Glee Review: A Night Of Neglect

So Glee is back! But I'll be honest. It seemed to have underachieved. I was very excited for this episode because it was the return of many new faces (Sunshine! Dustin Goolsby!) and a couple of older ones (Sandy! Terri!), and Holly Holliday was back for yet another episode. But today was just a bad episode. First off, the Academic Team side-story was interesting as a fellow nerd, and their handshake was simply hilarious. But the story was another non sequitur in the season, which did not make sense. I never took Artie as smart, and the fact that Brittany was on the team, shows some real luck to even be considering nationals. Then you have the storyline of Mercedes as a diva, which was played out so badly, it essentially turned into a caricature of divas like J-Lo, Mariah Carey, and others. Though the concept was horrible, the emotional pull between the two Glee divas (Rachel and Mercedes) was amazing, and it actually gave Mercedes a real storyline. There was also the Legion/League of Evil that consists of Dustin Goolsby, Terri, Sandy, and Sue. Though the nicknames were nice (my personal favorite was the Pink Dagger, and the gusto to which Sandy accepted his nickname), Sue used to be a great character. Now she is just annoying. Then you have the entire idea of a Night of Neglect. How do you determine a neglected artist? It gave some great numbers like Mike Chang's dance-only number, but the episode was pretty devoid of superb performances. The best performance was Mercedes' rendition of "Ain't No Way", which further helps the concept that Mercedes is one of the best vocal performers in Glee. The best line goes to Will Schuester, who can't multiply. "5000 x .25 = 20000." For an episode that revolved around an academic competition, this horrible miscalculation has to be the most ironic quote in Glee. Ever. And no Beiste sightings. And Will and Emma are back on. And Will and Holly are done. I just don't understand what Glee is doing right now.