#1.10 "Ballads"

[KryptonSite]

Count down to the episode's airing and then discuss it LIVE here, and then after that, use this as the episode's discussion thread!

Here are some extras:

Official FOX Description: http://gleeksite.com/ballad.htm
Images: http://gleeksite.com/balladgallery1.htm

Let the countdown begin!

[clois-destiny-forever]

About 14 hours for the east coast, I think!

[davidbrenton]

10 minutes. I have a feeling tonight's ep will be much better than last week.

----- Added 14 Minutes later -----

I liked the opening. It was creative w/ the inner thoughts and w/ Mr. Shuester's funny faces.

----- Added 15 Minutes later -----

YES! Score w/ casting of Quinn's parents.

----- Added 17 Minutes later -----

W/ Rachel's storyline, it is taking up w/ pilot in "emulating" Election: The Musical.

I'm fine w/ that as I never really liked Election, so feel this can do a lil better than that story.

----- Added 27 Minutes later -----

Wow! Great live discussion!

Here we go in a ballad from ME: "All by myyyyssseeeeeelllllffffff. Don't wanna be....Allll byy myseeelllfffff anymmooooreee."

----- Added 32 Minutes later -----

Emma is so funny! "You're a very good performer Will. He's very good."

[super_j_man]

very good so far.............but no Sue :(

[davidbrenton]

This episode is so great. Constant music, humor, and the storyline is so smooth this time....it's like it's found it's footing.

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----

Woah...that was unrealisticly fast digestion and spewing of "how it should be" from a top a horse from Mercedez.

Ep's first mistep.

----- Added 3 Minutes later -----

"I have to go, they'll think I'm pooping."

----- Added 12 Minutes later -----

Trust me. I'm a cautionary tale.

This episode rocks.

----- Added 22 Minutes later -----

Best Glee ever. Great live discussion everyone (Special thanks to super j man).

G'nite.

[mildmannered...]

Gross! A spider in Matt's ear! *shudders* and *shudders again*

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----

Love the internal dialogue of the guys in the teaser :lol:

And the look of fear in Shue's face. He's running away from her during the song!

[warriorrenegade]

I wouldn't call it the "best" Glee ever, but It was okay. It just felt hollow. Like all it was all jokes and akwards moments.

[davidbrenton]

I wouldn't call it the "best" Glee ever, but It was okay. It just felt hollow. Like all it was all jokes and akwards moments.

***Comes out of stalking waiting 4 west coasters to pop up.

I did not sense "hollow" feeling at all. for once, I felt the writers really had a handle on where each plot was going, and let characterization drive those plots seemlessly.

Did I mention ALL the music. It just rolled along!

This was best 'plot' centric episode. I rank it with 'Rhodes...' & pilot.

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----



And the look of fear in Shue's face. He's running away from her during the song!

I know, that was hysterical. They're really having fun spinning singing as concept of show.

[mildmannered...]

I wouldn't call it the "best" Glee ever, but It was okay. It just felt hollow. Like all it was all jokes and akwards moments.

I'm only partway through the episode, and I don't find it hollow.

There are tons of awkward moments, but I'm waiting to see how the show deals with them.

----- Added 15 Minutes later -----

Mercedes gets the truth from Puck himself!

----- Added 44 Minutes later -----

Ok, finished watching the episode and I thought there were a lot of tender moments in the episode to counterbalance the awkwardness.

As a teacher, I shudder at the notion of A)students acting out their crushes on their teachers (hey I was one of those girls in high school with a student teacher) in a totally inappropriate manner (but I never acted that way) and B)a student invading the privacy of my house! I shake my head at that.

Done with my little rant. I liked the episode and thought it was better than last week's.

[hansioux]

I wouldn't call it the "best" Glee ever, but It was okay. It just felt hollow. Like all it was all jokes and akwards moments.

yeah... i think Pilot, Vitamin D and last week's episode was actually better.

that being said, I loved all the awkward moments in this episode. Especially the beginning when Mr. Schuester was running around the piano to escape rachel....

begin ranting
{
On a side note, I don't get all the hate towards Wheels by the way. That was a fine episode with a lot of character development.

