Episode Recap: Glee – “Britney 2.0″
By Nikki Hill at September 21, 2012 | 2:21 pm | Print
Images courtesy of FOX
“Glee”, FOX, Airs Thursdays 9/8c
Episode:
“Britney 2.0″ (Season 4, Episode 2)
Synopsis:
Brittany (Heather Morris) is having a rough second senior year, turning to Britney Spears for inspiration once again. Rachel (Lea Michele) aspires to be sexy in New York with a little help from her new friend Brody (Dean Geyer). Jake (Jacob Artist) gets a wake-up call.
**Spoilers Follow**
Recap and Review:
“Glee” continues to take – wait for it – new directions in its fourth season on air. The episode started out with guidance from the familiar voice of Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), walking us through the halls of McKinley, leading us into the weird and wonderful mind of Ms. Brittany S. Pierce. Sue continued to guide us throughout the episode, reading the script through every scene, every dance, every conversation. By the end of the show, we felt like we were reaching full-on psychosis with Sue’s voice penetrating into our heads after every commercial break.
We were treated to yet another voiceover by Brittany, revealing her tentative plans to become class president for life and dominate in the Cheerios. Brittany gets a surprise from Blaine (Darren Criss) when she’s told her voiceover isn’t actually in her head. She’s talking out loud. Whoops. To make matters worse, Brittany finds out she’s being kicked off the Cheerios for her failing grades. Santana (Naya Rivera) makes her returning appearance for a whopping 33 seconds or so, Skyping with a depressed Brittany.
Sporting a “World’s Best Grandma” shirt and a mouthful of oreos, Brittany shuffles into the counselor’s office. In typical Will (Matthew Morrison) and Emma (Jayma Mays) fashion, the two try to help Brittany get out of the funk she’s in by suggesting a second go at Britney Spears Week. The Glee Club agrees to help Brittany out by performing Spears songs for the week, but to no avail.
Enter serious Brittany breakdown mode.
After whipping out an electric razor in the middle of glee club, Brittany attempts to shave her head, stopped just in time by Will and the others. She storms out of the choir room and attacks resident McKinley High paparazzi “Jew-Fro” (Josh Sussman) in the hallway. Beating him with an umbrella while a student shouts a dramatic version of “Leave Brittany alone! Leave her alone!”
Meanwhile at McKinley, Jake pursues every girl that passes by in the hallway. In the library. In the gym. Sound familiar, anyone? When his eyes finally catch a glimpse at Marley (Melissa Benoist), the two hit it off, meeting at the bleachers to sing an acoustic mashup of “(You Drive Me) Crazy” and Aerosmith’s “Crazy.” When Marley says she is cold, Jake gives her his jacket to keep.
Jake even defends Marley and her mom, the lunch lady, to a couple jerky jocks. Threats are exchanged, lunch trays are flipped and an angry Jake is whisked away by Mr. Schue to the choir room. There stands another former angry womanizer – Puckerman (Mark Salling) – and Jake’s older brother. Puck gives him a good talking to, which borders on the lines of who’s really the bigger badass, and Jake magically straightens up.
Cut to New York. Rachel is still frustrated with her dance teacher Cassie July (Kate Hudson). Saying she doesn’t have enough sex appeal, Cassie prevents Rachel from dancing the tango with her classmates. Rachel complains to Kurt (Chris Colfer) in their new massive apartment (Who’s paying for this exactly?) in Bushwick. Kurt reveals Cassie’s notorious Broadway background as the biggest trainwreck in stage history. Her infamous crazy-chick breakdown in the middle of a performance went viral on YouTube, ending her short-lived Broadway career.
Determined to be sexy, Rachel enlists the aid of Brody to dance with her in front of Cassie. The two perform an intense, sensual dance to “Oops! … I Did it Again,” which would have been fantastic if not distractingly narrated by Sue every five seconds. Remind us again what the point of the script reading was?
Rachel ends up telling off Cassie and getting kicked out of class. She then gets sad about an absent, unheard from Finn (Cory Monteith), painting his name in a gigantic heart on the walls of her new apartment.
