Glee Review: Now I’m a Belieber

Don’t call it a comeback! Because we’re not quite there yet. “Comeback,” the follow-up to last week’s fantastic “Silly Love Songs” isn’t exactly as energetic, as funny or as cohesive as its predecessor, but I sure did have fun watching. Okay, I’ll be honest. I’ve come down with a bad case of Bieber Fever, and when you have the Feeeva, all things cheesy, poppy and youthful, no matter want, are just all-around amazing.

It all starts with a sue-icidal Sue. When Emma and Will find her suicide note, they run to her home and find her on a bed, surrounded by pill bottles and with no pulse. Now, don’t be worried.  As Sue says, “I just stopped my own heart. That’s my CIA training.” After losing Nationals and the ensuing public humiliation, she has nothing to look forward to for the rest of the school year. The Cheerios could cheer for the school teams but “yeah like that’s gonna happen.” Emma comes up with the brilliant idea to invite Sue to sit in on glee club for a week, and Will takes this opportunity to keep a close eye on his nemesis. Albeit, Emma and Will could NEVER, like never ever, have imaged she’d plot a takedown from the inside. Sue pits Mercedes against Rachel which leads to a diva-off of astronomical proportions. Who won? Who cares?! Both Lea Michele and Amber Riley not only brought the house down; they burned the house down to the ground! When the showdown ends in laughs and hugs, Sue wants to know “where’s the hate” so Schu tries a harder approach to get her to understand the true meaning and power of song. They visit sick kids in a hospital ward and sing “Let It Shine” with them. I believe these kids were real patients, and I was balling, especially when Sue says, “I hate you for this” with a smile on her face. I hate you too for that, Glee writers.

Schu unveils New Direction’s competition at Regional, and it’s the Warblers and last year’s Aural Intensity. There’s also a new twist. They will be judged on incorporating the theme of the competition, and this year’s is “anthems.” Will describes an anthem as “an epic song filled with a ground swell of emotions that somehow seems bigger than itself, even bigger than the person performing it.” Okay, I swear he’s said the same thing about almost every other song genre, but I just wanted to clarify in case you are like Brittany who believes an anthem is “the bottom of an ant’s pants.”

Moving on, the relationship pentagon got a little bent out of shape this week. Quinn continues to lie that she didn’t kiss Finn but instead saved him with some mouth to mouth after he choked on a gumball. Sam is gullible enough to believe this because it’s happened to him before, so he focuses on trying to keep her interested. He says, “My dad always said there are two ways to get a woman to love you: take her hunting or rock & roll.” With that advice in mind, it’s on to a plan. Step one: the hair. Step two: inspire a room full of 13-year-olds to riot and creepily caress your hair. The one-man band, The Justin Bieber Experience, was born.

Sam has definitely been accepted pretty quickly into the Glee community. He started out as the adorable, new transfer. He speaks Na’vi and is a total dork at heart, but Chord Overstreet hasn’t had many opportunities to flesh out his character. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he’s even more adorable than previously assumed, and Sam’s a genuinely sweet guy. After he makes all the glee ladies crazy with his rendition of “Baby,” Mike, Artie and Puck want in on the action. Lauren still won’t succumb to the Puckerman charm, and Brittany and Tina are going through Valentines’ Day withdrawal, and everything pales in comparison to that lovers’ high. Even Mike Chang’s abs can’t seize Tina’s attention. These boys need some serious help. They’re in, but Puck has to wear a silky, faux toupee to fit in. (His head tosses, the kind only ladies and Bieber-ites do well, were hilarious.) Finn, still as angry and douchey as last week, hates on Sam, the Biebs and The Justin Bieber Experience.

I have to say they’re rendition of “Somebody to Love” is haaawt! There is weird chalk tossing, but like I said, the Biebs does some strange things to me. The powdery re-enactment is a little over the top, for a glee club performing on a school stage, but they lean into the goofiness there. Either way, Sam’s Bieber-wooing plan works, and he successfully draws Quinn back to his side again. It even got him a proposition from Santana, who’s always willing and eager to please. She pushed the fact that Quinn’s excuse is completely laughable, and he knows the truth but only wants to believe. The Bieb power works even better the second time around for everyone but Puck. “Although my love would crush him, I’m totally turned on by the Biebster. That is until I remember that he looks like he’s 12, and that’s sorta creepy so if I was going to give you a grade: C+,” Lauren says, but she’s doesn’t turn him down, as she still may have a proposition for him when the time is right.

