Review: "Glee" Season 4 Very Glee Top 10.

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What's up Honest Gleeks, it is time for yet another review of Glee.


Wait, Glee is over for the season.

WHAT IS ANOTHER REVIEW DOING HERE!?

Because it is time to review the top ten songs from season four.
I hope everyone out there in the honest community is ready, because it is time for a countdown.


Number 10. Teenage Dream (Acoustic) by Katy Perry sung by Blaine from episode 4 The Break Up

Blaine (Darren Criss) visit Rachael (Lea Michelle) and Kurt (Chris Colfer) in New York. At a karaoke bar he sings a saddened version of the song that leads to a walk in the park where Blaine admits to cheating on Kurt ending the match made in obvious heaven between the gay couple.
A blessing because it adds conflict to a couple that is far too obvious. The only two homosexual main characters being together and so utterly, hopelessly in love was too easy for the writers to do. The only thing to do was create a season long plot of Blaine trying to get back together with Kurt including them hooking up several times and ending with the cliffhanger of Blaine holding an engagement ring behind him as the team wins at regionals.


Number 9. Heroes by Davie Bowie sung by Blaine and Sam from episode 7 Dynamic Duos

This song earns brownie points with me for being a surprisingly awesome song sung during a rather pointless episode with no reason behind it at all other than to have a superhero themed episode because superheroes are everywhere. This is one of the songs that made plot wise sense for Sam (Chord Overstreet) and Blaine to become best friends. Mostly because they sing awesome together. Oh yeah, Blaine had developed a crush on Sam.


Number 8. Locked out of Heaven by Bruno Mars sung by Marley, Unique, Tina, Sugar, and Brittany from episode 11 Sadie-Hawkins

I love gender bender covers and I love this song. One of my favorite songs sung by Marley (Melissa Benoist) that really shows this new girl can sing. Very little plot relevance to this song other than it is awesome. I do kind of wish they would of turned this into a more meaningful romance moment song but what can you do, this was just good music to me.


Number 7. Never Say Never by The Fray sung by Jake from episode 1 The New Rachael

Holy hot stuff. Wait hold on that is not my line. We meet Puck's little brother Jake (Jacob Artist). This guy can sing. But this guy is not the new Puck. He is much closer to the new Finn rather than Jake. He is really good at singing, especially at singing my favorite Fray song. It is really too bad they did not let him finish. Although, if they did I suppose we would not have seen Jake has some anger issues to work out. Which he does in like three episodes. But regardless it makes the cut despite being cut off.


Number 6. Hall of Fame by the Script (Feat. Will I. Am) sung by Jake, Ryder, Sam, Joe, and Artie from episode 22 All or Nothing

Spoiler warning. New Directions kick ass. The team opens with Hall of Fame almost as a way to rub it in everyone's face that as long as Marley didn't pass out again that The New Directions would win at regionals. I still wish they would of lost but we can't always get what we want. The new cast combining with the old cast may just win at nationals come season five. Let's hope they make it to the Hall of Fame again.


Number 5. Bye Bye Bye/I Want it that Way by N'Sync/The Backstreet Boys sung by Finn and Will sung episode 16 Feud.

Why didn't they do this in the 90's? Will (Matthew Morrison) totally wins this battle but it still blew me away. As a shameless fan of both bands I am glad they did what I was thinking. The choreography was spot on using the strings everyone thinks about when Bye Bye Bye comes on. This whole scene was made possible by Finn (Cory Monteith) having a lapse in judgment several episodes ago kissing Emma and possibly ruining Will's wedding. It is a little surprising that the two ever make up at all. Oh they haven't really yet because Finn's actor went into rehab toward directing the last episodes. Maybe next season!


Number 4. The Longest Time by Billy Joel sung by Artie, Kitty, Sam, Marley, Ryder, and Jake from episode 20 Lights Out.

I waited the longest time for Glee to cover The Longest Time. Man I sure do love bad puns. A fun episode, Lights out was all about acoustic performances. The cast sings with minimal assistance singing Billy Joel's song. This is another song that shows the newcomers of The New Directions know what they are doing. A lot of shows try to replace the old characters with similar ones as the cast grows up and parts, but Glee subtly did it. Some characters are quite obvious about who they are replacing but they obviously make it so that the characters are really their own beings.
Phew. Almost done. Number 3. Creep by Radiohead sung by Rachael and Brody from episode 17 Guilty Pleasures.

