A Major Glee and Pretty Little Liars Blog (Spoiler Alert After Jump)

Two of my favorite shows right now are Glee and Pretty Little Liars.  Why are they my favorites? Well, there are several different reasons, but this week's episodes for both shows just gave me even more reason to love them.  Both shows had amazing episodes this week that had to deal with the teenage lesbian storylines.  If you missed either episode, you might not want to read on, there's gonna be some major spoilage in this blog.

I watch a lot of TV, probably too much, and I'll admit, there are many shows that I never watched until they had any kind of lesbian storyline, for example, Grey's Anatomy. I had no interest in that show until after Callie and Erica's first kiss, since then I've been hooked.  The last time I watched a show with as good teenage lesbian storyline was the Jesse and Katie storyline on Once and Again (while I loved South of Nowhere, I did not like how the storyline was treated throughout, so I'm not counting it).

Now for the spoilers.

I'm going to talk about Glee first, since the episode was just on tonight, and I don't have the episode on iTunes.

Santana and Brittany, be still my heart. I've been rooting for these two since the first episode they both appeared in. Tonight's episode showed me why. I'd heard the rumors that Paltrow's second episode would bring them together ... of course we all now know that it didn't really, but Santana did admit she has feelings or the loveable, absent-minded blonde former cheerleader.  How did she admit these feelings? 

Come on, the show is about a high school glee club, she sang it of course.

I cried as Holly Holiday, Santana and Brittany sang "Landslide."  The way Santana spent the entire song just looking at Brittany was amazing.  It was heartbreaking, but not as heartbreaking as the scene when Santana actually said she loved Brittany.  I seriously thought Brittana was on, but I guess it would be against Brittany's character to hurt Artie, as much as I dislike him (he was a total ass to Tina, for reals). Seeing Santana cry, in both scenes, and be totally sober while doing it ("Blame It On the Alcohol" was fucking hilarious!), just, wow.

“What I’ve realized is why I’m such a bitch all the time. I’m a bitch because I’m angry. I’m angry because I have all these feelings…Feelings for you, that I’m afraid of dealing with, because I’m afraid of dealing with the consequences […] I want to be with you. But I’m afraid of the talks and the looks. I mean, you know what happened to Kurt at this school […] I’m so afraid of what everyone will say behind my back. But still, I have to accept…that I love you. I love you, and I don’t want to be with Sam, or Finn, or any of those other guys. I just want you. Please say you love me back. Please."

This speech to Brittany at her locker, about being scared of the looks and what people would say behind her back, it was so real. I knew that feeling, hell, I still know that feeling. Every gay in the world probably knows that feeling. And the way she couldn't even let Brittany touch her? Hell, I'm starting to tear up again just thinking about it. There's been very few Glee scenes that have made me cry. I think the only other time I cried was when Kurt's dad had a heart attack (I probably spent most, if not all, of that episode crying). I realize I've already gushed quite a bit and I want to gush more, but I can't think of any more words. The end result was infuriating, with Brittany picking Artie over Santana (as least for the moment), but I think Glee handled it the best way possible.  Santana didn't give herself a label, and she yelled at Rachel or trying to put one on her. If nothing else comes from this episode, at least we have that.

Now, Pretty Little Liars. I've pretty much liked everything they've done with the lesbian storyline on this show. First, they did an amazing job with Emily's coming out. They showed both sides of the parental reaction. Her father wasn't 100 percent alright with it, but he was trying and her mother id everything but disown her. Her relationship with Maya, although cut short and all of a sudden, felt real (and the sudden end is explained by the fact that ABC Family did not originally order a full season and that Maya's last episode was written as a season finale).

Then we meet Paige.

Yes, Paige was a bitch to Emily. Yes, Paige kind of attempted to drown Emily. But you know what?  I still like her.  I mean, come on, how many of you have dunked someone you like? I don't think Paige was actually trying to kill Emily. She said it in the snogfest episode.  Paige was in denial until she saw Emily and Maya together. She saw Emily being out and still succeeding in swimming. She still had her friends. She still had her family (as far as Paige knew). Emily had everything she wanted.  Also, what gay person isn't scared of coming to their parents? And Paige's dad showed that he was homophobic when he came to thee school and started ranting that Emily was being given special treatment because she was gay. But, ever since Paige showed up on Emily's doorstep, soaking wet from the rain, apologizing for everything she had done, I've loved every scene between the two of them.  The surprise kiss in Emily's car after the swim meet. The scenes at the honky tonk place with the P!nk songs. I liked that Emily was strong enough to tell Paige she didn't want to hide anymore.  She didn't want to be ashamed of who she was. I could tell Emily liked Paige.

Yes, I guess I'm not just talking about this week's episode of Pretty Little Liars.

This week's episode was no different from the previous ones when it came to Emily's storyline with Paige. Watching Emily (wearing the requisite new lesbian leather jacket) watch Paige flirt with Sean was hard, and add that her friends couldn't tell the real reason why it bothered her, not because Sean was Hanna's ex and she was worried about her friend's feelings, but because Emily had feelings for Paige. (The whole, "We swim for the same team" line was HILARIOUS). The quick scene with her overhearing Paige and another girl talking about Sean in the bathroom?  Just as painful.

The last scene with Paige in the episode is the one really worth talking about. It's the one scene that has got to get most people feeling for Paige, at least people who have been through what she has. At first watch, I couldn't help but scoff at Paige saying the date was great (cause I mean, who has an amazing date with a guy then texts the girl she's kissed and is trying to prove to she's not gay, then go to her house). But now, after seeing the whole scene, I know it was Paige trying to convince herself that the date went great.  That it wasn't as "phony" as it felt after he kissed her. That the kisses she shared with Emily weren't much better. I like that Emily's description of how she came out, that she "fell out on my face," and that what happens now doesn't matter.  Then Paige's teary "If I say it out loud, if I say ... I'm gay, the whole world is gonna change." It broke my heart. But Emily's confession? "I would look for guys like you." "The kind that would pull me up on stage and get me to sing, because I would never do that on my own." It was perfect. Then their kiss?  HOT DAMN! When have we ever seen such an intense kiss between two teenage girls? And on ABC Family no less! I thought Emily's kiss wit Maya at the movie theater was hot, but this, wow.

People complain about Paige and what she did in her first episode, but now, she's scared.  She's terrified.  People do stupid things when they're scared.  People have to give Paige a second chance.

I have to give the actresses in both shows some big ups. They are doing amazing jobs with these storylines.  They've made them feel real.  They've made me feel.  They've made me cry with their performances. Yes, the writers deserve a lot of credit for doing such a good job with the scripts, but the actresses make the scenes.