Ryan Dorsey’s latest statement about his late ex-wife, Naya Rivera, has not gone over well with fans online, who deemed his words inappropriate to share publicly — especially since they involved the trauma of their grieving son, Josey.

In a recent interview with PEOPLE magazine, the Justified actor spoke openly for the first time about his late ex-wife, Naya Rivera, who ed away in 2020. Dorsey discussed his own grief as well as that of his 9-year-old son, who was with his mother at the time of her ing. While the interview paid homage to Rivera, discussing their time together, her disappearance and eventual death, and even their divorce, not everything he said was well received by fans.

During the conversation, Dorsey recalled a heartbreaking exchange with his son, sharing that Josey — who was only 4 years old when his mother died — vividly re the incident and feels guilt over not being able to help her. “Something he’s said over and over is that he was trying to find a life raft, and there was a rope, but there was a big spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it,” Dorsey recalled. “I keep reassuring him, ‘Buddy, that rope wasn’t going to be long enough.’ That obviously still sticks in his head because he feels like he could have saved her.”

Many netizens in the replies to Pop Crave’s X post found Dorsey’s comment insensitive, believing he should not have shared his son’s feelings of guilt over his mother’s death with the internet. “Can we maybe not share a child’s most traumatic event with the world? It’s heartbreaking that it’s something he had to deal with, but it’s not something we need to know… some things should stay private,” tweeted one fan.

Rivera’s disappearance on July 8, 2020, shocked the world. After going on a boating trip with her son to Lake Piru, in California, Naya and Josey reportedly ended up in dangerous waters. While the Glee actress managed to pull her son onto the boat, she lacked the strength to save herself, lacking a lifeguard jacket. Her body was recovered on July 13, 2020, identified by her father, and ex-husband, Dorsey.

In the rest of the interview, Dorsey also recalled the moment he received the call about Naya’s disappearance and the five agonizing days during which her family and friends had no news about her. “It was the worst five days of my life,” the actor said. “There was a fear — what if we don’t find her? It was just awful.” He continued, “If we had lost both Naya and Josey, I don’t know how I would have gone on with my life.”

In 2018, Dorsey and Rivera filed for divorce and amicably co-parented Josey until her death. Since Rivera’s ing, the actor has paid tribute to his late ex-wife multiple times on social media, often expressing how much he misses her, regardless of their divorce. “They say time heals all, but all is not grief. Doing the best I can for our JoJo Binx. As the time goes by, I’m often alone and sit and think. I think more of our better times,” Dorsey shared on Rivera’s birthday, January 12.

Every theatre kid knows Wicked, but for some of us younger theatre kids who grew up with Glee, our introduction to Wicked came through the countless renditions of Defying Gravity spread across all six seasons of what was arguably the most contentious musical TV show of… dare I say, all time?

Thankfully, even theater chains have recognized that, for some fans, Glee clips might just be the perfect gateway to build excitement before Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo leave us emotionally wrecked for nearly three hours, and some theatre chains — namely, Alamo Drafthouse — have even decided to air the ultimate Wicked and Glee singalong right before the main event.

As one fan noted on X, these screenings include clips of several Wicked numbers performed on Glee over the years. “Defying Gravity” was performed twice on the show. First, in season 1, by Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), and later on, in season 5, performed by Rachel, Kurt, and Mercedes (Amber Riley), as seen in the video above. “I need to be there,” replied a on X.

Of course, though, those weren’t the only times Wicked was honored on Glee. They went on to sing two more Wicked songs, “Popular,” and “For Good,” just to really emphasize how important Wicked was to these characters. However, the connection between Glee and Wicked goes well beyond simple covers.

If you’ve never watched Glee, you might not know that the two actresses who led the original Broadway run of Wicked have appeared in nearly every season of the series as recurring characters. It’s yet another layer to this theatrical crossover that makes these screenings such a fun time for fans of both worlds.

Kristin Chenoweth played April Rhodes, a character invited by Will Schuester to help the New Directions after her Broadway career hit a rough patch, while Idina Menzel — our iconic Elphaba — portrayed Shelby Corcoran, Rachel Berry’s biological mother and the adoptive mom of Quinn and Puck’s daughter. Funnily enough, despite Kurt and Rachel’s love for Wicked, none of them ever comment on how Shelby or April might look oddly familiar.

For a more modern connection to Wicked and its current buzz, we have to address the feud between two stars tied to both Wicked and Glee: Naya Rivera and Ariana Grande. The late Glee actress dated rapper Big Sean for six months before they got engaged in October 2013. By the following year, the engagement was called off, with many fans speculating Grande played a part in the split.

In her memoir Sorry Not Sorry, Rivera didn’t hold back in recounting her feuds — both with Glee co-star Lea Michele and with Grande. She detailed how, after the Glee tour, Big Sean became distant. When he refused to see her after returning to Los Angeles, Rivera decided to visit him anyway, using her key to his home, only to find Grande at her place.

“We’d been fighting for five straight days while he [Big Sean] was traveling, and then on the one day that he was back in L.A., he said he didn’t want to see me. Well, a**hole, I’ve got a key to your house. I walk in, go downstairs, and guess what little girl is sitting cross-legged on the couch listening to music? … It rhymes with ‘Smariana Schmande.’”

With all this history — ranging from Glee’s Wicked performances to the off-screen drama involving its stars — it’s no wonder Glee clips have found their way into these special Wicked screenings. For any Gleeks in the audience, it’s the perfect chance to really go down memory lane for a bit, so don’t walk — run to your local theatre.

Naya Rivera‘s death in 2020 left millions heartbroken, not least of which her young son Josey and her family.

The actress, known for portraying the irreverent Santana Lopez on the hit show Glee, started her day normally that July 8, taking Josey on a day out in the familiar Lake Piru in California, which she visited often. The mother and son decided to rent a boat and go out swimming in what they thought to be a safe environment.

