Before I start, I wanna know where is that cute frickin Phillipino chick that was in the first episode? She was GREAT…and combining glee and Gaga is always a plus in my book.
This week’s episode of “Special Education” opens up with Emma and Mr. Scheuster talking about the upcoming battle for show choir sectionals. Schu invites Emma to accompany him to the competition and we’re all sitting back feeling sorry for him because we all know he’s still crushing on her. Emma accepts the invite, but gives him some cautionary words of advice.
In fear of being too predictable as Emma warned, Will decides to make a few changes in his line-up. Brittany and Mike will be doing a hot dance number together and Sam and Quinn will replace Rachel and Finn in the ballad section of the show. As much as I love to hate Rachel Berry, I had a gleegasm last season when her rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” opened up the sectional piece. Hopefully Sam and Quinn’s more romantic relationship will translate to stage chemistry, versus Rachel and Finn’s rocky teen romance.
In glee club practice, the team is very disconnected as each member is yelling at one another and in the midst of this fighting, Santana finally lets Rachel know her and Finn did in fact do the dirty last year even though he lied and told her otherwise.
We then see Kurt at his new school, Dalton Academy, joining the Warblers. In the meeting with the group Kurt seems disappointed with his transition, the new glee club is not all he had imagined it to be. Despite getting shot down for new ideas for sectionals, Kurt is given a canary conveniently named “Pavarotti”, and he and Blaine seem to be just friends for now as he tries to encourage him.
In couples counseling, Emma tells Rachel and Finn to sing about their problems, meanwhile Lea would rather punch her football hottie than kiss and make up.
In other couple news, which btw, isn’t weird that almost everyone in glee club is dating or has dated each other? I mean that’s how STD’s spread people. Anyway, Artie and Brittany are trying to keep their fling a thing as he gives her his “magic” comb to help her feel less pressure for performing on the big night. Brittany is the perfect amount of idiot to believe this, but tells Artie the “cricket that reads to her at night is definitely stealing her jewelry.” Oh Brittany, how the perception of blondes drops every Tuesday night thanks to you. Puck is recruited by Mr. Schu to reach out to the guys in school to find a new member since Kurt dropped out, but receives no support from football jocks as thought. He ends up in a port-a-potty, and is found by that fat girl that kept sneezing on people in the other episode and getting people sick. Lauren Zizes (Ashley Fink) is rewarded for her act of kindness by gaining membership to the MHS glee club and 7 minutes in heaven with Puckerman. Sounds fun, but 7 minutes in heaven? What is this middle school? Puck seemed to like it, apparently he enjoyed the extra “cushion for the pushin”.
Back in practice, drama is at its all-time high, Rachel walks in with duck tape covering her mouth (thank God) and Mercedes (Amber Riely) and Tina (Jenna Uskowitz) are both fighting for solos. Will yells at Rachel, a little too harshly in my opinion, and the group is at an all-time low. Santana continues to flirt with Finn to piss off Rachel, and Puck’s libido strikes again as he tries to catch Rachel in her fragile state. The jew love is quite charming as we sense something is up. My guess is she’s going to use Puck once again to get back at Finn. What a typical woman.
Tina is scared Mike is cheating on her with Brittany because they’ve been practicing so often, and oh wait…. this is a singing show right? Oh ok, I almost forgot because the first song on the night comes about 15 minutes into the show. So Kurt asks Rachel for help singing a ballad since he wants to audition for a solo for sectionals. The two break out into a split-situation song that I’m guessing was supposed to not only show Kurt’s struggle at Dalton but Rachel’s emotional battle at McKinley as well. At first, I sat there bored and confused. I had no idea what song was being sung, and the the chorus came and I realized what it was, and then I was still bored. “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina from Evita, was not my cup of tea, however I did enjoy Blaine’s motion for Kurt that he was being a little too show-girl. I also noted that every time Lea Michele sings a powerful song, she looks like someone shot her cat or she’s about to crap her pants, either way, a little too much for me.
