I'm going to write about this at much greater length over the weekend, so I won't vent my full spleen here. But I love, love Amber Riley, and I love Mercedes as a character who can declare "I'm worried about showing too much skin and causing a sex riot," as an explanation for why she refuses to wear a cheerleading skirt, and I hate that the inevitable end consequence of having a big, sassy black girl is a story about eating disorders and a rainbow of high school students singing Christina Aguilera's most saccharine song. Why can't she just be fabulous without consequence? Why can't she have a boyfriend? Why are the show's best, tartest couple reduced to sidekicks? Why does the gay kid have to be semi-pathetic and clueless?
To be fair, I thought the adults were great. April Rhodes is a wonderful character, and I wish Kristin Chenoweth and Sue Lynch could go a couple of rounds on the show. I really like the evolving relationship between Finn's mother and Kurt's father (except in that it's used to perpetuate the gay-boy-mooning-over-the-obviously-straight-guy stereotype and make Kurt look stupid), and the show's commitment to the idea that you don't have to be rich or educated to be emotionally intelligent. But they're not the focus. And it's not enough to keep me watching regularly every week. So sorry, Brian Wolly--no more rage-tweeting the show. I'll check it out at the end of the season. But life's too short. There's Bones to catch up on. I need my hour per week back.