Reception Wheels (Glee)

the casting of kevin mchale, able-bodied actor, character uses wheelchair, drew criticism committee of performers disabilities

wheels watched 7.35 million viewers, , attained 3.3/8 rating/share in 18–49 demographic. twenty-second watched show in canada week of broadcast, attaining 1.69 million viewers. in uk, episode watched 1.877 million viewers (1.463 million on e4, , 414,000 on e4+1), becoming most-watched show on e4 , e4 +1 week, , most-watched show on cable week.

director paris barclay nominated directors guild of america award outstanding directing of comedy series work on wheels , competing against glee creator ryan murphy, nominated work on glee s pilot episode. 62nd primetime emmy awards again saw barclay nominated outstanding directing comedy series award wheels against murphy pilot . o malley nominated outstanding guest actor in comedy series award role in episode burt hummel. production mixer phillip w. palmer , re-recording mixers joseph h. earle jr. , doug andham nominated outstanding achievement in sound mixing television series award @ 2009 cinema audio society awards work on wheels . episode honored @ 2010 television academy honors exemplifying television conscience . academy of television arts & sciences called dynamic episode, paint[s] portrait of how treat others—and how can better.

critical reaction

the episode attracted criticism committee of performers disabilities, felt casting able-bodied actor play disabled student inappropriate. csi star robert david hall commented: think there s fear of litigation, person disabilities might slow production down, fear viewers might uncomfortable. glee s executive producer brad falchuk responded while understood concern , frustration of disability advocates, mchale had singing , acting ability , charisma required role and: s hard no talented . mchale has stated pleased represent character in wheelchair, , that: think s great because s in wheelchair, can still else does. kristin dos santos of e! online refuted criticism of episode, opining that: wheels empowering people disabilities , sends out uplifting message disabled community. gerrick kennedy of los angeles times expressed similar sentiment, stating: here have episode bluntly addressing complexities of disability , doing so respect , dignity, , there complaints artie not being wheelchair-bound in real life? cooooome on, guys.

tim stack entertainment weekly called wheels great, great episode , stating made him cry several times. mtv s aly semigran commented episode brought tears, suggesting lynch s performance emmy-worthy , deeming wheels standout hour of tv . raymund flandez of wall street journal reviewed episode positively, calling artie s rendition of dancing myself catchy , upbeat , praising rachel s defying gravity audition, wrote: leaves wanting more. kennedy described episode sheer perfection , , james poniewozik of time made pun: glee s been pleasure, if raises storytelling ambitions way, can defy gravity.

alan sepinwall of star-ledger wrote while finds glee show serious identity crisis , did not dislike wheels as previous episodes. sepinwall wrote while glee can broad , in-your-face , self-congratulatory , episode more human-scaled [and] more interesting. maureen ryan of chicago tribune commented while other episodes of glee lack coherence , narrative drive , wheels did not have problem, describing case study of glee right , deeming artie , kurt s storylines provocative , thoughtfully handled.

mike hale of new york times felt episode problematic. thought having kurt sabotage own audition sent out mixed message , , believed actress lauren potter used prop in continuing humanization of sue sylvester. hale wrote storyline felt smarmy , artificial , though praised lynch making scene sue s sister warm , real . entertainment weekly s dan snierson felt revelation sue s sister little manipulative , though wrote didn t care in glorious moment. hoped glee s writers not humanize sue often, however, fearing lose dictatorial swagger . eric goldman ign rated episode 7.5/10, commenting: hope episode getting lot of issue storylines out of way @ once, because lot of overkill. felt that, although episode contained usual strong humor, warm character moments , catchy musical performances , overall felt afterschool special .