Why Darren Criss Might be the Next Michael Emerson, and Why That Isn't a Good Thing for Glee
The unwritten rules for the second season of a hit television series are similar to the ones governing movie sequels: Everything has to be bigger, has to be louder, and has to include at least one major casting addition. In the case of Lost, the second season brought increasingly convoluted stakes (The Hatch! The Others!), some shocking character deaths (Shannon!) and the addition of Michael Emerson to the already bulging cast. What began as a well-received guest role for the veteran New York actor became a three-and-a-half season stay on the devilish island. Emerson's breakout performance not only forced Lost creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to shift their narrative, but also cemented him forever in the minds of television watchers as Benjamin Linus. Glee star Darren Criss is on a very similar path, and because of that, it might be time for Gleeks to get concerned.
Like Emerson, Criss arrived on Glee as a guest star, and audiences latched onto him so firmly that he was upped to series regular status. (Criss' stint as a full-timer will reportedly begin in season three.) His charismatic performance and undeniable screen presence is so enjoyed by the Glee faithful, that not only was Criss shoe-horned into the post-Super Bowl episode (see the totally unnecessary-but-amazing "Bills Bills Bills"), but also given the closing number on Tuesday night's Valentine's Day episode. That's major: After only six episodes, Criss has entered Lea Michele territory. Performing "Silly Love Songs" in front of the entire Glee cast of regulars -- the first time he has really interacted with everyone in the cast at the same time -- was Criss' very own "You guys got any milk?" moment; he went from intriguing scene-stealer to indispensable member of the troupe in the span of one Paul McCartney-penned bit of pop fluff. Unfortunately, that might not be such a good thing.
In the wake of Emerson's ascent on Lost, some fans groused that the show became too much about Ben Linus' various forms of delightful psychological warfare, and not enough about the plight of their favorite Oceanic 815 survivors. Emerson also backed Lindelof and Cuse into a corner of sorts -- Ben was the villain that you loved to hate, and then loved to love; how would they be able to stay true to the character and the show, without upsetting fans? It was that double-edged sword which led to Ben's hasty redemption in the final season, one that wasn't necessarily earned, but had to happen because of the arc Emerson pushed the show toward. (This is to say nothing of all that Ben-as-007-supervillain during the fourth season, which seemed to be done simply so he could stay involved in the series following his Frozen Donkey Wheel spin.) Still, Lost was able to withstand Emerson's all-encompassing presence because Lindelof and Cuse -- despite what you may think of how they ended the series -- were fairly disciplined storytellers. They learned to use Ben sparingly and carefully, and avoided losing a hubcap in the pothole of Emerson's talents.
At this point, you can't have the same confidence about Ryan Murphy. To wit: This is a man so fickle that he plans on splitting up Sam and Quinn (um, spoiler alert, but not really), because he's "bored." (It's true that Murphy could have been joking around when he made that statement, but judging from the schizophrenic nature of Glee -- especially during this wildly up and down second season -- he probably wasn't.) The fact that Blaine is Murphy's shiny new toy -- his "Ben," as it were -- is a problem on multiple fronts. Not only has nudged Kurt out of the spotlight (the character who Blaine was supposed to enrich, not marginalize), but also Rachel and the rest of the New Directions favorites. Remember Mercedes? Since Blaine has arrived she's appeared about as much as Jason Sudeikis did on Saturday Night Live over the weekend -- which is to say, barely. (Meanwhile, somewhere, Vanilla Ice is holding a candlelight vigil for Mr. Schuester's formerly frequent rap solos.)
To be fair, Murphy could just as easily sour on Criss and Blaine, and the show to return to its Colfer-Michele roots. But judging from what he said in November, don't bet on it: "I think there's a hunger for [Criss] and a positive relationship role model. He'll definitely continue through the year and longer." That's great for Criss and his fans, but not necessarily for Glee. Be careful what you wish for.
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If anything, I'd say Sue suffers far more from the Micheal Emerson syndrome. Entertaining in small doses, but the popularity caused a huge racheting up in screentime, bringing us things I'd love to forget like her wedding to herself and the Grinch parody. Last night's episode was one of the strongest in a while, and I don't think it was a coincidence it was blessedly Sue-free.
