Jump to content

Sue Sylvester

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 173.28.115.207 (talk) at 13:37, 6 September 2010 (→Season 2). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Sue Sylvester
Glee character
File:Sue Sylvester.jpg
Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester.
First appearance"Pilot"
Created byRyan Murphy
Brad Falchuk
Ian Brennan
Portrayed byJane Lynch
In-universe information
OccupationCheerleading coach
Fine arts administrator
TV news personality
FamilyUnnamed mother
Unnamed father
Jean Sylvester (sister)

Sue Sylvester is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series, Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Jane Lynch, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Sue was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan.

She was originally intended to be a recurring character, but was promoted to a starring role when a Damon Wayans pilot Lynch was working on for ABC fell through.[1]

Lynch has characterized Sue as willing to do "whatever it takes" to win, noting that although the character does have a heart, her softer side will not often be seen in the show. Her storylines have seen her continuously conspire against William McKinley High School's glee club, irritated that their increasing success comes at the detriment of her own cheerleading budget. After giving the club's set-list for Sectionals to rival glee directors in an attempt at sabotage, Sue is suspended from the school, though she blackmails her way back.

The character has been generally well received by critics. Mary McNamara for the Los Angeles Times has written that "Lynch alone makes Glee worth watching", while Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker has called Sue "the greatest Broadway-musical villain to ever co-star in a TV series". On December 15, 2009, Lynch was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Golden Globe Award for her performance in the role, and won the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of Sue Sylvester.

Development

Sue's role in Glee is head coach of the cheerleading squad or "Cheerios", and the glee club's "arch-nemesis".[1] Lynch states that Sue is "pure evil and doesn't hide it",[2] having been created as a product of Murphy, Brennan and Falchuck's "inner mean girl".[1] Discussing Sue's treatment of the students, Lynch has stated: "She's not above engaging in inappropriate behavior with minors. She somehow manages to be horrible and really delightful at the same time."[3] Lynch has described Sue as having "no filter", explaining: "Whatever comes to Sue's head comes out of her mouth. She loves the look of shock on people's face that they can't believe that she would say that and indeed she did."[4] With regards to her motivation, Lynch explained: "Sue will do whatever it takes to win. If that means she has to prostitute herself or take advantage of a 16-year-old boy, she'll do it. It's all about power and winning. That's her entire world view."[3] Sue often makes blatantly "politically incorrect" comments including homophobic remarks.

Discussing the revelation that Sue's older sister Jean has Down syndrome, Lynch commented: "we get to see the softer side of Sue, and see how much she loves her sister and how gentle and kind she is with her sister. And of course she turns around and stabs someone else in the back. But we know that she does have it in there, that she has a heart. But we won't see a lot more of that of Sue."[4]

Storylines

Season 1

Sue dislikes Spanish teacher Will Schuester's (Matthew Morrison) attempt at reviving William McKinley High School's failing glee club (as this will decrease the physical education department's budget), and enlists cheerleaders Quinn (Dianna Agron), Brittany (Heather Morris), and Santana (Naya Rivera) to help her bring the glee club down from the inside.[5] When her plan fails, she has former glee club director Sandy Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky) reinstated as the school arts director, working with him to entice Rachel (Lea Michele), the glee club's star, into quitting.[6]

In "Vitamin D", Sue is made co-director of the glee club, after she recruits Will's wife, Terri, into becoming school nurse (and Terri gives the glee kids "over-the-counter" drugs),[7] but in the following episode, "Throwdown", she scales back her involvement considerably after a public confrontation with Will.[8] Sue has her own spot on the local news, "Sue's Corner", which she uses to editorialize on issues such as support for caning and pro-littering.[6] She falls in love with news anchor Rod Remington (Bill A. Jones), but their burgeoning relationship comes to an abrupt end when she discovers he is sleeping with his co-anchor, Andrea Carmichael (Earlene Davis).[9]

In "Wheels", Sue allows Becky Jackson (Lauren Potter), a sophomore student with Down syndrome to join the Cheerios. Will is suspicious of her motives, increasingly so when Sue donates money to the school to fund three new ramps for disabled students. It is revealed that Sue's older sister Jean (Robin Trocki) also has Down syndrome, and lives in a residential care facility.[10]

Hoping to sabotage the glee club's chances of winning at sectionals, Sue gives the club's set-list to rival glee club directors Grace Hitchens (Eve) and Dalton Rumba (Michael Hitchcock).[11] When her actions are discovered by Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba), Sue is suspended from the school, but not without issuing Will Schuester one last threat.[12]

In the episode "Hell-O", Sue returns to the school after blackmailing Principal Figgins with photos of them in bed (he had been drugged). She then plots to get Rachel Berry out of Glee Club so the club will fall apart.

In "The Power of Madonna", Sue claims that she turned 6 years old when Madonna's True Blue album came out (1986); it is revealed that Sue is basically obsessed with Madonna to the point of forcing her Cheerios to emulate her. She is also badly angered when Will mocks her hairstyle and later explains to Kurt and Mercedes that the reason she keeps it short is because, when she was younger, she attempted to bleach it with "common household chemicals" (which included ammonia and napalm) to emulate Madonna. This badly damaged it, allowing her to only wear it short, which is why she mercilessly mocks Will for his hair. She also made an almost shot-by shot remake of Madonna's "Vogue". In the same episode, she claimed that her parents were famous Nazi-hunters (Sue has also made references to having been a sniper and to aiding in the storming of the Suez Canal).

After recreating "Vogue", Sue taped herself Jazzercising to Olivia Newton-John's 1981 hit "Physical", which the Glee kids post to the internet. The video reaches more than 3 million views and causes Sue endless humiliation (including the dreaded "slow-motion laughter") as the staff of McKinley High get revenge on her for humiliating them as often as she had. To try to make herself feel better by "giving back," she signs up as Emma's counselor, and spurs Emma to take a stand for herself and loudly confront Will about his near-infidelities with two women while the two of them were supposed to be working on their relationship. It's in this episode ("Bad Reputation") that Sue meets her new arch-nemesis, the new astronomy teacher and badminton coach, Brenda Castle (Molly Shannon). Eventually, Sue and Olivia Newton-John duet together to recreate "Physical" as a music video, propelling Sue to an A-list singing star, which she viciously rubs in her colleagues faces as she takes her place back atop the school's pecking order.

In "Dream On", Sue persuades Bryan Ryan (Neil Patrick Harris), a school budget executive, to cut the Glee club and put the money in the Cheerios' budget. Her plan fails when Will gives Ryan a part in Les Miserables that they both auditioned for but Will got, in exchange for not cutting the club. In the same episode, Sue and Ryan engage in anger sex.

In "Funk", Sue's constant bullying of Will makes him get revenge on her. When she comes into the choir room with intentions to turn it into a second trophy hall, Will intentionally breaks one of her trophies, frightening the Glee club. He later tries to seduce her with Rufus' "Tell Me Something Good"; she shows no reaction, but writes in her diary that she has "sexy, non-murdering" feelings for him. He asks her out to dinner, only to stand her up in order to humiliate her. Will feels bad when he discovers that she backed out of Nationals; he goes to her (trophy-filled) house to apologize. She wins Nationals and rubs it in his face with the trophy.

Sue serves as a judge at Regionals in "Journey", along with Olivia Newton-John, Josh Groban, and her past crush, Rod Remington. Despite suspicions that Sue was the reason New Directions placed last in the competition, it is revealed that New Directions was actually her choice for first place; having realized her camaraderie with the underdog students being greater than she had expected, after being shunned by the other celebrity judges. She justifies later that while she may not like Will, she respects his work with the students. Blackmailing Figgins one last time, Sue demands that New Directions get one more year for the chance of winning regionals.

Season 2

In season 2, we are to meet her mother as played by Carol Burnett.[13] She and Will are also set to match wits against the new female football coach.

Reception

Sue has been generally well received by critics. On December 15, 2009, Lynch was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Golden Globe Award for her performance in the role.[14][15] Mary McNamara for the Los Angeles Times has written that "Lynch alone makes Glee worth watching".[16] Wendy Mitchell for Entertainment Weekly opined that Sue "may be the sharpest-tongued character on network TV",[17] while Eric Goldman for IGN has called her: "a truly inspired comic creation – so wonderfully smug and sure of herself that she compares herself to the Greek hero Ajax."[18] Goldman opined: "You need a comic actress like Lynch to pull it off, and to make her someone we love spending time watching on TV (even if we'd hate her in real life), but kudos to Ryan Murphy and his writing team for giving us such a great television character."[18] Shawna Malcom for the Los Angeles Times enjoyed Sue's character development in the episode "Vitamin D", noting: "In less skilled hands, there’s no doubt Sue would be an over-the-top disaster. But thanks to the incomparable Jane Lynch, I can’t wait to see what trouble the character stirs up next."[19] Raymund Flandez for The Wall Street Journal suggested that Lynch's performance as Sue in the episode "Throwdown" was Emmy worthy and assessed: "without her snappy SAT comebacks and killer delivery, this show wouldn’t be as much fun".[20] As with Flandez, Liz Pardue for Zap2it also opined that Lynch's performance as Sue in the episode was Emmy-worthy.[21] Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker has called Sue "the greatest Broadway-musical villain to ever co-star in a TV series", and deemed "Throwdown" "possibly the best showcase yet for Jane Lynch".[22]

