“What if we’re not good enough to make it?,” Kurt asks Rachel about halfway through the third season premiere of ‘Glee’. It’s a moment of self-doubt for the characters, one that they must eventually overcome – but it left me wondering if the show’s writers have asked themselves the same question yet. What if ‘Glee’ isn’t good enough to make it?

Most shows from producer Ryan Murphy start out strong for a season or so, and then eventually fizzle out. It’s his curse. While I wouldn’t say that ‘Glee’ has had a defining jump-the-shark moment yet, Season Two certainly lost a lot of steam, and the Season Three premiere ‘The Purple Piano Project’ doesn’t do much to rectify that.

Most of the main cast has returned, except for Sam the Trouty Mouth. Actor Chord Overstreet was fired during the hiatus, and his character is written out with a brief, dismissive line of dialogue. I guess he did something to piss off one of the producers. Among the rest of the characters, we’re finally informed which ones are seniors and which are juniors. This will obviously have big repercussions on Season Four, if there is one.

Most of the kids are concerned about their college plans. Rachel and Kurt have big dreams of going to Julliard, until Ms. Pillsbury informs them that Julliard doesn’t have a musical theater department. She steers them instead to something called NYADA, the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts, which as far as I can tell is fictional. Although informed that the program is hotly competitive, they stroll into the auditions cocky as can be, only to have their confidence deflated by the very talented competition.

Quinn has dyed her hair pink and is acting nonconformist, or something. She’s dropped out of both Glee Club and the Cheerios, and has started hanging out with a bunch of freaks who call themselves “The Skanks.” Yeah, that’s going to end well. Lauren is still around, but has also dropped out of Glee. Stepping in to fill one of those spots is Blaine, who transferred to McKinley High to be with Kurt. The club also gets an audition from a new student named Sugar, a stuck-up bitch who claims to have Asperger Syndrome (but may just be using that as an excuse to be rude to people) and who cannot sing in the slightest. Mr. Schuester is conflicted about rejecting her, but eventually does so for the best interest of the team. He’s decided that he has to be ruthless this year if he wants to win Nationals.

Will also kicks Santana out of Glee for her bad attitude and for working as a double agent for Sue.

Despite her apparent breakthrough last year, Sue is back to conspiring against Will and the Glee Club. She’s running for Congress, and is failing miserably at it until she takes up an anti-arts platform that resonates with ignorant voters.

For his first assignment of the new school year, Will has placed a bunch of purple pianos that will move around the school randomly every day. When the students come across one, they are to bust out a song wherever they happen to be. This goes about as well as you’d expect. An impromptu performance of “We Got the Beat” in the cafeteria results in a food fight. Basically, everyone in the school hates the Glee kids again. Things are much the same as they’ve ever been.

Other musical numbers this week include Sugar’s tone-deaf rendition of “Big Spender,” Kurt and Rachel doing a jazzy version of “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead,” the other NYADA candidatesBlaine singing “It’s Not Unusual,” and a big group performance of “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” which turns out to be the only number in the whole episode with any energy.

I don’t know. The episode isn’t terrible or anything. It just feels like more of the same that we’ve already seen. The show has lost its spark. I have a hard time getting excited to watch it anymore.