Murphy isn't breaking Sam and Quinn up because he got bored. I can't believe anyone would buy that.
As for Criss, point taken. I personally hope that Criss isn't a regular next season. I would prefer he and the Warblers just return briefly as competition and that is the extent of their purpose.
As someone who only knows Darren from the show and enjoys his presence on it immensely, I find this article to be premature and upsetting. You're basically saying that since Darren is such a huge hit with fans and so well loved, the thing to do is get rid of him, because of some imaginary parallel to another character in a completely different situation? Right. OK.
And the thing about him taking screentime away from Mercedes is also inaccurate - this show has never been fair in it's division of storylines, of songs and of screentime, and Mercedes (and Tina, even moreso) have suffered on the "less" side while characters like Rachel and Kurt were more often than not given "more". Darren's arrival did not cause this phenomenon, it's been this way all along, he's simply the new face, and an easy target for disgruntled fans of anyone deemed "neglected" by the writing staff. To pin this on Darren and rile fans against him by placing him as the cause is simply unjust.
As a fan of the show, I hope he stays on for a good long time, his storyline with Kurt is honestly the main draw for me right now.
I'm so glad you used the term marginalizing for what Blaine has done to Kurt. I want to cry for the boy as he's forced away from his friends, into the explicit gilded cage metaphor of Dalton, and then he's silenced further in his own storyline. I watch this show for Kurt Hummel, at its heart, and he's spent this entire year being beaten down on both a textual and meta level.
I could probably care less, but I'm not sure how.
Fair points, Jennifer. Though, I disagree with you tossing the Ben/Blaine comparisons out with the bathwater. Both characters are beloved fan favorites who arrived in the second season and took their respective shows in new directions. (No pun intended.) My point is that Lindelof/Cuse were capable of handling that rising tide; Murphy, thus far, doesn't seem equally as capable.
I'd also disagree with you about Mercedes. It's true that Glee has never balanced its storylines/characters properly. Too much of S1 was the Rachel Show, and lots of the initial parts of S2 were focused on Kurt. But the lack of Mercedes has been noticeable, and it seems to correlate with Blaine's arrival. Performance space that would sometimes be used for her in S1 has become Blaine space here in S2. Not that I necessarily mind -- I much prefer Criss' voice and performance acumen to Amber Riley -- but it has made her borderline irrelevant as a character. That's a mistake. It's not Criss' fault -- it has just seemed to happen.
*cough*Sylar*cough*
"Lindelof and Cuse — despite what you may think of how they ended the series — were fairly disciplined storytellers....At this point, you can’t have the same confidence about Ryan Murphy."
You have hit on my biggest problem with S2 of this show so far - the completely disjointed, oddly obsessive storytelling. It is like the writers find some SL/character they love and it eats the show for a few weeks and then gets abandoned for some new toy. And, somehow it makes me annoyed with things I generally like - I am all for the show taking an anti-bullying stance, and I think DC is great but I reached saturation with both of these SLs. Compare how Jesse was integrated into the plot last year with the sort of weird parallel Blaine universe we have now.
But I have to hand him this: Sam and Quinn ARE fucking boring.
"Too much of S1 was the Rachel Show, and lots of the initial parts of S2 were focused on Kurt. But the lack of Mercedes has been noticeable, and it seems to correlate with Blaine's arrival."
Huh? So, yeah, S1 was too much of Rachel, S2 was too much of Kurt. But the lack of Mercedes was due to Blaine's arrival?
It doesn't even make sense. How can you even accuse that her spot's taken away by Blaine. Do you have any prove? Why didn't you say the lack of Mercedes or Tina was because they focused too much on Rachel and Kurt? If you have done your homework right, Blaine's been on screen for about 30 minutes in the last SEVEN episodes.
Which is why it was so shocking to see him get three solo performances in the last two episodes.
Mercedes was on the show when it was the Rachel/Kurt Show(s), because she is connected to those two characters. Her rivalry with Rachel was a major part of S1; her friendship with Kurt was, too. Since Blaine arrived she's been diminished.
