gLee: Season 3, Episode 8 - "Hold On To Sixteen"

Recap
It's no secret that the glee writers are much more skilled at in-the-moment dialogue than they have ever been at writing multi-episode story arcs. To be able to watch glee without developing the urge to blow your brains out, you must suspend even the most basic knowledge of what makes up a story, or even a character. It can be worth it, though... this show is arguably the greatest guilty pleasure of all time if you're into that sort of thing, which I clearly am - glee and I are total frenemies.

In tonight's episode, just about every storyline we've been following so far this season reached a resolution of some sort. Were those resolutions, like, actual resolutions? Not for the most part (with the possible exception of Mike Chang), but that’s because many of the storylines were already existing in ridiculous directions. New glee club name: Ridiculous Directions. Aside from the ticking time bomb that is graduation, the only plotline that didn't seemingly come to an end this week was that of Santana. This is largly unsuprising since it is also no secret that the glee writers afford much more care and effort into the gay-centric storylines, which is both extremely admirable and mind-bogglingly disrespectful to the 4,683 (and counting) other characters on this show.

Quinn’s resolution made it seem as though the writers suddenly realized exactly how far off The Hot/Crazy Scale they'd sent her, so they decided to just stop and reel her back in as quickly as possible. They didn’t want it to appear that this was what they were doing, however, so she was still pretty crazy for the first half of the episode (the look in her eyes at the end of the opening scene between her and Rachel was legitimately terrifying). This all made it seem even more rushed than it would have anyway, because now instead of doing a 180° within a full hour, she did it in about three scenes. And then, AND THEN she's apparently going to Yale now. Like, wtf since when? The Tina/Mike Chang plot taught us that we are recently past the admissions due date for most schools, so when exactly is she planning to apply? Unless that's what she'd been up to when she wasn't, like, framing Shelby for murder or hanging out with The Skanks. We've never been shown anything regarding Quinn's studies, so there is no reason to assume that she isn't a good student, but I think the common assumption is that Yale is a fairly selective school. I definately don't hate Quinn as much as some people do nowadays (Shelby is pure evil), but this show doesn't even follow the rules of its own logic. The biggest overall arc of the season so far has been about how hard Rachel and Kurt realize they need to work in order to be accepted to their imaginary dream school, and yet the same universe has Quinn possibly getting into an actual Ivy League university like it ain't no thang?

That all said, if they decide to just go on pretending that the whole Shelby debacle never took place, but they find another way to continue utilizing Quinn without demonizing her, I'll take it. My massive girl crush on Dianna Agron is too massive for me to ever hate Quinn, no matter how much the writers inexplicably try to lead us there. I just wish they shared my crush.

Speaking of things that are legitimately terrifying, remember when Blaine malfunctioned during "The First Time"? Well, he was at it again this week - he was aaall over the place. First, he was crying over Finn not wanting to be best brother-in-laws (they would get to that in a few scenes, which is bullsh--). Then he was trying to kill Sam Evans. Then he was pounding it with Finn, and somehow as a result of that we won Sectionals.

We won Sectionals, by the way.

I'm sure I was intended to feel all sappy-happy over Finn and Blaine's newfound bromance, but no. It was healthy to have at least one character on this show not be completely infatuated with Blaine, who was pretty successfully shoved down our throats last year. If nothing else, they were at least covering all of their bases in terms of character interpretation. Besides, that mysterious background arc of Finn's bubbling resentment towards Blaine was one of my favorite things about this season so far. It at least gave people like me somebody to identify with, because Blaine is literally unreal. I mean, all of the sudden he HATES Sam? Absolutely furious. Have they ever even met before? I don’t think so… This is probably the craziest we’ve seen him since the time he chased that guy around Limited Too or whatever. Beware Kurt, your boyfriend might actually be insane. I'd buy it - that’s what they would have done on Nip/Tuck. Or Degrassi.

Yet somehow, despite the fact that most of what happened felt rushed/convenient/unbelievable, and even though I wasn't blown away by any of the musical performances, I still found this to be one of the more impressive episodes of Season 3 thus far. The in-the-moment dialogue was superb, and for the first time in centuries nearly every character was utilized (with the definate exception of Kermit the Leprachaun, who I'm beginning to feel genuinely sorry for - The Glee Project never should have happened).

Coming up next week... The classic television side adventure known as The Christmas Episode. Don't expect much in terms of plot development, even by glee standards. Especially by glee standards.

