Glee’s Lovable Losers

If you haven’t watched Glee, you’ll probably be confuzzled about this entry but hey – positive writing covers both general and specific subjects. You’d better watch the series if you haven’t!

So Fox’s Glee comes to a season’s end tonight, and with another set of storylines from the back 9 episodes coming to a close, we once again stand on the cusp of something that is make or break for everyone’s favorite pseudo-teen singers. Victory at Regionals, both over their own adversity and  over favored golden child rival club Vocal Adrenaline, would seem to be the proverbial cherry on the top of the sundae.

But is a win for America’s most visual and varying fictional glee club really a foregone conclusion? I kind of wonder about that today as I review bits and pieces of the last 9 eps to get any kind of clue as to the outcome of tonight’s episode. Part of the appeal of Glee is our love of the kids’ ability to triumph over adversity, be victorious in the face of certain defeat or an uphill battle. At Sectionals, the Glee kids’ last competition, it was easier to believe a win, fourth wall or not, because of the odds against them, from losing their songs at the last minute to not being able to travel with their mentor and teacher Will Schuester, to the (thankfully temporary) departure of their male lead. The stage was set for a dramatic, last-minute victory and the win at Sectionals highlighted just why we loved Glee – it’s a story of trials and tribulations, outcasts and loneliness, all overcome.

But this time around, the Glee kids are riding a wave of momentum. They didn’t just overcome their fear of their more talented opposition, they rattled them with a number they couldn’t hope to do. Will is on an upward trend after a number of introspective (and questionable) behavior. A reuniting of leads Finn and Rachel seems imminent. Everything seems to be on the upswing….and that is why the writers are going to hand New Directions a loss.

The entire season has been a realization of characters coming to terms with things they wanted but could not have. Will and Emma put off their relationship until Will’s divorce is finalized and Will finds out what he wants. Kurt, the club’s gay member, had to realize he couldn’t pursue a relationship with decidedly straight Finn. Mercedes needed to get that she wasn’t a cheerleader type. Wheelchair-bound Artie had to figure out that his damaged spine was ages away from a possible fix. All of the thematic elements point to wanting something, not getting it, then coming to terms and being stronger for it, which is why for the series to remain fresh, and for the characters to explore more of how they can succeed despite obstacles, they have to lose to Vocal Adrenaline.

I think part of why those who watch it love Glee is that there is a level of authenticity in the characters’ flaws, trials, and tribulations. For that to happen, a sense of a real loss has to be experienced, one which both endears us to the characters and entices us to watch as they work to move past being knocked down. An old quote says that the true measure of a man is not in times of success but in times of failure.  It’ll be a tough pill to swallow if my prediction for our favorite Glee kids is that they lose out. But I think in the end, we all know that they’ll be back – and not just for the fact that Fox quickly renewed them.