Samcedes Episode Analysis: 2.07 The Substitute
by Akilah
Mercedes: Kurt is livid as he tells Mercedes about Rachel taking over the glee club since Mr. Schue has been absent. Mercedes tries to comfort him, "We'll forget all about it tonight while bowling." Mercedes confidence that they'll "forget about it" indicates that they usually forget about their problems when they hang out together. They are each other's comfort and companionship. Except this time, Kurt has other plans. "I can't, Blaine asked me to hang out." Mercedes is disappointed, she has been "looking forward to it all week." Hanging out with Kurt was suppose to be the best thing about her week. I imagine when she's with him he helps her "forget all about," the crappy things going on in her life, whether those things be ND, school or anything else.
Mercedes asks Kurt if he and Blaine are secretly dating which Kurt denies. "It's just nice to have someone to talk to," he says. Mercedes pauses and her facial expression changes. She looks insulted. "What is that suppose to mean," she asks. Mercedes has always been his confidant, and he's always been hers, but now it sounds as if hes saying that he can't talk to her. "It means someone like me," he says. These two are not communicating like they use to. Mercedes just isn't enough for Kurt any more, and when they do talk, sometimes their words are misconstrued. Kurt says that he wants to communicate with someone who understands him, who is also gay, but Mercedes only hears rejection.
Its another day and Mercedes is going over her plans for their shopping trip. Again, Kurt has other plans. "Oh, I forgot," he says. He forgot to communicate with her that he and Blaine were going to see Rent at the community theatre. "Blaine got us tickets." Mercedes is confused, "Us, as in all of us?" Kurt tells her no, that Blaine could only get two tickets. Once again, Mercedes plans with Kurt have been canceled because of Blaine. Blaine is taking away Mercedes best friend.
Mercedes goes to dinner with Kurt and Blaine who are putting her to sleep with their conversation about gay issues. Blaine takes notice that Mercedes is not interested in the topics they are discussing so he suggests talking about things that interests her. Mercedes perks up, but Kurt suddenly takes over the conversation again, and its back to things that Mercedes doesn't care about.
This is when the communication between Mercedes and Kurt really gets bad. Shes listening to him talk to Blaine but all she can hear is "gay, gay, gay, gay, gay..." She and Kurt no longer speak the same language. Communication between these two has completely fallen apart.
Mercedes is hurt and angry, but she won't admit this to herself. One thing about Mercedes is that she has a lot of pride. She can't handle being vulnerable or allow people to think that she needs them. She has so many walls up that its hard for her to even know what's really going on in her heart. Being a person who is prideful and afraid of being vulnerable, shes a master of deflection. So Mercedes deflects her hurt and loneliness and anger onto tater tots.
I doubt Mercedes was crazy about tater tots before Kurt started dissing her. The tater tots seem to symbolize Mercedes relationship with Kurt. As soon as Kurt cancels their plans and tells her that he can't talk to her the way he can talk to Blaine, Mercedes sees tots and focuses on them. She'd rather not think about what's happening between her Kurt. She doesn't want to deal with the pain of losing him so she turns her attention to something else. When Kurt rejects her for the second time, Mercedes goes to get tots but they are suddenly snatched away by Santana and the other Cheerios via Sue Sylvester. Sue has banned tots from the school. Mercedes tots are gone and there is nothing that she can do about. She can't make the tots come back, just like she can't bring back the old comfortable relationship she had with Kurt. Kurt is being snatched away from her, just like the tots.
Mercedes rather have people think shes angry and obsessed with food than allow them to see her as vulnerable and in need love and companionship. She rebels against the tots ban, starting a protest in the cafeteria, then barging into Sue's office to beg for her tots. Its no use. Tots are gone forever.
Mercedes may not be able to admit her feelings to herself or anyone else, but Kurt can see right through her. He says that he knows she's been lonely and jealous of his relationship with Blaine. He then tells her that he's gotten her a gift. He set her up on a date with Anthony Rashad, a cute black football player. She questions why Kurt picked him. "No reason," Kurt says. "So it doesn't have to do with the fact that he's one of 5 black guys at this school?" Kurt denies it, but its obvious that his race was the main factor is why he picked Anthony. Mercedes is suspicious of Kurt. She doesn't trust him with this aspect of her life.
"I can't take this anymore," Mercedes says. Kurt assumes shes talking about being single and lonely. "Trust me Mercedes, love is just around the corner." Mercedes claims that she wasn't talking about that but about tots. This is a lie. Mercedes was talking about being single and lonely, she just can't admit that to herself or to anyone else.
