Channel Hopping » Graduating from Glee

July 22, 2011 | ONLINE ONLY
Camilla Apcar

SPOILER ALERT: the following article includes information about future Glee episodes

A latecomer to the entire Glee obsession, the reason it took me over a year to reluctantly accept the constant shine of a cast of 24 year olds (supposedly 18) was its two principal characters: Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry.

One can sing with the power of a small tornado, the other attempts to dance without looking like they have a severe stomach ache – but both have mastered that perfect ‘emotionally pained’ facial expression that tells you they’re about to launch into some form of lovesick ballad. Whether they’re in a relationship, not, or the grey area inbetween, they are arguably the dreariest lead couple in recent mainstream television.

When it was confirmed that the pair will graduate at the end of the third series, I couldn’t help but rally a sense of joyful relief. Some of the other characters might get some precious air-time. Finally! But the joy didn’t last long, after realising that Quinn, Mercedes, Kurt and Puckerman look like they’ll be graduating too. (Anticipate stereotypical aspirations and career paths now.)

Like many, I don’t watch Glee to find out whether they’re visiting Breadsticks yet again – is there only one restaurant approved by the American equivalent of the Food Standards Agency where they live? – but for the covers of mostly mainstream songs, usually performed in laughable musical outbursts. The introduction of a cappella group, The Warblers, and bottled musical power in the form of Sunshine Corazon in Series Two marked the moment I started paying real attention.

They, along with these videos, prove that the comparatively small-fry characters give the best performances:

Brittany cracks out the dance moves in Slave 4 U

Lucky: ballad from someone other than Rachel and Finn – who’d have thought it would ever happen?

Puckerman on guitar and Artie perfecting his rap skills – Billionaire

Mercedes and Santana battle it out in River Deep, Mountain High

Maybe it’s purely because they’re a refreshing break from the lead duo, but there’s surely a spin-off series waiting somewhere amongst Glee’s supporting characters.

Unfortunate as all these graduations will be, the programme’s creator, Ryan Murphy, has made sure that there’ll be plenty to compensate for it. The third series will include a two-hour tribute ‘tv-movie’ episode, introduce four new characters, script Broadway mega-mistress Idina Menzel in for twelve episodes, and make Mike Chang a regular. One of these lucky American wannabes will also be introduced as a new character as Sue Sylvester’s archenemy – and who said Glee was just about drafting in Eve and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Just to keep everyone on their toes on the celebrity front – Anne Hathaway has been confirmed to appear as Kurt’s lesbian aunt, and rumours of Julie Andrews as Kurt’s grandmother. A Princess Diaries reunion? Looks like there’ll be no time to think about the impending loss of Rachel and Finn after all.

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