In last night’s episode, the Christmas spirit infiltrated the halls of McKinley High bringing with it visions of Chewbacca and warthogs named Barbra. Let's revisit Glee's Extraordinary Merry Christmas episode, shall we?
Star Wars Meets a '60s/Dick Van Dyke Christmas
Ah, a Glee television Christmas special within a Christmas special. Blows your mind huh? I thought the opening credits to Artie's magnificent Christmas special were worthy of any late '80s/early '90s childhood Christmas show: He-Man and She-Ra, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, The Muppet Show, etc And I loved the black-and-white '60s throwback set, costumes and dialect while still maintaining each character's goofy charm (Kurt and the necklace had me LOL-ing!!!). And nice touch by incorporating the Star Wars characters without infringing on copyright issues. LOL. It was also sweet how they used Rory to give a nod to Linus' classic Charlie Brown Christmas line.
The Songs
Mercedes rendition of Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas is You" was a hundred times better than that awful Justin Bieber remix. FYI Santa, all I want for Christmas is for Justin Bieber to go away, and for people to spell Santa Claus the correct way. It's not "Santa Clause." Last time I checked a clause was a grammatical term or a provision within a treaty. (Sorry, English major rant.)
New exchange student Rory also got to show off his pipes with Elvis' "Blue Christmas." I was really digging his vocals, but my favorite song of the night is a tie between Kurt and Blaine's "Let It Snow" and Brittany and Santana's performance of The Waitress' "Christmas Wrapping." Ah The Waitresses, I still have your lyrics of " So deck those halls, trim those trees, raise up cups of Christmas cheer,.." stuck in my head.
Sue Helping the Homeless
Sue summoned "Wheels" (Artie), "Porcelain" (Kurt), and a "Young Burt Reynolds" (Blaine), to inform the trio that she wanted members of Glee to perform at the homeless shelter where she volunteers. And no Sue isn't going all reformed Scrooge (although I'd love to see her interpretation of Bill Murray's "Scrooged"). She assures them that she isn't going soft, she just needs something to distract herself from the gaping hole left by the death of her beloved sister Jean.
Trouty Mouth Sponsor & Other Good Deeds
Sam a.k.a. Trouty Mouth offered to "sponsor" Rory and show him a good old U.S. of A. Christmas. Awww. And Finn thought it would be a good idea to sponsor an African pig for Rachel for just $2 a day. Hey, didn't Sally Struthers do commercials for something like that? Or maybe I'm thinking of South Park where she ate all of the starving Ethiopians' food.
Gift of the Magi...Sort Of
Naturally we all knew Rachel would hate the pig after her Charlie Brown Sally moment where she spouted off "All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share." Yikes!!! And even though she presented Finn with a list of 5 gifts to get her, and he was horrified to realize he was dating Kim Kardashian, Jr., that didn't stop him from doing it. Sadly Finn's not the sharpest crayon in the box.
Later after the awkward scene where Finn gifted her with a warthog, Rachel realized the error of her ways and returned her diamond earrings and Finn's iPod, and donated the money to Sam and Rory's Salvation Army red bucket. It was a nice gesture, but seemed out of character for Rachel. I could see her "donating" the gift of song instead.
LOL Moments
Sue's explanation about why she isn't hanging with Sarah Palin was gold: "I made plans to shoot reindeer from a helicopter with Sarah Palin, but she canceled. Apparently Todd gets fussy when she misses his ballet recitals." I also cracked up at Artie's remark about Judy Garland's Christmas special, "Some say Judy was high on pills and booze, but I say she was high on excitement and baby Jesus." And Rachel naming her warthog Barbra after her idol was priceless.
Memorable quotes
• Finn: "I thought we agreed the "Things We Did Wrong This Week" list was hurting more than helpful."
• Finn: "Holy crap, I'm dating Kim Kardashian."
• Sue: "Wheels, Porcelain, Other Gay, the Yuletide is upon us."
• Sue: "Christmas isn't just a time when Jewish kids get slightly uncomfortable and dwarves get jobs as Santa's helpers in demeaning, non-union commercials that make them quietly die inside."
• Artie to Sue: "You said you considered homeless people urban campers."
• Rory: "Brittany and her family are going on a trip to see a gay Santa. Something about Santa Fe."
• Kurt: "And then I said to Justin Timberlake, 'That's not egg nogg.'"
Music featured
• “Extraordinary Merry Christmas”
• “All I Want For Christmas is You"
•“Blue Christmas”
• "Riverl”
• “Let It Snow”
•“Santa Claus is Coming to Town”
•“Christmas Wrapping”
•“Do They Know It's Christmas”
•“My Favorite Things”
Gleeks, we'll have to wait until January for the next episode, but oh what an episode it will be: Will proposes to Emma!!! Happy holidays! See you back here in 2012!
