Glee Season 4 Episode 1: The New Rachel (Premiere)
Sep 14 2012 10:38 am ET
We begin the episode with Rachel already in Dance 101 at NYADA. We had our passive/aggressive Sue-esque teacher in Cassandra July. She immediately brought Rachel down a few pegs and decided that hey, why not go for the obvious Jewish actor joke in David Schwimmer. Is that even relevant in our TV society? Professor July mentioned that two of the students in the dance class will be the only ones to actually hit Broadway.
Jacob's back as he caught up with New Directions. I have to assume that he's a senior, because he doesn't seem Brittany-dumb to get stuck for another year as a senior. Of the minor catch-up Tina broke up with Mike, which I'm sure there'll be some loose ends in the future. The show then emphasized that there was no Rachel-sized star.
Rachel lamented not having Kurt around as she tried to shower on her own at 3AM. Unfortunately the lyrics to "Sister Christian" threw her off as she stared at a gorgeous (and straight!) Brody. He reassured her that she was a great person and emphasized that she had star quality.
Kurt was on the phone with Rachel as he stopped into Sue's office and met her new daughter, Robin. He also met Kitty, our new Quinn, seemingly without as much compassion. Sue pointed out that Kurt was a "sad sack" as he mentioned the words "Community College." While I am an advocate for higher education, Kurt never seemed like the type who was focused on it. Auditions for New Directions were announced as Wade (Unique) was allowed in without auditions. Apparently if you come from a rival school and are good (like Blaine) you're just allowed in. The worry sank in as the group realized they needed a new Rachel. Tina, Brittany, Wade, and Blaine had a sing-off to "Call Me Maybe" to decide the lead with Artie judging. Why didn't Artie compete? He has the right to be the king-bee if he wanted to. The four voices together were just odd and if this is what we're going to expect from New Directions, I hope the new voices shadow them. Tina/Brittany or Tina/Wade fit the song well, but Blaine was just odd in the song. Granted, I thought his contributions to the four-part "My Favorite Things" were also equally as bad.
The Lima Bean. Brittany and Blaine were having a chat as Kurt was stuck working there. Again, it didn't really fit his character and was forced to be Kitty's bitch. Prof. July had no TA with her former becoming a monkey on Wicked. The plot really was supposed to emphasize her drinking habits. At least she knows how to use a blender.
We lightly meet Marley as the New Directions were still kinda on the "cool" side. Wade arrived as Unique as the group shot him down. Unique is really a walking hate-crime isn't he/she? Immediately, the Glee club began to succumb to the peer pressure and joke around about the lunch lady. Turns out that Marley was the daughter of the lunch lady and yeah, fat jokes hurt when it's actually your mother jokes.
An obviously drunk July tried her best to "motivate" Rachel as Rachel pointed out the fumes of Malibu coming out of her mouth. To point out how July wasn't bad we were treated to "Americano/Dance Again" and the best thing about the routine was the cinematography of the routine. Rachel was now on her "list." I'm assuming naughty four-letter S-words were attached to this list.
Kurt prepped a camera in the auditorium as we watched some bad acts like Stoner Brett and a dubstepper. We met "Just" Jake, who had a bit of a back-of-the-throat tone in his voice, but he got cut off before he got to finish. He stormed off upset.
Rachel arrived to "The round room" where Carmen Tibideaux explained that the Freshman got to sing twice. I need a round room. Even though I have no clue what I'd do with it. Maybe perform dubstep routines. Paralleling the Glee auditions, we met a girl who botched "Ave Maria." Rachel was up next as we also paralleled the story with Marley auditioning with Glee. Marley's voice has nice soulful touch especially against Rachel's Broadway-levity. Tibideaux's reaction was okay, while Schue was impressed.
Schue placed the list of who was accepted as we saw Marley make it in as Just Jake got rejected. Sadly the list only had nine members; didn't Glee club need a minimum of 12 members? Two Words: Lauren Zizes. Kurt was in the club room as Tina/Brittany/Blaine/Unique as Artie announced Blaine as the new Rachel. They also introduced Marley with a mix of indifference. Sugar knew she was poor immediately. Maybe Sugar can get her dad to donate another piano for clothing funds.
Outside of McKinley Kurt discussed with Blaine about Blaine taking the lead for New Directions. Blaine realized that Kurt was wallowing in his sorrows. Of course in wonderful Glee-world Blaine prepped the song "Time" for Kurt to understand exactly what was happening. We also learn that Blaine has a decent skill in step. In the end Kurt learned the err of his ways and gave Blaine a big hug. What? No kiss? What kind of relationship is this?
The lunch room. Brittany continued to be all "cool clique" as the Glee club made more fun of the lunch lady as Marley announced to the group that the lunch lady was her mother and stormed off.
Rachel talked to Brody as he explained that his relationship with his first girlfriend lasted six weeks. Rachel continued to feel alone the whole time in New York as she was she was evolving. The two took a picture as a representation of how she will grow and kick ass. Even though the picture didn't even look like the right angle that they took it from. The two walked to class as Rachel continued to work as hard as possible with July.
Kurt discussed with his father as they sat in their car. He had his plane tickets ready and had the right funds. At least we learned what happened to Kurt's "Bust Your Windows" car. Burt explained the whole growing and taking chances blah-blah as he claimed that New York was filled with "different" people. Burt hugged his son and sent him on a flight, holding back the tears of saying goodbye to his only (blood-related) son.
Sam talked to Marley about his poverty to parallel that everyone in New Directions has flaws; the group realized that they were being asses and group broke from the cool kids as Marley and Unique got their first slushie to the face. Mr. Schue talked to Just Jake and it turned out that Puck was his half-brother, even though Puck didn't know about it. Schue wanted to mold Jake just like Puck. Jake (just) wasn't having it. We ended the episode with the group performance to "Chasing Pavements" as Jake looked on and Rachel tried to figure out his place. Rachel was on the phone with Kurt as he surprised her.
Next Week: More jumping plotlines, which probably will get worse now that Kurt isn't holding the two universes together.
Michael Pascua - TVLatest.com
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