Double Feature Review: Glee-"Original Song"/Raising Hope-"Mongooses"

I haven't posted in eons, but I'm back in full force with a double feature review. I decided to post my reviews of Glee and Raising Hope together, because I don't have a whole lot to say about either of them. I thought about being cutesy and doing some type of contest between the two, but it wouldn't be a fair fight. Spoiler alert, but I'm going to go ahead and say that I much preferred tonight's episode of Raising Hope to Glee. So, without any kind of cutesy match up format, here are my reviews:

Glee: "Original Song"

I just don't know how to quit Glee. I honestly didn't enjoy tonight's episode all that much, but I'm not even going to pretend that I'm not going to watch Glee when it comes back after its hiatus. I can't blame my disinterest in "Original Song" on something that I often blame my dislike of a Glee episode-a focus on an unrelated them rather than a progression of the plot. In somewhat of an ironic twist, I actually think that Glee's focus on the plot is much of what I didn't like about this episode. It felt somewhat tedious, like they were just tying up some loose ends. It wasn't terrible, but I ended up playing Words With Friends for the majority of the show simply out of boredom. Surprisingly, the original songs didn't end up being a train wreck like I had feared they might (although I found it weird that Kurt could just tell they were original songs). The songs weren't anything too special, but they were mildly catchy and pleasant enough to listen too. I wouldn't buy the songs on iTunes or really care to listen to them outside of the show, but they fit well into the plot.  Despite the fact that I was bored by "Original Song" for the most part, I will mention three things that I enjoyed about it. For one, I liked that Kurt told Blaine off about him singing every single song as a solo while the Warblers back him up. Ever since Blaine gave Kurt a speech about not standing out, his excessive attempts to stand out have bothered me. So, even if he went right back to his old ways after the duet, I enjoyed that somebody pointed out his hypocrisy. The second thing I enjoyed about tonight's episode was Rachel's getting some recognition. I'm a bit embarrassed to say this, but I almost teared up at her getting a MVP award from the rest of the Glee club. Rachel has been treated horribly this season by everyone, both behind her back and to her face. So, even if they still made fun of her as she got the reward, I really like seeing her receive a reaction other than rejection. The third aspect I really liked about tonight's episode was the fact that New Directions was so supportive of the Warblers and the Warblers were so supportive of New Directions (I know that's a really awkward sentence, but I spent several minutes trying to make it better before I decided to just go with it). Tying this to one of my other liked aspects of episode, Kurt might be the only friend that Rachel's had this season. So, it was really touching to see him and his new classmates supporting her. But even outside of that, everyone's support of their friends was just really touching. I love that Glee didn't throw in some lame storyline about sabotage between the two groups and chose to make them supportive of each other instead. Plus, their reactions reminded me of Will's hilarious reaction to the Warblers' "Hey Soul Sister" (if you don't know what I'm talking about, do yourself a favor and click this: Best Face Ever).

Raising Hope: "Mongooses"

Raising Hope was excellent tonight. Because it was so solidly good, I don't have a whole lot to say about the episode. However, I'll quickly point out an aspect of "Mongooses" that is characteristic of many Raising Hope episodes. One of these is their good use of Chekhov's gun. Even though it should probably have been obvious to me from Mamaw's earlier shot, I honestly had no clue what was going on in the attic scene until it was explained. Everything in the episodes fit together really well, from Mamaw's delusion of mongooses to even Sabrina's showing her grace under fire in an extremely impressive feat of acrobatics. Raising Hope often impresses me with their use of Chekhov's gun like Mamaw's Jenga skills when listening to "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" in "Dream Hoarders." I also thought it was really sweet to see how the family functions only when they work together. Even though this was shown in a quirky way, it was really sweet.

Did you watch either Raising Hope or Glee tonight? Whether you agree with my assessments or feel I got them wrong, I'd love for you to share your thoughts below.