Last week: I was fried and could barely think about doing anything but merely watching Glee. But Kristin Chenoweth rocked the episode in her return as April and Quinn had a nice moment with Mercedes before she made the episode with her rendition of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful.”
This week: Kurt’s discovered Sue Sylvester’s personal private video of her doing exercise to Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical.” The Gleeks decide to post it on YouTube, where it becomes an instant smash. Sue’s retribution is swift. She drags Will into the Principal’s office and reveals that there is a Glist—a weekly ranking of Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in Glee. Santana is at the top and Rachel is at the bottom. The Principal recalls other incidents at other schools that did not end well and demands that Will find the culprit immediately…
…So everyone immediately blames Puck. He denies it. Will asks him if he did it. Puck says that while he tends to light things on fire and beat people up, he is not a liar. Will tells them to ‘fess up and to not let the stress get to them. They are getting a bad reputation. Artie thinks it might be good for them. Will’s assignment is for them to find songs that have been given bad wraps over the years and find what made them good in the beginning. He proves this by making “Ice Ice Baby” seem cool. Almost, but our singing Snowman we haul out for Christmas wins that prize.
In the cafeteria, Sue realizes everyone is laughing at her. She tries to tell herself it is all in her imagination but she is slowly crescendo-ing into a panic attack. And then appears Molly Shannon, who says she recently transferred from Fort Wayne. She’s not allowed to teach in Illinois anymore due to her drug problem and her tendency to deal to her students. She calls Sue an “embarrassment.” And that’s coming from her.
Rachel wants to boost her reputation. She wants to dirty up her reputation and recruits Artie’s help since he’s in the AV club.
Kurt calls in Artie, Mercedes and Tina. They were not even on the Glist. Artie asks why Brittany is in the classroom. Turns out she decided to take all her cold medicines at once so she can’t do much except sit there. She’s also disappointed that she’s only number 4 on the list considering she’s the Barney of the school. She was even with the janitor! So, Kurt lets her in on their scandal—they are going to disrupt the library.
How bad.
Please note the sarcasm.
Meanwhile, Sue goes to visit someone she knows with Down Syndrome. A sister perhaps? She apologizes for not realizing how bad it is to be laughed at and for not protecting the woman. The woman triggers a memory…
But we cut to Emma, who is staring at Sue. She wants a therapist. Emma is a little uncomfortable. Sue says she has a degree in therapy and advises Emma. She tells her about her issues and about Will’s latest dalliances—AKA both the original stars of Wicked. Sue tells Emma to give it to Will…in public.
Puck wears a Phantom mask as Rachel tells him his reputation went up when they were dating. She asks him to help with her song choice, “Run, Joey, Run.” She’s play the heroine and he’ll play the hero. He asks if he kills her. He doesn’t. Puck says he doesn’t try to be bad and that he didn’t make the Glist. He and Rachel share a moment, but Rachel remembers Jesse. Puck tries to get her to “put out” but she puts the kabosh on that repeatedly.
Sue walks Emma to the teacher’s lounge. Sue is afraid of the laughter. Out pops Molly, taunting Sue. Sue calls her out and Molly agrees. Sue then pushes Emma to go get Will. She interrupts him consoling a teacher who was just widowed. “Nobody’s safe, nobody’s self.” She tells him about his little foray into Oz and Will’s surprised. Emma’s trying to work through her issues for him. But he’s a “slut.” She then offers her condolences to the teacher before walking off.
Meanwhile…oh Lord, they are doing “Can’t Touch This,” aren’t they? Anyway, Kurt, Mercedes, Artie, Tina and Brittany enter the library and before…”Can’t Touch This.” The librarian is surprised. I’m surprised no one else has burst out laughing, because I am. Meanwhile, Artie is really good. Okay, when you say “We out of here,” you should’ve left. The librarian loved their performance and is going to get them to perform at her church’s Sunday service. Backfire!
