As expected for an outing that returns Holly Holliday (Gwynth Paltrow) to the halls of McKinley High, and as a sex ed substitute, no less, last night's episode of Glee was fantastic. The songs were great, the story moved along, relationships developed, and the series finally gave voice to the lesbian feelings of a certain two glee clubbers. Other than some highly inappropriate things going on that would never be allowed at a real high school, I have no complaints. And there is more to talk about than most weeks, a good sign in my opinion.
Paltrow's first appearance last fall was a resounding triumph, so of course Glee wanted her back. Last night, Holly discovers, while teaching health class, that the students at McKinley are very ill-informed about physical pleasure and its consequences, especially members of New Directions. This is best evidenced by airhead Brittany (Heather Morris) believing she is pregnant because a stork is building a nest outside of her window (there are storks in suburban Ohio?), and Finn (Cory Monteith) and Mercedes (Amber Riley) worrying they can get HIV from salad after Holly shows them how to put a condom on a cucumber. Those aren't exactly realistic happenings, but I sure laughed heartily when Brittany shared why she thought she was with child after panicking her boyfriend, Artie (Kevin McHale).
To solve the lack of sexual education, Holly asks Will (Matthew Morrison) if she can sing to his kids. He agrees, prompting her to cross oh-so-many lines, gyrating to a sexy number, and tossing in a startling fact at the end. I don't see how that exactly qualifies as teaching. Holly's method seems to be to shock to get the kids' attention, and then sneak in some actual information, almost as an afterthought. But I doubt many will be complaining about Paltrow writhing around in a tight, black, leather outfit belting out "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)".
Holly is likely to return again, as she enters into a relationship with Will before the closing credits. The chemistry between the two is palpable, especially in their duet of "Kiss", though Holly's hesitation for dating the Teach is also warranted. She tends to go for less serious pairings, while his dating experience is limited to his high school girlfriend and a guidance counselor who won't even touch her husband, which we'll get to in a minute. I guess Holly just has to fall for the Schuester charm in the end, though. I don't believe it will last very long, the least of the reasons being Paltrow's continued availability (or lack thereof), but it's nice that Will will get a chance to be with someone so cool before he is roped back into the inevitable drama to come.
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Article comments
1 - MikeS
Good episode, though it took a while to get going.
2 - Rachael Pontillo
I LOVED the "Kiss" tango...great scene. And Burt Hummel is awesome. Looking forward to the original songs for regionals...hope they are better than "Headband"!