#5b has had some standout moments

[tuiyla]

What’s your favorite seasons for Santana, Brittany, Quinn, Rachel, Tina and Mercedes?

Ohh this is such a fun question! Thank you Anon xx There's such an urge to choose a different one for each because six seasons six girlies but I shan't. At least not with that intention.

Brittany - Season 6

Starting with her because it's sooooo easy to choose. Gosh, how I wish we could have had season 6 Brittany for longer. If only she could have always been here, blessing us with her confidence. I cannot overstate how much this is my favourite version of Brittany. I also think it's a good albeit brief season for her plot-wise, and though I hear the criticism that she set Santana up for failure by pulling that Alma shit, she meant well and goddam did she do it in a fun way. Don't tell me the Brittany who tells Santana's homophobic grandma that sex with her granddaughter is great isn't the best version of herself.

Tina - Season 5

It was that or season 4. Listen, listen, I know a lot of people prefer her in the earlier seasons but they're wrong because diva Tina who has stuff to do is superior. It felt like season 5 finally allowed her to not only be part of the club but honestly be the de facto female lead. And it's a bummer that she's but a guest star in season 5B but season 5A has some of her very best vocal moments and is generally when I think she gets her dues. There's Tina in the Sky With Diamonds, of course, but even beyond that. Frenemies, Trio! The girl is actually getting plot! So yeah I guess you could argue for season 4 but iirc she sings the most this season and is still sort of the butt of the joke but it feels less disrespectful because she is actually being featured. She's beloved.

Santana - Season 4

I swear I'm not doing the season countdown thing on purpose. Obviously I love Santana in every season and I'm a firm believer that if you don't love her at her season 3A you don't deserve her at her season 4. And I reject the notion that she peaked in season 4 in that she didn't continue to be beautiful breathtaking brilliant never been done before afterward. But with all that you don't love my fave like I do talk aside, yeah season 4 is probably my favourite for Santana. Ironic because she actually misses a lot of episodes but she just has such an Arc and goes through such a journey. I love how lost she feels and how vulnerable she is after the breakup and how hard she tries to be a good friend but how much she sucks at acting like a normal person. The writers should have gotten her to New York sooner and my god do I have other notes for improvement in terms of writing but Santana herself? Beautiful perfect baby girl. She goes through your bags and drawers and hugs and holds you while you cry. Season 2 is also a contender.

Mercedes - Season 3

Oh poor Mercedes gets such a chaotic season. Unfortunately I don't think she has a standout season because she never gets enough of a story but season 3 feels the closest to having an arc. There's a bit there in season 1 but it's lowkey and in B plots, and season 2 similarly feels like they mostly forget she's there. Now I very much do not appreciate the way season 3A frames her because season 3A SUCKS but she gets to take a stand and shine. She gets shit done, stands by her principles and herself, gets The Troubletones going, demands the respect she deserves. And then season 3B sees the love triangle thing with Sam which I'm not a huge fan of but it does give Mercedes character drama and even then she stays so principled. She ultimately gets many happy moments and her stardom gets kicked off. So yeah I just love to see her stand up for herself and work towards her goals while also not being left out of the romance drama, which on Glee equals screentime.

Quinn - Season 2 I guess

I simply refuse to consider season 1 her best. I think people who only like Quinn in that season must not like Quinn very much at all because she's constantly decentered during her own pregnancy and has so little agency in it all. It also feels, just, sadistic to say all that horrible shit happening to her was the best. Then again horrible things always do be happening when she's around. And I think my latest Quinn ask was exactly about the messiness of season 2 so clearly this season isn't perfect, either. But she has stuff to do, you know? It's fascinating to see her completely reject the pregnancy. She refuses to be the teen mom people want to perceive her as. She clings desperately to a sense of normalcy, nay, superiority, and it leads to tensions with Santana and a messy dating life and Quinn ultimately crumbling at the end of the season. So, you know, still sad shit, but my god at least it's not You're Having My Baby. My other choice would be season 4 but she's in the grand total of two and a half episodes and I just happen to project a lot into it.

