Glee: Goodbye

Wow, that is all I can really say. This was an interesting episode. All the seniors are leaving. This was sad.
First, the goodbyes, and then, figuring out the future. Shockers were included.  Some even surprised me.
Mr. Schuster sang to everyone. Kurt said his goodbyes, and promised Blaine that he would never say goodbye to him; they were going to make this relationship work, no matter what. Quinn managed to inspire Puck to study and pass his test, so he could graduate, which he did. Santana decided that she would go to New York, and ultimately, her mother supported her in this decision. Mercedes is off to California thanks to the video Sam posted of her singing on youtube while Mike heads off to Chicago. That just leaves Rachel, Finn and Kurt to figure out what they are doing.
After graduation, which was an odd ceremony, too much fun and way too short, Rachel, Finn and Kurt all meet in the choir room to open their letters. Finn didn't get into the school of his choice, but the shocker came when neither did Kurt. Rachel, however, made it into NYADA, but she decided to defer her enrollment for one year so she could train Kurt and Finn so they could come with her. After cleaning out her locker, Finn picks her up to what she thinks will be there wedding. But Finn, instead, takes her to the train station, so she can go to New York without him. I was shocked, completely. Finn said that he had spent nights crying over his decision, and he wanted to go through with the marriage so much, he couldn't. He had to let her go. The scene was absolutely heart-wrenching. As the reviewer for EW put it, this scene was one of the best, if not the best, non-musical scene of the series. I agree with her. It was so real, raw and emotional. Lea Michele was superb (attention Emmy voters). Finn, in another unseen twist, is joining the military after all. So he's off to North Carolina.
Though I didn't really this episode that much, the ending will never be forgotten. It was so sad, but so real, and once again, referring to the article by the EW writer, it felt so much like a series finale not a season finale, though thousands of questions are left unanswered, including who the father of Sue's baby is and will Will and Emma actually get married? among others. Either way, an unforgettable episode. Grade: A-