Josey was 4 years old on the day his mom died. He was born on Sept. 17, 2015, to Naya and her then-husband Ryan Dorsey, becoming one of the first-ever Glee babies. The little boy quickly became his mom’s whole world and she took a break from acting to focus on raising him, returning a couple of years later with a role in the 2017 comedy film Mad Families.

While Naya’s career was largely defined by Glee, where she played one of the first major lesbian characters in a mainstream comedy, she had released music and a memoir and acted in several other shows and movies. Her biggest non-Glee roles came with Devious Maids and Step Up: High Water.

How did Naya Rivera die?

After Naya took the boat out into Lake Piru, she and Josey hopped off for a swim. Autopsy reports and her son’s own of the events reveal Naya drowned, possibly in a rip current. While she left her lifejacket on the boat, Josey was wearing his and managed to return to safety with the help of his mother who he then watched disappear underwater as he attempted to find a rope.

Josey was found alone and asleep on the boat a few hours later, prompting a widespread search that lasted until July 13, when Naya’s body was finally found, floating just north of Diablo Cove. After examination, her death was ruled an accidental drowning, without evidence of injury or intoxication.

Naya became the third Glee cast member to die at a young age following Cory Monteith in 2013 and Mark Salling in 2018. The day Naya’s body was found was the seventh anniversary of Cory’s death. Co-star Kevin McHale, who was a close friend of both, said “I’m not religious by any means, but you’d be hard-pressed to convince me that Cory didn’t help find our girl today.” Naya was 33.

Death is always one of the most difficult concepts to grasp. Whether we must face it on screen, in real life, or even with celebrities, it is always difficult to accept that someone is gone for good. Sadly, Glee fans have experienced the mourning process more times than the average TV fan.

We are not just talking about older actors whose time inevitably comes. It’s far more morbid. Even actors who were part of the main roster of Glee characters heartbreakingly comprise this list. Considering their young ages at the time of their ing, a term pertaining to Glee disasters has been thrown around among fans: the Glee Curse. Although absolutely eerie, it is simply impossible not to link these back-to-back disasters.

How many Glee actors have died?

At the time of writing, 21 Glee actors have sadly ed away. Most of them, while indispensable parts of the show as we know it, were guest stars for only one episode. Others, however, were the faces of Glee, representing the glee club that made many of us fall in love with music. They allowed us to open our hearts to joy, and along the way, a lot of mourning.

Regardless of the relevance of their role, all of the actors who have since ed were parts of a puzzle that can only be completed with all of its pieces — regardless of how small they may be. With that being said, let’s talk about some of the names we saw on screen over Glee‘s six-season run, and them a little more.

Olivia Newton-John

Many fans of the show Olivia Newton-John as one of the most iconic guest stars Glee ever had. Many others, however, her as the feisty and stunning Sandy from Grease. In the end, we all recall her iconic smile, beautiful voice, and her enduring perseverance. Newton-John ed away on August 8, 2022, at the age of 73, after a lengthy and arduous journey dealing with breast cancer.

Jane Galloway Heitz

Although Jane Galloway Heitz was only in one episode of Glee, she is the quintessential reason for the glee club’s very existence. Heitz played the role of Lilian Adler, the former glee club director and the inspirational figure who showed what music was all about. Lilian Adler’s image was displayed throughout the series, with the actress’s scenes appearing only in the very first episode. However, in 2019, the world said goodbye to this iconic actress after heart failure. She’ll never be forgotten as the face of Glee.

Mark Salling

The name Mark Salling will evoke a range of emotions for any Glee fan. For six seasons, Salling played the role of Puck Puckerman, the soft-hearted jock with a tough exterior and a voice as soft as silk. However, in real life, Salling’s actions were far from well-intentioned. In 2015, Salling was arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography. Two years later, the actor pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to four to seven years in prison, in addition to being required to as a sex offender and enter a treatment program.

Before his sentencing date in March 2018, Salling died by suicide in January 2018, at the age of 35. The news came as a shock to fans and the cast. However, given the actor’s track record of past sexual offenses, many itted that this outcome was not entirely a surprise. It is always difficult to grieve someone responsible for such horrible actions, but hopefully, some will still him as his much kinder character, Puck.

Robin Trocki

Robin Trocki is responsible for a lot of tears. Her character on Glee was none other than Sue Sylvester’s sister, Jean, who had Down syndrome. Although not a regular, Trocki’s character appeared in enough episodes for fans to find her a comforting figure on their screens. Jean Sylvester is one of the few characters on Glee who ed away, and her death was the very reason for one of Glee‘s most beautiful episodes, “Funeral.” Unfortunately, Trocki ed away in 2019 from Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 63.

Patty Duke

Patty Duke was a Hollywood gem. Very few entertainers can boast about being one of the most influential people in comedy, but Patty Duke could — though she never did. She played the role of Jan on Glee, and although it was only for one episode, her presence was essential for Kurt and Blaine’s storylines and the general representation of aged queer couples in media. Duke ed away in 2016 due to sepsis from a ruptured intestine. She was 69 years old.

Cory Monteith

Cory Monteith’s death was not easy for anyone to process. From the very first episode, fans had been wholly invested in Cory Monteith’s regular and main role on Glee, where he played Finn Hudson. From the start, Finn Hudson was Glee, and Glee was Finn Hudson. However, disaster struck, and Monteith ed away after an accidental overdose in his hotel room in 2013 at 31 years old. The show was still ongoing at the time, which caused a major shift and, of course, a period of grieving and mourning for the cast and crew of Glee.

