I should curtsie first of all because in my previous Glee-related post, I guessed that this episode will involve a blackout and I was right! A round of applause for me. Thank you! Thank you!

There are many songs in this episode, which also means there are many storylines, which also means that I can’t remember what happened in the episode half the time. Unlike Game of Thrones – many characters, many different storylines but I could still remember what happened in an episode of the show without having to rewatch when I’m recapping. But Glee? No, I have to rewatch to recap, which is infuriating!

Anyway, on with the show, shall we?

Lima, Ohio

Since Kurt is not around anymore to do any spying whatsoever for New Directions, Mr Schue himself went to spy “Whosyourdaddy” or how ever you spell the name of one of the competitors for Regionals. He told the kids that the girl (played by Jessica Sanchez from American Idol and since I don’t watch that show anymore after Kris Allen was crowned the winner, which, might I add, is not because I was mad that Adam Lambert was snubbed but because the quality of the performances went down from there, in my opinion, I don’t know who she is and I only know that she’s from American Idol because I know about the spoilers beforehand) from that competition group has a big voice in a tiny body (sounds like a girl I once knew whose name is Charice) that can fill up the whole auditorium. Oooh, I’m skurred. So he wanted New Directions to do stadium songs, whatever that means, until the lights went off and so was the electricity. It’s blackout in McKinley! Yay! Which means… Unplug Week!

He kind of has a creepy face in that screencap. Hmmm…

Interspersed with this whole blackout-in-McKinley storyline is Ryder’s catfish storyline, which is starting to infuriate me.

Ryder accused Katie of standing him up twice now and asked Katie why, which she replied simply with an “I don’t know”. And I started shaking my laptop screen and singing The Who‘s “Who Are You?” Ryder noticed Kitty on her phone after he texted Katie and asked to see her phone, which prompted Kitty to threaten him with restraining order. Hmmm… Ryder, if you realize, Unique was also on her phone.

Ryder confessed to Jake that he had told Katie something that he has not told anyone. Jake, in his disbelief, thought that it was his dyslexia but apparently not. So many secrets, so little time. Jake wanted to know what is the big secret but Ryder refused to tell his best buddy. Jake, as he left, advised Ryder to tell the secret to someone whom at least he knows. Ouch! He’s right, Ryder? How do you know if Katie is a girl or even human?

To begin the “Unplug Week”, Sam took his guitar and sang “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”. Ryder joined in and then everyone else as well. But Artie playing on his phone in the background was quite a distraction and I knew something was up when Artie was supposed to sing next and he rolled up to the piano, played one note on the piano and comically banged his head on it because “I needs my scents” (? Scent? Sense? Something? I don’t know?), to which Sam replied: “You needs to man up.” Okay, this is quite funny. Sam then told everyone in the room that they are attached to technology, which is sad. It is true. We are and that is sad. When I forgot my phone at home, I almost cried in the train ride and returned back home to get my phone and then reached the office super late. I am attached to my phone. Sadly.

Sam’s little speech had Artie thinking and he was inspired when he accidentally rolled over an empty plastic bottle. He told Sam that it almost sounded musical and suggested that they didn’t need any musical instruments and get everyone together to make music without one. I think I know where this is going but before we get to whatever Artie had in store…

Ryder was up next to sing “Everybody Hurts” unplugged but with an orchestra because he had a lot of feels to share with everyone else. While he was singing the song, we saw Tina getting slushied after she was done in the showers and Jake and Marley were slushied while innocently walking down the hallway.

After the song ended, he told the rest something he didn’t even tell his parents and only Katie knew but he didn’t know if she could keep the secret – he was molested by his 17/18-year-old babysitter when he was 11 years old. When Sam and Artie heard that, they thought it was cool that because it was a 17/18-year-old girl. Tina and Unique were disturbed by that but Ryder was resigned to the fact that no one would understand him, high-fived Sam and Artie and went back to his seat. Sam and Artie are assholes in this case. He was molested when he was 11 years old. No matter whether this girl was a hot teenage girl or not, he was molested – touched without permission. And he was obviously underaged and didn’t know anything! Molest is molest like rape is rape no matter what situation they are in or how physically attractive the molester or rapist is! If I could reach into the screen, I would have slapped those two guys hard! When I was rewatching the episode, I was looking closely to Blaine’s reaction and I think if he could, he would probably punch Sam on the face. He actually hanged his head and stared in possible anger (he was staring dead straight ahead in silence refusing to acknowledge what’s happening right beside him) when Ryder high-fived Sam and Artie. I guess this is the good thing about rewatching an episode, eh?

Kitty, who was listening to the story, seemed to have a look on her face that has guilt or pity or understanding and we were treated to that in the next scene in Breadsticks where Kitty and Ryder were having dinner.

Kitty told Ryder her story – she was molested by her friend’s older brother in 6th grade when she went over for sleepover. She didn’t tell her parents about it until a week later. Her mother called his mother but all they got was that he was a good boy and she couldn’t believe he would do that. In school, her friend told their friends not to speak to Kitty again because she was spreading rumours about her older brother. Kitty couldn’t stand it and transferred to another school. Kitty understood what Ryder was going though – like no one would understand – and she wanted him to know that she did understand. I never thought I would say this but I like them to be together. I do.

