Funeral (Glee)
"Funeral" | |
---|---|
" | |
Production code | 2ARC21 |
Original air date | May 17, 2011 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Funeral" is the twenty-first episode of the
The episode received a wide range of reviews, from highly enthusiastic to harshly critical. The performances of the five songs covered were generally well-liked, though having four of them arranged as a series of auditions in the middle of the show met with disapproval. All five songs were released as singles, and three of them charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
Upon its initial airing, this episode was viewed by 8.97 million American viewers and garnered a 3.6/10
Plot
Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), director of New Directions, the McKinley High School glee club, hires Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff)—an alumnus of championship-winning rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline—as a consultant to help them develop a strategy to win the upcoming Nationals competition. Jesse convinces Will to use Vocal Adrenaline's methodology, which is to identify the club's best performer and center the entire performance on that person, and Will decides to hold auditions to determine who will be featured. Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera), Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) all audition, with Jesse and Will as judges. Jesse is highly critical of the performances by Santana, Kurt and Mercedes, while he praises his former girlfriend Rachel's performance. He tells Will that Rachel is the clear winner, which angers the other three. Ultimately, Will decides to ignore Jesse's advice and instead plans to do for Nationals what brought them victory at the Regionals competition: having the whole group sing original songs.
Cheerleading coach
Finn realizes his true feelings for Rachel during the funeral, and
Production
The episode was written by series co-creator
Groff returns for the second of three consecutive episodes as Jesse. Terri's colleague Howard Bamboo (Kent Avenido) also returns, and makes his only appearance of the second season after having featured in several episodes during the first. Other recurring guest stars in the episode include glee club members
"Funeral" features
Reception
Ratings
"Funeral" was first broadcast on May 17, 2011 in the United States on Fox. It garnered a 3.6/10
The episode's Canadian broadcast, also on May 17, 2011, drew 1.58 million viewers. It was the fourteenth most-watched show of the week, and ranked two places higher than the previous week's "Prom Queen", even though it drew 13% fewer viewers than the 1.82 million recorded for that episode.
Critical response
"Funeral" was met with a wide range of reviews, from highly enthusiastic to harshly critical. Lisa Respers France of CNN said it was "one of the best episodes ever", and MTV's Aly Semigran called it "authentic" and "one of the very best" of the season if not the series as a whole.[17][18] Robert Canning of IGN wrote that it was "a great episode that truly showcased the talents of Jane Lynch" and rated it 8.5 out of 10.[19] Rolling Stone's Erica Futterman said that the episode "felt like a recycled version of things we've seen previously" and added that the show is "not as entertaining when it's simply a showcase".[20] Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "C" and characterized the funeral scene as "the highlight of an uneven episode".[21] The Atlantic's Kevin Fallon wrote, "Killing off Sue's sister seemed cruel, but ultimately paid off—it's too bad the episode completely derailed afterward, dying its own rapid death in turn."[22] Anthony Benigno of The Faster Times had little good to say, and singled out the writers for doing "such a crappy job" on the penultimate episode of the season.[23]
Lynch as Sue received high praise for her acting. Canning wrote that she "stole the episode" and "perfectly portrayed a woman [whose] hard heart was trying terribly not to break, but not being able to stop it."
The secondary plot line, about the auditions for New Directions soloist at Nationals, was roundly criticized. Canning called it a "faux drama", though he added that Jesse was "a delight to despise", and VanDerWerff said it was "completely ridiculous to do this with Nationals coming up" in a week's time, and "constructed almost entirely" to make Jesse a "jerk".
Poniewozik wrote of Will's Broadway plans that "his ambitions, and guilt over them, make a much more believable and compelling conflict than Matthew Morrison has had to convey for much of the season."
Musical commentary
While the placement of the four solos together in the middle of the episode was questioned, the songs themselves were met with approbation: VanDerWerff called all four "really good performances".[27] Santana's rendition of "Back to Black" was declared "spot on" by Futterman, and Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal wrote that it was performed "with raspy sensitivity", and went "deep into the emotional truth of the song".[20][31] Kubicek was less enthusiastic, and called it "pretty good, but nothing groundbreaking or special", and Semigran called it "decent".[18][32] Benigno said that "Rivera's delivery gives this song its smoldering swagger" and gave it an "A−", and Poniewozik praised Rivera as "really impressive".[23][29]
"Some People" received adequate to good reviews. Gonzalez missed Kurt's usual charisma and thought the performance "a bit lackluster", and Benigno called it "kind of a boring cover". It received their lowest grades of the show, "B" and "B−", respectively.[23][25] Kubicek stated, "Kurt has a unique voice that sounds positively beautiful with the right melodic song, but this is a terrible song for his style", and Vanity Fair's Brett Berk added, after he gave it two out of five stars, that it was "not the best showcase of Kurt's talents".[32][33] Futterman and Reiter referred approvingly to Kurt's "upper register", and both Reiter and Respers France said he "ripped it" on his song.[17][20][26]
"Try a Little Tenderness" received a stream of bouquets from the critics. Kubicek raved that Mercedes "gave 100% of what she has to offer, which is pure greatness", and Respers France said she "stole the night" and was "amazing".[17][32] Berk broke his own scale of one to five stars with six stars, and praised "the unstinting instrument that is Mercedes' voice".[33] Gonzalez gave it an "A" and called it "pure perfection", but Benigno was more restrained with a "B+", and wrote "she hits a little too hard for my taste" and "the vocals … threaten to engulf the song itself".[23][25]
