GLEE: Season 2, Episode 5 - The Rocky Horror Glee Show

What's going down?

As this week's themed episode, this time of the cult film and stage musical The Rocky Horror Show, opens, we see Quinn's luscious lips as she sings "Science Fiction, Double Feature". Cut to the McKinley stage and a production of the show itself, as Rachel and Finn, as Janet and Brad of course, sing "Over at the Frankenstein Place". Hot dentist Carl walks on stage and interrupts. "Hey Schuester, you messing with my woman? I thought we had a deal?" he exclaims. Schue looks suitably uncomfortable and wonder how a production of Rocky Horror turned into his own horror.

It all started when, while having lunch with Emma, he sees her eating bread with crusts. What's unusual about this, you ask? Well, she always cuts them off. She tells him that she can now overcome the horror of crusts as she was liberated by going to a midnight showing of Rocky Horror with Carl. To further the madness the pair has decided to dress up as characters from the show and go trick or treating. Will's upset as he sees that Carl is now winning over him, as well as helping Emma with her problems. In a moment of insanity he announces that funnily enough last week he decided to get the Glee club to perform it as this year's musical. Isn't that slightly inappropriate, Schue?

"What are you going as for Halloween this year?" Kurt asks Brittany. A peanut allergy is the response he gets. Schue walks in and announces his news, Rachel prays that they're going to do Evita but she doesn't get her way. The club are excited but she worries the adult themes are going to cause controversy. Schue thinks that the arts are all about pushing boundaries and anyway he's cut out some of the risqué sections. The cast seems obvious, Rachel and Finn as Brad and Janet, Artie as "the guy in the wheelchair". Schue wants Kurt to play the role of Dr. Frank N. Furter, but he refuses, leaving it to go to Mike. Sam is going to have to don the hot pants as he's playing Rocky.

When Rachel and Finn are rehearsing, he is more than dismayed that he will have to perform in just his underwear. He doesn't want everyone to get a good view of his "whole business". Rachel tells him it's just like being at the pool, but even then he wears a swim shirt. He admits that deep down he is insecure about the way he looks; Rachel reassures him that he'll be fine.

Tonight we're given the pleasure of another Sue's corner. What's upsetting her this time?
Halloween. She thinks Ohio has lost the true meaning of the holiday, fear. She encourages the
parents to "sit their children down and explain to them that Daddy's a hungry zombie and before he went out to sharpen his pitch fork, whispered to Mummy that you looked delicious". Sue never changes, does she?

In Sue's office she's carving a pumpkin of herself when two TV execs walks in. They want to run their channel on fear and loved her Sue's Corner. They've found out someone at McKinley wants to do Rocky Horror and would like her to do an expose to bring down "the secular progressive agenda". When they tell her that it has local Emmy written all over it, she is more than willing to oblige.

At Glee Santana expresses her desire for Finn to take his top off so that they can all see the "hot mess" underneath, poor Finn. Rachel jumps to his defence and tells her to back off. The two perform the number "Dammit Janet" and it's obvious that the roles are perfect casting for them. During this Sue walks in and looks suitably disgusted. Will talks with her in the corridor and says he won't let her stop the show. To his surprise she tells him that instead she wants to be involved as she appreciates the show and how it pushes boundaries. He agrees and asks her to play the part of the criminologist. She drops the bomb that she'll be doing some rewrites, as stated in her contract.

In the gym, Sam is helping Finn tone up and get into shape, putting him on a strict diet. The boys blame internet porn for having to worry about their bodies - now that the female population has access to it their brains have become more like men. What? Sam says he needs to stay in shape in order to have Quinn for good.

"Maybe that's why Sue's been a bully all along, she just wants to be included," Will muses to Emma. He ropes Emma into the production as well, asking her to be in charge of costumes. This is all part of his master plan to win her over again. She would love to and happily accepts. Just then Mike walks into the office and tells him that his parents have read the script and that they're pulling him out of the show. This means he needs to find another Frank N Furter.

It's Halloween and Becky's dressed up as Sue (just like I will be next year) and so Sue sends her off to "scream at some fatties". Will walks in and breaks the bad news about Mike. Unable to find a replacement, the show has to be cancelled. Looks like Sue can kiss goodbye to her dreams of a local Emmy.

In Emma's office she and Carl are looking at their Rocky Horror Halloween costumes. Sue walks in and is once again disgusted, telling them to take their "sick, perverted sex games" out of the school. Carl tries to work his charm but she isn't having any of it. When he explains that they're costumes, she takes this as a cunning opportunity to rope him into the show as a possible replacement.

