There were "more important" story elements that happened during last night's episode of "Glee," but before I touch on those, something needs to be addressed. Harry Shum Jr., a.k.a. Mike Chang, has emerged as a crux of the show. Tonight's episode solidified his status as a triple threat, even though his acting was wasted on a forced storyline. All I'm gonna say is that "Glee" needs to rearrange its cards with Harry near the top.
This week we saw the next step for a storyline we kind of all saw coming. Quinn found out about Puck and Shelby, so naturally she was going to use that as leverage in an attempt to get Beth back. Not so naturally, however, she decided to spell her plan out like a Bond villain to the last person you'd expect her to even talk to, Rachel. Instead of hating the now-suspended leading lady, Quinn confided in Rachel, who made it her personal goal of the week to make sure she didn't squeal, because, hey, what else was Rachel going to do this week?
It all came to a head right before the Trouble Tones performed at sectionals. Quinn approached Shelby to let her know her intentions. Shelby reminded Quinn that she'll get old eventually, and that was enough to convince her to stand down. When Rachel and Quinn met to discuss what they learned during the week's episode, Quinn said that she wants to go to Yale to pursue drama, and college applicants across America spit out whatever they were drinking. Quinn going to Yale? College admissions standards haven't been this low since the kids of "High School Musical" went to Julliard and Stanford.
Aside from the actual sectionals performance, the big talk of McKinley this week was the return of Trouty Mouth Sam. The New Directions wanted some new blood, so instead of looking for someone else at McKinley or, you know, letting Rory sing, Finn and Rachel traveled to Kentucky to find Sam. He had spent his time away as a male stripper but telling his parents he worked at Dairy Queen, making for the week's best jokes.
Back at McKinley, because things like moving out of state and transferring schools only take a commercial break accomplish, Sam returned to his old stomping grounds, bringing the sex appeal of "White Chocolate" with him.
Could someone please explain the use of "Red Solo Cup" to me? How did it relate to anything other than a passing reference to sparking apple cider?
Anyway, now that Sam was back at McKinley, he wanted to rekindle the "summer fling" with Mercedes that we never saw because Chord Overstreet left the show too quickly, and it looked like he might succeed.
Now back to Mike Chang. He opened up to Tina that he planned on going to Stanford for pre-med, honoring his father's wishes, because his family hadn't been the same since the fight. Tina took matters into her own hands and brought Mike's dad a bootleg video from "West Side Story," which he didn't bother to watch. He did, however, bother to show up to sectionals, which convinced him that Mike should become a dancer. But wait! Mike didn't apply to dance schools. Never mind. Tina did it for him. That was quick.
Home-court advantage must have factored a lot into sectionals, because for my money, the Trouble Tones killed it again. The show opened with a performance of "Buenas Aires" by Lindsay Pearce from "The Glee Project," returning as the Gerber baby, and Rory hung his head somewhere in the background, out of focus.
Then the Trouble Tones did something I didn't think was possible. They made the mash-up fun for a second time. "Rumor Has It"/"Someone Like You" was the best thing in a year and now the "I Will Survive"/"Survivor" splice made the New Directions look real bad.
The New Directions decided on a Jackson-centric three-song set for their sectional performance. "ABC" was fun, with Mike Chang and Tina doing a great job, but "Control" and "Man in the Mirror" fell flat, but it was enough for first place, I guess.
We finished up with a big finale/reunion performance of "We Are Young" that effectively brought an end to the Trouble Tones, adding them back into the New Directions with a promise of one song per competition. As long as Naya Rivera gets her due, I'm all right.
Check out Jim Cantiello's hilarious musical "Glee"-cap below!
What did you think of last night's "Glee" episode? Did you think New Directions deserved the win? Are you glad Chord Overstreet is back? Who do you think he'll hook up with? Spill it all in the comments and on Twitter!
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