Are RIB going to spend season 4 replicating all of Will's past scenes for Finn?

What really annoys me about Glee at the moment is the way Finn is being dressed to look like Will, he is being put through the same doubts that Will went through about committing himself to Glee club and just as Will needed Emma to guide him, Rachel is used to guide Finn. The parallels between Will and Finn and Emma and Rachel have always been a key ingredient of the show but remaking season 1 story lines with Finn and Rachel being Will and Emma is boring, lacks imagination and seems cheap and cheesy. We already have Will and Emma - and we LOVE THEM. We want to see them. USE THEM!

The final scene of Dynamic Duets with New Directions all dressed in red tshirts and jeans singing 'Some Nights' to Finn in the auditorium was a scene that made me cringe. It was an attempt to replicate the final scene of the pilot where Will walks in on the kids singing 'Don't Stop Believing', a song that established unity and excitement for the series.  A song that captured our attention, set the tone of the show, introduced us to Lea's vocal talents and hooked us into wanting to watch the show because it created an emotional tie between Will and the kids. Perhaps RIB have never heard of the philosophy that 'one can never step into the same river twice.' It means that things are constantly changing and even though we may be in the same place, we and our environment are in a constant state of change. Therefore, to try and replicate a scene is pointless; the characters have changed, the audience have changed and the context for the song had changed.Therefore the story telling should have changed! 

This week in 'Swan Song' we had a replay of Sue taking over the choir room from Will. What's next? Marley gets a crush on Finn?  

Thanks for giving us 33 seconds of Wemma

'Thanksgiving' delivered us thirty three seconds of Wemma adorableness. Didn't it just make you smile?   They are so damn cute together. I wanted to hug them. And how good was Will's hug? Took me back to that bear hug he gave Emma at the football match. My favourite part was Will using Emma's hands to clap with his own because there was no way he was removing his other hand from around her shoulder. Will's body language indicates he really does love her 'with every fibre of his being' and Emma, wearing her signature happy colour - yellow, was smitten and 'floating' in divine happiness all over again at seeing him. Does a deeper love exist in fiction? Unsurprisingly the passionate kiss in the promo was cut but our thirty three seconds was brimming with loving looks, kisses and hand holding. It wasn't watching New Directions' or the Mennonites that was making Wemma so radiant, it was being with each other again. If they had reunited at home I'm sure Sue's advice, 'Get a room' would have been followed!

I find it interesting that Emma who is so articulate when giving advice or when explaining to Will why she doesn't want to go to Washington ie 'I'd rather be far from you but feel close than close to you but feel far away' (sorry I'm paraphrasing) has never said anything more than 'I love you so much', 'I love you, I love you' and 'Oh my goodness' and 'You made it.' Maybe the expression on her face when she looks at Will says a thousands words or it surpasses the need for words but I'm hoping for her wedding RIB give Emma the opportunity to say what Will means to her.

My glee is turning glum

Dear RIB,

‘Hot Wemma Action’,  Brad said about Season 3. Did I blink and miss it?

‘We can deal with more adult issues.’ said Ryan about Season 4. I think he left the word ‘off screen’ off his sentence.

How can you deal with ‘more adult issues’ if you shove Wemma off to the side lines, regress Sue to her original ‘I hate Glee club’ position and have the graduated kids make ‘guest-like’ appearances for 5 minutes or less of screen time? 

RIB, I’m so not interested in those new characters - no dynamics, no chemistry and your very thin story lines with convoluted appearances for the original cast leave a lot to be desired. In trying to encompass all, you are spreading plot and character development too thinly. I didn’t think it was possible to create even slower moving story lines than you had, but you’ve achieved it. 

And I’m sad. 

Sad but not surprised that in ‘Glease’ you chose to put in Will saying goodbye to the Glee kids, half of them he’s only known for a couple of months but chose to ignore an emotionally moving scene like Will saying goodbye to Emma, the love of his life. 

I guess you have your reasons but I’m sitting here wondering: how can you sideline the two most talented people on your show?

So not gleeful.