For the following months, Glee fans were heartbroken, with a legion of people expressing their grief on social media and through several gestures. Monteith had long struggled with substance abuse since he was a young teenager, and he had just recently left a rehab center two months prior to his ing.

Roger Keller

Roger Keller’s appearance on Glee came with a backstory. Keller announced a decade-long break from acting, during which he allegedly took the time to look after his health. However, he returned to our screens for one final performance, reprising his role in Hollywood on Glee, where he portrayed Bill. Although he was a guest star for only one episode, Keller will always be ed for one of Glee‘s oddest yet funniest episodes, “The Spanish Teacher.” He ed away in 2017 at the age of 67 due to cancer complications.

Naya Rivera

The most shocking cast death on Glee was undoubtedly that of Naya Rivera. Despite starting as a semi-regular on the show in its very first episode, Naya quickly proved herself to be a force to be reckoned with. Her unmatched talent shone through our screens as she portrayed Santana, arguably one of the most iconic characters on television. However, in 2020, at age 33, Naya Rivera’s body was discovered in a lake where she had been with her son days prior.

Her tragic ing was completely unexpected. According to police reports, her son Joey was found alone on a boat after they found themselves caught in an apparent rip current. Reports suggest that Naya managed to place him on a boat with a life jacket, but she lacked the strength to pull herself up. Days later, her lifeless body was found, confirming everyone’s worst fears. Rivera died from drowning on July 8, 2020, with her body discovered on July 13, 2020 — marking her official date of ing exactly seven years after Monteith’s.

Edmund Shaff

Edmund Shaff was a comedic genius. While he was virtually in every single sitcom and comedy show to have ever existed, Glee still managed to snatch one of the most coveted and experienced actors for one episode. Shaff played the role of Bill, a singer who was part of a choir group called the Hipsters, which was comprised of only older men. He did absolutely brilliantly in his performance, and despite having ed in 2023 at age 87, he will remain one of Glee’s most iconic guest stars.

Michael Lerner

Michael Lerner was one of the few guest stars who had more appearances on Glee than the average guest star—and considering he was absolutely hilarious every time he was on screen, we would say that creative choice was definitely justified. Lerner played Sidney Green on Glee, appearing in a total of six episodes during Rachel’s Funny Girl character arc. However, in 2023, his ing shocked Hollywood; he died at age 81 from complications brought on by seizures he’d suffered the previous year.

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In 2013, the world was hit with the heartbreaking news about the ing of Glee‘s star, Cory Monteith. Today, the cast pays their tributes to the late star, ten years after his ing.

At the height of its popularity, the comedy musical series Glee saw one of its biggest talents lose his battle with addiction. After years of struggling with substance abuse, Monteith ed away after an accidental overdose in his home country in Canada, exactly ten years ago. At the time, the actor was dating his Glee co-star Lea Michele, who was the first one to pay her tribute to the actor today with a beautiful and tear-jerking post on Instagram.

At the time, Michele and Monteith were officially dating for about a year prior to his ing. The couple met in 2009 when they received the roles of Rachel and Finn, the main characters and each other’s love interests in Glee. With their love transpiring from the screen to real life, the couple announced their relationship in 2012 and never stopped sharing their bond since then. After the actor’s ing, Michele took a short break from acting and music, before returning to Glee in a beautiful memoir episode to the actor.

In a twisted game of fate, another Glee co-star’s death was pronounced on the same day, exactly seven years after Monteith’s ing. Naya Rivera, who portrayed Santana Lopez on the musical show, disappeared on July 8, 2020, in a lake while on a trip with her son. Five days later, on July 13, her lifeless body was recovered from the treacherous waters. Every year in July, the Glee cast pays their tributes to both stars, and this year wasn’t any different.

Monteith ed away at the age of 31, and Rivera ed away at 33. Both actors are survived by their friends and family and will continue to pose unimaginably important roles in every Glee fan’s life, ed by immeasurable influence in the television world that we know today.

There is something about the way Glee can go weird like no other show. Surely, by now we’ve accepted that Glee is the most indulgent show on TV; indulging as it does in some of the flightiest of fantasies on a whim, without the least bit of logic or narrative momentum. That’s why the show can get away with something as bizarre and indulgent as a black and white holiday special. This week, Mr. Schue (Matthew Morrison) has a big surprise for the newly re-formed New Directions. Having been impressed with the glee clubbers performance of West Side Story, the operator of the local PBS station wants the kids to put on a holiday special and he wants Artie (Kevin McHale) to direct it. Artie dives in with a visionary concept that combines the legendary Star Wars Christmas Special and Judy Garland’s slightly soused Christmas special from the 1950’s. The whole thing will be in black & white and feature nothing but happy songs. The holiday special happens to bump up against Sue Sylvester’s (Jane Lynch) rare good; she wants New Directions to sing to the homeless. With Glee you have to accept a certain amount of random moments when characters depart from their established attitudes and morph into what the plot requires. In this case, the plot requires Sue to not only attempt a completely selfless gesture, feeding the homeless at Christmas, or as she once referred to them, ‘Urban Campers,’ but also tolerate her mortal enemy, New Directions, and welcome them into her good deed with their good cheer and music that she hates so very much. It’s strange, but if a show so often departs from believable character motivations it becomes strangely consistent. The next episode could turn Rachel into a lesbian or a Martian and because this is Glee and NOTHING these characters do matter dramatically, we’d simply have to accept it. Inconsistency has become consistency for Glee. The special is certainly… special. I don’t mean that to be pejorative per se. The special is bizarre yet entertaining. I really enjoyed Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Blaine’s (Darren Criss) spoof of 50’s and 60’s Christmas special hosts; especially their banter about being ‘bachelors’ and ‘roommates.’ Less great was Blaine, Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes’ (Amber Riley) take on “My Favorite Things.” Maybe it’s because I despise the song or that I don’t understand how it’s considered a ‘Christmas’ song, or it could be my bias against any song featuring a dog bite, whatever the reason the song was dull and so was the performance. Things perked up mightily when Brittany (Heather Morris) burst in, along with Santana (Naya Rivera) and the Cheerios, and rocked out The Waitresses “Christmas Wrapping,” a great, mostly forgotten, 80’s Christmas song. Kudos to the music finders at Glee for digging up “Christmas Wrapping,” and for giving it to Heather Morris who knocked it out of the park. Random notes:

