The following contains spoilers … you’ve been warned!
Last night on “Glee,” it was all about enjoying the best years of your life, which for some strange and odd reason the writers on the show seem to think happen during high school. Hey kids! Don’t believe “Glee.” It gets better, I promise.
Remember Sam? The kid whose family lost everything, and then the big bad banks came kicked them out of their house? We haven’t seen him since last season, but the Glee Clubbers decided that they needed to get him back in order to win their upcoming competition. Rachel and Finn took a road trip to talk to Sam about coming back, and to his parents about letting him stay with friends so that he could be a part of the club again.
They found him stripping in a nightclub.
Yeah, that happened. Apparently the only way to help his family make ends meet was to spray paint himself with body glitter, shake his booty, and let the ladies cram dollar bills down his teeny tiny pants. He tells Finn and Rachel that he tried getting a real job at Dairy Queen, “but it paid minimum wage and 2 free Blizzards.”
I feel bad for Sam, I really do. I feel even worse that “Glee” would sanction the idea that a bad economy not just excuses bad behavior, but demands it. Thankfully, his parents agree to let him go back to McKinley High, and he’s allowed to be “just a teenager” once again.
In another plot line, Mike tells his girlfriend Tina that he’s going to abandon his dream of becoming a dancer to go to medical school, because his father wants him to. So Tina, with all of her teen-aged wisdom, goes to Mike’s dad and begs him to watch a video of Mike performing in the school musical. Mike’s dad explains that there will be heartache, limited opportunities, etc., in the extremely competitive world of the performing arts.
He obviously hasn’t heard that Obamacare passed and artists can now feel free to pursue their dreams rather than doing pesky things like working jobs that actually pay in order to pay the bills.
Eventually, Mike’s dad does watch his son perform, and embraces him and tells him to pursue his passion, and that he and Mike’s mom would do everything in their power to support him. I hope he also told him to have a back-up plan, because the term starving artist is a cliche for a reason.
Following up on last week’s scandalous hookup between teacher Shelby and student Puck, Quinn decides that she is going to tell on them to get Shelby fired. Shelby is the adoptive mother of Quinn’s biological daughter Beth, and she’s been trying all season to get her back. She finally has the perfect, diabolical plan! Shelby will be fired, and the baby will be handed right back into Quinn’s waiting arms. The girl is loony tunes.
Anyway, Rachel convinces Quinn to talk to Shelby first, which she does. She tells Shelby she knows, and that she’s going to tell and get her baby back. Shelby sighs and tells her to enjoy her youth, because it doesn’t last forever. She tells Quinn to go enjoy the last few months of her senior year. All of a sudden, Quinn is cured of craziness, and she single-handedly unites her quarreling friends.
Talk about a dues ex machina.
I can’t say that I disagree with part of the premise of last night’s show: Enjoy being young while you can. But I don’t believe that teenagers should enjoy their youth so they have something to hold onto in the old age of their 20s and 30s. Every stage of life has its own unique beauty to be appreciated.
Even high school has some high points. But telling kids that’s the best they’ll ever have it is bunk. Don’t believe “Glee,” kids! I promise that there is life after high school.