Top TV Pairings Part 5

Sorry for the slight delay but here's the fifth installment in my TV Pairings.

Desperate Housewives - Gabrielle Solis/Carlos Solis

If I had done this list a couple of years ago, there's no way in hell these two would've been my favourite pairing but unlike nearly every relationship on the show nowadays, Gabby and Carlos are the only ones who have actually grown, so they get my vote for that alone.

Lost - James Sawyer/Juliet Burke

When I found out these two were going to be become a couple in the fifth season, I had my doubts but damn, they so worked as a pairing. Far better than Jack/Kate or Kate/Sawyer and their reunion in the series finale was just lovely as well.

Skins - Naomi Campbell/Emily Fitch

Yeah, this one might have been a cliche choice (my other one would've been Chris/Jal) but apart from the choppy treatment they got in the fourth season, I actually do like Emily/Naomi. Both actresses have genuine chemistry with each other and they rightfully became the popular couple of the second generation and considering the dull as dishwater triangle between Cook/Effy/Freddie, is anyone surprised?

Life On Mars - Sam Tyler/Annie Cartwright

Being stuck in another time cannot be all that bad after all. Sam certainly might have been desperate to get home but he ultimately chose to stay in 1973 with the Guv and the lads and most importantly, Annie too. Personally, I've never seen anything with Sam/Gene but Sam/Annie were a nice pairing.

Nip/Tuck - Sean McNamara/Christian Troy

No, they're not gay, no, this isn't a slash entry but six seasons of mostly toxic relationships, Sean and Christian's friendship is the closest to something decent and even that was marred with problems from time to time.

Top TV Pairings Part 4

Sorry I didn't get to this on Sunday but better late than never, so here's the fourth part in my TV Pairings ...

Rome - Atia/Marc Anthony

Now, these two were quite a lethal explosion. I know Atia may have been traded in for Cleopatra but her and Marc Anthony were a bloody brilliant pairing during this whole series. One of the many memorable things about this HBO classic.

Game Of Thrones - Renly/Loras

It's hard to find a relationship that comes to er being sweet. I could've gone for Ned and Cat but we didn't get enough interaction with them and Drogo and Dany didn't start off sweetly, so I guess it's Renly and Loras that scoop this one. Here's hoping there's more with them in the second season.

The Vampire Diaries - Caroline Forbes/Matt Donovan

Forget the Katherine/Stefan/Elena/Damon quadrangle, the best relationship that I witnessed in the first two seasons was the one between ditzy vampire Caroline and the rather sweet Matt. Kinda like this show's version of Jessica and Hoyt really.

Smallville - Chloe Sullivan/Oliver 'Green Arrow' Queen

This show has had it's fair share of relationships, a lot of them rather stormy as well but I did like the relationship between Chloe and Oliver that developed in the last two seasons of the season but that's probably down to them being two of my favourite characters as well.

Camelot - Merlin/Morgan

This show might have gotten canned but Merlin and Morgan were the best pairing of antagonists going. Seriously, I could watch these two trying to outwit each other more than the other characters. Damn you Starz for cancelling the show.

Glee - Season 3 Departures

I was going to leave this for my Saturday TV jumble - not. No, it's pressing and it's Glee related, so here goes ...

First thing is first- Ryan Murphy has announced that Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith will not be returning to the series should it get a fourth season. Season 3 will see their characters Rachel, Kurt and Finn graduate. Ryan Murphy had this to say ...

We made that decision and I involved Chris and Lea and they thought that was a good idea. They both trust the writing and trust me and felt that it would be great to have an open and closed experience for them to go out while they were on top.

He also said that more characters will be leaving than staying, which more or less seems to fuel a new generation of Glee clubbers if the show does go for a fourth year.

And then there's Chord Overstreet. His character Sam will not be a regular for the upcoming third season but there's a possibility that we'll see him in some capacity in the upcoming season. The first episode of Season 3 will apparently give a clear indicator as to which kids are graduating. I have to admit that I actually respect Ryan Murphy's decision on this. I just hope it works in both his and the show's favours because there are already internet fans lamenting that they won't stick around. Must be the Klaine obsessives.

