Why Is Kurt Getting Pushed Aside?

Is it just me, or has Glee really been giving Kurt Hummel the hardest time lately? On Tuesday night, Glee aired the anticipated episode "Old Dog, New Tricks" written by Chris Colfer and not even then was Kurt really allowed to experience the type of success every other cast member has had so far. I can't be the only one that feels like this is a problem, right? Kurt has gone from an ambitious and stellar performer to more or less being Rachel and Blaine's dead weight and that's an insane injustice.

"Old Dog, New Tricks" was, again, all about Rachel Berry and rehabbing her image following last Tuesday's big fat lie to her producers that caused her to miss a show. Now, I wouldn't mind this — it actually was a pretty good episode, which I'm sure we can only contribute to Colfer's impressive writing skills. But all I could think about while the cast pranced around a NYC animal shelter was why Kurt Hummel's starting to be treated like a burden. Because even Santana and Sam have figured their lives out and have successfully launched careers. (Santana really amazes me.) And why, while everyone else is experiencing success (that some don't even deserve), Kurt's stuck in a rut.

I realize that he did a great thing and had a great time helping out the elderly, former Broadway performers with their Peter Pan production on Tuesday. But that only happened after he'd had a falling out with Rachel because she didn't want him to perform at her charity event. (Honestly, the pitying look on her face when she said that she was keeping it "just girls" made me want to slap her.) It's almost as if Kurt is desperately trying to find something to cling onto to keep himself relevant to his friends and his fiancé. Like he said on Tuesday night, his band is on hiatus and other than working at the diner, he's really got nothing else going on. And I'm forced to wonder why the writers, who are being way too nice to Rachel, are kind of casting Kurt aside career-wise.

The last time Kurt seemed to be doing well for himself was when he bounced back from getting beaten up in "Bash" and had thrown himself into getting in shape. And that episode became all about Blaine feeling inferior because he was gaining the Freshman 15. Now that Blaine's been taken under Shirley Maclaine's wing and he's the big man on campus, it's totally cool for him to treat Kurt like he's holding him back? No.

Kurt's a talented performer, he always has been, and his character has already faced it's fair of hard knocks — some literally. And if Rachel and Blaine — who have always been, but are blindingly so now, entitled — deserve all of this success, there has to be a better way for them to get it than making Kurt feel small and untalented. Because when they've needed him, he's been there for them, so it's really incredibly shitty to treat him like a burden.

Get it together, Glee.

Image: FOX