I think I like that Finn only has one song in this episode, a duet with Ryder (The Glee Project winner Blake Jenner). Monteith does have a good voice, but care must be taken to choose songs that really connect with him, and this isn't always the way he is handled on Glee. Luckily, the passing of the torch message in "Juke Box Hero" manages to satisfy both as a Finn melody and introduction to Ryder.
With the inclusion of Ryder, the second generation Glee core cast is complete, mirroring the original quartet at the center of the early seasons. Ryder is clearly the new Finn, Jake (Jacob Artist) easily steps in for Puck (Mark Salling), being his half-brother with a similar personality, Kitty (Becca Tobin) is a great Quinn (Dianna Agron) replacement, with a bit of Santana (Naya Rivera) tossed in for good measure, and Marley (Melissa Benoist) is the more relatable, hip version of Rachel (Lea Michelle). It may be a bit of a repeat, story-wise, but the characters are just different enough to still be enticing. Their tales shouldn't play out quite the same as their predecessors.
Which leaves Unique (Alex Newell) as the successor to Kurt (Chris Colfer). He won't be apart of the primary love triangles, but he is a fan favorite side character that draws enough attention to pull him into a status just as important as the others, even if that isn't the original intention. He (she?) also has enough of Mercedes' (Amber Riley) diva power to make another version of her unnecessary. Unique is easy to love, fantastic to root for, and his struggle with accepting himself, and earning the part of Rizzo in Grease, is both inspiring and moving.
On a side note, Unique's audition with Marley is a high point in this episode. "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" is a great showcase for Unique's vocal strengths, and it also unexpectedly lets Marley out of her box a bit. She exhibits a side of her we have not seen before, and the growing friendship between Unique and Marley, as
well as how they help each other, is Kurt and Rachel 2.0 in all of the best ways.
Article comments
1 - mary
i think it is really wrong to use the word retarded to describe a baby or even a human being that has disability. i hear the word getting used in other tv shows but they are not use to describe a baby with a real disability i no its not the actors fault but the fault of the writers but i really think they should consider how other people feel about the agenda they are discussing about other than their own so they could get a good laugh out of it. i come from a family with disabled people in it and i really wouldn't like for them to go out in the world and get called that name because someone thought it was funny while watching the show and decided to use it because their favorite character used it.
2 - Jerome Wetzel
Mary - I absolutely agree with you that it should not be used in any show. Glee has been extremely good at showing characters with disabilities as fully fleshed out people, and now allowing such slurs to be used.
It doesn't sound like you saw the episode, so I'd like to assure you, it was not used for a laugh at all, and it was immediately apparent to viewers and characters alike that using that word was a huge, unacceptable mistake. It definitely hurt the character that uttered it, and was used in a way that it will continue to have negative consequence for him. Anyone who saw the scene would not be encouraged to use that word in any way.
3 - Xina
Even though Finn used that word, it was obvious that he did not mean it in a malicious way. He was simply stressing that she should understand Unique's challenges due to having a baby that has Down's. He used a word that up until very recently ( and in some institutions is) wa still deemed a diagnostic word. Socially is has become unacceptable, and he realized his error as soon as it was uttered. However, that is typical of Finn because he takes abuse and being pushed to his limit and then blows up, as we have seen numerous times in season 1, 2 and 3.
4 - Jerome Wetzel
Xina - I absolutely agree with you. Unfortunately, as I think Finn saw, it doesn't matter what the intentions are. It is just not acceptable to use the word under any circumstances.
5 - mary
i totally agree with both of you but i think the writers should of put it in a nicer term than using that word i mean if they are going to show Finn in a growing up setting they should of discussed in a growing up way i haven't seen the ep but my friends in America where telling me about it