• Why did New Directions sing “Do They Know It’s Christmas” to homeless people? Really?
• This week’s soundtrack:
• All I Want for Christmas – Mercedes
• Blue Christmas – Rory
• I Wish I Had a River – Rachel
• Extraordinary Merry Christmas – Blaine and Rachel
• Let it Snow – Blaine and Kurt
• My Favorite Things – Rachel, Mercedes, Blaine and Kurt
• Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Finn and Puck
• Christmas Wrapping – Brittany and the Cheerios
• Do They Know It’s Christmas – New Directions
• Does Santana get points for not referring to Rory as ‘Lucky Charms?’ It’s the most obvious insult and she has avoided it. I ire her restraint.
• I cannot grasp why but Sue calling Blaine ‘Burt Reynolds’ makes me laugh but it does.
• Put me in the group that longs to view the Star Wars Christmas Special. The clips I’ve seen on youtube are brutal but there is this twisted part of me that is far too curious to let it go.
• Along those same lines, I long to hear Artie’s reboot of Frosty. How much did Rory’s little speech suck? I know it’s a Christmas classic but that Frosty reboot promised to be glorious. I feel cheated.

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Glee found a groove in “Hold on to Sixteen” that the series hasn’t been able to find yet this season. Welcoming Sam (Chord Overstreet) back to McKinley and the battle between the New Directions and The Troubletones, with Rachel sidelined by suspension, enlivened a ing cast that was clearly aching for a moment out front. The star, in what was mostly a ing role was Kurt (Chris Colfer) who started the show on fire by burning Blaine’s (Darren Criss) flirtatious friend Sebastian (Grant Gustin) with a series of biting barbs:

“I don’t like the way you look at my boyfriend. I don’t like your smirky meerkat face and I don’t like your obnoxious CW haircut.”

Give Sebastian credit however, that retort about ‘Gay Face’ showed he could give as well as he got in of catty comments. It will be interesting to see how this rivalry develops especially with the rumored return of Karovsky later this season in an arc opposite Kurt. Kurt was also the funniest part of Sam’s return to McKinley and the New Directions. After Finn (Cory Montieth) and Rachel (Lea Michele) found Sam working as a male stripper, under the moniker ‘White Chocolate,’ they convinced his parents to let him come back to McKinley. Sam returned with a song called Red Solo Cup by Toby Keith, that, while lively, was only really entertaining because of Kurt’s haughty reaction shots; Kurt is no friend of country music. Sam’s return was, of course, met with an insulting visit from Santana (Naya Rivera) who has now morphed into the female, cheerleader, version of lovable insult comic Don Rickles. With Sam back it was time to focus on Sectionals and specifically on how New Directions would attack The Troubletones minus Rachel (Lea Michele). For those who’ve already forgotten, Rachel was suspended for trying to rig the Senior Class Presidential election in Kurt’s favor. Rachel’s suspension included Sectionals leaving New Directions seeking something special in order to make up for the loss of her big voice. Sam’s idea is to employ some of his new stripping talent; something the rest of the group, specifically Blaine, disagrees with. Blaine has been clashing with Finn ever since he arrived and while this may have seemed like it was building to something important the writers were able to dismiss it with a single scene and a brief apology from Finn who itted that he was intimidated by Blaine and worried about being upstaged. With Blaine and Finn’s beef squashed, we were ready for Sectionals and Quinn (Dianna Agron) told everyone she had an ace up her sleeve to ensure a New Directions victory. Quinn found out last week that Shelby Corcoran (Idina Menzel) had slept with Puck (Mark Salling) and now she intended to use that information to get Shelby fired. A heart to heart with Rachel, surprisingly enough, caused Quinn instead to go to Shelby first, before going to the principle. Again, Glee puts a tidy little bow on things as Shelby dismantles Quinn and decides to fire herself. This actually wasn’t a bad scene but Quinn’s sudden change of heart later in the episode, not turning in Shelby, not trying to get the baby back, was a bit of a stretch. Then again, this is Glee where character motivation and narrative consistency go to die. Another good example of the quick change of heart came in the Mike (Harry Shum Jr.)/Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz)/Mike’s dad (Keong Sim) story in which Mike’s dad watches his son perform one time and has a complete change of heart about demanding his son go to med school. Mike’s life changing performance came as New Directions battled The Troubletones and the forgettables (honestly, do you care about the third group?). The performances here were some of the best of the season with The Troubletones opening with a hot mash-up of Gloria Gaynor and Beyonce. However, the New Directions countered brilliantly with a medley of Jackson family tunes that allowed some of the ing players a few moments in the spotlight. Tina turned in a great lead on “ABC” with Kurt backing her up and then Blaine and Artie (Kevin McHale) stole the show with the leads on Janet Jackson’s “Control.” “Control” was an almost comical commentary on how the of the Glee gang are growing up and ‘controlling’ their own lives. Nevertheless, Darren Criss and Kevin McHale’s twinned vocals were fantastic no matter what the weighty metaphor was. Closing the performance with Michael Jackson‘s “Man in the Mirror” seemed like a mistake after the rousing performance of “Control” but the way Finn, Sam, Blaine and Puck stepped up and nailed their solos and the way the chorus pounded out the finish was an absolute home run. From there we got Quinn’s sudden change of heart as well as the end, sort of, of the Troubletones as Mr. Shue (Matthew Morrison) welcomed Mercedes (Amber Riley), Santana, Brittany (Heather Morris) and even Sugar (Vanessa Lengies) back to New Directions with the promise to give them a feature song of their own down the line. The wrap up of “Hold on to Sixteen” was so tidy you’d think it was a season or even merely a Fall finale but no. Next week is the seasonal finale with a Christmas theme. Random notes:

