On Glee

I have a confession to make. I love Glee. I watched most of the first series, then kind of lost it and have only just got back into it with the current series. It's happy, has good music and singing and is great to watch when I'm knitting something that's going to take several months to complete. They've also recently acquired a very attractive young man with dreadlocks, which has just made my viewing experience that much more enjoyable. Unfortunately, I found myself less than thrilled with the ending of the final episode of season 3. For those who aren't familiar, the show takes place in an American high school and half of the cast have just graduated. The final, oh, maybe 8 minutes of the episode show Finn and Rachel, 2 main characters who have been planning on getting married after graduation, driving to what is supposed to be their wedding. Finn surprises Rachel by driving her to the train station, giving what is supposed to be a moving speech about setting her free to she can follow her dreams to Broadway and basically forcing her onto the train. I don't paint a very flattering picture here I know and it's supposed to be about him refusing to hold back the girl he loves from her dreams and being all noble and such. I'm sure the writers intended it to be romantic, some kind of ultimate 'I love you' gesture.

For me...this just did NOT work. Yes, I (like many others) have reservations about people - children - getting married right out of high school. Yes, I was concerned for Rachel when, earlier in the episode, she says she will defer her entrance to acting school to help Finn and Kurt (her best friend, his gay step-brother) reapply to their respective New York schools which they were rejected for. But SERIOUSLY?! 'I love you so I'm going to let you go' is one of the oldest, most tired cliches that exist in the romantic genre. I GET that Finn's heart is, technically, in the right place. I understand that he doesn't want to hold Rachel back. You know how sensible people deal with these issues? They talk about them. They don't surprise their love by breaking up with them the day of their wedding, at a train station. If, after a discussion about the situation, Rachel was still adamant that she wanted to defer then it's her choice to make, whether or not it's the right one. She effectively had her choice made for her by her terribly romantic fiance. Yes, she could have refused to get on the train. By did I mention that Finn had also enlisted without talking to her about it? The main reason he gives her being so she couldn't follow him. A truly wonderful reason for joining the army. So the poor girl is blindsided on what is supposed to be her wedding day, by the boy she has spent most of the season declaring undying love for. Did I also mention that all of her friends are at the station? Oh and her 2 gay dads are going to meet her in NYC. So, to recap. Her entire friendship group and her parents knew about this, and said nothing? It didn't occur to any of them that she might be capable of making her own decisions, and doesn't need her fiance to make them for her? She IS 18. Not totally an adult I grant you, but it's old enough to have a baby, vote, and drive a car. Surely old enough to make her own choices and mistakes?

GAH. This made me very frustrated. Can you tell? It just feels like such a shock coming from a show which has 2 gay and 2 lesbian characters and has featured teen pregnancy and trans-sexuality. Why oh why the need to fall back on a man taking away a woman's autonomy, however romantic the reasons?

Glee, I am not happy with you.