A confession: this summer, I am catching up on the episodes of Glee that I’ve missed through the last, um, three years.
So the other day when it was kind of foggy outside, my daughter was off at camp and my husband was out in the yard, I watched a few episodes.
Maybe a few more than a few.
Maybe about ten.
In a row.
It’s so easy on Netflix streaming. Get to the end of the episode, hear that upbeat vocal that sounds sort of like popcorn popping, and just click the “Browse” button to take you to the next episode. Netflix makes it so, so easy. Click, watch, click, watch. Hours go by.
I love singing and dancing, particularly when I can understand—or even know—the lyrics. I love songs that aren’t screamed or whined. I like watching men dance. Not break dance, really dance.
All these things are true, but there’s something else. I like Sue.
She’s lean and mean and knows it. But she loves her sister and wants her students to win. She’s got complexity and sass and is totally cruel. But she holds her sister’s hand and reads picture books to her. She’s the perfect villain. Imperfect. Horrible. Vulnerable.
I wonder what she’ll do next and say next. Who she will push in the hallway. Who she will scare. And who she will be tender to. At some point, she may even cry.
So I keep pushing “Play next episode.”
Oh, Linden, I’ve been there too and I share your admiration for Sue. In fact, I think of her from time to time when I dream of creating a truly awful and believable villain for a story.
So agree! I wish I could watch without any of the boring New Directions characters in between, except for Britney. I love Britney. I salute you for admitting publicly to the ten-episode binge, and I’m with you on the lovely end-of-glee music. Back when I first had the baby, I’d feed her and watch Glee sometimes (I’d never do that now–she’s way too aware.) But she was aware enough when we watched to love the popcorn music!
Third that motion about Sue. Complex and bighting. Funny thing–every time we decide to reduce the shows we watch, we say Glee will come off the list. But we still watch it. A friend and talented author/teacher/mentor/fairy, Joyce Sweeney, who has written a zillion realistic YA books, once said something like how can you write for kids and not watch television, if nothing more than to see what they’re spending a good deal of their time seeing? And if you like musical theater, how can you not watch Glee? Or Smash? (My daughter, who works in theater, would disagree. She thinks they give a negative impression about her world.) Rambling here. But back to Sue. A good reminder for fleshing out an interesting character!