Well, that was polarizing. Judging from my Twitter feed during Tuesday night’s episode of Glee, there are some people who really hated the much hyped Britney Spears episode of Glee. Get your pitchforks ready, because I loved it. It was fun, it was exciting, and it featured a whole lot of my favorite character, Miss Brittany S. Pierce.
OK, let’s tackle what seems to be the most popular criticism of the episode: plot. I don’t get what all the hullabaloo is about! Was it a super-emotional episode that did a lot to move along the season two story arc? No, certainly not. And if every episode of Glee was like that, I’m not sure I’d watch. OK who are we kidding, I’d still watch. But I prefer to have SOME episodes be heartwarming and plot-developing and have others be fun, silly and 100% camp. This was camp, and I loved it. It was simple, really – Artie explained it. Since the New Directions kids were petitioning to sing some Britney music at the same time that a lot of them where being put under at dental appointments, awesome Britney fantasies occurred. Was it Emmy winning stuff? Nope. But we got to see Heather Morris dance.
Glee Against the Music
As I said, the best thing about this episode was how heavily it featured Brittany. It was the first time we’ve seen so much of her and Heather Morris killed it. That girl has impeccable comic timing, crazy-good dance skills, she can sing and she has a slammin’ bod. What more could you ask for?
The show began with Kurt petitioning Mr. Schue to allow them to sing some Britney music. Honestly, I’m shocked they hadn’t already covered her. The other glee kids agreed (loved Artie’s “Spears is fierce, yo!”) save for Brittany, who said because her name is Brittany Susan Pierce “I’ve lived my entire life in her shadow” and that “It’s been a hard road.” Seriously, Brittany had so many fantastic one-liners in this episode, I can’t possibly include them all.
Cut to Brittany at the dentist, getting put under to have some cavities filled just as Britney comes on the radio. In Brittany’s anesthesia induced fantasy she sang “I’m a Slave 4 U”, wore all the best Britney costumes – The snake! The red plastic jumpsuit! The sparkly body suit! – and nailed all the best Britney choreography. She came out of the fog of drugs and re-entered her own fog of reality and asked the dentist “Are you a cat?”
Hit Me Baby, One More Time…With That Anesthesia!
Brittany returned for more dental work and more drugs with best bud Santana, and the two had a synced fantasy where they performed “Me Against The Music” as Britney and Madonna – with a not-so-surprise appearance by Britney herself at the end. Brittany returned to glee rehearsal with a new love for Britney Spears and a new found confidence, demanding solos and saying “I’m more talented than all of you, I can see that clearly now.”
Rachel and Artie were up next at the dentist – Rachel reenacted the “Baby One More Time” video in her fantasy, and Artie sang “Stronger” along with the football team in his. Sure, it sounds stupid. It was a silly episode. But that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.
Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman?
Brittany wasn’t the only kid who found confidence in her Britney dreams. Rachel started dressing sexier and Artie officially joined the football team – along with Finn, who Coach Bieste reinstated. I loved how manipulative Rachel was this episode. Kudos to Lea Michele for not being afraid to play her as totally unlikable. Not only did she basically tell Finn that she was happy he’d been kicked off the football team because it made him less desirable and because “I want to be the only thing that makes you happy”, but she also convinced Quinn to proposition him as a test. So manipulative!
I’m not sure what will become of Artie on the football team, but whatever happens will be worth it because of Brittnay’s “Did you get a leg transplant?” line. For reals.
Sqeaky Clean
The other exciting thing this episode was the debut of John Stamos as Dr. Carl Howell. I love John Stamos. And weirdly enough, I didn’t watch a ton of Full House growing up – I love him from ER. Anyway, I really liked him on the show. If I didn’t want Will and Emma to be together I would totally dig him as her love interest. He’s helping her to get over her issues by making her mix up red grapes and green grapes in a bowl (I don’t think I could deal with that – I have WAY too much in common with Emma Pillsbury) which Emma described as “madness, sheer madness!”
Dirty Dancing
I loved the “Toxic” performance, and I loved it even more because Schue decided to take part. It was so inappropriate! And so hilarious! Had Schue not performed, it would have been too similar a performance to “Push It” last season – New Directions rebels and sings something sexy and cool? Old news. Mr. Schue up there writhing around with them? Awesomely awkward.
By the way, I know Schue was going through a bit of an identity crisis with the singing of the Britney and the buying of the sports car, but did he have to return the sports car and take back that heap of junk he’d been driving? Why didn’t he return the sports car and take a nice Yaris or something instead? Why keep dricing the clunker? Happy mediums, Schue. Happy mediums.
I loved Sue’s reaction to the performance and the “Britney Spears sex riot” that ensued. She threatened to sue Will over her injured neck, made an awesome Gloria Allred reference and told him she’d take him for everything he has, including “your extensive collection of vests. Seriously, you wear more vests than the cast of Blossom.”
The Exception
I loved the episode, but with one exception – that last ballad. It just didn’t fit, and why does Rachel always have to close with a solo? I like Paramore, but that song did not suit the episode. And the Rachel/Finn drama was a subplot, so why close with her soliloquy about how she needs to let Finn fly? Was it so that we could hear Brittany ask “Finn can fly?”? Actually, if that was the reason then I can accept it. Otherwise, I thought it was a stupid ending. But let’s look at the other stuff from the episode that had me cracking up”
- Everything Brittany said.
- Brittany having cavities in all her teeth because she was “pretty sure Dr. Pepper was a dentist”.
- “You dress like the bait girls on To Catch a Predator.” – Santana, on Rachel’s old look
- “Normally you dress like the fantasy of a Japanese businessman with a very dark and specific fetish.” – Santana, commenting on Rachel’s new look (Actually, Santana had a lot of great lines this week!)
- The return of Terri!
- Brittany informing everyone that she’ll now do all the solos, starting with a Ke$ha cover next week.
So let me have it – how much did you hate this episode of Glee? Or are you over here in my corner, ignoring the “lack of plot” and basking in the bubblegum pop song and dance?
