Zach's Gleecap: Ballad

Glee’s been juggling humor and drama all season, but they haven’t been able to match the dexterity of the first few episodes as far as keeping plates spinning goes.

“Ballads are stories set to music” – because Rachel writes tons of letters to show choir committees, the glee club has to perform a ballad at sectionals. So Will puts everyone’s names in a hat and pairs them up. In awkward news, cheerleaders have to sing to each other, Finn gets paired up with Kurt, and Rachel gets paired up with Will. Will and Rachel sing “Endless Love” to demonstrate what the assignment actually is, but Will gets weirded out when Rachel gets too far into it – crush on teacher!

We meet Quinn’s parents, who are a little preppy, obsessive, and crazy – not only does Mom fret about Quinn’s waistline, but Dad is a big Glenn Beck fan. The folks are inviting Finn over for dinner – trouble is brewing, especially when Rachel gives Will a necktie. Back from “Heroes,” Emma counsels Will on the Rachel situation. Will has a history of fragile psychopaths falling in love with him, and Emma wants him to sing it out so that we don’t get a repeat of his worst schoolgirl crushing – Suzy Pepper.

Finn has problems singing to Kurt, but he finds that he has emotions about his unborn daughter, so Kurt advises him to sing “I’ll Stand By You.” Singing to the sonogram, though, is Finn’s own creepy idea, but he didn’t expect his mom to figure it out so quickly. Beans get spilled. Kurt keeps trying to convince Finn to give up girls, but Finn’s too dense to notice, something Kurt finds terribly attractive anyway.

Will sings a mash-up of “Young Girl” and “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” to try to get the message across, but Rachel’s so lovestruck that all she can think about is how dreamy Will is. Emma agrees. Will’s awkward. Suzy Pepper is back, and she’s not happy with Rachel. Meanwhile, Kurt and Finn bond over fashion, and Kurt again tells Finn to sing it out. And Terri invites Rachel over to the house for dinner, hoping to manipulate Rachel into doing the household chores – “it’s win-win for everyone.” But Will drives Rachel home and finds out she has her “sights set much higher.”

Puck’s rehearsal with Mercedes is distracted by “Babygate,” especially when Puck confesses to Mercedes that he’s the father, not Finn. Finn has his own Babygate-related drama while at dinner at the Fabrays; he’s about to sing to Quinn, and he lets rip “You’re Having My Baby.” It doesn’t take a rocket scientist for the Fabrays to put one and one together. We have to wait an entire commercial break to find out that Mom and Dad are kicking Quinn out of the house. “Glee” amps up the emotion with some extra-powerful scenes between Finn and Quinn.

Then the comedy kicks back in when Suzy Pepper tries to convince Rachel not to fall in love with Will. “Trust me,” Suzy declares metafictionally, “I’m a cautionary tale.” Will stops her in her tracks when he tells her that her behavior is inappropriate, but Rachel has already come to this conclusion on her own, delivering “Sorry I was acting crazy!” flowers and getting a heartwarming “there’s someone for everyone” message.

The glee club band together to share a message of unity and togetherness – “Lean on Me.”

Verdict? I’ll be honest – this episode had me weeping for Dido. Somebody get Dianna Agron an Emmy nomination for taking Quinn from stereotypical bitch to three-dimensional in the thirty minutes it took her to pack up her things. Not the funniest episode in the world, but perhaps the most awkward. I also really miss Sue Sylvester – was Jane Lynch busy this week? I can’t help but wonder, though – now that the audience is on Quinn’s side 100%, how much longer will she be lying to Finn about the fact that he’s not really the father? (Season finale cliffhanger, anyone?)