GLEE Recapped: Season 2, Episode 1, 'Audition'

What’s going down?

Resident McKinley geek Jacob has decided to make a webcast of what those pesky Glee kids got up to during summer, creatively titled “Glee’s Big Gay Summer” - you can tell a lot of thought went into that one. What hard-hitting news do we learn? Rachel and Finn have managed to survive the summer and her controlling nature. Will refuses to accept that his song selections “sound like they come from a drag queen’s iPod”. After last season’s baby drama Puck has done the “responsible” thing and spent all his pool-cleaning money on a vasectomy and may or may not be over Quinn. She, however, is ready to start again, telling us now that the hormones have died down there’ll be a lot less crying. Santana’s was uneventful while Brittany mysteriously spent hers “lost in the sewers”. Tina and Mike Chang now appear to be dating, leaving poor Artie heartbroken. Kurt remains indignant telling the rest of the school “to say what you have to say to my face” and then getting a slushie facial in return. On the sign-up board, right next to the sheet for Cheerios try-outs which states “no fatties”, Will is down hearted to see that no-one has signed up for New Directions. At first it seems as if the two might become friends, but Sue goes and spoils it all by saying, “You make it so easy to not want to destroy Glee club because you’re doing such a bang-up job of it all by yourself.” And with that she goes off to feed her gimp.

In Figgins' office Sue is once again outraged as the principal tells her that the Cheerios budget is going to be cut. Surely she can survive without two confetti cannons? “Do you think your kids can manage life without their daddy?” she retorts. Turns out Figgins also plans to cut Glee’s budget by 10%. Enter the new football coach, Shannon Beiste, who is more than happy to see both these cuts in order to make the football team a success again. In case you’re wondering where Ken is, he had a nervous breakdown after the whole Emma wedding debacle. Sue tries her normal ways on Beiste, but she isn’t having any of it, telling her, “Do not get up in the Panthers' business, lady.” Could Sue have finally met her match?

At Glee rehearsal, Will decides to get to the bottom of all the negative comments on Jacob’s blog, such as “Glee is a giant ball of suck”. The kids aren’t so bothered now that they’ve become one big happy family. Will is pleased they aren’t letting the negativity get to them but places that as the reason why they can’t get new members. Not that any of the club want them anyway. Unfortunately for them because “Matt transferred” (poor Matt, gone too soon) they only have 11 members so have no choice. How do they go about getting new members? A performance of “the song of the year, New Directions-style”. Cue “Empire State of Mind” by Jay Z in the school yard. It’s cringeworthy but somehow they manage to pull it off. Unfortunately, none of the school seems to be paying any attention.

Will is angry and decides to vent to Sue. Even after their rebel-rousing performance no one has signed up and the sheet has been defaced. No surprises that it was her who came up with “Assbraham Lincolon”. Apparently she did it as a wake-up call. If Beiste gets her way and the Cheerios and Glee budgets are slashed then Will’s worry will be about which kids to cut. So they decide to form an alliance to topple her. Who would have thought we’d see Will and Sue working together?

Meanwhile Finn has made some “super-masculine” Glee recruit posters. Then, just as Will had heard his singing in the showers, he too hears a poptastic voice. Turns out the voice belongs to some new transfer kid called Sam. Rachel’s posters, which she sticks in the girls' toilet, are of course filled with stars. Just then yet another new student walks into the toilets. Having done some research on her Rachel knows that she’s called Sunshine and comes from the Philippines. She starts persuading her to join, telling her that the club needs “chorus members” to stand behind her as she belts out all the solos. Sunshine then bursts into “Telephone” by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé. As luck would have it she is also very good, though by Rachel’s reckoning too good. The song then turns into a sing-off between the two, only to be interrupted by Sue declaring. “Shut up.” We’re not too sure who won that one but Rachel doesn’t look too happy.

At football practice Finn is still trying to get some of the boys to sign up for Glee, though Bieste doesn’t want to hear any of it. She tells the team that they’re all cut, everyone will be started afresh and will have to prove what they’ve got. While giving this talk, a pizza delivery boy walks in with 25 pizzas for Coach Bieste. Confused, she says she didn’t order any as Will and Sue look on giggling. As part of their plan to get rid of her, they’ve ordered the pizzas in hope to regress her into unpleasant memories of her time at high school.

Artie asks Finn to help him get on to the football team. During the summer Tina dumped him for Mike Chang, a football player, who she fell for while helping at “Asian Camp”. Finn is sympathetic but unsure how, wheelchair-bound, he can get on the team. Artie, however, has a plan. If Finn could push Artie around the field, then surely they’d be an unstoppable force, he’d “be like a medieval battering ram”. At that Finn decides to help as it would be total awesome. The two then corner Sam at his locker to talk about Glee club. They take him to the choir room to try him out in front of the other guys. “Dude, your mouth is huge. How many tennis balls can you fit in there?” Puck questions him. “I don’t know, I’ve never had any balls in my mouth, have you?” Sam retorts. To show them what he can do he sings “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy and just as Sunshine is really good, so is he. The boys are impressed. Maybe Sam could be the elusive twelfth member?

