This summer, I'll be going back to review the season one episodes of FOX's Glee. These are fresh reviews, not reposts, and I hope you will enjoy reliving the first season with me.
Many things had to happen to set up the story in FOX's Glee "Pilot," which originally previewed in May 2009, then re-aired in September as the series went weekly. Glee is hinged on musical numbers, but with no glee club to speak of as the series begins, the first episode is very light on them. Instead, two major stories unfold.
In one, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) finally gets the chance to live his dream, directing the glee club at the high school where he teaches.
He is basically restarting the program from the ground up, but is torn when his wife, Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig), announces she's pregnant. Will considers giving up his passion to better provide financially for his family, but guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays) convinces him that a life without joy is not one worth living. Meanwhile, Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) is blackmailed into joining the glee club, but once in, really loves in. He must decide if he should stick with something that makes him so happy, or bow to peer pressure about what is acceptable.
Perhaps the most perplexing thing about "Pilot" is that it begins with the Cheerios practicing, not anything to do with singing. In fact, the first few minutes are really not much of a set up of the premise. It's a little slow getting started.
Before Will can take over the glee club at McKinley High, the current director, Sandy Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky) must be fired, which is done when Rachel (Lea Michele) accuses him, not falsely, of touching a student inappropriately while coaching the student to sing "Where Is Love?" Because proof is in short supply, charges are not pressed, but Sandy does leave the school and becomes a drug dealer. Though, apparently, all current members of the glee club, except Rachel, including the boy Sandy touches, have no desire to stick around, since Will must hold auditions and recruit new members. Why did they all jump ship? They are only there because they like Sandy's attention? If so, that's a bit sick. It doesn't quite add up.
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Article comments
1 - Barbara
Oh, I love it that you're doing this. It just might make me rewatch season 1 all over again. Anyway, I'd like to give my input on some of your opinions or doubts:
- Maybe Will held auditions for the club again because it actually ended and he had to restart it again as New Directions, therefore having to recruit new members, even if most of the old ones didn't want to come back.
- I don't think Rachel's emotional show, as you put it, to fire Sandy Ryerson is not out of character or cruel at all for her. We've seen many times that, even if she is a good person, her goals of stardom often blind her from good judgment and makes her do some awful thins such as sending Sunshine to the crack house later on.
- While on Will's case it might be somewhat out of character for him to plant the weed in Finn's locker, it was a good example as to the lenghts he would have to go to to make the star quarterback actually stay in his Gleeclub - which he really needed, for the male lead.
- Also, on a side note, both situations are bizarre and funny in a way that helped set the tone for the whole show.
- Last but not least, the explanation as to why Mike, Brittany, Matt, Karofsky or Azimio are absent from the pilot is because it was actually shot months before being picked up by Fox and only moths after that they begun shooting the first 13 episodes, where those characters were created and introduced.
Ok, I don't even know if I could express myself clearly, but I hope I helped and I'll try to follow all of your next reviews for the following episodes.
2 - Juliana Marques
Cool. I Like your review and I'll enjoy reliving the first season with you ;)
I read that when they shot the pilot Heather and the others had not been cast yet.
(sorry for my bad English I'm not fom US)
3 - Juliana Marques
Since we're talking about the pilot, I think I like more the screener version everything does make more sense with the scenes that they cut included.
if anyone want to see here is the link :)
4 - Jerome Wetzel
Barbara - Good point about Rachel's treatment of Sunshine! I had forgotten just how badly she wrong her! I do understand the limits of shooting schedules, especially with pilots, but that doesn't stop me from wishing this giant continuity error didn't exist.
Juliana - Exactly. See what I said to Barbara. :) The pilot on the DVD is the Director's Cut, so it has the deleted scenes added in. Or at least, a few, but it's longer than the other episodes.
Episode 2 review should be done this weekend! Thanks for joining me!
5 - Juliana Marques
Jerome - the screener version has more scenes like in the begin is not the Cheerios practicing is the old glee club on Nationals, with a young Will Schuester :)
6 - Jerome Wetzel
Wow! I've never seen that one! That would be cool!
7 - jay
You need to further yourself from what you have seen already. This was the pilot of course all the secondary characters such as the Cheerios and Football players will not be present. The pilot sets up the premise and the 3 main stars storyline.
And really after all the continituy erros on glee as long as Rachel's has a black dad and a jewish looking dad people will adjust.
8 - frank
It isn't a continuity error not to have some of the football players no tin the pilot. It is just the way pilots work. Sometime major parts are recasted.
The sceener is better.
As far as Rachel goes she usually has multiple reason for her actions. This time she wanted the solo and she knew Sandy was creppy. When she sent Sunshine to an inactive crack house she was scared of her talent and getting the solos but also Sunshine taking her place in the glee club the only place Rachel has. When she told Finn about the baby it was because she thought he should know but also to gain points with Finn.