(NOTE – This was originally posted on my Tumblr on 10/5/12… I’m reposting it here because of reasons…)
It was a good episode in that it will launch us into somewhat uncharted territory for a couple of the showās main couples.
It was a good episode in that ALL of the songs were great. Excellent song selection, powerful performances, very very well produced tracks.
It was a weird episode in that there were some odd editing choices that drew me out of the scene so much that I audibly complained at the television.
It was a weird episode in that there were some plot lines (*cough* Klaine) that lacked exposition and closure, leaving me sincerely hoping that after the hiatus ends, some questions will be answered.
So as not to clog your dash, my Glee-cap for 4×4 āThe Break Upā is under the cut.
So⦠yeah.
Instead of going through the whole episode from start to finish, Iām going to break this mess down via the couples who were involved starting with my least favorite and ending with Klaine (where I will obviously have the most opinions because they are my āship).
Jarley
Thankfully these kids (theyāre sophomoresā¦) didnāt have a song this week or a whole lot of plot. The show opened with Marley sitting at the lunch table and shoving her lunch tickets into her pocket. Jake confronts her about it, only to reveal that he uses them too. We get it ā theyāre poor and probably perfect for each other. But Jakeās still with Kitty. And sheās cray cray. Kittyās plot line in this episode is she is in charge of a āLeft Behindā club (which, as much as I dislike her, this plot line of being left behind is present throughout the entire episodeā¦). She goes so far as to hold a meeting at Breadstix and stage a fake Rapture, causing an unsuspecting Asian girl to yell āWEāVE BEEN LEFT BEHIND!āĀ Ā What a cruel joke. Marley leaves, telling Jake that she canāt believe he likes Kitty. Later, Jake breaks up with Kitty right in front of Marley⦠but then Marley immediately asks him to go over sheet music for the Grease auditions. Too soon there, girly. Give him at least an episode before you try and cuddle up to him.
Wemma
Ugh. No1currs.
Thankfully we donāt get too much of them either. But, I will say their one scene was pretty serious stuff. Remember last week when Will applied to be on that Blue Ribbon Panel for the Arts? Well, he got the spot and is supposed to be in DC for a few months⦠and he expects Emma to just drop everything and go with him (they are engaged, remember?). She puts her foot down and says sheās not some puppy that will just follow him around. She likes her job and wants to stay put while he is gone. Heās not happy with this. They fight, but donāt break up. Thereās just some disagreement thatāll likely get worked out (or not?) in the coming episodes.
But again, No1currs.
They sing during āThe Scientist,ā but as they are both lit the whole time, they are obviously still together.
Finchel
I was surprised ā I liked Rachel for a few minutes during this episode. That hasnāt happened since, like, Season 1.
At the end of the last episode, Finn showed up at Rachel/Kurtās apartment (while Rachel was in the middle of a dinner date with Brody⦠awkward). Rachel hadnāt heard from Finn in months, and then there he was.
Kurtās in the kitchen making eggs when Rachel exits her bed area. He muses that heās glad he has ear plugs because he didnāt want to hear them having sex, but Rachel reveals that they didnāt sleep together⦠they didnāt even talk at all.
When Finn finally does come out (he calls Kurt ālittle broā ā aw!), he says heās not in the army anymore. He was for 16 days, but then shot himself while cleaning his gun (which he named after Rachel ā oy). He got a semi-honorable discharge. I donāt even know if that is a legit thing, but I do know that they had to write Finn out of the army because there was no way he was going to last there.
Rachel decides for him that heāll accompany her to her NYADA classes in hopes that heāll enjoy them and maybe audition/enroll there later in the year so that way they can be together. He goes to her class and realizes he doesnāt fit in there, or really with Rachel anymore. (Finn sings āBarely Breathingā in a duet with Blaine during this scene⦠Blaineās half of this song will be discussed at length in the Klaine section.)