• Sue (Jane Lynch) was off this week no doubt plotting vengeance for her loss in the Congressional race.
• No Coach Beiste (Dot Marie Jones) either, not that I missed either the coach or Sue; as I said last week the adults on Glee are rarely as interesting as the teenagers.
• I think there is potentially something fun about Sam deciding to fight for Mercedes. Good luck White Chocolate.
• This week’s soundtrack:
• “Red Solo Cup” by Toby Keith (Sam and New Directions, minus Kurt)
• “I Will Survivor/Survivor” Mash-Up by Gloria Gaynor/Destiny’s Child (The Troubletones, with Mercedes out front)
• “ABC” by the Jackson 5 (New Directions with Tina on the lead)
• “Control” by Janet Jackson (New Directions)
• “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson (New Directions)
• “We Are Young” by ? (All cast)
• Favorite line of the week goes to Finn who, upon seeing a man dressed as a firefighter at a club he didn’t realize was a male strip t, replied: “I didn’t know Backdraft was a musical?”

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In just three short seasons, Glee has taken a nosedive from one of TV’s most beloved shows, to one of its biggest laughing stocks. What started as a self-aware, optimistic take on the horrors of high school has mutated into a self-righteous mess of nightmarish proportions, with bad plots flying every which way. Maybe we should just stop watching it and be done with it, but if Glee taught me anything, it’s to never give up on something you love. What will it take to get this giant back on its feet again? It’s a tough question to answer but we have some idea. Here are the top five things Glee needs to change to get back on top. 5. Enough with the “character development” It’s no secret that this show has serious problems with continuity, and enough is enough. It’s like each writer gave all the characters their own personality and didn’t discuss them with each other before they aired the episodes. So depending on who wrote the episode, Quinn (Dianna Agron) is either a tortured saint or a manipulative jerk, or Finn (Cory Monteith) is the sweetest, dumbest puppy who ever lived or an insensitive, selfish jock, and I’m sick of it. This isn’t character development, it just looks like everyone is on crack. Important things happen and then are totally ignored, like when Quinn and Mercedes (Amber Riley) were so close they lived together? Or all of those budget cuts in season two? Yeah, me neither. Writers, please get your act together. We’re not dumb, we just want a show that makes sense. 4. A sense of responsibility So far in this show, we’ve had students dump slushies on each other, be sexually harassed and stalked by bullies, and shove each into lockers, and the only person who ever gets suspended is Rachel (Lea Michele) when she stuffs the election ballot box in Kurt’s (Chris Colfer) favor. Excuse me, what? The fact that no one ever faces the consequences for anything is just disturbing, and everyone gives each other horrible advice. For example, when Artie (Kevin McHale) suggested Rachel and Blaine (Darren Criss) lose their virginities in order to perform better in the school play. When would that ever happen in real life? What I liked about this show in the beginning was its realness (even with all the campy humor thrown in) and now that’s all out the window. And I hate to be the moral guardian, but there are a lot of little kids watching this show who could stand to learn a few lessons from all of this. 3. Kill off Finn Okay, so this sounds a little harsh, but seriously, enough of Finn! I love Cory Monteith, I think he’s adorable, but he’s 10 years older than his character, and it shows. When you look more like Rachel’s creepy uncle than her boyfriend, you know it’s a problem. Plus, can we all just agree that they are the worst couple in the history of the show? They’re both terrible influences on each other, and to be honest, Finn is holding her back. He broke the last straw when he outed Santana (Naya Rivera). In fact, he does a lot of horrible things that everyone forgives him for immediately or never seems to , because apparently he is a saint. Give him that Ohio State scholarship and send him on his way. 2. A day in the limelight When I first started watching this show, I was immediately drawn to Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz). She was dark, she was shy, and I wanted to know more. But unlike a normal TV show, Glee pretty much ignores its characters they don’t deem important enough for the current plot. Tina gets the worst of it, but it’s happened to basically everyone except for Rachel, Finn, Kurt and Blaine. I it they’ve been doing better with this, but I think every major character should get at least one episode from their perspective, a la Skins. I want that Brittana kiss, writers. The solos are also horribly out of proportion, and now that Troubletones is dead it’s going to go back to being the Rachel/Finn show while everyone else sings backup. Give Quinn a solo! 1. Faberry This is inarguably the best part of the show, and it doesn’t even exist. What am I talking about, you ask? The secret relationship between Quinn and Rachel, of course. According to the Glee Wiki, it’s the show’s second most popular pairing (after Kurt and Blaine) and if their love isn’t obvious to you yet, you need to go back and re-watch. Quinn has definitely had an obsessive crush on Rachel since the first episode (she was drawing pornographic pictures of her on the bathroom walls, after all) and Rachel is consistently the only person who is halfway nice to Quinn, and has shown she’s always cared about her. It only makes sense, and if any show can make this happen, it’s Glee. It doesn’t hurt that Lea Michele and Dianna Agron are very affectionate towards each other in real life. Now if we could just get rid of Finn… So there you have it, the top five things that need to happen to make Glee one of the best shows on television again. Do you agree or disagree? What would you change about the show? Make sure you leave us a comment and let us know.

