The Gleek Critique: "Rumours" Episode

Sam and New Directions singing Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop."  Image property of Fox.

Rumor has it I was forced to work last night until midnight and miss Glee!  Isn't that horrible?  Unfortunately that rumor is true, but luckily I have Hulu to keep me updated on all of the Glee gossip!

Sue Sylvester is at it again, and this time her plot to destroy the glee club involves bringing back the old school newspaper to print incendiary rumors about all of its members.  She's recruited the same kids she used as Hecklers a couple of episodes back to do the dirt-digging, but she's also using Will's ex-wife Terry (remember the League of Doom?).  Terry has called up April Rhodes and convinced her to return to Lima to see Will.  Why would she do this?  She's hoping April can convince Will to runaway to Broadway with her.  Obviously Sue wants this to happen to annihilate her nemesis.  Terry just wants her old apartment back.

And in a small town high school there is no shortage of rumors!  Brittany has a new web show called "Fondue for Two" where she outed Santana.  Oops!  Of course Santana is still trying to deny it publicly, although it's absolutely true.  Her love for Brittany seems more intense than ever, but even though Brittany and Artie have broken up (over Santana), she still isn't ready to come out of the proverbial closet.

The biggest rumors seem to center around Sam.  First he is seen leaving a seedy motel with Kurt!  What?  Kurt's cheating on Blaine?  But Quinn assures everyone that Sam is not gay.  She sounds a little too sure about that, and when she is spotted leaving the same motel room the next night, rumors fly that the two are sleeping together!  What's worse, neither Quinn nor Kurt will comment, making everything seem all the more true.  Sam appears to be quite the bisexual home-wrecker, and the entire glee club turns on him.  But this rumor, unlike the Santana rumor, is not actually true.  The truth comes out and the glee club is left feeling like complete assholes...  Sam's parents have no jobs, they've lost their house, and that motel room is his home.  Turns out Quinn was helping Sam babysit his younger brother and sister, and Kurt was just bringing him some of his old clothes.  They were the only two that knew of Sam's situation, but being embarrassed he asked them not to say anything.

And the rumors that Will Schuester is abandoning the glee club to run away with April Rhodes to star in a Broadway musical?  Absolutely not true.  Although the allure of stardom is obviously pulling him in that direction, he just can't bear to leave the kids... or Emma.

The Pros:

• An entire episode devoted to the music of Fleetwood Mac!  And unlike other episodes devoted to one single artist (ie. Britney Spears), this one still managed to be character-driven and plot-moving!
• I enjoyed the use of songs to highlight the love triangle between Quinn, Finn, and Rachel.  The strain on Quinn and Finn's relationship was evident in "I Don't Wanna Know."  They really don't trust each other like they should.  And Rachel once again made her feelings for Finn known when she sang "Go Your Own Way," clearly hinting that he doesn't need to be with Quinn.  Come on, Finn, take control of your life!
• Artie's "Never Going Back Again" was really cool, especially with the nine or ten guitarists lined up behind him.
• Santana!!  I'm telling you, I love her more and more every episode.  Her cover of "Songbird" was even more moving than when she sang "Landslide" a few episodes back.  So beautiful!!
• Sue Sylvester dressed as David Bowie and Ann Coulter in the same scene = awesome.
• "Ohio loves you, Ann Coulter!"
• Finally Sam's character has some importance and some depth.  He came in at the beginning of this season as the "new guy" and then he was sort of dropped after that.  I liked that we were able to find out what brought him to move to Lima in the first place... and realize why he wants so desperately just to fit in.

The Cons:

• Although I would love it if Santana and Brittany could be together, I'm still sad that Brittany and Artie broke up.  I always really liked the two of them together.  Artie is such a sweet guy...  he deserves to have a beautiful girlfriend!  The scene where he called her "stupid" was very good, though, even if it did break my little heart.
• Sue is becoming one-dimensional again.  We were really starting to see her humanity, but lately she's just been plain evil.  Don't get me wrong, I love Sue when she's scheming and hateful and full of awesome one-liners...  I just like it more when it's balanced with her softer side.  She's a complicated woman, that Sue Sylvester!  Show off her complexities!!
• And Terry.  She's really not needed this season at all.  Will's moving on, and she should too.