11.29.13 Glee 5x07 Puppet Master reviews; Next stop: Miami!!

Adam on Glee 5x07 "Puppet Master".




Glee Review: No Strings Attached
by Miranda Wicker at November 28, 2013 10:57 pm. Updated at November 28, 2013 10:57 pm.

Why Glee felt compelled to run a brand new episode on Thanksgiving (again) is beyond me. But run a new one they did.

The good news is that they buried an otherwise ridiculous and silly episode on a night when (probably) no one was watching, what with all the tryptophan comas and shopping. The bad news is that Glee Season 5 Episode 7 was 45 minutes of my life I can never get back and very little about it was redeeming.



I remember when Angel did a puppet themed episode. A demon turned members of Wolfram and Hart into felt versions of themselves. Puppet Angel had sex and didn't turn into Angelus.

This puppet episode was nothing like that puppet episode. At all. Not even a little bit.

In fact, the very best part of tonight's puppet show was Adam Lambert puppet, if only because it was Adam Lambert and basically nothing he could do on this show would be wrong.

Seriously. And the Nasty/Rhythm Nation dance-fueled mash-up. That was great, too. Really great. Mostly because of Jacob Artist's abs.

But beyond that we just got an entire episode about Blaine envisioning everyone as puppets and having conversations with puppets and vague sexual innuendos being made about Blaine and Kurt puppet all because human Kurt called Blaine a puppet master. An. Entire. Episode. Happy Thanksgiving to us?

Okay, okay, so Sue's remarks about Blaine and Hummel-puppet (Hummet? Humpet? Puppel?) were funny. But then most of the time she gets the best lines anyway so it's really not shocking that she'd say funny things, is it? No, not really.

It was sort of great to see the beginning of Sue's track suit love affair. ​Maybe there's something about that encounter 30 years ago that caused Sue to carry such a grudge against Figgins for all those years. Figgins told her to consider wearing pants in order to get the students to listen to her so she, of course, went so far to the extreme that the superintendent mistook her for a man.

But hey, she got the job anyway, so there's that, right?

I'm still just so...miffed? irritated? amazed? flabbergasted? that Glee spent an entire episode devoted to Blaine's puppet hallucinations that I can't really seem to find the words to discuss what actually happened tonight. Which, if we're being totally honest wasn't very much at all.

The writers are still trying to tease out drama with Jake and Marley, now via a pregnancy scare. I'm elated that they decided to have Bree not be pregnant because that was just entirely too Glee Season 1. Entirely. Though given the way this show likes to recycle storylines it wouldn't shock me if she had been pregnant.

Marley's shunning of his apology is setting up a big moment for the pair at Nationals. I can feel it. They'll sing and realize they're soul mates and meant to be and see what I mean about recycled storylines?

Jake and Marley are kind of like the leftovers we'll all be eating for the next few days.

What did you think of Glee Season 5 Episode 7? Were you at all impressed with the puppet show? Which puppet was your favorite?

- See more at: www.tvfanatic.com/2013/11/glee-review-no-strings-attached/#sthash.wtGmd6Q1.dpuf




Glee Recap: Snap, Crackle, Puppets!
November 28, 2013 09:04 PM PST by Michael Slezak

Nope, you’re not suffering from a pie-and-cranberry-sauce-induced hallucination: Glee aired a spankin’ new episode on Thanksgiving night. And in the same, “Wait! Did that just happen?” spirit, the action included puppets, animal-snout-masks, a faithful recreation of Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” video and a Sue Sylvester makeover courtesy of Wade “Unique” Adams.

In the spirit of the holiday — and because I’m halfway to a food coma — I’m gonna keep this recap pithy. So let’s cut right to the action, shall we?

PUPPET SHOW | Blaine had a tantrum when his ideas for Nationals weren’t immediately embraced by New Directions, but as he sulked in the corner, a gas leak caused him to hallucinate that he was living in a world of pliable puppet pals who supported his whims unconditionally. This led to his creation of a Kurt puppet — which Blaine inexplicably expected should be apologizing to him (“For WHAT?” asked everyone who’s ever watched Glee). Eventually, Blaine received an olive branch from his glee-club pals, who agreed he deserved a solo (with creative control) for his final high-school competition. In return, he gave them all puppets — and mailed additional plush doppelgangers to Kurt, Rachel, Santana and Elliott. (What, no Dani?)

THE PLEASURE PRINCIPAL | Sue sealed up her spot as permanent principal at McKinley by wowing the superintendent (Breaking Bad‘s Christopher Cousins) with increased attendance numbers and rising test scores, but was alarmed to discover he thought she was a man. After hallucinating a dance sequence starring herself and Schue, Sue sought Unique’s help in feminizing her look, but the plan backfired when Superintendent Harris shot down her invite to go on a date. (We also learned Sue began wearing her signature tracksuits back in 1986 — after realizing they were the only look that immediately caused the student population to fear and respect her.) Side note: No me gusta this insecure Sue. Let the woman have her pantsuits and her sexy administrator, too!

THE LEADER OF THE BAND | Kurt also got a tiny bit control-freaky regarding the details of Pamela Lansbury’s first gig. Only one person wound up attending, but that sole audience member’s bootleg video caught the attention of a booker at Williamsburg Music Hall. Cue gig No. 2! And let’s cue some real plot development for Elliott and Dani. Oh, and also Santana, already! And yes, Rachel, too! Those NYC scenes always have a certain electricity, but they’re always so brief, too, no?

MORE JAKE-MARLEY-BREE STUFF | Bree briefly thought she was with child and sought out Jake to accompany her to her abortion. When the pregnancy turned out to just be a scare, Bree lashed out at the younger Puckerman, basically calling him a manwhore destined to be nothing more than a baby daddy. This sent Jake running back to Marley, but she told him that after his betrayal, she could only think of him as a friend. (Ryder barely reared his floppy hair this week, so no love rhombus action, merely a triangle.)

