With Rachel still out of the glee club due to her rehearsals for starring in the high school production of "Cabaret", Will finds out former classmate April Rhodes (Kristin Chenoweth) is a few credits shy of graduating. Turns out she's also down-and-out who likes to drink. And everyone finds out about Quinn's pregnancy...With the pregnancy storyline on the back burner, we get a treat seeing Broadway veteran Chenoweth belting such tunes as "Maybe This Time"-a "Cabaret" number with cut-ins of Lea Michele also singing this while rehearsing, Heart's "Alone" with this series lead Matthew Morrison, and "Last Name" with the glee members having the time of their lives! Ms. Chenoweth also gets to act drunk and exhibit bad model behavior to one's amusement. Too bad for now this is a one-shot appearance but if anyone from the other shows that Ms. Chenoweth mentioned she'd like to appear in when she won her Emmy for the now-cancelled "Pushing Daises" reciprocates her requests, we might see a lot more of her this season! Until next time...
3 Reviews
The Rhodes Not Taken was a special treat of a "Glee" episode with extraordinary Kristin Chenoweth guesting
tavm3 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
'The Rhodes Not Taken' introduces a great recurring guest star and the importance of moving on from your past.
ari-kagan8 May 2019
After an amazing episode like 'Preggers', an interesting move was made by steering away from some of the bigger characters of the episode like Kurt and Quinn and focused on some others instead. In 'The Rhodes Not Taken', Will helps one of his former classmates finish her high school career while also joining the Glee Club in Rachel's place.
The cast performances are all really good. Matthew Morrison is great as Will Schuester. It's really nice to see how hard Will works to take care of the people he cares about. He had to make a difficult decision in the previous episode and is dealing with the consequences by having to replace the star of the club. Inviting someone he barely knew but admired to replace Rachel was a bold move but proved rather interesting. Jane Lynch is fine in her short role as Sue Sylvester, as well as Jessalyn Gilsig as Terri Schuester. Jayma Mays is great as Emma Pillsbury. Besides helping Finn figure out his future, she tries to convince Will that April is bad news and will only hurt the Glee Club. Stephen Tobolowsky is funny as Sandy Ryerson. This time, he's pretty much berating Rachel for the entire episode, and it's pretty funny to watch. Lea Michele is great as Rachel Berry. While it starts to become more understandable why she doesn't want to come back to Glee, her reasons for doing so are sort of contradictory. When she goes bowling with Finn, she mentions to him that she doesn't see the point in being somewhere where she isn't appreciated. If that's the case, why doesn't she quit the play due to Sandy berating her? Is it her trying to prove a point to the club or to herself? Cory Monteith is pretty good as Finn Hudson. While his reasons for hanging out with Rachel in this episode are a little selfish, it's understandable and doesn't make him an unlikable character, as he really just wants to find a way to support Quinn. Dianna Agron is fine as Quinn Fabray in her short appearance. Chris Colfer is hilarious as Kurt Hummel. It's always funny when I rewatch this episode, and he's drunk and throws up on Emma's shoes. Mark Salling is pretty good as Noah 'Puck' Puckerman but also doesn't have a large role. Kevin McHale, Amber Riley, Jenna Ushkowitz, Naya Rivera, and Heather Morris are all fine as Artie Abrams, Mercedes Jones, Tina Cohen-Chang, Santana Lopez, and Brittany. Guest star Kristin Chenoweth is great as April Rhodes and gives one of the best performances in the entire episode. A few years older than Will, she inspired him to join Glee Club, and she has an incredible voice. After failing to make it big, she became an alcoholic and had no place to go. Even though Will tries to help her reinvent herself, she struggles giving up alcohol and her spotlight. The end of the episode is where the character really shines. Coming to terms with where her life is now, she realizes that she needs to move on to something else and let the Glee kids have the dream she always wanted. It's a really inspiring scene.