Why The Breakup is Breaking My Patience

One minute 40 seconds of Wemma dialogue plus their presence in 'The Scientist'.  I’m almost tempted to stop watching Glee, save all of the compiled Wemma pieces from season 4 (that some very kind person posts each week on tumblr) and watch them in one hit at the end – that should equal one complete episode – 40 minutes thus saving 21x 40 mins of my time.

Watching Glee reminds me why I prefer books. You can read the entire story as fast as you like instead of being given 5 lines of a page each week. You can get into the characters’ heads, everything happens on the page and you can find emotional satisfaction.

With Wemma RIB have created the most drawn out romance in the history of television and they keep using the same plot devices to put their characters in the same situations to hit us over the head with the same character traits and create convoluted tension. 

So now Will has another ‘dream’ or ambition and once again he won’t do it without Emma. Of course he wants her by his side, he is incomplete without her and as he said in the proposal, ‘loving her and being loved by her makes everything better.’ Emma feels the same way but she is much more pragmatic than Will and it makes more sense for her to stay at home and keep busy with work than be bored and alone all day in Washington. Will should know this, he’s known her for three years and if the writers had any ambition to move these characters forward they would stop creating drama out of nothing and stop making Will look so myopic and self-centred. 

So now Emma will either go with him to prove yet again how much she loves him (and how many times has Emma already proved this?). Or he will realise how unhappy she is about going and be strong enough to go without her (because how many 'dreams' is he going to forgo to be with Emma?) Or they must choose a dream that they can accomplish together ie having a family.

If they separate for the two months I want to hear them say: I will miss you like crazy but I will phone every day and write you love letter emails every day. Now that would be fun to watch in the coming episodes. Then Will could sing 'Leaving on a jet plane' again which  could incorporate a sequence of them in bed, a LONG KISS goodbye, a close up of hands not wanting to separate, lips not wanting to part, Emma doodling love hearts again. We could see them talking on the phone with the always amusing split screen format,  Emma sleeping with Will's vest, Will carrying Emma's perfume with him! Songs of longing and a ROMANTIC reunion on that long weekend Emma was talking about then the happiness of Will and Emma exploding on to the screen with a song and a dance when Will returns. The possibilities. Let the fans write the episodes!

Who knows, maybe Will will say these things in the next episode in the next two minutes he’ll be given.

Perhaps the best thing from The Break Up is that the male voices are finally being ‘broken up’ by the females’ points of view. Rachel tells Finn she doesn’t need him to give her her freedom, she’s capable of getting it herself; Santana is making decisions for herself; And Emma is telling Will (as she always has) that she has her own ship to sail. (Sometimes she’s sailed it blindly, but she’s always sailed it and that’s not about to change because her status is now ‘fiance’.) Suddenly after three seasons sisters are doing it for themselves. 

Why Will and Emma can't break up

I know writers can take stories and their character’s arcs in any direction they please and we all know RIB have taken the Glee characters in some pretty ridiculous directions over the course of 3 seasons but if they have any sense or integrity towards Will and Emma it would be totally out of character to split them up. It would defy all logic and make the past three seasons meaningless.

Emma and Will’s commitment to each other and their ‘meant to be togetherness’ has been built by:

Past actions:

·      Will’s wife wasn’t enough to stand in the way of their love.

·      Carl wasn’t enough to stand in the way of their love.

·      Will’s Broadway dream wasn’t enough to stand in the way of their love.

·      Emma’s OCD wasn’t enough to stand in the way of their love.

·      Emma has been willing to sacrifice her own happiness for Will’s personal growth.

·      Will has been willing to sacrifice his happiness for her personal growth.

·      They give each other constant support.

Film techniques that reiterate their ‘oneness’:

·      Matching clothes

·      The repetition of clothing them in yellow and blue

·      Camera angles that represent Emma as Will’s ‘guardian angel’.

·      symbols

·      The gaps that existed between them when sitting in seasons 1 and 2 were all closed in season 3.

·      The mirroring of each other’s body language/actions in season 3.

The dialogue:

Every word that comes out of their mouths reiterates their devotion and commitment to each other but here’s a few recent lines:

·      Will’s proposal

·      Emma’s ‘this incomplete person with so much love for you.’

·      ‘I’m so grateful to have you by my side’

·      ‘Many years to come.’

·      ‘I don’t want to lose you.’

