Television Breakdown: The Sue Sylvester Shuffle

It's been weeks, and the inane drivel of the Super Bowl was mind-numbing, but nothing gets me back in the swing of things like Glee. What separates me from the rest of the barbarians is my love of such shows they usually ignore. As much as I expected a senseless victory lap episode, there was some genuine quality to be had here. The football championship is coming up, and tensions between the team and the glee club have reached a fever pitch, and Coach Bieste is done taking their crap. So she delivers an ultimatum: Join the glee club for a week and perform the halftime show, or quit the team.

The begrudging union does offer some great musical performances, but things are complicated when Sue Sylvester offers an ultimatum of her own to the Cheerios. She schedules the finals for the cheerios at the same time as the football championship. They all are then forced to tender their resignation from the glee club, and poor Brittany is forced into consenting to be shot out of a cannon. It sets up for what seems like a totally depressing finale, which is exactly what I expected from the show that constantly screwed us over emotionally on the last minute.

Instead, it leads to the inspiring finale where Quinn, Santana, and Brittany quit the Cheerios, and Karovsky and the football team risks public ridicule by playing the halftime show with the Glee club. It was the delayed climax of the first half of the season, even if we didn't think it was. It's not all about sectionals or regionals. It's about bringing the worlds together for a compelling performance, and it worked. That is until the ending where things return to the way they were, but there is change in Karovsky. I don't think we've seen the end for him. The repressed homosexuality is bubbling to the surface, and I can't wait until it just breaks out, which I half expected to happen this week. Then again, we've got another episode coming down the pipe on Tuesday, so maybe it still will. As for what I'm happiest about, there's a resurgence of QuiFinn (Quinn + Finn). Dianna Agron is sexy as hell in anything but the Cheerio uniform.

-"California Gurls" (B-): I am in agreement with Sue on this one. I was severely bored by this performance, despite the breasts and explosives.
-"Need You Now" (B+): Perhaps the long break away from the show has made Rachel less unlikable, but I love me some Puckleberry.
-"She's Not There" (B+): The first conjoined performance of the football infused Glee club was pretty damn great, even if it skimped a bit on the flash and didn't make any sense with the zombie makeup.
-"Bills Bills Bills" (A-): Just when you thought that the Warblers were a forgotten squad, they manage to remind us why their heading to regionals. Only thing I hate is that Kurt is still in the background chorus. Use your assets, damn it!
-"Thriller"/"Head Will Roll" (A-): When an entire episode boils down to one musical number, it has to bring its A-game, and the cast did their best. The grade could just be my affinity for the song, but whatever.

8.5 out of 10