Rachael and Brody's goodbye song. Rachael's boyfriend for the season Brody (Dean Geyer) has had a secret this whole season. He is a jiggalo in order to pay for his college tuition at NYADA. He has been hiding it from everyone, sleeping with old rich women for cash. Probably not a bad job except for all the STDs and wrinkles and the fact that he is cheating on Lea Michelle. Dude is tripping stupid. Ignoring all that, this song has the two sing a duet about how their relationship ended terribly, but if they both put more into it something truly special could have come out of it.


Number 2. Your Song by Elton John sung by Ryder from episode 18 Shooting Star.

This whole scene is adorable. It is really too bad it ended so badly. Ryder (Blake Jenner) sings this song to confess his love to the girl he thinks is the girl he has been talking to online. Totally embarrassing when he finds out is is not her. It drags on a half season long plot (at least it felt that way to me) about us finding out who is Ryder's secret admirer. We find out several episodes later that it is Wade AKA Unique (Alex Newell) the boy who wants to be a girl singer of The New Directions is the one who has had feelings from Ryder the whole time. Despite it being the only obvious choice I really wish they did not go this route with it. I think they damaged up having Ryder get with someone who fits his character more like Kitty or Marley for example trying to create this plotline.
The last one. And it is a good one. Although probably obvious.


Number 1. Don't Stop Believing by Journey sung by Rachael from episode 19 Sweet Dreams.

Holy gleek nostalgia Batman. Rachael sings Don't Stop Believing for the third time in Glee's incarnation for her first audition on broadway. It motivates her to continue on. I love how they use similar scenes to the first episode when they first did the song, with the original members singing behind her. Finn had one last awesome scene before his actor went into rehab. Telling Rachael to do this song.


My top ten songs for Glee season 4. Hope you enjoy out there Honest readers. I sure did. Until season 5, remember to be yourself and blast loud music.

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Review: "Glee; Wonder-Ful" (S. 4/ Ep. 21 2013) "Wonderful To Who?"

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By: Jeff Lake

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Hello out there Honest Gleeks! The world of Glee paid tribute to Stevie Wonder in this week's episode of Glee titled accurately “Wonder-ful.”


Which is honestly not how the episode actually was. Ryder's secret crush plot has taken a backseat again until the final episode of the season. Past characters return who do not normally return. Some of the better singers in the show sing some of their worst songs ever this time around.


But this episode did have some shining moments that I really liked.


The episode begins with Rachael (Lea Michelle) calling Glee teacher William Shuester (Michael Morrison) to tell her that she got called back audition for the Broadway revival of her favorite Broadway performance once played before her idol: Barbara Streisand. Will takes the wonderful news and turns it into the club's final lesson before this season's regionals (which to note next week's episode is the season finale and they have not reached nationals, implying that our favorite glee club is going to lose).

Some weird character development occurs between Artie (Kevin McHale) and Kitty (Becca Tobin). Kitty notices that Artie has been depressed this week and notes that Artie was jaw dropped at how hot Kitty is after a performance several episodes ago. Artie tells Kitty that he has been accepted into film school in New York, but cannot go because his mother would be loss without him. He asks her not to tell anyone, which she completely ignores later in the episode, because seriously it is Glee. No one can keep a secret.


Kurt (Chris Colfer) returns to McKinley to be with his father, Burt (Mike O'Malley), when they find out if his father's cancer has gone away. He is a nervous wreck and has picked up some strange habits that only the Glee writers could possibly think of. Mercedes (Amber Riley) and Mike (Harry Shum Jr.) also return, Mercedes to help film her music video and Mike to help teach the Glee club some new dance moves. Mercedes returning is always awesome because she was such a strong character and singer of the old club, but Mike was a mostly boring character, who's only appealing point really is his dance moves.

Kitty sings Signed, Sealed, and Delivered with help from Ryder (Blake Jenner) and Jake (Jacob Artist) to throw Artey very much off. She then announces to the club the exact secret he did not want her to tell as he rolls out of the room.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3fX-wxQ5K
(Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours sung by Kitty)
Mercedes and Marley (Melissa Benoist) sing Superstitious with the rest of the Glee club as a way to help train Marley's voice. This scene was a great way of kind of passing the torch from Mercedes to Marley. However, Marley definitely has a long way to go despite how beautiful her voice can be. Mercedes and Rachael she is not.