·      We’ll cross that bridge together’

The songs:

From the pivotal episode Yes No, which reflect the intensity of their love:

·      Wedding Bell Blues

·      Without You

·      First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

·      We Found Love in a Hopeless Place

So RIB stop it with the ‘will they/won’t they’ shenanigans and fill our screens with Wemma  fun, romance, dancing, singing and learning new things about each other. Let them share experiences and goals: THE WEDDING that Emma has longed for since season 1 and the child Will has wanted since season 1! Remember season 1 RIB? It all began with Will and Emma.

How 'Makeover' could be made over to be less BORING.

There were a lot of factors that made 'Makeover' one of my least favourite Glee episodes. To name a few: no character development, rehashing old plots, the writers commenting on their own bad writing and story telling as a joke device instead of fixing the problem (Sue’s lines), predictability and shallowness (Rachel’s story), senselessness (the whole election campaign), implausibility (Kurt’s story), the list is endless (read http://www.drshebloggo.com/) but WORST of all: ONLY 1.39 SECONDS OF WEMMA and NO KISS!

‘Makeover’ needed a makeover. Toss out Rachel, Blaine, Brittany and Kurt from the script and bring in Emma Pillsbury please.

Emma made great strides last year:

1.    controlling her OCD

2.     encouraging Will to propose to her

3.    gaining accolades for her pamphlets

4.    directing the school musical

5.    supporting Will

6.    negotiating a wedding date

7.    initiating sex

8.  winning tenure.

All of these achievements were made while the focus was on other characters, without any great song or dance. RIB, it’s time to let Emma shine. Emma’s new found confidence, sexual liberation and her new life with Will could have been visually translated in ‘Makeover’ in a most non-boring 39.1 minutes of pure Wemma magic. Let’s go:

·      Emma and Will dancing around the streets of Ohio/McKinley singing about how a change would do them good? I wouldn’t have fast forwarded that segment. Not one second of it.

·      Emma and Will try a new wardrobe…maybe Emma could try something daring like jeans, shorts, a low cut top, some new retro clothing, some of those ball gowns Rachel tried on, something surprising, while singing with Will ‘The Way You Look tonight/You’re never fully dressed without a smile.’ That would have had some emotional impact.

·      Emma restyles the apartment – new pictures on the wall (those current pictures have no interest and don't reflect Will or Emma's personality), new bed linen, painting a room, buying a new couch....anything that shows some Pillsbury panache. 

·      Or better still, Emma and Will go house hunting.

·      Emma and Will lie in bed talking about how Will feels bored at work,  the opportunity he is considering and they come up with a plan together - because that's what couples do - they talk - not fill out applications without some discussion first. Then they can both sing 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World'.

Emma decides to cook something new for Will, sets fire to the kitchen and they end up having a romantic dinner on the floor which leads to kissing which leads to something new: Wemma sex outside of the bedroom.

And that's what we really wanted to see on Glee.

·     

How Britney 2.0 could have been a winning Wemma episode.

The problem with Britney 2.0 was that unless you are a Brittanalyst with a handbook to understanding Brittany’s psychology, know something about Britney Spears’ meltdown and/or like Spears’ songs then the episode could be classified as boring.

Once again RIB filled an episode with too many songs and they criminally under utilized their best assets: Jayma and Matt. Remember, Emma is a guidance counsellor and hands out the graduation certificates at the end of the year and Will has been awarded teacher of the year twice. Why not SHOW the audience these attributes in action?

Here’s how:

Firstly, delete:

All scenes involving Jake, Marley and Unique. I went and made a cup of tea during their scenes, that’s how bored I was by their storylines and songs. By deleting their scenes we eliminate three songs. There we go, we now have half the episode free to show how effective Will and Emma can be and to reveal that Brittany is not stupid, but a very complex character who is now battling with a persona that is no longer working to her advantage.

Secondly, insert:

1.    After Brittany tries to shave her hair off and beats up JBI, Emma and Will talk about Brittany in Emma’s office. Emma, who in Brittany/Britney showed how much she knew about Britney Spears tells Will that Brittany’s behaviour is emulating her idol’s demise and it did not end well. Since the Britney songs don’t seem to be working, they try and work out another way to help Brittany in an attempt to save Brittany from Britney!