Back in Lima, the Glee Club is asked to perform at the back-to-school pep rally. At Brittany’s insistence (in her defense, she was drinking a 70 oz espresso at the time), Glee decides to lip-synch the entire performance. This can only mean disaster.
And disaster it is. A half-hearted, half-naked Brittany sings and dances lead to “Gimme More” with a bottle of orange soda and Cheeto fingers, eventually collapsing on stage in an orange-ridden food coma. New Directions is outed for their lip-synching by Quinn-clone Kitty (Becca Tobin). Afterwards, Mr. Schue chews the students out, claiming they’ve ruined their reputation at McKinley and their chances at Nationals if word gets out. Brittany then resigns from Glee Club.
At NYADA, Rachel apologizes to Cassie for throwing a fit. Cassie admits she is only hard on students to get them used to the real world on Broadway. The two make amends, and Rachel is let back into class.
Later at the apartment, Rachel hears a knock at the door, the one and only handsome Brody appears. With flowers. After a 45 minute train ride from Manhattan. Seriously, guys. He admits his attraction to Rachel and leans in for a kiss. She denies him, blabbering on about missing her M.I.A. boyfriend. Being a complete gentleman, Brody says he will respect Rachel’s boundaries. (Umm, hello, Rachel?)
In dance class, Cassie finally gives Rachel the chance to tango with a partner. Brody watches on from outside the classroom. At the apartment, Kurt watches on as Rachel paints over Finn’s name on the wall.
Back at McKinley, Brittany follows a map of the high school that leads her to Sam (Chord Overstreet). Sam says he knows that Brittany had a plan all along. She wanted to hit rock bottom so she could make a huge comeback, just like Britney Spears. The two bond over their blondness. Brittany decides to get her act together. She demands to be let back onto the Cheerios, getting her wish after Sue finds out Brittany’s been attending tutoring sessions with Will and Emma to get her grades up.
Jake approaches Marley at her locker, noticing she’s still wearing his jacket. He tells her he has decided to join Glee Club as a distraction. Down the hall, Kitty overhears the conversation and reveals the two are dating. Marley gives her the jacket back and walks away.
Jake walks into the Glee Club, taking in the scene around him. Marley asks to sing one last Spears song for the week, performing a super sad “Everytime” as Jake looks on.
“Britney 2.0″ wasn’t nearly as exciting as the first go-around. Brittany is off her game, missing her Santana and struggling to get along after being held back. Rachel is still not as sexy as we’ve been expecting, wearing her matching hats and outfits and fawning over Finn. The Britney covers weren’t nearly as high-energy as the ones in “Britney/Brittany.”
But, we’re still liking the new characters, who haven’t replaced but definitely have brought back beloved (and hated) personalities of the first three seasons. It was a great surprise to have just a peek at some old favorites, Puck and Santana – especially Puck, whose peptalk to his long-lost brother was one of the highlights of the episode. Kate Hudson continues to impress us with her mean/drunk girl act, throwing insults right and left. Overall, the season seems promising – still edgy, still funny. We’re happy to see where it goes.
Songs Performed:
- “Hold it Against Me” (Britney Spears) – Brittany Pierce with the Cheerios
- “Boys”/”Boyfriend” (Britney Spears/Justin Bieber) – Artie Abrams and Blaine Anderson
- “Womanizer” (Britney Spears) – Wade “Unique” Adams, Tina Cohen-Chang, Marley Rose and the female gym class
- “3″ (Britney Spears) – Tina Cohen-Chang, Sam Evans and Joe Hart
- “Crazy”/”(You Drive Me) Crazy” (Aerosmith/Britney Spears) – Jake Puckerman and Marley Rose
- “Oops! … I Did it Again” (Britney Spears) – Rachel Berry with Brody Weston and NYADA students
- “Gimme More” (Britney Spears) – Brittany Pierce with New Directions
- “Everytime” (Britney Spears) – Marley Rose
Most Memorable Quote:
“I’m the original badass. I had my first threesome at seven, and once I beat up a police horse.” – Noah “Puck” Puckerman
Up Next Week:
Kurt lands an internship with Vogue working for fellow Ohian, Isabelle Klempt (Sarah Jessica Parker). Blaine and Brittany battle it out for class president.
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