I know a podcast trashed Wheels regarding the portrayal of Kurt and his father, I thought it was pretty ridiculous. Just because the show didn't present coming out as a completely no consequence experience, doesn't mean the show sucked.

On that same note, Kurt's obsession with Finn in this episode probably should be bashed too, because god forbid gaydar isn't something people are born with.

I've seen my gay/lesbian friends having crushes on non gay people. And when they bring up the courage to reveal their feelings for the other, they were met with the pain of rejection and the attack of ignorant people in fear.

Yes, it'd be cool to have a show that shows the gay experience with nothing but positives, but in reality people go through crap, gay or no gay alike. And it normally is a lot tougher for gays because there are still plenty of ignorant people out there. Probably the similar crap a heterosexual person with tourettes has to go through because of ignorant people. And a TV show showing that doesn't make it a crappy show.

Another thing people trash Wheels for is that Artie isn't really played by a person with disabilities. I thought that's what made Wheels even more poignant. Artie's speech to Tina is about the show recognizing that fact.

Another bashing against Wheels was about giving Sue a heart. That happens to be the best moments of television, when they give a character more depth, so they are no longer two dimensional. A jerk who's nice to her own family is still a jerk to everyone else. I don't get the "how are we supposed to feel about her" part... just feel whatever why you feel about her, there's isn't a rule book about which character we should like....
}
end ranting

[KryptonSite]

I thought this was another solid episode. It's interesting how certain situations are just amped up to 100 with this show... this time, Rachel's crush.

It's clear to me Quinn loves Puck, which is sad because of how Finn is sticking himself out for her. I don't like Quinn's mother not speaking up for her, it's kind of sad.

Mercedes finding out the truth is going to cause trouble later, I just know it.

Kurt's crush on Finn was amusing... especially since Finn was (mostly) oblivious to it all.

I can't believe it, but even though Sue wasn't in this one, I actually didn't notice. Guess it's a sign of the strength of the show's ensemble.

[Loisistheone]

I loved the episode, the best so far.:D
I was sold as soon as I found out that a ballad is a male duck and the name that was picked out of the hat was " the other Asian". Just like the red shirts from Star Trek.:rotfl::rotfl:
I only like drama in small doses. The humor and songs balance out the drama for me.:D

[bonoferox]

Would have been a 10 if Sue was on it...I miss her.

[clois-destiny-forever]

I wouldn't call it the "best" Glee ever, but It was okay. It just felt hollow. Like all it was all jokes and akwards moments.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I liked the jokes and the awkward moments were hilarious, but it didn't have quite the depth of last week's episode or even some of the earlier ones.

----- Added 6 Minutes later -----

I thought this was another solid episode. It's interesting how certain situations are just amped up to 100 with this show... this time, Rachel's crush.

It's clear to me Quinn loves Puck, which is sad because of how Finn is sticking himself out for her. I don't like Quinn's mother not speaking up for her, it's kind of sad.

Mercedes finding out the truth is going to cause trouble later, I just know it.

Kurt's crush on Finn was amusing... especially since Finn was (mostly) oblivious to it all.

I can't believe it, but even though Sue wasn't in this one, I actually didn't notice. Guess it's a sign of the strength of the show's ensemble.

Totally agree with you on this. Quinn's parents were just horrible and I felt so bad for her. Having to go through all of this on her own must be terrible, especially knowing that she's trying to rely on Finn but he isn't really the father.

I just wonder how long Mercedes can keep the secret to herself. I mean, what doesn't she tell Kurt or Tina?

The Finn and Kurt stuff was amusing, if a little awkward most of the time.

I'm really starting to appreciate Brittany on this show. Never underestimate the dumb blond factor!

Rachel was ridiculous and so was Terri. I loved Emma's reaction to Will's song :lol:

Felt bad for Puck in this episode, too. It looks like he really wants to be the one helping Quinn through this baby stuff and instead he has to see his best friend doing it. I wonder how long he'll listen to what Mercedes said. Judging by the looks between him and Quinn at the end...there's definitely feelings there on both sides. Definitely interesting!

