Glee "Mysteries": Mike, Quinn and Mercedes

A lot has been said about  Glee's writing in Season 2--its quality, the lack of consistency and the lack of character development of non-major characters. But in Season 3, the writers tried to go back to the basics to make it click. Unfortunately, they did so by literally copying off Season 1. I would go into that some other time.

Today, I will write about the mistakes of  Glee's Season 3. These mistakes are not just little faults that have no bearing in the story (ex. during the "Run the World (Girls)" number, Kurt and Santana kept changing positions; Santana's changing hairstyle in the "Stayin' Alive" performance in "Saturday Night Gleever"). These mistakes--okay let's call them mysteries to make it less painful--are fundamental faults that touch on the basic details/structure of the story, or the lousy attempt to keep one.


1. What is Mike's real full name?

Principal Figgins refers to Mike as Michael Chang Jr. twice--while talking to Mike and his dad in "Asian F" (S03E03) and during the graduation ceremony in "Goodbye" (S03E22). But in "Props" (S03E20), Tina called Mike "Michael Robert Chang" when they were text-fighting. What astounds me more is that both "Asian F" and "Props" were written by Ian Brennan. I can only imagine what would happen if Glee writers wrote How I Met Your Mother.

Even Mike is confused.

2. Where did Quinn go?

In "Saturday Night Glee-ver" Mr. Schue and Coach Sue organized a dance-off despite the fact that Quinn recently got into an accident which paralyzed her legs. In one scene she was right there between Tina and Santana...

There she is!

but in the succeeding scenes, where everyone is shown dancing, she was gone...

There she is not.

Yes, Quinn might've been uncomfortable with the dance-off and chose to leave but the writers should have had the decency to show her go out of the room or, maybe, explain her absence in the succeeding dialogues. But nothing was said. It was as if she wasn't there in the first place. Which leads me to the 2nd option... which is re-shoot the first scene without Quinn in it; then, there would be no obvious need for an explanation. Assumptions could be made. She may have been in therapy with Joe or purposely skipped glee club practice because of the dance-off. But with conflicting scenes showing that she was and wasn't present, it just doesn't make any sense.


3. Where did Mercedes go?

On senior's ditch day, she arrived at the park with the rest of the club sans Blaine (who was with his brother Cooper) and Quartie (who were at a skating park for the differently-abled). She even got off the bus in front of everyone else....

Mercedes leading the charge.

Then, during the all important rollercoaster ride where every gleek wanted to see who sat with whom... she's gone! Sam sat with Puck and Rory was left alone to sit with a stranger.

Mercedes left?

Amber Riley may have a phobia for rollercoaster rides but, again, the writers could have not made her go at all like they did with Blaine and Quartie. Yes, Mercedes not going may result to the need for further explanations but, for me at least, it's better than make her disappear and hope no one will notice.

Glee writers should give their viewers more credit than this. They can't keep making writing or editing slip-ups and hope that no one will notice. Because someone does. Or worse, we all do. Gleeks are a different, more passionate kind of fans. We watch and re-watch every episode; we memorize the songs by heart; we criticize the show for its faults; we praise it for the good things (Nene Leakes as Coach Roz!); we ship our own pairings religiously, to the point of seeing things we want to see (ex. Faberry); we write our own versions of the stories when things don't go the way we want it go (read: fanfiction)...and so on. The point is, Gleeks are addicted committed to the show intensely and the writers, I think, owe us--considering the bad storylines they constantly come up with--the decency to keep these little details right. This is one of the reasons that make How I Met Your Mother awesome. Sadly, it's one of the reasons why Glee fail.

Why do I even compare?


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You may want to see my other posts about Glee (yes there's more than one!):

Quintet 3: GLEE-king Out
Things I Missed From Glee's Season 1 (Part 1)
Things I Missed From Glee's Season 1 (Part 2)
Things I Missed From Glee's Season 1 (Part 3)
McKinley High School in a Decade
15 Glee Club Truths
Final(e) Thoughts: GLEE-duation
Who Wore It Better: Kurt vs Santana
Kurt's 25 (Head) Dresses [Updated, now 26]