Hola, Gleeks! Our friend Tara needed a Glee break so I’m substituting for her this week. And, luckily, it was a good week with some nice plot developments and special guest Ricky Martin.
As for the other special guest, I have to say I was not too keen on the idea of Nene Leakes appearing on the show. I avoid all of those Real Housewives shows like the plague, so I really didn’t want some reality “star” infecting this season that has been so good. Her first appearance was brief and made little of an impression, but her part tonight as swimming coach Roz Washington, actually has me on board. I’m loving this new rival for Sue — mainly because it gives her something else to focus on besides the glee club — and the possible battle over who gets to lead the Cheerios. Leakes and Jane Lynch were great sparring partners, but I have to give the win in this round to Roz, who managed to knock Sue down a few notches with some biting comments on Sue’s cockamamie plan to get pregnant. Of course, we know that when Sue is knocked off her pedestal, she’ll only come back more vicious so I hope they don’t take her back into cartoon villain territory.
We saw some great character moments this week as well. Sue had a nice moment with Emma after Emma came to her about her request of Will to contribute to her … umm … sperm bank account. It seemed like just another absurd Sue moment at the time, but the conversation between the two women once again made Sue human as she told Emma that she saw so much kindness in Will and hoped that her child would inherit that trait. That was some terrific writing and a great delivery by Jane Lynch.
The other nice moment came as Kurt confronted Finn about the marriage proposal to Rachel. Kurt certainly has been the object of much controversy here in the past for being written as a self-centered, whiney brat (as has Rachel), but the writers have taken him in a much better direction this season and his concern for Finn as he tried to tell him to have more confidence in himself and not marry Rachel just so he could hold her purse on the red carpet was also very well written and delivered perfectly by Chris Colfer.
This week’s episode also had a mystery: who was lodging complaints against Will and Sue with Principal Figgins? Sue accused Santana at one point, which was ironic because Santana was the one who complained about Will and his lack of skill when it came to teaching Spanish (which was the whole reason for Ricky Martin being on the show as a night school Spanish teacher). Santana also had a nice moment as she confronted Mr. Schue about his teaching and why he took the job in the first place. Later, Sue discovered Becky was the one who complained about her because she felt Sue had lost focus on the Cheerios (which gave Sue and Becky another nice moment together). In the end, Sue appreciated what Becky did, Will gave up his Spanish class to the night school teacher, and Emma ended up earning a tenured position based on her pamphlets(?)!
Overall, it was a good episode (loved the “La Isla Bonita” duet) that didn’t really move the plot along all that far, but I am now hoping to see more of Sue and Roz butting heads. And if you liked “La Isla Bonita” or any of the other songs on this episode, you can purchase them at iTunes through the links below, and show your support of CliqueClack at the same time!
Quotes and other fun things:
“And now seeing as how I find bald infants terrifying, I’m going to need a few ounces of your baby gravy to ensure Sue Sylvester Jr. is born with a full head of hair.” — Sue to Will
“Oh my god. Cutest …” — Rachel
“Smile …” — Sugar
“Ever.” — Artie, on David Martinez’ (Ricky Martin) entrance into the rehearsal hall
“I am getting pregnant, and then I am having a baby.” — Sue
“With whose vagina?!?!” — Roz
“What you need to do is start prayin’ that you give birth to a child that likes to eat sand, ’cause that’s all that’s comin’ out of those old, wrinkly boobs.” — Roz to Sue
“Mr. Schue, what’s with the shiny coat? I thought you were Kurt.” — Finn commenting on Will’s matador outfit
Emma’s pamphlet titles:
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Feb 07, 2012 @ 22:42 EST5EDT
Thanks for covering this for me Chuck. Good job! Hopefully, I’ll stop coughing any minute now.
*Hack hack*
I did see the episode and here’s some thoughts I had …
Santana and the Spanish teacher were a bit too touchy feely for a student/teacher deal thingie. Kinda creeped me out.
I think the writers have “lost” Sue’s character a bit. Or I’m just weary of her. Something is definitely amiss. I used to love her.
What is it I’m trying to put my finger on?
*POST AUTHOR*
No problem. I can sympathize with you! Hasn’t exactly been a bed of roses health-wise at this homestead either. Feel better soon!
Hmmm, I didn’t see anything creepy since they were just doing a number in front of a bunch of people. If it had been private somewhere, maybe so, but I didn’t see anything creepy (plus Santana only has eyes for Brittany).
I’m loving the new Sue. I think they lost her in season 2, but with her loss of the election and coming to terms with the glee club, she just hasn’t had much to plot against. But, if they keep Roz Washington in the picture, I can see her being Sue’s new nemesis as they battle for control of the Cheerios. I just don’t want them to make her so over the top as they did last season. I like that she occasionally shows some humanity, and I love her relationship with Becky now since her sister passed. I guess you’re just missing her true villainous side, but it looks like it may be brewing again with Roz (and hopefully that will get Figgins back into the story, because he’s been pretty much M.I.A. this season).
What always drives me crazy is, can no one Spanish-speaking proof-read the translations? For instance, we don’t say “X es muy caliente”! Definitely not in Spanish Spanish and not that I’ve heard of in South America. We do say “X está muy caliente”, but that means horny, not hot.
That’s just a minor example, but it happens in Every. Single. Show that has a Spanish-speaking character.
*POST AUTHOR*
The title of the post was kind of a joke since Mr. Schue is a terrible Spanish teacher … and because I used Google Translate. Come to think of it though, it should have been “Ricky Martin está muy duende” since that seemed to be the word of the night not used properly.
I didn’t mean your translation, Chuck!! Sorry if that’s what came across.
I meant the translations in the scripts. They tend to be terrible and make no sense. I actually need to read the English subtitles to understand and Spanish is my first language!!
*POST AUTHOR*
No worries. Living with a French speaking person, there are many a times when this issue comes up whenever someone speaks French on TV or in a movie. Sometimes it’s hilariously mistranslated, sometimes it’s frustrating, but you would think they could make a little more effort … especially since they made it a point in the Glee episode that Spanish would be the main language in a few years! :-)
alegría es tan impresionante y yo soy un Gleek y espero que en el próximo episodio que Sam y Mercedes vuelven a estar juntos para que yo pueda gritar en la parte superior de mis pulmones. Me encanta Amber Riley y ámbar si usted ve esto tu eres mi modelo a seguir y que me inspiran a ser lo mejor que puedo ser y estar orgulloso de lo que parece ….. Te quiero y espero que usted ve esto.
That Means:
glee is so awesome and i’m a gleek and i hope that in the next episode that sam and mercedes get back together so that i can scream at the top of my lungs. I love amber riley and amber if you see this your my role model and you inspire me to be the best that i can be and to be proud of what i look like….. I love you and i hope that you see this.
*POST AUTHOR*
I don’t know how to say it in Spanish, but I was hoping that Mercedes and Sam would also get back together … then whatshisname had to show up. Boooooooo!