Watching Glee Until It Gets Bad S2E14: Blame It on the Alcohol
by thethreepennyguignol
Fuck this fucking episode.
Blame It On The Alcohol might be one of my least favourite episodes of Glee, period. Is it a bad episode? No, not really. In fact, there’s some really fun stuff in it, some really entertaining performances, a hefty dose of my beloved Dot Marie-Jones. There’s a lot to like about it, but there’s also this bullshit bisexuality plot that I still can’t believe was executed as badly as it was.
Blaine and the Glee club get drunk, and Blaine kisses Rachel, leading him to wonder if he might actually be bisexual. Great! Nothing wrong with anyone questioning what they thought they knew about their sexuality. But the way it’s executed is such a bugbear – I’ve actually written about it in more detail in another article, but for the sake of this one, let’s get into it.
What bothers me the most about this episode isn’t Blaine questioning his sexuality and then coming to terms with the fact he is, in fact, gay. It’s the way the show, via Kurt, frames it, and the way Ryan Murphy talked about it off-screen when the episode came out. Kurt referring to bisexuality as “a lie gay guys tell themselves so they can hold hands with girls and feel normal” is just foul, genuinely, especially given that he never apologizes for it, and even if he is somewhat called out for it, it’s hard to see it as un-reflective of Ryan Murphy’s comments about bisexuality at the time.
Murphy made it clear how he viewed Blaine – “Blaine is NOT bi. He is gay, and will always be gay…I think it’s very important to young kids that they know this character is one of them.” And that’s always stuck with me, because suggesting Blaine’s homosexuality is the only thing that makes him a good representation of what I can only assume Murphy means to be LGBTQ kids is really fucked. Blaine being bi genuinely could have been a really interesting and very unique plot that still allowed him to represent same-sex attracted viewers (it wouldn’t have gotten in the way of his upcoming romance with Kurt at all) but it feels like a joke at bisexual people’s expense in it’s handling here. For a show that seemed to pride itself so much on it’s diversity, and had been lauded for such, to basically turn around and say “not the bis, though” is just shitty.
Anyway, I guess there’s a whole episode to talk about outside of this, right? It’s a shame this nonsense bisexual plot is in the middle of Blame It on the Alcohol, because I actually really like it outside of that – the party scene where all the kids get drunk for the first time might be the most true-to-life Glee has ever been to actual the high school experience, and it’s one of the funniest, silliest scenes we’ve had in a while (that said, the comedic high point is Sue pushing the “chipper homosexual” down the stairs, twice. I
Fuck this fucking episode.
Blame It On The Alcohol might be one of my least favourite episodes of Glee, period. Is it a bad episode? No, not really. In fact, there’s some really fun stuff in it, some really entertaining performances, a hefty dose of my beloved Dot Marie-Jones. There’s a lot to like about it, but there’s also this bullshit bisexuality plot that I still can’t believe was executed as badly as it was.
Blaine and the Glee club get drunk, and Blaine kisses Rachel, leading him to wonder if he might actually be bisexual. Great! Nothing wrong with anyone questioning what they thought they knew about their sexuality. But the way it’s executed is such a bugbear – I’ve actually written about it in more detail in another article, but for the sake of this one, let’s get into it.
What bothers me the most about this episode isn’t Blaine questioning his sexuality and then coming to terms with the fact he is, in fact, gay – I think most people who aren’t straight (and plenty who are, actually) have asked themselves these questions. It’s the way the show, via Kurt, frames it, and the way Ryan Murphy talked about it off-screen when the episode came out. Kurt referring to bisexuality as “a lie gay guys tell themselves so they can hold hands with girls and feel normal” is just foul, genuinely, especially given that he never apologizes for it, and it’s hard to see it as un-reflective of Ryan Murphy’s comments about bisexuality at the time.
Murphy made it clear how he viewed Blaine – “Blaine is NOT bi. He is gay, and will always be gay…I think it’s very important to young kids that they know this character is one of them.” And that’s always stuck with me, because suggesting Blaine’s homosexuality is the only thing that makes him a good representation of what I can only assume Murphy means to be LGBTQ kids is really fucked. Blaine being bi genuinely could have been a really interesting and very unique plot that still allowed him to represent same-sex attracted viewers (it wouldn’t have gotten in the way of his upcoming romance with Kurt at all) but it feels like a joke at bisexual people’s expense in it’s handling here. It’s a typical biphobic trope, framing bisexuality as Gay Lite, a sub-par representation of gay attraction as opposed to an identity in it’s own right.
For a show that seemed to pride itself so much on it’s diversity, and had been lauded for such at this point in it’s run, to basically turn around and say “not the bis, though” is just shitty.
Anyway, I guess there’s a whole episode to talk about outside of this, right? It’s a shame this nonsense bisexual plot is in the middle of Blame It on the Alcohol, because I actually really like it outside of that – the party scene where all the kids get drunk for the first time might be the most true-to-life Glee has ever been to actual the high school experience, and it’s one of the funniest, silliest scenes we’ve had in a while (that said, the comedic high point is Sue pushing the “chipper homosexual” down the stairs, twice. It’s so awful, and I had to pause to catch my breath from laughing so hard). The Don’t You Want Me performance is banger, and the resulting hangover sequence is very fun (all of them walking down the corridor in dark glasses was exactly me heading to a university seminar after every Tequila Tuesday).
The Will plot this week is also outrageously fun – I have so much love for Matthew Morrison when he’s a little bit of a mess, and this is a prime example of that. Matthew Morrison gives good drunk as he stumbles around his plot this week, trying to romance Emma with an ill-placed message over the phone that Sue winds up using against him. It also features a very underrated performance, for my money, between Beiste and Will after she takes him out to a bar to chill for a night:
I’m stunned I got this far into the review without talking about Mike O’Malley, but let me put that right as soon as humanly possible: he’s great this week, and writer Ian Brennan manages to make the talk between Kurt, Blaine, and Burt about intimacy and house rules feel genuinely honest. A little awkward, a little concerned, and a little totally fucking embarrassed that your parent is talking to you about sex, it’s another building block in the excellent relationship between Burt and Kurt that never fails to ground the show when it’s getting a little silly for it’s own good.
Luckily, this series isn’t Watching Glee Until It’s Biphobic – it’s Watching Glee Until It Gets Bad, and this isn’t a bad episode. In fact, it’s a pretty damn solid one, just marred by a great big pile of biphobic bullshit that still irritates me to this day. Where do you stand on this episode? As a bisexual person, I still hate this with a passion, but I’d be really interested to hear what other bisexual people think of this plot – please let me know in the comments.
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(header image via TV Recappers Anonymous)
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