What does everyone else think on the matter? Is Ryan Murphy doing the right thing or shooting himself in the foot?

Article: http://ontd-glee.livejournal.com/997102.html#cutid1

Top TV Pairings Part 3

And here is the third installment of the TV Pairing Posts. Hope everyone is enjoying it so far ....

Friends - Monica Gellar/Chandler Bing

Forget Ross/Rachel and their inane 'will they won't they' antics. It was Monica and Chandler who were the funniest, interesting and touching couple on this show and when the quality in later seasons was all over the place, Monica and Chandler were a consistent source of joy.

Pushing Daisies - Ned/Charlotte 'Chuck' Charles

This show was the epitome of sickly sweet fairytale and the relationship between life bringing pie maker Ned and the not-so-dead Chuck was definitely a recipe for success for the shortlived TV series.

Lip Service - Cat MacKenzie/Sam Murray

Now I like Frankie as much as the next person but when it comes to who I think Cat should be with, I have to admit I tend to lean towards Sam. The chemistry between the actresses is better and the relationship itself is healthy as well. Sorry, Frankie fans.

Ugly Betty - Betty Suaraz/Daniel Meade

I never shipped these two in the first year of the show but over the course of the show, I liked how they grew as characters and the interaction with each other. It's just too bad that the series finale ended on such an ambiguous note for Betty and Daniel.

Queer As Folk UK - Vince Tyler/Cameron Roberts

Sorry for the terrible picture but trying to find one of the two together seems nigh on impossible. Vince found a nice guy and lost him because of Stuart. Sometimes I wonder what goes through RTD's head when logic isn't there.

Top TV Pairings Part 2

I've decided to extend this a little bit to include 10 other shows before going into the other 25 I have as my favourites.

Dollhouse - Victor/Sierra

The show might have lasted two seasons but Joss Whedon managed to give us at least one couple worthy of rooting for. Both Victor and Sierra had the best chemistry with each other and definitely were the couple to watch on this shortlived series.

Will And Grace - Will Trueman/Vince D'Angelo

After spending the first five seasons flitting between boyfriends, the writers finally gave Will someone who complimented him and while him and Vince had their ups and downs, it's a credit to the series for this great relationship.

The L Word - Bette Porter/Tina Kennard

Relationships in this series were ten a penny but Bette and Tina were definitely the long haul relationship of the series, both with it's good and with it's bad moments. Still, they were definitely the best of a mixed bunch of couples on this series.

Alias - Sydney Bristow/Michael Vaughn

Bucking something of a trend here, Sydney and Vaughn for me were actually a pretty good couple. Sure we could've done without Lauren during S3 or Vaughn's fakeout death for most of S5 but other than that, I liked these two.

Shameless - Kev Ball/Veronica Fisher

The not so married but chaotic couple were a joy during the first three years of the series and while both Dean Lennox Kelly and Maxine Peake seem to be constantly getting decent roles after leaving the series, I do sometimes miss the pair.

Top TV Pairings Part 1

Okay, so I've decided to pick thirty shows I'm currently watching in various ways and picked some of my favourite pairings. A lot of the pairings are romantic, a few quasi-romantic or platonic. Hope you enjoy the first part of this.

K9 - Alistair Gryffen/June Turner

Falls into the category of a non romantic pairing but if this show actually goes from having a second season in development to a second season on the air, who knows? There's certainly a nice rapport between Department lady June Turner and now not so agoraphobic Professor Alistair Gryffen.

Sugar Rush - Kim Daniels/Saint

I've been watching repeats of the second season on 4Music (and I'll be doing some blogs relating to the series soon) and I realise that I really did love Kim and Saint as a couple. They certainly weren't perfect but they were interesting though and it's a shame the show was cut so shortly as well.

Carnivale - Ben Hawkins/Sofie Agnesh Bojakshiya

Something of an odd pairing this one, it's kind of a shame that the writers didn't explore them further but their scenes together on TV were quite good. I wish we had seen more between Ben and Sofie.

Sex And The City - Miranda Hobbes/Steve Brady

This show has always been a mixed bag with couples but somehow, the writers (if you ignore the subsequent movies in 2008/2010) got it right with Miranda and Steve. Great chemistry with the actors and far more believable than the Carrie/Big rubbish that's bogged the show down as well.

