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The last episode of Glee, “The Power of Madonna,” was just too good to not write about.
Even before the episode aired it was being called “the best hour of television this year” (from Ken Tucker at Entertainment Weekly, also known as my-holy-grail-even-though-they-don’t-like-Psych). And Glee definitely did not disappoint.
I think I mentioned this in my last post but I am not the biggest Madonna fan. I don’t have anything against her, but I was just never into her music (although for some reason I REALLY loved “Hung Up”). I knew of pretty much all the songs before Ryan Murphy Glee-afied them and I have to say that the cast really did a fantastic job.
I was nervous when I heard that there would be ten songs in this episode because I didn’t know if it was possible to have so many songs integrated into the already full plot. What we got was eight performed songs, one of which was just the Cheerio’s dancing to a recording of Madonna’s “Ray of Light” and another was a mash-up of two of her songs which I will get to shortly. I had nothing to be nervous about as Murphy clearly knew what songs were best and this is one of the few episodes where I didn’t question why he put a certain song in a certain scene.
The plot was simple. Sue idolizes Madonna and wanted to empower her Cheerios by doing a Madonna-themed routine. Will wanted to help out the girls because they haven’t been treated well by the boys and so the girl empowerment begins.
Some important things to note: I don’t like when people call this a kids show because it’s not. Especially this episode. It is geared toward high schoolers and anyone under the age of 14 probably should just stick with the music videos (and in this episode I’m thinking “Like A Prayer” is the only one suitable for tweens and younger). But I like how Murphy handled the subject of losing one’s virginity. The truth is, teens are having sex at a younger and younger age. I really liked how Murphy didn’t preach, “Sex is bad; Abstain” because that gets no where. He showed three characters, Rachel, Finn and Emma, struggling with the idea of having sex for the first time.
I like how Rachel decided that she wasn’t ready and telling Jesse “No.” And as much as I didn’t want Santana to be the one to usher Finn into the World of Sex, I’m glad a male lead actually felt guilty about it instead of turning around and high-fiveing his buddies and acting like a tool. Finn didn’t want to be labeled as “The Big V” anymore so he gave it up to someone random, which is true for a lot of people. And he felt nothing because Santana meant nothing to him. Now he is regretting giving in to peer pressure and I applaud Murphy for going this route because not a lot of shows do this. And poor Emma: I really wanted her to finally have sex and I’m sure Shue would have been good to her, but she still wasn’t ready. And while I’m sure her OCD has something to do with it, I also think there is a subconscious feeling that she’s just not there yet with Will and she doesn’t want to give herself to him just to get hurt in the end.
Another thing to bring up was the degradation of women. While I felt it was odd that high schoolers should be feeling this way, obviously the Power of Madonna wouldn’t be complete without girl empowerment. The only thing a bit unnatural about this episode was the guys being so gung-ho at the end. Yes, they realized that the girls need to be treated better but Finn and Shue constantly reiterating that point I think detracted from the importance and reality of the situation. But the songs sure did help get the girls empowered and for the boys to start treating them better so I’m going to end this post with a rundown of the songs, all of which I thought were performed extremely well.
Ray of Light
Performed by the Cheerios and the only song not sung by the Glee cast, I thought the cheerleading routine was mind-boggling. Where do you find people to dance and swing around on incredibly tall stilts? Whoever is responsible for finding the back up dancers for the Cheerios, bravo.
Express Yourself
I still can’t decide if this is my favorite song from the episode but I keep going back to watch it over and over. The girls did a great job performing this and the choreography was really fantastic. I loved how fiercely the girls sang this, they were full of attitude and it was amazing. And I would love to know where I can find whatever it was they were wearing under the suit jackets. Anyone?
Mash Up of Borderline/Open Your Heart
What a good mash up. Perfectly captures what Rachel and Finn are thinking at that moment. Rachel singing “I don’t want to be a prisoner so baby set me free” and Finn’s “Don’t try to resist me/Open your heart to me,” I mean, could it get anymore perfect? Um yes, the ending where they have that awkward moment and go their separate ways. LOVED IT. And the Madonnas in the background at first got me confused but at the end when you realized that it’s almost a daydream like sequence then it made sense. And Cory Montieth: loved your singing and I love when you play the drums. My crush on you has officially tripled.
Vogue
I don’t think I will ever get tired of this video. Jane Lynch of course makes this video awesome but the more I watch it, the more I love Chris Colfer. I almost wish they didn’t show this last week just so we can fully appreciate the grandeur and general awesomeness that is Sue Sylvester’s take on “Vogue.”
Like A Virgin
There may not have been any dancing involved but this was one of the best choreographed (and edited) scenes in all of Glee. Three couples in three different bedrooms doing this same, I guess you can call it a bedroom dream performance, and all at the same time was incredible to see. I’m not sure what the right word to describe this performance is; hot, flush-inducing, risque, sexy… but it was amazing.
4 Minutes
Another one of my favorites. Loved the marching band, especially the trumpets. And LOVED that Mercedes and Kurt got to shine. Chris Colfer, where did that voice come from? Performed amazingly by everyone. This song was just a plain old good time.
What It Feels Like For A Girl
Compared to the other songs, this wasn’t the best of the episode but having the boys sing it gave it almost a new meaning. I almost wish it was straight up acapella but it was a good song nonetheless.
Like A Prayer
Beautiful. And the extended version is even better. In fact, the extended versions of all these songs are better than on the show if that is possible. And maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for gospel choirs but man, what a great song. And Amber Riley got to dance and sing with her mom! When I learned that it just made the whole performance even better. Beautiful way to end one of the most dynamic episodes of the season thus far.
This episode has been hyped up for so long and I’m really glad it lived up to it’s expectations. I have absolutely no idea how next week will live up to this episode. Maybe it won’t, maybe it will. But this was just a good, solid, and entertaining hour of television.
For those that missed this episode or don’t like Glee but are thinking of giving it a try, “The Power of Madonna” will be airing again tonight at 9/8c on Fox
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