My Take on "Creep" (For Naomi)
Naomi asked my thoughts on "Creep" and here they are:
I think it was perfect in that it addressed all the things I was hoping it would.
Both characters came off as sympathetic. You believe that Brody really loved her--and he acknowledged his lying to her about his career was wrong. You could tell Rachel was wracked with guilt. She said, "I guess I was using," and then her voice almost dies away at "this" because she's so ashamed, and they both know she should say "you," but she just can't.
The anger at the beginning of the scene and how they were eager to accuse the other was good. They both felt so wronged and were rather immaturely pointing fingers, and it was good that they got that out. I really liked Brody's "I know you SLEPT with him," that stinging "SLEPT" was really cathartic for me, as an audience member, waiting for them to stop skipping around the topic and just say what they mean. (I'll admit it was a little weird because I thought, at the end of "I Do," that Brody got what Rachel was saying, and she got that he got it--but maybe Brody thought she was cleverly covering up and she thought she was telling him the truth in an indirect way--being that crazy girl who expects everyone to read her mind and all.)
Then "Creep" had some fantastic visuals. Rachel walking through all the slo-mo dancers looked familiar. ("Barely Breathing" from TBU, anyone?)
The part with Brody sleeping and Rachel awake and singing and vice versa was great, too. It showed that they both knew their relationship was over because they are both singing about not feeling a part of the other's world--shown visually by one being awake while the other is sleeping (and the lyrics are all the singer describing the significant other, as if from afar, feeling like the creep for watching and encroaching on the other's life, clearly unwelcomed). For Brody, it'ss because Rachel doesn't love him--for Rachel because she still loves Finn, so she can't love Brody, though she's tried.
Basically, the bedroom sequence showed that it wasn't just Rachel dumping him out of the blue, watching him sleep and thinking about breaking up. They both had known for a while, even though they were still going through the motions of being a couple in that bedroom. (Until the other went to sleep...)
And I get the "I don't belong here" as the "here" being NYADA. Brody said that, being a student at NYADA with her (that is, having to see her a lot) is gonna suck. They were part of one anothers' support system at NYADA, and they still have to go to NYADA even though they feel less welcome than they used to. They both would rather run out of there than pass each other by in the hallway.