In contrast, Variety's Brian Lowry has criticized Lynch's "tyrannical cheer matron", calling Glee's adult cast "over-the-top buffoons."[23] He deemed her performance in early episodes: "fitfully funny but usually just plain annoying".[24] Robert Lloyd for the Los Angeles Times opined that: "the writing flattens her toward a single note. She's funny from line to line, but there is little to her besides tin-pot contrariness."[25] Mike Hale for the New York Post wrote that Lynch gave a "one-note performance" in the episode "Preggers", suggesting that she had been miscast in the role.[26]

References

  1. ^ a b c Itzkoff, David (May 18, 2009). "Jane Lynch Brings Her Inner Mean Girl to 'Glee'". New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
  2. ^ Wieselman, Jarett (May 19, 2009). "Meet The Cast of 'Glee,' I Did!". New York Post. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  3. ^ a b Spitznagel, Eric (September 4, 2009). "Q&A: Jane Lynch Might Just Slip You a Mickey". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  4. ^ a b Mineo, Andrea (November 25, 2009). "Stars discuss their unexpected 'Glee'". CNN. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  5. ^ Ryan Murphy (director, writer), Brad Falchuk (writer), Ian Brennan (writer) (2009-09-09). "Showmance". Glee. Season 1. Episode 2. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b Brad Falchuk (writer, director) (2009-09-23). "Preggers". Glee. Season 1. Episode 4. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Brad Falchuk (writer, director) (2009-10-07). "Vitamin D". Glee. Season 1. Episode 6. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Brad Falchuk (writer, director) (2009-10-14). "Throwdown". Glee. Season 1. Episode 7. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Ian Brennan (writer), Elodie Keene (director) (2009-10-21). "Mash-Up". Glee. Season 1. Episode 8. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Ryan Murphy (writer), Paris Barclay (director) (2009-11-11). "Wheels". Glee. Season 1. Episode 9. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Ian Brennan (writer), Bill D'Elia (director) (2009-11-25). "Hairography". Glee. Season 1. Episode 11. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Brad Falchuk (writer, director) (2009-12-09). "Sectionals". Glee. Season 1. Episode 13. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Hetrick, Adam (August 4, 2010). ""Glee" Nabs Carol Burnett as Sue Sylvester's Mom". Playbill.com. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  14. ^ "The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards Nominations" (Press release). Hollywood Foreign Press Association. December 15, 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  15. ^ "Complete List of 2010 Golden Globe Nominations". E! Online. December 15, 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  16. ^ McNamara, Mary (May 19, 2009). "'Glee' on Fox". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  17. ^ Mitchell, Wendy (October 15, 2009). "'Glee' recap: Minority Rules". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  18. ^ a b Goldman, Eric (October 15, 2009). "IGN: "Throwdown" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  19. ^ Malcom, Shawna (October 8, 2009). "'Glee': A dose of (not entirely) friendly competition". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  20. ^ Flandez, Raymund (October 15, 2009). ""Glee" Season 1, Episode 7: TV Recap". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  21. ^ Pardue, Liz (October 14, 2009). "'Glee': Jane Lynch had better get an Emmy for this". Zap2it. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  22. ^ Tucker, Ken (October 14, 2009). "'Glee': Unwanted pregnancy?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  23. ^ Lowry, Brian (May 14, 2009). "Glee". Variety. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  24. ^ Lowry, Brian (September 5, 2009). "Glee". Variety. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  25. ^ Lloyd, Robert (September 9, 2009). "Review: 'Glee'". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
  26. ^ Hale, Mike (September 24, 2009). "'Glee' Watch: Put a Ring On It". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sue_Sylvester&oldid=383246517"