Wheels (Glee)

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"Wheels"
Glee episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 9
Directed byParis Barclay
Written byRyan Murphy
Featured music"Dancing with Myself"
"Defying Gravity"
"Proud Mary"
Production code1ARC08
Original air dateNovember 11, 2009 (2009-11-11)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"Ballad"
Glee (season 1)
List of episodes

"Wheels" is the ninth episode of the American television series

Puck (Mark Salling) renews his offer to support her. Sue (Jane Lynch) accepts a student with Down syndrome (Lauren Potter) onto the cheerleading squad, and Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Rachel (Lea Michele
) compete for a solo performance.

McHale called "Wheels" the "most serious" episode of Glee so far, while Murphy deemed it "the turning point for the show". The episode introduces two new characters,

Jean Sylvester. It features covers of Nouvelle Vague's rendition of "Dancing with Myself", "Defying Gravity" from Wicked and Ike & Tina Turner's rendition of "Proud Mary
". "Dancing With Myself" is McHale's first solo performance on the show. "Defying Gravity" was included as a reflection of Colfer's own high school experience, which saw his drama teacher refuse to allow him to sing the song because of his sex. "Proud Mary" is staged entirely in wheelchairs, and was described by series choreographer Zach Woodlee as the "scariest" number produced to date.

"Wheels" was watched by 7.35 million US viewers, and saw Barclay nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing of a Comedy Series. It prompted criticism from a committee of performers with disabilities, who felt that it was inappropriate to cast a non-disabled actor in a disabled role. The episode received generally positive reviews from critics, with Entertainment Weekly's Tim Stack and Aly Semigran of MTV both writing that it brought them to tears. Reviewers Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger and Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune both commented positively on the episode, despite formerly having given unfavorable reviews of the series as a whole. In contrast, The New York Times's Mike Hale deemed the episode problematic, and Eric Goldman of IGN described it as "very afterschool special".[1]

Plot

Glee club director Will Schuester is informed that the school budget will not cover a handicap-accessible bus to transport the glee club to sectionals, which means that Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) will have to travel separately from the rest of the club. Will encourages the other club members to support Artie, not only by holding a bake sale to raise funds for a handicap bus, but also by spending time in wheelchairs to experience what life is like for him. Meanwhile, Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron) is struggling to cover the medical expenses of her pregnancy, and threatens to break up with Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) if he cannot pay her ultrasound bill. Puck (Mark Salling) fights with Finn, whom he feels is not doing enough to support Quinn. By including cannabis in the cupcakes, Puck ensures the bake sale is a success and offers Quinn the money raised. She apologizes for previously calling him a loser, but refuses to accept the money, and is relieved when Finn is able to find a job.

Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) compete for a solo on "Defying Gravity". The part, normally performed by a female, is initially offered to Rachel, but when Kurt's father Burt (Mike O'Malley) complains to Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) that his son is being discriminated against, Kurt is allowed to audition along with Rachel. Burt receives an anonymous abusive phone call about his son's sexual orientation, and Kurt deliberately sabotages his own audition to spare his father further harassment.

Artie reveals the origin of his disability to

speech impediment
. The two go on a date and kiss, but part on bad terms when Tina confesses that she has been faking her speech impediment since the sixth grade, in order to deflect attention from herself, but now feels she no longer needs to, having been given confidence by the glee club.

Having previously removed Quinn from the cheerleading squad due to her pregnancy, coach

Jean (Robin Trocki), who also has Down syndrome, and lives in a residential home for people with disabilities. In the end, the glee club performs "Proud Mary
", staging the entire routine in wheelchairs in support of Artie.

Production

Kevin McHale deemed "Wheels" the "most serious" episode of Glee so far.[2] Of the burgeoning romance between Artie and Tina, McHale opined: "I think Tina and Artie will be together. I think they will be a couple for a long time."[3] McHale and Ushkowitz hope that their characters will ultimately become a couple, as they are best friends in real life.[3]

"As we go forward, this episode has reverberations for the whole season. This is a comedy first and foremost. But we see the obligation to go deeper. This isn't just a genre show to me. It's about the desperate need for a place in the world and how we all fit in and how hard it is for some people to get by."

Murphy, on his hopes for the episode and its ultimate impact on the series.[4]

Murphy called "Wheels" "the turning point for the show".[4] He elaborated: "Certainly, after this, it remains a comedy, and it's fun. But writing this made me feel the responsibility of showing the truth of the pain that outcasts go through. It's not all razzle-dazzle show business. It's tough, and it's painful, and it was for me growing up, and it is for most people."[4] Murphy commented that the episode caused him to realize that, as well as highlighting the "fun and glamour" of glee clubs, it is also occasionally "really great [...] to show the underbelly of what people who are different feel."[4]

Recurring characters who appear in the episode are Kurt's father Burt Hummel (O'Malley), glee club members

Sandy Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky). "Wheels" guest stars Cheryl Francis Harrington and Jeff Lewis as a nurse and manager at a local residential facility, and also introduces two characters with Down syndrome, Robin Trocki as Sue's sister Jean Sylvester, and Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson, a sophomore at William McKinley High School.[5] Potter is a member of the Down's Syndrome Association of Los Angeles, and was contacted about auditioning through the association's in-house talent agency, Hearts and Hands. Fourteen actresses auditioned for the role, which Potter deemed "a great experience" to perform.[6]

