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Duets (Glee)

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"Duets (Glee)"

"Duets" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the twenty-sixth episode overall. It was written by Ian Brennan, and directed by Eric Stoltz,[1] and premiered on the Fox network on October 12, 2010.

Plot

Glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) sets New Directions a duet assignment, offering a meal at Breadstix for the winning duo. He announces that club member Puck (Mark Salling) has been sent to juvenile detention for stealing his mother's car and driving it through a convenience store window, then driving away ATM machine in tow. He then introduces new member Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet). Kurt (Chris Colfer) suspects that Sam is gay and asks him to be his duet partner. Though Sam agrees, club co-captain Finn (Cory Monteith) talks them out of partnering up, fearing that Sam will be subject to bullying for having a male partner. Kurt ignores him at first as he is still angry at Finn for his homophobic comments in the "Theatricality" episode. After talking with his father Burt (Mike O'Malley), Kurt decides to break his partnership with Sam. Finn sings "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with his girlfriend Rachel (Lea Michele), who suggests letting Sam win the competition to boost club morale, ensuring he will stay in the group and increase their chance of winning at Nationals.

Cheerleaders Santana (Naya Rivera) and Brittany (Heather Morris) make out, but when Brittany suggests they sing Melissa Etheridge's "Come to My Window" together, Santana refuses and trivializes their relationship. Santana believes her best chance of winning is by partnering with Mercedes (Amber Riley), and together they sing "River Deep – Mountain High". Attempting to make Santana jealous, Brittany pairs up with Artie (Kevin McHale), who rejects his ex-girlfriend Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) when she asks him to duet with her. Kurt sings "Le Jazz Hot!" from Victor/Victoria by himself, and Tina and her new boyfriend Mike (Harry Shum, Jr.) duet on "Sing!" from A Chorus Line. Artie loses his virginity to Brittany, but is later informed by Santana that Brittany was using him for his voice, and dissolves their partnership. Brittany apologizes, but Artie does not accept the apology and declines Brittany's invitation to Breadsticks, so she sadly goes alone.

When Sam has a slushie thrown in his face by bullies, Quinn (Dianna Agron) helps him to clean up. Later, he asks her to be his partner and attempts to kiss her. Quinn pulls away and tells him they cannot sing together, but is convinced to compete by Rachel. Rachel and Finn, dressed as a school girl and a priest in an intentionally offensive move, perform "With You I'm Born Again" by Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright, hoping to damage their own chance of winning the competition. Sam and Quinn sing "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. All of the club members vote for themselves, except Finn and Rachel, who vote for Sam and Quinn, ensuring that they win the competition. Over dinner at Breadsticks they form a rapport, and Quinn tells Sam that he should pay as that is the proper thing to do on what has become their first date.

Noticing that Kurt is lonely, Rachel tells him how much the club members value him and asks him to duet with her for fun. The episode ends with them singing the famous Judy Garland/Barbara Streisand mash-up of "Happy Days Are Here Again" and "Get Happy" in front of the rest of New Directions.

Production

In "Duets", Brittany and Santana kiss on screen for the first time. A physical relationship between the two was first alluded to in the season one episode "Sectionals".[2] Rivera sought clarification on the nature of their relationship from "Sectionals" director Brad Falchuk, who informed her that the two characters had been intimate in the past. Series creator Ryan Murphy told Morris that as Glee is a primetime series, he did not want to show them making out.[3] Interviewed by Brett Berk of Vanity Fair in May 2010, Morris stated that Brittany and Santana were simply best friends, and the show would not be taking them in a "friends with benefits" direction.[4] However, at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in August 2010, Murphy stated that the characters would in fact kiss on screen in an upcoming episode.[5] In "Duets", Brittany also has a brief relationship with Artie. Morris told Jarett Wieselman of the New York Post that she is a fan of McHale's, and had been pressing Murphy to give their characters a storyline together since the beginning of the season. She stated that the relationship would not be fully addressed in later episodes, but hoped it would be revisited in the future.[6]

Series regular Mark Salling did not appear in "Duets", prompting media speculation that he would not return to the show due to a breach of contract. Carina Adly MacKenzie of Zap2it reported that in actuality, Salling did not appear for creative reasons, allowing Sam to establish himself within the glee club and begin a relationship with Puck's ex-girlfriend Quinn.[7] Overstreet stated that Sam was initially created as a romantic interest for Kurt, but his storyline was adjusted to pair him with Quinn as a result of the chemistry the producers detected between himself and Agron.[8]

Music

The episode featured cover versions of Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep – Mountain High" performed by Santana and Mercedes, Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat's "Lucky" performed by Sam and Quinn, Elton John and Kiki Dee's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" performed by Rachel and Finn, "Sing!" from A Chorus Line performed by Mike and Tina - "Sing!" is Shum, Jr.'s first musical performance on the series.[9] - and a mash-up of "Happy Days Are Here Again" and "Get Happy" as performed by Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand on The Judy Garland Show and later included in Streisand's Duets covered by Rachel and Kurt.[10] Kurt will also perform "Le Jazz Hot!" from the musical Victor/Victoria solo.[11] </ref> Rachel and Finn also sing "With You I'm Born Again" by Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright. All songs except for "With You I'm Born Again," were released as singles, available for download.[12]

Reception

Ratings

In its original broadcast, "Duets" was watched by 11.36 million American viewers. It was the top-rated programme of the night in the 18–49 demographic, attaining a 4.7/13 Nielsen rating/share.[13][14] Both viewership and ratings rose from the previous episode, "Grilled Cheesus", which was watched by 11.20 million viewers and attained a 4.6/13 rating/share among adults 18-49.[15]

