glee will be a hit or a miss, you know have some logic to the mystery.