Later on Rachel rushes into the choir room with a very serious matter for Kurt and Mercedes. The problem? Sunshine, who, as she tells them, has a remarkable voice. She’s not worried for herself of course but for “her lesser Glee clubbers who don’t get as many solos”, i.e. Kurt and Mercedes. Her answer? Kurt and Mercedes aren’t convinced. They want to beat Vocal Adrenaline and if there’s someone who can help them do it then they want her in the club. After their outburst Rachel seems to come round to their way of thinking so she goes to Sunshine’s locker, giving her the address for the audition the next day, with some “helpful” directions.

In the staffroom Sue and Will prepare for the next part of their plan. When Bieste enters they both do their best to make her feel isolated, neither of them allowing her to sit with them. Sue instead tells her that the untaken seats are in fact occupied by her “ghost friends”. However, Will starts to feel guilty when he realises how harsh he’s been. Later on in the locker rooms Puck and Sam find Bieste crying; however when questioned she puts it down to the team's previous bad performance. When Finn later asks her about Artie trying out, she asks him if he’s screwing with her. Before he has a chance to explain their theory she tells him he’s out. Despite both their protestations, he’s off the team. Finn only makes things worse when he refers to her as “dude”. It looks like he isn’t the star quarterback anymore.

At Cheerio try-outs Quinn turns up to try and get back on the team again. Sue isn’t happy, though, telling her that she doesn’t want her anywhere near the squad as she’ll “deafen them with the sound of her stretch marks rubbing together”. Quinn has a trick up her sleeve and through a bit of manipulation she gets her place. Next up is someone more surprising, as Finn busts out some embarrassing moves. Since he isn’t the quarterback he wants to try and regain his popularity. Will tries to argue with Figgins and Bieste over Finn’s position but after Will’s harsh treatment of her she’s unwilling to back down. Back in Sue’s office, she’s questioning Santana about her supposed boob job during the summer. Sue describes it as “an insult to nature and completely distracting”. Having defied her “no plastics” policy, Sue removes her as head cheerleader and gives the position back to Quinn. This then leads to the two fighting in the hallway, leaving Will to break it up.

At New Directions try-outs, the club are left waiting when at 5pm no one has shown up. Not even Sam or Sunshine. Finn wonders why Sam hasn’t shown and Kurt tells that that now he isn’t the quarterback he’s “no longer the pied piper”. “Show us on the doll, where Coach Bieste touched you,” Figgins asks Brittany, as Will and Sue continue to force her out of the school. However, this time Sue has gone too far and Will refuses to go along with it. He tells Brittany how serious the allegations are and she admits that she made it up, adding that she wants to touch Coach Bieste’s boobs. Will, however, has bigger problems. Turns out Rachel’s directions to Sunshine were not so helpful and in fact led her to a crack den. What she did was found out by Tina and Mike as, apparently, “the Asian community is very tight”. She tries to say she did it for the rest of the group but Will, unimpressed, tells her she just needs to make it right. She tracks Sunshine down and apologises, telling her to still join the club. The next day she takes to the stage and belts out “Listen” from the Dreamgirls movie and boy, can she sing. It is clear why Rachel was worried.

Will decides to apologise to Bieste, telling him he knows how it feels to be an outcast, just like his Glee kids. Sue interrupts the apologies with cookies, made from dog poo. In the locker room Finn questions Sam as to why he didn’t audition. Having seen the abuse the club gets, he decided he didn’t want to have to put up with it, already being the new guy. Just as things were looking up with Sunshine joining the club she is snatched away by the new Vocal Adrenaline coach, played by the rather gorgeous Broadway vet Cheyenne Jackson. Now that Will has made a truce with Bieste, she rang the rival school to tell them about this new talent and after offering Sunshine’s mum a condo and a green card how could she refuse? That, and that Rachel would have made her life hell. And so once again everyone is angry at Rachel, even Finn. They could have beaten Vocal Adrenaline with Sunshine but now they’ve lost her to them. Rachel tells Finn to just get it over with and break up with her. He tells her that because he’s no longer the quarter back, he’s just a Glee loser so she should be the one dumping him. So they both agree they’ll never break up with the other. So with that the first episode of the new season is over and we finish as she belts out “What I Did For Love”.

11‘o’ clock number

The first musical offerings of this new season were just as good as last season’s. “Empire State of Mind” was delivered as only a New Directions number can be. It might be a bit cringey but we still love it. Both newcomers, Chord Overstreet as Sam and Charice as Sunshine, proved that they are more than worthy to join the cast and will certainly be able to hold their own. “Listen” was probably one of the strongest performances seen on the show. I’m an absolute sucker for Rachel Berry and “What I Did For Love” is right up there with “Don’t Rain On My Parade”.

Quote of the week

Sue on Will’s decision to make peace with Bieste: "The two of you are making a very serious mistake today, the likes of which have not been seen since the Mexican Indians sold Manhattan to George Washington for an up-skirt photo of Betsy Ross."

Final thoughts

I’m sure I’m not the only Gleek who has been eagerly awaiting the return of this season and tonight’s episode did not disappoint. After the introduction of the two newcomers I am excited to hear what’s to come of them. Though with Sunshine now lost to Vocal Adrenaline do they really have any chance of being able to beat them? Will Sam ever find the courage to be able to join the club for good? Sue may have finally met her match in the face of Coach Bieste, though unlike her she does actually have a heart. I must say though, I do miss Ken. There was no sign or Emma or Terri this episode but I know that later on the season the two will be popping up.

To post a comment, you must register and login.