GLEE 1.15 - "The Power Of Madonna"

WRITER & DIRECTOR: Ryan Murphy
GUEST CAST: Jenna Ushkowitz, Jonathan Groff, Iqbal Theba, Naya Rivera, Josh Sussman, Heather Morris, Harry Shum Jr., Dijon Talton & Lauren Potter

[SPOILERS] In the first of many pop star tie-ins (a "sequel" to this episode is already planned), "The Power Of Madonna" saw an entire hour dedicated to the Material Girl's back catalogue. You can be cynical about Glee for being such an unashamed money-making venture (the iTunes money, the bestselling albums, and now this mutually-beneficial "special" where Madonna's records were even pimped in the ad-breaks), but there's really no point. TV is a business. The skill is in hiding the crassness that can sometimes leak out, while providing audiences with what they're after. And, let's face it, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) doing "Vogue"? We all need that in our lives.

This week, in a typically gear-crunching turn, it's revealed that Sue's entire life has been shaped and inspired by the work of Madonna, ever since she listened to True Blue at the age of (ahem) six. Having leverage with Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba), she forces him to blast out Madonna's hits through the school's PA system to inspire the Cheerios. At the same time, the episode used Madonna's reputation as its inspiration for several songs and the week's storylines: Mr Schue (Matthew Morrison) noticed a lack of spark amongst the glee club's females, so decided to give them Madonna homework to inspire some sisterly feelings towards one another. This empowerment led to three characters deciding to take responsibility for their bodies and pop their cherries -- Santana (Naya Rivera) made a play for virgin Finn (Corey Monteith) to further disrupt his relationship with Rachel (Lea Michele), who in turn decided to sleep with Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff) now he's moved to their district and has become part of New Directions, and Emma (Jayma Mays) agreed to lose her virginity to Mr Schue. No prizes for guessing which Madonna track each coupling decided to sing while they got down to business...

And because Glee is incredibly relaxed about allegiances and plausibility, we also saw Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Mercedes (Amber Riley) decide to split their time between glee and Sue's Cheerios, choreographing an impressive gym-set performance of "4 Minutes". At this stage in the show's evolution, I'd be wasting my breath to complain that characters act too impulsively or irrationally. The characters almost reset themselves mentally after every episode, which I guess keeps the show accessible to newcomers.

"The Power Of Madonna" wasn't as unforgettable as many had hoped given its hype, but it was certainly a very good episode that grew steadily better as it unspooled. I'm really enjoying the Jesse character (who is essentially an idealized version of Finn, sans the sports), and while I'm sure his intentions aren't good and he's been sent into McKinley High to sabotage New Directions after gaining their trust, I suspect he'll redeem himself because that's the power this glee club holds. Unlike its rivals, it has a heart and warmth that contemptuous characters like Quinn (Dianna Agron), Briittany (Heather Morris) and Santana find comforting.

The writing for this episode was a bit sloppy from Ryan Murphy, particularly when it comes to scripting Sue's dialogue. In fact, Murphy even made a joke out of the fact Sue constantly picks fault with Mr Schue's hairstyle, which kind of rescued the fact Murphy's putdown just aren't as good as co-creator Ian Brennan's. Also, while Sue starring in a "Vogue" music video was inherently fun, I think they missed a trick in not making it laugh-out-loud funny. It was too good, really. Lynch wasn't that bad of a dancer and the video was an accurate copy of Madonna's original. They changed some of the lyrics to mention Sue and Schue, but beyond that it was played too straight. They could have had fun and turned it into a comedy masterpiece, but it was too reverent. Maybe Madonna's people put certain guidelines in place, which prevented them going full tilt.

Overall, "The Power Of Madonna" was flawed and lacked bite, but there was a welcome emphasis on the music this week (with a great "Like A Prayer" finale), and it was kind of fun to have a theme going through the whole episode. The way Madonna's oeuvre inspired plots about identity, independence, sex and confidence was also astutely done. The "Like A Virgin" sequence was also very enjoyable, and I liked the end-result of Rachel lying about having sex for the first time, whereas Finn lied about not going through with it.

Asides

• A relief to see Becky (Lauren Potter) back on the show as a cheerleader, because I was worried Glee only used her in "Wheels" to highlight disability and would promptly forget about her.
• Sue was raised by "famous Nazi hunters"?!
• Does news travel slowly to the US? Madonna isn't living in an English country estate now, Sue. Her and Guy Richie have been over for a long time.
• "When I pulled my hamstring, I went to a misogynist." More Brittany, please.
• Sue describing Emma: "You have all the sexuality of one of those pandas down at the zoo who refuses to mate." Beyond perfect. It's those beautiful descriptions and one-liners that often rescue Glee when its story's beginning to sink.
• Schue to Sue: "Enough with the hair jokes. By the way, how's that Florence Henderson look working out for you? Maybe you should try a new setting on your Flowbee." Loved the look of joy on his face for finally delivering some zingers of his own.
• I hear that the success of this episode has resulted in Britney Spears' people getting in touch with Fox about doing their own Britney special. Lea Michele already has the knee-socks for "Hit Me Baby (One More Time)", and it's clear that Britney's music would be a better fit for Glee. Madonna's work is a bit too risqué.

26 APRIL 2010: E4/HD, 9PM