Glee: Props and Nationals

Wow. That is all I can really say. These two episodes were great, truly. Certainly the best episodes in a while.
First, to Props. Tina finally got some major screen time, and I was happy about it. However, some Rachel lamenting came before Tina's moment. Rachel was still devastated over not getting into NYADA, apparently, the confident Rachel from last week is nowhere in sight. Moving back to Tina, in a rehearsal, Tina flipped out because all the stage time and solos were reversed for Rachel. No one, not even her boyfriend, Mike came to her defense. She took no comfort in the fact that she is head of the costume committee. Later, at the mall, Tina was busy buying supplies to create costumes for Nationals and text fighting with Mike; then, disaster struke when she fell into a fountain while texting, just like on that youtube video.
When her head hit the bottom of the fountain, she had a nightmare or reversal reality, whichever you prefer. She and Rachel had switched places, Kurt was now Finn, Finn and Puck were now Kurt and Blaine. Santana was now Artie, Mercedes Brittany, and well, you get the idea. Here Tina finally got her solo number, and she did quite well, though Rachel would have done better. Rachel as Tina gave Tina as Rachel some good advice, seek out Carmen and talk to her about coming to Nationals to see Rachel sing again. Needless to say, this was a great interlude, and everyone got the correct mannerisms of the other person they were playing down perfectly. They really have spent tons of time together over the past couple of years.
Now, back to reality. Blaine and Kurt (as themselves) rescue Tina, and she recovers, and once again, puts her support behind Rachel. She even encourages others to do the same. She drives Rachel to confront Carmen, which doesn't go as planned, though Rachel made her point well. Rachel pointed out that didn't it take Carmen four tries to get into Julliard. To end the episode, she and Rachel sang a beautiful duet as they boarded the bus to Nationals.
The other major plotline consisted of Puck and Bieste and their hidden issues. Santana, Brittany, and Mercedes confronted Bieste and begged her to leave Cooter. However, she didn't leave until after helping Puck through his issues. Puck, forever taking one for the team, decided that he would be to one to dress in drag for Nationals, per Sue's suggestion that Kurt do that after Unique won rave reviews for doing just that. Santana was oddly turned on by Lola, Puck's stage name. Yet, others in the school didn't take as kindly, and soon there was a fight out by the dumpster where Puck had formally dumped his victims. The fight got quite nasty, including some nasty name calling against Puck's parents. After Puck get out of the dumpster, he pulled out a knife (I also immediately thought of West Side Story), causing me to gasp. Luckily, Bieste came along and broke up the fight, before things could get any worse. Puck had a meltdown, because he wasn't going to graduate high school, and he was living up to his parents' awful expectation of him; he was a nothing, just like they thought. Bieste told him that even though they always acted like badasses, stuff did hurt them. Needless to say, this was just the advice she needed to hear. Upon coming home that evening, she told Cooter that she would be leaving as she laid her ring down on the table. Cooter tried his evil mind tricks to get her to stay, but luckily, this time she stood her ground. Cooter did not take the news well, and flipped the table over. The scene was chilling, especially when Bieste admitted that she slept with a knife under her pillow at night.
Still, this episode was real, with an amazing performance from Mark Salling (attention Emmy voters) and the song choices were good, including Taylor Swift finally getting some coverage in the form of Mean, as a clever duet between Puck and Bieste. All-in-all a great episode, which definitely deserves a second and third viewing,though I'm trying to figure out how Quinn went from barely being able to take a few steps to being completely functional on her own. Grade: A
Now to Nationals. This was another great episode. At Nationals, after some fighting because tensions were so high, things calmed down. Mercedes was horribly ill at the beginning but made a miraculous recovery at the last minute, thanks to Sue and her witch doctor ways. Quinn may have struggled in practice with her still weakish legs, but pulled it together for the performance. Jesse St. James had returned and he was actually nice to Rachel. He even talked to Carmen and informed her that Rachel was the most talented person he knew. Finally, the egg incident is forgiven (mostly). He and Finn didn't even fight. New Directions was up first, the death spot as Quinn dubbed it. They were amazing, expect for their version of Lady Gaga's Edge of Glory, but their finale number was superb. Rachel sang her heart out and this time, Carmen was there to witness her awesomeness.
Vocal Adrenline was up next. Unique was having issues summing his courage, but after a pep talk from Kurt and Mercedes he made it on stage, and did a pretty good job at the songs, though I felt they lacked the heart that was dripping from New Directions.
Then came the results after some interesting reactions from the judges, which included Lindsay Lohan. She was actually good and looked good considering everything she's been rumored to have gone through and done (including the illegal drugs and painkillers). She also had some great lines, namely her one about making a comeback, just as the New Directions would have to do. Another judge was a show choir junky, but he felt bad about voting because he knew that he was ruining the dreams of some of the contestants. Perez Hilton, the last judge, wasn't fond of New Directions preferring Vocal Adrenaline.
Then came the results. Unique got the MVP award, but, after a tense moment, New Directions was named National Champions. It was a great moment. Their return to school was also wonderful. This time the slushy cups were filled with confetti and everyone seemed happy to see them. Finn won his bet he had made with the same guy that had recently beaten up Puck. He and Rachel could have a better honeymoon now. In addition, Emma finally decided it was time to have sex with Will, which she did. Sue even noticed the special glow she had the next day at school, though Emma tried to deny it.
Then Finn and Rachel were called into Principal Figgin's office where they were given the awards coming to them, and asked if they could perform again. The next day, an assembly was called to hand out the Best Teacher of the Year Award. I predicted that Mr. Schu would win, which he did. Finn and Rachel had a nice speech before hand and then the New Directions sang the appropriate We Are the Champions. It was such a wonderful moment. Next week comes the season finale, so the tears will come. This episode is one to be remembered, as it was also great, but unfortunately, that one song ruined it slightly for me. Grade: A-

