Last Week on Glee: Sectionals Redux

Last year's Sectionals episode had two of my most favorite moments on Glee ever:  Lea Michele's star-making Don't Rain on My Parade solo and the utterly predictable (but still sweet) first kiss of Emma and Mr. Schuester.  It's still my second favorite Glee episode so far (the pilot remains number one).

Maybe my expectations were too high, but I thought this year's Sectionals episode was a little underwhelming.

What went wrong?

• Rehashed storylines - Last year, Finn refused to sing after learning that Quinn cheated on him with Puck.  Replace Finn, Quinn and Puck with Rachel, Finn and Santana and the writers basically used the same plot with different characters.  Only this one had little impact because really...who would side with Rachel in this case?
• There's a reason why it's always Rachel, Finn and Mercedes who get most of the solos.  Dianna Agron is a mediocre singer, average at best.  Her voice grates on my nerves (is it just me, or doesn't she sound like she sings and speaks from her nose ALL. THE. TIME?!?).  I don't know what happened to Chord Overstreet, I loved his voice on Lucky and Billionnaire, but he was painful to listen to on Time of My Life.  Letting them sing the lead on that song made it even more inexplicable how New Directions managed to win at Sectionals.
• I am bored with Dalton Academy already.  We know there's no way Kurt will stay there forever, so the sooner they resolve this momentary distraction, the better! (and I'm probably in the minority, but I'm not the least bit enamored with Blaine/Darren Criss.  It seems everyone I know is smitten by him)

My favorite moment of the episode is (surprise, surprise)  the Rachel-Kurt "duet" on Don't Cry for Me Argentina.  I loved that scene so much that I've been unconsciously humming that song since the episode aired.  The shocker of Emma's (SPOILER ALERT!) marriage took me completely by surprise.  I hope this doesn't mean Will will find solace in Terri's arms again. 

Episode recap over, now it's time for the Rachel fashion recap!

I love this sweater, but not when paired with that skirt.  Too many patterns going on:

Forever 21 Bouncing Bunnies Sweater (no longer available online)

This purple long sleeved dress was just perfect in that "Evita" scene.  I could actually see myself wearing this...if I was 5 sizes smaller!



Forever 21 Silk Fan Print Dress, US$24.90



Whoever picks Rachel's coats this season deserves a raise because I seriously love all of them.  From the red peacoat two weeks ago to my ultimate favorite plaid coat in Grilled Cheesus to this yellow and black plaid number...perfection!  Too bad this one barely made an appearance onscreen:

Anthropologie Craftsmanship Capelet, US$118.00

This is the second Betsey Johnson dress for the New Directions gals.  The first dress was worn during the regionals competition in Season 1.  They probably added the straps to avoid wardrobe malfunctions:

Betsey Johnson Belle of the Barre dress

Next week:  Another themed episode, designed to help push sales of the Glee Christmas album. Not really looking forward to that one, but I hope I'll be pleasantly surprised.  Oh well, at least Rachel gets another solo.

Acknowledgments:  Screencaps from rawr-caps.net.  Identification of the Anthropologie capelet from Glee Style.  Identification of the Betsey Johnson dress from Possessionista.