Damn it's really hard to choose for Rachel. I'm going to sound like such a hypocrite because I explicitly said I won't just do the girl-a-season thing but here goes:

Rachel - Season 1

Like with Santana, I would once again like to note that if you don't love Rachel at her season 5 maybe you don't deserve her at her season 1. And I do really like season 6 for her, for example, but it's been so long since I've seen that season that it wouldn't feel right to say it's my fav for her. Season 1 Rachel is just such a delight. Again, I think there's good in her (and for her) in every season and it feels too mainstream to say season 1 but goddam. It's the popular answer for a reason. Rachel is so earnest and so over the top and so hilarious. But then she has these come-down-to-earth moments and especially when Shelby the devil comes around we see how she's just a lonely girl desperate for love. She's so so precious I just wanna wrap her in a blanket. And I hugely dislike the Finchel stuff but unfortunately, that is what it is. Lots of other great moments.

Again great question, hopefully good answers too.

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend and wow, that episode was A LOT. I'm glad we got to see TayKay in her true form, though also glad we didn't see the final break-up this episode since the focus deserved to be on the incredible Hen & Chim friendship. They are the foundation of the 118 and while they've had bits (read: not enough) of their individual stories told this season, I'm really happy to see an episode so focused on their bond (though not gonna lie, that scene with them and Jonah at the end left me

feeling nauseous). Speaking of Jonah, love that the actor had a truly stand out performance while AK continues to "meh" audiences. Anyway also in focus us what feels like nearly the end of Eddie's healing arc, which again was beautiful to see. All the little tidbits we got from his childhood made me 😭😭😭, but the joy of seeing him say he was going to be better for himself was such a fantastic moment. Eddie really has come so far (also Ryan's performance has been amazing) and in a good position to support his future husband next season when Buck has his breakdown era. Other notable things this episode include the welcome lack of L and Bobby punching Jonah. I'm going to predict during his spiral next episode we see Eddie returning the advice Frank gave him when they talked about Afghanistan, particularly about blaming themselves on not seeing the danger when they were focused on healing others. Anyway if there are any complaints i want to mention it is not with the episode itself but with the fact that the entire TayKay and triangle storyline has been such a waste of time. TayKay never changed, we didn't need to know anything else about her for the breakup to work. Why have her crappy "truth is everything" plot, the vague attempt to give her a sympathetic backstory, the dumb cheating plot with her inconsistent characterisation when original recipe TayKay was enough to end BT? At least the event itself looks to be glorious!

Bestie, I am thriving today, though I have to admit to being a little surprised that a lot of people were less than pleased with the episode. I was just too caught up in the euphoria of Hen/Chim bestieism, tay kay’s true self being shown, almost NO L, and Eddie facing generational trauma and walking out of it with him and his dad wanting to do better, to be too concerned about anything else. I’ve got some issues today but nothing that makes this not still one of the most enjoyable viewing experiences I’ve had in 5b. 🤷🏻‍♀️ So lets talk about it!!

Hen and Chim were literally at their BEST all episode! Aisha and Kenny are criminally underused and it’s been particularly glaring in this season with them choosing to write Kenny out while JLH was out, and the pacing this season being a mess so the mains did fuck all most of the time. But this episode had some BANGER moments for them! We got serious talk besties, we got joking besties, we got investigation besties (Chim being nervous about getting caught, PLEASE I want to kiss Kenny on the mouth for every single choice he made this episode), we got absolutely panicked Hen and Chim to the rescue even half dead (twice dead? twice revived?), and my favorite moment (aside from the juice pouch because GOD Kenny is adorable and perfect) was Chim calling himself the comic relief (which people often think he is and forget what an amazing and layered character Chim is) and Hen shutting that down and reminding him (and the audience) that he’s so much more than that. It was SO GOOD to have them back on my screen for most of the episode. Also, not for nothing, but the contrast to their best friend moments and the way they look at each other vs Buddie was...very loud.