"My Man" was also lauded. Flandez called it "heartstopping", and Futterman summed up with, "she nails the Funny Girl closer, making it one of Rachel's top performances on the show".[20][31] Berk called it "good singing" and gave it three stars out of five, and Gonzalez gave it an "A−".[25][33] Benigno was more generous with an "A" grade, and said, "even by Lea Michele's standards, the vocals here are fan-fucking-tastic". Hankinson agreed: "Rachel truly nailed the most difficult song she's ever sung."[23][28]
The one group number, "Pure Imagination", received reviews that touched on the song itself as much as the performance. Fallon called it "unsettling yet touching" and Poniewozik described it as "odd but perfect".[22][29] Berk, on the other hand, characterized it as "pure dreck".[33] Benigno felt that while the song was "really quite good", the "stupidity of the scene" it was in detracted from it, resulting in a grade of "B+", while Gonzalez, when she gave it an "A−", said she hadn't been a "huge fan of the cover" when she heard it before the show aired, but it grew on her in context.[23][25] Futterman wrote, "The New Directions break into a restrained, tender take on "Pure Imagination" with lush harmonies on the chorus that's exactly right for the moment."[20]
Chart history
Only three of the five cover versions debuted on the Billboard Hot 100: "Pure Imagination" debuted at number fifty-nine, "Back to Black" at number eighty-two, and "My Man" at number ninety-four.[34] "Pure Imagination" was the only song to make the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 at number eighty-seven.[35]
Of the five songs that were featured in the episode, three were featured on the eighth soundtrack album of the series, Glee: The Music, Volume 6: "Pure Imagination", "My Man", and "Try a Little Tenderness".[36] The album was released on May 23, 2011, and debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, selling 80,000 copies in its first week, which was the second-lowest opening sales figure for a Glee release next to the extended play Glee: The Music, The Rocky Horror Glee Show, and lower than the 86,000 sold by Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers in its first week the previous month.[37] The album was also at number four on the Canadian Album charts.[38]
References
- Tribune Media Services. Archived from the originalon September 3, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
- Mail.com Media. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
- Mail.com Media. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
- Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
- Time, Inc.Retrieved September 14, 2011.
- ^ "Emmys 2011 Episode Submissions: Drama & Comedy Acting Nominees". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
- 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. September 13, 2011.
- TV Squad. AOL. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (May 18, 2011). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Breaking In,' 'The Good Wife,' 'Body of Proof' Adjusted Down; 'NCIS,' 'NCIS: LA,' 'Glee,' 'The Biggest Loser' Adjusted Up". Tv by the Numbers. TVbytheNumbers.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (May 11, 2011). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice,' 'Glee,' 'Dancing' Adjusted Up; 'Raising Hope,' 'Traffic Light' Adjusted Down". Tv by the Numbers. TVbytheNumbers.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- BBM Canada. Archived from the original(PDF) on December 17, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
- BBM Canada. Archived from the original(PDF) on September 5, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
- Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
- ^ Dale, David (May 30, 2011). "The Ratings Race: Week 23". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
- BARB. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
- BARB. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Respers France, Lisa (May 18, 2011). "'Glee's' 'Funeral' sparks waterworks". CNN.com. CNN. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ MTV Networks. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ News Corporation. Archived from the originalon June 1, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f Futterman, Erica (May 18, 2011). "'Glee' Recap: Try a Little Tenderness". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
- ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (May 18, 2011). ""Funeral"". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ Atlantic Media Company. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f Benigno, Anthony (May 19, 2011). "'Glee' Recap (Season 2, Episode 21): Putting the F-U In Funeral". The Faster Times. Sam Apple. Archived from the original on August 25, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
- ^ Kubicek, John (May 18, 2011). "'Glee': 5 Things I Loved About 'Funeral'". BuddyTV. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ Time, Inc.Retrieved September 14, 2011.
- ^ a b c Reiter, Amy (May 18, 2011). "'Glee' recap: Four solos and a funeral". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e VanDerWerff, Emily (May 18, 2011). "Funeral". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
- ^ a b c Hankinson, Bobby (May 18, 2011). "Glee: "Funeral" is unsurprisingly a bit of a downer". Houston Chronicle. Jack Sweeney. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ Time Inc. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- E! Online. NBCUniversal. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ a b Flandez, Raymund (May 17, 2011). "'Glee', Season 2, Episode 21, 'Funeral': TV Recap". Speakeasy. The Wall Street Journal. Les Hinton. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
- ^ a b c Kubicek, John (May 18, 2011). "'Glee' Recap: A Funeral Changes Everything". BuddyTV. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ Condé Nast Publications. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
- ^ Peak chart positions for season 2 singles in the United States: "Pure Imagination", "Back to Black", and "My Man" "Hot 100: Week of June 04, 2011 (Biggest Jump)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
- ^ "Canadian Hot 100: Week of June 04, 2011 (Biggest Jump)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
- ^ "Glee: The Music, Volume 6 Available Monday, May 23" (Press release). New York: Columbia Records. PR Newswire. May 3, 2011. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (June 1, 2011). "Lady Gaga Tops Billboard 200, Brad Paisley Arrives at No. 2". Billboard. Los Angeles: Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
- ^ "Canadian Albums: Week of June 11, 2011". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 22, 2011.