In the end, Kurt doesn’t get the solo spot, but he seems ok with it, and Blaine is there once again to support him. Next, the clubs go to competition!
The second half of the episode starts out with Rachel and Kurt wishing each other good luck. We all knew that Kurt was a nice guy but the heartfelt good luck from Rachel was definitely surprising. It was definitely nice to see her kinder side after a while of hearing her usual abrasive self. The sectionals performances started with The Hipsters, a group of lively elderly singers. I definitely was not expecting them to be half as good as they were, but they surprised me with their talent, which made them seem younger than they were. Their rendition of “The Living Years” was pretty good, but it was clear that they were no match for New Directions. Then the Warblers performed “Hey Soul Sister,” which was amazing with Blaine having a solo. Even though Kurt is a great singer, there is something about Blaine’s voice that always gives me the chills. I also enjoy the a cappella sound of the Warblers as opposed to the more electronic sound of New Directions. In fact, the members of the Warblers are actually the members of the a cappella group, the Beelzebubs, from Tufts University. It is really cool to see an actual performing group perform on the show, and I’m sure the boys must have been excited for it as well. During the performance, it was nice to see that Rachel was truly rooting for Kurt. However, Mr. Schuester didn’t look too happy considering how great it was. New Directions’ first performance of “The Time of My Life” started out great with Sam singing the male lead. Quinn sounded decent, but it was pretty good for her. She tends to have a very weak voice but she isn’t a terrible singer. The two of them are a very cute couple- definitely cuter than Quinn and Finn even if they don’t have the whole rhyming thing going on. Overall, it was an entertaining performance but they probably could have chosen a better song. This was followed by “Valerie,” performed by Santana. She has an incredible voice, and I’m glad she was showcased in this episode. I’m surprised she hasn’t had more solos in the past seeing how great she is. However, I was still upset that Rachel didn’t have a solo at sectionals. Even though it probably helped her ego, it would have been very enjoyable to see another one of Lea Michele’s amazing performances. Hopefully she’ll get a solo at regionals. Anyway, in regards to this performance, Brittany and Mike are both wonderful dancers and it was also nice to see them showcased as well. Both Heather Morrison and Harry Shum were hired for the show specifically for their dancing skills so it was nice to see them get to go all out in this performance. When it was announced that the Warblers and New Directions TIED, I was not in the least bit shocked. They are both amazing groups, and now we will get to see Kurt at regionals too (that is if he doesn’t return to New Directions, which I’m sure most of us are hoping will happen). They have very different styles so it will be interesting to see who tops who at regionals. After sectionals, Emma tells Will that she and Carl got married. My first reaction was shock because Emma made it seem as if Will still had a shot (especially during that crazy scene in the Rocky Horror episode). At first I was upset because now there is no hope for Will to win her back. But then I thought about John Stamos and how maybe that wasn’t such a bad choice. I mean, who wouldn’t want to marry John Stamos? Then, Rachel and Finn’s relationship fell apart when she admitted to him that she made out with Puck after she found out about Finn and Santana. It was definitely mature of her to admit to it, but it was naïve of her to think that he wouldn’t be upset by it. I’m sure most people were very upset to see the end of this relationship. All I want, however, is to see more of Jesse St. James, the lead singer of Vocal Adrenaline, so I’m hoping he might come back into her life and onto the show. It will definitely be interesting to see how their breakup affects the dynamic of glee club regarding solos and other friendships. The final performance of the episode, “Dog Days are Over,” was definitely the best performance of the night. Mercedes always sounds great and Tina actually sounded better than she usually does. It is a great song and they did an amazing job performing it. The one part of the performance that I didn’t like as much was the addition of the new girl. Kurt is definitely missed by the members of the group, and it truly does not seem the same without him. Hopefully, he will return before regionals. Overall, it was a good episode with some really good performances and some shocking news as always.
Join us next week as we recap the “Very Glee Christmas” episode! C’mon like you were really going to be using your study break time wisely!
Original Author: Hallie Klein