As for the Jonah of it all, I was not expecting it to go as far as it did, but by that point I was just *vibrating* with Hen/Chim love and we knew they would be okay, so I made it through okay, but it being SO dark, SO quickly was unusual for the show in general but knowing KR had a hand it in and she was the one pushing the Jeffrey stuff I can’t say I’m too surprised 🤷🏻‍♀️ But I’ll take this storyline ANY DAY over that other one. I have also seen lots of people pointing out the pacing of the episode was weird which I can agree with, it just didn’t take me out of the joy of watching nearly like every second L is on my screen pulls me out and makes scenes nearly unwatchable 🤷🏻‍♀️ I do think if they were going to go that hard at the end, that we maybe should have had more scenes of him leading up to this episode. Not a lot, but maybe just a little bit more than what we got. I’m going to talk about pacing a little more later but I’m with you and also cackling about Bryce being basically ignored (though likely part of the “misdirect” but still. It was way more shady saying nothing about him and then just having him still around for some reason) while the hyped character and storyline has been SO BAD it was almost entirely cut 🤭 

Bryce came out and delivered an incredible performance in this episode but also throughout 5b, being in the background and mostly likable before really letting Jonah’s true self shine, but I continue to be baffled at what both AK and MW are doing with their faces 90% of the time. I’ve never seen either of them in anything else so IDK if it’s just this show, but AK’s line delivery is SO WEIRD and she only had like 2 brief scenes this episode and both times I messaged someone specifically to ask what she was doing with her face in those brief moments because it was just so noticeably off.  The blessed lack of L was nice, though both moments of hers still weren’t even needed because some rando who has never worked A shift asking Ravi what’s going on with Hen and Chim (who have to be a bit notorious even within the 118 if even other houses know about them) and Ravi saying it’s better not to ask would have made more sense than someone who has been working with them constantly for months 🙄 But it was far less than what I was bracing for. I’m still pissed about her presence taking me out of the joy and feeling of May Day, so I was happy to be spared here, and I refuse to think about the finale just yet. 

And then we have MW and her delivery which is...glaringly bad when you see it in gifsets with other characters from this episode. Her “serial killer” and “I can do something” lines were just so bad, but BOY is it nice to get back to the show acknowledging through other characters, especially Buck, how deeply awful she is! I have only half-watched most of her scenes since 4x14 because I was so sick of what they were trying (and failing) to do with her, but this felt so much like 2x06 that I was just eating it up with a spoon. Go girl! Be the Huge Wrench in your own relationship! But I’m with you, this makes the whole L thing look even MORE pointless which I thought wasn’t possible! We knew it always needed to come down to this, that she’s a terrible person and Buck should never have been with her, but did we need to drag it out this long only to be told that she hasn’t really changed and this has all just been a waste of time? Several people have pointed out that this feels like a storyline that was supposed to be in 5a but got pushed and I could buy that. They had to change her personality every 5 minutes and drag Buck down with her just to keep this relationship on life support long enough to make it to the end of the season, only to end with zero outside influence or interference either from L or Buck “spiraling” because his family is missing. At least it looks like we’ll be getting the breakup Buck deserves to have, so fingers crossed they follow through on that! (also “ original recipe TayKay “ please I am crying! 🤣🤣🤣)

Okay this is already entirely too long BUT as much as the pacing was weird and Eddie’s storyline didn’t really fit in this particular episode tone-wise (this would have been a good 2-parter) it was SO GOOD and pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. I love how 911 addresses generational trauma, and Eddie may have stirred stuff up, but he didn’t shut down! He not only let those angry feelings out, but he let himself be vulnerable and at least start talking it out with his dad. And surprise! He found out his dad felt a lot of the same things he himself felt about missing out on time with their kids and they both want to do better! I LOVE this for him. Adult parent/child relationships are almost always complicated because you still feel those childhood wounds and hurt, but you’ve lived enough to know that they’re just people! No two situations are exactly alike and not every parent/child relationship can or should be salvaged, but I like the direction they took with Eddie’s story. It’s not all fixed or all better, but Eddie is really taking what he learned in therapy to heart and it’s helping him so much. Look at him! He looks SO MUCH better and freer already!

This really is too long but quick miscellaneous things

It was weird not seeing Chris but it was likely episode contract related, and we at least knew where he was at all times

Very weird there was no Madney scene at the hospital but JLH just had a baby and the show working around her schedule as a new mom is a good thing!