Music and choreography

The "Defying Gravity" storyline was based on a high school experience of Chris Colfer

The episode features cover versions of Nouvelle Vague rendition of "Dancing with Myself", "Defying Gravity" from Wicked and the Ike & Tina Turner rendition of "Proud Mary".[7] Glee cast versions of the songs, including both Michele and Colfer's solo performances of "Defying Gravity", were all released as singles available for digital download.[8] While "Proud Mary" and "Dancing With Myself" did not chart, "Defying Gravity" reached number 58 in Australia,[9] 38 in Canada and 31 in America.[10] A duet version of "Defying Gravity" appeared on the soundtrack album "Glee: The Music, Volume 1".

Murphy selected "Defying Gravity" for the episode after Colfer relayed a story from his own high school days, whereby his drama teacher refused to let him sing the song because of his sex.[11] Murphy explained: "I found a way to write it into the show because that's in a nutshell what this show is about: someone being told that they can't do something because of what the perception of them is as opposed to what their real ability is."[4] Colfer stated that the opportunity to finally sing the song "really meant the world" to him, and that: "It's absolutely terrifying to watch yourself do something you've dreamed about for such a long time. I know I'm definitely not the best singer, but I think the message, the story behind the song about defying limits and borders placed by others, hopefully all that gets across with the performance. Although I do some very 'Kurtsy' things in the song, it's probably one of the most honest and close-to-heart scenes I've ever filmed or performed for that matter."[4]

"Dancing With Myself" is McHale's first solo performance on the show.[3] Murphy commented that the performance is Artie's chance to "break away from being misunderstood by everyone" and express himself, explaining that although Artie is usually "a very secure guy" who does not care about others' opinions of him, "Wheels" sees his friends take his disability for granted: "So this performance is all about him saying, 'Look, this is who I am, and this is who I want to be.'"[4] McHale has stated that performing as Artie has made him more aware of the challenges that people with disabilities face: "It's a completely different side of life. More than ever, I realize how grateful I am to be able to get up between each take and walk around. I'm glad that I can represent that kind of life on television so millions of people see it every week. And the whole point of it is to show that Artie can still do everything everyone else can that matters."[4]

Glee choreographer Zach Woodlee described "Proud Mary" as the "scariest" number produced to date, citing concerns with choreographing an entire routine in wheelchairs and problems building the correct staging. Woodlee explained the stage ramps were initially built too steeply, preventing the actors from ascending them in wheelchairs, and that the actors experienced problems learning to distribute their weight correctly, flipping the wheelchairs over backwards: "It was like roller derby. All of the actors would fall backwards and hit their heads—particularly Lea Michele. You lose your balance really quick when you try to go up a ramp in a wheelchair. Amber Riley caught an edge going down a ramp and fell off completely. There were pile-ups; there were crashes. Basically, everything that could go wrong, did."[12] Murphy specified to Woodlee that cast members should not be able to leave their wheelchairs during the number, as: "Artie doesn't get to get up ever, so I didn't want anyone to get up."[4] Woodlee agreed: "If it looked too fun and easy, it wouldn't read right. Ryan really wanted people to understand what Artie deals with."[4]

Reception

The casting of Kevin McHale, an able-bodied actor, as a character who uses a wheelchair, drew criticism from a committee of performers with disabilities

"Wheels" was watched by 7.35 million US viewers, and attained a 3.3/8

E4 and E4 +1 for the week, and the most-watched show on cable for the week.[15]

Director

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series" award for his role in the episode as Burt Hummel.[17] Production mixer Phillip W. Palmer and re-recording mixers Joseph H. Earle Jr. and Doug Andham were nominated for the "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Television Series" award at the 2009 Cinema Audio Society Awards for their work on "Wheels".[18] The episode was honored at the 2010 Television Academy Honors for exemplifying "Television with a Conscience". The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences called it a "dynamic" episode, which "paint[s] a portrait of how we treat others—and how we can do it better."[19]

Critical reaction

The episode attracted criticism from a committee of performers with disabilities, who felt that casting a non-disabled actor to play a disabled student was inappropriate.

Kristin Dos Santos of E! refuted criticism of the episode, opining that: "'Wheels' is all about empowering people with disabilities and sends out an uplifting message to the disabled community."[3] Gerrick Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times expressed a similar sentiment, stating: "Here we have an episode bluntly addressing the complexities of disability and doing so with so much respect and dignity, and there are complaints about Artie not being wheelchair-bound [sic] in real life? Cooooome on, guys."[22]

Tim Stack for

Emmy-worthy and deeming "Wheels" "a truly standout hour of TV".[24] Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal reviewed the episode positively, calling Artie's rendition of "Dancing With Myself" "catchy" and "upbeat" and praising Rachel's "Defying Gravity" audition, which he wrote: "leaves us wanting for more."[25] Kennedy described the episode as "sheer perfection",[22] and James Poniewozik of Time made the pun: "Glee's always been a pleasure, but if it raises its storytelling ambitions this way, it can really defy gravity."[26]

Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger wrote that while he generally finds Glee to be "a show with a serious identity crisis", he did not dislike "Wheels" as much as previous episodes. Sepinwall wrote that while Glee can be "broad and in-your-face and self-congratulatory", this episode was "much more human-scaled [and] much more interesting."[27] Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune similarly commented that while other episodes of Glee lack "coherence and narrative drive", "Wheels" did not have this problem, describing it as "a case study of what Glee does right" and deeming Artie and Kurt's storylines "provocative and thoughtfully handled."[28]

Mike Hale of The New York Times felt that the episode was problematic. He thought that having Kurt sabotage his own audition sent out a "mixed message", and believed that actress Lauren Potter was "used as a prop in the continuing humanization of Sue Sylvester." Hale wrote that the storyline felt "smarmy and artificial", though praised Lynch for making the scene with Sue's sister "warm and real".[29] Entertainment Weekly's Dan Snierson felt that the revelation about Sue's sister was "a little manipulative", though wrote that he "didn't care in that glorious moment." He hoped that Glee's writers would not humanize Sue too often, however, fearing that she would lose her "dictatorial swagger".[30] Eric Goldman for IGN rated the episode 7.5/10, commenting: "I really hope that episode was about getting a lot of 'issue' storylines out of the way all at once, because that was a lot of overkill." He felt that, although the episode contained "the usual strong humor, warm character moments and catchy musical performances", overall it felt "very afterschool special".[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Goldman, Eric (November 12, 2009). "Glee: "Wheels" Review". IGN. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  2. ^ Snead, Elizabeth (October 26, 2009). "Video Scoop: Kevin McHale pops a wheelie on 'Glee'!". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d Dos Santos, Kristin (November 11, 2009). "Glee Boss Gets on Board With Puck and Rachel!". E!. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Fernandez, Maria Elena; Martin, Denise (November 11, 2009). "Exclusive: Ryan Murphy calls tonight's episode of 'Glee' a 'game changer'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 12, 2009.
  5. ^ "The club rocks and rolls on "Glee" Wednesday, January 6, on Fox" (Press release). Fox. December 27, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  6. The Press-Enterprise
    . Retrieved November 12, 2009.
  7. ^ "Wheels". Fox. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  8. ^ "Cast versions of "Proud Mary", "Defying Gravity" and "Dancing With Myself" among songs featured in tonight's episode of "Glee" on Fox" (Press release). Fox. November 11, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  9. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 30th November 2009" (PDF). Australian Web Archive. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 4, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
  10. ^ "Glee Cast featuring Chris Colfer and Lea Michele – Defying Gravity". aCharts.us. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  11. ^ Kuhn, Sarah (September 3, 2009). "Life Stages". Backstage. Nielson Business Media. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  12. ^ Albiniak, Paige (November 8, 2009). "Spinning their wheels". New York Post. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  13. ^ Seidman, Robert (November 12, 2009). "TV Ratings: CMA Awards dominate with Taylor Swift, Glee returns strong". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 7, 2015.
  14. BBM Canada
    . Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  15. BARB
    . Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  16. ^ "Nominees for Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television/Mini-Series, Dramatic Series Night, Comedy Series, Musical Variety, Reality Programs, Daytime Serials, Children's Programs, Commercials" (Press release). Directors Guild of America. January 8, 2010. Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  17. Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
    . Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  18. ^ "Cinema Audio Society announces nominations for the 46th CAS Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for 2009" (PDF) (Press release). Cinema Audio Society. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  19. ^ "CSI, Glee, Private Practice Among 2010 Television Academy Honors Nods" (Press release). Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. March 17, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  20. ^ a b Elber, Lynn (November 10, 2009). "'Glee' Wheelchair Episode Hits Bump With Disabled". ABC News. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
  21. ^ DiNunno, Gina (November 10, 2009). "Glee's Kevin McHale Hints at New Love Connection". TV Guide. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  22. ^ a b Kennedy, Gerrick (November 12, 2009). "'Glee': Defying gravity with heart and soul". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  23. ^ Stack, Tim (November 4, 2009). "'Glee' giveaway: Win tickets to an advance episode screening!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  24. ^ Semigran, Aly (November 12, 2009). "'Glee' Recap: Episode 9, 'Wheels'". MTV. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  25. ^ Flandez, Raymund (November 11, 2009). "Glee Season 1, Episode 9: "Wheels" TV Recap". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  26. ^ Poniewozik, James (November 12, 2009). "Glee Watch: Four Wheels Good". Time. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  27. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (November 11, 2009). "Glee, "Wheels": A step in the right direction". The Star-Ledger. Advance Publications. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  28. ^ Ryan, Maureen (November 10, 2009). "Perfect pitch? Not quite, but there's much to enjoy as 'Glee' returns". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  29. ^ Hale, Mike (November 12, 2009). "'Glee' Watch: Wheelchair Antics". The New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  30. ^ Snierson, Dan (November 12, 2009). "'Glee' recap: Rolling Right Along". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 13, 2022.

External links

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