Glee - Episode 2.02 - Britney/Brittany - Recap

I'm going to review this episode the same way my boss gives me performance reviews:  You know you're great, but here's the slew of problems.  Glee is an amazing show.  Ryan Murphy has got every kind of talent at his fingertips, so here's the question: why is it not better than great?

Let me start with the pluses.  Heather Morris is amazing.  And anyone who watches Glee tends to grab on to any one-liners that she delivers with vigor.  Not only can she deliver a great line, i.e. "I thought Dr. Pepper was a dentist," but she can dance and sing.  Triple threat.  I'd argue that Brittany's "Britney" was better than the original.  Well, at the very least, an insanely good imitation.

Next.  Lea Michele's version of "Baby, One More Time," was spot on, including the tongue-out-of-the-mouth lip-syncing that Spears has been doing since her very first video.  Facial expressions, dance moves, perfection.  Only notable difference was how high the key was that Michele started in.  No matter.

Also a plus was the addition of John Stamos, who continues to make girls swoon.  I'm still going to call him Uncle Jesse.  He can't get rid of it.  Artie's "Stronger" also worked for me.  And "Toxic" was great too.  I wanted one more group song at the end instead of what we got. 

Now onto the elements of this Britney episode that didn't work for me.

1.  If Britney Spears is to grace a show about music and dancing with her presence, why are we not allowing her to sing and dance?

2.  The Jew-fro guy was creepy and a complete time waster.  Why would Ryan Murphy spend time on him when he has ten other better characters to choose from?

3.  Since when is Will uptight?  Never have we seen Will being too uptight until this episode.  He's the cool teacher, the one who raps with his kids.  Continuity, people! 

4.  Where's first season Rachel?  Because this season, her annoying qualities have gone from endearing to completely unlikable in only two episodes.  And I want to like her!  She's my favorite!  But not if she continues to manipulate and cry during every single one of her solos.

5.  The last song seemed to just be crammed in.  Why can't someone else sing the last song?  Like Kurt who was dying to sing Britney Spears the whole time!  I can think of about ten Britney songs that he would have made his own in a fabulous Kurt way.

Anyway, I will be re-watching the dance sequences and the episode for Brittany's lines, but could they have done even better than what they did?  I vote yes.