April's storyline was really the most interesting to watch. She's an interesting character with really difficult struggles, and she really just needs a fresh start in life. The idea of her joining the Glee Club actually works, as it makes the club invested in her witty personality. Although they're reluctant, they all quickly grow to like her but for all the wrong reason. And although it wasn't a major storyline in the episode, I liked how the Glee Club found out about Quinn's pregnancy. While it may be seen as poorly written, like Kurt said, this was the Glee Club's first big scandal. And for the (unbeknownst to them) father of the baby to tell the club that Quinn was pregnant was pretty crazy, and it was sort of a betrayal in a way. Plus, it shocked everyone, especially Rachel, as it made her feel betrayed by Finn.
The musical performances were also really good, with the standout obviously being 'Somebody to Love'. Incredibly sung, this song worked really well for a group number, and all the harmonies flowed together well. Overall, this episode was definitely solid even though it may not be viewed as one of the best episodes of the season.
Pros: -Great cast performances -Great musical performances -April's storyline -Glee Club finding out about Quinn
Cons: -Some of April's choices -Rachel's choices for not coming back to Glee
8/10 "Great"
The cast performances are all really good. Matthew Morrison is great as Will Schuester. It's really nice to see how hard Will works to take care of the people he cares about. He had to make a difficult decision in the previous episode and is dealing with the consequences by having to replace the star of the club. Inviting someone he barely knew but admired to replace Rachel was a bold move but proved rather interesting. Jane Lynch is fine in her short role as Sue Sylvester, as well as Jessalyn Gilsig as Terri Schuester. Jayma Mays is great as Emma Pillsbury. Besides helping Finn figure out his future, she tries to convince Will that April is bad news and will only hurt the Glee Club. Stephen Tobolowsky is funny as Sandy Ryerson. This time, he's pretty much berating Rachel for the entire episode, and it's pretty funny to watch. Lea Michele is great as Rachel Berry. While it starts to become more understandable why she doesn't want to come back to Glee, her reasons for doing so are sort of contradictory. When she goes bowling with Finn, she mentions to him that she doesn't see the point in being somewhere where she isn't appreciated. If that's the case, why doesn't she quit the play due to Sandy berating her? Is it her trying to prove a point to the club or to herself? Cory Monteith is pretty good as Finn Hudson. While his reasons for hanging out with Rachel in this episode are a little selfish, it's understandable and doesn't make him an unlikable character, as he really just wants to find a way to support Quinn. Dianna Agron is fine as Quinn Fabray in her short appearance. Chris Colfer is hilarious as Kurt Hummel. It's always funny when I rewatch this episode, and he's drunk and throws up on Emma's shoes. Mark Salling is pretty good as Noah 'Puck' Puckerman but also doesn't have a large role. Kevin McHale, Amber Riley, Jenna Ushkowitz, Naya Rivera, and Heather Morris are all fine as Artie Abrams, Mercedes Jones, Tina Cohen-Chang, Santana Lopez, and Brittany. Guest star Kristin Chenoweth is great as April Rhodes and gives one of the best performances in the entire episode. A few years older than Will, she inspired him to join Glee Club, and she has an incredible voice. After failing to make it big, she became an alcoholic and had no place to go. Even though Will tries to help her reinvent herself, she struggles giving up alcohol and her spotlight. The end of the episode is where the character really shines. Coming to terms with where her life is now, she realizes that she needs to move on to something else and let the Glee kids have the dream she always wanted. It's a really inspiring scene.
April's storyline was really the most interesting to watch. She's an interesting character with really difficult struggles, and she really just needs a fresh start in life. The idea of her joining the Glee Club actually works, as it makes the club invested in her witty personality. Although they're reluctant, they all quickly grow to like her but for all the wrong reason. And although it wasn't a major storyline in the episode, I liked how the Glee Club found out about Quinn's pregnancy. While it may be seen as poorly written, like Kurt said, this was the Glee Club's first big scandal. And for the (unbeknownst to them) father of the baby to tell the club that Quinn was pregnant was pretty crazy, and it was sort of a betrayal in a way. Plus, it shocked everyone, especially Rachel, as it made her feel betrayed by Finn.
The musical performances were also really good, with the standout obviously being 'Somebody to Love'. Incredibly sung, this song worked really well for a group number, and all the harmonies flowed together well. Overall, this episode was definitely solid even though it may not be viewed as one of the best episodes of the season.