It’s possible to appreciate the aims of Glee while critiquing the way it arrives at those aims. As an example; I very much appreciate the show’s intent to get a message out that promotes tolerance, acceptance and living life out and proud. However, it is perfectly fair for me to criticize the show failing to get this point across in a dramatically satisfying and coherent way. Finn (Cory Monteith) in particular has arrived in his arc with Santana (Naya Rivera) with seemingly no motivation. In classically Glee fashion Finn has swung from being a borderline illiterate jock to being the most sensitive and understanding man on the planet with a modicum of dramatic build-up. There have been times in this season when this storyline played as if Finn had been drafted at random for this storyline; as if the writers didn’t have a better plan for the character and decided to give him this story. As for Santana, this story is perfectly natural as her dramatic arc for season three and Naya Rivera has done a phenomenal job giving the story emotional resonance. The only thing holding Rivera back are the Glee writers who have forced her story forward via a poorly motivated Finn and the ludicrous election plot. It took super-human effort for Naya Rivera to keep this plot from devolving into ridiculousness and her performance of Constant Craving combined with the beauty of her coming out monologue opposite her grandmother have come amazingly close to rescuing the story as a whole. Beyond saving is the Puck (Mark Salling)-Shelby (Idina Menzel)-Quinn (Dianna Agron) story which this week found Shelby giving in and sleeping with Puck. Naturally, Quinn found out about this and we will undoubtedly get a story in which Quinn attempts to blackmail Shelby with the information. The only suspense here is which Quinn the writers will choose for this story; dumb-Quinn who might be too stupid for blackmail or human Quinn; the version thatresembles a person that might actually exist. The third track of this week’s Glee, titled “I Kissed a Girl” followed the much welcome end of the election stories. Both the Senior Class President and the congressional race came to an end this week with Brittany (Heather Morris) winning class President and Burt Hummell (Mike O’Malley) on his way to Congress. Throw out the fact that Burt’s victory comes despite being a write in candidate with no party affliliation and a choir director for a campaign manager, this is Glee and logic need not apply. On the other hand, Brittany winning Class President made complete sense; her populist campaign was a winner from the beginning. Of course, the series can’t resolve a storyline without screwing it up so throw in Rachel (Lea Michele) trying to rig the election for Kurt (Chris Colfer) and getting suspended. I get the dramatic complication of Rachel being suspended and prevented from competing at sectionals but the way the show arrived at her choice sucked. As has been the show’s M.O Rachel whipsaws between selfish and sensitive as she helps Kurt only out of her want to have her ‘best gay’ with her in New York next year. Are we supposed to like Rachel or loathe her? She’s selfish and childish and out for herself one minute and yet, at the end, when Rachel is suspended, are we expected to feel sorry for her? To pity her? The show has botched Rachel’s character development so badly that it’s impossible decide whether we root for her or laugh at her misfortune. There was a fourth story tacked on this week but since it involved Coach Beiste’s love life, including her take on Dolly Parton’s Jolene, there really isn’t much need to talk about it. It’s nothing against Dot Jones but the adults on Glee are rarely the most interesting characters and she is no exception. This week’s music was inspired by Santana’s story. Finn brought New Directions and the Troubletones together for a t assignment; singing songs by women about women. Finn’s balladic take on Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun was the stand-out of this set of songs, even if, as I mentioned, Finn’s motivation for the song was questionable. The failure, surprisingly, was the most talked about of the night’s performances, the song that gave the episode its title, the Glee girls singing Katy Perry’s I Kissed a Girl. It’s not that it was a bad performance but rather the song flies in the face of the point the show was intending to make. Whether intentionally or not Katy Perry‘s I Kissed a Girl goes a long way toward making the point of conservatives who argue that homosexuality is a choice. Katy Perry made a choice to kiss a girl but she’s ‘not in love tonight.’ Santana is coming out as a lesbian and while her sexual history is rather elastic she’s making a definitive statement. The song, while it may have been cute, is the opposite of a definitive statement about sexuality and what drives a person to declare a sexual preference. If you want to argue that I am over-thinking this one song and performance, that’s fine. However, if Ryan Murphy and the writers of Glee are going to use the show as a political platform they need to be ready for just this kind of scrutiny. Otherwise, it’s just a sloppy example of using a timely topic and a popular song simply to drive ratings. Random notes: Sue Sylvester’s (Jane Lynch) list of sexual conquests: • Todd Bridges • Dan Quayle • Stephen Baldwin • Oliver North • Matt Lauer • Johnny Cochrane Soundtrack for Glee “I Kissed a Girl” Pink “Perfect” Kurt and Blaine (Darren Criss) Melissa Etheridge “I’m the Only One” Puck Cyndi Lauper “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” Finn Dolly Parton “Jolene” Coach Beiste Katy Perry “I Kissed a Girl” Santana, Rachel, Brittany, Mercedes (Amber Riley), Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Quinn K.D Lang “Constant Craving” Santana and Shelby Sorry, this video is currently unavailable.

