‘Glee’ season 6 spoilers: Ryan Murphy teases theme, talks difficulty of season 5
When “Glee” returns this fall for its sixth and final season, there is something that you can definitely expect that may or may not make you happy, depending on your feelings for this part of the series: More (presumably) of life at McKinley High and Lima, Ohio.
While co-creator Ryan Murphy did not explicitly say to TVLine that the show is going to be heading back to this particular high school when the premiere happens (whenever that may be), the words “getting back to its roots” certainly seems to suggest that:
“We’re working on the last season now, and it really feels like it’s getting back to its roots, which I love … I’m sort of reinvigorated about it. It’s getting back to what I was initially interested in with the show, which was arts in school. The last season is really about the importance of arts education in our high schools… I think people will like it.”
We know that there are some out here who will groan at that, and say that they hated Marley, Jake, and the other newcomers to the school in season 4. Personally, we never felt like they were really started to make the show go astray. For us, it was when the show decided somewhere in season 2 that the story was no longer about Matthew Morrison’s Will and what he was trying to do at the school, and instead became all about the kids. This is a pretty seismic shift if you go back and watch the pilot, or even the first half of season 1, which was when some of the show’s finest work took place. The students had personalities and stories, but they were vessels for what Will was trying to teach them. It may be too late to get that part of the soul of the show back, but we applaud Murphy and company for trying.
Ryan also admitted that he had a harder time working on season 5, as he was committed to “The Normal Heart” (a big winner at the Critics’ Choice TV Awards) and also because of the heartbreak that he was still feeling following the death of Cory Monteith.
What do you think about this idea for “Glee”? Share some of your thoughts below, and head over here to get further updates worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: Fox
Clara Smith
June 25, 2014 @ 2:15 pm
I have to agree that Ryan Murphy left Glee for other projects and the show suffered. There was “The New Normal” and “The Normal Heart” both of which I enjoyed. If Lea Michelle was able to come back after the death of Cory Montieth, surely Ryan Murphy could as well. As a Glee fan, I was irritated that Ryan jumped ship on such a great show for other personal interests. Glad to know he is back on board for Season 6 and I hope we get the full 22-24 episodes.
Georgina
June 26, 2014 @ 6:57 am
I thought its already been firmly established that there will only be 12 – 13 episodes at best for Glees final season.
Thu
June 25, 2014 @ 1:24 am
I just hope they don’t get preachy like they can. I hope we get to see what the kids lives turn out to be. I want to see what happened to Rachel and Klaine. They better show the Klaibe wedding! Show us where Santana, Britney, artie, and Sam end up. Dont forget poor Tina. I hope we get to see them as adults and where they end up and not just a pretty 13 episodes about art in the school for all about Rachel with everybody else sidelined
Grace
June 26, 2014 @ 6:52 am
I agree. To be blunt, I got really tired of hearing “Finn” in every episode claiming “this person has taught me what it means to be a man”. He told that too many “men” on the show that it got ridiculous. I was a die hard gleek, but I don’t think the show sank in ratings because Ryan Murphy was “distracted”. I stopped watching when they started having way too many “breaks” between new episodes. We’d get 3 – 6 new episodes, then another month w/nothing. Its hard to stay vested in a show (even w/great characters like the “kids” in Glee) when you know by the time Fox network would finally start showing new episodes, you’d already forgotten what had been happening to each character. Reminds me of Downton Abbey, which I love, but only 6 episodes a year? Each new season, I need a refresher on what all the characters were doing 10 1/2 mos after the end of the prior season. I’ve never seen a show that had more “breaks” in between new episodes like Glee had. & season 6, is going to be even worse about that. The last new episode of Glee was aired in May, and then we hear “no new episodes until January of 2015”? That’s such a long time away, that by then, who cares? We’ve already moved on. Sad that they screwed up what could have been a longer running funny TV show. Most of the characters were well written, fully rounded personalities & all very talented performers.