DIRECTOR: Ryan Murphy

WRITER: Brad Falchuk

ORIGINAL AIR DATE: March 8, 2011

GUEST STARS: Gwyneth Paltrow, John Stamos, Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss, Ashley Fink, Dot-Marie Jones

REVIEW:

While it’s neither as much wild fun as its predecessor, Blame It On The Alcohol, nor as epic as its successor, Original Song, “Sexy” is a pretty good episode that, like BIOTA, addresses a social issue (albeit in a somewhat muddled fashion) while throwing in enough levity not to feel overbearingly like A Very Special Episode Continue reading →

DIRECTOR: Bradley Buecker

WRITER: Ryan Murphy

ORIGINAL AIR DATE: March 15, 2011

GUEST STARS: Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss, Ashley Fink, Kathy Griffin, Loretta Devine, Bill A. Jones

REVIEW:

While it doesn’t quite scale the epic heights and swirling emotions of Season 1’s Journey to Regionals (but it doesn’t have to, since that was the season finale and this is Episode 16 out of 22), Original Song is definitely one of the standout episodes of Season 2.  Continue reading →

DIRECTOR: Eric Stoltz

WRITER: Ian Brennan

ORIGINAL AIR DATE: February 22, 2011

GUEST STARS: Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss, Dot-Marie Jones, Ashley Fink

REVIEW:

Blame It On The Alcohol is a bit of a mess, with everyone acting like a slightly skewed alternate dimension version of themselves, but despite some out-of-character behavior (though you can “blame it on the alcohol”…see what I did there?  har, har) and a bit of a muddled central message, it’s also a pretty, well gleeful episode.  Continue reading →

DIRECTOR: Bradley Buecker

WRITER: Ross Maxwell

ORIGINAL AIR DATE: December 6, 2011

GUEST STARS: Chord Overstreet, Damian McGinty, Idina Menzel, John Schneider, Keong Sim, Grant Gustin, Vanessa Lengies, Lindsay Pearce

REVIEW:

Like last season’s Special Education, Hold On To Sixteen brings the Sectionals competition with a dash of New Directions infighting and former teammates pitted against each other, but this time the writers also clearly use it as the climax point for the first third of the season, resolving various conflicts that have been brewing since Season 3’s opening.  The writers generally accomplish what they set out to do; Hold On To Sixteen is not a perfect Glee episode, but it’s up with Asian F and The First Time as overall one of the most solid and plot-heavy episodes of the first third of Season 3.  It also marks the return of Season 2 recurring guest star and New Directions member Chord Overstreet. Continue reading →