I did all the homework I needed to by simply watching the episodes. Thanks, though.
EXCELLENT reference to Sylar for those of us who smartly gave up on Lost in the early going. Sylar's second season was ridiculous. He was definitely better in small villainous doses.
But I could not agree more with the Blaine obsession. He's great but it's become more than a little annoying the dictatorship that seems to be that school's glee club. Isn't anybody else allowed to be the lead? He's Rachel II, but not as interesting. At least he got a little plot this week. I wish they'd hurry up and expel Blaine and Kurt, get them into New Directions, and then pretend that other people in the cast can sing (which did happen a bit this week, thankfully.)
Actually, this article is true.
Darren Criss is the new Michael Emerson... they both completely stole Lost/Glee. Love them both to death.
Wow. I couldn't disagree more. Like someone mentioned earlier, Sue would be the better comparison.
Darren Criss has so many other things going on that I hardly think he will be typecast in this role. Plus, he looks so different in this role than he does in his everyday life.
I think it's silly to call him out. Who else would Kurt have a relationship with? You don't seem to like outsiders coming in and I highly doubt any of the original guys are going to start "experimenting".
GLEE is making history with the impending relationship between Blaine and Kurt. I can't think of another same-sex couple that has been as overwhelmingly popular among straight audiences.
Stop creating negativity where there is none. Darren Criss (and GLEE) will be just fine.
Knee-jerk journalism at it's worst. Premature speculation at best. Really, not worth reading.
I love your work in The New York Times, Chris.
It definitely seems as thought Kurt has become Blaine's supporting character, not the other way around, which I have major issues with, especially since this week's episode showed that Darren Criss is a bit clunky in the acting department. I really was not impressed with the delivery of some of his lines, and now I see why his singing was shoved down our throats so much so people would fall in love with that and be distracted from his sub-par acting. I wanted Kurt and Blaine to get together, but now I'm not so sure. I think there are other actors who play off Chris Colfer better who are already on the show.
It's kind of insulting how Kurt (and Chris Colfer) is being minimized in his own story line. I really miss his singing voice, too. I can't believe we get three new Warbler numbers this week and he doesn't even get a single LINE in any of them.
I'm curious why the revolving door of characters who served no purpose on Glee and Lost wasn't more of an issue for the writer, rather than picking on the popular characters of these two shows?
I'm glad someone else wasn't impressed with some of Criss' acting. If they're going to shove him down our throats so much, I can only hope he brings up his acting to Chris Colfer's levels, or this is going to be even more annoying than it already is.
Can the guest star be a guest star again, and the main character a main character? Please?
I love your article and totally agree with you. I like Darren Criss but I'm really tired and bored how Blaine somehow sings a song with the Warblers that's unrelated to the continuity of the scene. What happened to the rumors about Mercedes and her Dad? Or instead of a song and dance by the Warblers, I want to know how Kurt's adjusting to school. Is traveling 4 hours a day taking a toll on him? How are Kurt and Finn's family life?
I want Blaine gone STAT or less involved unless necessary but I know I won't get my wish. Criss has too many fangirls and Ryan Murphy is writing for them. Glee is now reduced to which songs will be a iTunes hit. What makes me laugh is how people complained about Rachel, Finn and Kurt having too much airtime? Like the article said be careful what you wish for.
As expected, this article has drawn the haters out and gave them another opportunity to bash Darren Criss, who's only crime is that he is appearantly too popular.
Good job riling the fans against a young actor on his first major TV job. Well done.
I don't know Jennifer, there aren't many Criss haters on here at all. I think it is impossible to hate him. Like I said, he's such a large presence and talent that I understand why he's become such a focal point. I -- and most other Glee fans -- want to see him. It's just that Murphy hasn't shown the ability to balance the show as it is, and now with this type of phenomenon in his arsenal, it will be even harder to do so.
I don't think I've riled anyone up here -- just created a discussion. Plus, comparing him to Michael Emerson is a huge compliment. And I don't think we need to hold a collection for Criss. He's super talented, super popular and has a ton of irons in the fire. The guy will be famous for a long time.
