This week " Glee" reminds us that even when the songs are fun, the laughs are solid and there's a meaningful plotline, it doesn't all add up to a good episode. Sure, we hummed along to the mash-ups, giggled at Sue's return, and are left with many emotional questions over Santana and Finn's encounters, but the parts don't make a coherent whole. And there were a whole lot of parts to slog through to the payoff -- a slap heard 'round the fan community.
We begin with Puck, letting us know that he's in love with Shelby after their kiss two episodes ago, and does so in typical "Glee" fashion -- with a fantasy musical sequence set to "Hot For Teacher." At first you think the "Glee" kids are just wearing awful outfits as per usual (Blaine's tie, in particular, is not a far cry from anything he's worn this season) but then you realizes it's an '80s throwback dream sequence the segues into a choir room performance. Kurt's bemused and horrified face says it all, as Mike and Blaine engage in some risque dance moves and mock-fencing to back up Puck, with Finn on drums. Mr. Schue leaps up at the end, extremely pleased, possibly misinterpreting that they were hot for him, as the teacher, and not Shelby. In your dreams, Will.
"Glee" integrates Sue Sylvester back into the mix via amazingly ridiculous campaign ads that smear Burt Hummel as having a baboon heart, and later as being married to a donkey. While Burt and Will are taking the high road, eventually all the muckraking has very real consequences. But we'll get to that later. For now, we want to pat the editor tasked with those faux commercials very heartily on the back. The show has blossomed for lack of Sue recently, but this was the perfect dose of her insanity.
Sectionals are fast approaching and ignoring the much touted in previous seasons numerical requirement for competition, apparently both New Directions and Troubletones will compete. Will and Shelby decide to throw a mash-off, a mash-up competition between the two groups, which the pair announce by singing a horrendous mash-up of Lady Gaga's "You and I" with the 1982 Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle duet by the same name. We stand with Brittney's quote, "Is this what having a stroke feels like?" We just don't agree with liking the feeling.
While Puck tries to seduce Shelby with the gift of a mini pumpkin and the compelling argument that they're both hot and Beth needs a dad, back in the choir room the group starts planning their mash-up based on bands that have stuck together through the long run. Hall & Oates is somehow the obvious choice, and when Finn calls out that the new guy should take lead, awkwardly offering it to Rory right in the face of other prominent new guy, Blaine. Blaine, however, is a good sport and encourages Rory to take the lead, apparently mending the rift that's been between Finn and Blaine all season. Well, that was easy. In the hallway Finn explains trash talk to Rory, and they confront Santana who, after telling them off in her very Santana way, accepts their dodgeball challenge. Because violence is always the answer.
Rachel is still on her quest to get into NYADA next fall, and enlists Shelby's help as her recommendation, which she's already pre-written. They have a sweet bonding moment, and Shelby points out that someone without Rachel's extracurriculars will have a hard time getting into NYADA. As soon as we return from commercial, the focus is on Kurt, who is fighting for the same goal. Rachel tries to bond with him and he's cold, pointing out that she should have thought about his friendship before she declared her candidacy. The dodgeball fight begins, set to a mash of "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" sung by New Directions with "One Way or Another" sung by Troubletones. Everyone bounces around in their stylized athletic-wear and Britt's gymnastic skills are top notch, giving it just the right match of fantasy and reality for a stand-out "Glee" number. All the dodgeball hits are played for laughs until Santana slams Finn squarely in the face. He says good game, calling an end to the feud, but she and the Troubletones start mercilessly attacking a helpless Rory until Kurt rushes in and calls a stop to it. Santana tries to keep the viciousness going at Troubletones practice, but Mercedes and the rest of the group shut her down, and when Britt sing-songs at her she finally acquiesces and promises to make nice. She finds Finn in the hallway under the pretense of apologizing, but her apology is more like an extended insult at Finn, and as she walks away self-satisfied, Finn coolly asks her when she's going to come out of the closet and stop being a coward about how she's in love with Britt. There's a few looks, and a mild hush over the halls, but mostly things go on as normal in the McKinely halls. But unfortunately it doesn't end there.