Glee: Prom

Sorry, I haven't posted about this show in a while but now I'm back. However, this episode was not the greatest, but at least it wasn't the worst of the season.
It was prom time again, and apparently, at McKinley High, juniors can totally be on the prom court, and write-ins are acceptable. This year, New Directions was well-represented for the prom court, with Finn and Brittany in the running for king and Quinn and Santana in the running for queen. Things then got interested.
Finn, still having sympathy for Quinn, decided that they would team up and run together; Rachel got mad at this, and decided that she would throw the anti-prom party at a hotel (Santana screams at her, saying that she is selfish and cares only about herself). Thus she, Kurt, Blaine, Puck and Becky (devastated that she was not elected to be on prom court) join forces to make the evening enjoyable, though the whole thing is a bust, and they are just end up at the real prom in the end. After Finn discovers that Quinn can walk (barely), he gets mad, believing that she is lying about her condition just to gain the sympathy votes, and nearly gets kicked out of the prom again; however, this time he leaves on his own and gets Rachel (in a beautiful prom dress), Kurt and Blaine to go back. Becky and Puck stay put and begin a mean game of strip poker, and soon, Puck is in nothing but his underwear. I begin to get worried, and pray that they don't have sex. Fortunately, they don't, instead he makes her a make-shift crown so she can be the queen of the not-prom, before they too show up at the real prom.
In other news, Brittany, finally fulfilling her presidential duties, decides that the theme will be dinosaurs, and that is what it will be. Sue decides that both Quinn and Santana will count up the votes so no cheating occurs. Quinn wins, but by only one vote, and decides that she can't accept it, as she knows that she is somewhat lying to the public. In the end, Rachel gets the crown so she and Finn can be even more perfect. Life can once again go on, differently, as Rachel completely choked on her NYADA audition, but life is still moving forward.
For the side plot, Brittany banned hair gel from the prom, so we finally saw Blaine without it, and it was a nice change, though he was humiliated by the whole thing. Luckily, Brittany decided to make an exception for him, because even she could see that there was a problem.
Most of the songs were decent. Joe, Sam, Artie, Mike and Rory would make a great boy band, and Rachel can still really sing. However, Brittany's crazy Dinosaur song was interesting. I still haven't decided about it yet. Overall, the episode wasn't that great, I predicted that Quinn would feel bad for Rachel, especially after Rachel's speech to her, apologizing for getting jealous and saying that she still saw Quinn as perfect and that she would remember and be proudest of being friend's with her. Thus Quinn decided that Rachel deserved the crown more. The best moment of the episode was when Mike and Tina walked in and Mike's face lit up, saying how much he loved dinosaurs. I'm just saying, but they need more screen time. Next week, Lindsay Lohan shows up and the show is two hours long, so who knows what would happen. Grade: B

The Avengers

This is another one of those movies I went to see because everyone else in the world went to see it this weekend, as it did earn over two hundred million dollars, making it the fastest movie to ever reach that huge sum!
Now, to be fair, I am not a huge fan of comic book movies, though this one was quite good. The cast was amazing, Robert Downey, Jr. (Ironman), Chris Evans (Captain America), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and the best of them all Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk). Though most were recreating their roles from previous films (which I have not seen), all were still great with funny lines and tons of fighting. However, there characters were basically one-dimensional, and there was no love story hidden between all the characters, or if there was, nothing happened. But maybe in the sequel, that will change.
The plot was fairly interesting, helped by the best nastiest villian ever, Loki, Thor's adopted brother portrayed by Tom Hiddleston who, in the first scene of the film, captures this powerful energy that can destroy or control the whole world. Through this, he also turns Hawkeye to the dark side, though, for me at least, it was unclear if he was ever fully on the good side to begin with. This was only a minor problem. Then, after finally assembling the entire team together, the battle begins, though there are hitches along the way. Number one, the heroes often have minor arguments, causing them to lose their concentration on the task at hand, and thus Loki can have time to plant on bomb on the flying ship and other crazy stuff like that. However, they pull together in the end to defeat Loki and his whole army of nasty space creatures, and (no spoiler) the avengers win. Thank goodness.
However, the film wasn't about the plot for me. There were funny lines every once in a while, and they were truly funny. But the special effects were amazing, after all, the Hulk was completely computer generated and amazing. The Hulk was also the best character in the film, and the one who helped defeat the alien creatures the best. All-in-all, the film was great, and I will gladly see it again. Grade: B+