Obsession

Season 1, F13

Initially, Emma’s love for Will may have been a safe obsession. Loving someone from a distance is a safe way to be in love; it’s not ‘messy’, no one gets hurt and you can be in control. These are particularly important factors for someone suffering from OCD. From the very first episode, Emma actively pursues Will. She walks into the lunchroom and only has eyes for one Will Schuester; the excitement emanating from her face when she signs up to join him as a weekend chaperone for the Glee club is palpable. She has his every move timed, as she waits to ‘bump’ into him and she delves into his love life asking questions about Terri and later April, ‘Was it love at first sight?/So you have had feelings for someone other than your wife.’ She is devastated when she hears rumours about Will leaving McKinley and him becoming a father. Looking like a lonely and lovesick teenager, she wistfully draws love hearts around Will’s photo in the Thunderclap and comes up with the guidance he needs to make him stay. Her motives are not totally for her own self- interest; she wants what is best for him. It is a key ingredient of their relationship and is arguably what forces her decisions at a later date. The PB &J sandwich she shares with Will is a tangible symbol of the love she wants to give and his response to the sandwich, ‘This is the best I’ve ever had’ is a double entendre that foreshadows Emma will be the greatest love of his life.

Emma is smitten with the qualities she sees in Will: caring, sensitive and loyal. He is possibly her only friend. Like Rachel, Emma is isolated by her own personality (always sitting alone) and ‘wrapped’ (both Emma and Rachel are the only characters who wear lots of bows) in a trait (OCD) that she (and Rachel, with her self-centredness) find difficult to break out of. Emma also fears being ‘all by [herself]’ forever which makes her motives for Will a little ambiguous at first. Will’s ego is boosted by Emma’s adoration as he tells Ken that he has done nothing to deter Emma’s blatant adoration of him and he probably finds it a refreshing reprieve from Terri’s egocentric whining and her ‘[riding] him hard’. The ‘Chalk on the Nose’ scene reveals the truth of their feelings towards each other: there is mutual attraction and the realization perhaps shakes Emma more than Will as when next we see her she is obsessively cleaning the drinking tap; an indication that she is stressed. Her ‘safe obsession’ may not be so safe anymore. Apart from Emma asking Will, ‘What are we doing? You’re having a baby,’ neither of them discuss their feelings for one another and Emma, perhaps scared by a real romance and acting as Will’s moral compass agrees to the harsh reality of dating Ken and pulls out of any further cleaning with Will. Clothes that match Will’s ties are out too.

But, obsessions are hard to break and Emma doesn’t want to break free so off she goes to see Acafellas perform. Ostensibly to support Ken, but we know the real reason she’s there. Will sends out a kiss from the stage to Emma or Terri or his parents. They’re all lined up one behind the other, so it’s hard to know who it’s for. As Emma is in the front, it’s safe to say she’d catch the kiss first and this is the thought she and the shippers go with; any amateur psychologist can read Will’s subconscious mind! Emma almost swoons herself off her seat. Next it’s off to the school football match and who does she ‘bump’ into?  She’s cleaned the seat for him and he’s appreciative – seeing her cleaning fetish as a positive, not a negative. Another key ingredient of their relationship. The excitement of the match allows them the opportunity to touch each other. For someone who prefers not to be touched, Emma doesn’t mind being totally wrapped in Will’s embrace. They pull away and stare at each other in excitement and it’s not all excitement from the football match! Realizing they’ve crossed a line, they flip away from each other, the camera capturing Emma’s shocked yet ecstatic expression.

Emma is little bit like ‘Vitamin D’ for Will; she makes him stronger and healthier. She’s back to helping him clean, only this time it’s himself; she wipes mustard (matching her ‘insane yellow blouse’) off his ‘cute Kurt Douglas chin dimple’ and once again their eyes register the chemistry between them. They’re both on the same page, so it’s back to Will wearing ties that compliment Emma’s outfits and a look of adoration from Will as he watches Emma pour herself a drink. Rachel reflects both Will and Emma’s headspace when she sings the feelings Will has for Emma in Halo: I found a way to let you in/But I never really had a doubt/Standing in the light of your halo/I got my angel now/It's like I've been awakened/Every rule I had you breakin'/It's the risk that I'm takin'/I ain't never gonna shut you out (The idea of Emma being his guardian angel reappears in ‘Sectionals’ and ‘Hello’); and the feelings Emma has for Will in ‘Walking on Sunshine’: I used to think maybe you loved me, now baby I'm sure/And I just can't wait till the day when you knock on my door/Now every time I go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down/Cause I just can't wait till you write me you're comin' around/Now I'm walking on sunshine… ‘ Unfortunately Sue notices ‘the haze of lust that is so thick you need a machete to cut through it’ and before long Terri appears at school to confront Emma with some home truths and a reality check. Will, Emma and Terri are positioned in a triangle in their scenes together, Terri positioned at the point, indicating she has the upper hand and the higher moral ground over both Emma and Will. She obstructs their friendship (which Will is visibly disappointed about it) and hones in on Emma’s insecurity and common sense. Will asks Emma if it’s true, Ken has asked her to marry him. She hints that Will should give her a reason not to marry Ken. This is a bold move from Emma. It’s the first time either of them have openly admitted that what lies between them exists and she is prepared to pursue her ‘dream’ man. Will swallows hard and looks like he wants to give her a reason to say no to Ken. He is standing on the ‘bridge’ wanting to follow his heart’s desire but being pulled back by his duty to his wife and unborn child. He backs away and won’t commit. Once again Emma seeks an escape route from being in love with Will, this time it’s marrying Ken. When Emma breaks the news to Will, he is gutted. ‘That’s great’, he responds with not one ounce of glee in his voice. The camera lingers on his face, you can see the feelings he wants to express are caught in the back of his throat. Will’s inability to express his feelings about Emma and take any decisive action widens the space between them and is represented physically as they both walk slowly away from each other. They stop walking before they turn the corner and look remorsefully back. This is Will’s last chance. He doesn’t take it. Emma walks off. They are now walking down separate paths, literally and figuratively.