SHIRTLESS CHIM!, 

Bobby decking Jonah, and Athena having to act like she wasn’t about to do the same thing, and sweetly icing his hand for him

Karen being the smartest person in the room as always

Uncle!Buck, ADHD!Buck (the dinosaur! 😭😭😭 I want to smoosh his little cheeks), Hoodie!Buck, Husband!Buck just hanging around watching Eddie pack so Eddie has a sounding board for his worries, Angry!Buck (I am having impure thoughts) just...BUCK. 

“I need a hero” being THE music choice of the episode 

[spirantization]

Some thoughts about Lucifer s5a, spoilers

The murder mystery being solved at the same time on earth & in hell by Chloe & Lucifer respectively was a lot of fun and a clever idea. Loved the demon messenger, which was something I wanted to see possession used for.

Michael pretending to be Lucifer was great. He’s such a dick but in a charming way that made it fun to watch. The trailer made it seem like this was a plot point that would stretch out for the bulk of the 5a and I was happy to see that it was just the one episode. A standout episode for me.

Michael being a dick and telling Chloe she’s a miracle happened way earlier than I thought it would but I was really happy with that decision. I felt the aftermath and Chloe’s processing was given time to breathe. It wasn’t rushed but didn’t drag out the whole time either.

CHLOE. MY SUN AND STARS. She was great and really front and centre this season. Her emotional journey took precedence and I am 100% here for that.

I also like that Michael spent about 2 days with her and then decided he was in love with her. Peak dumbass but also relatable.

We didn’t actually find out why Michael kidnapped her? Just that he had a ‘plan’. (I assume this thread will be tied up in 5b.) But I’m going to assume that he wanted to seduce her and thought a sad abandoned zoo would be a good place for some stockholm syndrome. He even bought her favourite coffee!!! It was $7!!!

The noir episode was fun times and the framing device/cast repurposing was A+. It also basically set up a way for Chloe to become immortal at some point if they choose to go down that route.

Genuinely though, if Lilith has been on Earth this whole time and has been sending her children down to Hell...how? How is she doing that? It brings up so many questions. How old are they when she sends them away? Does she have a direct doorway to Hell she sends her kids through? Does she get Lucifer to fly them back down with him? I don’t really care that the writers handwave this stuff, but it does change a lot of things with regards to demons and hell and the way it all works.

“Detective Amenadiel” was one of my fav episodes. We basically never get to see Chloe & Amenadiel together and they are a wonderful pair.

The pairings were on point this season. We got to see a deviation from the usual pair-ups and it made for such great character moments. Lucifer & Amenadiel in particular had so many fantastic beats this season.

Dan’s reaction felt honest and real. Dan got tragedy and comedy in spades this season and BOTH were amazingly done. Kevin Alejandro really got to flex his acting skills here and it shows.

DECKERSTAR. I mean, where to begin? Lucifer & Chloe being all soft with each other? Confirmed Chloe on top? Trying to be all subtle but also hold hands in public? Chloe hanging out at Lucifer’s penthouse to work on stuff? Actually talking and communicating and working through their issues TOGETHER? #blessed #growth

So happy with the first half of the season. We really got there.

[themostrandomfandom]

Hi! How would you personally rank the seasons of glee from your favourite to your least favourite & why?

Hey, @sitandsingtoyou!

Since I watch Glee almost exclusively for the Brittana, it’s probably no surprise that their narrative treatment is the single biggest factor that determines how I feel about any given season. 

If Brittana have a prominent, well-wrought arc from season premiere to season finale, then chances are I’ll like said season no matter what shenanigans are going on with other characters or storylines. 

The same is also true in reverse. 

That said, for the purpose of answering this ask, I also considered factors like the overall storytelling (beyond the Brittana of it all), the music, the presence of any standout episodes, general cohesion, etc., when making my rankings.

The final list appears after the cut.

WARNING: Here be strong feelings about Glee and more than a little bit of negativity about its writing and production. Note that the views expressed in this post are the author’s personal opinions based on her preferences, and they may very much differ from your own.

