“Grilled Cheesus”
Recap: Kurt’s father has a heart attack leaving him in a very cold place. Meanwhile, Finn has begun to pray to the image of Jesus on a grilled cheese sandwich he has made. These events frame this episode focused on religion and spirituality.
Seemingly things are working out for Finn, just as he is prays for them. After talking to the Counselor Pillsbury, he comes away with the sense that none of it real.
Mercedes takes Kurt to church, even though he protests, as he is doesn’t believe in God. While initially the glee club was going to sing spiritual songs, with Kurt’s protests and the support of Sue, they aren’t allowed to sing about spirituality. This causes tension within the group between religious and non-religious characters.
Analysis: This is a return to what Glee is all about, inclusiveness and tolerance. After the first two episodes that were purposed differently, this episode deals with a very touchy subject and does well to explain the different viewpoints to which have become stereotypical in today’s society.
Having characters come face to face with their beliefs almost always creates strong emotions that translate well through the screen. Religious beliefs are often held closer to the heart than anything else. It is what most turn to in bad times, and that which we use to acknowledge thanks and to explain the situations we are in.
The episode rightly explains the viewpoints very concisely of all the parties involved whether it be Christian, Jewish, non-believing Gay or non-believing straight.
It was great to get Mercedes back to singing. She get’s two songs in this episode, trying to make up for her inexplicable absence from the first two episodes of this season. Add to that Kurt’s solo, which brings tears to the eyes as you are reliving his memories.
The only issue this episode has, is that it still is falling into the routine of offering forced solo expositions for musical numbers. This is extremely tiresome for me. I understand why they do so many solos, but the best part of “Glee” has always been using the music to smoothly tell the story and to use the ensemble cast in the numbers. When a character simply says, “I would like to sing now”, it’s almost a cop out for using a song to replace dialogue.
Music must haves:
“I Want To Hold Your Hand”
“Bridge Over Troubled Water”
“One Of Us”