2.    Attempt 1: Will tries to forge a connection with Brittany and show her how valuable she is to Glee club. He invites her to show him some dance moves for the welcome back to school pep rally – they do a hip hop style dance together (Isn’t it about time we saw the show’s two best dancers dance together?) Will takes the opportunity to say he knows what it’s like to miss someone so badly that you feel like all the joy has been sucked out of the world ie referring to missing Emma during The Carl period. Brittany says, ‘How did you escape the loneliness Mr Schue?’ He says uncomfortably, ‘I drank.’ Brittany shakes her head and says, ‘I can understand your thirst.’ They smile at each other. Will says, ‘I also found keeping myself busy helped.’ He invites her to be his dance director. Brittany doesn't say yes or no. She’s on her own trajectory.

3.    Attempt 2: After Brittany’s disastrous performance Will, Emma and Brittany sit in Emma’s office, but Will and Emma are not behind the desk. They are sitting either side of Brittany. Will explains to Brittany how she’s hurt her Glee family. (This scene would reiterate the roles of Will and Emma as ‘the parents’ of Glee Club.) Emma states that she knows how sometimes we get ourselves into situations we don’t know how to get out of but the best way to get out of them is to speak the problem out loud and accept the help of a friend (ie referring to her own OCD). Will says, ‘I know you’re smart Brittany, you have to be to use malapropisms and to concoct such an elaborate cry for help.’ (This would establish that Will has taken the time to consider Brittany’s words and behaviour and is showing her that he really cares about her well being – just as he did for Emma’s OCD. It would also explain to viewers that Brittany’s lines are clever instead of stupid.)

Emma acknowledges that Brittany has developed a unique way of communicating which shows enormous creativity and emotional intelligence but she thinks Brittany realizes it’s not working so well this year. Emma asks Brittany if she wants help improving her grades so she can graduate and perhaps apply to a dance school? She gets Brittany to write down a list of what’s troubling her and we then get a montage of Emma and Will helping Brittany write down solutions for these problems and the actions she’ll need to take.  

Result:

• Brittany character development.
• Some explanation of Brittany’s behaviour and character traits.
• Relationship development between Will and Brittany.
• Will showing how he cares about the kids and deserved to win teacher of the year (this contrasts with Sue’s reaction to Brittany’s low grades).
• Emma showing how good she is at her job.
• Will and Emma working together as that ‘Girl saving team’. 

Finding Room for Ms Pillsbury in 'The New Rachel'

Glee is back. Hooray Glee kids, hooray! We can blog again. I really enjoyed the first episode, 'The New Rachel', but as we all know, a Glee episode is never fully complete without our favourite Glee character - Emma Pillsbury. Had Glee started filming later to accommodate Jayma's schedule, here's how RIB could have slotted her in. 

Did Rachel have to meet a new boy in the first episode?

Answer: No

Instead show how completely isolated she feels by leaving her alone in the bathroom doing her cleansing ritual and CONTRAST this with Emma doing her cleansing routine in the bathroom and Will stepping out of the shower and them both pausing to look lustfully at each other and then Emma turning back to the mirror and saying 'No. That would make us late for school!'

Kurt is feeling a little lost still living in Lima. What should he do? Visit Sue Sylvester or Emma Pillsbury?

Answer: Emma Pillsbury. 

She's the guidance counsellor. Sue could have then walked into Emma's office with the baby followed by Kitty. It would have been interesting to see Emma's reaction to the new baby and to Kitty.

Did we need so many Cassandra July scenes? 

Answer: No. 

The scene showing her penchant for alcohol could go. Her attitude towards her students shows that she hates her job and hates the students for their potentially successful futures. Rachel stating that there is alcohol on Cassandra's breath and Cassandra's response is enough for us to accept Rachel's statement as true. So delete. Thus freeing up 45 seconds. Enter Ms Pillsbury. How about contrasting Cassandra's dance routine with Will teaching Emma a dance, thus showing the difference between someone who loves to teach and someone who doesn't. Or simply Will and Emma making evening plans at the lunch table. 

Would Will have minded if Emma had sat in on the auditions? Would the kids have minded?

Answer: No and hell No.

