Glee Recap: The Purple Piano Project
Sep 20 2011 11:52 pm ET
Last Season, we left our twelfth place New Directions still looking for well, new directions. We catch up with Jacob who tries to catch up us all of the contestants in quick succession. All of the assumptions we had last year seem pretty close to the rumors we kept hearing. Mr. Shu and Emma are dating and her quirks are in check. Quickly we lose Lauren, Sam, and Quinn was missing in action. If anything Lauren will still wander the halls for occasional comedic use. For some reason, Mr. Shu brought in purple pianos to explain the purple piano challenge. He wants them to sing songs wherever they saw the piano. Basically an excuse to have performance scenes that weren't the choir room or the auditorium. Kurt and Rachel talked to Emma for advice for going to college. Emma hands them a "Me and My Hag" pamphlet in hopes that the dating glee loop would go full circle. She's still useless but suggested NYADA and the two going to a mixer for Midwest talent.
Sue needed to push her 9% voting support in the next two months so she decided to find a platform that "everyone" hated. Sue decided to destroy the purple piano that the Asians were playing in the hallway. One piano, two to go. A geometry teacher called her a saint for hating the arts.
Kurt and Blaine sat at the Lima Bean while Kurt tried his best to convert Blaine to the New Directions. He played up the fact that love is the most amazing thing ever. He should have played up the idea that if Blaine saved his money, he could afford tuition in New York.
We finally get to see our changed Quinn. Of course Brittany and Santana tried to get her back first, citing their unholy trinity being broken. Quinn has started hanging out with The Skanks which includes Season 4 So You Think You Can Dance contestant Courtney, channeling as much Long Island as possible. Wasn't she a backup dancer for Vocal Adrenaline? Fox cross-promotion. Rachel tried her best to win over Quinn with The Go-Go’s. Really? She reinforces that Quinn's always welcome.
Sue's Corner returned with her attack on the arts. Somehow she played up the connection between lost jobs and the effect of the arts. Yay for misunderstood causality: if the arts disappear, then jobs increase.
Will stormed in Figgins' office taking the attack of the arts personally. He switches immediately to his problems with Emma, which he would be less stressed out if he was actually having sex. Sue continues to threaten Shu, but I'm tired of their dynamic because it all sounded the same to me. Sue talked to Santana and Becky; they were both promoted to head cheerleaders. The two were tasked to destroy the purple pianos.
For some magical reason, everyone has the same lunch period. Ugh, I guess I'll accept it. They get into their random singing and dancing. Santana gets a verse to sing and was bouncing along without any issue. Wasn't she supposed to be destroying the piano? A food fight ensues right afterwards and while it's fun for Brittany, Kurt and Rachel were dead on the inside. Two pianos down, one to go.
The kids got cleaned up in the choir room. Sugar, Asperger’s sufferer and better than Rachel-girl, was convinced that she was better than the crowd. Of course, she sucked but was funny. Mr. Shu knew that she sucked and Rachel pointed it out in an aggressive manner. There aren't any more Rachel’s allowed except for Rachel. Mr. Shu talked to Bieste (I missed her) and she suggested making Sugar a mascot or water boy. She understood winners and she knew that if glee club can win, than he extends his stay. General Shu decided to declare war.
Rachel and Kurt practiced for their NYADA by performing "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead." While the performance was a fun return to the Kurt/Rachel storyline, I wished the rumors of the two performing anything from Fiddler on the Roof was true instead
We get a snippet of the Cheerios audition that looked like the scene from Bring it On. Then Sue got glitter bombed by Mr. Shu. Why was he convinced that a glitter bomb was going to work? The fact that glitter bombs traditionally are about gay rights also upset me that Mr. Shu used it.
We then got Blaine in a non-Warbler outfit convincing Kurt that it wasn't Kurt's passive-aggressive begging. Blaine performed "It's Not Unusual" with the cheerleaders and the remaining piano. I wasn't paying attention past Blaine's bulging red pants. Note to self: buy red pants. He had a good connection with Santana and if anything, having Blaine around, it would be interesting to hear him with Santana. Quinn then set the last piano on fire, with the perfect flick of her cigarette. Who put gasoline on the piano? I missed that because I was staring at Blaine didn't I? All three pianos were gone within the forty minute marker.
At NYADA mixer, Rachel and Kurt realized that they weren't original and possibly not the best. Lindsay Pearce, kind of-winner of The Glee Project got her first of two episodes, portraying one of the Rachel’s, with better credentials. And the faux-performers could all tap. This left Rachel and Kurt in tears in their Chevy. I loved the insane fake rain where it was a hose attacking a window in the background. Kurt became the BFF he should be with Rachel. The two reaffirmed their dreams and continued fighting.
Another 6AM, Mr. Shu didn't want to get rid of Sugar. Instead Emma made-out with him and he gained enough gumption. I find it funny that all Mr. Shu needs to motivate him is sex. Mr. Shu rejected Sugar and she called him out in a "not Asperger’s" moment. Sue popped in and pointed out that his glitter bomb improved her ratings. Good job, Shu.
Blaine officially joined the group, leaving the guys a bit intimidated. Mr. Shu then banned Santana from Glee for setting the piano on fire. At least she couldn't get away with it. I hope it was Quinn who warned Mr. Shu. Mr. Shu emphasized competition for the students. To close our episode focused on the Rachel/Kurt connection we learn that Rachel wanted to perform 'West Side Story' and Kurt decided to run for Senior Vice President. Seeing his lack of support as Prom Queen, it seems unlikely that he'd make it through. While the pianos were destroyed Mr. Shu played the one piano with the strings destroyed and managed to hit keys convincing the students that the music could still play. Thanks realism, if Sue broke all the strings, then nothing would play. We ended the episode with "You Can't Stop the Beat" which harkened back to a season one-style performance. Seeing the whole group in purple reminded me of the old days when they used to wear blue (or red) as their only form of unity because they couldn't afford costumes. Quinn kept her eye from the bleachers.
Next Week: The return of Shelby Corcoran. Bring on the baby guilt.
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