After a plot-less themed episode “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” episode 9 titled Never Been Kissed throws a big blast of plot-lines at us - Puck returned from juvie, Darren Criss made his debut as Blaine, all the kids’ hormones seemed to go into overdrive, and the show took on the very timely topic of bullying. Wow!
As hard as it was to watch Kurt and Coach Beiste endure such cruelty, I did like how their two storylines paralleled each other. Both had never been kissed and both appeared ready to leave McKinley High. However, Coach Beiste’s ending was a little bit happier than Kurt’s. She got her first kiss in a tender scene with Mr. Schue, while Kurt’s first kiss was with the bully who has been terrorizing him since last season.
Even though things did not end well for Kurt, at least he met the adorable Blaine. Seriously, he is the epitome of cuteness. The Warblers cover of “Teenage Dream” was one of the best things I’ve seen on this show all season.
The other main storyline was the return of Puck and his new friendship with Artie. Those two are pretty funny together and their cover of “One Love” was perfect. I was afraid Puck would turn Artie into a mini-Puck, but it looks like Artie might actually be a good influence on Puck and keep him out of trouble.
Last year in the sixth episode, “Vitamin D,” Mr. Schue pitted the boys against the girls in a mash-up competition. In this, the sixth episode of season two, he did the same thing, but the twist was that the boys had to sing songs traditionally sung by women, and the ladies had to sing a masculine mash-up. They didn’t really announce a winner, although I think it was implied that the boys won since Coach Beiste forgave them. Who do you think should have won? The “Stop in the Name of Love”/”Free Your Mind” mash-up or the “Start Me Up”/”Livin’ on a Prayer” mash-up?
I really liked the anti-bullying message on this episode of Glee, even if it was a little heavy handed. In light of what’s been going on lately, the message of “courage” seemed especially relevant. My other favorite part of the episode was the addition of Blaine as a possible love interest for Kurt, and The Warblers as New Directions’ competition at sectionals. Those guys are good and it should be interesting to see them face off against New Directions.
So next up we see the episode titled The Substitute - A virus spreads throughout McKinley High and no one is safe, including Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), who calls in sick. As a result, Holly Holliday (Gwyneth Paltrow) fills in as the Spanish teacher and glee club director. Meanwhile, Sue takes over for Principal Figgins and cannot resist abusing her power. Definitely all hell breaks loose.
