It's not uncommon that Glee has a plot point that's so absurd and implausible, no other show could pull it off. Of course, sometimes even Glee can't pull it off (season 1 fake baby plot, I'm looking at you.) but usually it can because of it's funny. Tonight we find that Sugar Motta (who I'm still loving) has gotten her father to bribe Figgins (with a very large cheque) into starting a second show choir where she is the star, led by the best show choir director in the country: Shelby Cocoran. It's a ridiculous way to bring Shelby back into the fold if you think about it, but it's also really funny so it works. So now Shelby is back, and with her comes memories of season 1 in another good episode.
Shelby's return also allows for more spotlight to Quinn this time around, who only got a couple of scenes last episode. Quinn is still off being the bad girl and hanging with the Skanks when Sue recruits her to be the focus of her newest campaign video, showing how the arts took everything she had. She then is taken by Puck to see Shelby, who tells her that she wants her to be part of Beth's life, but only if she cleans up her act. This only makes Quinn angry but she geets a couple wake-up calls of sorts throughout the episode. First, Quinn does Sue's video and when she confronts Will to blame him in the video climax, Will reprimands her in a great speech about how she only cares about herself, how she always blames the club when it's only been good to her and how she needs to grow up. He even references the time she lived with Mercedes. Then, after Puck (who has seen Beth in a great, tender scene) tells Quinn she has to get her act together for Beth's sake and after a heart-to-heart with Shelby (who went through something similar to Quinn where she gave up Rachel) she dyes her hair back to normal and rejoins Glee. But Quinn has an ulterior motive: she wants Beth back and will do anything to make this happen. Well that should be interesting.
Meanwhile, Kurt is following through with his pledge to run for class president, with help from Brittany who sees him as a unicorn (in a good way. It means he's good and special.). At the same time, auditions for West Side Story (directed by Emma, Beiste, and student director Artie as Will is busy elsewhere) are underway and Kurt hopes to be Tony. So he auditions with a Barbara Streisand number (He got permission from the lady herself, Rachel Berry first.) in a very elaborate number involving him moving around a rafter and showing off his Sai skills (which Chris Colfer actually has, as shown the last time he was on Conan.). He does a good job, but when spying in on the directors meeting, he hears that they're worried he's not masculine enough for Tony. And then he finds his class president posters are pink and feature unicorns, even though he wanted to scale it back. So he gets Rachel and auditions again with a scene from Romeo and Juliet, which he tries to do in a manly way, but gets more laughs then anything. He's discouraged, until his father tells him that he's gotta embrace who he is and write his own plays, if the roles out there aren't suited for him. So he embraces the pink poster design, only to find that Brittany has decided to run for class president too (as encouraged by Santana), because she's also a unicorn. And then Blaine tries out for West Side Story and is asked to read for Tony. So that should also be interesting.
There's other minor storylines that come into play too. Rachel tries out for Maria, but may face tough competition from Mercedes (who's auditioning next week). Will runs a booty camp with Mike Chang, for the weaker dancers as part of his new focus on making New Direction's winners. Finn contemplates a future of working for Burt and is encouraged by Rachel to shoot higher, as he could do more. His dancing also improves. Sue becomes the front runner in the race for congress and Will, Emma, and Beiste begin thinking of someone who could challenge her. These all work to varying degrees, but also make the episode feel kind of cluttered and could've maybe been saved for later.
All in all, this episode of Glee continues my optimism that season 3 will be a step up from season 2. There's interesting storylines (and continuing storylines, which were lacking in season 2) and I'm even starting to like Kurt again. The promise of Rachel versus Mercedes and Brittany versus Kurt makes me excited for next week (plus my favorite character, Mike Chang is getting a storyline.). If Glee can stay this consistent, it'll become as special as it once was. Like a unicorn. And that would be great.
Rating: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
-One quibble. Shelby implies she put Rachel up for adoption, when she was hired to carry her by Rachel's dads. Hopefully, this was just a slip-up and not Glee altering it's whole continuity.
-Actually another quibble. Blaine is established as a junior, which I don't mind because it means Darren Criss will be sticking around, but now him getting all those solos as a sophmore (in a glee club with stricker rules about who gets solos) seems unrealistic. Then again, it is Glee.
-Only three songs tonight! There hasn't been fewer than four songs since early season 1. I didn't mind this though, and all songs tonight were solid.
-Favorite song of the episode: Something's Coming, because I'm a big Darren Criss fan. Didn't have a least favorite.
-"What's the capital of Ohio. Brittany?" "O."
-"You dress like you own a magical chocolate factory". Oh, Burt Hummel.
-"I'm a unicorn too. Maybe even a bicorn"
-Also, the promo for next week looked amazing. I was chilled, but that may be because Coldplay's "Fix You" reminds me of one of those sad Scrubs endings.
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