I confess. I have both of the first-season “Glee” soundtrack albums downloaded to my MP3 player. I listen to them while I run, and Sarah Kate and I sing the songs in the car all the time. Her favorite is “Somebody to Love”; mine is “Don’t Stop Believin'”. I loved the show throughout the fall of 2009, but when it came back after a hiatus in the spring I was, well…disappointed. Many of the episodes seemed forced, and even my favorite scene seemed to have been written before the rest of the story line of that episode (the story line itself felt contrived). There were also a few sucker-punches (in my opinion) taken at political conservatism, and by the end of the season I wasn’t convinced I would watch it again in the fall.
Watch it I did, however, and I *think* it’s going to be better. Each week I’ve turned on my DVR with a bit of hesitation, but I keep watching. When I saw the episode title, “Grilled Cheesus”, and the synopsis of this week’s episode, I almost didn’t watch it. I was a bit wary that I was about to get sucker-punched for my faith. In fact, about twenty minutes in I almost turned it off, but I stuck with it and I’m glad that I did.
In an early scene in the film, the pathologically demanding and difficult Sue Sylvester showed her soft side by telling another character that she didn’t believe in God. Why? Because as a child she idolized her older sister, but other people didn’t – they made fun of her – so Sue prayed to God to cure her sister of Down syndrome. The prayer was never answered, and Sue took that as evidence that God doesn’t exist. Not surprisingly, I really wanted the episode to come back to Sue and her sister, but up until the very end I didn’t think it was going to happen. Finally, Sue visited her sister, Jean, and the subject of religion came up. Jean told Sue, “God doesn’t make mistakes. That’s what I believe.”
I agree, Jean. I agree.
That was the first episode of Glee that I'd watched – and I loved it. I loved so many things about it. I know what you mean about not wanting to be sucker-punched. One of my favorite Catholic Bloggers has been writing about the episode. This was his first post about it. http://googlinggod.com/2010/10/06/what-a-friend-we-have-in-cheesus/
I love Sue's relationship with Jean and think the episode was very powerful. Lots of people on Facebook said they hated the episode and felt their faith was being threatened or mocked (especially with Finn's goofy attitudes about "grilled Cheesus"), but I think the writers stayed true to the characters while tackling deep issues. (For example, Finn having a deep and mature faith wouldn't have made sense since he doesn't have a deep, mature anything!) At any rate, I hope to see more of Jean — and Becky — on the show. I'm glad you stuck around to watch the whole thing. I have a feeling many of my Facebook friends didn't and think they missed out.