Glee - Episode 9

Wheeling and Dealing

Glee is back, and during its time away, grew some real heart. Tonight's show focused on Artie's disability, an issue that spidered into the lives of other Glee characters in ways we could not have anticipated. It's also the first episode to bring to light off-the-set controversy - many in the disabled community have expressed upset with the show's decision to cast Kevin McHale in the part of Artie, even though he is not actually handicapped, and see it as disregarding an opportunity to feature an actual disabled person prominently and in a positive light. The producers insist, though, that they searched for a wheelchair-bound Artie, but ultimately needed to enlist McHale's musical abilities. You can read more about it at Us Magazine's Web site .

Whichever side you land on in the debate, you have to admit that tonight's show brought the issue to light - even going so far as to have Mr. Scheuster force the members of New Directions into wheelchairs for three hours a day, for an entire week, so that they could understand what their fellow glee club member deals with every day of his life. The effort was also an attempt to stave off some of the isolation Artie feels after the others refuse to put forth the effort to get a wheelchair accessible van to take them to sectionals together. He also expresses himself early in the episode during a fun rendition of Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself ". With the song, he basically was saying "This is me and this is who I want to be". The 80's is always a great source of powerful, but fun, songs, just waiting to get the aca-treatment, as demonstrated by the Tufts Amalgamates with their rendition of "Heartbreaker." Looks like everyone wants to "Just Dance" - like the Red States' cover of the Lady Gaga tune , found on Sing Six: Sunny Side Up, says.

And in addition to understanding persons with disabilities, other obstacles were introduced - namely the sing-off between Kurt and Rachel for the "Defying Gravity " solo, originally from Wicked. In the a cappella world, there's nothing wrong with gender bending - just ask the Brown Bear Necessities, who put together a great cover of the Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men." Those high notes at the end were make-or-break for both competitors, and hey, we in the a cappella world understand the importance of money notes. One group that employs them beautifully into their arrangements, and executes them with powerhouse conviction, are those in the Stanford Harmonics. The last minute of their rendition of "Sound of Silence" leaves me with goosebumps every time.

And the kicker of this episode was a high-octane, wheelchair-friendly version of Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" with a stage setting of ramps, provided by Sue Sylvester (who was finaly humanized, and wonderfully so, toward the end of this week's show). "I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King/Sly and the Family Stone, as done by Awaken A Cappella. And with a great closer to a surprising episode, this show should be proud to move in a great direction.