Finn gets coerced into going to the piano bar āCallbacksā with Rachel, Kurt and Blaine (who is now in NYC at this point in the episode, visiting Kurt 2 weeks before he was supposed to). Rachel wants Finn to duet on āGive Your Heart a Breakā with her, but he declines and says Brody should sing it with her. So, he sits and stews while he watches his girlfriend and the guy who obviously likes her sing a romanticish duet. Awkward. (Side note ā I was excited for this song, as jāadore the Demi Lovato version, but this ended up being my least favorite song of the episode. Sadness.)
To be honest, I donāt really know what happened with Finn and Rachel in the park because I was too invested in the Klaine story line to care about Finchel. (The super ironic thing here is I was on set when they filmed this scene⦠and even though Finchel was happening 20 feet in front of me, my attention was 100% on Klaine, who were farther away. Like, my friends and I didnāt even realize Finchel was happening until a few takes in because we were looking at Darren and Chris the whole time.)
Regardless, something obviously went down in the park, as Finchel provided half of the heartbreaking version of āDonāt Speak.ā Both couples were in conflict and went to bed upset. (There were a bunch of weird shots of various Finchel and Klaine members crying in bed. It was too stylized and made the scene more music video-y than it should have been. They didnāt need to add any drama to what was already unfolding in the story.)
The next morning, Finn snuck out before Rachel got up. Well, he didnāt sneak out, as Kurt stopped him before he left (Kurt was waiting for Blaine, but Finn came out into the main area of the apartment first instead.). They had a decent Furt scene⦠Finn asks if Kurt is okay and Kurt replies āI kinda feel like Iām gonna die.ā They both are concerned about each otherās relationship woes, which is nice. They give each other a big hug before Finn leaves. I like them as brothers and am glad for scenes like this where they do relate on that familial level. They are opposites, but complement each other nicely. Kurt asks Finn if he wants him to say something to Rachel, but Finn says no.
Finn goes back to Lima and visits Mr. Schue (ugh). They man hug, then Finn asks if he can talk to Schue about something, then they man hug again. Finn then ends up in the choir room, where he is approached by Blaine (Blaine is surprised to see him there⦠Iāll discuss their encounter in the Klaine section.). Other kids eventually come into the room and High-5 Finn while Marley and Jake are like āWho the heck is that?ā OH, YOUTH.
Finn sticks around for the glee meeting (Mr. Schue says āYouāre always welcome, even if you need to take a break and think things through.ā). Needless to say, Finn will likely be hanging around the New Directions for awhile. Heās the one who suggests the school musical (Grease) and the promo for upcoming episodes indicate that Finn will direct the show. (But what about Artie?!)
Toward the end of the episode, Finn is on stage in the auditorium doing something with sheet music. Rachel walks out on stage and muses how thatās where they first kissed, where he proposed to her, where they first met. She calls it their Jerusalem (thatās taking it too far, in my opinion, but I guess the writers had to remind us sheās Jewish. They obviously forgot she was a vegan ā they had her cook duck last episode and offer to make eggs this episode ā so theyāre hanging on to her Jewish roots for dear life, I guess.).
Then, Rachel is awesome for a couple minutes. She totally calls Finn out for not telling her where heās been or what he was doing the past few months. She tells him she got on a plane and looked around trying to find him. She recalls what he did for her at the end of last season (putting her on that train) and told him that he was a man then, but not now. Rachel exclaims that she is a grown woman (her tone would imply that, as would her recent wardrobe upgrade, but a real woman wouldnāt keep cockblocking Klaine⦠#justsayin). Finn admits heās jealous of Brody. Rachel tells him Brody doesnāt mean anything and that Finn was the first one who made her feel, and heās her first love and she wants him to be her last. BUT, she canāt take it anymore āat least not now. Weāre done.ā (Oh snap, Finn Hudson, you got served.) Finn is stunned and asks what is he supposed to do with his life now ā heās got no girl, no job, nothing. They kiss and then Finn leads off a group number of āThe Scientist.ā I donāt like Coldplay, but this performance was powerful (Finchel, Klaine, Britana and Wemma all sing and itās staged/lit well. Damn.).
Brittana
Brittany and Blaine wax about young love, hope and romance near the beginning of the episode and wonder where that went.