They are totally in love. They live and breathe each other. They want to be with each other 24 hours a day. Did you see the look on Will's face when Jake was singing? I'm sure he was thinking of Emma. She could've/should've been there. When Marley was singing there could have been Wemma hand holding and there could have been a knowing look between them or Emma could have whispered, 'she reminds me of Rachel.'

Did Blaine have to sing to Kurt?

Answer: Yes and No.

Yes if you're a Klaine or Blaine fan. No if you're a Wemma fan. This was the obvious place to put in a long overdue Wemma duet!

Sigh. The missed opportunities!

How editing can change the focus of a scene

One could argue that the extended footage from 'Asian F' and 'Goodbye', doesn't add any more to Wemma character development or story telling than we already know and the mere seconds that were sliced off reveal the story telling talents of a very perceptive and accurate film editor. Nonetheless, as a Wemma shipper who bemoans the loss of any Wemma footage, I think it's a shame it wasn't included for a couple of reasons:

Asian F footage:

In the top image Emma's parents have brought up Carl's name, rabbiting on about him and saying in a derogatory tone that he was 'swarthy'. Emma becomes visibly distressed at the mention of his name and Will puts his hand over hers as if to say, it's ok, it was a mistake and all of that has passed. It's almost like he's reminding her to let it go, because he has. There is not one ounce of the jealous/alpha male Will from Season 2 to be seen. He is only worried about Emma's feelings. It makes me think that off-screen they must have had a very long talk about Carl and the feelings of failure, fear and regret that his name evokes are not far beneath Emma's surface. By editing out much of the parent's conversation about Carl and Will's reaction towards Emma, the focus of Emma's decline became more about the parent's overall impact on her.

In the second image, Will has just stood up to Emma's parents' 'ginger supremacist' attitude which is followed by an uncomfortable silence. This time Emma reaches for Will's hand to say it's ok and thank you. As in the first episode from season 3, Emma and Will mirror each other.


Goodbye footage:

This footage is what really interests me because it takes the focus, however fleeting, off Finchel and draws it back to Wemma and the parallels between the two couples which is exactly how the show began - with Rachel and Emma not so secretly being in love with Finn and Will.

This footage succinctly reveals their stories ends. We have the wonderful juxtaposition of Rachel in her signature red coat letting go of her man and Emma in her signature yellow holding on to hers. The look on Emma's face as she watches Finchel could almost be interpreted as been there, done that, never doing it again, so glad I'm not in your position, I'm totally content right here, joined at the hip to Will, thank you very much.

As I said, no revelations in the footage, but still reassuring and fun to have the Wemma journey reinforced in these small snippets.

Wemma: 'If Emma and I were blessed enough to have a child...'

A request was made to analyse all the times in season 3 in which there was talk about Will and Emma wanting to start a family. Here are some thoughts:

Episode 301: The Purple Piano Project
Sue, in her campaign speech, has declared she will not provide any funding for Arts programs in schools. Will marches into Figgins' office and declares Sue is threatening his livelihood and that he is thinking about starting a family.

Reflection: In this first mention of wanting a child Will says 'I am thinking about starting a family.' I think it's pertinent to stress the 'I'. At this point we can ascertain the following:
1. Will sees Emma as the person he wants to have children with therefore
2. He truly believes her OCD will not stand in the way which means
3. Does he fully  understand the depth/complexity of her disorder?
This question was answered two episodes later.


Episode 303: Asian F
Will has found Emma's stash of bridal magazines and he gently informs her that 'marriage is just one of several milestones [he]looks forward to sharing with her.' Later in the episode Will declares to Emma's parents, 'If Emma and I were blessed enough to have a child...' and 'if my child had OCD I'd maybe try and show her a little more compassion...'

Reflection: In these references to having children Will now uses 'Emma and I', instead of just 'I' and since Emma's facial expression indicates no surprise at this announcement we are lead to believe that having children is something they both agree upon (although it's not until ep 12 that this is clarified). Will also indicates that he's prepared to accept and show compassion towards any child they may produce (which just makes his doubts about marriage in 'Yes No' even more dumbfounding. Maybe RIB thought we wouldn't notice but Wemma shippers have VERY LONG MEMORIES.)

