It’s Britney B*tch! But…hum…do we care? Last night Gleeks around the country sat by their TV’s to watch the long-awaited Britney Spears episode on Glee, hoping not to be disappointed. Unfortunately, the episode is not only enormously disappointing but it’s…well…sloppy…really sloppy.
Where are the characters? Where is the delightful reiteration/propulsion of plot through song? Where are the writers? It is almost as if the idea of doing Britney’s songs totally overshadowed any storytelling once so ever. Although it is fun to pick out the contestants of another Fox show So You Think You Can Dance in the dance company, it doesn’t make up for the lack of good story.
The story is so far gone that some scenes end with a big WTF? Kurt is sent to the principal’s office. And? Artie and Finn suddenly are back on the football team? Really? And then there’s the terrible state of Rachel, finding solace in a 10-year-old Britney song? Ick. It doesn’t help matters that the pressure of starring in an innovative show only makes the star Lea Michele lose so much weight that she now actually appears older on screen. Again. Ick.
Please Glee, don’t lose your way. Stay creative. You had us at the first audition. You had us at the moment Sue sat down with her special sister. You had us at the first note of a Journey song. Don’t fall victim of making the show strictly a vehicle for guest stars. The Britney episode was entertaining, but please get back to the great writing with emotionally invested characters. Enough with the gimmicks.
But the show does have my favorite line to date – “This room looks like that room on that spaceship when I got probed.”