Prom Flick Check List: ‘Glee’

The first 90 second of “Prom Queen” reminded me of the many issues I have with Glee, but Ryan Murphy and co. managed to turn out a nice, if predictable, prom episode. Where they succeeded — and Monday’s 90210 failed — was in reminding us how essential prom is to high schoolers, and how nerve-wracking the preparations leading up to it are. Also, “Friday.”

Glee‘s Prom List Rating: 68

The Art of Asking: 7/10

Artie gave us reunion plus a cute asking scene all in one: He ambushed Brittany in Home Ec and began to sing “Isn’t She Lovely” (and yes, Mercedes points out that the song is actually about a baby). Right as she’s going to yell at him to leave, in come Puck and Sam on guitars, and you can see the embarrassed delight on her face. But it’s when Mike joins in with a wooden spoon on a cheese grater and Finn taps his drumsticks on the counter that it becomes a truly cute moment. One of my complaints with Glee is that it’s too unrealistic, but this actually seemed like it could happen at a typical high school. She can’t say yes, though, because him calling her stupid was really hurtful.

Can You Feel the Love Tonight: 8/10

Spurned by Brittany, Artie resorts to spiking the punch. Jesse St. James returns to take Rachel to prom, but it’s clear even at the pre-dance dinner that he’s still an unapologetic asshole. Yet it’s Finn who stirs up trouble when, seeing Rachel and Jesse dancing cheek-to-cheek, he starts a fight that gets both him and Jesse kicked out of prom. This is devastating for Quinn, who wanted a perfect night with her doofy prince.

Mercedes is really taking it hard that she doesn’t have a date, because what she had most envisioned in dreaming about prom was being with a guy who wanted her. Near the end of the episode, Sam stops by her table to tell her, “You look beautiful tonight. Would you care to dance?” — exactly as she had confessed to Rachel she had wished a guy would do. So, it’s unclear if Rachel masterminded this or if Sam were simply being nice.

Montages and Choreographed Dance Sequences: 9/10

Aside from Kurt offering advice on the ladies’ dress choices, there was no montage of fittings, though it was sweet to see how his advice brightened Zizes’ disappointment. The high score comes simply from the format of the show. Not all of the songs were amazing (see below in “Playlist”), but the fact that we had crooners and dance songs intermixed with the action heightened each storyline.

Dress Drama: 6/10

With this group, I was expecting some sort of scissors-to-dress sabotage, but the characters kindly stayed away from everyone else’s outfits. This could be the best-looking group yet, especially because each look comes from a different place.

A lot of the kids resort to making their outfits, either because of fashion constraints (Kurt), sizing (Zizes), or budget. Mercedes and Rachel buy their dresses — respectively, a sparkly magenta number and a surprisingly understated poofy pink princess dress — at the $5 discount store, while their joint date Sam borrows a tux from his dad and embellishes it with a bolo tie a la young Bruce Springsteen. Kurt struts out in an ensemble inspired by the Royal Wedding: A studded tuxedo jacket over a kilt, or, as Finn calls it, “gay Braveheart.”

Santana goes with a sultry one-shouldered red gown with roses; Brittany is adorable in a lime-green poofy dress; Zizes goes with navy and looks great. However, Quinn easily has the best (and probably most expensive) dress; her mom’s not lying when she says the light blue gown makes her look like Cinderella. As mean and shallow as the character is portrayed, it’s nice to see her enjoy the night.

Resemblance to Our Proms: 9/10

My only quibble is that the student body looked too huge for a junior prom, but otherwise the preparations, decorations, and even the kids performing on stage seemed totally realistic.