In the last scene between Kurt and Mercedes, Mercedes is going on about tots, shes even snuck some into the school. Kurt then gets real with her. "You have to stop this," he says. "You're substituting food for love. And most importantly, you're substituting me for a boyfriend." Its harsh. Its true what he says, but its also unfair. Up until recently Kurt was perfectly fine with playing substitute boyfriend/girlfriend with Mercedes, and he'll do it again in 2.08. What makes it worse is that Kurt now has someone else, but Mercedes is more alone then ever.
Kurt offers her reassurance. "You will find somebody, Mercedes," he says. Mercedes is quiet as she listens to him and doesn't reveal too much in her body language or facial expressions. She's closed off from him. "You're right," she says while wearing a small smile. "I gotta go." She walks away but Kurt asks where shes going. She says shes going to check out that Rashad kid, but we never see Rashad again. As she walks off, she looks like shes willing herself not to cry. She gives Kurt a little wave and mouths bye. Kurt watches her as she walks down the hall. Its a sad moment and feels more like a break-up scene than two friends having a spat. I think this was the point where Mercedes feelings for Kurt started to change. He may have been honest with her but he hurt her feelings, and the relationship she had with Kurt was suppose to keep her from getting hurt in the first place. Mercedes got dumped by her substitute boyfriend. Things have changed between Kurtcedes. We won't see these two alone together anymore. From now on there is always at least a third party present when they interact.
I want to talk about the mash-up at the end of the episode, "Singing in The Rain" and "Umbrella." The final song in every episode of Glee speaks to one of the themes of the episode. This mash-up speaks about dedication and loyalty in love and friendship, but also about being ready to let go and move on. Its sung by Mr. Schue and Holly Holiday, but its really a conversation between Kurt and Mercedes. "Singing in the Rain," represents Kurt. In 2.04, when Kurt was going to duet with Sam, he mentioned male duets like the ones seen in "Singing in the rain." "Umbrella" represents Mercedes. Let's look at the lyrics.
Singing in the Rain: "I'm singing in the rain, what a glorious feeling, I'm happy again, I'm laughing at clouds, so dark up above, the sun's in my heart, and I'm ready for love."
Kurt has been going through a lot lately. His father had a brush with death, he's been getting bullied and harrassed by Karofsky, and he's been lonely. He meets Blaine and suddenly he's "happy again." He's found a boy just like him who he can talk to, who takes away his loneliness, and whom he can possibly fall in love with. Blaine is the "sun" in his heart, that the song talks about. He's "ready for love," and that makes everything else endurable. Despite the tough things in his life, "the rain," he can still sing and dance in it. There are still "clouds" and its "dark up above" but he's happy. He stands right in the middle of the rain and knows that everything is ok. He doesn't want or need an "Umbrella," because he's perfectly fine in the rain. He's ready to face the world head on.
Umbrella: "You have my heart, we'll never be worlds apart, with you I'll always share, these fancy things can never come in between, you're part of my entity here for eternity, when the world has dealt its cards, together we'll mend your heart, you can stand under my umbrella."
Mercedes is guarded, but when she lets someone in she really shows them love and compassion. She took in Quinn when Quinn needed a home, and she tried hard to reach Kurt when his father was in a coma. Mercedes love is like an Umbrella. The relationship she has with Kurt is an "umbrella" because its suppose to keep them both from getting hurt. This "umbrella" protects them from the rain of disappointments and hard times in their lives. Mercedes was not ready to let go of Kurt in this episode, he has her "heart," she'll "always share" with him, and he's part of her "entity here for eternity." Mercedes wants to stay under the umbrella with him, but he doesn't want it anymore. Kurt is "singing in the rain" he doesn't want or need an umbrella because he has the "sun" in his heart and he's "ready for love."
Sam: He's barely in this episode. He's even missing from one of the choir room scenes. I've got nothing.
Samcedes: When Rachel takes over Glee club and asks ND which song they would like her to perform for Sectionals, Santana jumps out of her chair ready to attack her. To the left and right of her are seated Sam and Mercedes. When she jumps up, they both grab her and pull her back. Samcedes working together as one. These two are the only characters besides Brittany who know how to handle Santana.
During the mash-up of "Singing in the Rain/Umbrella," Mercedes and Sam are dance partners. They share an "umbrella." Kurt may not want to share Mercedes umbrella anymore but Sam does. At least that's what we see visually in the performance. Really, they look good together and so comfortable while performing.