(Superstitious sung by the cast as a way to practice for regionals)
Kurt and his family get some much needed happy news. Burt does not have cancer, promoting Kurt to invite his dad to the choir room in order to sing him a song that Burt sung to him when he was much younger. Unfortunately, Kurt's normally amazing voice sounds awful here. This was not a good song for him despite the moment intended to be sweet. Burt seemed extremely awkward in this scene, whether it was because he was a dad who had no idea what to do or they filmed the scene too quickly and he had no idea what to do.

(Sunshine of My Life sung by Kurt. I really think you can skip over this performance entirely)
Mercedes and Mike push Jake to take up a leadership role in the club. Jake is an awesome singer and equally awesome dancer which is exactly what the club needs. Jake questions what he can do because he is only a sophomore, but that is really the reason why he should take up a leadership role. He is that good and he is only a sophomore. Mike backs up Jake with some dance moves, as the two dance together while Jake sings I Wish.

(A dance-a-thon as Jake and Mike cover I Wish)
Throughout the episode Rachael was being harassed by a flamboyant pair of NYADA students who have been picking on her for their last couple of appearances. Rachael's dance teacher Cassandra July (guest star Kate Hudson), burns Rachael a little putting even more pressure on her. She sets up her midterm to be at six in the morning, which just turns into her and the rest of her dance students singing Uptight (Everything's Alright) in honor of her having such a big moment such as a callback audition for Broadway.

(Another dance-a-thon but by Cassandra, as she and her students sing Uptight (Everything's Alright) )
Afterwards, Rachael buys Cassandra a new cane and thanks her for torturing her throughout the year in order to improve her skills. Cassandra admits to Rachael she was only so hard on her because she saw something special in Rachael.


Artie arrives home to find Kitty talking to his mom played by Katey Sagal. Kitty tells his mom what Artie told her then leaves. His mom and him have a nice little heart to heart when he tells her how scared he is to go to New York because it is not “wheelchair accessible.” His mom tells him not to worry and that he should follow his dreams, that he will do just fine in New York without her help. She also tells him if he ever refers to her as an old hag to anyone else that she will flip him over.
Best. Mom. Ever.


Artie sings a mostly solo performance of For Once in My Life. During the scene Kitty and Artie share a quick moment of eye staring, with Artie mouthing her thank you which Kitty smiles and nods too. Some strange chemistry there, seriously. I can totally see Artty being a Glee couple, if only Artie was not leaving for New York come next season.

(For Once in My Life performed by Artie and The New Directions to close the episode)


Our Honest View gives Glee; Wonder-Ful S. 4/ Ep. 21 a 7.25/10. I don't want to call the episode completely average but I cannot bring myself to give it a 7.5. It was missing something despite having a lot of performances and character development. Oh right, it was missing good performances. Hopefully next week when the New Directions go All or Nothing at regionals they may just make into the Hall of Fame (unfortunately not...)

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Review: "Glee; Lights Out" (S. 4/ Ep. 20 2013) "Who Forgot To Pay The Electric Bill?"

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By: Jeff Lake

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Good day Honest Gleeks! It is time to turn up the power as the power went out on this episode of Glee, titled accurately Lights Out.



The episode begins with Will (Matthew Morrison) explaining that one of the rival schools' have been hiding a secret weapon and that McKinley's Glee club will have to bigger than their secret weapon to be able to beat them. About to begin a theme of epic songs, the power shuts down changing the theme and lesson of the week to unplugged. I love acoustic, unplugged, and raw emotion performances so this episode gave me high hopes at the beginning without disappointing.


To help with the power outage everyone in the school is given out flashlights so that classes are not canceled. Ryder's (Blake Jenner) crush plot continues through the darkened halls. Jake (Jacob Artist) questions why Ryder is still pursuing this girl after she has lied and stood him up several times now. Ryder hints to Jake that he told her something that he has not told anyone, something deeper than Ryder's dyslexia. Jake leaves Ryder to think after telling him he should consider opening up to the people who actually exist in his life.

