FOX gave journalists a sneak peek of the Glee season premiere today, and surely you’re curious for some early impressions. Here are five things about what we can expect when the show returns in a week, on Thursday, September 13.
1. New Directions: I’ve been on a Facts Of Life kick lately, and I’m up to the part on the DVD where Blair and Jo go off to Langley College and Natalie and Tootie stay behind at Eastland. That’s kind of what’s happening here… Rachel’s story takes place in one place (New York), as she spars with a new dance teacher named Cassandra and has a new possible love interest named Brody… and almost everyone else that we see in the premiere is back in Ohio. Kurt channels his inner Screech by spending way too much time at McKinley after graduation, and we’ll get to find out what Blaine thinks of that. (Incidentally, it is still weird to think of Blaine as younger than Kurt when all that time at Dalton, Blaine seemed to be the upperclassman mentor. Oh well.)
2. No-Shows: Don’t expect to see Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Naya Rivera, Mark Salling, Dianna Agron, or even Jayma Mays in the season premiere. There’s probably nowhere they could have fit in, but it makes me wonder how much we’ll see them as the season goes on.
3. New Characters: The new characters are a mixed bag. I like the voice and some of the sass of Kate Hudson’s Cassandra, but when she’s lecturing the students, the classic TV fan in me thought to myself “Debbie Allen did it better.” She’s almost a more realistic version of Sue, in her own ways. Dean Geyer’s Brody makes a splashy entrance, but I have to admit that it wasn’t very well staged… I hate those kind of “meet-cute” scenes that are completely divorced from the way people would really speak or act. He does seem to have a nice voice though, as does Jacob Artist’s Jake. Alex Newell is now a unique part of the Glee club, and Brittany has a funny reaction to that. Also added to the cast now are Marley, a girl who seems to feel like an outsider from her family background – look for some commonalities with Sam – and a new cheerleader character whose name totally escapes from me, but her character is a total rhymes-with-snitch. Fresh off their award winning, the Glee club seems to be a bit on the cocky side, and they all seem to want to be “The New Rachel,” so this gives them some bad attitudes toward the new characters all on their own.
4. Romance: Some questions came on the KSiteTV Twitter about “Klaine.” I don’t recall any kissing, but we do get another scene of Blaine randomly singing to Kurt in the courtyard. The episode does end with a reunion of two characters that makes for a very sweet moment.
5. The Song Of The Summer: I just met you, and this is crazy, but here Glee covers, Call Me Maybe. And it’s GREAT.
What did I think, ultimately? It was definitely not as bad as Glee can sometimes get, but it was enough that I want to see what happens next. Provided the audience follows Glee to Thursday nights, you might not be able to count the show out just yet, even with the cast changes.
Look for the season premiere September 13 on FOX. Here are some images:
GLEE: Rachel (Lea Michele, R) takes a dance class from Cassandra (guest star Kate Hudson) at NYADA in the "The New Rachel," the Season Four premiere episode of GLEE airing on a new night and time Thursday, Sept. 13 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2012 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Adam Rose/FOX
GLEE: Rachel (Lea Michele, R) takes a dance class from Cassandra (guest star Kate Hudson) at NYADA in the "The New Rachel," the Season Four premiere episode of GLEE airing on a new night and time Thursday, Sept. 13 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2012 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Adam Rose/FOX
