Glee Review: "Never Been Kissed"

It's no secret that Glee has been disappointing this season; too aware of its own cleverness and all too unaware that its once-original and charming characters are becoming insufferable; caricatures of their former selves. But Tuesday's episode was a break from all of that. Look, the show still has a ways to go (and will probably never be the show we once knew), but watching on Tuesday was -- well -- finally Glee.

"Never Been Kissed" was less about kissing than it was about bullying, and obviously, there's never been a more appropriate time for a show about young people to address such an issue. Portraying bullying has always been a strength of Glee's -- the show looks at it with the right mix of bitterness, incredulousness, and humor -- the ever-present slushie-throwing a perfect example.

But "Never Been Kissed" showed bullying in a couple different and inadvertent ways this time around, in original ways, which is strangely new for Glee lately. So -- storyline time!  

First we had the boys expecting the girls to "put out." If you don't think this is a form of bullying...then you're probably a boy yourself. Any way, I'm happy this issue was addressed at all, but weren't the boys were supposed to have learned the "respect women" lesson last season, when they sang "What it Feels Like for a Girl" during the Madonna episode?  (Writers, remember that?) Either way, Finn and Sam ended up looking like complete dicks for expecting sex from their counterparts, and rightly so. A relevant and solid storyline.

Then we had the boys (and Tina) picturing Coach Beiste to help them, ahem, "cool off" during makeout sessions with their SOs. Of course they didn't think anyone would find out, and of course they didn't mean any harm. But what they were doing was wrong, and bullying is bullying, whether the bullied knows about it out or not. I'm not crazy about Beiste, so this story dragged a bit for me -- more Sue, please! -- but nonetheless, it's rare that a TV show about outcasts takes a look at how cruel its outcast protagonists themselves can be. How true to life is it that the good kids can just as easily be the bad ones (without even meaning to be)?

Then there's Kurt, whose storyline is (as usual) the most blatant example of bullying on the show. This time around, he's getting pushed into lockers and verbally harassed by one kid in particular. Said kid ends up kissing Kurt at the end of the episode. Surprise! The bully who picks on gay kids is secretly gay. Kurt is dumbfounded, but I found it a little predictable on my end. What worked was that there was no resolution for Kurt and his bully, which is good, because again, that's real life. The two other storylines were wrapped up neatly with bows.

I actually want to address the bullying that goes on in every episode that I will never understand. Why are the Glee Club kids still so mean to one another? All last season was about their coming together -- who could forget all of them crying together on Schue's couch when they found out the club was getting shut down? They stood by Quinn through her pregnancy, they spent a day in wheelchairs to experience life as Artie did, and Rachel even let Mercedes take her solo at Sectionals. So why does the show keep emphasizing their hate for one another? Is Santana making gay jokes towards Kurt really necessary still? And is Artie expecting Puck to push him down the stairs realistic in any way at all any more? Ryan Murphy: are you and your team really not that creative that you can't come up with some new antagonists?

As for the songs -- they FIT! Finally! And they were good! "One Love" was perfect for Artie and Puck's voices together, and what could be more classic Puck than busking in the school cafeteria? "Teenage Dream" was fantastic -- new kid Blaine is Kurt's teenage dream, and ours too -- an incredible singer, funny and sweet and smart.  It was cool to see the girls' do a "guy" mashup, especially because it worked with Lea Michele's voice, and the song fit with the episode -- hello, "Start Me Up..." The boys' song was okay, I'm not a big fan of "Free Your Mind," but here's hoping they were dedicating that "don't be so shallow" to themselves more than anyone else.

Other good things:

Just the right amount of Schue, who seems to be finding his moral center again (how about that?!), and Chris Colfer's perfect "Oh my god" expression all throughout "Teenage Dream." See below:



Needs more: 

Mostly Sue, like I mentioned, but also Santana singing, adorable Blaine, and subtle flashes of legitimate anger coming from Puck -- the "none of you care about me" moment was a real surprise, and gives his character depth he didn't have before.

Next week:

The return of Crazy Terri. Yes.