Gleek of the Week
Definately Tina, but... also maybe Rachel??
A first for both - another thing to like about this episode.

gLee: Season 3, Episode 5 - "The First Time"

Even looking at this still, it's clear which character we are actually concerned with.

Recap
One of the few things gLee does really well is in the way its characters will occasionally make obscure musical theatre references in casual conversation, and either you get it or you don't. Tonight's episode was a more broad-scale version of that, and as I have never seen West Side Story or listened to the music of West Side Story, I assume I missed out on many of the nuances. It's a real bummer too, because how often does gLee even have nuances?
Much like last month's "Asian F," there was quite a bit of buzz surrounding this episode prior to its debut, most likely due to the fact that almost everyone knew what it was going to be about as soon as the title was released (the gLee producers are also pretty bad at keeping secrets, or feeling that secrets should be kept in the first place). The Parents Television Council tried to make controversy happen by calling the episode "reprehensible" for "celebrating teen sex," but the fuss failed to catch on because there really isn't anything offensive or irresponsible about this episode (save for Blaine and other such plot holes, but look at what show you're watching), and because the PTC is constantly crying wolf on gLee. It has no impact anymore. Instead, the highly-anticipated episode was the object of much early acclaim, with some critics calling it a "return to form." I don’t know that I would call this week a return to form, because I don’t think this episode could have happened back in the “Road to Sectionals” days. Instead it was a bit like when Community does something it hasn't tried before, only much less thrilling. If I may, Rachel acted like an anti-meta Abed, thoroughly convinced that her life was destined to parallel West Side Story. By this, she was able to underline the episode’s theme without having to spell it out on the white board. Speaking of the white board, there weren't any scenes in the choir room this week.

The episode begins on a somewhat creepy, largely inappropriate note when Artie calls Rachel and Blaine out on their "strange aversion to fun" because neither of them has ever had sex. He puts it in their heads that they will never be able to convince the audience of any believable passion between Maria and Tony as long as they remain virgins, so just do it already. The fact that neither one of them appears to realize that absolutely none of this falls under the umbrella of his direction is far more unsettling than any of the sexy sex that happens as a result, but hey. We already have our entire plot set in motion and the only person they were forced to sacrifice along the way was Artie. Thank goodness these characters are so flexible.

Rachel, determined as hell to win a Tony Award for her lead performance in a high school production, takes Artie's perversion to heart and decides that she must have sex with Finn ASAP. He's ready, but wants to wait because he wants their first time to be special and has been saving up for a nice hotel room. Rachel panics and blurts out that she has to "get this done" by opening night, causing him to stand up and leave her to wallow in self pity alone by the fireplace. This leads me to believe that she is either too stupid to deceive properly, or that she is just too stupid. Finn, on the other hand, has matured in a very impressive way since his days of pleading with Grilled Cheesus to let him touch Rachel's boobs. I would say that so far, he is Season 3's MVP. He also hates Blaine for some unknown reason and I totally get that. Here's why:

With opening night quickly approaching, Blaine takes a day trip to Dalton Academy to shower his former backup vocalists in a block of tickets he reserved for them. It is there he meets the Warblers' newest member, Sebastian, whom they try to convince us is a dreamboat when actually he's just downright creepy. Regardless of what Artie says, Sebastian finds Blaine to be "sex on a stick" (barf in my mouth), and the attraction seems mutual. Kurt basically catches the two of them out on a date, and Sebastian invites them to accompany him at the local gay bar, Scandals. Somehow Kurt is designated chauffeur, so Blaine spends the entire evening drinking and dancing with Sebastian, and who better to keep Kurt company at a gay bar than his good ol' frenemy, Dave Karofsky?! We finally learn where in the world Karofsky has been, which is at a different school where no speculation about his sexuality exists. He is still in the closet, but has grown comfortable enough in his burly bear cub skin to feel accepted at Scandals. Cheers to baby steps!

Exactly what makes Blaine think it’s acceptable to dance with another guy while Kurt sits all by himself, watching? And exactly what makes Kurt and everybody else think it’s acceptable to let him get away with doing so just because he wears sweet bowties? Kudos to Karofsky for making Kurt realize that his boyfriend was being a total jackass. What would Kurt ever do without Karofsky?

