Bad Reputation - Season 1, Ep 17
Mr. Schu investigates when a salacious list of Glee Club members circulates the school; Sue is mortified when a compromising video from her past is unearthed; and Special Guest Stars Olivia Newton-John, