Glee ‘Lights Out’ Review & Recap

Mr. Schue has scoped out the competition and is worried about a powerhouse member of a fellow Glee Club. The lights go out in the middle of his speech, giving Mr. Schue inspiration to have the lesson be ‘unplugged.’

Ryder is whining about being ditched by his mystery girl. He shared secrets with her and is afraid it will get out. Jake advises him to defuse the situation by sharing his secrets with his friends as well.

Rachel and Kurt have a talk with Santana about her being a bouncer and cage dancer at a lesbian beer garden. Their intrusiveness is supposed to be caring and a show of concern, but its amazing how they so clearly they missed the mark on her being lost and confused about her place in life right now. She takes it about as well as one would expect after watching Santana for 4 years now.

Sam performs the first song of the lesson, singing The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin” simply accompanied by a guitar and Ryder. It was simple but powerful with Sam’s vocals being strong and clear. Sam gives the club a lecture about their dependence on technology and electricity, and how it was rude to text during his performance (which I 100% agree with!).

The lovely Sarah Jessica Parker returns as Isabelle Wright. We get an update on the beloved Burt (treatments seem to be working and he is doing well – yay!). She is, as always, adorable and the chemistry between these two is still prominent. You still get the ‘soul mate’ vibe from them. She needs his assistance with the NYC Ballet Gala she is hosting to which he is excited for (his responsibility is celebrity wrangler).

As Sue writes in her journal, we are updated with her new life as a personal trainer and see her coaching an aerobic class (in which Blaine is attending!) Blaine knows there is more going on than her gun accidentally going off and wants her to come clean.

The next song in the lesson is Ryder performing “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M. with an orchestra as his backdrop. The song gives a couple members the opportunity to think back on moments of being slushied (I think there should have been more flashbacks). I didn’t hate the song. It wasn’t strong or powerful and not leading man material, yet it was decent. This leads Ryder to “unplugging” his feelings and admitting to having been molested by his female babysitter when he was 11. He has only told Katie and wants to be the one to tell people before she does. Predictably, some of the boys see it as a good thing (“…a hot 18 year old play with your junk, I would kill for that”). Mr. Schue steps in, but Ryder is still upset because they don’t get it.

Kitty and Ryder are at dinner at BreadStix and surprising she is the only person who understands him and reveals her own molestation story (a friend’s older brother). This was very good acting on her part as she lends some comfort to Ryder and vice versa.

The New Directions perform a cool rendition of “We Will Rock You” by Queen. Their instruments of choices included pails and brooms (among other similar items) a la Stomp.

Sue is watching the Cheerios and learns that Becky is no longer on the Cheerios because of the way Roz treated her. Sue doesn’t want to go back to “babysitting brats” and refuses to return to the Cheerios. Sue sings “Little Girls” from Annie and does a very good job. You get the feeling that Sue saying she doesn’t miss them is her trying to convince herself and not Becky.

Santana, Kurt, Rachel, and Isabelle sing A Chorus Line’s “At the Ballet.” This number reinforced the fact that all of these actors would be incredible on Broadway. It’s not just vocals, but their presence that would make them engaging on the stage. The performances, filming and whole styling of this performance transported you to the audience of a Broadway play. Isabelle’s mentor attitude carried over to Santana as well (I love and missed this character – she is such a breath of fresh air).

Coach Roz is having problems with Becky who admits to Principal Figgins that she brought the gun into school.

The power is restored, but Mr. Schue still wants them to sing another song a Capella. Ryder’s catfishing storyline is annoying. His “date” with her results in him dismissing Kitty, and its just odd not to mention a bit disturbing (seriously – when Kitty is making sense its bad news!)

For their final song the New Directions sing “The Longest Time” from Billy Joel. This song reminds me that they are lacking some talent; they are not nearly as talented as the original group. Marley’s chiming “time” in the song was irritating and distracting. Artie (and Sam) need more songs, Jake’s voice is only good on certain songs (and sounds odd on others). Ryder is good but far from great. With a few exceptions, there aren’t any powerhouses and certainly no one who can belt out a note. With this group, I don’t think they are worthy of winning Regionals or advancing any further than that. We shall see though! Next week looks good – can’t wait!

Final/extra thoughts:

Shallow moment: Blaine looked delicious in his workout outfit.
The gym Sue works for is 23 hour fitness – too funny!
Little Rachel, Kurt, and Santana in their tutus were too adorable!
“Congratulations to all of us for refusing to resort to idol worship and rampant cannibalism…” ~ Principal Figgins.

Author: Karen Walsh

Glee: Wonder-ful
Season 4, Episode 20
Original Air Date: April 25, 2013