However, Emma cannot push her desire for Will any deeper than just below the surface. ‘Sunglasses, so sexy’, mutters Emma as she sees Will outside her office and what better way to maintain legitimate physical contact with him than having dancing lessons. ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ reveals a profound moment of truth for Will. When Emma walks out of the dressing room in her bridal dress he is stunned and mesmerized by her. Like someone in a trance he doesn’t take his eyes of her and as she moves, he follows, as if there is a magnetic pull between them (and of course there is!). As he stands next to her at the mirror, he realizes he likes what is reflected: Wemma. They look so good together, perhaps he’s wishing she was his bride. ‘Terrific’, is all that comes out of his mouth. Let’s dance. Unlike the ‘Princess Diana’ dress which was voluminous and restrictive (like Ken), this dress suits Emma’s shape completely and allows her the freedom to move (symbolizing Will). They end their dance with her hand over Will’s heart and his hand over hers, unconsciously stroking Emma’s fingers. She has his heart and it’s at this point the realization really hits him: she’s more than his friend, she’s more than a passing fancy; he’s in love with her. That realization complicates his life so this time he walks abruptly away.  Later, Will enters Emma’s office and leaves the door open, symbolizing that he’s prepared to open his heart to her. The songs are simply a euphemism for Ken and Emma and he tells her, ‘I just can’t get those two song to go together.’ ‘That’s because they don’t,’ Emma replies. There is a long look between them. ‘We both know that,’ says Emma. Will looks down in frustration. ‘They’re both good songs though’, ‘Great ones,’ replies Will. The closest he’s ever got to expressing his feelings to her. Emma feels complimented and connected to him and she tries to keep him in her office longer: ‘I wanted to say thank you….for the dance lessons.’ Translation: Thank you for trying to express your feelings. Thank you for acknowledging you have feelings for me. Thank you for that glorious moment dancing with me. They both know Will is between a rock and a hard place and Emma has no choice in the matter, symbolized by her stationary and framed position in the office as the camera moves slowly away from her and ends on a black wall.

In ‘Ballad’, Will’s true feelings for Emma are exposed again when he looks straight at her and sings the lyrics ‘…temptation, frustration, so bad it makes him cry’ during the mash up of ‘Young Girl/Don’t Stand so Close to Me’. Emma is smitten all over again and she can’t put a coherent sentence together. Will is too frustrated by Rachel to communicate with Emma. There is some irony in the situation: Emma and Will can’t voice their feelings for each other, yet know how the other is feeling whereas Rachel and Will are explicit in their feelings for each other, but communication is getting lost in translation. Emma’s frustration with Will can be felt in her office when Will suggests that Ken has planned his wedding day on the same day as sectionals on purpose because he ‘knows how Ken feels about [their] relationship’. Will pauses before the word ‘relationship’. He is still hesitant or perhaps struggling with a definition for what he and Emma feel towards each other. Emma’s tone and defence of Ken’s action signals her frustration with Will’s indecisiveness. Finally, Terri’s day of reckoning arrives and Will must make a decision that will change the course of his life. Is he up for the challenge this time? Naturally he goes to Emma for guidance. ‘Her method was wrong, but I understand her intent…if I’d felt you slipping away…You’re a lot to lose Will.’ She returns the self-esteem that Terri has taken from him.

In episode 1 Will’s journey to Sectionals began with Emma’s support and in the 13^th episode it is completed with her support. She is the mother figure to Will’s father figure. Like an expectant father Will sees Emma and the kids off to Sectionals. You feel her wanting to give him a reassuring hug. When the situation becomes dire she calls him for help; they are a team, opposite sides of the same coin, and they need each other. Will hears the Glee kids’ performance through Emma’s phone. She has become his ears, a part of him. As they both sit with their phones to their ears, mirroring each other, with an expression of love and happiness on their faces, the scene is almost erotic; they are holding each other’s breath next to their ears, tuned in to the other’s emotions. The shippers can’t help but wonder if Will and Emma are not only moved by the kids’ performance but by feeling so connected/close to each other. That evening the most ‘in depth’ discussion Wemma have had in 13 episodes occurs: She tells him how she really feels. He tells her he’s just left his wife. This line is delivered in a perfect tone allowing its interpretation to hang double edged: He’s available, but Emma knows it is really bad timing. Undeterred and showing a new decisiveness, Will acknowledges that his ‘life would suck without’ Emma as slow motion emphasis the emotional pull towards her. There is a halo of light around Emma as Will spots her at the end of the corridor. The motif of Emma as a divine being, in Will’s eyes, recurs and he shows Emma how he really feels by kissing her - a long, tender, heartfelt, questioning kiss (Is it possible for all of those things to be in one kiss? Will manages it!). She is helpless in his arms. Will pulls away and looks anxiously down at her waiting for her response. Will she reject or accept him? She slowly raises her eyes. The expression on her face is one of happiness mixed with a hint of uncertainty. Her ‘safe’ love for Will is now about to become something much more. Does she really want her dream to come true?

A very satisfying 13 episodes which built up their obvious friendship and affection for each other and culminated with them in each other’s arms.  The Shippers are hooked.