Episode 309: Extraordinary Merry Christmas
I know what you're thinking - there was nothing mentioned in this episode about wanting to start a family but, remember the episode stills that were released at the time? Emma wiping a little girl's hands and Will building 'I love you' with the building blocks?

Reflection: These are images showing Emma coping with messy children and the joy on Will's face as he watches Emma interacting with the children, thus indicating that Will sees Emma as mother material. VERY INTERESTING that these scenes were cut. My theory is they had to go because once again they contradict Will's behaviour in the following episode.

Episode 310: Yes No
Will has asked Emma's parents for her hand in marriage. Part of the reason for Mr Pillsbury saying no is he thinks Emma is incapable of having a family so he says to Will, 'forget kids, is this what you want for yourself?' This puts doubts in Will's mind about a future with Emma and he questions her, 'What happens when we have a house...and a baby?'

Reflection: The word 'baby' is tacked on the end of his sentence as though he's been afraid to say it. To some extent he probably is...it's what he really, really wants and yet their relationship is still void of sex. Although he loves her, he must be questioning himself whether or not he loves her enough to give up on the idea of having a family because the reality is she may never be able to.

Episode 12: The Spanish Teacher
Tenure is up for grabs and Will wants it because, as he explains to Figgins, 'Emma and I will be starting a family soon.' Later in the episode Emma confronts Sue about 'hogging her fiance's nog' and we hear Emma for the first time speak out loud her desires, 'I know how it feels to want to start a family. I want to have a baby too.' The whole 'we want to start a family' motif surfaces for a third time in the episode when Will says, 'Do you realise how important this tenure is for us if we want to start a family? We'll always be able to feed our kids...'

Reflection:
So now the shippers know it's not just Will wanting a family but it's Emma wanting to start a family too. It only took half a season of episodes to clarify it! This time Will throws in the word 'if'; 'If we want to start a family.' He's being realistic and sees starting a family as a joint decision. He's also seeing himself as the only bread winner and I liked Emma's reminder to him that she can look after herself and in fact she could be the bread winner. I would like to see this as a foreshadowing to Will becoming a stay at home dad while Emma goes back to work after the birth of  their child.

Episode 315: Big Brother
Emma and Will go with Sue to her doctor's appointment to find out the sex of her child. While there is no direct reference to them wanting a child, it's Emma's idea to go with Sue for moral support and it's Emma's view on the gender of the child that's heard - 'besides, boys aren't that bad anyway.'

Reflection:
Again this indicates Emma's progression with her OCD and how comfortable she is with the idea of pregnancy, gender of child and visiting a medical clinic. The camera captures their response to Sue's news as though they are the parents! It's almost like a trial run for their own pregnancy.

For the remainder of the season we just had to sit back and wait for the reproductive process to take place. Unfortunately we never got to see it.

In conclusion:
My theory is that all of the dialogue about starting a family or having a child were either red herrings to make the viewers think that a pregnancy might be on the cards during the season or to make them believe that Wemma sex would happen much sooner than it did. The season was really focused on Emma controlling her OCD rather than letting it control her and having sex was the final frontier which was achieved. Therefore a pregnancy was never in the script and RIB managed to suspend Wemma sex for 21 episodes. When someone tweeted Ryan the question 'Will Wemma have a baby in season 4?' He replied 'Let's get them married first.' Of course he might be being sly - I think it would be kind of amusing to see firstly, what Emma's reaction would be to a pregnancy before marriage and secondly, a pregnant Emma walking down the aisle. However, I think Emma deserves her fairy tale wedding so shippers, sit back, get yourself a drink and put your feet up, we could be in for a very long journey as we now wait to see how long RIB continue to suspend the wedding and babies.

The Emma Pillsbury Diary: season 3

Read the diary here.
Hope you enjoy it.

Dear RIB,


Even though Season 4 is a golden opportunity to rename Glee, 'The Emma Pillsbury Show' and devote EVERY episode to Wemma, I know you won't take it. Therefore, all I can hope for, now that the screen hogging Finchel have left the building and Glee has a later time slot, is more up close up and personal screen time with Wemma. (Please for the love of Grilled Cheesus, I'm begging you). 


