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Wow, did Terri just make me care about her on Glee?

- Season 1, Episode 12 - "Mattress"

Will and Terri Schuester

To me, Glee has been a damn near perfect show since the preview of the pilot late last May. On one level, it is a deceptively simply exploration of a high school life. I’ve enjoyed the mix of genres of music that’s been used, and the covers themselves are also well done. The dark comedy elements, however, really stand out. Most, if not all of the characters on the show are pretty damn unlikable, but we manage to like them anyways. Well, most of them at least.

Terri Schuester has not exactly won fans over. Sure, the character isn’t supposed to. If Will is the “hero,” then lying to him about his child is not going to endear you with fans. In fact, Terri has been so annoying, that it’s been tough to see through the character to the amazing performance by Jessalyn Gilsig. After her work this week, however, you can’t look past it anymore.

The moment that we’ve all been waiting for, since, well, the second episode, finally occurred tonight. Will woke up from the haze of naivety that has kept him in the dark about Terri’s supposed pregnancy. Both Gilsig and Matt Morrison gave an incredible performance as their relationship burned down around them. Gilsig, in particular, showed a level of vulnerability and (gasp!) depth that we’ve not yet seen out of Terri. You could really understood why she made the choices she did, even if the “how” is much harder to grasp.

Where these two go from here, though, is a mystery to me. Can Will ever really forgive Terri for keeping this lie going for so long? She’s got a lot to come to terms with, including all of the reasons she gave for doing it. Do these two belong together, or is the Will and Emma pairing inevitable. You tell me!

Other observations:

  • Did Rachel really deserve a slow-mo for her exit of Figgins’s office?
  • Oh, and you had to love the Photoshop jobs on Rachel’s other yearbook pictures
  • The school can afford iMac computers in the library, but can’t break off a page in the yearbook for Glee Club? (Or a bus for Artie, or ramps, or blah blah and blah?)
  • As of yesterday, Ken Tanaka has 74 flaws, for those of you counting along at home
  • I don’t know Lily Allen, but Rachel’s song, and especially the performance, was awesome
  • “How do you spell loser? I’m gonna write it on his forehead!”
  • “And aside from nudity and the exploitation of animals, I’m willing to do anything to break into the business.”
  • I love Quinn Fabray … Especially when she’s standing up to, and laying the smack down on, Coach Sue
  • Sue seems to know the Glee Club Rulebook better than anyone
  • “Jump” was a very popular song in the Live-Blog/Chat this week
Photo Credit: FOX

Categories: | Episode Reviews | General | Glee | TV Shows |

6 Responses to “Wow, did Terri just make me care about her on Glee?”

December 3, 2009 at 12:39 AM

I would love to see Emma’s journal and a full list of Ken’s flaws. lol. This just makes me giggle – she has presumably COUNTED THEM.

FWIW Emma, 74 is a lot less than most other men. Except for Ivey, he’s my hero (still didn’t like that song, though)!

December 3, 2009 at 12:50 AM

I’m I going to get coal for Christmas because the whole time in the kitchen I was going…

YES! KILL THE BITCH! KILL HER! JUST STAB HER OVER AND OVER!!! I WANT THAT BITCH DEAD AND OFF THE SHOW FOREVER! NEVER TO BE TALKED ABOUT AGAIN!!!

?

I like the fact I like a show where we know nothing about any of the characters on the show. lol

December 3, 2009 at 10:03 AM

I can appreciate Gilsig’s performance, but no, I felt zero sympathy for her. She proved earlier in that same episode how little she cares about Will and what he cares about when she shot him down for the umpteenth time about Glee Club. Using her fake baby as the reason, too! Anyone who could perpetrate that kind of crime against her husband is without redeeming qualities. We’ve seen no other moment in the entire series run where she’s shown any love or caring for Will, just selfishness, manipulation, and fear of being abandoned. I’m hoping a piano falls on her next week. If he forgives her and stays with her, that permanently ruins the Will character for me.

December 3, 2009 at 11:52 AM

Will and Terri’s relationship have been corrupted from the beginning. Here we have a woman that based her relationship on her husband’s insecurities, with an added bonus of guilt and shame of the person she was. She blamed Will for his joy of Glee, I believed she felt saddened that her husband found something he loved, possibly more than her.

I commend Jessalyn Gilsig and Matthew Morrison for their beautiful interpretation of a marriage gone beyond repair. The revelation of the fake pregnancy was beautifully executed. As for their marriage, there isn’t much coming back from that. Terri feared Will leaving her and her only fear became reality.

I do feel sympathy for her. Out of all that craziness, there was a saddened girl, far beyond perfection. The fact that she felt the need to lie about a pregnancy at all can make anyone feel remorse.

December 5, 2009 at 9:09 PM

No. The character of Terri is psychotic and insecure to the extent that I no longer care (or past the point where I do). A lot of people are insecure. They don’t do things as f’ed up as that. Thankfully this is fiction.*

Maybe if her insecurity didn’t drive her to do such things – and not just the pregnancy faking but her stint as school nurse – I’d be more sympathetic.

I found Will and Terri’s discussion about their relationship interesting. Her perspective of their marriage particularly.

*Oh, I know that some people are like that in real life, I just prefer not to think about it.

December 5, 2009 at 9:24 PM

Also –

-Loved the Van Halen number.

-Felt sympathetic toward all the other characters, even Sue.

-Was expecting Quinn to take Sue’s diary to use as blackmail. Sue’s “Dear Diary” are among the best Sue-isms, along with any quip about Will’s hair. I’ve heard Jane Lynch say in interviews that those quips are among her favorites.

-I should also add that I really enjoyed Gilsig and the writing. The character is supposed to cause this kind of discussion (that is, “Do you sympathize or not?”).

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