By Benjamin Matern
Religion is a sensitive topic and to throw it into a musical comedy is rather risky. “Grilled Cheesus” has its strong moments but left me with mixed feelings.
The moral target, obviously, was to build a bridge between believers and nonbelievers, but I found most characters too one-dimensional. Portraying atheism as a mere consequence of personal frustration and unanswered prayers (Kurt and Sue) is very one-sided, Mercedes on the other side comes off too strong as the stereotypical Hallelujah shouting “Southern Baptist” and the first of her two songs seems as if she’s using Kurt’s adversity to gain center stage. I’m relieved that Quinn kept low profile; a return to the celibacy club with a bigger focus on Jesus would have been inappropriate.
The actual “Grilled Cheesus” storyline reflects the typical absurdity of the “Glee” universe – you either like it or you don’t, and in this case I did not like it. I didn’t find it offensive to Christians, but rather think it was a pretty poor attempt at including a humorous subplot into the otherwise very serious episode. Its different stages and especially its culmination in Finn’s “Losing My Religion” felt incongruous.
Clearly, the undisputed star of this episode is Chris Colfer. As I’ve pointed out so many times before, all moments between father and son Hummel are usually outstanding, and there is no exception here – it may even be more intense, given the fact that Burt is in a coma most of the episode. Kurt’s “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” with flashbacks of his childhood was my personal highlight – it’s by far one of his best songs on the entire show. Also, his progression from rejecting anything spiritual to developing faith in the relationship to his father made him the most believable character in this episode. Similarly touching was the scene with Sue and her disabled sister Jean, but Sue as a God denier because he wouldn’t make her sister stop suffering doesn’t fit my picture of the strong-willed Sue Sylvester. Still, it amazes me to see her caring for her older sister and makes her in general more tangible and not merely burlesque.
I also want to mention Rachel’s “Papa, Can You Hear Me” which I found very moving, but it seemed more like a “Lea Michele’s contract says she sings at least one song per episode!” than a contribution to the story.