“Mash-off” was a big play for Glee. For the first time since Sue began this ludicrous run for Congress there are some actual stakes. Elsewhere, Santana being made a target served the secondary purpose of returning the struggle with her sexuality to the forefront. That said, it took a while to get to the game-changing moments and aside from an awesome Hall & Oates mash-up the journey was a very, very long one with idiotic detours into dodgeball and a really awkward Van Halen cover. Puck (Mark Salling) claims that he has fallen in love with Shelby (Idina Menzel). Last week they kissed in a vulnerable moment for Shelby and Puck is convinced there is something to their relationship. Puck’s revelation leads to the awkward Van Halen; Hot for Teacher cover complete with un-ironic and completely terrifying crotch grabbing by Mike (Harry Shum Jr.) and Blaine (Darren Criss). Puck’s forced revelation is meant only to set up a chance for Quinn (Dianna Agron) to get the baby back. Quinn will find out about Puck and Shelby and use the information to try and get her baby. When Glee is predictable, it’s very predictable. when the race to be Student Body President was a big deal? Yeah, the writers forgot too, hence why we suddenly have a student debate seemingly out of the blue. Rachel (Leah Michele) is out of the race after figuring out that Kurt (Chris Colfer) needs to win more than she does, how magnanimous of her? Ok, I’ll it it, I love having Kurt and Rachel back together. Santana (Naya Rivera) has been trashing Finn (Cory Montieth) for a while but things got out of hand in “Mash-Off.” First, Finn tried to solve things with a terrible dodgeball game, featuring a dull and obligatory take on Pat Benatar’s Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Things escalated when Santana’s apology turned into further insults and Finn went with the nuclear option and called out Santana’s closeted sexuality. This was Finn’s best moment of the season. He wasn’t trying to be mean to Santana, she’d ramped up her campaign of hatred to a level that required a response and Finn finally stood up for himself and threw the spotlight back on Santana. It’s about time that Santana was forced to look inside herself, to find some strength and courage. It’s clear now that staying in the closet was driving her to be nastier every week. The only shock here was that Finn proved perceptive enough to sense Santana’s self-loathing without having someone explain it to him. Who is Reggie Salazar? Is this someone we are going to get to know or is his campaign a device for bringing these to struggling stories to a place of honest resonance? Salazar would certainly seem to be a strong target for Glee creator Ryan Murphy, a right wing gay-baiting politician is terrific fodder for this most liberal of series. However, Murphy has had big targets like this before, Kathy Griffin’s Michele Bachman clone for one, and whiffed pretty badly, we will have to wait and see. Santana’s shaken performance of Adele’s Someone Like You was a strong moment for Naya Rivera and while it’s somewhat unfortunate that her story is now tied to the terrible campaign story line here’s hoping her involvement can raise the bar for that story to something worth watching, Sue (Jane Lynch) and Schue (Matthew Morrison) certainly haven’t done that. Random notes:

• The Hall & Oates mash-up may be my favorite Glee performance ever. I it it, I’m a Hall & Oates nerd but you must it You Make My Dreams Come True and I Can’t Go for That was a terrific mash-up. The New Directions were really into it and those Oates ‘staches and wigs were glorious.
• Oh hey, Jayma Mayes is still on Glee; who knew?
• The Troubletones was a lame group name last week and remains lame this week, try again girls.
• Welcome back Brittany (Heather Morris)! Two awesome soundbites this week from Glee’s comic MVP as she amped up her campaign for Class President: “I promise Root Beer fountains and Robot teachers” and “Also, Rachel Berry is still on Myspace and thus unfit to lead.”
• Brittany then was the only reason to care about the debate as  she came out against tornadoes and in favor of topless Tuesdays. God bless her.
• I didn’t hear which group won the Mash-Off but my vote goes to Hall & Oates, I prefer my Adele songs un-mashed.

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“Pot of Gold” opens promisingly with an Irish exchange student, The Glee Project winner, Damian McGinty as Rory, that Brittany (Heather Morris) believes is a leprechaun. She believes to the point of requesting three wishes from Rory, two of which were classically Brittany. In exchange Brittany promised Rory her pot of gold. From there however, “Pot of Gold” ed with little of anything notable taking place. Plus, promos had already spoiled the fact that Santana (Naya Rivera) and Brittany were leaving New Directions to Mercedes (Amber Riley) in Shelby Corcoran’s (Idina Menzel) new McKinley glee club, now known as the ‘Troubletones.’ Quinn (Diana Agron) stepped up her effort to take back her baby from Shelby by trying to frame her as a negligent mother with a baby botox kit, hot sauce and books ing babies in sacrifice rituals. While Puck (Mark Salling) foils Quinn’s effort, it’s relatively clear that this plan had a few holes in it from the start.

• Sidebar: Has Quinn always been a slightly more functional version of Brittany or is this a convenient trait assigned to her for comic purpose when needed?

“Pot of Gold” suffers from a lack of focus; there are a number of stories but no real through line from beginning to end. Finn (Cory Montieth) is a perfect example of the lack of direction in “Pot of Gold.” At different points Finn is befriending and pushing away the new kid Rory, and then onishing Blaine (Darren Criss)  for attempting to put a positive face on the trouble New Directions are facing. Finn then struggles with Burt’s (Mike O’Malley) decision to run for Congress as a write in candidate against Sue (Jane Lynch)and then he’s insulting Brittany when she chooses to leave New Directions because of a leprechaun’s wish. Finn was all over the place just like the episode as a whole; bouncing from story to story without taking interest in any particular story. I did enjoy Mike O’Malley’s Burt coming to the rescue of the school musical, with the aid of the Rotary Club, when Sue managed to eliminate the funding. And Burt is a good choice for an opponent for Sue, but unfortunately it means further indulging this faltering storyline that doesn’t yet show signs of a solid end game. Even the music in “Pot of Gold” felt aimless. Blaine’s take on Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night was peppy but purposeless. Puck’s take on Waiting for a Girl Like You was pretty but was a little too effective as a lullaby, I may have dozed off for a moment. The ‘Troubletones’ take on Candyman was much like Blaine’s Last Friday Night, energetic but not nearly as effective as Will (Matthew Morrison) and Finn tried to make it seem from their spot in the cheap seats. The one truly effective song in “Pot of Gold” was Damian McGinty’s debut pair of solos. It’s Not Easy Being Green was surprising and cute but McGinty’s take on Teddy Thompson’s Take Care of Yourself was as close to transcendent as Glee has been this season. Random notes:

• Rachel (Lea Michele), Kurt (Chris Colfer), Emma (Jayma Mayes), Artie (Kevin McHale), Mike (Harry Shum Jr.) and Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) were on the bench this week with no stories. Jayma Mayes didn’t even make it on screen.
• No progress this week on the race for Class President, easily the most interesting story so far in this young season.
• There is something brilliant in Vanessa Lengies’ Sugar Motta. There is a comic charm to her cluelessness that is part Brittany and part Quinn and she plays it perfectly.

