I can’t promise that I will not have 1,000+ words to say about this week’s episode of Glee, because I just love the show so much. This week’s episode, titled “Ballad” centered around the Glee club learning ballads to sing to their partners. Mr. Schuester explains that ballads say in song what you can’t express in words. Rachel chooses Mr. Schuester (they pick names out of a hat) which results in her falling for him (if only for an episode). We also learn about Susie Pepper who fell in love with Schue in the past. I absolutely adored Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison’s rendition of Endless Love, but this storyline might have been the only one I wasn’t quite as enthusiastic about. The rest of the pairs were brilliant: Mercedes and Puck, Finn and Kurt, and Quinn and Artie are the ones that stand out in my head.
When Finn and Kurt pair together, Finn reveals his anxieties about Quinn and the baby. Kurt reveals his love/crush (albeit silently) for Finn, and helps him express his feelings through song. Finn chooses “I’ll Stand By You,” for his ballad while he sings to the sonogram of “his” baby. Kurt chooses to sing “I Honestly Love You,” but we don’t get to hear it because the entire Glee Club has decided to sing a ballad to Finn and Quinn. I’ll talk more about that later.
Mercedes and Puck get together to sing and Puck reveals that he’s actually Quinn’s baby’s father. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the Glee club finds out. But Mercedes makes a good distinction between a baby daddy and a baby’s father. I still think that if Puck wants to step up, he should and can be a father. But the whole Quinn pregnancy is a mess. Later on in the episode, Finn goes over to Quinn’s house for dinner and decides to sing a ballad to her to express his feelings (and break the news to her unknowing parents). He had practiced with Kurt, and calls him in the bathroom for moral support. (One of the best lines of the night was: “I have to go, they’ll think I’m pooping”) After Finn talks to Kurt, he belts out “You’re Having My Baby,” to Quinn. Quinn’s father (who they set up to be this Conservative, Glenn Beck loving curmudgeon) gets angry and kicks his daughter (and Finn) out of the house. There haven’t been many moments where Quinn (played by the lovely Dianna Agron) is given a chance to shine. Most of the time we see her pairing up with Sue in a Cheerios outfit trying to take down Glee. This scene was really emotional, and Dianna played it so well. It was incredibly heart wrenching and realistic. With last week’s rollercoaster of emotions episode, you run the risk of turning it into a sadder show than it is, but I think that this episode had just the perfect amount of emotion paired with comedy with a dash of Kurt. In the last scene, the Glee club sings to Quinn and Finn “Lean on Me,” and yes, I will admit, I shed a few tears.
I love every episode of Glee. To me, this season has been truly perfect so far. This episode may not have been a stand out favorite of mine, but ballads are always great, especially from this talented cast. I liked that the Glee Club came together to support their friends, and it shows that the show might be full of slushees and drama, but it has a lot of heart. Another one of my favorite moments which I didn’t touch upon before was when Mr. Schuester sings to Rachel to try and get her to understand it’s inappropriate to have a crush on him. He sings a mashup of “Young Girl” and “Don’t Stand So Close To Me,” while she and Emma watch. At the end, they both have fallen for him even harder. It was one of those moments that I just thought was so clever and creative. Of course Emma, who wants to help Mr. Schuester with this little problem, would just end up lusting after him. Clearly, I can’t wait to see what happens with the numerous love triangles. I just don’t know how I’m going to manage when the first 13 episodes have finished and I have to wait for the back 9. I’ll probably just have to have a Glee marathon. Whew, I did it in about 800 words. You. Are. Welcome.
Favorite quotes of the episode:
“Ballad, from the English word Ballad. Who knows what this means?” -Mr. Schuester
“It’s a male duck.” -Brittany
“I hope I don’t have to sing to the duck.” -Brittany
“It means I’m very young, and you’re afraid to stand close to me.” -Rachel
And here is the Glee cast’s performance of Lean On Me for your enjoyment:
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The TV Chick 