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‘Glee’ recap: The ‘Rumours’ fly

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Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow, because yesterday -– like Tuesday night’s episode of ‘Glee,’ which took on Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ album -- is gone. Although the episode had its moments that made lovin’ ‘Glee’ fun (‘Fondue for Two!’ -- plus songs that served the story lines), other parts (Another dose of April Rhodes drinking jokes? More jealousy-propelled plots? And what are the writers doing with Sue?) felt as tired as secondhand news. Which is not to say it’s not still the show of our dreams and we’re never going back again.

OK, OK, I’ll stop with the ‘Rumours’ playlist now. (I don’t want to know how many of you are already irritated.) OK, no, really, I’ll stop now. Don’t go your own way.

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Key links in the chain (last one, stopping now):

1) Brittany’s Fondue For Two! Brittany’s Internet talk show -– which combines the two things she likes the most, ‘hot cheese and talking to people,’ and on which she (unwittingly, it turns out) leaks the news that Santana ‘plays for the other team’ -- is a scream. (‘Shouldn’t it be ‘Fondue for Three’?’ Tina rightly wonders as she and Mercedes join Brittany to dig into the hot cheesy stuff.) Brittany’s cat, Lord Tubbington, who a caption tells us ‘only eats HUMAN food,’ steals the show. (He’s ‘allowed to eat cheese because he’s on Atkins,’ Brittany says.) Later we learn that Lord Tubbington has other human vices too: He’s taken up smoking again. So funny.

2) Finn and Rachel are growing closer: Not only do the two go on an (ill-advised) stakeout together -- in which Finn confesses that while he never really knows what’s going on emotionally with Quinn, that was never an issue when he and Rachel were dating -- she sings him a kicking version of ‘You Can Go Your Own Way.’ ‘Traditionally, it’s sung by a man,’ Rachel says. ‘But today, Rachel Berry’s going to put her own feminine twist on it.’ And she does -- singing right to a not-unreceptive-looking Finn, who’s accompanying her on drums, and ticking off Quinn. Point, Rachel.

3) At last, a recession story line (better late than never -- or was there one I’m forgetting?): Finn’s and Rachel’s cheap-motel stakeout leads to the revelation that Sam’s father has lost his job and his family has lost their home to foreclosure. Responsible for caring for his two (adorable, blond) younger siblings while his parents look for work, Sam breaks the news that he may have to drop out of glee club. Rachel and Finn, who had suspected that maybe both Kurt and Quinn had been cheating on their boyfriends with Sam (and kudos to the writers for making Finn more worried about Kurt’s suspected infidelity to Blaine than the fact that a tryst with Kurt would mean Sam was gay), make amends for invading Sam’s privacy and spreading false rumors about him by helping to get Sam’s guitar out of hock. Sam cries, and he and his kid brother and sister (and his guitar) join the New Directions gang for a rousing rendition of ‘Don’t Stop.’

4) Emma’s kicking her OCD: Will finds Emma in the staff lunchroom eating grapes that she’s only rinsed (albeit for half an hour) -– rather than donning rubber gloves and scrubbing them individually. Emma then tells Will he should follow his dreams and go do a Broadway show with his old pal, April Rhodes (whose all-white production of ‘The Wiz’ was, alas, a critical failure). I’d call that remarkable progress. Will, however, opts to stay, for the kids and for Emma, and weeps (somewhat unconvincingly) about the difficulty of the decision. I don’t know, based on the snippet of April’s show we were treated to, it kind of seemed like a no-brainer ...

5) The return of April Rhodes: So yeah, the episode marked the return of the pint-sized alcoholic played by the wonderful Kristin Chenoweth. (Will’s ex-wife, Terri, brought April back so she could lure him to New York and free up the fab apartment she used to share with Will, or something like that.) But despite Chenoweth’s amazing pipes -– April and Will dueted nicely on ‘Dreams’ in this episode -– her character, which was thin to start with, has kind of worn out its welcome. Maybe it’s because Gwyneth Paltrow (I hate myself for saying this) did the wacky foil/romantic interest to Mr. Schue much better than she. I know, I’m sorry -– but do you disagree?

6) The return of the school newspaper, the Muckraker. What’s an episode about rumors without a newspaper that doesn’t care a whit about facts? Sue Sylvester -– seen early on delightfully disguised as first David Bowie (ordering a large cup of mocha powder in a cafe because Bowie is ‘incredibly eccentric’) and then Ann Coulter (a cry of ‘Ohio loves you, Ann Coulter!’ bolsters her spirits) -- has seen fit to revive the defunct school paper and turn it into a total rag. And if you ever wondered about that expression about not being able to put toothpaste back in the tube, Sue (with some help from the hapless Jacob Ben Israel) offers a very literal demonstration.

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7) Artie and Brittany break up, paving the way for Brittany and Santana. Artie, upset at the way Santana has manipulated Brittany’s affections, calls Brittany ‘stupid,’ which snaps their bond, leaving Artie to sing ‘Never Going Back Again’ backed by a gajillion guitars (who were all those guys?) and Brittany free to turn to Santana. Santana sings her a beautiful, heartfelt love song, ‘Songbird’ -– a shining moment for Naya Rivera -– but when Brittany invites her to publicly declare her love, Santana balks. What will happen next?

What do you want to see happen next? Should Brittany and Santana go public –- or should Brittany go back to Artie? Should Finn finally chuck aside Quinn and take Rachel back? Whom should Sue Sylvester disguise herself as next? And what were your favorite lines from the show? Weigh in, please.

Full Show Tracker coverage of ‘Glee’

-- Amy Reiter

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