Review by Anne Wollenberg
Stars Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Jonathan Groff, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays,
Kevin McHale, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Matthew Morrison, Mark Salling, Jenna Ushkowitz
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £27.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 381 minutes | Directed by Various
The sing-along continues as the Gleeks warble their way to the next competition stage: regionals. By the end of Volume 1, the show had really got into the swing of things. The danger, then, would be for future episodes to follow a paint-by-numbers formula – after watching the first half of the first season, you could write a pretty foolproof recipe for a Glee episode. And while a failure to innovate wouldn’t have been world-ending, it would have stopped the show from feeling so fresh.
Not to worry, though. New Directions may be on top of the world following their success at Sectionals, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be bumps in the Gleek road. Indeed, what with Rachel hooking up with Jesse St. James (Groff), a star member of arch-rival group Vocal Adrenaline, as well as getting laryngitis, Kurt’s dad hooking up with Finn’s mum and an old high-school enemy of Will’s showing up to cause trouble, there’s precious little smooth sailing happening here. And that’s even before you throw in the revelation of a whopping great secret about Rachel – and the arrival of Quinn’s baby.
Some of the most touching drama in this season occurs in the scenes concerning Finn and Kurt’s attempts to adjust to their parents dating each other, particularly Kurt’s insecurities about his father’s feelings towards him. But it’s not all doom and gloom. There’s still plenty of gleeking about (well, you think of a word for it). Glee gets the mix of pathos and music about right, so that things never get either too downbeat or too flippant. So there’s plenty of emotional drama, but you’ve also got Sue Sylvester making a Vogue video in The Power of Madonna, plus episode 19, Dream On, is directed by none other than Joss Whedon. However the best – certainly the most laugh-out-loud funny – moment in the entire series may just be the scene in episode 7, Bad Romance, concerning Tina (Ushkowitz) and vampires.
A solid finish to the first season of Glee, then, and one that doesn’t disappoint if you loved the first half. Glee is still pure, glorious escapism mixed with enough heart-tugging drama to make sure you a) keep giving a shit and b) have a reason to watch the episodes in order. You could probably pick things up without bothering to go back and watch the earlier half, but why would you want to?
EXTRAS ★★★ A behind-the-scenes look at the episode The Power of Madonna; Staying in Step With Glee dance tutorial; Glee music jukebox; sing-along karaoke; Bite Their Style: Dress Like Your Favourite Gleek; and Sue’s Corners, a series of clips featuring – who else – Sue Sylvester.
The Complete Season 1 release will also feature (we haven’t been able to see these) a Glee music video; full-length audition pieces; Fox Movie Channel Presents casting session; video diaries; and a bunch of featurettes: Deconstructing Glee with Ryan Murphy, Dance Boot Camp, Welcome to McKinley, Jane Lynch A to Glee, Meet Jane Lynch, Things You Don’t Know About Jayma, Things You Don’t Know About Cory, Things You Don’t Know About Amber and Things You Don’t Know About Chris.