Kurt tells Mercedes several times in the episode that she'll be finding love soon. This is foreshadowing for Samcedes. The narrative is letting us know that Mercedes will be getting a love interest, but who that would be was still unknown.
Showing posts with label kurt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kurt. Show all posts
Monday, January 2, 2012
Samcedes Episode Analysis: 2.06 Never Been Kissed (part 2)
Samcedes Episode Analysis: 2.06 Never Been Kissed (part 2)
By Akilah
Mercedes: When its revealed that the boys and Tina, have been using Coach Bieste's image to help them "cool down" durring make-out sessions, Kurt and Mercedes turn and look at each other, clearly confused and out of the loop. The thing is, these two have never been kissed. They are not a part of the ND incest pool. They don't hook up and have never hand any real significant dating experience. Their respective relationships with Brittany and Puck were jokes. So when they sit together, off to the left, they are visually symbolizing their isolation within the group. They are not participants in the romantic and sexual dalliances of New Directions.
When we first see Mercedes in this episode, shes sitting with Kurt in the choir room. In the last choir room scene of the episode, they are seated together as well. The narrative is giving us a visual indication that they are still very much a unit. When the boys perform their mash-up they walk over to their girlfriends and dance in from of them. Kurt dances in front of Mercedes, he even gives her a lap dance. Mercedes is Kurt's substitute for a girlfriend. When the girls perform their mash-up in front of the boys, Mercedes looks at Kurt while singing her solo lines. Out of all the boys in ND who are sitting and watching, Kurt is the one she feels comfortable singing to. Kurt is also Mercedes' substitute boyfriend.
While singing her verse in the mash-up, she looks at Kurt and Kurt looks at her. Kurt is smiling and its a moment where the two of them are communicating with each other through song. But that communication is interrupted when Kurt gets a text message from Blaine. Kurt meets Blaine in this episode, another gay boy who loves to sing just like him. Kurt finally has someone he can talk to and who he feels really understands him. Blaine sends Kurt the text during Mercedes performance and it disrupts Kurt and Mercedes' communication. Kurt is no longer looking at Mercedes, he's looking at Blaine's text and smiling. The disruption of communication between Kurt and Mercedes continues, and it only gets worse next episode.
Samcedes: There were no Samcedes moments in this episode. There was one thing Samcedes unrelated that I thought was cute, and made me think of them.
"Its just a little something something," Sam says while trying to cop a feel. I can imagine him saying this to Mercedes and her finding it cute and charming. Quinn on the other hand was not so amused.
By Akilah
Mercedes: When its revealed that the boys and Tina, have been using Coach Bieste's image to help them "cool down" durring make-out sessions, Kurt and Mercedes turn and look at each other, clearly confused and out of the loop. The thing is, these two have never been kissed. They are not a part of the ND incest pool. They don't hook up and have never hand any real significant dating experience. Their respective relationships with Brittany and Puck were jokes. So when they sit together, off to the left, they are visually symbolizing their isolation within the group. They are not participants in the romantic and sexual dalliances of New Directions.
When we first see Mercedes in this episode, shes sitting with Kurt in the choir room. In the last choir room scene of the episode, they are seated together as well. The narrative is giving us a visual indication that they are still very much a unit. When the boys perform their mash-up they walk over to their girlfriends and dance in from of them. Kurt dances in front of Mercedes, he even gives her a lap dance. Mercedes is Kurt's substitute for a girlfriend. When the girls perform their mash-up in front of the boys, Mercedes looks at Kurt while singing her solo lines. Out of all the boys in ND who are sitting and watching, Kurt is the one she feels comfortable singing to. Kurt is also Mercedes' substitute boyfriend.
While singing her verse in the mash-up, she looks at Kurt and Kurt looks at her. Kurt is smiling and its a moment where the two of them are communicating with each other through song. But that communication is interrupted when Kurt gets a text message from Blaine. Kurt meets Blaine in this episode, another gay boy who loves to sing just like him. Kurt finally has someone he can talk to and who he feels really understands him. Blaine sends Kurt the text during Mercedes performance and it disrupts Kurt and Mercedes' communication. Kurt is no longer looking at Mercedes, he's looking at Blaine's text and smiling. The disruption of communication between Kurt and Mercedes continues, and it only gets worse next episode.
Samcedes: There were no Samcedes moments in this episode. There was one thing Samcedes unrelated that I thought was cute, and made me think of them.
