Monday, December 7, 2009

Glee: Season 1, Episode 12 – Mattress (2009)

Mattress was another strong episode of Glee, featuring fun musical performances and gripping emotional scenes. The episode did not get off to the best start as yet again the show runners used V.O. narration to tell the audience what characters were feeling. The show is so much better when it does it through song or visually; this is turning into a bad lazy habit that needs to be broken (there was even a song in the V.O.!). However, as the episode progressed it focused in on what Glee does best. The Mattress Man performance of Jump was fun and silly – and perfect. The emotional scene between Schuester and his wife in their kitchen was easily the best shot and acted scene so far on the show and director Elodie Keene did a fine job throughout. The episode also continued the theme of acceptance and being comfortable with self, highlighted by Quinn standing up for herself. The show does a good job of putting up obstacles for the characters; it is not easy for them to stand up, which makes it more meaningful and resonate when they do. Jane Lynch, who has been funny in the show to date, seems to have stepped up in this episode, while her character has been a little one note at times, her performance continues to be a highlight of the show, and she is just great in this episode. It was interesting to see Emma finally put her foot down with Schuester. Her relationship with Ken does not make that much sense, and it made it odd for her to seem to of completely bought into it. What will happen between them is one of the intriguing storylines that will be interesting to see how it progresses. And to that note, Glee has many storylines, that have nothing to do with music or the up-coming sectionals, involving the emotions of the characters, and these are what drive the show to be great. At this point, the audience is invested, the quality of the show has been strong for a good stretch of episodes and going into its mid-season break, it is one of the best on TV. While Mattress was not great all the way through, starting slow (which Glee sometimes seems to do), it really got going. Based on the early episodes of the show, it is impressive to see the dramatic range that the show now has, and Mattress had some of the best so far. 9/10

Glee can be seen Wednesdays on Fox or on Amazon.com

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