To help you achieve this and to save you some creative thinking time, I've done some Wemma Season 4 preparation for you. Here are some of the poses the shippers would like like to see Wemma in. There are at least one for each episode. Please consider ;) 

 This pose looks incredibly uncomfortable, but how about a hair wash/head massage scene? 

Ok, maybe a little too much flesh for Jayma's liking, but any bath scene would would do - Will and Terri had a bath scene and they were out of love! Wemma need a bath scene.

Thanks RIB for all of the golden Wemma moments in Season 3 and for the increased inclusion of  Emma Pillsbury and her pamphlets in the episodes. So much better than Season 2.  


Your devoted Wemma fan,


Obsessed Gleek. 

'When It's Finally Time to have Intercourse...'

After three years in the making and RIB give the shippers three seconds worth! Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it happened, I liked what I saw, I just wish there had been more of it. And here is why:

1.    I still hold a grudge with RIB for never showing enough Emma Pillsbury and

2.    Cutting out the Wemma scene from ‘New York’ in Season 2 and

3.     Not fulfilling their promise of  ‘hot Wemma action’ in season 3.

4.    But ultimately because I don’t think the montage satisfactorily recognized Emma’s achievement.

Emma, like all the characters this season has battled her demons (OCD) and as Will and New Directions individually and collectively conquered their demons and realized their dreams throughout the course of Season 3, Emma was the only one left with an unfulfilled ambition.  Therefore it was no surprise that sexual intercourse had to be on the agenda in one of the final episodes. Like a lot of story lines in Glee, they take forever suspending a resolution then deliver the resolution in a quick and snappy way or off screen so it leaves you feeling unfulfilled and wondering why you placed any emotional investment in the story in the first place. Wemma sex was no exception. It happened off screen. Thanks RIB. THREE YEARS!

Should the intercourse have happened after Nationals? Some believe no because it intimated that Emma’s virginity was a ‘reward’ for Will. I beg to differ. Emma has wanted to get physical with Will ever since ‘Hello’, but her OCD has stood in the way. Over the course of Season 3 she has slowly beaten back the OCD and by this episode stands on the brink of victory. She is inspired by Will’s success with the Glee club, the kids winning, Sue winning. She wants to be a winner too. In her mind, Will deserves to be with a winner and if anything motivates her to succeed it’s wanting what’s best for Will. It’s why she denied her love for him for so long, it’s why she told him to accept April’s offer. She wants to be the best for him. Just as he wanted to show her how special she was when she won tenure, she wants to show him how special he is winning Nationals. Therefore it was the opportune time, her man of action has succeeded and he’s turned her on, in a big way.

As Emma stands before Will dressed in her cream coloured skirt and top, she holds up the newspaper showing Will’s success on the front page, the pride is bursting from her face and the phallic symbolism of the flowering candle opening up to reveal the burning flame at Emma’s crotch was a metaphor for exactly how she was feeling about Will – her loins are on fire with desire! Her virginity is about to go up in flames. She’s caught up in the ecstasy of being a winner, which is just the aphrodisiac she needs. Emma wants to prove herself a winner too. Further symbolism was meant to convey Emma’s desire: the open curtains – not quite meeting in the middle – the camera lingers on them after Wemma disappear in hurry. Like the curtains, Emma is open for business. Her red nightdress representing passion, lust, vigour. Emma is back-lit, making her look like a flame burning with desire. The sped up footage conveyed their unbridled passion for each other and the similar nightdress and choreography as Emma’s fantasy in ‘Like a Virgin’ and ‘Toucha Toucha Me’ alluded to Emma’s dream becoming a reality. Emma and Will are ‘Tongue Tied’, there are no words left for them to express their love for each other, physicality can now say more than words can. It’s an upbeat, celebratory song about friendship and love and not wanting to let go of the euphoria that love and friendship brings. ‘I loved you then and I love you now’, succinctly wraps up their journey. Emma’s reason for wanting sex was delivered via film techniques but symbolism and allusion did not quite fulfil the emotional needs of this Wemma fan.

Then we got the following dialogue:

Will: Hey, thank you.’

Emma: It was my pleasure, literally. I just thought, you know, my man is a winner and he deserves to be treated as such. And it was as much for me as it was for you.

Will: Last night was, well worth the wait, but I meant thank you for everything. This whole year has been incredible and I am so grateful to have you by my side.