...He would be nearly molested by said jackass boyfriend, that's what.
Blaine had one whole beer, so he is cuh-razy wasted by the time Kurt attempts to drive him home, and he tries to make their First Time happen right then and there in the back seat of Kurt's car. Kurt is forced to say "no" or "stop" like, ten times before Blaine actually obeys. This scene proves a big problem with the character Blaine, which is that the writers have molded him into such a squeaky-clean, sweater vest-wearing ball of perfection that any time he does something even slightly unlikeable, it comes across as treacherous. Of course I don't think that Blaine would ever actually rape anyone ever, but if the tables were turned and Finn tried to force Rachel to have sex with him like that, it would be treated as a much bigger deal. I'm glad that Kurt listed Blaine's super inconsiderate behavior with Sebastian as one of the many reasons they most certainly were not about to have sex. So then Blaine gets pissy and decides to walk himself home. Finn and I say good riddance.

Mike Chang's dad approaches him at his locker (this school really needs tighter security), and threatens to disown him if he doesn't drop out of the musical. He refuses, and disowns his dad right back. If this paragraph feels random and out of place, it's because that D-plot came out of absolute nowhere and lasted for one single scene. I thought Mike Chang and his mom were going to talk to his dad together? Why would they be having this conversation in the hallway at school?

Apparently all Artie wants to do this week is rid McKinley of its remaining virgins, so he creepily inserts himself into the private life of Coach Bieste as well. He confronts her in the auditorium and asks her flat out whether or not she has ever had sex. She correctly tells him that his questions are "totally inappropriate," before confessing to a crush on the awkwardly-named college football recruiter Cooter Mankins, who may very well have a crush on her in return. So Artie, being the go-getter he is this week, tracks Cooter down and basically orders him to ask her out. Artie, I realize the writers completely robbed you of a potential storyline after you were made director of the musical, but this is getting a little absurd.
Coach Bieste is probably my favorite character, but her storyline felt a little out of place in this episode. Not because it didn’t connect thematically, but because it was so new and happening all at once. Yes, her feelings that she is incapable of being loved were previously explained to us in one of last season’s better episodes “Never Been Kissed,” but just last week we didn’t even know this Cooter man existed. Still the episode treated the plot development as if the audience already wanted the two of them to end up together. Of course I want Coach Bieste to find love, but what if this guy is Jesse St. James’s uncle or something?

By the end of the episode, both couples make up and make love, and Coach Bieste agrees to go on a date with the awkwardly-named college football recruiter Cooter Mankins after he passes over Finn in favor of Tinker from Friday Night Lights because, well, Finn was never on Friday Night Lights.

Coming up next week... Various Adele songs, and Puck is in love with Shelby. She seems mildly inconvenienced by this.

Musical Performances
"Tonight"
Performed by Rachel & Blaine
Remember back many moons to Season One, when Rachel quit New Directions because Mr. Schuester dared to let Tina sing this song? That's the only time I've ever heard it before; I didn't even know it was a duet. Their vocals sounded great (these are the kinds of songs they should stick Lea Michele with, and save the Britney Spears/Katy Perry stuff for never), but unlike Coach Bieste I was nowhere near tears. I've never been much of a love ballad kinda girl, sorry.

"Uptown Girl"
Performed by the Warblers
Being the sole non-West Side Story song in the episode only served to highlight how unnecessary and disruptive it was to the flow of the story. Also, why was Blaine wearing shoes with no socks?

"A Boy Like That"
Performed by Santana & Rachel
This is when things started to get inspired. The performance was intercut with Blaine and Sebastian's date (it was totally a date), and from what I could gather, the lyrics pointed out the fact that Sebastian was not to be trusted and that Blaine was letting his guard down too easily. Technically speaking, this also helped save episode space, as we were moving right along with the storylines while getting to watch the West Side Story rehearsals, simultaneously. If the show could figure a way to do this more often, we might actually see New Directions practicing for competition without stopping each episode dead in its tracks five different times to do so.

"America"
Performed by the cast of West Side Story
The Simon & Garfunkel song of the same title is more my style, but I can appreciate that this was well-performed, even if it did totally look like Puck was wearing a mohawk toupée. Speaking of, since when is Puck in the drama club? Why do none of the other students making up that enormous ensemble have any interest in joining the glee club? What planet does this show take place on? How did Kermit the Leprechaun get a role in the school musical? He only got here last week!

"One Hand, One Heart"
Performed by Blaine & Rachel
Perfectly intertwined, both visually and narratively, with refreshingly subtle shots of the foreplay between our resident lovebirds. It was the polar opposite of the "Like A Virgin" sequence from Season One. It felt a bit like a finalé for this episode. Who knew glee could be so sophisticated?

