I watched Glee from the start. I watched a strong yet uneven first season. I stuck with it through its struggling second and even through most of its underperforming third. Along the way, the pattern of Glee had been revealed to us all. It gets ridiculous and hilariously campy--sometimes in a great way...but usually in a grating way--with overly produced pop songs, dance numbers, and sporadic theme episodes. But more often then not, it took the show a few too many steps too far. They would take it to the extreme, going off the rails in zaniness, character inconsistency, and jumbled plot lines. The majority of episodes were examples of writers biting off more then they could chew: telling too many stories at once while desperately trying to remain funny, fresh, and quirky. Even the breakout stars of Sue Sylvester and Brittany became tired caricatures.
However, among the jumbled mess of pop songs, wasted talent, and airborne slushies, Glee would turn out a couple of impressive performances, thrilling dance numbers, realistic story lines, and moments of such perfect poignant emotion that they brought tears to my eyes. And whenever an episode like that came along, it restored my faith in the show and its talented cast. It kept me watching through the grating nonsense because every now and then, it promised greatness. I could rattle off a list of performances I loved and regularly rewatched (from "Defying Gravity" to "Teenage Dream" and back). And I absolutely admire how the show has portrayed bullying, homophobia, physical and mental disabilities, unconventional beauty, teen pregnancy, and underprivileged youth. However, those moments were becoming few, flat, and flaccid as the seasons continued...and I was slowly getting too fed up to care.
Then, in the third season there was one particular episode that was the final straw for me. It started with a suicide attempt (a promising hint of raw emotion that Glee has presented so well in the past) but then quickly moved on to engagements, then regionals, and finally an absurd texting-and-driving cliffhanger. All within the same installment. Separate things that entire episodes once revolved around were all thrown together in cacophonous hour of television. And I realized that for three years, through all the awfulness, I was still defending this show, saying how good and sweet and heartfelt it could be. I was like a battered spouse defending her choices. But after that atrocious episode, I just couldn't take the abuse any longer. I swore off the show. I knew in the back of my mind that the things I once loved about Glee were likely to turn up. And it pained me to cut ties. But as weeks passed and the season wrapped up, I didn't miss it. At all. And I took comfort knowing that trusted sources would let me know when it was worth turning in for that one-off episode of promise.
And it just so happens that the fourth season's fourth episode was one of those times.
"The Break-Up" delivered on everything Glee has ever promised its audience. It perfectly captures growing up, leaving high school, disillusionment with life and relationships, betrayal, letting go, aimlessness, maturity, and heartbreak all with a restrained rawness that has been absent from the show for so long. All of this was paired with near perfect musical numbers (including an incredible, stripped down "Teenage Dream" reprise that in context shredded my heart to pieces). Acting skills have been honed and characters we followed for four seasons were given time to shine and sort through the experience of adolescent transition. A reason Glee can be great is its unique ability to capture certain growing pains that many other teen shows neglect. And "The Break-Up" offered them all, letting us focus and reflect without trying to juggle three other nonsense plot lines. Its an example of the show taking a time to pause, stretch, and flex before continuing forward.
Even though Glee loved living up to its name in being over-the-top-smiley™ in a cringy manic fashion, there has always been a darker tone to it. An inherent sadness that I frankly believe, when embraced, were the times the show has been its best. I accepted a long time ago (long before I stopped watching) that these moments are rare. I am by no means going to fall for the same old trick by tuning in weekly in hopes of glimpsing it again. But I'm not any less relieved and gleeful that they can still bring it on. This is what the show has always been. And for any casual viewer or hater, I highly recommend giving "The Break-Up" a go. It's a great hour of television and hits all the right notes in all the ways a great pop-song does. So watch it, maybe.
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