Emma: Many more years to come.

Of all the polished verbal gems that Wemma have delivered over the years, this wasn’t one of them. Only Wemma shippers would realize Emma’s motive and meaning in the line ‘I did it for me as much as for you.’ That line was meant to convey the magnitude of Emma’s achievement but it failed because it was overshadowed by ‘My pleasure, literally’ (we’re glad it went well!) and Will not responding to the line. Of course she did it for her, she’s been battling her OCD her whole life, it has been a cross to bear, of course she wants to get physical with Will - she loves him, she wants his children. This was a monumental achievement for Emma and it was rushed over. Just as the camera lingered on the faces of Will and the kids after their win showing their satisfaction and happiness at their success and then on Sue’s face at getting her Cheerios back, there should have been a shot of Emma’s face post coitus. It’s a fine line to tread, celebrating her achievement and not making a big deal of the sex because their relationship is so much more than that. The love they have for each other is profound which is reflected in Will’s response, ‘Last night was well worth the wait, but I meant thank you for everything…’ But it was a monumental step in their relationship and in Emma controlling her OCD and Will said nothing! Perhaps Will should have said, ‘I’m proud of you or I know how hard it’s been for you but you did it’, or words to that effect before he said ‘thank you for everything’. The writing downplayed Emma’s achievement and left room for misinterpretation and that is why I feel slightly let down by the end result.

Final complaint: Sue interrupting their kiss. I guess Rachel was busy warming up her voice!

On to other thoughts about the Wemma scenes:

This episode paid homage to so many golden Wemma moments in past episodes it was almost a ‘Best of Wemma’ episode:

·      Emma counselling and reassuring Will

·      Emma watching Will break up fighting kids

·      The Wemma hug

·      Emma wrapping her hands around Will’s hand to calm his nerves as he had clasped hers in ‘Asian F’. He kisses her in gratitude just as she had kissed him in gratitude.

·      Emma undressing Will

·      Will spinning Emma around in yet another of her glorious nightdresses.

·      Emma and Will sitting side by side watching the kids perform.

·      The Wemma deep and meaningful

·      The interrupted Wemma kiss.

·      Another Pillsbury Pamphlet conveying a personal message.

·      Swaying together to the music

·      Lots of hand holding (they just can’t get close enough to each other)

·      The Wemma look of love (so many adoring looks my heart melted)

·      Kisses

In conclusion:

Wemma mirror each other’s actions, guide each other’s thoughts; they are synchronized and physically attached. They forgive each other’s flaws, they reward each other’s achievements; they inspire and delight each other. They share mind, heart and soul.  Wemma have become one entity that radiates a love so divine that the shippers are entranced and cannot resist the pull to board the ship for Season 4.

In ‘Goodbye’ as Rachel’s train departs, she stares at Finn down on the platform, unable to reach him, separated by a glass window and a moving train. These are metaphors - life is taking her in another direction and her dream is a barrier that cannot be surmounted by Finn. He runs alongside the moving train, letting go of love. Behind Finn stand Will and Emma secure in each other’s arms, smiling and (Emma gives Will one of her looks of adoration) waving Rachel goodbye. They have overcome all obstacles that stood in their way. Emma is even wearing the clothes that represent her obstacles: the bow – her virginity/fear of sex; the yellow jacket – not confronting her OCD (she wore it to hide from Will the ‘Ginger’ tshirt she was wearing, instead of the OCD tshirt she should have had on); and the skirt she wore when she stormed out of Figgin’s office and was living in denial about her love for Will. Wemma are what Finchel could be in the future. The contrast of the two couples was poignant and once again highlighted parallels. As Will said to Emma at the end of Rocky Horror, ‘If I really love you I have to let you go, for now,’ Finn said the same to Rachel. Finn and Rachel are embarking on their journey, destination unknown. Will and Emma have been on their journey and arrived at their destination: each other.

In true Glee style let’s end on a song by Van Morrison:

‘There’s a love that’s divine

And It’s yours and It’s mine, like the sun…

And have I told you lately that I love you?

Have I told you there’s no one else above you?

You fill my heart with gladness

You take away all my sadness

Ease my troubles that’s what you do.’