Modern Family - Phil Dunphy/Claire Dunphy

I know I should talk about this show a lot more than I do, so I'm adding Phil and Claire to this as well. A great couple, brilliant rapport between the respective actors portraying them but also rather believable as well, though this show excels with all the couples.

Doctor Who And The Gay Agenda

Usually when you attach the sentence 'Doctor Who and the gay agenda', it's usually some miserable so and so whinging about the inclusion of LGBT characters in the series, accusing the show of trying to be PC. As a gay man, I'm pleased to see it because usually the characters actually add something to the mix and their sexuality isn't the be all and end of all of them.

Russell T. Davies provided plenty of LGBT characters over the course of his four season reign - Cassandra, Jake, Alonso, granny couple from Gridlock, Sky Silvestry as well as Jack and Ianto at different points in the series and while Steven Moffat's first year didn't seem to have any, it's interesting and quite pleasing his second year running the series has featured some. Opening two-parter, The Impossible Astronaut/Day Of The Moon gave us the absolutely excellent, Canton Everett Delware III, whose sexuality was alluded to in the first part and confirmed in the second part when Nixon denied him the right to marry his partner, who also happened to be black. I love the way that some fans ranted about this being another attempt of being PC but it's comments like this that highlight the importance to occasionally include an LGBT character into the mix and Canton was by far, one of the best the show has given us. Companion material if I ever saw any.
A Good Man Goes To War however gave us what will be known as the most discussion lesbian couple on TV this year. Sorry Brittana, but you've been usurped by Victorian Silurian (and eater of Jack The Ripper) Madame Vastra and her maid girlfriend, Jenny (no, not that one), who easily took down two clerics and also had moments of smuttiness ("She is definitely a girl", tongue lashing) but more than that, they were two fully formed characters. Vastra herself had previously tried to wreck vengeance on humanity, only for the Doctor to show her the error of her ways. Vastra clearly also had enough of a friendship with the Doctor, considering that she knew a lot about Time Lords and broached the possibility of Melody not being human before the Doctor considered the possibility himself. Jenny too was no spare part as she tried to comfort Amy upon Kovarian's success in snatching Melody. Plus, never mind being a lesbian couple - Vastra and Jenny were an inter-species one and while that's not exactly a first for Doctor Who, it does seem more noteworthy than past ones, right? Plus, I was far from shocked with the rapturous response these two ladies have gotten. I also want to see them again.

Less focused on but still delightful in A Good Man Goes To War was the married, gay, Anglican marine couple, oddly called the Fat One and Thin One. While Thin One largely interacted with Lorna Bucket to see how much she knew about the Doctor, Fat One ended up losing his head by the Headless Monks. Some of the most subtle but effective bits of acting in this episode was Thin One's tearful reaction when he discovered his husband had now become a Headless Monk and that's not including the obvious commentary of a gay married couple in both a religious and military order either. You have to hand it to Moff, the fact that he managed to slip in five memorable gay characters in the three episodes he's scribed so far for Season 6 has been an amazing feat. I hope that bodes well for the second half of the season.

You might find it odd that I'm including River in the article as well but the reason I am is apart from her obvious love story with the Doctor, there's been allusions in the series that River, like a certain Time Agent has a fluid sexuality. Femslash with her and Amy might be ruined now but we've seen River openly admitting to fancying everyone in her expedition (except Lux) in Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead and in The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang, she wasn't shy in mentioning that she had previous relations with a Nestene duplicate as well. Maybe that is a 51st century thing though but either way, it's another in a long list of reasons to love River Song.

And then there's Jack Harkness. Never mind Torchwood or anything else (or anyone else) whose breathed life into the character since 2005. Steven Moffat was the first person to introduce the character and he did that superbly in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. I loved the nonchalant way he did, not making Jack's bisexuality/omnisexuality a big issue but getting the message across in a clear, effective manner nonetheless. Moffat has also mentioned in recent interviews that he wants to bring Jack back into the show and hopefully at some point, he will do. The truth of the matter is that for all the whinging certain fans do about LGBT characters, the thing is that they've provided more good and no harm to Doctor Who and it's not like the Classic Series wasn't devoid of LGBT/camp moments as well. Long may 'the gay agenda' reign!

