Glee Review: “Jagged Little Tapestry” (Season 6, Episode 3)

The improbabilities of Kurt and Rachel as non-college-degree holding teachers became less of a jagged little pill, if you will, to swallow this week. Building off of the shaky ground the two-hour premiere set-up, “Jaged Little Tapestry” had some worries to address, especially given the show’s shockingly short run of episodes left in the tank (9 after this week). While the mashup between Alanis Morissette and Carole King left the musical side of the episode somewhat stagnant, interesting sub-plots and main arcs improved decidedly on the middling premiere.

Following an opening that reminds everyone of the wholly improbable relationship between Blaine and Dave Karofsky, we’re introduced to the main dramatic conflict of the week: Rachel and Kurt’s warring teaching styles. Rachel wants to nurture the kids with encouragement and compliments, while Kurt wants to be the bad cop and shower them with constructive criticism, or, you know, just criticism. His continued disbelieving reaction to Blaine and Karofsky’s relationship is interesting to watch, but the love triangle still feels awkward and forced. Is there any doubt that, and I’m using this just to be succinct, “Klaine” won’t be a thing by series end? Not in my mind.

But, for now, it remains a decent enough reason to fuel some main plots, like this week’s teacher feud between Rachel and Kurt. It’s also the first time we see the new generation of the glee club functioning in a classroom setting, with the alumni still hanging around for another week or so (or nine, most likely).

When a newbie asks how the pros are sticking around since they have jobs and lives and whatnot all over the country, Brittany replies, “I can bend space and time with my mind.” Glee, always the source of some funky timelines over the course of its run, has never exactly been the standard for a realistic expression of the modern world. And though Brittany’s response is amusing, it also feels like the writers finally admitting that they’ve given up trying to find excuses for all of these characters to be around in the final season.