Glee: The Thunderclap Blues

Once upon a time in a high school far, far away, a group of misfits (and several coerced cheerleaders and jocks), formed New Directions–a Glee club led by Will Schuester, a Spanish teacher with dreams of restoring the extracurricular to its glory days. The club had its fair share of obstacles–evil mastermind coaches, teen pregnancy, unrequited crushes, and accepting their “True Colors,” which just might mean the occasional slushie to the face.

This week, Principal Figgins tells Mr. Schue that they can’t afford to have a Glee photo in “The Thunderclap”–the school’s yearbook. According to Wikipedia, the name also refers to the one hit wonder Brit band “Thunderclap Newman” (Maybe they only had one hit because of that terrible name?). Other than Rachel, New Directions is thrilled about their exclusion, considering the picture is defaced and vandalized every year.

Yet Will is distraught by this news, and pays $325 for an ad that will afford space for two co-captains to be featured. The gang immediately votes Rachel in, and she ultimately convinces Finn to join her as a morale-booster. Rachel sings Lily Allen’s “Smile,” to Finn, teaching him how to do just that for their upcoming photo. The scene is over-the-top awkward, as Rachel forces him to dance and harmonize. All in all: love the song, hate the scene.

Finn doesn’t show for the Thunderclap photo after he is harassed by his teammates. Rachel puts on a happy face anyway, landing the whole club a role in a local commercial for Mattress Land. They’re pumped! And it’s adorable. The commercial itself is one of the most brilliant scenes the show has ever thought up, as they hop around the store in blue pajamas, singing Van Halen’s “Jump.” The choreography, the cartwheeling across a sea of mattresses, the enthusiasm, the singing: all just terrific.

Back in the Schuester household, a boiling point is reached when Will finds Terri’s fake baby belly pad! FINALLY–justice for the blonde-haired witch. What did bother me was how violent Will was towards her. At a couple points, I thought he might actually hit her– not cool, Mr. Schue. Anyway, he moves out, even contemplating divorce (though Emma is surprisingly against this possibility). Conveniently, there’s a stack of thank you mattresses in his office for his sleeping purposes. I guess he didn’t really even need to “Come on down to Mattress Land!” after all…

Sue Sylvester sees the commercial and cries cheater. Turns out, the Gleeks really are disqualified from sectionals for taking payment from Mattress Land: and it’s Will’s fault. Since he slept on the mattress, they can’t be returned. So, in a selfless and heroic move, he tells them to move forward without him–compete in sectionals, but director-less. It was definitely a good move–for the show, and the club.

Quinn Fabray also proves herself in a pretty big way. Though she begins the episode with a mission to get back on the Cheerio squad, she instead uses her smarts to get Sue to give one of her six Thunderclap pages to the Glee club. I was only just about to write her off as shallow!

As the gang primps for the photo, Will looks on in a bittersweet moment, as they sing, “Smile,” by Nat King Cole. And you can tell his heart is truly breaking– though for a worthwhile cause.

Next week, in what appears to be the last episode before a long, heart-breaking Glee hiatus until April showers, Emma takes the club to sectionals–on her wedding day! But something tells me the fall collection of Glee will not have quite the fairytale ending people are expecting. I’m foreseeing drama–lots of drama.

For another take on this episode, check out Mattress: Don’t Sleep On Glee by Matthew Turnier.

Season 1, Episode 12: Mattress (originally aired December 2, 2009)

For more on Glee, click here.

Wednesdays at 9pm on Fox

Photographs courtesy of Fox and IMDbPro