Episode Review: GLEE, "Mattress"

After a somewhat sub-par outing, Glee rebounded with "Mattress" which not only had one of favorite numbers of all-time but was also one of my favorite episodes of all-time.

It's school picture time, and Sue somehow got the glee club banned from the yearbook until Will negotiated with Figgins to buy ad space for the photo. Since it was only a quarter page, only two members of New Directions could be in it. Obviously, Rachel would be one of them, but she had a hard time convincing someone to join her because they were afraid the picture would be defaced. She was able to instill some pride in them when she booked the club for a local commercial, but it backfired when Will used a mattress that was given to them as payment thus negating their amateur status.

You see, Will used the mattress because he finally found out that Terri was lying to him about being pregnant, and after going nuts on her, he left the house. Having no where else to go, he headed to the choir room where he cracked open a bed and slept in his office. When New Directions was faced with being ineligible to compete at Sectionals, Schue took the bullet and responsibility for accepting the payment thus making him unable to join his students.

First off, thank goodness Will finally found out about Terri's lie because I don't know if the show could've survived that storyline much longer. People will say that it would've gone downhill regardless, but at least one of the Glee's major missteps was on its way out. Plus, the climax allowed both Matthew Morrison and Jessalyn Gilsig to do their best work. Seriously, how crazy scary was Will in that kitchen scene? The only downside was Will was never quite the same after Terri. The rest of the episode was equally as solid, and I appreciated how it took something as simple as a school picture and made it into a big deal that felt genuine.

On the Music Front: "Jump" will probably always rank up there as my favorite Glee number. It just had everything that I look for in a musical performance. It was fun, energetic and kind of fit in with the overall story. The other songs weren't too shabby either with Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" being a close second.

Other Odds and Ends

• In a decent C-plot, Quinn blackmailed her way back on the Cheerios just to realize that she didn't need to be on the squad to be happy. Another solid episode for Dianna Agron.
• Rachel's Black Student Union picture was epic.
• So, if glee kids aren't popular and Terri was queen bee, how did she end up with Will?
• More Rachel epicness: her little salute.
• Back Nine Episode Title: "Smile"
• "I want my kids to be able to look back at these books and see who I was. Make them proud. Not the bastard one I'm carrying now, of course. The ones I'll have when I'm married and ready."
• "You know I love glee club, I just don't know why I have to represent it."
• "Wait, wait, wait. That's it? I practiced over eighteen different poses for this shoot, and I haven't even shown you any of my over the left shoulder poses. See?"
• "We here at Mattress Land believe that mattresses aren't just for sleeping and fornicating any more."
• "Look, the best teachers don't give you the answers. They just point the way, and let you make your own choices, your own mistakes. That way, you get all the glory. And you deserve it."

I'll say it again, nothing Glee has done in episodes 14 to 66 was ever as annoying to sit through than the fake baby storyline and "Mattress" gets serious props for being the beginning of the end. Yes, it was never the same as it was during the first stretch, but it's hard for me to believe that anyone misses Terri and hysterical pregnancy. OK, let's start getting that bad taste out of our mouths...

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