A little later we see Brittany and Santana folding a shit-ton of laundry. Turns out, Santana comes back to Lima to do her laundry every few weeks so she can spend time with Brittany. I was thankful when Santana bitched about Kurtās internship (PREACH, GIRL) and how unlikely it all was that he landed that position how he did. Brit keeps yawning during this scene because sheās been staying up late to read the āLeft Behindā series (sheās in Kittyās group). Santana wonders why Brit reads those books⦠turns out itās because she feels left behind. (Not in the spiritual sense⦠but with her girlfriend being away in college⦠well, Brit, if you did better in school, you would have graduated too #justsayin).
Later, in the choir room, Brit meets up with Santana. Santana sings a GORGEOUS rendition of Taylor Swiftās āMineā and I am moved (and wonder where my floppy haired band guy is this season? Have you seen him???). She then admits that she hasnāt been a good girlfriend. They boy say they havenāt cheated on each other, but she tells Brittany that she had an āenergy exchangeā with another girl. (They smiled at each other and Santana felt something.) So, Britana doesnāt break up, but they kind of do. They do the mature thing and split up because of distance. They shared a sad kiss and then sang later during āThe Scientistā too.
I never really shipped them, but I didnāt not like them either. I think their relationship started off as something of convenience to appeal to slash shippers, but eventually turned into something beautiful. I donāt know if theyāre a forever couple, but this break up was mature and heartfelt.
Klaine
Sigh
Like, I knew most of what was coming, but was still shocked in places nonetheless.
Kurt is at his desk with his little headset on and he calls Blaine. They barely get two words in before Kurtās phone is ringing off the hook. Blaine tells Kurt he misses him. Misses hugging him. Misses messing around with him. Kurt says that heāll see him in two weeks, and that he hates to miss their phone dates, but his position at Vogue.com could be a career for him. As true as that is, you can tell from Blaineās facial expressions/body language that he is upset with being second fiddle to his boyfriendās internship (we saw this last episode too). Kurtās phone keeps ringing and he muses that the person on the line is a colleague with good gossip. Thatās doesnāt make Blaine feel any better about the situation. Nor does Kurt hanging up on him before he can even squeeze in his āI love you.ā
After the phone call, Blaine launches into āBarely Breathingā (the aforementioned duet with Finn). Blaine sings in the hall, then alone in the auditorium stage. There he conjures up an image of Kurt⦠itās the present Kurt (you can tell by the hair), but heās wearing the same outfit that he wore when he went to spy on the Warblers during āNever Been Kissed.ā This is symbolic because even though they are almost 2 years into knowing each other, Blaineās first memories/vision of Kurt is still very present when he thinks of his boyfriend. Later, we see Blaine sitting alone in the choir room, scrolling through Facebook on his phone (as we all doā¦). We see him āPokeā someone named Eli C. and then said Eli C. sends Blaine two messages⦠one calling him sexy, and the other asking if Blaine wants to come over. You can tell Blaine is a bit flattered, then thinks for a minute, then he walks out the door. We know heās frustrated with Kurt, but apparently heās frustrated enough to receive attention from an outside source.
While this broke my heart in half, this makes sense. Blaine is almost always seeking approval or attention from someone. He wanted approval from his brother during their acting lesson in āBig Brother.ā He wanted approval from Artie after a group of them sang āCall Me Maybe.ā He wanted approval from Kurt all the time⦠in āOriginal Songā after singing āMisery,ā After his West Side Story performance (the whole āIām so proud to be with you.ā āI want you to be.ā dialogue). When he sang āCough Syrupā in āOn My Way.ā Etcā¦Ā Ā He wanted attention from Kurt last episode when he was trying to ask about what tie he should wear for his debate. He wanted attention from Kurt when he called to tell him the election results but Kurt didnāt pick up.
So, when Kurt hangs up on him this episode, Blaine is pretty fed up with it. So, when this Eli person shows Blaine some attention, Blaine goes for it. (The extent of which we will not find out this episode, sadly.)