LGBT Guide To Doctor Who: http://www.nyder.com/stuff/whosqueer.html

Lip Service - Season 2 Exclusive

Yes, I come bearing some news, folks ....

It might have taken BBC3 way too long to announce a second season for Scottish lesbian drama, Lip Service but it's back for a second round and apart from Roxanne McKee, the majority of the cast will be back. Yup, that means Kat, Sam, Frankie/Eleanor, Tess, Sadie, Ed and Jay will be returning but the series itself will not air on BBC3 until 2012. To be fair, I totally saw that coming but I can wait that long.

The best part of the second season - Being Human actress Sinead Keenan will be appearing on the series, though it hasn't been confirmed what character she'll be playing. Other guest stars include Neve McIntosh (Doctor Who, Single Father) as well as Anna Skellern, who'll be playing Australian doctor, Lexie (or the Lexinator), who will also be creating ripples within the Frankie/Cat/Sam triangle as well. Out actress Alana Hood will also be appearing in the series but her role too has not been disclosed.

Anyone else excited for the new season?

Fandom Buzz Or Overkill?

Yesterday popular gay media websites AfterElton and AfterEllen released their Hot 100 poll for 2011 and to say that Glee dominated the bloody lists is a surprise would be a massive lie. If anything, I would've been horribly shocked if the show hadn't made a dent on either list.

AfterElton really showed their Glee love with 11 members of the male cast (regular, recurring and guest stars) cropping up in the list with the following results ... 1: Darren Criss, 3: Chris Colfer, 7: Jonathan Groff, 12: Cheyenne Jackson, 18: Chord Overstreet, 20: Mark Salling, 23: Cory Monteith, 48: Matthew Morrison, 51: Harry Shum Jr, 64: Max Adler and 90: Kevin McHale and the reactions were pretty interesting to say the least.

AfterEllen also gave much love to the ladies of Glee as well with the following results ... 1: Naya Rivera, 2: Heather Morris, 8: Dianna Agron, 10: Lea Michele and 65: Jane Lynch but the reactions on their site seemed less hostile and that's what I want to talk about - not the results of these polls but the reactions they've generated.

In the last 24 hours, I've seen a lot of criticism flung in Darren Criss's general direction and a lot of people blaming his win on overexcited fan girls. While it's true that women do tend to vote in online polls more voraciously compared to male viewers, I have to ask - what's the big deal?

Polls like this are usually supposed to be harmless fun and while people can have hang ups about Glee til they're blue in the face, the show has become something of an inescapable pop culture phenomenon and while I would've liked to have seen certain men/women fare higher in both of those lists, at the end of the day, they're only lists and shouldn't be taken too seriously.

AfterElton List: http://www.afterelton.com/2011-hot-100-results
AfterEllen List: http://www.afterellen.com/2011-hot-100-results

My Review of "Christopher And His Kind"

Written by Kevin Elyot
Directed by Geoffrey Sax

Christopher (to W.H Auden): �I don�t belong here. I don�t belong anywhere. I rather like being a foreigner. I wonder where we�ll end up.�

After months of wanting this to finally air, BBC2 finally decided to pick a Saturday timeslot for the 90 minute piece that gave as best an insight into writer Christopher Isherwood as it could do. 90 minutes isn�t always enough time to tell the right story but thanks to a clever script and several engaging performances, this does the best it can and then some.

The focus is definitely however more geared towards Isherwood�s time in Berlin and with good reason. It was definitely the most influential time period in the writer�s life and it�s certainly the one with the most defining of relationships as well with a great array of characters shaping Isherwood through the time period this is based in.

From a family perspective, we saw his rather suffocating mother and brother, who was casually dismissed as inferior to the famous writer but it�s probably Isherwood�s relationship with poet W.H Auden that is the most constant throughout this piece. Auden is definitely the one to encourage Christopher to go to Berlin and certainly opened up his eyes to the decadence of the gay scene as well during that period.