___________

In order from favorite to least favorite:

S6: As I discussed in this post, in addition to providing our girls with the happy ending they always deserved, S6 offers much of the best-written, most fully-developed, adorable, emotional, poignant, and narratively-satisfying Brittana we get throughout the series. We’re talking fanfic quality stuff, and not just in bits and pieces here and there but basically across the board in every episode in which Brittany and Santana feature. While there are a few things I’d change, on a whole, I can’t think of a more enjoyable canonical culmination to Brittana’s journey. As for the non-Brittana stuff, while there are, admittedly, some really low lows—many of the middling episodes of the season are an affront to screenwriting—there are also some suprisingly pleasant turns. Don’t tell anybody, but I actually love most of the New New New Directions and find the storylines that focus on them (as opposed to the adults of Lima and alumni advisers) kind of delightful. While the series finale itself somewhat underwhelms me, the flashback sequence at the end of episode 6x11 totally makes me cry. A lot of this season is about getting back to what made Glee fun and likeable in the beginning: good tunes, camp gags, and stories about a ragtag group of underdogs overcoming adversity through love and music. In general, I feel like S6 does a nice job tying up the loose ends for glee club members old and new and fulfilling the main thesis of the show (“Something is special because you are a part of it”).

S2: Brittana’s S2 storyline is one long, amazing roller coaster ride of emotion. It’s hard to describe exactly what it felt like watching it all play out for the first time as the episodes were originally airing; I hate to use the word “special” because it sounds so quaint, but it’s kind of the only term that really fits. Because the “Sex is not dating” line in episode 1x13 was initially treated like a one-and-done deal, going into S2, no one in the fandom really expected to see a fully developed Brittana romantic storyline—and yet that’s exactly what the Back Six gave us, and each successive Locker scene brought elation, heartache, fear, hope, and continued anticipation. Nothing beats S2 Brittana angst, and especially not the Hurt Locker, which is far and away the ship’s pièce de résistance. Then beyond the Brittana, the rest of the season is generally high quality, at least as far as Glee goes. There’s some nice tongue-in-cheek comedy, iconic scenes, and heartfelt character development, plus episode 2x19 is one of the show’s musical high points overall. As always with Glee, some pitchy moments sneak their ways in and a few episodes beg to be forgotten, but for the most part S2 is Glee in its stride, and it’s held up well over time.

S1: Since Brittana are not yet main characters, they don’t have a main text S1 storyline, per se. Still, when you fill in the gaps, there’s a lot going on with them on a subtextual level, enough so that rewatching S1 knowing what will eventually happen in later seasons will provide a strenuous cardio workout for any serious Brittana shipper. There’s plenty of excellent Heya improv to go around, and the classic “Brittana on the back row” can’t be beat. Plus, Brittana’s mini-arc with Finn between episodes 1x14 and 1x15 is heartbreaking. Still, the reason why I rank this season so highly has less to do with Brittana in particular than it does with overall quality: Simply put, I think that Glee had a better idea of what it was about during the first thirteen episodes of S1 than it did throughout much of the rest of the series. While later on the show would struggle to balance comedy and drama, realism and camp, trying and failing to be all things to all people, in the beginning, it was just an earnest, theatrical little show about nerdy choir kids trying to find their places in the world, and it didn’t take itself too seriously. Though many of the S1 storylines were schlocky—hello, fake Schuester pregnancy!—there were more than enough heartfelt performances and excellent character moments to balance them out. For instance, for as much as I generally dislike Finn, the “I’ll Stand by You” scene in episode 1x10 is so well done on every level. Whatever Glee became in its later seasons, in S1 it was at its core still good. It hadn’t forgotten what it was all about yet.