Critical response

The episode received positive reviews from critics. James Poniewozik of Time deemed "Duets" the best character episode of season two, praising the emotional realism of the teenagers exploring their identities.[16] CNN's Lisa Respers France felt that "Duets" was a return to form following the preceding episodes "Britney/Brittany" and "Grilled Cheesus", both of which she reviewed negatively.[17] Amy Reiter of the Los Angeles Times assessed the episode similarly, writing that while "Britney/Brittany" resulted in out of character behavior and "Grilled Cheesus" tackled deep issues and trauma, with Duets "the plot and the music were in perfect balance" and "every member of the choir was given a storyline and a voice."[18] Anthony Benigno of the Daily News commented that "Duets" was not one of the series' best episodes, but was an improvement on "Grilled Cheesus".[19] Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club graded the episode "A-". He felt "Duets" proved that Brennan's version of the show is the one he most enjoys, praising his emotional continuity and commenting that several storylines which should not have worked in theory were saved by the emotional honesty Brennan created in the characters. He deemed Brittany taking Artie's virginity "one of the most resonant things the show's ever done" and called the musical performances "among the most varied and terrific in the show’s history", writing that "River Deep – Mountain High" may be the best number Glee has ever produced.[20] MTV's Aly Semigran was disappointed that many of the duets "felt a little one-note", writing that while they were not all bad, they "just didn't have the same oomph the best Glee moments are made of."[21]

While Poniewozik asked "have we gotten to the point as a society where it's unremarkable that the most popular scripted TV show in the 18 to 49 demographic is also—almost without comment or controversy—the gayest show on broadcast TV?",[16] Ann Oldenburg of USA Today questioned whether Glee had gone too far by depicting Brittany and Santana kissing and referencing the sex act scissoring.[22] Christie Keith, writing for the lesbian and bisexual media website AfterEllen.com, suggested that "Duets" was the "queerest episode of any series that's ever been on television", stating that she was moved to tears by the final scene of Brittany forlorn without Santana. Keith also praised Kurt's storyline, and suggested that Colfer should win an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Kurt dealing with his identity.[23]

References

  1. ^ Martin, Denise (September 21, 2010). "On Set: Keeping Up the Glee in Season 2". TV Guide. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
  2. ^ "'Glee's' Hot Girl-On-Girl Kiss!". Celebuzz. Buzz Media. October 13, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  3. ^ Voss, Brandon (April 27, 2010). "Heather Morris: It's Brittany, Gleeks!". The Advocate. Here Media. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  4. ^ Berk, Brett (May 6, 2010). "Glee's Heather Morris Would Love to Sing a Lesbian Duet of Prince's "Computer Blue"". Vanity Fair. Condé Nast Publications. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  5. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (August 3, 2010). "Ryan Murphy and Jane Lynch discuss "Glee" season 2". AfterEllen.com. Logo. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  6. ^ Wieselman, Jarett (October 13, 2010). "Heather Morris: I love Brittany as much as the fans do!". New York Post. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  7. ^ Adly MacKenzie, Carina (October 13, 2010). "'Glee': Mark Salling is still a regular and Puck will be back". Zap2it. Tribune Media Services. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  8. ^ "AUDIO: Glee's Chord Overstreet Says 'Sam' Went From Gay To Straight". RadarOnline. October 13, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  9. ^ Ausiello, Michael (September 29, 2010). "Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on 'Glee,' 'Grey's,' 'Weeds,' '30 Rock,' 'Bones,' 'Smallville,' and more!". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  10. ^ Lyons, Margaret (October 4, 2010). "'Glee' duets: Yay for more 'Chorus Line'". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  11. ^ Nepales, Ruben V. (September 30, 2010). "PDI visits 'Glee' set". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Asia News Network. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  12. ^ "Glee Cast". iTunes Store. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  13. ^ Gorman, Bill (October 13, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: Glee, Dancing With The Stars Adjusted Up; Detroit 1-8-7, The Good Wife, Raising Hope, Running Wilde, Life Unexpected Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  14. ^ Rice, Lynette (October 13, 2010). "CBS ties Fox on Tuesday for first time this season in key adult demographic". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  15. ^ Seidman, Robert (October 6, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: Glee, No Ordinary Family, NCIS, Dancing, Parenthood Up; Raising Hope, Detroit 1-8-7, Running Wilde Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  16. ^ a b Poniewozik, James (October 13, 2010). "Glee Watch: It Takes Two". Time. Time Inc. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  17. ^ Respers France, Lisa (October 13, 2010). "Happy days are here again on 'Glee'". CNN. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  18. ^ Reiter, Amy (October 13, 2010). "'Glee' recap: Dueting for breadsticks". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  19. ^ Benigno, Anthony (October 13, 2010). "'Glee' 'Duets' recap: Episode 25 sees Brittany and Santana have girl-on-girl make out session in bed". Daily News. New York City. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  20. ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (October 13, 2010). ""Duets"". The A.V. Club. Onion, Inc. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  21. ^ Semigran, Aly (October 13, 2010). "'Glee' Recap: Episode 25, 'Duets'". MTV. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  22. ^ Oldenburg, Ann (October 13, 2010). "'Glee' cheerleaders share 'sweet lady kisses'". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  23. ^ Keith, Christie (October 13, 2010). ""Glee" Episode 204 Recap: "Don't Go Breakin' Kurt and Brittany's Hearts"". AfterEllen.com. Logo. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
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