So, Glee is ending its run after 6 seasons (2 of those abbreviated). I, at one time, loved this series unashamedly, but somewhere along the way (specifically midway through the 3rd season) I started to hate the show. Reading that it was ending made me revisit the pilot to see if the show always had problems, and no: this show was so very promising at the start. And I think I am going to marathon it on Netflix (powering through that exceptionally rough patch in season 3) to kind of honor the series for what it was and what it did.
So, the pilot episode: As far as these things go, it is one hell of a start to the series. Great character intros all around, excellent song choices, and the show really managed to grasp that outsider feel so many feel in high school.
The Main Players:
Will Schuester: For the first part of the series, it really felt like this was going to be Will's story. You lose it a bit later on in the series, but he really was a good teacher at the start of it all. The episode focuses on his desire restart the Glee club that he was once the star of, and you really feel his passion for it. Matthew Morrison wasn't always given the best material, but this groundwork that the character was built on is solid, and it is somewhat a shame that he wasn't able to pick up an Emmy for at least this first season's work.