Isherwood�s two main relationships with men certainly go through their peeks and troughs as well. Casper was a dashing gay for pay straight man who eventually disgusted Isherwood with his allegiance to the Nazis and street cleaner Heinz was the younger man that Isherwood tried and in some ways was unable to save from the persecution of war torn Germany at the time. It�s definitely the most impacting relationship outside of Auden as well.

Speaking of impacting, hats off to fiery struggling actress and all round force of nature, Jean Ross. As a character, she�s every bit as vibrant as the creation that she would later inspire for Isherwood and her relationship with the writer is definitely one of the most endearing friendships seen throughout the whole thing. I think everyone would want a Jean Ross in their corner.

In terms of the acting, Matt Smith is on fine form as Isherwood and Imogen Poots certainly breathed a zesty life into Jean but I really cannot think of anyone who paled. Everyone, no matter how small or large the role in this excelled and in terms of sexual content, I was actually impressed with the BBC for really allowing Matt Smith and the production to go there with Christopher and his lovers. The sex scenes were definitely graphic but not salacious though I�m sure there are some viewers who have seen the Doctor in a different light now because of this one-off piece.

- This was filmed in Northern Ireland around summer 2010 as the announcer was mostly keen to remind viewers at the start.
- People such as Jean and Gerard would go on to inspire the main characters for Cabaret, which BBC2 are airing on Monday at 11.50pm.
- Matt Smith was reunited with two people he worked with on other productions with Lindsay Duncan playing Isherwood�s mother and Toby Jones playing Gerard.
- At one point we did see Isherwood as an older man while several bits had to be mentioned in the credits rather than seen.

As a production, Christopher And His Kind is definitely something to be proud of. Matt Smith along with everyone else was on exceptionally fine form and even though we�re at a point where we�re used to seeing dramatic productions of Nazi Germany, it didn�t stop the scenes here from making an impact. Definitely one of the standout pieces this year so far.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Skins And It's LGBT Sexuality

Five seasons in and with the finale only six days away, you have to hand it to Skins. It really has explored as many facets to sexuality for LGBT characters along with heterosexual characters in a way that a lot of it's adult counterparts have not.

Let's look at Maxxie Oliver for instance. One of the things I liked about Maxxie as a character was that we finally had a gay teen on a series without the angst. The consequence of this might have led to him either doing very little from time to time or dealing with a creepy female stalker like Sketch but as a character, he was the first of a succession of LGBT characters that this show could get right. Pairing him up with Tony Stonem briefly was more innovative than what the US version tried to replicate with his lesbian equivalent in Tea but giving him a boyfriend as the second season came to it's conclusion and the first generation left was probably good in some ways. Like no overbearing angst if it had happened earlier.

Then there's Emily Fitch and Naomi Campbell from Seasons 3 and 4 of the series. The amount of furore these girls have caused was unprecedented but once again, this show mostly got them right. Their slowly but surely relationship was a good step and while the fourth season went overkill on keeping them apart, only to hastily bring them back together was tedious, it did only serve to highlight that a gay couple can have as much clout in a series aimed for teenagers as the straight couples can too. Were people this fanatical about Thomas/Pandora or Cook/Effy/Freddie during the much praised 2nd Generation? Were they hell? Naomily wins and yes, I am embarrassed to be referring to a successful couple I liked by their shipper name. I will absolve my sins in a reasonable fashion.

However the show's most complex strand of sexuality (and it's most innovative to date) has come from Franky Fitzgerald. Here is a young girl who does not want to be labeled anything sexually. She's not gay, she's not straight and she's not bisexual but she does like people and one of those people happens to be Matty Levan. Over the last few episodes we've seen Franky fawn over the guy while Olivia 'Liv' Malone has been seething about it. In a bizarre twist of events, Franky got to kiss both Liv and Mini whilst rehearsing and performing Grace's take on Twelfth Night but while kissing Liv only ignited bittersweet angst that Matty seemed to make ten times worse, kissing Mini was something different. Mini's whole attitude towards Franky throughout this season has been more interesting than anything else concerning her. She went from virtually humiliating the poor girl in the opening episode to smiling after they had to do a kiss in this week's episode and in the finale, clips have been released of Mini being rather protective of Franky. I don't honestly know what to think with the situation between Franky/Mini. There's no actual indication that anything sexual can or will happen between them but the writers in true Skins style have definitely added another interesting layer between them and it's one that neither girl have had with any of the men they've interacted with this season. Will this show buck a trend and give a triangle between Franky, Mini and Matty or is it Matty and Franky all the way?