At rehearsal Will is less than happy at the newest recruit. He insists that Carl try out if he wants to get the part. Getting the club up on their feet and dancing he wins everyone over as he performs "Hot Patootie" from the show. He certainly can rival Will in the performance stakes
and Will knows it. Sue isn't happy, though, having cut the part of Eddie out in her rewrites, she's disappointed that he hasn't turned out to be a Frank. Will turns nasty and says the only way he can join is if he sings one of the character's songs, which Carl isn't happy to do. Before the two get into a fight Mercedes steps up and says that she wants to play the role, finally getting her chance to be a lead. Everyone is happy, so it's agreed. Now the cast has both a Frank and an Eddie.

It's the show's first dress rehearsal and everything's going well until Finn asks to save being in his underwear until the opening. Sam too is afraid he's going to "show off some nuttage" and asks for longer pants. It's time for Mercedes's number "Sweet Transvestite" and she knocks it out of the ball park. Once she's finished, Carl, as Eddie, crashes through the set on his motorbike, two scEnes Early. No one else, apart from Will, seems to mind.

Later on Will has asked to speak to Emma. He has a problem with the show - Carl. He's decided that some of the parts are too adult for the kids to play, to which Emma agrees. He has taken it upon himself to now give himself the role of Rocky, to step up his competition with Carl. He wants to rehearse with Emma, with her in the role of Janet. The two practise a rather raunchy version of "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me", involving a topless Will, as Brittany and Santana look on.

Finn and Sam are discussing Schue taking over as Rocky. Sam thinks he blew it because he made demands about his costume, but that he just felt that he had "rolls of fat hanging over those gold shorts". Finn doesn't understand as he can see he's in perfect shape. He's feeling equally insecure, admitting he's even started showering with his shirt on. Sam tells him he just needs to be himself and the sexy will flow through.

At rehearsal things aren't going well, with Schue having to fill in for a missing Finn. Figgins storms in and tells Will he wants to see him in the office. Finn is being suspended after taking Sam's advice a bit too far and walking down the corridor in his tighty whities. Schue manages to negotiate with Figgins who lets Finn off with just a warning. He tells him that his motivations for doing the show seem murky, considering what he's risking if it goes too far.

We cut back to the start and Carl storming on stage. Emma has revealed to him about their steamy rehearsal session and he doesn't like it, not one bit. He too questions Will's motivation, saying unlike him he values the arts and "doesn't use it to pick up other guys' chicks".

Becky comes to Will asking for a trick or treat but he doesn't have anything to give her. He says that he's been so busy with the show that he's completely forgotten about Halloween. Becky then ends up letting slip about the expose that Sue is doing on the club and Rocky Horror. Becky shows Will the tape, as Sue talks about the dangers of pushing boundaries within the arts, saying "just because you're free to say whatever you want, it doesn't mean that you should". The next day Will confronts Sue about it. She asks him to think if anything that she said was unreasonable and he is forced to admit that it wasn't. He argues though that the kids have already been exposed to the adult themes within the show and that they'd be stupid to think otherwise.

Will finally decides to cancel the show after all the criticism that he's been getting, costing Sue
a glimpse of a local Emmy. He admits to Emma that he only did it to get close to her; she agrees, saying "Love can make you do crazy things." He agrees to put his feelings to one side as he can see that Carl is actually making her better.

The club take the cancelling of the show pretty well as Schue says that performing the show wasn't worth risking Glee club. He tells them that when Rocky Horror was first created it was for outcasts, people just like them. He decides the club to perform the show after all but not to an audience, just for themselves. And so we end with a roof raising performance of, what else, but the "Timewarp" by our favourite Glee kids.

11 o'clock number

You'd be hard pushed not to love all of tonight's numbers, considering they come from the cult
that is Rocky Horror. Stand-out numbers for me were Mercedes's belting rendition of "Sweet
Transvestite" and she certainly put her own spin on it, as well as hot dentist Carl's performance of "Hot Patootie" - I hope that we'll get to see more of him in the numbers department. The Finn and Rachel numbers were a bit of the same old and it certainly was a change in character to see Emma's raunchy performance of "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me". My favourite, though, was of course the ending number of "The Timewarp".

Quote of the week

Sue on Halloween: "You know Halloween is fast approaching. The day when parents encourage little boys to dress like little girls and little girls to dress like whores and go door to door brow-beating hardworking Americans into giving them free food. Well, you know what, western Ohio? We've lost the true meaning of Halloween: fear. Halloween is that magical day of the year when a child is told their grandma is a demon who's been feeding them rat casserole with a crunch garnish of their own scabs. Children must know fear; without it they'll try frenching a grizzly bear and will consider living in Florida."

Overall

As Glee's themed episodes go, tonight's plot slotted together more successfully than in previous episodes, such as the Britney-inspired one. Rocky Horror was the perfect fit for the club to perform and it's a pity that we can't actually see them do the whole production. The episode also showed Will's continued downfall from number one hottie teacher into a desperate man, as he continues to try and win Emma back. We also got to see a bit more of Carl, as he proved that as well as being a love rival to Will, he also has competition in the performance stakes. I really hope Will becomes a bit of a nicer person again. We miss you.

 

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