Writer: Ian Brennan
Grade: A
So I know Emma isn’t exactly thinking rationally, but what is the point of getting married if a) only one other person knows about it, b) she’s not in love with him, or even attracted to him, and c) he’s not even wealthy? There’s no love, there’s no wealth, there’s no social status. There might possibly be some security, especially if she’s really wearing designer apparel within the Glee-verse, but the only other thing she might get out of it is a miniscule chance that it might make Will jealous enough to tell her how he really feels (if he even knows that, which I’m not really convinced he does).
Ken making the football players choose between football and glee was childish and self-centered, but it was nice to hear someone call Will (who’s no stranger to self-centered behavior himself…) on the way he encourages Emma’s crush on him. Which he totally does, even if he won’t admit it.
I really never would have expected an episode with Rachel and Puck as an item, had never even considered the two of them together, but it turned out to be a surprisingly appealing pairing. They’re both gorgeous, they had decent chemistry, and Puck singing “Sweet Caroline” to Rachel was hilarious. He even apologized, seemingly sincerely, for throwing slushies in her face!
The unexpected flip-flop with Finn choosing football and Puck choosing glee actually makes some sense. Finn loves glee, but he’s deeply insecure, so it’s not entirely unbelievable that he’d choose football, especially if he thought it might be something he could talk Tanaka out of (which he ended up doing). Puck has come to enjoy glee and is both stubborn and confident. He has insecurities, of course, but he generally goes after what he wants and doesn’t let himself get pushed around (except by Quinn, who is clearly his weak spot). It makes sense that he wouldn’t let Tanaka force him to quit glee.
I did have a hard time untangling some of Puck’s emotions and motivations, though. How much of his nastiness over the breakup with Rachel was because he felt rejected, and how much was because he felt rejected by Rachel, whom he genuinely liked? On the one hand, he was clearly attracted to her (hee, “hot Jew”), and the way he hugged her when he chose glee over football seemed genuinely caring. On the other hand, I sort of believed him when he said he was going to break up with her because she wouldn’t let him touch her boobs, and he’s obviously got a thing for Quinn (and probably would even if hadn’t knocked her up). It’s true that they were both passing time because they couldn’t be with who they really wanted, but there seemed to be some genuine “like” there for both of them, which makes Puck’s “We weren’t friends before” seem unnecessarily harsh, though obviously true. I understand that a double rejection of the sort he was going through would be enough to make anyone lash out, I just wasn’t sure whether he truly meant the “stay the fuck away from me” inherent in those words.
Miscellaneous Stuff
-I’m glad they have Matthew Morrison more to do in this episode. He’s quite a multi-talented guy, but he’s usually upstaged by the kids, not to mention written in a way that makes his character difficult to like at times. The “Bust a Move” number was great. The “Thong Song” number, however, just emphasized how stupid that song is, no matter how well it’s sung…
-Finn and Quinn following Emma’s advice to wear sunglasses to boost their cool factor was just stupid, and not the absurd-yet-charming brand of stupid this show so often excels at. The gag fell flat.
-Holy shit, Jayma Mays sounded great singing “I Could Have Danced All Night.” I wonder how much of that was Auto-Tune…
Quotes
Random Football Dude: “I can’t believe you was man enough to knock up Quinn Fabray. You sure a real man didn’t sneak in there and do it for you?”
Puck: “Are you questioning my badassness? Have you seen my guns?” (Oh yes, and they’re magnificent. More, please.)
Rachel: “I hope you didn’t choose glee over football because of me.”
Puck: “Why?”
Rachel: “Because I don’t think this relationship is gonna work out.”
Puck: “It’s cool. I was gonna break up with you anyway.”
Rachel: “No you weren’t.”
