photo: fox
I Am Unicorn
Original Air Date: Sep 27, 2011
Alyssa Silva – Sr Reviewer
alyssa@thetwocentscorp.com
Oh Glee. Sometimes you give me hope and then you astound me at the same time. Not even in a good way. Season 3 delivers another good episode, in that the head-scratching bouts of confusion that plagued last season were pared down to a few awkward moments. Big moments, but moments nonetheless.
The main message of the week was brought to us by none other than Brittany S. Pierce, who wants us all to be as special as the unicorns we all know we are. The much talked about return of Shelby awaits us after the jump, so let’s get down to business shall we?
Shelby
Shelby’s secured a part-time position at McKinley running another glee club funded exclusively by Sugar Motta’s father so his tone-deaf daughter can be a star. So let me get this straight. This woman left Lima with Beth (who, in case anyone has forgotten, was the child of Quinn and Puck way back in Season One) so she could proceed with her Broadway career, which she does in New York. But then she realizes that she never got to see Rachel’s first step and the like, so she decides to pack it all up to move back to Lima to correct the mistakes she’s made? What in the hizzle? Again I make the point that if this had happened in Season Two, I would have approached it with a bit less disbelief. I just have a feeling this is going to be like the ‘Terri Schuester pretending to have a baby’ plotline, which was just very bizarre and ridiculous. But I’ll reserve judgment for now. I did appreciate how she tried to counsel Quinn, drawing on her own experiences with Rachel in order to make the younger girl see past her pink-haired rebellion.
Quinn
In another comedic scene, we see Quinn and the Skanks attempting to be edgy and intimidating. Fail. Mr Schue finally(!) called Quinn out on playing the victim card, blaming everyone but herself for the teenage angst she has buried herself in. Furthermore this anger and hurt she has over the Beth situation seems a bit misplaced. To my recollection, Quinn was the one who wanted nothing to do with the baby back in the days of her pregnancy. Whenever Puck brought up the option of keeping her, Quinn refused to consider it. Yes I understand she was just sixteen when she had Beth and she did the right thing in acknowledging that there was no way Puck and her could raise a kid. She did the right thing giving Beth up. But the fact of the matter is Quinn hasn’t uttered a word about Beth for a whole television season (except that comment about her abs at Rachel’s party) and at one point in Season One she even called the baby a bastard. So now she wants full custody? Why? What is the point of it now? Why would you take away a child from her mother? Because Quinn is essentially Beth’s biological mother, not her real one.
Oh yes Quinn came back to Glee in the end, because in order to gain custody she needs to be blonde and pretend that she’s special. Whatevs.
Rachel
There wasn’t much interaction between the two, but I thought Rachel reacted appropriately to Shelby’s sudden return. Shelby shouldn’t be allowed to waltz back into Rachel’s life so easily, not after flat-out telling Rachel that she couldn’t have a relationship with her in Season One. Hopefully this is explored later on.
There was a brief scene with Finn where he expressed that there was nothing wrong with working at Burt’s and staying in Lima, to which Rachel said he didn’t realize how special he was. Hmmm, we shall see.
Also it seems Rachel is a shoo-in for Maria in West Side Story.
Kurt
Kurt reacts negatively to Brittany’s very gay campaign posters and to the notion that he’s too delicate to play Tony. A pep talk from Burt is all it takes to get him back on track, but by that time Brittany has embraced her own inner unicorn to launch her own candidacy for Student President (after a very sweet moment with Santana). At the end of the episode Kurt lingers, anguished, when Blaine is asked to read for Tony by Artie, the appointed student director of the play.
This Burt Hummel line deserves to be quoted in full: “You’re not like, Rock Hudson gay. You’re really gay. You sing like Diana Ross and you dress like you own a magic chocolate factory … What is wrong with any of that? It’s who you are.”
Amen.
Puck
The man of the hour. The actor, and character, who deserves all the awards. Really if there is one thing the writers didn’t completely butcher in Season Two, it’s the character development of one Noah Puckerman. I always got the sense that Puck wanted to be the best father he could be to Beth – no matter what everyone thought of him – and to prove to himself most of all that he was nothing like his father. Even when Quinn thought he was nothing but a Lima Loser, Puck stepped up to the plate. While Quinn never wanted Beth, Puck wanted her with all his heart. “I’ll do anything. Anything. To prove that I can be in her life. Just give me that chance.” Tell me you didn’t feel choked up when he said this, or when he saw Beth for the first time at Shelby’s, or when he whipped out that clown/pig drawing so Beth would think of him. Most of all, I appreciated that it was Puck telling Quinn to get over herself. This was his chance to know his daughter, and he wasn’t about to let Quinn’s self-centeredness get in the way. “I don’t care about you. I care about her.” I couldn’t have said it better myself Puckerman.