S3: Now we’re getting to the bottom of the barrel. I rank S3 fourth on my list not because I really enjoy it all that much but because it’s less terrible than S5 and S4, at least imo. The season’s biggest issue is that it’s all over the place in terms of quality. Sugar was a blessing, but Rory not so much. Likewise, on the Brittana side of things, there are some really high highs—our girls officially start dating! they share their first on screen kiss! they have a fabulous time at their senior prom together!—but there is also the giant bugbear that is Santana’s “coming out” arc, which is awful on so many levels. The writing and characterization for Brittany and Santana vacillates wildly throughout the season. In some episodes, like 3x04 and 3x13, it’s really great. In others, like 3x16, it’s utterly headache-inducing. And it’s not just our girls who suffer from spotty writing throughout the season; Quinn’s storyline is a complete mess, and Sue is an unbelievable Yosemite Sam caricature of herself whose exploits are so exaggerated that they make it virtually impossible to suspend one’s disbelief enough to enjoy her scenes. While the Troubletones are a musical highlight for the whole series—and the “Rumour Has It/Someone Like You” mashup is the best musical performance in all of Glee, hands down—a good soundtrack doesn’t make up for some of the season’s more glaring deficiences, and especially not the way Santana’s storyline was treated both inside and outside the universe of the show. Though there are a handful of S3 episodes I will rewatch for my own personal enjoyment, there are many that I’d prefer not to recall. S3 was the first season of Glee to bring in new regular writing staff beyond RIB, and with all its inconsistencies and the disuniform quality of the episodes, unfortunately, the inexperience really shows.

S5: With the exception of episodes 5x12 and 5x13, I hate almost everything about S5—and, yes, that includes the majority of Santana’s NYC episodes. I get that Heather Morris was largely off the show during this season, so it’s not that I blame TPTB for pairing Santana with Dani or making her Hummelberry’s sidekick. It’s just that it breaks my heart watching Santana repeatedly throw herself against a brick wall as she tries over and over again to win Kurt and Rachel’s friendship and trust, always to no avail (see here and here). In theory, Hummelpezberry could have been a really fun brot3—god knows that myriad fanfic authors have been able to pull it off to great effect—but in canon it never really worked, largely because the writers were reluctant to stop using Santana as a convenient heavy whenever they needed to generate synthetic conflict in an episode, even though she had long since ceased to function as an antagonist in terms of her narrative arc. While there were plenty of zingers and jaunty musical numbers in the Loft, I could never really enjoy them because the happy times never lasted. Santana was made to feel like an outcast in her own home, and for someone who loves that character as much as I do, it hurt to see her feeling so lonely and ostracized. Once she ran off into the sunset with Brittany, things took a turn for the better. Still, there were really only a handful of bright spots overall. Anyone who’s read TKTD knows that my second favorite ship on Glee is Samcedes, and I did truly enjoy the cute little romcom that was their 5B storyline. I also loved the Sancedes and later Brittanacedes friendship moments on the tail end of the season. But in general, everything felt strained and disjointed, and my ultimate sense is that the tragic early loss of Cory Monteith proved an insurmountable hurdle for the season’s creativity and writing direction on a whole.

S4: I liked the production of Grease, but otherwise this season was one long fail from start to finish, and there is not a single episode out of the twenty-two that I at all care to revisit. Though I’ve been able to rationalize and justify and meta my way through the Brittana arc, doing so is just more intellectual and emotional trouble than it’s worth. Throughout S4, the depiction of every established character including our girls seems OOC, some to an incredibly noticeable degree. Sam Evans, whom I loved in S2 and S3, absolutely gets trashed, going from a goofy, lovable dork to idiot Finn Hudson Version 2.0. Episode 4x04 represents one of the worst and most misguided writing decisions I’ve ever seen made on a primetime TV show. That a group of professional screenwriters would sit down and say, “Let’s break up three of our flagship couples not for any good or compelling narrative reason but simply because we want to ‘spice things up’ and see how our heavily-invested, emotionally vulnerable, primarily teenaged and young adult audience reacts!” boggles the mind, as does the fact that they were then surprised when their viewership numbers dropped off dramatically thereafter. I do want to say that I liked Marley Rose, Unique Adams, and Kitty Wilde, though I otherwise found the New New Directions kind of meh. Overall, this season is the one that seems to stray the farthest from Glee’s original premises and spirit. There isn’t much that’s fun, triumphant, or satisfying. There’s just a lot of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, cultural insensitivity, bad writing, and miserable story arcs in scads.

Thanks for the question!