Leftover Thoughts

• A storyline about two teenage boys in a same-sex relationship deciding to lose their respective virginities to one another, in a network show that airs at 8o'clock on Tuesday night? Go, glee!
• Further scientific proof that Blaine is not human: He reaches personality-altering levels of drunkenness off of a single beer. Nobody does that. I propose that the liquid infiltrated his circuit board, causing him to malfunction.
• Cory Montieth sure is cute, huh?
• Jacob Ben Isreal's poll has Rachel tied in first place for the presidential race? Is he punking her?
• Kurt apologizes to Blaine for some crap reason. More barf in my mouth.
• I would have expected the West Side Storyline to last longer than the class presidential race. The cast list was only posted two episodes ago, and it's already showtime? How long does it take to elect a class president?
• Make note of the fact that Blaine all but admits to Sebastian that he never really wanted to transfer schools. Can't say I didn't warn him. I wonder if this will turn into a thing.
• Everybody talking to Rachel about "sexual awakening" = Guilty Ones shout-out??
• Blaine does not take my breath away, but Chris Colfer does.
• Mike Chang’s dad pretty much doesn’t deserve to live, but I’m still not entirely convinced I care. I would, however, care to see Papa Chang duke it out with Burt Hummel. A Father’s Day-themed episode, perhaps? That should also be the episode in which they introduce Harvey Fierstein & Taye Diggs as Rachel’s Two Gay Dads. I long ago decided that they are the two best candidates. Tell me you don’t love it.

Quotes

Blaine - "Besides, tearing off all of your clothes is sort of a tall order."

Kurt - "Because of the layers?"

Blaine - "Because of the layers."

Puck - "As for the condoms - no idea, never used them. It’s worked out for me about 99% of the time."

Santana - "Speaking from experience, Finn is terrible in bed."
Tina - "Santana, that’s not cool."
Santana - "What? If Rachel wants my sloppy seconds, she should at least know the truth."

Highlight of the Night
Blaine - "You were right; our first time shouldn't be like that. I was drunk and I'm sorry."
Kurt - "It sure beats the last time you were drunk and made out with Rachel."

Gleek of the Week
Karofsky, obv! That better not have been the last time we ever see him. They can’t tease me like this, I’ve been saddened by his absence all season. Alongside Coach Bieste, he was one of the best things to come out of Season Two, except that he never actually DID come out of Season Two until tonight, and it was much too brief an appearance. Be wise, writers - he is a far more compelling character than Susie Sunshine (or whatever Gwyneth Paltrow was called). I don't even necessarily care whether he and Kurt date; they can just be buddies who hang out all the time and talk about how gross it is that Blaine doesn't wear socks.

gLee: Season 3, Episode 3 - "Asian F"

Recap
I must admit I was looking forward to this episode a bit more than usual, a result of spending too much time on the internet reading all about the critical buzz that was preceding it. Every early review I read would gush about how it was just like the good ol' days of glee, and they promised I wouldn't be disappointed. So was I disappointed? Of course, but not because I was foolish enough to have actually been expecting it to be a blast from the past. It certainly could have been much worse, but the only thing about it that stood apart from any other episode for me was the fact that Mike Chang had an entire storyline to himself.

An "Asian F," in case you were wondering, is the Asian equivalent of receiving an A- grade in school. After Mike gets one on a Chemistry test, his dad tells him that he has to quit the glee club, since "dancing is something you do at a wedding. It’s a hobby, not a career." In an act of Asian Defiance, he instead auditions for the role of Riff in West Side Story, which he can do now that Tina has conveniently taught him how to sing. Or at least how to lip-sync.

Look, I'm all for acknowledging the lesser-appreciated characters (of which there are many), but this storyline was not at all the revelation it was made out to be. They just barely developed Mike Chang into any more of a character than he already wasn't. He has been a member of New Directions since the beginning of the first season, and before tonight he had probably been given a total of ten separate sentences of dialogue, none of which told us anything about him. In an attempt to prove to us that he is more than just the "other Asian" who's always dancing, they used Asian stereotypes to tell us more about his love of dance... So, he's exactly the same person he was before, but apparently has an absurdly irrational father who resents him for it? Gotcha. I can't wait to see what happens next week, when he'll probably once again be relegated to an obscure yet swift-footed afterthought.

