A testament to how quickly the tide can change...Remember how I dubbed Glee's returning premiere Yes/No one of the better pieces of television I'd seen this year last week, awarding it 5/5? It's amazing to think how much of the charm, parodical-intelligence and heart the show seems to have lost with its move to a Michael Jackson tribute episode this time around, an event which surely should have come with its own wave of emotions and tears. Michael sees the New Directions outraged at their mistreatment by the Warblers, as well as Rachel finally making a decision about Finn's wedding proposal. Diana Agron in particular portrayed Quinn brilliantly, as she added a new layer of depth to her character when discussing the substance of teenage relationships in the midst of her acceptance to Yale. However, most of the time the episode (and its cast) appeared to struggle to know whether it would rather develop character arcs or focus more on paying tribute to the man who gave us such iconic songs like Thriller and Bad, and I can't help but think that if it had put much more of an emphasis on the latter as previous tributes to the likes of Madonna and the Rocky Horror Show did we might have ended up with an overall stronger episode. As it is, while the renditions of Michael Jackson's songs are fine and dandy, they feel hugely out of place in a story which has far too much on its plate for its own good, something for which the bombastic opener Yes/No is admittedly partly responsible. Here's hoping that next time around we can get a completely standalone episode (perhaps a holiday special?) that can do more justice to the artist it's paying tribute to.
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