Tonight's Glee: "Never Been Kissed"

The last time I wrote about "Glee" I was concerned with the regular bullying of the glee kids, and Kurt (the always adorable Chris Colfer) in particular, in light of all of the terrible suicides of kids who were victims of bullies. (And despite lots of publicity for the It Gets Better Project and other resources, it's still going on.) So I took notice when, during "The Simpsons" on Sunday, Fox ran a promo for tonight's "Glee" that was much more intense than their usual ads:



My big complaint was that no authority figures in the school ever take any action against these bullies, so this promo was especially of interest. Although by the time I post this it'll have aired on the West Coast, just in case you're recording it or plan to watch online, consider this a SPOILER ALERT. The discussion continues (plus there's a pretty picture) after the jump.

So, the promo? Those scenes with Sam and Mr. Schuester? They had nothing to do with Kurt being slammed into the locker. One might have thought that, since Sam is on the football team, as is the guy doing the bullying. Instead, Schue was angry because he found out that when the guys wanted to "cool off" when making out with their girls who weren't willing to go all the way (and even Tina, when with Mike Chang -- excuse to post this lovely photo of Harry Shum Jr.!) they'd picture the incredibly butch Coach Beiste in compromising positions. Schue found this out as a result of some Sue Sylvester machinations in trying to get Beiste fired. Beiste confronts Schue, who tells her the truth, and because she's hurt -- deep down she's just a girly girl, and quite lonely, she decides to quit. Schue then makes her feel better by telling her she's beautiful "inside and out," and gives her a tender kiss -- the first time she's been kissed by a man. Although the scene ended with a friendly hug, I now worry that Coach Beiste is going to fall for Schuester.

So that Fox promo was misleading. But exactly how did the show deal with the bullying?

Poor Kurt's still getting slammed against his locker by a great big football player. Conveniently, he finds some help. Not from anyone in his own school, but from Blaine, a member of the glee club at Dalton Academy, a private school that is going to compete with McKinley High in the upcoming sectionals. Kurt was there, trying to go undercover to spy on the competition, but those private school boys caught on right away. Sitting with Blaine and two others, Kurt asks if they're all gay. Only Blaine is, and he senses something and sends the two straight boys off so he can talk to Kurt privately. Blaine tells Kurt about his experience with bullying and how his response was to transfer into Dalton, which has a zero-tolerance policy against such behavior. He tells Kurt not to run away as he did, but to confront his bully. After the next slam, Kurt goes after the guy, following him into either a men's room or the locker room; whatever room it was, it was empty. The football player threatens to punch Kurt, Kurt tells him to "do it" and as they're intensely yelling, the bully suddenly kisses Kurt. Yup, he's a self-loathing closet case. (And, as Kurt later explains, until this he'd never been kissed before -- hence the episode's title.)

Later, Blaine is at McKinley with Kurt to talk to the guy and try and help him, but he's not ready for that, pushing Blaine. Near the end, there's one more slam into the locker but Kurt isn't quite so upset, no longer feeling alone because of Blaine. Kurt is now crushing on Blaine. Whether they end up as a couple is still up in the air, but they'd definitely make a cute couple.

But let me get back to the bullying issue. Still, at McKinley, as Kurt tells Blaine, "nobody seems to notice." We've heard plenty of stories about kids who are bullied and report it to school officials and they do nothing. Clearly, Schuester is not one of those people who would do nothing. Why hasn't Kurt (or any of the kids who've regularly had slushies thrown in their faces) ever asked him for help? Other than the obvious answer, because the writers don't want them to? With tonight's new developments, I guess Kurt wouldn't say anything now because if he told the whole story, he'd be outing the football player. I'm still uneasy about the handling of this issue.

And a lot of what finally won me over near the end of the first season was its humor, and I think some of that's falling flat lately. Whether it's because the serious issues are taking too much time or whether the writing just isn't as good, I'm not enjoying it as much right now.