Along with the Changs, we are also introduced to Emma's parents. After she makes it perfectly clear to him that she doesn't want to see them, Mr. Schuester goes behind her back and invites them over for dinner because he never has had a very firm grasp on what it actually means to be a good person. Her parents are "ginger supremacists," and we are shown that her mysophobia stems from their own racism, despite us previously being told that it began after her brother pushed her into the runoff lagoon at a dairy farm (remember that?). Once Emma starts obsessively shining her silverware in trepidation, her mother starts calling her "Freaky Deaky" and Mr. Schuester does the admirable thing for once by telling them that they are terrible parents. He plans on being the opposite of them when he and Emma have children of their own, which realistically wouldn't be happening any time in the foreseeable future. Emma is clearly moved by his defense, but unfortunately she's moved all the way back to her old ways of compulsively wringing her hands and scrubbing her phone with a toothbrush. Bieste was right - Will is such a catch!!

I thought last week was The Auditions Episode, but we reach their destined peak tonight when the role of Maria pits Rachel and Mercedes against one another. Artie, Emma and Coach Bieste are unable to decide between the two, so they assign the same song for both girls to perform at a callback. The callback in question is inexplicably attended by every single member of New Directions, and Puck is so excited he can barely sit still. Yeah, okay. They both sing the song perfectly of course, but Rachel concedes to Finn that Mercedes was better, before storming off to... Coach Bieste's office... and entering herself in the race for class president, since there would appear to be no other faculty members employed at this school. Seriously, they at least could have used Principal Figgins for that part.

I'm really glad that Rachel is running for class president now because it has been way too long since she got a storyline to herself, and omfg this show. I know that the writers have always compared her to Tracy Flick, but they threw that girl away a long time ago. While I don't necessarily think that she would do a bad job (we already know her to be a passionate hard-worker), there are plenty of other reasons this particular plot twist is stupid and/or makes no sense. First, Rachel is the one who convinced Kurt he should run, hoping it would increase his chances of getting in to NYADA, and now she's running against him? Impeccable support system, attagirl. Second, in the Season One episode "Mattress," we learned that Rachel is/was a member of just about every club at McKinley, from the Renaissance Club to the Muslim Students Club. Assuming that Season One Rachel and Season Three Rachel are the same person (lol, jk), filling up on extra-curriculars should not be of major concern to her; that girl is getting into a good school, or would be if there were any other potential schools in this world besides the fictional NYADA. Third, within the context of the show there is no way Rachel would ever receive a majority of the vote with Kurt Hummel and Brittany S. Pierce as her opponents. Her own boyfriend doesn't even plan on voting for her.

Furt 4ever, ♥

It was all for nothing though, because our ace directors still can't choose between the two girls, so they are double cast in the role. That is the exact opposite of a plot twist. Rachel takes this to mean that Mercedes will perform on Saturday and Sunday mornings while she gets all the evening shows, because it seems Rachel is a humongous idiot who has learned nothing since the start of the series. Mercedes is having none of this, so she turns down the part, quits New Directions entirely, and generously offers her self-professed star power to the rival glee club I completely forgot that Shelby is starting.

*sigh*
When will the writers realize that this show is so much better when the kids are working together towards a common goal and not sabotaging each other all over the place? You can still find drama there, don't worry.

Speaking of sabotage, is Mercedes supposed to be a good guy or a bad guy? It seems every time they do a Mercedes Empowerment Episode she comes out looking like a monster, but she doesn't act like that any other time. Even if she did, we probably would never know about it since the only time ever utilize her anymore is in their annual Mercedes Empowerment Episodes, and for the occasional solo. It felt as though we were meant to side with her and believe she deserved the role more than Rachel, but exactly what would we base that on? The scenes at Glee Club Boot Camp showed us that not only can she not dance (an issue that's never existed until tonight), but that she isn't even willing to practice for more than five minutes without crying exhaustion and maybe being pregnant. I don't know how much dancing skill is required for the role of Maria, as I've never seen West Side Story, but work ethic is work ethic. Rachel's constant assertion that the role inherently belongs to her is beyond annoying, but if there is one thing glee has taught me it's that Rachel Berry will stop at nothing to be the best. Finn even says that she practices her dancing every day on her own, and I can totally imagine her having a set schedule for that stuff. Also, you can't deny the continuity here; We've known since Season One that Maria in West Side Story is Rachel's ultimate dream role. Without a hint of irony she once told Mr. Schuester, "I thought I made it very clear that anything from West Side Story goes to me." I'm not denying anyone's right to audition, but if McKinley High ever put on a production of Dreamgirls and Rachel went in for whichever character Merecedes likes, every single person who watches this show would absolutely detest her for it.
Regardless of how you feel towards her or Mercedes, Rachel is more deserving of the role. She cares more and it means more to her. Besides, she was a much better sport throughout all of this than Mercedes was and Rachel is rarely a good sport, proven by the fact that she still refuses to drop out of the election even after she is officially cast as Maria. WTF?