We found out next what Artie and Sam had in store – Glee doing Stomp singing “We Will Rock You”. I knew it! I expected this when I was listening to the studio version of the song and I was commenting how the weird background was distracting me. It’s still distracting! It was cute though to see Blaine being a goober and stepping on rubbish cans and stomping the ground. The rest of them are cute too. It looked like they had actual fun.

The next thing we know, the lights were back on McKinley and New Directions were instructed to do an acapella number. Why is nobody acknowledging the fact that Blaine was from Warblers? He would know how to do acapella better than any of the New Directions’ kids. Hello! Acknowledgement please!

Anyway, so Ryder went back to IM-ing Katie and tried to get the truth out from her. But he seemed to be patient and told Katie that he knew she’s from Glee club. But when Katie said that he couldn’t know that the phone that was ringing was the one that he called, it kind of pinged my interest. She’s right. It could be pure coincidence. Not that it matters.

Kitty approached Ryder and asked him out for lunch together to tell him some other stories about her but Ryder refused her offer because he’s waiting for Katie to come back online. What? Why, Ryder, why? Kitty told him not to waste his time with an online fantasy when he could have an actual one. Hmm… Ryder, she’s coming on to you and you rejecting her is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. You guys are kinda cute together. Come on! Kitty then admitted to Ryder that she doesn’t warm up to people easily and she liked him. Ryder replied that after he found out who Katie is then they could go out. What? You just made Kitty a second pick to a possibly non-existent Katie? You are an idiot! Kitty walked away, saying: “I don’t think so.” Awwwwwww… nooooo! The ship has not sailed yet!

New Directions ended it all off with an acapella version of “Longest Time”. Throughout the performance, the camera kept going back and forth between Kitty and Ryder while Ryder was oblivious to Kitty looking at him. So, the ship has not sunken! And Kitty does really like Ryder. Oh, Ryder, please wake up from your dream or whatever. I didn’t like Kitty initially but she seemed to be a much better person when she is in Glee club. Come on now!

Anyway, can I just assume that Blaine did the arrangement for the acapella? I can, right? Seriously, he’s possibly the only one canonically and someone that we all know for sure that knows how to arrange acapella music because he’s the only one who was from an acapella group named Warblers! Whatever it is, it is a good arrangement.

I can never get a good screencap out of the performance. They were moving everywhere. All the time!

In another storyline, Sue became a freelance personal trainer. Blaine was in the class she was teaching in and I’m pretty sure the only reason why Blaine was in this scene was… there is a good reason I’m sure… but, hello, Blaine’s butt is practically the other character in Glee. It’s Blaine’s butt galore in this scene. Butt, butt, butt. Pelvic thrust, thrust, thrust.

It’s getting hot in hereeeee… so take off all your clothes… Look at that butt! Also curls! CURLS!

During the exercise routine, the guy in front of Blaine, aka orange tank top guy, was looking at Blaine. Initially, I thought Blaine looked interested but after rewatching, I don’t think he actually looked interested. It was the opposite of interested.

After the class ended, since Blaine lasted the torture, Sue allowed him to speak to her. Blaine admitted that he rejoined Cheerios to destroy Sue from the inside, which Sue found admirable. But since Sue was gone, the Cheerios girls were lost and as a student council president, he was worried about the advice that Roz was giving the girls – operation to remove ribs to make them flexible (okayyyyy). Blaine figured that something was going on in the school that got something to do with Sue and the kids were still not feeling safe. They needed Sue back.

Sue came to McKinley and watched Cheerios practised. Becky came over to watch the practice with her when Sue noticed that she’s out of her uniform. Becky told her that she didn’t like the way Roz treated her and missed Sue a lot and wanted her back. Sue said that she was treated more seriously as a personal trainer and she didn’t want to go back. Then “Little Girls” performance began. As I predicted once again, it would be a really good performance and I’m not disappointed at all. The ending was hilarious, with the Cheerios all lying on the benches.

But it was all a fantasy sequence. Sue came back to reality and the Cheerios were still at it. She told Becky that she didn’t miss it at all but by the look on her face, it was a lie obviously. Becky walked away sadly.

Because she couldn’t convince Sue to come back, Becky went and farted a lot of times during practice at some point, which made Roz sent her to the principal’s office. Principal Figgins asked why she couldn’t just come to the office. Good question. Apparently, Becky didn’t think that! Okayyy… the scene ended off with Becky wanting to tell him something. And we should all know what that is, I suppose.

New York

Santana came back to Kurt and Rachel waiting for her at the loft. She brought in an awful looking chair that she found by the dumpster, which she felt with a little “TLC” and “three clicks from Kurt’s ruby slippers”, the chair would be salvaged. Awww… yes, Kurt is probably good at it but that is one horrible beat-up chair, Santana. No matter how good Kurt is, I don’t think he can save and by the look on his face when he saw the chair, he probably wouldn’t touch it with a ten-inch pole.

