If there’s one show that seems to be the pop culture zeitgeist hit of the new television season, it’s Glee, and with good reason: the show is entertaining, engrossing, funny, and it’s got killer music. It’s also one of the most frustrating shows on television right now.

I think what’s so infuriating about the show is that it hasn’t decided with any consistency what it wants to be. High school satire? Full-on musical TV show that’s super campy? Pitch-black comedy? A showcase for some great natural singing? The show’s biggest problem is the style of music jarring with the style of the program. Nearly all of the songs arise in a natural manner (like they’re singing in rehearsal or are supposed to exist in a real-world environment). They’ve hired talented singers to fill the roles, but they can’t make the music feel organic at all (it’s all an Auto-Tuned hell, and they’ve picked good songs that usually do a really great job from a narrative standpoint, but they have so much gloss and production on them that it’s distracting). It’s what made “Ride With Me” such a treat, ’cause it sounded like they were all in a classroom joyously singing together. These people have the chops, for the most part – let ‘em sing.

Then, of course, there’s the dreaded fake-pregnancy storyline, which doesn’t work at all. God bless Jessalyn Gelsig, though, as the crazy “mom” to be – as she so loonily proved on Nip/Tuck, she does crazy about as well as anyone working in the industry. The Will/Emma/Ken triangle is working pretty well (now that they’re acting like adults about it and everyone seems to acknowledge that there’s chemistry between Will and Emma). Most importantly, the acting is consistently impressive, primarily from Jayma Mays (can we get her and Anna Faris playing sisters in something soon?), Jane Lynch, Gelsig, and Dianna Agron as pregnant cheerleader Quinn. Agron is the one who constantly blows me away. There are so many moments where you can just feel her getting it and bringing depth to what is probably the most stereotypical role on the show.

Though Glee has been all over the map and back again, there’s some quality that I can’t quite pinpoint that makes it work, even in its current flawed state. But I suppose I will take this as improvement, as a handful of episodes ago, I was tweeting that there was something nagging at me that was a gaping problem in the show. The show has only improved as it’s unfurled more episodes, which bodes well for the rest of this season. It’s a good sign that there seems to be so many fans and critics alike talking about the show’s flaws and pulling for the show to overcome them and become something great. It definitely has the potential.