Glee Review: Season One
May 19, 2009 – June 8, 2010
Glee is like a trainwreck that we just cannot seem to look away from. The first season is a wonderful introduction to the show, really preparing the viewer for what the rest of the show will bring. Whether it’s slushie facials, pregnancy drama, obnoxious outfits, or Sue Sylvester’s excellence, the show will certainly keep watchers hooked. Being season one, my colleague, Emma Densford and I thought we would give you an introduction to our key characters with the exclusion of the multitude of famous guest stars:
Rachel Berry is the main character we follow through the series. She is overbearing, selfish and largely unlikable, yet everyone around her knows she is destined for stardom. Her main opposition through the start of the series is president of the Celibacy Club, Quinn Fabray, who dates the school’s quarterback Finn Hudson. Rachel likes to think her and Finn are star crossed lovers, but their love story comes to a halt when Quinn becomes pregnant with (supposedly) Finn’s baby. Noah Puckerman, Finn’s best friend, is the school’s bad boy player character (who isn’t the father to Quinn’s baby). Kurt Hummel is someone who goes on a long journey with his sexuality and appearance to the world this season. Artie Abrams, Tina Cohen-Chang, Mercedes Jones, along with Rachel, Kurt and Finn, are the first members of the Glee club, followed by Quinn, Santana and Brittney, the latter two being fellow cheerleaders (Cheerios) with Quinn. You may ask, who runs this Glee Club? None other than William Schuester. Will is too close with his underage students and quickly becomes a large part of their life whilst his marriage with Terri Scheuster is on the line. Emma Pillsbury is the school’s guidance counselor and is in a mutual emotional fling with Will. Sue Sylvester is the coach of the Cheerios and a local celebrity and she almost immediately has a bone to pick with Will and his glee club.
It’s no secret that Glee is a fairly questionable show and that they got away with a lot of things that would not be permissible today. From inappropriate teacher-student relationships to all-around awful musical performances, here’s a list of Glee’s most questionable choices:
In the very first episode of this show, Rachel accuses (correctly, but with embellishments) a teacher of touching a student inappropriately because she was not given the solo she wanted. The teacher was then fired and became a drug dealer. In the same episode, Will Schuester frames Finn for having marijuana in his locker. He continues to tell Finn that the amount found would be considered a felony, that he would be expelled and lose his fictitious football scholarship unless he were to join the glee club. Throughout the rest of the season, Quinn convinces Finn that she conceived her baby via Finn ejaculating in her hot tub, when in reality it was from having sex with his best friend. Quinn, desperate to find a solution to her pregnancy problem, offers to give her baby to Will’s wife Terri, who is lying to Will and claiming to be pregnant. Thankfully, Terri’s lie is discovered before this can happen. Rachel Berry at one point gives another student a used pair of underwear because he threatened to write an article in the school paper publicizing Quinn’s pregnancy. Will invites his high school crush to perform for the club and she sleeps with one of the members and offers them all alcohol. One of the members of the club, Brittany, has a plotline in which she dates a 7-year-old boy. She also once asks for Santa to make her disabled, wheelchair-bound boyfriend walk for Christmas.
Being 22 episodes, season one has some of our favorite performances in the series, as well as some of the most memorable, awful performances:
Incredible:
Hello – Rachel Berry, Jesse St. James
Bohemian Rhapsody – Jesse St. James
Like A Virgin – William Schuester, Emma Pillsbury, Santana Lopez, Finn Hudson, Jesse St. James, Rachel Berry
Keep Holding On – Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson
Maybe This Time – Rachel Berry, April Rhodes
How was this approved?:
(You’re) Having My Baby – Finn Hudson
Thong Song – William Schuester
Papa Don’t Preach – Quinn Fabray
Push It – Finn Hudson, Rachel Berry
Ice, Ice, Baby – William Schuester
That’s what you missed from Season One of Glee.
