In this episode, New Directions competes against Kurt and the Warblers at Sectionals with Mike and Brittany as the featured performers. In other news, Finn and Rachel fight over Finn’s earlier affair with Santana, and end up breaking up when Rachel discloses that she tried to seduce Puck in revenge.

The highlight of this episode (IMHO) was the end, the performance at the end, that is.  Tina and Mercedes sang a powerful “Dog Days Are Over”, with the rest of New Directions backup dancing. Another must see was the dance routine that Brittany and Mike performed during the New Directions sectionals performance.

A fan fav will surely be Quinn and Sam (Chord Overstreet’s) performance of The “Time of My Life”, but to me that scene felt like a rehash of Finn and Rachel’s performance in last Season’s finale. The tie between New Directions and the Warblers (Kurt’s new school) also felt a little contrived to allow them both to advance to the next level while still allowing them to compete in this episode, but on the up side, Blaine will still be in the picture.

Featured Music

• Don’t Cry for Me Argentina (Distance Duet)
  • Chris Colfer’s Solo
  • Lea Michele’s Solo
• The Living Years
• Hey, Soul Sister
• (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life
• Valerie
• Dog Days Are Over

Watch the Full Episode

If you haven’t watched it yet, here’s where you can find the first episode of glee online.

After seeing all the promos for this show during American Idol, I naturally was intrigued by what was to come. The catchy music already led me to download a plethora of Journey and Amy Winehouse, plus whatever a capella groups had recorded versions of “Don’t Stop Believin’” (not many). I was just hoping the show itself would deliver since the promos were very thorough.

I’m happy to say, it was an hour well spent. This show was fresh the way Ally McBeal, Desperate Housewives, and Grey’s Anatomy were fresh — by bringing a twist to the comedy/drama genre that you didn’t know you were missing. Aside from being filled with well done musical numbers, the writing is smart and the editing add to the humor in a way you just have to see.

In the past, many successful comedies have been driven by quirky characters and this show has several of them — from the self absorbed future star Rachel Barry to the nerdy, wheelchair-bound Arty who will surely make for lots of humorous scenes. The addition of veteran comedienne Jane Lynch (of 40 year-old Virgin and Role Models fame, among others) allows an additional layer of disgruntled sarcasm to add to the mix as well.

It’s easy to see that there is a lot to explore with this show. There are potential character relationships, but also I’m guessing the writers will try to break the stereotypes of what glee club or show choir has been thought of in the past — geeky, nerdy, and a magnet for drama queens.

I think that as long as the show continues to make use of both current and retro songs, the music will stay relevant and a great way to draw viewers back to watch. The use of a capella incidental music also adds a lot of texture to the transitions and scene backgrounds and keeps with the entire theme of the show. Judging from the fact that the cast version of “Don’t Stop Believin’” jumped to #1 on iTunes, I’m sure we’ll see lots more music released from this show’s soundtrack soon.

Overall, this is one of the few shows I have had nothing but positive things to say about in a long time. It’s going to be very refreshing to sit down and watch it each week in the fall. I’m hoping it gets a good time slot and lots of viewers so it can make it for at least an entire season (or more).