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Glee returned last week with its usual uneven narrative and strong musical chops. Now, in season three’s second episode, “I Am Unicorn,” our attention turns fully to plots that will dominate the early season. The big plots include: Kurt’s (Chris Colfer) run for Class President, a second show choir at McKinley, Quinn’s (Dianna Agron) self-destruction, West Side Story and, unfortunately, Sue Sylvester’s (Jane Lynch) run for office. Kurt needs extra-curricular activities beyond glee club if he is going to get into the arts school of his choice in New York. So, he decides to run for Class President. And guess who has a great idea for Kurt’s campaign? If you guessed it was Brittany (Heather Morris), you clearly have been watching the show since it began because, honestly what would be funnier? Mercedes (Amber Riley)? Britt’s big idea for Kurt’s campaign is to celebrate his status as a ‘Unicorn.’ What is Brittany’s definition of a unicorn? It’s almost too wonderful to write as the written word can barely do justice to Heather Morris’s glorious delivery. Nevertheless, here it is; try to imagine Brittany’s obliviousness:

“When a pony does a good deed he gets a horn and becomes a unicorn and he poops out cotton candy until he forgets he’s magical and then his horn falls off.”

More succinctly, and actually relating the unicorn thing to Kurt, Brittany explains that a unicorn is someone who knows they’re special and isn’t afraid to show it; a sentiment that resonates with Kurt enough that he allows Brittany to his campaign. There is a hint of depth to Brittany’s ludicrous conception of both the unicorn and her idea for Kurt’s campaign, which is to simply go gay, very, very gay. If we go back to last season and Brittany’s conflicted feelings for Santana (Naya Rivera) and combine it with her extremely out and proud idea for Kurt’s campaign–complete with pink posters and Judy Garland themed gift bags–you almost get the impression of actual subtext in Brittany’s actions. Welcome back Shelby Corcoran! Idina Menzel returned to Glee with a surprise for Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison): McKinley High School is getting a second Glee Club. After Will boldly booted Glee wannabe Sugar Motta (Vanessa Lengies), she called on her dad who donated just enough money to the school to start a second show choir and hire Shelby to run it. This is a pretty dopey subplot considering A: there must have been a dozen or so better ways to bring Shelby back to the show. And B: How can there be a second Glee Club when the series is built around the notion of how much everyone at the school hates the Glee Club? I understand, most logic is not welcome here, but it begs mentioning. Shelby was eager to return to Lima as she hopes to involve Quinn and Puck (Mark Salling) in the life of their baby, Shelby’s adopted daughter Beth. She will not however, allow Skanky Quinn to see the baby until she gets cleaned up. Puck, on the other hand, ed a drug test to get to meet his little girl. Yes, we actually got to see a little of Mark Salling this week after he was left with nothing more than chorus duty in the season premiere. Quinn does eventually give up the Skanks and her pink hair but not before starring in one of Sue’s anti-arts campaign commercials. But, don’t for a moment think that Quinn has reformed, she’s only doing the good girl thing to get her daughter back. Again, I understand, logic is unwelcome here, but Quinn revealing her plan super-villain style to Puck during dance rehearsal was rather ludicrous. Auditions are underway for the student musical, West Side Story, but Mr. Shuester doesn’t have time to direct. So, Ms. Beiste (Dot Jones) Emma (Jayma Mayes) and, just to give him something to do in this episode, Artie (Kevin McHale) are directing. They will have to choose Maria and Tony and the battle is more emotionally charged than you might expect. Rachel (Lea Michele) is the front-runner for Maria but a newly confident Mercedes is ready for a fight. Kurt has the charisma to play Tony but can he play tough? Blaine (Darren Criss) doesn’t want to step on his boyfriend’s toes but his audition clearly shows that he is the better Tony. We are promised more on the West Side Story battle in next week’s show but here again we have unexpected metaphors emerging. We have a Jets vs. Sharks battle for the lead roles and, in Rachel’s audition, singing along with Beth on “Somewhere There’s a Place for Us” a brief revisit of Rachel and Shelby’s mother/daughter issues. The music in this week’s episode stuck strictly to the musical theater genre with Kurt’s take on Funny Girl, singing Streisand’s “I’m the Greatest Star,” only after getting Rachel’s permission, as the show’s stand out. The song served to inflate Kurt’s ego while demonstrating his greatest pitfall: he doesn’t excite Coach Beiste’s lady parts. Kurt is… not manly and Glee has gotten a great deal of mileage out of that fact. That will not change any time soon as demonstrated by Kurt’s notion of butching up for his second audition: performing Romeo and Juliet with Rachel in full Shakespearean garb, right down to the tights. Finally, in the weakest of the continuing plots, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) resumed her Congressional campaign by shooting a commercial with Quinn, who, according to Sue, turned Skank because of the arts. Sue claims to be winning her campaign for Congress which leads to a horrifying turn of events: Will Schuester running for office. As if having Jane Lynch mired in this go nowhere, unfunny subplot wasn’t enough, now Will is going to challenge her? We get it; the arts are embattled and struggling to stay in schools. Having Will battle Sue is the show’s thesis statement in the argument to keep the arts in schools. We get it!  All that I ask is that the writers make this plot funny rather than merely polemical before they add to and expand upon it. On the bright side, Glee will have at least one funny political subplot. Brittany ed the race for Class President in the closing moments of I Am Unicorn:

“The last 16 Class Presidents have been guys and look where that’s got us; teetering on the brink of a double dip recession.”