Will is trying to find the person who made the Glist. Now, he’s focusing on Finn. Before moving on to Mercedes. She explains she’s not angry, she’s sassy. Tina blames Puck. Puck defends his innocence, saying he’d be number one. Quinn blames Rachel but Will doesn’t believe it. Kurt believes Will’s been watching too much Law and Order. And he has to worry about his ranking. Artie says they’ll have to do something worse than Rachel’s personality—admit to posting the video. Kurt agrees.
Meanwhile, Sue confides to her journal that the video is a hit and she believes it’s karma. She gets a call—it’s Olivia Newton-John. Sue hangs up, believing it’s a hoax. She vows to be nicer when Olivia tries again. She convinces Sue it’s her. She heard her daughter Chloe (shout out?) laughing at something and it turns out it was Sue’s video. Olivia knows what it’s like to be a laughingstock. “Physical” had a music video that took the song down with it. I thought she meant Xanadu. Seriously, that was a train wreck. I thought the people who made “Phantom of the Paradise” had done too much acid until I saw “Xanadu.” Wow. Anyway, back to Olivia and Sue—collaboration time!
Will walks the hallways and has to deal with his philandering ways. Even Coach scolds him for it and Sue just walks by saying, “Slut.”
Artie tells Kurt not to scream if Sue hits him. And Sue approaches. Kurt meets her halfway. He admits to posting the video. She thanks him and he’s shocked. So they hit the internet. They find Olivia Newton-John and Sue Sylvester. Singing “Physical.” Only this time with ripped guys instead of the original overweight ones. The gang demands more.
We go back to Glee. Will is still focused on the Glist. If another goes up and says that the Principal will have the fate. Finn says the perp will not come forward and they’re going to have to take it. My money’s now on Jesse. Rachel plays her video, complete with Santana and Brittany as angels. Jesse, Finn and Quinn are surprised to see Puck in Rachel’s video. Except then it turns into Jesse. Before becoming Finn. I love Jonathan Groff’s face. Jesse, Puck and Finn are outraged. Finn thinks it was an attempt to improve her standings. Finn asks if her reputation is more important than her relationship. He and Jesse leave.
Sue is back with Jeanine. She praises Sue in the video. Sue praises her, saying she needed an attitude change. Sue flaunts her success in front of the teacher’s lounge. Sue is giving her half of the profits to the nursing home. They read a book together. It is adorable and fleshes out Sue’s character. I love these moments, when the show the bad guy is human.
Will brings flowers to Emma. Aww. That’s not going to make up for your romp with two Tony-winners. He apologizes. He doesn’t want to be that person. Emma can’t accept his apology. But she does mention the relationship working and thanks Will for the flowers. Will, as he leaves, focuses on Quinn. He questions her. He said he realized it when he felt what it was like to lose what you value—your significant other, your reputation. He tells Quinn that high school will end and she’ll do amazing things. His pep talk works. He tells the Principal that no one would cop to the Glist but that his point was made. The Glists stopped. The Principal agrees to call it a victory.
Jesse finds Rachel at her locker. He reveals he asked about her before dating her. He said that no matter her faults, they all said they trusted her. He says he should’ve been enough for her and she responds that she knew he’d break her heart. He says she broke his first. He tells her not to talk to him at ballet club.
Rachel, Jesse, Finn and Puck sing “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” We see Jesse and Rachel at ballet. Finn leaves. Puck leaves with Quinn, hand in hand. The others leave, Jesse is the last.
Next week: Rachel makes a list of her own, Puck shaves his head and Kurt and Brittany? She really does get around!
This was a great episode. And let me just say, for it’s first season “Glee” has managed to land first rate guest stars. From Josh Groban early on to Molly Shannon and Olivia Newton-John in this one, I am looking forward to the Joss Whedon-directed, Neil Patrick Harris-guest-starring episodes.
And maybe John Barrowman next season? Please? Producers?
And by the way, my money was still on Jesse. Is he still a double agent or not? (Okay, I missed the Madonna episode, so that may answer my question whenever I get a chance to sit down and watch it).
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