Glee: “Silly Love Songs” (Episode 2.12)

TV Reviews
Glee: “Silly Love Songs” (Episode 2.12)

Love was the theme of this week’s episode of Glee. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner at William McKinley High School, and the kids of New Directions are the targets of cupid’s arrows. Mr. Schue announces the assignment for the week is for each student to perform their opinion of the world’s greatest love song, and everyone has their hearts set on singing for a special someone.

In one of the stranger turns in the show, Puck plays against character by taking a liking to recently-added rotund cast member Lauren Zizes and spends the majority of the episode trying to convince her to go out with him. “There are two lessons I learned the hard way,” Puck says. “One: Never punch a cop. The other one: You can’t choose love. Love chooses you.” One thing that can be said for Glee is when the show isn’t plot-less or repetitive it sure goes in unexpected directions. Remember when Mr. Schuester decided to give Coach Beiste her first kiss?

Puck performs Queen’s “Fat Bottom Girls” for Lauren, but she is not at all amused by the song choice. The performance itself is fairly decent, but the best part by far is the backing vocals. Aside from a few cast members with particularly phenomenal voices (specifically Rachel, Mercedes and Kurt), the Glee kids tend to work best in greater numbers.

After the football team’s championship win, Finn has once again risen to become one of the most popular kids in school, and the most sought-after Valentine. The singing quarterback lets his reacquired adoration go to his head, deciding to open up a kissing booth to raise money for the glee club in a less-than-selfless act. “I’m the closest thing that this glee club has to a celebrity right now,” he tells the club, “and just like a famous athlete, I wanna give to a charity – you guys.”

His real motivation is to try and get the attention of his one-time ex-girlfriend, Quinn. Unfortunately for Finn, Quinn is still with Sam and doesn’t intend on falling into Finn’s trap. But of course, she ends up kissing him anyway at the insistence of a
suspicious Sam.

Fireworks! The spark between Finn and Quinn reignites their passion, and they begin an affair. However, after an angry Santana discovers their infidelity, she decides to expose the two by giving them both mono. In the nurse’s office, Rachel confronts Finn about her feelings, and it is decided that maybe they weren’t right for each other after all.

One of the best things about Glee is the way it presents high school relationships. They are confusing. Emotions flare and recede without warning. And the pain of being rejected is often too much to bear.

In the Dalton Academy neck of the woods, Kurt is elated when Blaine says he wants to sing a song for his V-Day crush to tell him how he feels. But when Kurt realizes he is not the object of Blaine’s affection, he is crushed. Kurt confesses his feelings after Blaine is turned down, and the two share a moment as they consider the possibilities of their future.

This week’s story ends with most of the characters gathered at Breadstix to watch The Warblers perform Paul McCartney’s “Silly Love Songs,” the title of the episode. The Warblers’ a capella performances are always some of the better numbers in the show, especially where vocal harmony is concerned, and “Silly Love Songs” is no different. It is also a fun moment to go out on. As it turns out, the people haven’t had enough of silly love songs just yet. Last night’s Glee proved it.

Stray Observations:
• Arite and Mike’s performance of “P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing)” by Michael Jackson was decent enough. Artie easily has the most soulful male voice in the show and Mike is by far the most talented male dancer, but like last week “Need You Now,” the song just felt really out of place. Are Mike and Artie supposed to be super-awesome-best-friends because they both dated the same girl?
• Tina’s rendition of “My Funny Valentine” was downright painful which was intentional, but it likewise felt random and useless. It wasn’t even very comical which seemed to be what they were going for.
• Every song Rachel sings is stellar and this week’s Katy Perry selection “Firework” was no different. However, I’m ready for Rachel to become a bigger focus in the show again.
• It was nice to see that Kurt got a little more screen time in this episode after his near complete absence from the Super Bowl episode. Hopefully we’ll get a solo from him soon as well.
• Mercedes probably deserves a storyline in the near future, too.

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