Pros: -Great cast performances -Great musical performances -April's storyline -Glee Club finding out about Quinn
Cons: -Some of April's choices -Rachel's choices for not coming back to Glee
8/10 "Great"
Not so glee about this episode
sashank_kini-19 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Glee has one super-ace advantage to it- a lovable protagonist and adept singers. But it also has a looming dread that keeps surfacing unfortunately, and that is progression. If High School Musical were a series, I would've barfed at its sight by now. Glee is the adolescent version of HSM. Its a lot brighter and voluminous, but the narrative slowly abuts digression.
In this episode, Will decide to 'hoard up' another member for the lead, after Rachel's departure. He decides to bring April Rhodes, an ex-glee member, but her intemperate, sleazy and wild behavior causes a panic amongst Glee team.
The show starts off with the guys practicing a new song, but are having a tough time without Rachel. Everyone seems gloomy and morose, and Will seems clueless and therefor visits his companion at school, the school counselor. She seems to be envious and equivocal regarding April's presence and keeps warning Will to take the right decisions. Rachel leaves the musical, after she is constantly denigrated by Sandy and reunites with Glee in the end.
The episode mainly focuses on April and her attempts to colleague with the rest of the members. Kristin has acted well but gets too much screen space. The pregnancy storyline takes an ugly turn when news spreads like wildfire and Rachel and Finn's relation faces a backlash because of this.
None of the girls in Glee are very likable. Rachel is mean and self-centered, Mercedes and Tina barely have any screen-time, Emma can get a too ludicrously aberrant at times with her constantly jumpy character, April is redeemable but spoiled and an alcoholic, Sue Sylvester is mean and malevolent, the cheerleaders are air-heads and Will's wife is shamelessly self-involved and strident. I'm not saying that all girls should be blessed with aureoles, but at least have some redeemable qualities, if not all the girls, just one of two. But for heaven's sake, no Vanessa Hudgens.
The story mainly relies on strong vocals and the script becomes loose and tacky. Rachel is beginning to get on my nerves with her self-important persona. How can her character be justified when she keeps reminding the others how novice and helpless they are without her?
I used 'hoard up' in the beginning of the review because I feel that the school has become a music theater completely, as everyone can sing!!
Not one of my favorites. 4 on 10.
In this episode, Will decide to 'hoard up' another member for the lead, after Rachel's departure. He decides to bring April Rhodes, an ex-glee member, but her intemperate, sleazy and wild behavior causes a panic amongst Glee team.
The show starts off with the guys practicing a new song, but are having a tough time without Rachel. Everyone seems gloomy and morose, and Will seems clueless and therefor visits his companion at school, the school counselor. She seems to be envious and equivocal regarding April's presence and keeps warning Will to take the right decisions. Rachel leaves the musical, after she is constantly denigrated by Sandy and reunites with Glee in the end.
The episode mainly focuses on April and her attempts to colleague with the rest of the members. Kristin has acted well but gets too much screen space. The pregnancy storyline takes an ugly turn when news spreads like wildfire and Rachel and Finn's relation faces a backlash because of this.
None of the girls in Glee are very likable. Rachel is mean and self-centered, Mercedes and Tina barely have any screen-time, Emma can get a too ludicrously aberrant at times with her constantly jumpy character, April is redeemable but spoiled and an alcoholic, Sue Sylvester is mean and malevolent, the cheerleaders are air-heads and Will's wife is shamelessly self-involved and strident. I'm not saying that all girls should be blessed with aureoles, but at least have some redeemable qualities, if not all the girls, just one of two. But for heaven's sake, no Vanessa Hudgens.
The story mainly relies on strong vocals and the script becomes loose and tacky. Rachel is beginning to get on my nerves with her self-important persona. How can her character be justified when she keeps reminding the others how novice and helpless they are without her?
I used 'hoard up' in the beginning of the review because I feel that the school has become a music theater completely, as everyone can sing!!
Not one of my favorites. 4 on 10.
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