The one aspect of Puck I have always had an issue with is dumbing him down. The writers have done it to other characters in the series (you expect me to believe that Rachel Berry didn’t already know Julliard didn’t have a musical theater program?) but what niggles me is that Puck is definitely smarter than how he’s portrayed. Yes he’s lazy and anti-math. But he was pulling his grades up last season with Artie’s help because juvie gave him a wake up call, so could we at least have acknowledgment of that? Just a little.
The Songs
I have to admit I’m not much of a Broadway savant, so while I enjoyed the songs, none of them captured my heart completely.
Somewhere – It almost seemed as if Shelby was seeking forgiveness, or at least laying the groundwork for a proper reconciliation, with her biological daughter. Idina Menzel and Lea Michele sound great together, and this was certainly more appropriate than Poker Face.
I’m the Greatest Star – Kurt worked that scaffolding like he was a pro at Strip Kick (see this for clarification). Also he got permission from the woman herself to perform this Funny Girl ditty – signed permission from one Rachel Berry.
Something’s Coming – Blaine certainly looked more masculine performing his audition piece than Kurt.
What did you think of this week’s episode? Did you enjoy Brittany’s unicorn metaphor? Did you think Shelby’s sudden arrival was handled well? Did you think Mark Salling, with his combed over mohawk and dopey smile, stole the show too? Give me your TwoCents below or over on Twitter!
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TheTwoCents 
I didn’t have too much of a problem with this episode other that it dragged a bit to me but anyhoo…
Shelby
I don’t think her returning was too far fetched.. In glee time its only been 3months (even though beth looks about 8months- ppl really need to understand the progression of baby aging) anyway I think its probable for her to realize that she can’t do it on her own and that she should go where she can have help and a support system given that she has no one else really to help her (being a traveling artist and all) Lima has a “family”
Quinn
I also don’t think her story is far fetched either yes I think she is playing a victim but no matter if she wanted Beth before or even during her pregnancy when a mother gives birth feelings change. Do I think its right for her to try and steal beth -No but I can understand the hurt.
BTW I am going to miss skank quinn I was a fan of the wardrobe.
Rachel
No problem with her I can take or leave her in my opinion they haven’t had a character grow she is just there for the notes
Kurt
The best thing about kurt is his father and son moments I love them… And I was also proud of this storyline because its a hard realization for some gay males to understand or comprehend in the theatre world as an actor you have to transform and its hard
BTW ok we get it yall love Streisand and I think we did all the songs from funny girl so like the cameo appearances can we just cool it on the Babs for awhile?
Best moments
Burt and kurt
And everything brittany I see growth in her character.
I think I am done lol
i’m pretty sure a whole year has gone by since Shelby last made her appearance on Glee? in any case i just think her attitude change is a bit off. okay she wants to come back to Lima, but couldn’t she have gone back to coach Vocal Adrenaline rather than coming back to McKinley? then again i’m going to wait for another episode or two before i really pass judgment.
i think the problem with Quinn (and the whole Beth storyline in general) is that there was no mention of it in Season 2 at all. so for her character to suddenly want “full custody” when in Season 1 she was adamant about not raising the child with Puck or keeping her…I just wish they had done this last season instead of now.
rachel’s character has pretty much been reduced to propping up Finn and nothing else. immensely dislike how they’ve stripped her down from the person she was initially to this girl who would change everything for a boy.
brittany was a high point for me too. the things that girl says…wish there had been more santana.
I liked this episode a little bit better than last weeks. I haven’t been too impressed with the song selection for the first 2 weeks either. I liked the Go-Go’s song in the cafeteria last week, and I liked the Somewhere song this week, that’s it. It seems Glee is forgetting it’s roots and what got the show to be a popular in the first place. Good songs with good dancing. The whole Sue Sylvester thing is so overdone now, it’s not even funny anymore, not even remotely believable either. I appreciate the Puck/Quinn to get their kid back storyline. I don’t know, just seems the writing isn’t as good as it was, hate to see this show struggle, I’ll watch this season, if it doens’t get any better, I doubt I’ll be back for next year.
i doubt i’ll be back next year either, so i’m glad that this is the “senior year” for the characters i actually care about.
i agree with the song selection. the creators mentioned they were going to cut down the number of songs per episode because they were getting criticised for having too many last season. i thought the first week’s songs were better than this episodes. at least last week i actually knew one of them…
i’m curious to know how much sway the new writers have in terms of storyline, because it seems to me that Ryan Murphy & Co are still pulling the strings.