The first performance of this song filled episode of Glee. Sam (Chord Overstreet) opens up a little explaining why he chose the song while sticking to his silly roots, but in summary: Sam kills this song. Ryder plays back up vocals to the song as the two cover You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, while Artie texts constantly to Sam's eventual dismay. Artie (Kevin McHale) takes his turn up to the stage but cannot bring himself to perform without the power or instruments behind him, slamming his head on the piano. Sam explodes on Artie and the rest of the club as how Sam's family being poor has always had to find ways to entertain his siblings and himself without power.

(You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, by The Righteous Brothers covered by Sam and Ryder)


Ryder covers Everybody Hurts by REM in honor of all the pain everyone has felt. This song was not done acoustically, but as the concept to unplug his feelings. Not sure if this was done intentionally but Ryder was apart of a performance of this song on the last season of The Glee Project. After dumping his feelings out in the song he tells his classmates what happened to him. He was molested by his female babysitter when he was younger, as some of the guys in the class think he was extremely lucky, the girls and Mr. Shuester stand by his distress.

(Everybody Hurts by REM covered by Ryder.)


I love when older characters get some character development. Artie has a brain blast as he finds a way to apologize to Sam. If they did a performance without instruments, but with buckets, trash, bottles, anything that is not an actual instrument. This is followed by the cast covering Queen's We Will Rock You which I found to be done amazingly.

 I know I am one of the rare few to find Glee's covers of Queen songs to be a nice change to the songs that are still overplayed on the radio. You can't top Queen but Glee covers do change up the song in a good way.

(The entire club covers We Will Rock You by Queen without any actual instruments.


Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) is back!

Kind of.

 She is now a personal trainer at 23 Hour Fitness where she intends on making housewives cry. Blaine (Darren Criss) admits to her that he only rejoined the Cheerios to destroy her, yet he does have something else to tell her. The Cheerios really need her, they are falling apart without her. Sue watches the Cheerios practice from afar while her and Becky have a talk about how horrible the new coach is to her. Sue tries to play it off strongly, but it is obvious she is going to cave and try to come back to coaching.

 Sue sings a cover of Little Girls from Annie which Jane Lynch will be starring in this summer on Broadway. A nice little cross advertising done by Glee which I thought was really cool.

(Jane Lynch has a rare moment to sing on Glee as she covers Little Girls from Annie.)


More old character development. In New York Santana (Naya Rivera), Kurt (Chris Colfer), and Rachael (Lea Michelle) work on a huge ballet performance with guest star Sarah Jessica Parker (seriously, I cannot see her as her character at all. I just see Sarah Jessica Parker. Not a good thing by the way). Santana admits to having wanted to be a ballerina, like all little girls (and Kurt) did when they were younger, softening her tough lesbian girl demeanor. The four of them cover At the Ballet from the musical The Chorus Line.

(The four sing At the Ballet)


The power returns to the halls. The kids all cheer. Becky is brought to the principal's office after getting in trouble with the new coach. She tells him that she had to get in trouble because she needed to talk to him about something. The scene ends here without us finding out what actually happened. Hopefully Sue will really be back.


Kitty opens up to Ryder after asking him out to dinner. She admits to him that she was also molested and that she understands what he went through. The bitch aura around Kitty is dropped completely from her which I thought was awesome. Kitty was too much like Quinn before her and I am glad to see differences between them now. After this scene Ryder is shown at the computer again talking to the unknown Katie. The two of them agree that this weird relationship they have works for them. After Katie goes offline for a few moments, Kitty shows up asking Ryder out again to which he declines. Ryder tells her that maybe after the Katie thing is figured out that Kitty and him can go out. To which she declines. The bitch aura goes back up due to Ryder's way of going about this. Perhaps I spoke too soon about Kitty's personality change.


With the power back on, the episode ends with one last song. Will tells them to sing one last song completely A cappella. The club sings a song I have been dying to hear them cover, The Longest Time originally sung by Billy Joel ending the episode.

(The Longest Time by Billy Joel closes the episode.)


Our Honest View gives, Glee; Lights Out S. 4/Ep. 20 a 8.0 out of 10.Plot and character development galore followed by tons of good music. The season is almost over, unfortunately hinting at how the season finale is going to go, but hopefully this journey will be worth the obvious ending that is coming. Hopefully the few hanging plot points like Ryder's crush will be revealed before the season is over. Until next week Gleeks, stay Wonder-ful.


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