Gleek Out: Bad Reputation

So who caught last night's episode of Glee? The drama unfolded when the club leaked an embarrassing video of Sue Sylvester performing Olivia Newton-John's "Physical", and things got even messier as the students competed to improve their rankings on a malicious reputation-based list.

Overall, it was a fun episode, but I'm starting to get irritated by the writer's need to spell everything out for us. We get it! Puck is a misunderstood bad ass with a golden heart. Rachel wants to be popular. And Quinn's sad because she's not popular anymore. This may be a family show, but they really don't need to hammer home points with such blatantly obvious dialogue… Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's talk about the musical numbers!

– Dewitt

To watch the episode, read more and hear the songs, follow the JUMP:

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FULL EPISODE:

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NEXT WEEK:

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Ice Ice Baby (Matthew Morrison): Mr. Schuester confronts the students about the "Glist", and everyone designates Puck as the number one suspect. Of course, he also takes this opportunity to teach a lesson through song. For the club's next assignment, Schuester asks the kids to rehabilitate the bad reputation of various pop hits. And then he provides an example.

I'm sorry, but there's no hope for rehabilitating Vanilla Ice. The claim that this was a "terrific song on a long list of top hits that because of time or some bad press has become a joke" is absolutely absurd. This was never a terrific song. And it's even less terrific when Matthew Morrison is involved. (1.5 Points)

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U Can't Touch This (Kevin McHale): Kurt, Mercedes, Artie and Tina learn that they didn't even make it onto the Glist, so they team up to do something scandalous. Unfortunately, their idea of "bad-ass" involves making a disruption in the library. Brittany joins them in their quest, expressing disappointment with her low ranking on the Glist.

While the show hasn't had a particularly good record with tackling hip-hop songs, this is one of the rare occasions where the novelty worked in their favor. Having Artie play the part of MC Hammer? Fantastic. Rocking hammer pants in the library? Even more fantastic. Ending the scene with the librarian asking the five students if they'll perform at her church? Now that just seals the deal. (5 Points)

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Physical (Jane Lynch & Olivia Newton-John): The video of Sue Sylvester performing "Physical" goes viral, extending the "slow motion laughter" outside of the school's walls. Olivia Newton-John winds up seeing the video herself, and she invites Sue to breathe new life into the pop hit.

So maybe the premise of this scene is a little farfetched, but I'm willing to suspend my disbelief if it involves sweaty men in wrestling singlets, Olivia Newton-John and the best character on this fucking show. I'm also willing to forgive the heavy use of auto-tune. (5 Points)

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Run Joey Run (Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Jonathan Groff & Mark Salling): Inspired by Schuester's assignment and her extremely low ranking on the Glist, Rachel convinces Puck to appear in a music video of David Geddes "Run Joey Run". Unbeknownst to him, she also asked Jesse St. James and Finn to appear in the same clip.

This song choice probably went over the majority of the audience's heads. Hell, I'm not even sure if I've heard this song before this episode. Even with that in mind, the romantic tension and campiness of this number made for a great scene. (4.5 Points)

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Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Jonathan Groff & Mark Salling): Rachel's attempt to improve her reputation doesn't go over too well with the three boys, and it ultimately results in Jesse breaking up with her. Then she sings about her heart and crap.

Does this song have a bad reputation? Because I kind of think it's fucking awesome. Thankfully, it's not awesome enough for the Glee cast to ruin it. Lea Michele sounds great on this, but I could have done without Cory Monteith's parts. In general, I could do without Cory Monteith. Team Puck, all the way! (3.5 Points)

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BREAKDOWN OF POINTS SYSTEM:

• 5 Points = Excellent or exceeding expectations in regards to vocal performance, choreography and arrangement. Fits well within the context of the episode, and potentially better than the original version.
• 4 Points = Not too shabby! May not be entirely on par with the original, but a fantastic effort by the actors and vocalists.
• 3 Points = Tolerable. Did not induce eye rolls or kept them to a minimum.
• 2 Points = Could be a variety of factors, including poor song choice or lackluster performance. Boring or uninspired. May be an insult to the original artist.
• 1 Point = Absolutely painful. Couldn't wait for it to be over.