Anyway, Kurt and Rachel wanted to talk to Santana about her throwing her life away after they found out from Tina that she worked as a bouncer in a lesbian beer garden and a go-go girl. Oh, so they still contacted each other! Thank God for that! I was just thinking to myself what happened to the friendship of Kurt, Rachel, Mercedes and Tina. Santana corrected them and admitted she worked as a cage dancer dressed up as Barbarella. Rachel told her that she’s very talented and should focus on her talent. Santana argued that she didn’t want to be in Funny Girl or be a singing waiter and to stop forcing their Broadway dreams on her dream, which she still hasn’t figured out yet and needed time to find out. She asked if that’s wrong, which Kurt replied no but suggested for her to do something else like dance lessons which NYADA has for non-NYADA students, “something to keep your motors revved”. He said that while doing something, which I cannot explain so I’m just going to leave the gif here:

 

What are you doing, Kurt? I cannot stop laughing. 

Anyway, Santana didn’t want their pity and advice and walked away.

The next scene, we see Isabelle, Kurt’s fairy godmother, talking to the phone about sending flowers. I don’t know anyway. So, in the conversation, there’s a Darren and a Christopher. Kurt was asking: “Darren…?”, which Isabelle replied: “Darren Aronofsky. Christopher Nolan.” What is Glee doing? We all know that Kurt and Blaine are played by… Darren Criss and Chris Colfer, whose full name is Christopher Colfer. Do you get where I’m going here? I feel like there’s a fourth wall that broke down here. I have to admit, I am one of those women who like to see Darren and Chris together. I know, I know, it’s probably not gonna happen ever (maybe) but they have so much chemistry on screen (and off screen, looking at the behind the scenes pictures and videos that fans had taken of them). I’m going a little off-track here but back to the show.

Isabelle asked Kurt how his dad was doing. I find this sweet of her to do. She’s like literally his fairy godmother. Kurt thought that she called him in to fire him for not being there 24/7 after he got in NYADA since that was the agreement for his internship. Her reply to that was my dream for any employer to say: “Quality trumps quantity always.” So, she called him in to ask for his help. She’s co-chairing the gala for the Ballet Education Programme (or something like that) and her celebrity wrangler just cancelled on her and she needed someone to dive in asap. And that someone is… Kurt! Yay! Isabelle allowed him to bring his friends too.

Look at that face! Awww…

Kurt came back to announce the news to his roommates that they were invited in. Rachel was excited obviously but Santana was less so. Rachel told Santana that ballet was her gateway into show business. Kurt then told them that he was enrolled in a ballet class by his mom at the age of three. The ballet class was the only class that seemed to fit for him. Even when other kids and their parents laughed at him, his can-do attitude was born in that room. Awwwwwww…

Little Kurt is so cute! But why is he blonde? 

Rachel was definitely all for the gala but Santana refused to join. Kurt then convinced her to join them when he mentioned that she got to wear a designer dress from Vogue and kept it as a gift.

So, they were all at the gala. Isabelle invited them to watch the ballet gala with her from the wings. She invited Santana as well but Kurt and Rachel cut in that Santana wasn’t interested in ballet. Isabelle didn’t believe that because every girl started out wanting to be a ballerina. Hmmm… I don’t. What? I don’t. I just don’t like ballet. I wanted to be a lawyer. Yes, Siti wanted to be a lawyer when she was a kid. Anyway, Santana finally admitted that she joined ballet when she was a kid but for only a few lessons. She felt safe and a part of something during the lessons. And then “At The Ballet” began. This was such a beautiful performance. The lighting, the dresses that the ladies wore and the suit that Kurt wore, the whole ballet interspersed in between. Beautifully done. I didn’t know how they would cut this but they did it well. There’s quite a bit of everyone. I personally love the part when older Kurt, Rachel and Santana saw their younger selves. It was such a beautiful scene there.

These three characters (including Blaine, in my opinion) are meant to be in New York. They are meant to be doing Broadway or singing or dancing. That’s what their dreams are and it’s so beautiful to see this scene. It’s like looking at where they started and how they are now.

So they went back to reality. Santana confessed that she loves to dance but unlike Kurt and Rachel, she didn’t know what to do yet. Isabelle told her that she has time still to figure it all out. Seriously, she’s a fairy godmother or something. I really want Blaine to graduate and go to New York and meet Isabelle. I don’t know what she will do but man, it’ll be good.

Santana finally went for the dance class that NYADA held for non-students. The instructor told the students that this is not a ticket to get them into NYADA. Santana laughed it off saying she’s not paying 30 grand for something she’s good at. Annoyed, the instructor asked what she’s there for. Santana replied that she loves to dance and she’s there to reintroduce herself to the art, which she had lost touch with. While doing plie, she saw her younger self. She walked over and her younger self told her not to forget her again. Awwwww… it’s so symbolic.

And we come to the end of the episode. It ended beautifully for New York gang, especially Santana. She now knows what she loves.

Overall, it’s not my most favourite episode but I do enjoy it. This time, I really enjoy the New York storyline.

We have two more episodes to go for the season before it ends. Next week would be very interesting for those of you who love Kurt and Blaine so much, me included.

So, stay tuned on Monday or Tuesday for my review of the songs for the next episode of Glee.