[kristintaps]

Quinn's storyline was touching and the song at the end was moving. Those two things really made the episode for me. I found it weird that we had more random crushes so that brought it down to a 9 for me. Oh and I miss Sue:)

[clois-destiny-forever]

Quinn's storyline was touching and the song at the end was moving. Those two things really made the episode for me. I found it weird that we had more random crushes so that brought it down to a 9 for me. Oh and I miss Sue:)

Looks like someone needs to be crushing on Finn in every episode and Rachel needs to be crushing on someone in every episode. For once, Rachel wasn't the one crushing on Finn, though. :lol:

[clois-destiny-forever]

Also, why didn't Finn talk to Quinn about telling her parents before he just started singing about it? Really doesn't seem fair to how Quinn wants to deal with her pregnancy.

[lonewriter]

This is a great episode. I loved when they performed "Lean on Me". It was sad to see that Quinn got kicked out of her house by her drunk father. I loved the scenes with Finn and Kurt. This is one of my most favorite new shows.

[CallMeClark]

I loved the episode, however, I am not a fan of ballads much. I enjoyed the "I'll Stand By You" and the Mash up between Mr. S and Rachel. Rachel is soooooo great. :)

[Iluvgreen]

I loved this episode. I felt really bad for Quinn! I mean sometimes I just can't stand that girl, but then I just feel so bad for her, and lover her.

Loved the Rachel And WIll thing. It was so funny how he was dealing with it. Especially the song. "You're a very good perfomer, Will. He's very good." :lol:

But I hate Terri in this episode. She's so mean, and Will should find out about the fake pregnancy soon. Except I loved when that Peppers girl called Will at night and she said, "Who died?" and the whole rant about killing her! :rotfl:

This is basically one of my favorite episodes so far. Along with Preggers and The Rhodes not Taken.

[Genny]

Iluvgreen, I totally agree with you about Quinn. Sometimes I can't stand her character and then other times I really like her. She's very confusing.

Rachel's cruch on Will was awesome. Loved the the scene where Will sang to Rachel and Emma. Rachel and Emma's reactions were so funny in that scene.

This episode was good, but I wouldn't call it the best, but an awesome episode none the less. I think it's one of my favorites so far, along with Vitamin D and Preggers.

[lois346]

This

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----

This was great Finn with Quiin and the baby. But Quinn's family were *******s throwing her out like that that was heartless. And the whole Rachel liking Mr. S thing I can relate to that because I had a crush on my gym teacher in 7th grade but I never took it that far before. Again great episode Glee is great and I love it so much when the people sing on this show I get sucked in and it's like their siging makes me feel so happy and warm inside. i know that sounds dumb but it really does.

[clois-destiny-forever]

This

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----

This was great Finn with Quiin and the baby. But Quinn's family were *******s throwing her out like that that was heartless. And the whole Rachel liking Mr. S thing I can relate to that because I had a crush on my gym teacher in 7th grade but I never took it that far before. Again great episode Glee is great and I love it so much when the people sing on this show I get sucked in and it's like their siging makes me feel so happy and warm inside. i know that sounds dumb but it really does.

I totally agree with you about the part I bolded. I can't help getting totally invested in this show as I watch it, I care more and more about these characters every week. And when they sing...I really do feel better. How many shows just make you feel happy when you're done watching? There's always some sort of hope at the end and listening to the songs afterwards never fails to make me feel better.

So don't worry about it sounding dumb, I feel the exact same way! :D

[ginnyfan]

I enjoyed this episode.

Finn singing to the sonogram was just... oh! That's the first time I sang along with Glee. That's the most moved I've been by the show also. Well... except for whenever Kurt cries and Sue reading to her sister. I think that was the highlight of the episode for me.

Quinn's parents. Wow. Chilling. Using the microwave timer... "Who are you?" Gah! *is ill*

The only thing I was looking forward to seeing this episode was Will's face as Rachel pursued her crush on him. The first song between them met my expectations and then some! Their faces are HILARIOUS! What were they singing? Endless love? I laughed until I cried.

I really loved the writing of that Pepper girl's speech to Rachel. So unexpectedly insightful. I thought she was gonna force Rachel to eat a pepper or something. LOL!

I was so excited when Sexy Mohawk Guy (I'm so bad with names) wanted to tell the truth about Quinn's baby. Mercedes really took the wind out of my sails with her bull****. GRR!

I love Finn's mom. <3

I love the way the Glee club pulled together to love and support Quinn and Finn.