However, as frustrated as Blaine is with Kurt, he still shows up two weeks ahead of time to New York City and knocks on his boyfriendās door, armed with a giant bouquet of roses. Kurt is genuinely surprised and happy to see his boyfriend. They hug, then kiss, only to be cockblocked by Rachel. (Jesus, Rachel, we get to see you kiss Finn and Puck and Jesse and Blaine and Brody all the frigginā time⦠this was only our 5thĀ Klaine kiss and you interrupted it! WTF?)
So, Finchel and Klaine go to Callbacks. When Rachel is done singing, she tells Kurt he should sing his Sweeney Todd medley, but he declines, saying he didnāt want to make Page 6⦠Vogue.com intern sings without warming up. (JFC, Kurt, get over yourself. Itās just an internship.) Blaine, who has been squirming in his seat, says he wants to sing.
He gets to the piano and introduces the song as a special song he sang the first day he met the love of his life. He then launches into the most heartbreaking rendition of āTeenage Dreamā Iāve ever heard. (Now, this is saying something because I have almost 40 versions of Darren singing this song at various concerts/events/whatnot on my computerā¦)
I am beyond grateful that they let Darren sing this song again, play/sing his own arrangement and perform it live. As Blaine, he managed to run the entire gamut of emotions while performing and it was painful to watch in the best way possible. The way this scene was shot lent itself to being half Blaine/half Darren (all the medium shots and close ups of his whole face from the front were Blaine and all the side close ups were Darren⦠and then there was a HORRIBLE cut to Blaineās back at one point in the song. That was one of the worst edits I have ever seen in my entire life. It completely took me out of the moment, which sucked. But I digressā¦). All the Darren stuff reminded me of Market Days. All the Blaine stuff made my heart hurt. He was singing the song for Kurt⦠but he was singing of their present and past relationship as well as reliving whatever did (or did not) happen with Eli. Regret and anguish was written all over that kidās face. I wonder if he chose to speed up the lyrics toward the end of the song just so he could be done with it ā stop singing the words that both meant everything and EVERYTHING to him. The song was meant to remind him of him and Kurt, but it brought up some feels about him and Eli. It was like he was singing to forget, but in turn ended up making it worse for himself. He was filled with guilt and when his voice cracked, by heart broke some more. I wanted to hug him, but at the same time, I was frustrated because the audience knows he did something with someone who wasnāt Kurt, but Kurt didnāt know that⦠yet.
Then came the park sequence. (When we saw this being filmed back in August, we couldnāt hear the dialogue, only saw body language and a lot of tears. So watching the show tonight, everything made sense. I read somewhere that Darren didnāt get as much time as he hoped to prepare the scene, which is horrible because while he did well with the material, one can only imagine how much more out of the park he would have knocked those emotions.)
As Klaine walked, Kurt asked Blaine why he was acting the way he was. Kurt asked him to not pretend like nothing was going on. And then Blaine admitted that he was with someone. Kurt wanted to know who with (he immediately assumed Sebastian) and Blaine said that didnāt matter because it was just hookup that didnāt mean anything. Blaine almost blamed Kurt for the indiscretion because Kurt wasnāt there⦠Blaine was by himself and he needed Kurt and Kurt wasnāt there and he was lonely. He apologized, but Kurt wouldnāt hear it. Kurt became upset (and rightly so) and then told Blaine that he had been tempted too, but he didnāt do anything about it. Blaine apologized again and then the song started⦠āDonāt Speak.ā
(Note ā they cut the Klaine conversation weirdly. On set, we heard Kurt yelling āStop it, just stop it!ā but that didnāt make it into the scene. Their dialogue seemed choppy in spots and I was pissed that they cut away to Finchel immediately after Blaine said āI was with someone.ā Ugh.)
