GLEE Episode 13 - Sectionals

What's going down?

While the group wait anxiously to find out who their replacement for Mr Schue will be, Rachel is more curious as to why Puck rushed to Quinn's aid when she fell over at rehearsals the previous day. The others know about the whole babydaddy drama but are reluctant to let Rachel in on it. However it seems she may already have some idea as she tells the rest of them about her "sixth sense."

Cue operation "don't let Rachel find out" as the club go into action mode on their mobiles. Kurt's solution? "Lock Rachel up until sectionals." hH's even so kind as to offer up his basement. If Rachel was to find out she would no doubt tell Finn, thus crushing any chances they have of winning. Fingers are pointed at Santana for Rachel's suspicions since she's dating Puck and has a motive for revenge. "Sex isn't dating," she tells us. "If it were, Santana and I would be dating," says Brittany. Erm, what?

Emma, determined to be there at sectionals, has pushed her wedding to Ken back a few hours so she can make it. That fact that it "doesn't have to happen in broad daylight" seems like a bonus to the bride-to-be. Obviously Ken is less than impressed.

Rachel corners Quinn in the corridor and proceeds to ask her about genetic screening on her unborn child. She freaks out Quinn as she mentions the "terrible genetic disorder Tay-Sacs." Oh her bad, only Jews are carriers of the gene, looks like Quinn should have nothing to worry about after all. Sneaky, eh? Later on, as Rachel watches, she asks Puck to take her to get "those Jewish baby tests."

At rehearsal the club meet their new replacement: Emma. Will gives them one last pep talk filled with hope and sunshine, telling them he knows they're "gonna make him proud"  and leaves. First job is to finalise the set list. The club agree on "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Proud Mary" but they need one more. Rachel offers up a ballad from her extensive repertoire but Mercedes has had more than enough of her stealing her thunder. Emma reasons that Mercedes should be given a shot. "Do I even need to tell you what song?" she says as she proceeds to belt out "And I'm Telling You" from "Dreamgirls." She absolutely owns it, leading to Rachel relenting, -"I can't wait to see you sing that song at sectionals," she tells her.

After rehearsal Finn and Rachel talk. "I gotta be honest, I'm kind of pumped about sectionals," he tells her. "It's been a hard couple of months with Quinn and the baby and everything. I really think that winning could make everything good for a while." At this Rachel decides to ruin his happiness and tells him that Puck, not he, is the father of the baby. Finn promptly rushes back into practice and smashes Puck's lights out. In tears Quinn eventually admits that she's been lying. "I'm done with you. I'm done with all of you," he screams as he storms out.

Feeling guilty, Rachel finds Quinn and apologies, thought she doesn't get quite the response she was expecting. Instead of being mad she forgives her - "What you did was what I wasn't brave enough to do: tell the truth." Rachel finally admits to her that she thought by telling Finn he would come running into her arms but realises that they've both lost him now. When Rachel leaves Puck turns up and declaring to Quinn that he's going to be there for her and her child. She turns down his offer telling him she's "going to do this on her own."

It's time for the kids to head out to sectionals without Schue and now without Finn. As a last resort they've had to bring in Jacob as a replacement, who they've told to stand at the back and sway. Emma is under strict instruction to ring Will three times, one for every performance. When they reach the competition, the club finds out they'll be performing last, which none of them are happy about. Rachel reassures them that this is actually a good thing as they'll be "the freshest in the judges' minds". Unfortunately what they don't know is that the other competing schools have their set list and are about to perform their numbers before they do. Uh oh.

The club are distraught as The Jane Adams Academy steps up first to perform Mercedes' song followed by "Proud Mary" - wheelchairs and all. Emma rings Will to ask what to do as they realise Sue leaked the set list. Yet another corridor showdown occurs between the arch enemies as he tells he knows what she's done. He has no proof she yells and says he needs "to face facts, William. At 1pm this afternoon, your little club will have had its shot at the big time and they will have failed. Glee club will be cancelled and all that money Figgins has been funneling into your budget will finally, and rightfully, be restored to mine." Will, furious, snaps that he's going to expose all of her scheming.

Will's only hope appears to be persuading Finn to go to sectionals. He tries to reason with him saying that without him the club are most likely going to lose. "Why do I always have to be the bigger man?" Finn asks. "Because sometimes being special sucks," says Will. He just wants everything to go back to how it used to be. "Well, Finn, you can't always get what you want," Will tells him and with that he's off. He leaves his car keys behind as he goes, hoping that Finn will drive off to sectionals and save the day.