I just wanted to point out that Blaine may be a new character, but he does have a fairly sizeable fanbase on his own now. My first episode of Glee was actually "Never Been Kissed." I'd never heard of Darren Criss and I only watched it because I had run out of things to watch on hulu. Since then, I've been completely hooked, entirely because of Darren Criss' portrayal of Blaine (singing, acting, and dancing). So yes, Glee needs to learn how to balance attention amongst it's cast much better than it has in the past, but you seem to be suggesting that Blaine's screentime is automatically less valid than screentime for original characters. My personal opinion is that, if a character works, or you find a new actor who works, you go with it. Change can be a good thing.
I would also point out that I read somewhere that the producers or Ryan Murphy originally envisioned this show as a choir-centered show, so I think they're relishing the opportunity to feature an actual choir in the Warblers.
Finally, I find it a little funny that people are freaking out over Kurt being marginalized these last few episodes, when there was a lot of criticism in the first half of the season over the storylines being so Kurt-centered. My guess is that the writers are acknowledging this and just shifting attention away from Kurt for the time being to balance things out. It's only been two episodes since Chris Colfer last sang prominently. And as far as Kurt not singing with the Warblers, I'm not sure his voice would actually go well with them. The whole point of the Warblers is to be an all-male choir, ie, singing at a lower pitch, which goes against Kurt's character. I could be wrong, but I feel like Colfer's voice would be better employed elsewhere.
Ever think the reason Darren is getting handed so many solos is because of... money??? 'Teenage Dream' sold ridiculously well and the FOX execs have money signs in their eyes every time they look at Darren now. It's honestly not Darren's fault that he has more talent than 97% of the cast, and people are responding to that. Besides, from the looks of it, the next few upcoming episodes will go back to focusing on the adults (the absolute worst part of this show) and random guest stars. So there you go. No more catchy tunes to bother with for a while.
I think my biggest problem with how you've presented this article is that should there be any future problems with fans bailing on this show due to the inconsistencies in writing thanks to the RIB team (and yes, I agree that the inconsistencies on character time is ridiculous), it will be entirely Darren Criss' fault. Because he's talented and popular and is one of the two main characters in a very important storyline that's been presented to us. Oh, and he's popular and talented and making lots of money for the show. He's brought in new fans, and is consistently selling records.
I think what you are completely ignoring is the fact that because the decision was made to keep Darren/Blaine around (and I don't think that was entirely in RM's lap, considering he referred to Blaine as the FOX execs new favorite character), some quick storyline changes had to be made. His first three eps were supposed to be his only three eps, and I think it was obvious that Dalton Academy and Blaine and the Warblers were going to be portrayed less-than the Utopia Kurt had thought they would be. Then Kurt would return to New Directions, and that entire storyline would be forgotten.
But Darren, Blaine, the Warblers and everything about that storyline took off. The media embraced it as much as the fans did and suddenly changes had to be made. Hence the Superbowl episode and Silly Love Songs - the Warblers, Blaine and Dalton Academy had to be made appealing, therefore they were given some more music, more appealing characterization (if you didn't laugh during the SLS Warbler council meeting, there is something wrong with you) and a properly fleshed-out storyline. I guarantee that they will be on the backburner for the next few episodes, so we can focus on some of the other characters.
Also, I agree with one of the above posters - the first half of this season was spent with fans complaining that the show was "All About Kurt". Now they're complaining that Kurt is being marginalized. Just... what??? Make up your fricken minds!
Kurt said that the Valentine's Day performance at Breadstix was HIS performance. It was HIS idea. He forced his friend to come support HIM. And he didn't even get to sing the solo in the song (Chris Colfer didn't get to sing at all. The Beelzebubs provide all of the back-up vocals for the Warbler numbers).
In fact, ever since "Special Education"'s "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", Chris Colfer has had ZERO solos. Darren Criss has had 3 (if you count how "Hey, Soul Sister" came after "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", he's had four).
In the Valentine's Day episode, Chris Colfer was barely featured and played second banana to Blaine's antics. In the Super Bowl episode, Chris was again marginalized while Darren got a solo. Darren got TWO solos in the Valentine's Day episode.
Chris Colfer/Kurt are being made redundant in THEIR OWN storyline.
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