The premiere’s first hour (aptly titled after the show’s best original song) ends with Lea Michele’s rendition of “Let It Go.” The song not only fits surprisingly well with the season’s opening hour, but Michele sounds eerily familar to Idina Menzel’s original, unsurprising as the two were perfectly paired as mother/daughter on the show in its early seasons.
Elsewhere, the premiere certainly doesn’t lack in musical numbers, only in fairly memorable ones. It feels sort of jam-packed, as well, harking back to the show’s heyday where it felt everyone had a great idea for a song in any one episode and all were allowed entry. In its sixth season, it’s begun to feel overcrowded. Songs begin to feel like easy answers to complicated character-building questions, like someone skimming the page then answering “C” on every exam question instead of actually trying to figure out the answer.
Some songs stand out for good reasons – the previously mentioned “Home” and a big football field-spanning take on Ariana Grande’s “Problem” – and some for bad – a befuddling sequence set to “Take on Me” stands out – but at least the new guys and gals have chops. The show’s shirked literally all of its “new generation” from the past few seasons for four fresh faces, and, so far, they all intrigue.
Roderick is an overweight shy kid with a headphone obsession and Sam Smith-vibe; Spencer is the new resident bad-ass gay jock; Jane’s the newest to the school, leaving Blaine after the Warblers deny her entry, and Mason and Madison are twins with barely any screen time in the first two episodes, but their giddy vibe entertains for the few moments they have on-screen.
Perhaps most impressive is Jane, she’s earnest and righteous without being overbearing, and leads a rendition of Janelle Monae’s “Tightrope” that sits as one of the premiere’s most energetically fun sequences. Spencer’s “post-modern gay” spin on a homosexual guy is at first jarring, and a bit too self-congratulatory (“Oh how the world’s grown since 2009!”, the show seems to scream, “Oh did we do some of it? Little us?”) but later scenes show more depth. When Kurt directly confronts Spencer, who laughs off owing the club and its predecessors for the school-wide acceptance of his sexuality, he responds blankly, “Please, I owe Modern Family.” Glee, as a show, may be a little long in the tooth, but at least it can still take the piss out of itself.
Self-awareness aside, it’s still got a pretty unique problem in terms of reaching an overall satisfying ending for its fans: staying relevant. Like it or not, Glee did change a lot of the layout and view of high school culture in its six-year run. It did a lot for kids in real life, dealing with the trials and tribulations of surviving four years of unrelenting torture. But it also changed the pop-culture landscape, as well. It accomplished this mission long before the characters left off for college, perhaps a big reason why the show subsequently lost its way.
But now that it’s back home, what’s next? It’s sort of clever that a few of the previous prejudices and stereotypes have returned to Lima in the club’s absence, but it doesn’t feel like the show’s gearing up to tackle them head-on so much as have them ready for a gag or two. It took the correct first step in setting foot back in Lima, and the re-introduction of a few fan-favorites halfway through the premiere provide sparks of nostalgia even with the little they’re given to do, but what the show needs now is to find its heart again.