The TV Chick

I wasn’t absolutely head over heels in love with last night’s episode of Glee. Whew, I got it out. Deep breath. There were some major high points for me in “Laryngitis” and I loved every musical performance (I don’t think Lea Michele’s purposefully awful rendition of “The Climb” counts), however, I missed Sue, Emma, and Terri.

The episode centered around songs that represent each member of the Glee Club. Puck was struggling with losing his mojo after he had to shave his mohawk. Nerds were throwing him into the garbage can, so he devises a plan to date Mercedes to become popular again. Puck asks Mercedes out by making some hilarious comments. She rebuffs him. My favorite line of Puck’s was: “I’m a sex shark, if I stop moving, I die.” We also find out that Rachel had the Glee club bugged to see who’s actually singing, and most people in the club have not been singing at all.

However, the best part of the episode was the running storyline with Kurt. His dad shows up at school to take Finn to a baseball game, which obviously leaves him feeling left out. Kurt was absent at Cheerios practice, and confides in Sue. Surprisingly, Sue gives him some really interesting and un-Sue like advice. She asks him show does he know who he is if he’s never made out with a girl or a guy. She then hilariously snaps back into Sue mode and tells him only she can tell him what he is. Kurt’s dad goes to speak to him, sensing he is hurt and Kurt is dressed totally unlike himself. In a desperate move to relate to his dad, he tells him that he picked Pink Houses by John Mellencamp for his song that shows his true self. The entire Glee Club is clearly confused by his choice of song. It seems like no matter what he does, he still can’t win his dad’s affection. More on this later.

Rachel gets tonsillitis but is too scared to get her tonsils out because she doesn’t want to lose her singing voice. Finn is with her and supporting her the whole way through. I enjoyed this part because Finn wasn’t trying to pick her up or ask her out or insult Jesse. There was no high school drama (that I love but still). It seemed like Finn was really just being a true friend. What he does later on in the episode proves that he really is a good guy. For his song, Finn sings Jesse’s girl. Clearly, the writers were waiting for the perfect moment to slip this in, but I thought it was pretty great. Sure, it made you go “Ohhh, so that’s why they named him Jesse,” but regardless, I liked this particular Finn solo.

Puck sings The Lady is a Tramp to woo Mercedes (so great, I love when Puck sings solos) and Mercedes joins in at the end. I have to say, perhaps I am in the minority here but I didn’t love the stuff with Puck and Mercedes. I think they are both great characters, and maybe Puck would randomly decide to use Mercedes to become popular again, but it was the only thing about this episode I didn’t find entirely genuine. That said, Santana and Mercedes’ rendition of “The Boy is Mine” was brilliant. I will admit to listening to that song on my super cool cassette and CD boombox over and over. I also liked when Quinn and Mercedes had a heart-to-heart. Their scenes are full of great, heartwarming moments and I loved that we found out Quinn’s living situation, and Puck’s bizarre love of Super Mario Brothers. With Kurt’s new “change,” Brittany asks if he wants to make out to keep her perfect record. The scene with them making out is both hilarious and sweet. I liked when Kurt asked what it’s like to kiss a guy. Kurt’s dad walks in on this and is rightfully confused.

Mercedes and Puck begin “dating”and everyone is scared of him again. Mercedes knows she’s being used but has never had someone like Puck crush on her so she accepts it. At first, I wasn’t happy with her acceptance of this but in the end, she shows that she respects herself too much to let Puck use her. That felt genuine…their short-lived relationship did not. Mercedes also quits the Cheerios to stay true to herself, a decision I also respect. I admire her for being such a strong character who is now finally being true to who she is. That’s not to say that she can’t be popular — I think she has every right to be even without the cheerios — but her reign might be over for the time being.

One of the other extremely touching storylines was when Finn takes Rachel to meet a friend (Sean) who was a football player but is now paralyzed. Sean tells Rachel that he misses everything but he has come to realize he is more than just a football player. Rachel thanks him. I thought this showed Finn’s more human side and Rachel’s too. It takes a lot to break Rachel, and this was really nice to see. Rachel goes back to visit Sean later (after she finally gets her voice back). She thanks him again for teaching her that she is something even if she can’t sing. She offers to give him singing lessons (earlier in the episode Finn alluded to Sean being a good singer).

Back in school, Kurt and Brittany are holding hands walking down the hallway. Kurt’s dad is taking Finn to another night out, which upsets Kurt again. He then sings maybe the most perfect song choice (next to “Total Eclipse,” “Take A Bow,” and “Like A Prayer”) with Rose’s Turn. Except, it’s Kurt’s turn! This song really exemplified how well music is chosen on this show. It has been critiqued before for seeming like the songs dominate the story instead of the other way around. However, I don’t think Kurt could have had a better song. I loved the lights at the end. It turns out, Kurt’s dad was listening to him the whole time and applauds him. They finally have a real heart-to-heart and an incredibly candid conversation about his sexuality and his dad’s acceptance of it. His dad dreamed of having a boy to take to baseball games but he loves his son no matter what and will fight for his right to love whomever he wants. You really don’t see this on network TV, especially with a high school student and I couldn’t have any more respect for Ryan Murphy and his creative team if I tried. Burt tells Kurt (that just sounds weird) that he doesn’t have to work at anything, just be himself. His job is to love Kurt no matter what. I was so touched by this moment. Kurt and his dad have had some great moments in the past and this just shows how great Chris Colfer and Mike O’Malley are.

At the end, Rachel and Sean sing “One” which turns into the whole Glee club singing the U2 ballad. This was also a super touching moment and a great way to end the episode. I enjoyed all of the songs, and I think each song choice really fit the episode. The theme of being true to yourself is always a good one and the Kurt/Burt moments were just so wonderful. I hope it’s not the last we see of Sean, too. However, I just don’t believe Puck and Mercedes would ever be together for a variety of reasons. It seemed like just a one episode thing though, so that I’m happy about. I also really enjoy the adults on the show: Emma, Sue, and Terri. I expect they will be back in the next few episodes, but I missed their presence in this one. Next week’s episode looks epic. Neil Patrick Harris guest stars and he and Matthew Morrison sing Dream On. It’s also a big Artie-centric episode which I always enjoy. Look for my interview with Kevin McHale next week! Despite the fact that this episode of Glee was not my all time favorite, I still thought there were really great parts. (And Brittany, as usual, was comedy gold). I always look forward to it each week.

Glee airs Tuesday nights at 9 pm on FOX.

And here’s my favorite performance of the episode. Kurt sings “Rose’s Turn”: