"A Very Glee Christmas" was, in fact, just that.
It didn't redefine the Christmas TV special. It didn't revive the Andy Williams or other 1970s-era Christmas specials.
It wasn't even original.
But it was typical "Glee." And it was very good.
Sue Sylvester returned as the perfect Grinch, right down to the green face paint. (And her naive sidekick, Becky, made a perfect "rein-dog.") A large part of episode was spent re-telling the Dr. Seuss Christmas classic. But it did so as good as — or even better than — the original.
And in a couple of scenes you could have easily mistaken Finn for Linus from another animated Christmas classic, "A Charlie Brown Christmas." (And of course, there's the number from "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," rounding out the trifecta of classic animated Christmas specials.)
Although the episode featured some of the songs from the recently released "A Very Glee Christmas" album, it wasn't all singing — though I'd probably have been fine with that. Instead, it advanced the plot (OK, barely) and was ripe with funny, quotable lines (more on those in a moment) and had some solid musical performances — staples of our favorite "Glee" episodes.
And in case I haven't mentioned it before, Dot-Marie Jones' Coach Beiste is a great addition to the cast, providing a nice contrast to Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester.
So here we go.
Top 5 Quotes from "A Very Glee Christmas"
5. "I thought you might want to put all of us out of our misery and shave off that Chia pet." (Sue to Will, after giving him clippers)
4. "Can I be honest? I don't understand the difference between an elf and a slave." (Brittany to department store elf)
3. "Becky, go into the glove box of my LeCar and bring me my tear gas. Then get me Gloria Allred." (Sue)
2. "Get a good night's rest, Ken, you're going to need it. Barbie took the early flight from Tampa." (Brittany to Ken doll, who's in bed with Skipper)
1. "You're a regular Agatha Christie, except even more sexless." (Sue to Emma)
Bonus 5 Quotes
And in the spirit of the season, here's more favorites, in no particular order:
"Last year I left my stocking up over Christmas vacation, and an entire family of mice started living in it. Their Christmas gift to each other was rabies." (Brittany)
"You don't know how many kittens I've given away just because they weren't right." (Rachel to Finn)
"I would like Puckerman to love me. He's a fox. I would also like sweet potato fries." (Lauren Zizes to Santa)
"I want Channing Tatum to stop being in stuff." (Mike Chang to Santa))
"And as satisfying as it to have been gifted enough rotisserie ovens to roast an entire hobo ... " (Sue)
The Songs
• "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year" — With the opening line "We're on the Island of Misfit Toys," the song is essentially a theme song for the kids of New Directions, just as it was for Rudolph, Hermey and the misfit toys in the Christmas classic, "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
• "We Need a Little Christmas" — Here, again, is another group number — fun, but not necessarily memorable.
• "Merry Christmas Darling" — Rachel sings a somber ballad. Classic "Glee." (And that's one of our favorite things.)
• "Baby, It's Cold Outside" — Blaine asks Kurt to sing the flirty duet with him, in what ends up arguably the episode's best musical number. It's one of those songs that I either love or hate, depending on the performers and the chemistry between them. In this case, it works — really well.
• "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" — In one of the best scenes of the season thus far, k.d. lang sets the scene as Sue Sylvester's Grinch literally steals the scene from the Dr. Seuss classic Christmas tale. (The episode is directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, who also directed this season's "Grilled Cheesus" episode.)
• "Last Christmas" — For a moment, it looks as though Finn will forgive Rachel and the two will get back together as they sing the 1984 Wham! classic as they search for the perfect Christmas Tree in the episode's second-best number.
• "Welcome, Christmas" — In one of the better choral pieces of the season, the last song of the night is a song from the opening of the animated TV special "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."