EPISODE’S BEST QUOTES
“Looks like somebody’s man-struating.” –Kitty, mocking Blaine’s bitchy mood

“Babyfaced, mocha teen boy, arise!” –Figgins, waking up Jake from a choir-room nap

“Well, well, well…if it isn’t Miss Sally Field in Not Without My Puppet. Did you really think I was too stupid to suspect that you would come back here under the cloak of darkness to claim your monsterous puppet bride, you strange, tiny doe-eyed pervert. Kindly remove your fist from Puppet Hummel’s butt and place him gingerly on the desk.” –Sue, catching Blaine stealing his Kurt puppet from her safe

GRADES FOR THE NIGHT’S MUSICAL PERFORMANCES
Pamela Lansbury, “Into the Groove” — Grade: B | In theory, I loved the idea of the NYC kids rocking out to this seminal Madonna dance jam. But while Kurt’s fantasy performance debut looked great with its candy colored hues, I thought the actor’s individual voices were mixed in a way that none of them really had a chance to stand out or show their individual brilliance. Bummer!

Blaine + New Directions Puppets, “You’re My Best Friend” — Grade: B | Wouldn’t Blaine have sung this to bestie Sam? Whatevs, though, it was kinda cute and colorful.

Jake (featuring Marley, Bree, New Directions and writhing Cheerios), “Nasty”/”Rhythm Nation” — Grade: A- | I’m not sure Jacob Artist’s vocal was that distinctive, but damn these Janet Jackson tracks have stood the test of time, haven’t they? And the choreography was pretty fantastic, too.

Sue & Schue, “Cheek to Cheek” — Grade: B- | Surprisingly nice harmonies from Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch, but this black-and-white throwback vibe felt a little been-there-done-that after Will & Emma’s “You’re All the World to Me,” no?

Entire Cast, “What Does the Fox Say?” — Grade: N/A | I couldn’t get past those creepy snout/beak/nose masks and ears on the New Directions kids. Srsly, they freaked me out big-time. Tell me I am not alone!

OK, your turn. What did you think of Blaine’s peculiar story arc? Are you still feeling like the NYC gang needs more time and focus from the writers? Hit the comments with your thoughts on “Puppet Master”!

Link: tvline.com/2013/11/28/glee-recap-season-5-puppet-master-sue-permanent-principal/



‘Glee’ season 5, episode 7 review: Darren Criss, Adam Lambert’s return, and Jacob Artist ‘news’

“Puppet Master” was an episode of “Glee” that had quite a bit going for it just on Thursday night, at least in that Adam Lambert and Demi Lovato were back, there were puppets galore, and there was not really any pressure at all to tell a story that would impact the long-term storyline. Producers clearly knew that this would air on Thanksgiving, and that opened the door to try out a few different things rather than just delivering an episode that all of the standard things that you would expect.

But in the end here, what we had was an episode that was hit-or-miss. Were there great moments? We think so. The puppet scenes were inspired for the most part, and we actually appreciated that Sue Sylvester had an interesting story for the first time in a while that explained why she wear the tracksuit, and also what some of her insecurities are.

...

But then, there were the problems. For one, this show is really underutilizing Demi to the point of it being insane. Dani just randomly has blue hair now without much of an explanation, and there is absolutely nothing new with her character. The biggest story that she had was in her first episode, and that was not much. We could use more Adam, but even he at least had a couple more lines and was present for the performance of “The Fox” at the end of the episode (which was, by the way, completely random).

Link: cartermatt.com/97519/glee-season-5-episode-7-review-darren-criss-adam-lamberts-return-and-jacob-artist-news/




Heading to Miami!
11.29.13 by Q3

In a few hours, I will be heading to Miami! My plan is to post a detailed recap of the concert -- that is if I am coherent enough to do it.

I am looking forward to seeing Adam perform and also to seeing the new cinnamon-spick hair live! I am also excited to be returning to Miami for the first time in a few years.

[The orange headline is dedicated to one of my alma maters, The University of Miami (FL) aka "The U".]

Miami, FL
Sat Nov 30, 2013
BleauLive performance series.
Link: www.fontainebleau.com/web/promotions/adam_lambert/
Phone the Fontainebleau hotel at 1-305-538-2000.








Upcoming Events



WinStar Casino, OK
Tue Dec 31, 2013 at 8:00 PM
Doors Open at 6:30 PM
General $65 / Premium $85 / VIP $95
Tickets for this event contact Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or online at Ticketmaster.com.

NOW: "Into the Groove" and "The Fox" Glee Cast + Adam and Demi Lovato + Glee Cast iTunes.

November 30, 2013 Adam in concert, Miami, FL, BleauLive performance series
Link: www.fontainebleau.com/web/promotions/adam_lambert/
Phone the Fontainebleau hotel at 1-305-538-2000

Possible live stream: @butterknife0204 Adam Lambert on 11/30 live @fontainebleau in Miami south beach. Tune into my channel ustre.am/T4KY

December 8, 2013 Adam perform at TrevorLive, The Hollywood Palladium. To purchase tickets for the Trevor Live Los Angeles 2013 www.kintera.org/faf/Gala/ECReg.asp?ievent=1085203&lis=1&kntae1085203=26BAE6F291FB45248BAD1411165D73FE

December 29, 2013 Adam in concert, Hard Rock, Biloxi, MS. Fan club presale + tickets via TicketMaster. On sale Friday, November 22, 2012, 10:00AM Central Time.

December 31, 2013 New Year's Eve Concert at Winstar Casino www.winstarworldcasino.com/