The Singsations Podcast: A Glee Retrospective

Olive and Eliza recap and review episode nine of season three, Extraordinary Merry Christmas! If our episode is shorter than usual this week, that is because this was essentially half-Glee episode, half-Holiday PSA. We're happy anyways because it means seeing as little of Mr. Shue as possible! Sue Sylvester's personality is acting wonky again, but when is it not? We hope you have a fantast...

Olive and Eliza recap and review episode eight of season three, Hold On To Sixteen! Our rival glee clubs have barely chosen songs in time for Sectionals, and Mike gets a chance to (more or less) prove to himself and his dad what he was meant to do! Quinn is still spiraling down a rabbit hole, of course, and for some reason, Rachel has to be the voice of reason, even when suspended. Can we get an e...

Olive and Eliza recap and review episode seven of season three, I Kissed a Girl! The New Direction join together to support Santana through being publicly outed (totally not Finn Hudson's fault...) and sing girl power "lady music" to help her through it. We're not quite sure what "lady music" means, we've been given Jolene on a silver platter and are very happy abou...

Olive and Eliza endure season three episode six, Mash Off! The continuation of the Puck/Shelby plot, Santana's forced outing, and the ultimate slap in the face come together to make one of the most memorable and impactful episodes of Glee ever. Whether that is a good thing is highly debatable. Quinn's quest to get Beth back gets called out, Rachel's presidential bid drops out, and Puck...

Eliza and Olive recap and review the fifth episode of season three; The First Time! Artie gets his moment to shine - and by "shine", we mean "tarnish" - as McKinley High finally puts on their production of West Side Story! Grant Gustin is introduced as the newest villain trying to tear Kurt and Blaine apart, followed closely by Ryan Murphy and the entire team of writers. Episod...

Eliza and Olive recap and review the fourth episode of season three; Pot O' Gold! Audiences get to meet one of the winners of the Glee Project: Rory Flanagan, Irish exchange student. In case you thought this was a leap towards multi-cultural representation for Glee, think again! Special thanks to our dear friend Rachael for lending her Glee Project and legal knowledge to this episode!  Episod...

Eliza and Olive recap and review the third episode of season three; Asian F! Mike finally gets his first measly bit of plot and solo time, which we are forever grateful for. On the other hand, this proves to be an episode filled with frustration as Mercedes, Mike, and Emma deal with straight-up aggression from their friends and family. Don't worry, Rachel also gets plenty of aggression from us, th...

Eliza and Olive recap and review the second episode of season three; I Am Unicorn! We could rant for hours on why West Side Story is a horrendous choice for the McKinley High theater to perform, but we promise this episode is also laced with plenty of confusion and frustration over Shelby Corcoran being back! Immaturity has always run rampant in the New Directions, and not the adults have been cat...

Back, back, back again! Join Olive and Eliza to talk about the first episode of season three, The Purple Piano Project! The characters have regressed all their character development since the last time we saw them, and all is wrong in the world. Rachel and Kurt realize they might not be the most special people in the world Finn struggles with thoughts of his future. Don't we all? 22:45-23:55 - des...

2023? More like 202-Glee! Did that read right? Before diving right in, take a tour of the intersection of Olive and Eliza's two obsessions; Glee and Dungeons & Dragons! We love sharing our headcanons with you and hearing yours, so if you've got more ideas for goofy mini-episodes like this, feel free to leave us a message on any of our social media! Happy 2023 listeners, and thanks for being wi...

