***Editor’s Note:  This was written last night but I clicked save instead of Post, so just pretend you read it last night***

Umm…so I warned you yesterday that I wasn’t really going to get a chance to take a look at the shows ABC previewed at their upfront today, but for the most part it doesn’t look like they’re making too many changes.  I’ll try to get to it tomorrow in some detail.  Anyway, tonight was a GREAT night of television.  The penultimate outing from Lost, entitled “What They Died For”, should put anyone at ease who was worried about the direction of the show for the final 2.5 hours on Sunday.  I feel completely at ease (well besides the fact that I’m losing my favorite show) and excited for the finale.  Also, I think this episode retroactively should validate last weeks embattled “Across the Sea”.  But that’s all I’m going to say, as Lost can be covered much better on many different places on the internet.

What I do want to spend some time on is taking another look at Glee.  A couple weeks ago I posted about my concerns for the direction the show was taking, and I’m happy to say that I’ve only felt the show has gotten better each week since then.  Tonight’s episode, “Dream On” with special guest star Neil Patrick Harris (always a nice addition), directed by The Joss Whedon (I think he needs to make that a thing), and featuring recurring guest stars Jonathan Groff and Idina Menzel, was strong, well-balanced, and completely enjoyable.

The A-story was one we’ve seemingly dealt with before, and at first I was a little hesitant.  Glee Club faces adversity as some one (this time NPH as Bryan Ryan) attempts to shut them down.  However, it didn’t feel as re-used as I would have worried, and this was largely due to the presence of NPH and his work opposite Matthew Morrison.  This week NPH fills the Sue Sylvester role with the hilarious diatribes in his role as “The Big Bad” (more on this later).  Morrison certainly hasn’t been my favorite character (and usually his musical performances irk me a bit), but matched with NPH the story carried well.  The highlight was of course the Dream On duet.  Certainly one of the top performances to date on the show.

The B-story had the elements that we’ve learned Glee does really well: melodrama.  After, for my taste, too long spent away from Artie and Tina, they finally return to the forefront. We got to see into their relationship, how it has developed over time, and got to see Artie struggle (yet again) with the fact that he is in a wheel chair.  This time Tina tries to help.  Did it come off a litle schmaltzy?  Sure.  Did Glee piss me off again with a dream sequence song that, while being obviously a dream sequence song, was tried to be represented as a non-dream sequence until the end?  Sure.  (But I’ll take any opportunity to listen to the “Safety Dance” and see a really fun dance performance.)  But ultimately, I found the story to have emotional resonance (and I really thought that Jayma Mays pulled the whole story arch together when she told Artie to be realistic), and I really like Artie and Tina and wish they were given more air time.

The C-story was the one we (read: I) have been waiting for all season.  We finally find out that Idina Menzel is Lea Michelle’s mother.  Predictable? Yes.  But totally worth it for the chance to see Idina and Lea sing “I Dream a Dream” together (which I will undoubtedly be replaying all day on Hulu).  (Also, it really disturbs me every time I realize just how young these character’s are supposed to be.  This week Rachel mentions she was born in 1994.  Egad!).  

Two things of note from this episode.  First, Sue Sylvester was limited to one big scene.  I know we love the Sue Sylvester diatribes, but I think they work best in small doses.  Similarly, I don’t think we got a great Brittany one-liner in this episode.  I almost think they’ve been pushing too hard to get those in recently, and I’m fine to see them pull back for a week.  Also, Finn was basically non-existent this week.  As his is the character that bother’s me the most (and reminds me way too much of every high school aged character Chris Klein has ever played), a week off from him doesn’t bother me at all.

Any way, I think Glee has settled in nicely.  Will it fill the high expectations I had for it last year this time?  Probably not.  But when it hits with strong musical performances, and decent story-telling, like it did tonight, it’s definitely a show I want to watch (but not over-analyze like I did tonight.)