There really isn’t much of a place for disco music in popular culture today. By the 1980s, the generation before ours was already hiding bell-bottoms in their dressers, already stashing away their Saturday Night Fever records under their beds, already pretending they never bought that disco ball. But tonight Glee is reminding everyone that the ‘70s did happen, and we can’t forget it – sappiness and all.
“Saturday Night Glee-ver,” an excellent name for a themed episode by the way, follows the New Directions through another week of planning for their trek to their Chicago-based National competition. The theme is “vintage,” says Blaine quite unceremoniously at the very beginning of the show. And because Glee is constantly striving to take on more and more ridiculous themes, they base an entire episode around disco.
Disco is the genre that everyone wants to forget, but in “Saturday Night Glee-ver” we’re forced to remember. And maybe it’s just my openness to all Glee covers, but the songs were not so bad.
The arrangements, however, were less than inspired. Every song and dance number was conducted in the same way: period costumes, multi-colored background lighting and a translucent dance floor with more lights to match the background. In addition, the songs were barely distinguishable from one another, though that is to be expected with disco music.
Story alone is not something Glee can survive on, and it didn’t this episode just as it doesn’t in most others. Will’s plan to have three of his more disconcertingly lazy Glee club members – Mercedes, Santana and Finn – finally decide what their dreams are for the future, was strange and, though characteristic of him, a little out of place. I couldn’t decide whether this was the writers’ ploy to showcase more performers in the show (since they’ve been giving Blaine so many solos lately) or if there was some underlying need to get these particular characters sorted out.
If it was the former, then this must be a recurring theme considering they only had four characters – Quinn, Artie, Blaine and his brother Cooper – sing the majority of the episode’s songs. This is not necessarily a great movie for a show that has consistently shared talents of multiple performers all in the same episode. Focusing on individual characters is actually quite alienating if, as a viewer, you prefer seeing many different singers showcase their talents in one night.
On the other hand, if it was the latter, then the priorities of Glee are not exactly set straight. Why wouldn’t Will include Puck in this group, since his eventual goal is just to start a pool cleaning business in Los Angeles – shouldn’t the New Directions instructor feel some compulsion to help this wandering soul as well?
The decision of basing an episode solely off the stories and performances of Mercedes, Santana and Finn felt misguided, as did the episode as a whole. The only redeeming factor was the positive message which, no matter how its triteness, was something enjoyable for an audience that can no longer stand the ridiculousness of Glee. Ultimately, “Saturday Night Glee-ver” was about the characters’ (specifically the three who had been singled out by Will) journey to discovering what their true dreams are. And even if you want to put away your platform shoes, tear up all pictures of your feathered hair and burn all your Bee Gees memorabilia, hopefulness at accomplishing dreams is a theme of Glee we can all stand by.
The Music of “Saturday Night Glee-ver”:
“You Should Be Dancing” – An interesting warm-up into the genre of disco, but I couldn’t get over how jumbled this performance felt. Who was leading it? Why was the falsetto not seemingly coming out of anyone’s mouth – maybe Blaine, though I’m not sure – and what was going on? It was hard to get past how unwarranted the performance was.
“Night Fever” – First song and dance sequence with the light-up floor. I was less than enthused, though I will admit watching Damian and Sue dance was the highlight of the night.
“Disco Inferno” – Mercedes performance of this Tina Turner song felt like a nice parallel to her later speech about wanting to be the next Aretha Franklin or Whitney Houston. The performance itself wasn’t so great, but the concept fit well.
“If I Can’t Have You” – Until the end of the song when Will suggests that it was some quiet commentary on the limitations of Brittany and Santana’s relationship, this song meant nothing to me. Even after he purported that it was a plea for society to understand their non-traditional love for each other, it meant slightly more, but not enough to enjoy the performance.
“How Deep is Your Love” – If you make Rachel Berry sing it, I will love it. All of these Saturday Night Fever songs started to lose their effect, but having her character sing anything raises it up out of the depths of boringness.
“Boogie Shoes” – I have to admit that this was a fascinating way of bringing in the talent of another Glee Project contestant. This time it was Alex Newell as Wade, a member of Vocal Adrenaline who is transgender and expresses himself through cross-dressing. Plus, with the addition of Vocal Adrenaline to the story, we got to see Jesse St. James again. No complaints there.
“More Than a Woman” – The falsetto of this performance seemed strange and out of place. Though it’s appropriate for Bee Gees music, Finn clearly cannot pull off this style. Plus, the inclusion of couples other than Rachel and Finn in the performance made the moment seem less personal, though it was supposed to be a love serenade of sorts.
“Stayin’ Alive” – Finally an appropriate end to an overworked episode. Were eight disco songs really necessary, though? Not one is distinguishable from the others. Regardless, “Stayin’ Alive” is a classic song that we all know (though we might not enjoy it), so it was an acceptable conclusion to a relatively uninteresting night of Glee covers.