Before I go on about the Klaine half of āDonāt Speak,ā letās address something. Blaineās choice of words in this scene with regard to his cheating is very vague. He said he was āwith someoneā and that it was a āhookup.ā Last season, Blaine accused Kurt of cheating when Kurt was flirtatiously texting with Chandler. So⦠does Blaineās āwith someoneā and āhookupā constitute as a kiss? Heavy makeout session? Any sort of ājob? Sex? I think there was at the VERY LEAST a kiss involved. (I pray to Grilled Cheesus that is the extent of his cheating.) Blaine must have physically done something with this Eli person if he used the word āhookup,ā but that doesnāt mean he necessarily had sex with him. Right? There is no one definition of āhookup.ā Though weāve seen an allegedly legit script from 4×7 and aĀ picture of a very distressed/rumpled Darren/BlaineĀ c/o Ryan Murphyās Twitter/Instagram, we are in the dark about what actually happened. I hope the writers give us closure with this and donāt just gloss over what happened to cause Klaine to separate. That would be irresponsible storytelling.
So, āDonāt Speak.ā Kurt looks pretty numb throughout the song whereas Blaine is literally gripping his chest/pajamas and looks so upset that heās probably sick about the whole thing. Sadly, the editing of this sequence cheapened the drama of it all.
The next morning, Kurt and Finn talk. Kurt is upset about what happened, obviously, and tells his stepbrother that he feels like dying.
HOWEVER
Later in the episode, Blaine talks to Finn in the choir room. Finn asks why Blaine would do that to Kurt and Blaine says he doesnāt know and has no excuse. But he says the Kurt wonāt talk to him, so he doesnāt even know if they are broken up. Though it sounded like Kurt wanted to talk earlier, he certainly doesnāt want to now. Later, Blaine sends flowers to Kurt (Yellow and Red ones, just like the ones Kurt gave Blaine last year before the WSS cast list went up⦠my creys) and writes an apology note (complete w/a drawing of Blaine in the doghouse). Kurt throws the note away (though he does so after admitting that Blaine is āthe cutestā).
So when Klaine sang side by side during āThe Scientistā with the other couples, my heart hurt some more.
I hope Blaine and Kurt actually talk it out in an upcoming episode. For a couple whose friendship was rooted in complete honesty, they certainly are horrible at communicating. Theyāve had misunderstandings before, but this is by far the worst one. But, as much as this plot line hurt (and seemed very out of character for Blaine), I hope the writers take advantage of addressing how hard it is for people who love each other to actually talk out their feelings.
Feelings suck. While love might come easy, itās certainly difficult to talk about at times. And then there is miscommunication ā you think someone is thinking something, but they think something else. Or something about the other person is bothering you, but they are oblivious to it so they keep doing it, even though it bothers you, and then you just get upset and then they get upset. Itās hard to talk things out, but itās the only way to handle stuff. I hope Kurt and Blaine talk it out. I hope Blaineās ācheatingā was only a kiss or making out with Eli. I hope they realize Blaine wasnāt clear about his feelings, nor his wording of the situation. I hope Kurt realizes how hard it must be for Blaine to be at McKinley by himself (though⦠yeah.).
I expected Klaine to hit a riff at some point, I just hate that it was Blaine cheating on Kurt. Hopefully they are blowing things out of proportion.
Blaine is a trainwreck. He was introduced to us as this confident guy in a prep school uniform two seasons ago. Since then, his faƧade has cracked. We learned of his past bullying experience. We learned he has dad issues. We learned he is a bit clueless when it comes to romance, having never been someoneās boyfriend. We learned he was a virgin. We learned he grew up being belittled by his older brother. We learned he was brave enough to tell his boyfriend to leave. We learned he was a people pleaser and that backfired when his boyfriend did leave and he was left alone at a school he only started going to because his boyfriend went there too. Blaine is a confident performer, but heās insecure and a bit of a wreck when heās by himself out of the spotlight. Blaine has to learn to stand on his own two feet, and hopefully he can accomplish that during his split with Kurt. You canāt use the other person in a relationship as a crutch⦠I mean, you can lean on them, but you shouldnāt rely on them so much that you canāt walk on your own. Blaine needs to learn how to walk. I want him to be running if/when he and Kurt get back together (which best be by the Christmas episode⦠I need another Klaine duet like I need air.)
And now we wait.