The time comes when Lauren is ready to sing her first glee solo. Ashley Fink finally bares her singing chops and isn’t horrible. “I Know What Boys Like” isn’t the most vocally acrobatic song. (And it’s a lot more than I can claim about the wonderful Harry Shum.) With a little advice from Puck, Lauren unleashes a newfound, singing courage, helped by envisioning everyone in their underwear. Overall, the performance is pretty weird, but it’s fun and sassy, and as unbelievable as the courtship between these two, Fink and Mark Salling are selling the hell out of it and making their interactions a joy to watch.

In a more awkward side story, Rachel decides to stage her “comeback” by paying Brittany to copy her style and then tell everyone that Rachel was her inspiration. Though this isn’t the most organic form of a quintessential resurgence, I can get past that. It just seemed like a shoe-horned in storyline. It could have been dropped in any episode, or the writers just wanted to give all the ladies a good reason to dress like “sexy schoolgirl librarian chic.” But I can be happy that the Rachel Berry I know and love is back, and I like it. Like Finn said she “was more like her old self, focused and take no prisoners.” And Rachel is funniest when she’s self-absorbed and over-the-top and not mopey and mission-less.

By the episode’s end, everyone comes together to sing “Sing,” and even Sue looks like she’s enjoying herself. Sam breaks up with Quinn and starts dating Santana. Sue’s found her mojo through music and is now the new coach for Aural Intensity. New Directions is now officially her competition. Rachel thinks that they need something more than just any old song to place this year, like an original song. Finn agrees but doesn’t stick up for her in front of everyone. He tells her that she can write a great song (alone) and shove it down everyone’s throats. Then, they’ll have to listen. Though I do think “Sing” won’t win Regionals for them, I’m not sure an original song is the way to go either. I’m intrigued to see where this idea will lead and how Regionals will turn out.

I’ve already watched this episode twice. I, happily, accepted the freshness of a new, atypical perspective in Sam. And as much as you love or hate him, many people can agree that the Bieber swagger is mighty infectious. This episode, in no way, would be representative of why Glee wins awards, but it’s a nice way to spend an hour.

The Songs

“Baby”by Justin Bieber
Sung by Chord Overstreet
Grade: B+

“Somebody to Love”by Justin Bieber
Sung by The Justin Bieber Effect (Sam, Puck, Artie and Mike)
Grade: A-

“Take Me or Leave Me”by Idina Menzel and Fredi Walker from Rent
Sung by Lea Michele and Amber Riley
Grade: A

“I Know What Boys Like” by The Waitresses
Sung by Ashley Fink
Grade: C

“Sing” by My Chemical Romance
Sung by New Directions
Grade: B

Memorable Moments

• Has anyone else noticed that we’ve heard exponentially more non-engineered voices lately? Tina, Sam, Sue and Schu so far.
• “Will, you have more grease in your hair than the guy behind WikiLeaks.” – Sue
• “I wore a tank top today because I thought it was summer. No one ever taught me how to read a calendar.” – Brittany
• “Hey, Will. Esmé.” – Sue
• Emma’s depression pamphlet titled, “I’m too depressed to open this pamphlet.”
• “That haircut makes your mouth look even bigger.” – Puck to Sam
• “You’re lucky I left my blowgun at home, Airbags, because I got a clear shot at your nonnies.” – Sue
• “He’s clearly like a mini-God.” – Artie
• “My uncle lost his job and his goat was going hungry, so I spent it on food for the goat. Well, sorta. The goat just ate the money.” – Brittany
• “You better get a move on. Kids “R” Us closes at 6 o’clock sharp.” – Rachel
• “Most teachers think that by cutting class, I might improve my grades.” – Brittany
• “And William, I don’t care how adorable those kids are, if I hear one song from that classic-rock outfit Journey, I will start pulling catheters.” – Sue
• “Being a diva is all about emotion. In fact, you feel so much emotion sometimes, it cannot be physically contained. Sometimes you have to close your eyes and turn your head and push, push your feelings away, they’re that big!” – Rachel
• “I have to get my cross trainers. You wanna know why? I’m gonna be doing some runs.” – Mercedes
• “Every time you open your humongous mouth to do an impression or moisten an enormous stamp for a lazy giant, you get one step closer to everyone seeing you’re actually a dork.” – Santana
• “Listen, Rachel, I’m going to give you some tough love right now. You’re not a trendsetter. When people look at you, they don’t see what you’re wearing, they see a cat getting its temperature taken and then they hear it screaming.” – Brittany
• All the kids in their undies or lingerie and Sue’s in a dominatrix outfit.
• Sue’s completely plaid jumpsuit
• “I like that Rachel…she might be making a comeback”- Finn. And I like this Finn. He’s not an ass.

For another opinion on this episode, read Personally, I think the episode should’ve been about Esperanza Spalding by Alana D.

Season 2, Episode 13: Comeback (originally aired February 15, 2011)

Tuesdays at 8pm on Fox

Photographs courtesy of Fox and IMDb Pro.