‘Glee’-Cap 2.13: The Power of the Biebs

In my last recap, I made the mistake of pointing out that ‘Glee’ had featured enough Katy Perry songs for a while, and said that I hoped the show would move onto something else already. Well, I should have known to be careful what I wished for. Last week’s episode went full-bore on a Justin Bieber theme. Despite this (or, amazingly, even because of it), the episode somehow managed to be really entertaining anyway. Maybe there’s something to this Bieber kid after all?

‘Comeback’ follows up on Sue’s devastating loss at the Cheerleading Finals, and her budget being slashed in favor of Glee Club. The episode opens with Will finding a “Sue-icide note” on her desk. He races to her house, only to find that Sue of course was not serious about killing herself. (She tried to overdose on Vitamin A.) Emma advises that the cure for Sue’s depression may be to sit in with Glee and learn the healing power of song. That’s obviously a bad idea, which obviously means that the show will have to go through with it. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone but the characters to learn that this is all really a ploy by Sue to infiltrate behind enemy lines and sow seeds of discontent within the club.

Dopey Sam proves just what a dope he is by choosing to believe Quinn’s story that she got Mono from Finn because she had to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. No one else is falling for this. Nonetheless, Sam worries that he’s losing his girlfriend, and decides that the best way to win her over is to channel the superstar charisma of Justin Bieber. He forms a one-man band called The Justin Bieber Experience, which proves to be a big hit at bat mitzvahs.

When Sam unveils his new act in front of the class, everyone scoffs. However, his performance of “Baby” is so sincere and so fun that he wins pretty much everyone over. Sue declares, “We’ve got to get that girl on the Cheerios.”

Mike and Artie have also been worrying about losing their girls’ attention, and beg Sam to be part of the act. Even Puck thinks that this will be a great way to impress Lauren. The new four-man Justin Bieber Experience sings “Somebody to Love.” Lauren finally starts to soften up to Puck.

As a result of all this, fickle Quinn bounces back to Team Sam and tells Finn that she’s over him. However, Santana has been making her own play for Sam’s attention. She tells him, “You are Bieba-licious,” and spells it out bluntly how Quinn lied to him. This finally gets through to Sam. He breaks up with Quinn and tells her that he’s with Santana now.

Recognizing that she’s no longer the star of the Club (and no longer the quarterback’s girlfriend), Rachel desires her own popularity comeback. She pays Brittany to dress like her, believing that this will make her a trend-setter. Brittany screws this up by wearing leg-warmers on her arms, and inadvertently becomes a new fashion icon herself. Even when she starts dressing in good-girl outfits just like Rachel’s, everyone credits Brittany’s originality and assumes that Rachel is a poor knockoff.

Sue tries to play Rachel’s insecurity against the club by manipulating her and Mercedes into a “diva-off” performance of “Take Me or Leave Me” from ‘Rent’. But the plan backfires when the girls have too much fun and stay friends afterwards. Sue then requests that she be allowed to stage her own big production number utilizing the whole club for the My Chemical Romance song “Sing It Out.” (Almost) everyone loves it, and Will announces that this will be their routine for Regionals. Only Rachel objects. She thinks the class should write an original number instead. She’s voted down, but Finn later tells her that he likes her idea and that she should continue to push for a leadership role in the club.

Just when Will thinks that he’s finally gotten through to Sue about the importance of Glee Club, Sue drops a bombshell. She’s been hired as the new coach for rival team Aural Intensity, and will use all of her new insider knowledge about the New Directions to destroy them at Regionals. Does this mean that Sue no longer works at McKinley High? That part isn’t clarified.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, I think it’s Lauren who says to Puck that she’s simultaneously turned on and creeped out by his dressing and acting like a ‘tweener. Or maybe it’s Santana to Sam, I don’t remember. In any case, that sounds like a pretty apt summary of the Justin Bieber phenomenon, doesn’t it?

5 comments

  1. Adam

    Might be one of the first instances on Glee where the show’s cast was definitively and immeasurably more talented than the original performer of the songs.

      • Adam

        Ehh, at least Britney had somewhat of a voice and used to look quite nice. In the autotuned music world of 2011, she’d be even bigger than the late 90’s/early 2000’s. Bieber just makes me want stick an icepick in my eyes and ears.

  2. EM

    “The Biebs” sounds like a Joe Dante movie, albeit far more unsettling than anything Dante (Joe or Alighieri) could come up with.

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