Special Education

Glee Episode Review

In which the Dog Days are over. Glee pulls out the drama for Sectionals.

What Happened

Emma notes that Will is getting predictable in his song choices and staging, so he decides to shake things up for Sectionals. He gives Sam and Quinn the opening solo and Santana will lead the follow-up. Rachel blows such a gasket at the very thought that Santana drops the bomb that she slept with Finn last year. Also on the outs are Mike and Tina. She suspects he's cheating on her during his dance rehearsals with Brittany and passes her fears along to Artie. After a couple days of listening to everyone tear at each other, Will decides he doesn't care about the melodrama and tells everyone to suck it up and sing.

Kurt is having a bit of trouble adjusting to life at Dalton, where everyone dresses the same and is encouraged to conform. He tries making some suggestions about song choice and is politely told that the team council makes those decisions. And while everyone loves his audition piece, Kurt is a little disappointed that he doesn't get a solo for Sectionals. Blaine counsels patience, however, until he gets used to his new surroundings.

With Kurt gone to Dalton, Will assigns Puck to find a twelfth member for glee club. Attempts to recruit more of the football team fail, so Puck asks Lauren Zizes, the student who frees him from the port-a-potty. Puck's kind of on a roll with the whole "being a better person" thing this week. He even turns Rachel down when she wants to make out with him in order to get back at Finn.

Everyone pulls it together for Sectionals. The performances are so great that both the Warblers and New Directions go on to Regionals. Artie discovers that Brittany really isn't cheating on him; she's just afraid to tell him she lost his good luck comb. And Rachel and Finn have a calm discussion about their relationship that ends in tears when Rachel confesses about Puck and Finn breaks up with her.

Then, Will discovers that Emma skipped Sectionals to go to Vegas with Carl and Dentist and came back married.

The Good

• Emma laying it out for Will. The other characters do need some attention and episodes like this prove it is possible to balance the large cast so no one gets lost.
• Puck in the port-a-potty.

The Better

• "Not really. It's Shark Week." Artie and Brittany are so cute.
• "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." And I loathe that song.
• "Time of My Life." And I'll pretty much always love that song no matter who's singing it. Besides, I like Sam and Quinn together.

The Best

• Kurt / Rachel bonding.
• We get to see the competitors this year at Sectionals. (But why does New Directions get two songs and the others just one?)
• "Valerie." Santana gets a solo and rocks. Mike and Brittany get to dance.

What Did I Think?

I really enjoyed seeing all the characters getting a go at the spotlight in this one. The songs worked, as did the resolution to Sectionals, since we know both teams had to get to Regionals somehow. Someone suggested that last year's winner get an automatic advancement, which I would have bought and would have given them a chance to see the kids "losing."

The Will and Emma thing? I'm not invested in them as a couple. It's been too long. They haven't been "together" for most of it. I'm not looking forward to the dissolution of Emma's marriage, because whatever route they take will be cliche. Either Carl's not the nice guy he seems to be. Or Will has some sort of crisis that pulls Emma back to him and Carl has a hissyfit and she accuses him of not trusting her and that she needs some "time." Or Carl gets run over by a reindeer. Whatever.