The cast list contains very few surprises when it is finally posted, because I don't think there are any other students at this school, either:

Maria .......... Rachel*

Tony .......... Blaine*

Anita .......... Santana

Riff .......... Mike Chang

*If this leads to any more Rachel/Blaine bisexuality nonsense, I'm done.

Coming up next week… Nothing, because there won’t be another new episode until November(!), but they're hinting at a possible intimate connection between Puck and Shelby. Makes sense continuity-wise since we already know that Puck has a thing for MILFs, and Shelby is an adopted MILF. But still… yuck, Puck.

Musical Performances
"Spotlight"
Performed by Mercedes
Why do the writers bother to acknowledge their Rachel bias in the scripts if they always continue to feature her more than every other female character on the show combined? Think about it - one of the main reasons this episode was made such a big deal of is because it is told from the respective perspectives of three characters who aren't Rachel. That shouldn't be a high accomplishment for a show that claims to have an ensemble cast.

"Run the World (Girls)"
Performed by Brittany
Brittany also enters the race for class president this week on a feminist platform, and she is given her very own pep rally to debut it at because it's Brittany and we all adore her. It reminded me of the Kurcedes diddy "Four Minutes" from the Madonna episode, only with worse music and less realism. How did she change outfits so quickly? Why would Quinn care to help?

"Cool"
Performed by Mike Chang
I enjoyed it more than I expected to, but there is no way he was able to teach the entire football team how to dance like that so suddenly. There is also no way that the same guys who pelted Finn with paintballs for joining the glee club and drew on his face before picture day would ever agree to help Mike Chang audition for a role in the school musical. Unless, of course, they've all experienced more character development than most of our actual characters. Who auditions with backup dancers, anyway? I demand to know where Karofsky is.

"It's All Over"
Performed by Mercedes & New Directions
Did Mercedes quit the glee club, or did they quit her? When random musical numbers blur the lines between reality and imagination like this, I never know what’s going on. And honestly, must they so frequently dress up Kurt like one of the girls instead of one of the guys? There we go again, reinforcing stereotypes.

"Out Here On My Own"
Performed by Mercedes / Rachel
In an episode filled to the brim with musical performances I didn't care about at all, this was probably my favorite. I wouldn't necessarily say that either one of them sang it better than the other, but Rachel sounded pretty certain of Mercedes' superiority, so that's that.

"Fix You"
Performed by Mr. Schuester
The only song in this episode that I've actually heard before. I liked the way it was intercut with the posting of the West Side Story cast list, and the lyrics fit well into the Emma storyline, but that falsetto just reminded me of the horrific moment last year when he started singing Prince. Oh my god. The kids' matching outfits during the performance were by far the most Season One-esque thing in the entire episode, except not really because MR. SCHUESTER IS NOT A MEMBER OF THE GLEE CLUB.

Leftover Observations

• Mercedes asks why nobody is ever willing to hurt Rachel's feelings, which is total crap because Rachel has been insulted at least once by nearly every single character on this show, as well as by most of the people who watch it.
• Awyeah, Breadsticks delivers!
• Apparently Santana is back in the glee club now. Erm... how and when?
• I found the whole Asian vampire thing just as unfunny as I did last time. Poor Jenna Ushkowitz.
• The episode made references to events of previous seasons! Threw me for a loop.
• Emma refers to Mercedes as "our little girl" while looking at Mr. Schuester... Oh really, since when?

Highlight of the Night
Mr. Schuester - "Why haven’t I met your parents?"
Emma - "Because… they’re dead."
Mr. Schuester - "You spoke to them on the phone last night."
Emma - "I spoke to their ghosts last night. I have ghost parents."

Gleek of the Week

Emma, one of the few glee characters who doesn't frustrate me on a regular basis. I forgot how much I don't dislike her, and Jayma Mays owned this episode.