Rachel tries to up the sexy with a writhing performance of Spears classic “Oops!…I Did It Again.” The smoke, sweat, and camera sweeps almost disguise Rachel’s lack of actual serious dancing. She’s not terrible, but she’s also not taking home any Astaire Awards any time soon. After a lukewarm reception from Cassandra, Rachel goes way too far and lashes out at her, even calling out her failed Broadway mess.
There’s another cafeteria scene where more kids pick on Marley’s mom. For what feels like the 8th time in two episodes Marley intervenes with “Hey, that’s my mom,” before Jake starts beating them up. Will pulls him out of the lunchroom and takes him to the choir room where Noah Puckerman is waiting for him. Puck tells him to get his act together and join the New Directions, then hops on a plane to go back to LA because he only came to town to give his half-brother who he met two minutes ago a pep talk about glee club. And Will also thought it was totally within his rights as a teacher to tell Puck about his half-brother too.
No matter how contrived the scene was, I may or may not have freaked out a bit when Puck appeared on the screen. Last season, I held the firmly unpopular opinion that Glee should just graduate the seniors and move on with new people at McKinley. I didn’t think I cared enough about these characters to follow them to college, and I wanted to watch the high school drama play out. Having seen the other side, I am decisively taking back that stance. In an earlier scene, Kurt and Rachel talk about how far away high school seems, and I agree with them. Half the characters have moved on, and I’m starting to think the show should have too.
The club performs “Gimme More” at the assembly, and it’s a total VMA redux. The audience quickly realizes Brittany’s lip-syncing and nearly starts a riot until Blaine has the decency to close the curtain on the whole thing. Schuester completely freaks out at them back in the choir room. While his anger is warranted, his yelling fit is not. One of his students is obviously crying out for help, and his solution is to yell at her? Someone’s not winning Teacher of the Year again.
Curiously enough, it’s Sam who figures out Brittany’s antics are all just a set-up for her comeback. Because she’s technically still Class President, Britt enacts a law requiring Sue to let her back on the Cheerios. Will – who apologized off-screen or something – and Emma both offer to tutor her so she doesn’t become a sixth year senior.