I was bored to tears with the songs in this one. FUn group numbers – that’s all we need. 3 ballads in one show and that’s it? Come on.
not going to lie….i fast-fowarded through all the performances pretty much.
Was this review written by a 13yr old girl??
Just because the show is finally providing a little depth – and you can’t grasp the complex issues associated with giving birth to a child and then handing it over for adoption – doesn’t mean the show is unrealistic. It simply means that you don’t have the intellectual capacity to follow along.
Fail. Whatevs. LMFAO. TTYL. TTFN. xoxox
Hello OVR, sorry you didn’t like our review. Hopefully you can find another site that has Glee reviews that better fit your liking.
While I do think this review covered all the bases, I have some disagreements:
Shelby: I think she came back to find some sort of closure. She lived with a great amount of regret for having given up her baby (Rachel) and Beth was her redemption of sorts. But the constant buzz of performing and rehearsals at New York cut into that redemption as she couldn’t spend enough time with Beth. Sugar’s rich Daddy has obviously offered her A LOT of money to start the second Glee club at McKinley, so I’m assuming with the good money, a chance to set things right in Lima, and the more workable 9-4 hours, she gets more time with her baby…I found the move quite believable tbh.
Quinn: While I don’t agree with OVRtheageof20’s tone, I do concur that giving up your child for adoption is a greatly complex event that haunts the mother forever. I think the reason Quinn never bonded with her baby in Season 1 was because she was afraid of getting too attached. She knew she couldn’t raise Beth, no matter how much ever she may have wanted to. Also when she tried to return to her old life in Season 2 (however badly written it may have been), she really just didn’t fit in, nothing felt right for her then. Or at least, that’s the way I interpreted it as.
Puck: Did you honestly find him to be a show stealer? Really? I forgot about his scene altogether, his performance too was rather wooden as are most of his blank faced deliveries. But maybe because I’ve never been a huge Puck fan, I’ve don’t dislike him per say, just never cared for his scenes or story lines.
Rachel: I liked her toned down and a little less diva. But if I am to go by the promo for the next episode, we will yet again see a Rachel/Mercedes face-off. I am getting very tired of these once-a-season excuses to give Mercedes a chance to belt out an entire song, it’s becoming a little cumbersome even though it was very entertaining when I first saw it. I guess I shouldn’t judge before the episode has even aired, however that line from Puck that their (his and Quinn’s) side story did not match up to his “clash of the Titans” really irked me. As forgettable as I may find Puck, his story line with Beth, Shelby, and Quinn is the most fascinating on Glee right now (and Brittany’s presidential campaign of course).
Songs: I’m a huge Broadway fan so the songs were once again ones I enjoyed thoroughly. Although, is it just me or is there something about Chris Colfer’s singing that just grates and bores after a point? I’m a huge Kurt and Klaine fan, but I just cannot sit through any of his songs without getting really bored, but that’s when he does Broadway numbers, when he does Beatles numbers, I cry. “Somewhere” was good, their voices blend magnificently. But I loved Blaine’s “Something’s Coming” the most (although I was secretly wishing he would have sung “Maria” instead), I think I’m just a sucker for hazel eyes and his somewhat unique showmanship (and weird show of ankles, what is up with that, and since when are ankles sexy?)
Upon reflection, I can see where you’re coming from in terms of Shelby and Quinn. But I think Quinn just completely regressed last season whereas at the end of Season One she was changing for the better. Just like Puck for you, Quinn is a character I find very hard to care for. But I will try to keep an open mind!
Rachel vs Mercedes is old, tired and I’ll probably not enjoy watching it again.
I have consulted a male fashion expert and he says that the ankle thing is apparently a new trend. I don’t understand why men want to wear capris, but there you go…
My apologies for the harsh response earlier. I find reviews, in general to be overly critical. Additionally, I bristle at the heavy reliance creative teams have on responding to online criticisms. It is often this creative response that leads shows to sacrifice consistent story telling.
All told, I am very pleased with the new direction of the show, and have high hopes for this season. I am a Glee Fan, first and foremost, and wish the best for this show.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But the show, to me, weakened immensely last season and I think some of that negativity has been carried over to this one. Overall I do think the show is much better than last season though.