Choke: A review of aTuesday
night After-School Special
By: Kyle Lawson
I have not been sure what to make of Glee this season. I have never really enjoyed the show, and my
hostility has only grown stronger as I watch them ruin my favorite songs. Said
anger abates when they wow me. I am looking at you Naya Rivera, if they have
not already cast Johanna Mason for Catching
Fire I hope they call you. The current season has regrettably taken a
darker turn. It has become the After School Specials for a new generation, and
one that does not always have the best message. I suggest you read the review
written by Zoe Wintler-Cox and Scotty Viera to see how Glee passes over the legitimate problems of Quinn.
Today I am focusing on the latest episode Choke. One of the darkest and saddest
episodes since the death of Jean Sylvester. What could and should have been an
episode dedicated to domestic abuse, recognizing the signs, providing support,
and offering ways to escape had to share the spotlight with Rachel and Kurt in
their audition for NYADA.
The storyline with Coach Beiste and her dealing with an
abusive husband, was like every other character discovered shocking. The show
has always presented Beiste as this impressively sized but softhearted woman who
would never hurt a fly. Her husband the loveable goofball, is behind closed
doors a mean spirited drunk. A reality that many victims of domestic violence
and their families can attest to, in the real world villains don’t wear
tracksuits. It was heart breaking and the moment I realized that I was attached
to a character on this show.
To watch Beiste slowly break down, first claiming she had
been injured while boxing. Something that my companion pointed out was
obviously a lead in, but that I had hopes would not be. Watching her unable to
handle the ladies performing the “Cell Block Tango”, and becoming an emotional
wreck and unable to escape was just short of being too much. This is why I hate
this episode for including that utterly pointless filth of a final audition.
Watching Kurt perform “Music of the Night” and than
miraculously being fully prepared to perform “Not the Boy Next Door” was the
eye rolling over-the-top rubbish on which this show thrives. Considering the
alternate storyline it was a miss, but otherwise an excellent performance.
Thank the Blessed Flippn’ Virgin he didn’t perform Phantom. If he had, I really
wanted Whoppi to go down to the stage and slap him. That I feel that strongly
is an indication that Glee has forced me to except more emotion and drama from
Kurt’s performances. A personal touch and loner streak that he has always shown
through the past three seasons came to ahead in that performance.
I suppose I should mention Rachel, the wannabe diva who
choked during her performance of “Rain on My Parade.” I wish I could feel bad
for her, I wish I could feel some modicum of satisfaction at watching her
failure. Maybe I am getting jaded, but I felt nothing but annoyance and a
desire for the episode to end. Especially since I am willing to make a bet she
gets in anyway after Whoopi sees her perform somewhere else. In short, I just
don’t care.
Besides Coach Bieste there was one more storyline, while it
had potential, that felt as if the writers forced it out like bad curry. Puck’s
“I may not be able to graduate” dilemma. A great idea for a three episode story
arc, but not one episode. His dad suddenly reappearing to borrow money, his
realization of wanting to be a better father to his daughter, a desire he has
expressed numerous times. This episode could have been the beginning of Puck
maturing, of him stepping away permanently from his bully past. It falls flat,
it feels ridiculous, and only cements why I hate this show. For all the enjoyment
I get out of those more-common-than-I will-admit moments, I hate it. It makes
my insides crawl and I want to pull my eardrums out through my eyes. Elements
are thrown together to pull the heart strings, but in the end nothing changes,
I expect better.
More time is spent on watching Rachel fall apart, than on
Coach Biests trying to find the courage to go forward, or Puck staring down the
barrel of a gun. In the end, the show returns to the same place. There is no
happy ending for any of them, if it does not include Rachel being on Broadway.
She is the diva of the show and a poor one at that. Shame on you writers, for
shame.
All that said, I adored Whoopi Goldberg as Carmen Tibideaux.
She had the sense of oppressive superiority and fear inspiring devotion that a
true diva should bring, while never turning into a Whitney Houston, God rest
her soul. Her lines could have been cruel or condescending, but she turned each
one into a joke thick dry humor. Her praise of Kurt and reminding him how far
he still needs to go was beautiful. While her rejection of Rachel was a kind, but
much needed reality slap. Ms. Goldberg gave her character life, far more than
any other guest star, there was behind every sentence a lifetime of experience.
It is because of her that I will return next week, no matter how begrudgingly.
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