But until that bomb explodes, we have Puck telling Shelby about Quinn's plans to call child services, continuing his plea to be part of Beth's life. Later, when Quinn shows up trying to play nice, Shelby calls her out on this, pointing out that to be a mother is more than just having the child, it's putting everything about that child first. Quinn retorts that Shelby isn't a mother either, calling her a cash whore for giving up Rachel for money, completely ignoring that Shelby was a surrogate and Rachel does biologically belong to one of her gay dads. Someone really needs to sit down and explain to Quinn how the world works before she graduates.
Over at the mash-off, New Directions wins the toss and goes first with and '80s-rific "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" / "You Make My Dreams", in full-out Miami Vice blazers and moustaches. The girls are dressed mildly more sensible, and while it's a fun, retro number, they probably could have come up with something better to wow the Troubletones, since they're going to be on the attack with Adele. Having an Adele mash-up is like an atomic bomb against a revolver. New Directions won't know what hit them.
Because nothing is linear in "Glee" world, we break from the mash-off to go to the senior class president speeches. A mulleted hockey player candidate talks about making teachers work for them (and will probably win the whole thing), Britt declares a war on tornadoes and also pledges to go topless. Kurt, after delicately taking off his decorative unicorn horn, broadens his campaign from anti-obesity to take a stand against dodgeball. He picks up the mic and lays down some serious dodgeball facts, all while Blaine nods along from the front row, drawing the elimination of dodgeball into a stand against bullying and violence. While it's still a pointless campaign issue, it's leaps and bounds above everyone else.
When Rachel finally stands to make her speech, she shocks everyone by withdrawing from the race and throwing her allegiance behind Kurt. It's probably not enough to win against a tornado ban, but it's the thought that counts. The pair reunite, and Rachel reminds us that part of the fun of going to New York is going there with Kurt by her side. We're still not convinced either will manage to get into NYADA, but we'll happily watch a show where they squat in a Bushwick loft and work at diners to make their New York dreams come true. Whatever it takes to get them away from the insanity that is Lima.
The combined bomb of Sue's negative political tactics and Finn's lack of tact come to ahead with the teachers, plus Burt Hummel, calling Santana into Sue's office to show her a campaign ad about to be run by another Congressional competitor seeking to discredit Sue by pointing out that the family values candidate has a lesbian head cheerleader. Santana bursts into tears, sobbing that her parents don't know yet before running off down the hallway. We segue into the Troubletones' Adele mash-up of "Rumor Has It / Someone Like You" that is arguably the best performance "Glee" has done since "Don't Stop Believin'." It's perhaps handicapped by being Adele, which as "Saturday Night Live" pointed out this week, biologically makes anyone and everyone burst into tears. While lyrically, performance-wise, it begs for the number to be about a relationship issue between Britt and Santana, not Santana's devastation about her secret finally being out, Naya Rivera's powerful vocals and the strong arrangement still packs the emotional punch "Glee" was targeting, even if it's off-center.
As the number ends, Santana leaps off the stage to call out Finn for what's he's done. Finn, for his part, doesn't realize his actions have any real consequences. He thinks since everyone knows at McKinley and no one cares, Santana's outting was just as bad as her calling him chubby all episode. Santana, of course, and the rest of the gay kids at McKinely (as the camera swiftly cuts to Kurt), know better. This arc between Finn and Santana is one of the strongest, but unfortunately "Glee" left it to rot in the middle of a haphazard episode, and one where Santana's meanness might overshadow for some the true danger and carelessness of Finn's outing and cripple our emotional connection with Santana. We've been waiting a long time for this character to be forced to confront her reality, but her harshness in this episode alone shocks the sympathy away from her character. We can only hope in the next episode that the reality of her situation shapes up and takes true center stage.
source: billboard.com
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