Thankfully, there is no one waiting in the wings to take over for Artie (Kevin McHale) or Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz). Sure, they aren't gone yet, but they might as well be. Glee would do well to focus on the characters that work the best, and one Artie and one Tina is plenty for this show's run.
With this new blood firmly established, it does seem a little strange to have the old people hanging around. Finn could slide into the teacher side of the cast (even though there should have been a few year jump to do that properly), but Mercedes, Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.), and Artie, who is still in high school, but feels more a part of the elder group, are mostly hangers-on. It's sweet they come back to help Finn find his way, but a satisfying turn of events would find each of them realizing their own directions and moving on sooner, rather than later. As much as I enjoy seeing Mike and Mercedes again, not everyone can stick around high school forever.
Relationship drama continues to pull focus in "The Role You Were Born to Play," as one would expect it to. Kitty and Marley fight over Jake, neither giving that must attention to Ryder, who will surely have a shot with either or both soon enough. Jake and Kitty's "Everybody Talks" is good, but most will still be rooting for Marley to get the guy. It's a little early in this drama to judge how well the various chemistries are working, or who will end up with who, but it is exactly the direction Glee always goes in, and should make fans happy.
This love fight culminates in a spirited version of "Born to Hand Jive" that is a highly memorable number for Glee. Anyone who has doubts about the selection of Grease as the fall musical should find them erased when confronted with such a show-stopping number that features many characters, and allows the drama to spill into the music, nicely pairing the two. This is merely an appetizer to what is coming.
Blaine (Darren Criss) is off on his own, separate from the others, mourning his breakup with Kurt. He does this to the Grease song, "Hopelessly Devoted to You." It's a heart-breaking sequence, and one just wants to give the poor guy a hug! Blaine is isolated without his support system now, and look for him to distance himself even further from the other New Directions soon. I smell a return of the Warblers!
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