Glee: "Movin' Out" Commentary (s.5, ep.6)

I have a love/hate relationship with the TV show Glee. Most of the time I hate it because it is just really bad but I still keep watching because season one was really good. I have hope the magic from the first season will come back. 


In "Movin' Out" the kids at McKinley high have another tribute episode, this time taking on Billy Joel. The kids deal with the upcoming graduation. It starts out with Mr. Schuester upset with Principal Sue Sylvester for not believing in the arts as an actual career. I do think Mr. Shue is ridiculous in thinking his whole glee club will become famous in the arts when it is incredibly unlikely but glee is also in a world of its own. (They say earth but I don't believe it)

Blaine and Sam take a mini vacation to New York to visit their friends (Rachel, Kurt, and Santana) who all live together. ***Reminder: Rachel and Kurt go to NYADA (a fictional dramatic arts college), and Santana is a waitress (actually they all work in the same restaurant that is Broadway themed so a lot of singing happens). Kurt is engaged to Blaine. Rachel is the lead in Funny Girl.***
Blaine auditions for NYADA, we don't get to see the audition but we are told it goes well. Sam goes to New York to have an interview at a college. This was probably my favorite part of the episode. Sam goes to Hunter College to have an interview and it is the most awkward interview of all time. He was clearly nervous and completely unprepared. A line that stood out to me as being awkwardly funny but totally inappropriate was him commenting on the interviewer's race. 

“So, you’re black. That must be interesting.” –Sam, (his Hunter College admission interview)

Then he subsequently asks if the interviewer knows Mercedes Jones (as if all black people know each other).

Since his college interview was a bust he decides to become a male model. Rachel enlists the help of a photographer from the play Funny Girl who takes professional pictures for Sam's portfolio. There is an attempt at being subtle in this scene that hints there might be something brewing between Sam and Rachel. 
Sam gets an interview with a top modeling agency. Tyra Banks guest stars as Bichette who interviews Sam. She says she likes him but demands he loses ten pounds first. 

Another big part of the episode was between Marley, Jake, and Ryder. In a previous episode Jake hardcore cheated on Marley so Marley broke up with him. Jake proceeded to be a total jerk by insisting that he can't be monogamous all because Marley wouldn't put out. Ryder, who has had a crush on Marley since he met her, immediately asks Marley out and she says not now. He then sings her a Billy Joel song and she agrees to a date. After the date Marley then tells him that she still needs time to get over Jake, which is understandable as it had been maybe a week since the break up. 

The final story arc was between Artie and Becky. Artie sings a song to Becky letting her know she has college options. It was a nice story full of plenty of feels. Becky decides to go to college and she has a heart to heart conversation with Sue, her closest confidante. Another funny line of the show was delivered by Sue during this conversation. Becky was afraid of hurting Sue's feelings by wanting to go to college, which Sue then said...“I don’t have any feelings, Becky.”  


Now onto my commentary. 

This episode wasn't that great, it wasn't bad, but still not great. I really do wish that the show would drop the high school kids and move permanently to filming only the New York kids. The McKinley story-lines have already been done and it feels old. Plus the characters are not very likable. Unlike the kids in New York where the story-lines feel fresher and the show can go in new directions (whoa!). 

I knew some of the Billy Joel songs but I am really tired of all the tribute episodes. I'm also really tired of singing songs just for the sake of covering famous songs. Glee is only doing it because it means mad profits off the song downloads. I would prefer it if they only sang songs that fit in with the stories. 

If you are curious about the songs of the episode, I have listed them below. 

Sam & Blaine, “Movin’ Out” 

Blaine, “Piano Man” 

Jake, “My Life” 

Artie, “Honesty” 

Ryder, “An Innocent Man” 

Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Rachel and Sam, “Just the Way You Are” (this song presented another not so subtle hint as a possible Sam and Rachel romance)

The stand out song would go to "Honesty" sung by Artie. He sang that song to Becky to convince her to check out colleges. It was a sweet moment. 

What was your favorite song of the episode?

What did you think of "Movin' Out"? How do you feel about the possible relationship between Sam and Rachel?

Comment and let me know!

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