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A Very Glee Christmas was television story telling at its best. Part one "How A Grinch Almost Stole Christmas" (unofficial name) was a modern retelling of the Grinch with just enough trigger points that caused many of us to remember the warm times we had with family members who are no longer with us. We couldn't remember anything but warm memories (except Jim Carrey). The beautiful ending of part one made us almost hear Boris Karloff's original narration. "Welcome Christmas", which is not on the album, was heavenly and can be found on iTunes. Part two "The Power of Glee" (unofficial name) however had that trippy déjà vu feeling that Glee is known for in our house (do others sense it?). It is a 21st Century artistic tele-masterpiece in story telling. Part Two centered upon the segment featuring "Last Christmas" and Finn's speech that recapitulate the entire show since day one. My husband and I both sensed that Cory Monteith and Lea Michele not only recorded that song last year but filmed it too. Why not? Especially, when you consider it is VERY "RM". At that moment, my husband and myself felt like we time travelled through the entire series. We turned to each other and explained to each other that now we understood the Power of Glee. Many critics note that there have been several continuity blips in the show. We were never bothered by them because we saw and see Glee as a new way of telling a story. Although this is not confirmed by anyone and it is just an "intrinsic feeling" Don, my other half for the past 32 years and myself have, it is our novel belief that this is how Glee is all planned.
The following is what this author and his husband observed. RM and company might have actually had the "Last Christmas" number and speech filmed first (or early on) and the cast and crew knew that in filming the scenes out of chronological order the goal was always to head in the direction of the raw emotional truth behind the "Last Christmas" number and Finn's candid assessment of the past. Yes, despite continuity glitches, the show was following a path to this destiny. Everything had to be in place so that Finn's break-up with Rachel had to be real and recall all the emotions of the entire series while at the same time permitting the viewers to discard what did not make sense.
Since we always DVR it and have the first season on DVD, we can easily observe how the scenes were filmed. Many costumes, sets, and lighting are similar in different episodes because the scenes were apparently filmed around the same time. In "RM"s brilliant RM Method of Acting, apparently all the actors had to do was to remember that the "Last Christmas" climax was certain to happen.
If I am wrong, that is OK too (it does not matter because of how we felt at the time). The emotions Kevin and Don Norte felt while watching "A Very Glee Christmas" were real and raw and both of us have never had a television experience like this before.
We GLEEfully look forward to the GLEE Super bowl Special (Glee-O-Rama?), the finale, and GLEE LIVE on June 25, 2011.
Glee was originally going to be rebooted at the start of season two and Kurt was to be a freshman but too much was invested so the plan was dropped. Now, the word is that some type of reboot is in the works to keep the kids around. The current working title is "Glee 3.1".
Whatever it is, my family anticipates the future with GLEE.
(L - R) Don Norte, Ryan Murphy, Kevin Norte