Emma approaches the other Glee directors: "You should be ashamed. Aren't you ashamed? You're educators. Actually, you're more than that. You take care of disadvantaged kids and you're teaching them that the only way they can compete in this world is by cheating. I'm sorry, but what kind of message is that?" The others of course try to deny it but Emma puts them in their place. Go Miss Pillsbury. It doesn't help however as Haverbrook School for the Deaf still perform "Don't Stop Believin'."

In the green room, panic sets in the McKinley kids. Blame is placed on the two cheerleaders who Kurt accuses of "being Sue Sylvester's little moles." Santana sueprises everyone when she turns round and says that Glee is the "best part of my day" so why should she sabotage it? No one is surprised when it turns out that it was not the brightest spark, Brittany, who gave the set list to Sue. This still doesn't change the fact that they're essentially screwed. Rachel takes charge as the club try to choose new numbers. They decide that she should sing a ballad and that they should end on "Somebody to Love": they still need another number, though. Just then Finn arrives like a knight in shining armour and tells them he has a new song. Puck tries to make amends with his best friend but he's having none of it. Rachel tries to check if her leading man is OK but he tells her that it's now all about her. "You wanted the solo, you wanted the chance to be the star. This is your chance. Don't screw it up." 

New Direction's set kicks off with something Rachel has been working on since she was four: "Don't Rain on my Parade" from the classic "Funny Girl." I'm not going to lie, I cried. It was the performance that we all knew Rachel could give, the one that everything so far had been leading up. This is followed by, you guessed it, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones, featuring the entire club. It had me blubbering like a baby by the end of it, especially when Will started to cry down the other end of the phone. As the audience get to their feet the other schools look on, not so happy at their success.

It's time for the judges to decide the winners, as the McKinley kids try to eavesdrop outside the room. It isn't going too well though as each judge has a different opinion of what's good. As the director from Jane Adams Academy congratulates them on their performance, she also admits that she's about to tell the judges that they cheated. It's too late, however, as they've already made their decision.

Over at the Schuester apartment, Terri and Will awkwardly bump into each other. She ones again tries to win him back, saying that she's been to see a therapist and is working through her issues. He tells her, "I really want to feel that thing I always felt when I looked at you before, that feeling of family and love, but it's gone," and, with his suit in hand, he is too. When he arrives at what should be Ken and Emma's wedding, only the bride is there. Ken has called the wedding off due to the decision to move it back. She admits it was her fault as she was settling for him. "One wink from you and I would have been out the door," she tells Will. For this reason she's decided to hand her resignation in at school in an attempt to get over him. "I just left my wife," he says.

Sue and Will have been called in to Figgins' office after the directors from Jane Adams and Haverbrook admitted to cheating. Despite the fact that set lists were written on Cheerios paper saying "from the desk of Sue Sylvester" she still denies it, telling him he has no proof. She can hardly believe what she's hearing as she's told she's no longer coach of the Cheerios and is suspended from the school. For what could quite possibly be the first time in her life, Sue is left speechless as she exits the office. With her out the way Schue is reinstated back as director of Glee. Sue wants revenge and warns him to "prepare to be crushed."

Reunited with his beloved club, they show off their well deserved trophy. It's back to the grindstone though, as they're going to have to beat Vocal Adrenaline if they want to win regionals. Before that starts they have a special performance for Schue - "My Life Would Suck without You" by Kelly Clarkson.  We end as the kids perform we see Emma pack up her desk to leave, followed by Will running down the corridor to find her. We then get what we've wanted all along; a kiss between the pair.

11 o'clock number

We've been totally spoilt by the creators of Glee tonight; I hardly know where to start. I've said from the beginning that Amber would make a fabulous Effie in "Dreamgirls" and this only goes further to prove that. I hope we get to hear a lot more from her when the series returns. "Don't Rain On My Parade" just clips it for favourite performance so far. Lea Michele is great enough at pop songs but she pulls of musical classics likes this even better, proving why she's starred in Tony award-winning shows on Broadway. OK, so it was seriously cheesy but you can't help but love "You Can't Always Get What You Want" - the vocals and choreography may not have been the best but it was the energy and the sheer enjoyment on their faces that made it special. "My Life Would Suck Without You" was all about Will and Emma but I love the homage to all the previous dance routines.

Quote of the week

Sue: "You're about to board the Sue Sylvester Express. Destination... HORROR."

Final thoughts

As the last episode before the mid-series break I couldn't be happier. The performances tonight were top notch and it can only get better from here. I liked the fact that not all of the loose ends have quite been tied up but of all the ones that could have been I'm pleased that it was Will/Emma. The big question for its return has to be the love square of Finn, Rachel, Quinn and Puck. What is Quinn going to do about her baby? And what has Sue got in store next to try and destroy Glee? Find out next when Glee returns next month!