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Watercooler: Glee Pays the Rent
Now THAT is what Glee should be every week. After last week's encouragingly strong Valentine's episode, of course last night was a letdown. Like Sam's mouth-to-face ratio, Glee's excellent-to-uneven equation is all out of whack, as well. But halfway through what ultimately turned out to be a plotless hour that did nothing but piss off a bunch of Justin Bieber fans, things took a sudden left turn into Awesome Town for what should be remembered as one of the show's greatest performances ever... as well as the one moment that almost made us forget the episode's two tacky suicide jokes and the sight of Puck in mop-top toupee.
Now THAT is what Glee should be every week.
After last week's encouragingly strong Valentine's episode, of course last night was a letdown. Like Sam's mouth-to-face ratio, Glee's excellent-to-uneven equation is all out of whack, as well. But halfway through what ultimately turned out to be a plotless hour that did nothing but piss off a bunch of Justin Bieber fans, things took a sudden left turn into Awesome Town for what should be remembered as one of the show's greatest performances ever... as well as the one moment that almost made us forget the episode's two tacky suicide jokes and the sight of Puck in mop-top toupee.
Pitted against one another by Sue after she joined New Directions (don't ask), Rachel and Mercedes — who's been practically mute this season 'til now — agreed to a diva-off in the choir room to settle the "who's fiercer?" conundrum many fans have debated since Amber Riley showed us what she could so with "Bust Your Windows" in Season 1. This, however, took things to a whole new level. The song? "Take Me or Leave Me," from Broadway's Rent, a duet born for big voices and rippling with runs, high notes and girl-power intensity. In weaker hands, the number would have felt like a tragic attempt to outdo the original (blazingly killed by Rent original cast members Fredi Walker and future Glee vet Idina Menzel). But Riley and Lea Michele shut. It. Down. The sheer amount of concentrated vocal power on display was as mind-boggling as the realization that it took the producers this long to pair their leading ladies on the late Jonathan Larson's anthemic showstopper. The only thing that came close to this level of fabulosity was the amount of attention Santana got during the hour.
So, we ask you: Who won the diva-off? Was it Rachel's carousel horse-sweatered self, or McKinley's first lady of soul, Mercedes? Duke it out in the comments below!