Well, after several message show misfires dare I say that Glee finally got one right this week? And even better … no Sue to muck things up! Sorry Sue lovers, but I really think the writers have no idea what to do with her anymore after they took her from jealous rival to Snidley Whiplash. It was actually a relief to not have her antics in this episode, but considering her relationship with her sister and Becky this could have been a great opportunity to bring her back to some sense of humanity.
Glee has been awfully uneven this season and the shows about alcohol abuse and sex education did more to promote those subjects rather than educate the younger viewers on the dangers of teen drinking and casual sex. This week, they got it all right with the “Born This Way” theme … and they managed to do it through a nice blend of story and music. I have to say the writing was on point this week keeping the dramatic moments from becoming melodramatic and bringing the comedy out naturally and mostly through Santana. Her opening voice-over monologue was hilarious, her reading of the glee club for all of their faults was scathingly funny and honest and she had the bulk of the best lines of the night. But does anyone think her plan to act as Karofsky’s ‘beard’ is going to last once she gets (or doesn’t get) what she wants — the Prom Queen title? And how long will the Bully Whips anti-bullying program last?
I like that her plan to get Kurt back into McKinley, and more importantly, New Directions worked but I still think things are not going to end well for Karofsky especially with Santana as the keeper of his secret. The fact that the part of her plan to also get Brittany back seemed to be working may also cause her (and Karofsky) problems. She did not look as happy as she should have been in that last shot watching eveyrone else perform Born This Way. And why wasn’t she in the number?
I’m also happy that Rachel was likeable this week. I never for a minute thought she’d get the nose job and I always figured that she would follow in the footsteps of her idol. Would anyone else but Kurt have been able to pull off convincing her not to do it? I know there are some people here who hate — no, despise Kurt with a passion, but I’m glad he’s back where he belongs. Will that mean we’ll see less of Blaine or will Blaine also make the move to McKinley? If he really cared about Kurt and worried for his safety, what’s a guy to do but be there to protect the one he loves?
And after being invisible for most of the season, it was nice to see Emma back in the mix. I really liked the scenes between her and Will and I’m glad she finally went to get some help. She’s going to need it with Terri Schuester still lurking around, waiting to fulfill her role in Sue’s League of Doom. As far as Quinn’s revelation that her first name is Lucy and that she was overweight and homely before she came to McKinley, this may be the one little part of the show that didn’t work as well because, well, she wasn’t born the way she looks now and for the overweight girls to switch their support for Prom Queen from Lauren to Quinn because Quinn altered her appearance and changed her name really doesn’t seem to send the right message after the rest of the “embrace who you are” message of the episode. At least she did embrace it at the end by wearing the Lucy Caboosey T-shirt, but will she continue to embrace who she really is or will most of the school still see her as a fraud?
As for tonight’s music, all were good choices, I enjoyed the Born This Way number but the highlight had to be Rachel and Quinn’s Unpretty/I Feel Pretty mashup. It was shot and edited beautifully and both girls poured a lot of heart and soul into their performances. Definitely the episode’s musical highlight.
This week’s songs — available on iTunes:
“Holy crap! I’m a closet lesbian and a judgmental bitch which means one thing … I have awesome gaydar.” — Santana after catching Karofsky checking out Sam
“Being a ginger has plagued me my entire life. People say that I smell like copper, that I can get a sunburn indoors at night, and according to recent legend, I have no soul.” — Emma
“I’m both repulsed and impressed by her Lady Macbethian ways. A Latina Eve Harrington. Okay, if you’re going to be gay you simply must know who that is.” — Kurt to Karofsky when learning of Santana’s plan
“Legend has it that when I came out of my mother I told the nurse she was fat.” — Santana
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Apr 27, 2011 @ 08:22 EST5EDT
I LOVED the “Unpretty / I Feel Pretty” Mashup! This was the first Glee episode I’ve enjoyed in awhile. Maybe they need 90 minutes to have a good balance between singing and acting. :)
*POST AUTHOR*
Yes, that was a great mash-up and one of the most enjoyable episodes in quite some time. Next week, though, looks like they’re going back to the totally absurd.
+1 for the Mash Up!
I did not even miss Sue this week and she used to be my favorite character. Now every time I see her on the screen I cringe because I know they will have her doing something completely asinine.
*POST AUTHOR*
I hear ya. Sue has always been a little out there when she’s trying to thwart Will’s plans, but then we’d get a little balance with seeing her with her sister and even when she actually showed some concern for Kurt. Now, they may as well just animate her because she’s a cartoon. And the preview for next week doesn’t fill me with hope that they’re going to make her any less of a cartoon.
The “Pretty” mashup as the musical highlight? Really? I have to disagree. And while the Gaga song & dance was good, it wasn’t the highlight, either. The highlight was the one/two punch of “Somewhere Only We Know” and “As If We Never Said Goodbye”. Those just knocked me over. I’ll admit they were high on the “Saint Kurt” content, and certainly “Goodbye” was overindulgent, but they were both just gorgeously sung and filmed. And the lyrics for “Goodbye” were absolutely dead-on perfect, without alterations.
As for the musical lowlight, can we all agree on the flash mob scene? What the heck was that for? And how did it accomplish the plot point it got credited for, talking Rachel out of the nose job? The only thing I liked about that plot was Puck’s pride in his background, played for real instead of as a joke.
It was a great episode, one of the best of the season, without a doubt. And I was relieved that it wasn’t ruined by some silly Sue antics. They even treated Emma like a real human being with an actual problem, instead of a punchline. And they put the severely under-used Santana to great use. They even made Karofsky seem human, despite his motives (and how refreshing was it that he was flat-out honest with Kurt?)