"Its just a little something something," Sam says while trying to cop a feel. I can imagine him saying this to Mercedes and her finding it cute and charming. Quinn on the other hand was not so amused.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Samcedes Episode Analysis: 2.01 Audition
Samcedes Episode Analysis: 2.01 Auditon
by Akilah
Mercedes: As far as Mercedes is concerned, it looks like the groundwork is being laid for Rachel to come in between her and Kurt and steal Kurt away from her. There is a scene with Mercedes and Kurt in the choir room alone, and then Rachel barges in ranting about Sunshine being a better singer than her. Kurt and Mercedes give her the side eye. Kurt calls Rachel a horrible person. Then Rachel literally places herself in between Kurt and Mercedes, foreshadowing Hummelberry and the slow parting of the ways between Mercedes and Kurt.
I think Mercedes had two arcs in season 2, one arc was resolved while the other carried over to season 3. Mercedes first arc was about her loneliness and desire for a boyfriend. Not only does Mercedes want a boyfriend, but she wants to be desired and wanted (this is important for her storyline in season 3 as well, i.e. Sam wooing). We see a glimpse of this in season 1 when she leans against the lockers and watches Puck and Santana kiss. She asks Kurt if he’s ever been kissed and he we learn that he’s never been kissed either. These two form a close friendship, but in season 2 we learn that they are partially substituting each other for significant others.
As Kurt moves towards Blaine, Mercedes becomes more isolated, making her desire for a partner more pronounced. RIB may not have known who they were going to pair Mercedes up with, but they did know that they were going to give her a boyfriend before season 2 ended. It just happened to be Sam.
Mercedes’ second story arc was her wanting to be acknowledge and recognized for her talent in Glee. We see her take small steps towards this but she is not very confidant in herself. She knows she is as good as Rachel but she doesn’t believe that other people will acknowledge that. That story carries over to season 3 and we get the TTones. I don’t understand how some people don’t understand where Mercedes anger came from in Asian F. Its been boiling under the surface since season 1. Her outburst was bound to happen.
So I will definitely be writing about things pertaining to these arcs in my posts about each episode.
Sam: Sam is one of the most well developed characters on Glee. He probably has the best character growth arc while still maintaining consistency. We see this if we look at Sam in 2.01 compared to Sam in 2.19. He’s a different guy, but still maintains the core characteristics and principals that make him so lovable as a character. That’s hard to achieve on this show.
Lets take a look at how Sam begins. He is introduced to us as a kid sitting in the courtyard, taping his foot along to New Directions. He’s wearing a Letterman Jacket (interesting considering the plot for Yes/No) from his old school, we know this because the colors are Blue and Gold, not Mckinley red. This tells us that this kid is a jock and wants everyone to know it. He may even be trying too hard, who wears their old Letterman jacket to their new high school? I think this goes along with the bleach blond hair. The kid wants to be popular so bad that he sorta makes these awkward choices.
His audition song choice is interesting. He sings “Billionaire” a song about conspicuous consumption. The song is about wanting so many unnecessary material things just because you want it. By the end of the season, Sam just wants a house to live in and food to eat. This is such an interesting song choice that its hard to resist not seeing this as foreshadowing. I don’t think RIB really knew what they were going to do with Sam at this point, but what we do know is that they did a wonderful job of evolving him as a character.
Here’s the important thing about Sam that we learn in 2.01. Sam is Finn’s foil/proxy. He literally takes Finn’s place as quarter back of the football team after Finn has been kicked off. This is important to the narrative of Glee season 2 and 3 and possibly season 4. Sam as Finn’s proxy/replacement is also important romantic relationship wise. Think about who Sam has had relationships with and who Finn has had relationships with.
They are both an unrequited object of desire for Kurt. Kurt gives up on Finn in Season 1 and flirts with the idea of being with Sam in season 2 but gives that up rather quickly. Next there is Quinn, and Sam has a relationship with her that is nothing more than Finn/Quinn v.1 before Rachel showed up. Except Sam doesn’t know it, he’s completely earnest. Next Sam gets with Santana whom he possibly loses his virginity to as Finn did. But it isn’t until he finally becomes his own man that Sam dates someone that Finn hasn’t, Mercedes. The funny thing is, he ends up with Rachel’s foil/proxy. So, in a way, he is still following the trajectory of Finn’s relationships. He finds his match when he gets out of the popular kid dating pool.
Sam as Finn v.2 (but better) is something that I will be looking at and analyzing in these episode discussions. The sad thing about the fandom is that no one really takes the time out to properly analyze Mercedes story lines, and Sam only fairs a little better than her in that department. I think there is a lot to be said about these two characters.