Eliza and Olive recap and review final episode of season two; New York! Discover Olive's decades-old obsession with colorful outerwear and Eliza's general disillusionment with Glee covers as a whole. The New Directions take on New York as the most annoying tourists in the city, can you believe they don't get pushed into oncoming traffic at least once? John Osborn is back as our special guest for t...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode twenty one of season two; Funeral! Glee takes a touching turn as the cast mourns a treasured member, and we learn more about Sue Sylvester than she ever wante dus to know. We get it, vulnerability can be hard! Maybe to distract you from tearing up at this episode, you can think about how much Jesse St. James sucks! Please observe extreme trigger warning for...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode twenty of season two; Prom Queen! Tensions are high as Lauren, Quinn, and Santana compete mercilessly for prom queen, while their boyfriends are... just kind of there. The hosts are definitely confused by the cultish rituals of going to prom at all, but we're still gonna celebrate with spiked punch when Rachel Berry finally gets slapped! 16:49 - mentions of...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode nineteen of season two; Rumors! Consequences for everyone's cheating finally come to bite Rachel, Finn, and Quinn in the ass, all at the expense of Sam just trying to survive high school. The songs of Fleetwood Mac trace through all the drama of McKinley High, and Mr. Shue might finally be leaving the school! Say it ain't so... No known trigger warnings. Me...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode eighteen of season two; Born This Way! Glee sets even more pop culture history by having a bunch of high schoolers wear their biggest insecurities on shirts - what could go wrong? And while Ryan Murphy was blazing trails for queer representation in media, he takes the opportunity make light of OCD and antisemitism at the same time. Are we even surprised? 3:...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode seventeen of season two; A Night of Neglect! The Glee club throws a benefit concert that benefits almost no one, and Sandy Ryerson is back to make everyone uncomfortable. Almost none of the artists covered this episode are actually neglected in pop culture, but Mercedes Jones sure is! Can we give a moment of silence for all her plotlines and friendships tha...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode sixteen of season two; Original Song! If your hosts sound a little excitable this episode, that's because they are! With two brand new songs to grace Gleek's ears and the epic get-together of Klaine that we've been waiting for, how could anyone find fault? Oh wait, there's the whole Trouty Mouth thing... 26:50 - discussion of fatphobic song 33:21 - mentions...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode fifteen of season two; Sexy! As we all wonder when Holly apparently got a degree in marriage counseling, the New Directions struggle with teen sexuality for the ump-teenth time. And it's just as uncomfortable as always! Are you even surprised? Episode contains heavy discussion about sex, especially involving underage characters. Please proceed with caution....

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode fourteen of season two; Blame It On the Alcohol! The New Directions throw caution to the wind in yet another school assembly... We are once again reminded that biphobia was rampant and unforgiving circa 2011, and even we can't defend Kurt Hummel this episode. At least Rachel Berry is slightly less annoying with letting loose (and not singing about hair acce...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode thirteen of season two; Comeback! Sue is trying to destroy the Glee club again, but once you see Puck in that awful Bieber wig, you might just side with her on this one. Even though we're still unclear about whatever the Glee club is "coming back" from, we still get some blasts from the past this week, in the form of a Justin Bieber tribute! What's that? Yo...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode twelve of season two; Silly Love Songs! The love songs aren't the only silly things about this episode, there's also plenty of mononucleosis to go around! If you're already tired of the students of McKinley High tempestuous love lives, might we interest you in the Warblers performing the most embarrassing thing ever put on film (the Gap Attack scene)? Surel...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode eleven of season two; The Sue Sylvester Shuffle! As we commemorate the most-watched episode of Glee, Eliza pretends she actually likes this show and Olive continues to struggle with sports-related terms. There is the risk of at least one Glee clubber dying this episode, but that's okay, because the script has enough zombie references, you might be duped int...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode ten of season two; A Very Glee Christmas! Tis the season for Eliza to lose her mind over Sue the Grinch, while Olive tries to argue that 99% of every Glee episode is in a liminal space between camp and cringe. And if you weren't sick of Rachel and Finn's relationship drama already, don't worry - now they've got Christmas carols to go along with it! Thanks f...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode nine of season two; Special Education! With a episode title that makes virtually no sense, Eliza spends her time this episode threatening vague amounts of bodily harm to the most annoying of the glee club. On the bright side, it's finally Sectionals, and we see both the Warblers and the New Directions tear up their performances, while also putting Rachel Be...

Eliza and Olive recap and review episode eight of season two; Furt! Olive's dad gets roasted for his taste in Glee covers as the show lifts our spirits with the greatest wedding ever put on camera (that is, until we get to season 6). Plus, Eliza reveals that she would even attend the wedding of someone she hates just for the sake of it. Carol Burnett guest stars in a criminal underuse of her comed...