Glee: Hello again!

Bonjour. Hola. Ciao. Aloha. Well, however you say hello, I am sure you are just as thrilled as I am to be saying hello again to the much anticipated return of Glee!

The members of New Directions think that since they’ve won sectionals, things will be different at school—WRONG- as they are greeted with slushee facials! Mr. Schu also gets a rude awakening during a meeting with Principal Figgins—New Directions must place at Regionals or the club is done. Plus, to Will’s surprise, cue the ominous music, Sue is back with a vengeance (i.e.—cutting off a student’s hair so he “no longer confuse her with his she-male looks”) and of course plenty of hair insults for Mr. Schu. She has been reinstated due to her drugging, fake sleeping with and blackmailing of Principal Figgins. Sue’s goals—to get Mr. Schu fired and “annihilate Glee club.”

On the Emma and Will front, they are adorable at school and plan a date at his place with Will cooking (he sings, dances, cooks…is there anything he doesn’t do?) to continue to get to know each other better.

Sue sets her plan into action using Brittany, who continues to amaze and crack me up with her extremely dumb blonde comments, and Santana with their possible reward—the head cheerleader position. The pair are to ask Finn out on a date in hopes that Rachel will get upset and leave the group.

Meanwhile, Will observes that winning sectionals hasn’t made a difference in the club member’s day to day popularity at school and therefore they need a new fresh number, a.k.a a new “hello.” Their assignment: to find songs to perform that have “hello” in the title.

Finn admits to being a little bit “off his game” (literally during a basketball game), not quite over Quinn and overwhelmed by Rachel’s intense dating, i.e. relationship calendars so they know exactly what the other is doing. Mr. Schu encourages Finn to find himself and move forward. To start the process, Finn sings “Hello, I Love You” by The Doors and throughout the song seems to gain some confidence back. Santana/Brittany ask Finn out on a date, which he agrees to. But Finn also confesses to Rachel that he must “connect to his inner rockstar before I commit to one woman.” Poor Rachel is crushed and tells Finn he is a “scared little boy” who is too overly concerned with his reputation and that she is the only person who accepts him for who he is.

Back at glee club practice, Rachel volunteers to sing her “hello” song and it is one that “sums up her feelings perfectly”—“Gives You Hell” by The All-American Rejects. I have to admit that I enjoyed her version more, sorry All-American Rejects. But Rachel’s focus on the first syllable of “hello” is not what Mr. Schu had in mind and he reminds them that their competition, Vocal Adrenaline, hasn’t lost in three years.

At a music store, Rachel searches for a real “hello” song when she bumps into Jesse St. James, the star of Vocal Adrenaline. The pair end up singing a duet of Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello” (amazing!) and when it is over Jesse asks her out.

Finn’s date with Brittany/Santana does not go well—they make fun of Rachel, ignore him and even say that he isn’t hot which prompts Finn, after he defends Rachel, to leave early.

Will and Emma’s date is going better than Finn’s as they dance to “Hello Again” and Will tells Emma that it is the perfect song for them. Things start to heat up between them, but Emma stops it and confesses that she is a virgin. I guessed they wouldn’t make it easy for Will and Emma to be together.

Following his awful date, Finn realizes his mistake and apologizes to Rachel saying he, “doesn’t want to date other girls, just her.” Rachel, however, replies that she is with Jesse now, which Finn finds suspicious and suggests that perhaps Jesse is spying.

Finn tells Mr. Schu about Jesse and Rachel, so Will goes to talk to Shelby Corcoran (the lovely and talented Idina Menzel), the coach of Vocal Adrenaline to see if they are spying. She explains that sometimes there is just a spark between two people referring to Jesse and Rachel but Shelby and Will also have that spark because they end up back at his place making out. They stop and Will confesses to being a mess because he is not yet divorced and is in a relationship with Emma. Shelby suggests he “take a breather and call her when he gets things sorted out.” I couldn’t help but wonder if Shelby is spying too.

Mercedes, Kurt and Artie confront Rachel, “cut the butter Benedict Arnold,” and tell her to choose between Jesse and the glee club.

Sue decides to try to use Rachel’s new relationship with Jesse to her advantage. She invites Rachel to a meeting of the McKinley High Old Maids club in hopes of persuading her to stay with Jesse and leave the club. Wow, I’d be freaked out too, especially by the one member who “spends her Friday nights making out with her cat and watching Ghost Whisperer.”

Meanwhile, Emma is setting up dinner at Will’s place as a surprise when Terri shows up. Terri drops a bomb on Emma saying that “Hello Again” was also her and Will’s song back in high school. Later, Emma confronts Will about the song but he replies that he didn’t even remember the song. But Emma surmises that Will may not be completely over Terri and needs to spend some time alone to get to know himself again.

Rachel confronts Jesse to find out if his feelings are real. He convinces her they are by saying “I want to introduce you to Jesse, the guy who is nuts about you and would never hurt you.” They decide to stay together and keep it a secret but as they kiss, Jesse looks over to see Shelby watching them. Hmm, I don’t trust this St. James character yet.

Rachel lies to Finn and tells him she broke up with Jesse. He replies that he thinks it is for the best and wants them to be “together, a real couple.” Rachel refuses citing she doesn’t want to cause any drama on the team. Finn’s response “ I don’t give up that easy.” Good for you Finn!!

The episode comes to a close with a final performance with the group all decked out in dresses and suits singing the Beatles, “Hello Goodbye.” An upset Emma watches Will during the song and once it ends an emotional Rachel rushes off the stage.

Wow, this Glee return episode covered a lot of ground but was very solid and entertaining. So happy to have this delightfully quirky crew back. Plus, their voices are amazing. Set those TIVO’s because next week is the Madonna episode! If you missed it, check out Sue Slyvester’s vogue video. Did you have a favorite song or quote? Let me know. I’m between Rachel’s “Gives You Hell” and her duet with Jesse. Until next week fellow Gleeks…hello!

For another take on this week’s episode, check out Hello, Hello by Stephanie Jaar

Season 1, Episode 14: Hell-O (originally aired April 13, 2010)

For more on Glee, click here.

Tuesdays at 9pm on Fox

Photographs courtesy of Fox and IMDbPro