Samcedes: They haven’t met yet.
Mercedes: As far as Mercedes is concerned, it looks like the groundwork is being laid for Rachel to come in between her and Kurt and steal Kurt away from her. There is a scene with Mercedes and Kurt in the choir room alone, and then Rachel barges in ranting about Sunshine being a better singer than her. Kurt and Mercedes give her the side eye. Kurt calls Rachel a horrible person. Then Rachel literally places herself in between Kurt and Mercedes, foreshadowing Hummelberry and the slow parting of the ways between Mercedes and Kurt.
I think Mercedes had two arcs in season 2, one arc was resolved while the other carried over to season 3. Mercedes first arc was about her loneliness and desire for a boyfriend. Not only does Mercedes want a boyfriend, but she wants to be desired and wanted (this is important for her storyline in season 3 as well, i.e. Sam wooing). We see a glimpse of this in season 1 when she leans against the lockers and watches Puck and Santana kiss. She asks Kurt if he’s ever been kissed and he we learn that he’s never been kissed either. These two form a close friendship, but in season 2 we learn that they are partially substituting each other for significant others.
As Kurt moves towards Blaine, Mercedes becomes more isolated, making her desire for a partner more pronounced. RIB may not have known who they were going to pair Mercedes up with, but they did know that they were going to give her a boyfriend before season 2 ended. It just happened to be Sam.
Mercedes’ second story arc was her wanting to be acknowledge and recognized for her talent in Glee. We see her take small steps towards this but she is not very confidant in herself. She knows she is as good as Rachel but she doesn’t believe that other people will acknowledge that. That story carries over to season 3 and we get the TTones. I don’t understand how some people don’t understand where Mercedes anger came from in Asian F. Its been boiling under the surface since season 1. Her outburst was bound to happen.
So I will definitely be writing about things pertaining to these arcs in my posts about each episode.
Sam: Sam is one of the most well developed characters on Glee. He probably has the best character growth arc while still maintaining consistency. We see this if we look at Sam in 2.01 compared to Sam in 2.19. He’s a different guy, but still maintains the core characteristics and principals that make him so lovable as a character. That’s hard to achieve on this show.
Lets take a look at how Sam begins. He is introduced to us as a kid sitting in the courtyard, taping his foot along to New Directions. He’s wearing a Letterman Jacket (interesting considering the plot for Yes/No) from his old school, we know this because the colors are Blue and Gold, not Mckinley red. This tells us that this kid is a jock and wants everyone to know it. He may even be trying too hard, who wears their old Letterman jacket to their new high school? I think this goes along with the bleach blond hair. The kid wants to be popular so bad that he sorta makes these awkward choices.
His audition song choice is interesting. He sings “Billionaire” a song about conspicuous consumption. The song is about wanting so many unnecessary material things just because you want it. By the end of the season, Sam just wants a house to live in and food to eat. This is such an interesting song choice that its hard to resist not seeing this as foreshadowing. I don’t think RIB really knew what they were going to do with Sam at this point, but what we do know is that they did a wonderful job of evolving him as a character.
Here’s the important thing about Sam that we learn in 2.01. Sam is Finn’s foil/proxy. He literally takes Finn’s place as quarter back of the football team after Finn has been kicked off. This is important to the narrative of Glee season 2 and 3 and possibly season 4. Sam as Finn’s proxy/replacement is also important romantic relationship wise. Think about who Sam has had relationships with and who Finn has had relationships with.
They are both an unrequited object of desire for Kurt. Kurt gives up on Finn in Season 1 and flirts with the idea of being with Sam in season 2 but gives that up rather quickly. Next there is Quinn, and Sam has a relationship with her that is nothing more than Finn/Quinn v.1 before Rachel showed up. Except Sam doesn’t know it, he’s completely earnest. Next Sam gets with Santana whom he possibly loses his virginity to as Finn did. But it isn’t until he finally becomes his own man that Sam dates someone that Finn hasn’t, Mercedes. The funny thing is, he ends up with Rachel’s foil/proxy. So, in a way, he is still following the trajectory of Finn’s relationships. He finds his match when he gets out of the popular kid dating pool.
Sam as Finn v.2 (but better) is something that I will be looking at and analyzing in these episode discussions. The sad thing about the fandom is that no one really takes the time out to properly analyze Mercedes story lines, and Sam only fairs a little better than her in that department. I think there is a lot to be said about these two characters.
Samcedes: They haven’t met yet.
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