Glee Review: Britney/Brittany

Now that's more like it!

Glee this week picked up with, no surprise, the club bitching about Will's song choices for them for the homecoming assembly. Kurt is big on the idea of doing Britney Spears at the assembly, but Will, clearly still shellshocked from the club's scandalous performance of "Push It" from the previous year, is not having it! Neither is Brittany, who reveals that she has a deep seeded loathing of Britney Spears since their names are so alike (Brittany S. Pierce).

Meanwhile, Emma's new BF, an unrealistically good looking dentist by the name of Carl, shows up, and Will suckers him into giving the club a lecture on dental hygiene. This leads to Brittany ending up in Carl's chair, due to her having "the worst teeth he's ever seen"! He knocks her out with some anesthesia, and puts on Pandora. Lo and behold, what comes on, but Britney Spears. With the combo of the music and the narcotics, Brittany hallucinates that she is just as talented as the pop diva (which is not saying much; the talent of Britney Spears is questionable at best). This leads her to become drastically more confident and willing to perform Spears' songs with the club. Santana, Rachel, and Artie soon all jump onto the drug wagon, and all have Brittany inspired hallucinations of their own.

Meanwhile, Will is trying to become less uptight, thinking that it will impress Emma. Rachel and Finn are still affirming their love for each other. Artie is still obsessed with winning back Tina. Santana is still a skank, and Sue is still Sue!

First off, the big thing about this episode! It's Heather Morris' coming out party! Though she is beloved all around as Brittany, she hasn't had her turn in the spotlight, until now. I think I can sum up how she did in one word.

YOWZA!

Who knew she could do that? Not only is Morris absurdly hot performing all of Spears' risque moves to the likes of "Toxic", "Me Against the Music", and "Slave", but the girl can sing! Unless she has been autotuned all to hell - which, knowing this show, is a possibility - Morris has a damn fine voice! Her one liners are here in full force, so worry not. Did I mention she's absurdly hot in this episode? To see her baring her stomach in a green bikini top and tiny jean shorts with a snake draped across her shoulders... I'm getting all hot n' bothered just writing about it! My out of control hormones aside, Morris' does a bang up job, and I really hope she gets more solos in the future!

The music in this episode was really good, and this is coming from someone who greatly loathes the artist who made it. The inclusion of Spears' songs is good for the show, though nowhere near as effective as "The Power of Madonna". The songs didn't really mesh with the story, since most of them were just hallucinations where the characters relived the music video of said song. As if to further drive home the fact that the writers weren't as inspired by Britney as they were Madonna, the episode ends with Paramore's "The Only Exception". What?

Speaking of weak points, Will's plot line of becoming less uptight was also not up to snuff. The show took it in some weird directions, as when he performs "Toxic" with the club on stage in front of everyone. There were some comedic moments, both involving Jacob, that were too over the top, even for Glee. The "Britney Spears sex riot", as Sue called it, was funny, but took it way too far, though the punchline of Sue getting trampled and threatening to sue Will was great!

John Stamos' Carl is a nice introduction to the cast. Sam and Sunshine are nowhere to be seen this week, further driving home the fact that they were just afterthoughts to begin with, and Bieste only made a brief appearance. All the other regulars are fine, but it's Morris who really stands out in this one. Her performance singlehandedly brings this episode back up to where Glee was before the lackluster premiere. Atta girl Brittany! Maybe you're not so dumb after all!