Thursday, May 27, 2010

If You're Not a Gleek, don't even bother reading this....

Dear Writers of 'Glee'
First of all, I'd like to commend you on creating a following the likes of which are multiplying at an insane rate. An army of Gleeks to which I'm not ashamed to say I am a part of. However, my loyalty is actually what I'm writing in regards to. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting Pulitzer prize writing here (I mean, come on, the first major plot of the show was baby-daddy drama) however, I did want to appeal to you all to take advantage the months between the conclusion of season one and the start of season two and come up with some more solid story lines that don't just weave in and out of episodes to get you through the hour. While part I of season one had a solid plot foundation and clear objectives (saving of Glee Club, winning of sectionals, untangling the Quinn/Puck/Finn triangle, etc.) part II is just more of a medley of guest stars and unnecessary themes that just jumble the already random and choppy plot lines. Good for you on creating a phenomenon that caught the attention of talented voices like Idena Mezal, Kristin Chenoweth, and Jonathan Groff but lets not get crazy here. As popular and great as the guest stars are, please don't let them steal all the spotlight from the storyline. April Rhodes, for example, was great in her first appearance in Glee, giving it some star power as well as a strong set of adult female pipes (*squeee 'Wicked'). However, her second episode was pretty pointless other than helping to break apart Will and Emma (Boo! ps: where the hell has she been lately?) You've taken the main antagonistic force and comedic relief of Sue and downgraded her to a dancing/singing fiend despite her adamant hatred of the Glee Club. Yeah, 'Vogue' was funny as hell but 'Physical' was random and odd and served only to cater to Olivia Newton John (again, hugely talented, but pointless in the plot). All I'm asking is that you not let your want to incorporate guest stars and have themed episodes get in the way of plot. Have the characters sing songs that actually work with the plot line, like you did back in part I. Not to say that some of the songs can't be 'fun' songs meant to help the club rehearse for regionals (ps, when they hell are they? Are you gonna drag it out for another half season or are they the season finale?) because they total can be (and some of the show's best songs are). But by catering to stars and themes you need to keep adding random side plots that you don't finish in one episode and then pull back out two weeks later when you need some filler (ex: Kurt and Finn's parents, they pop up in an episode every few weeks, same with Rachel's mama-drama) I don't even know what the 'main' plot line is anymore. Is it Rachel's mom thing? Because I'm pretty sure that it just got mentioned every three episodes until Rachel and Shelby met, sung the completely unrelated 'PokerFace' (beautifully done, love Gaga, but didn't fit as well as other songs could have, 'For Good' mayhaps? Although they'd never have Idena sing that...) and decided that they didn't really feel like being all mother-daughter-y. And characters are just dropping in and out like it's their job. Santana went from background vocals, to solos with Mercedes and Finn, to intense auto-tuning in 'Bad Romance' the Asian guy finally got a name, Emma and Jesse just dropped off the face of the earth for awhile, and I'm pretty sure that the two jocks in the Gaga episode had more lines than Quinn's had in part II total. Basically, I'd just like to ask y'all to up your writing game a little bit, or else when someone that I know gets on 'Glee' I'm gonna have to live in their trailer and sneak into the writing room and do your jobs. Just sayin'. Great concept, makes me wish I had the voice and the balls to do something like join New Directions, but let's try and forget for one second that you've already got a huge fan following and don't have to struggle to keep the show on the air and write like you're in danger of being canceled. Because, frankly, in my book you are.
Peace & Blessin's
~Krysti