And then there's the issue of Matty as well. I really wish that Sebastian DeSouza who plays him hadn't let slip that the character was intended to be bisexual because right now, I'm annoyed the show is not venturing down that trope with him. It would've been better than watching him emotionally dick both Liv and Franky about the place and bisexuality is the one area the show hasn't completely explored yet, unless next season either outs Matty, Franky or Mini as definitively bisexual but either way, Glee aside, this show certainly has a more interesting and somewhat realistic-ish depiction on teen sexuality compared to it's glossier rivals. More importantly, what do fans thinks - should it be Franky/Matty, Franky/Mini or something else? I personally don't want to see the former, unless Matty stops acting like a jerk and I'm not sure about the middle to be honest. Maybe something else. Give Matty a boyfriend rather than a girlfriend. Interesting how both Glee and Skins this week pushed sexual boundaries.

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby - Glee Spoilers

What is it with teen shows and the need for the sex ed episode? More importantly, aren't these characters a little old for it too? Perhaps but it did make for an interesting episode of Glee, cheekily titled, Sexy.

Santana Lopez, what can I say? You're a humongous bitch. Your treatment towards other people is terrible, your ability to burst into tears over the least thing is erratic at best and your attempts of going all ghetto when you're clearly a privileged kid make you look silly. On the plus side, you are also the best character on this fecking show and are increasingly becoming a rather multi-layered one too. Hats off to Naya Rivera in this episode as Santana finally admitted to Brittany that she loved her, only for Brittany to refuse to dump Artie for her. Santana's comments about Artie being a "stupid boy" might have been selfish but let's face it - a) she's said way worse, b) she's not entirely wrong about Artie, much as I do like him and c) it's been nearly five months since they hooked up and I still buy into Brittany and Artie as a couple. They lack spark, the same kind of spark that Brittany and Santana have in spades. This episode might not have brought Brittana together in the way fans would've liked but it definitely made the right steps, though it should've been them singing Landslide together rather than Holly. And Sam's obliviousness to the extent of Brittana's closeness cannot end well for him either.

With the bisexual segment of the episode dealt with wonderfully, the gay segment is also a winner. Unlike some fans, I can actually wait a while longer for Kurt and Blaine to come together because the groundwork is being set up nicely here as it has been in the last few episodes and it's nice just to be getting to know Blaine for himself as well as a prospective love interest for Kurt. Kurt's viewpoints on sex were pretty damn believable and I liked that Blaine had gotten Burt to have the dreaded birds and the bees speech with Kurt, if only for the fact that I empathised with Kurt for having to have that conversation with his father. Much as I can see the pros of parents having that conversation with their kids (and it was definitely an awkward one for both Burt and Kurt), I think I'm actually glad I never had that conversation with my own dad. As for that duet with Kurt/Blaine - Animal, um, more please? Because again, let's face it, they are literally the Warblers at this point. Through Blaine and Holly, this episode also made some pointed comments about the need for sex education from both parents and a school system in relation to kids without being overly preachy about it as well.

However one of several things I did find worrying in this episode was the naivety of the kids when it came to sex. It was definitely stretching credibility with Brittany believing that babies came from storks (and briefly believing she was pregnant when she wasn't), given that she more or less witnessed Quinn giving birth last season and why the hell would Mercedes think cucumbers would give her AIDS? I expect that sort of stuff from Finn but not Mercedes and why did Puck and Lauren think that a sex tape would do them any favours? It's moments like this where I can understand why the series gets criticised for it's consistency problems. Neither Rachel nor Emma were as rigid about sexuality last season as they seemed to be now in their celibacy club but the main thing here - Emma's still a virgin?

