Glee's new episode is a repeat of a theme we've already seen. That should give you a pretty good idea of what kind of episode this was. I know Brittany is a big break out character from the series, but I've never really liked her and I espescially find her central episodes to be ridiculously annoying. This one may have been one of the worst. Let's break it down by plotline this time.
Brittany's Plot: The main plot of the episode and like I said, incredibly annoying. Brittany is feeling down, so Schuester suggests that they do a Britney Spears theme to cheer her up. Okay, sounds like a good idea, except we already had an episode dedicated to Britney Spears, we don't need another one. Furthermore, the entire plot is just a parody of Spears's dark times. Brittany freaks out and tries to shave her head, attacks people with an umbrella, and lip syncs a song. Also a guy exclaims, "Leave Brittany alone!" Having references to something is good and could be funny, but all this was was taking famous moments and giving them to our Brittany to replicate. At the end, we learn that this was Brittany's intention after all, but it still doesn't make the entire plot any better. Something else that bugged me was the extreme reaction to lip syncing. I can see why Schue would be upset, but why would they be banned from competing at Nationals simply because they lip syncing one school-based concert? Brittany even gave a reason for it, she didn't want to damage her voice and she wanted to focus more on choreography. In short, this plotline was nothing more than a repeat of the last Britney episode and some of Britney's infamous moments.
Rachel's Plot: This plotline was somewhat better, but still irritating at parts. In Rachel's storyline we learn that Cassandra July used to be a Broadway star before freaking out at a man with a cellphone ringing during her performance. And the reason why she's so hard on her students is because she doesn't want her students to explode at an inappropriate time. Pretty predictable storyline, but seeing her over the top reaction to the guy with the phone was pretty amusing. When Rachel gets fed up with Cassie she slaps her with this. After a moment of silence Cassie tells Rachel to get out. I don't know if we're supposed to support Rachel or not, but I'm definitely on Cassie's side for this one. What Rachel said was incredibly inappropriate and probably very hurtful to Cassie, regardless of how hard she is on Rachel. Also, Brody is continuing to advance on Rachel. She has to remind him that she's still thinking about Finn, which he respects. Still, though, it feels like Brody is being pretty immature about the whole thing, moving in on Rachel when she's clearly stated that she's not done with Finn. So, this overall plot had some interesting moments, but still wasn't the best.
Jake's Plotline: Along with Brittany, Jake was pretty much the star of this episode. We learn that he's a womanizer, yet Marley still has her eyes on him. Jake seems to return the feeling and in another heartwarming moment, gets in a fight with some jocks for making fun of Marley's mom. I'd say that's very impressive of him, even if it was a bit violent. We get a quick cameo from Puck who tries to send Jake in the right direction. It would have been nice to see the two of them interact for a little more than one scene, but I guess you have to make cuts to fit in the time constraints. Jake eventually joins Glee club and it looks like he's going to have a relationship with Marley...until Kitty shows up. We were almost out of an episode without her ruining, not that this episode needed any help from her. Anyways, she announces that she is Jake's girlfriend. This is another one of those moments where I just have to shake my head at the disaster character known as Kitty. Jake got into a fight with her two jock lackeys, defending a girl Kitty's been tormenting, and then joins a club which Kitty also seems not to fond of. So therefore she must want to date him? Unlike Finn and Quinn from season one, this relationship has no set up and seems like it's just thrown in to cause some more drama. Of course, this kind of thing has been driving me crazy forever. Relationships in Glee pop up everywhere out of the blue and usually fizzle out in a couple of episodes.
The songs of this episode were nothing special really. Like I said, we already had a Britney episode, so there wasn't the same appeal as there was before. No songs stood out as exceptional and were mostly just thrown in without much relevance.
Another thing that struck me about this episode is the line between fantasy and reality. Of course, it's always been a blurry line Glee, but I think that usually they are able to keep them separate enough. A running gag through this episode is Brittany accidentally saying her voice overs out loud. Definitely crosses the line, but it's funny so I can accept it. What I don't get is the whole "Womanizer" bit. A bunch of girls, both in and outside of the glee club, sing about how Jake is nothing but a womanizer. By the end they're all dancing and singing in the gym while Jake watches. Seems like your typical fantasy number, right? Except, at the end, they rope Jake and pull him in, following which the song ends and Jake asks Marley to hang out. So, it wasn't a dream and somehow all that actually happened?
I'm going to stay positive and not let this episode bring me down though. The show can still be enjoyable and I'm looking forward to seeing what else they can do. For example, I definitely saw hints of a Sam and Brittany relationship. Last time we saw, Sam and Mercedes were still together, but they were never really strong. As for Brittany and Santana, they're clearly having issues. I think it could be an interesting couple to explore if they do it right. Whether it goes anywhere or not, though, I'll keep my fingers cross that they've got some good plots in store for us.
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