I might not have liked Holly's method of getting Emma to admit to Carl that she did have feelings for Will but at this point in time, Emma really does need to sort her issues about sexuality and sex out. I'm not condemning her for being a virgin and I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with asexuality either but if the message of the episode was that Emma is saving herself for Will, then that's kind of depressing. Especially considering that Holly made a move on him after spending most of the episode giving him the brush off. As for Holly, I liked her in this episode (but that version of Do You Wanna Touch? was so inappropriate) and while she wasn't always the most constructive in her advice or had one song too many, she was a bundle of fun and this episode sure as hell benefited from that. With seven episodes left to go and two relationships that are in need of taking to the next levels, can Glee actually deliver? Here's bloody hoping.

The Gay Potential Of Glee

For a while now, there's been certainly storylines of Glee that I've wanted to looked into deeper and after viewing the fourth episode of Season 2 called Duets, I thought it was time to address them.

If there's one thing that can be said about this show, it's that it's LGBT topics/characters/representation is certainly head above water over Ryan Murphy's last show but before I discuss Kurt, I'd like to talk about Cheerios girls, Brittany and Santana and their relationship. Santana might not be keen to label any of her trysts with Brittany but clearly there's enough meaning behind them if she's content to sabotage any chances of her mate spending time with Artie this week. Normally, even I would've pegged it as Santana being a bitch but whether or not the girl wants to identify as bisexual or not doesn't matter. She cares enough about Brittany in her own way that she's not willing to share her with even Artie.

Brittany might have also exhibited her own upset at being rejected by Artie (after she'd slept with him) but her scenes with Santana this week from her POV further indicated that their trysts were more than sexual to her. Brittany in her own way admitted to caring about Santana by wanting to sing a Melissa Etheridge song for their duet and when Santana rejected her, she was hurt by it. The hints of Brittany and Santana's fluid sexuality has been present since the latter half of the first season but after this week, it's going to be interesting to see where exactly Brittany and Santana's relationship heads to next. Brittany might be more in love than Santana but this is clearly not a one sided thing between the girls either. It's no wonder that the LJ community and other gay media outlets are dubbing them, "Brittana". Because let's face it, they are a lot more interesting and believable than so called "power-couple" Rachel and Finn this season.

And for a girl who doesn't take crap and enjoys being a bitch, showing any vulnerability with Santana would certainly be a fascinating thing. I can only hope that even if her and Brittany aren't meant to be that the rest of this season does flesh their romantic endeavours out fairly nonetheless. As for Kurt - this was definitely an interesting episode for him. While I don't like that he kept making potshots at Sam's hair as an allusion to the guy's sexuality, I have to admit that Finn made me a lot angrier than Kurt did this week.

First of all, I totally agree that Kurt went too far with Finn last year and while it's fair that Sam is aware of the fact that being in Glee club makes you susceptible for being slushied for no apparent reason, it really felt like Finn was projecting some of his own hang ups about Kurt's sexuality onto Sam. Even Sam questioned whether or not Finn had issues with Kurt being gay and a part of me wonders if underneath everything, Finn does. I get that Kurt was a pain last year over the crush thing and that he might have made a move on Sam if he got any encouragement but Finn failed to realise that all his little warnings to Sam about Kurt were bigoted and basically were excusing any homophobe within their school, even if that wasn't his intention. I liked that Sam was generally polite to Kurt and that it wasn't him that backed out of the duet, though I hated Kurt pulling out of it, due to peer pressure even if it meant a snappy comment from Santana about musical masturbation when Kurt performed Le Jazz Hott from Victor/Victoria.

As for whether or not Sam himself is gay - I think this episode left it ambiguous. There are so many contradicting rumours at the minute that until I see it, I don't know what to believe in regards to which team Sam bats for - maybe he'll be bisexual. Sam might have spent this episode trying to impress Quinn but even on their date after winning the duets competition, there was still a possibility that Sam may or may not be straight. Only time will tell. However points this week have to go to Rachel for picking up on Kurt's loneliess due to his sexuality and performing her own duet with him at the end of the episode. Kurt might not always been the most likeable of characters but with issues of bullying and rumours of a love interest from a rival cluband a tackling of gay suicide, he's certainly helping to educate viewers on the complexities on gay teens and after a rather shocking disservice from Nip/Tuck, it's about time from Ryan Murphy. Also Glee is actually doing more for a variant of LGBT than even Brothers And Sisters is at the moment as well and that's something I didn't think I would've said a year ago.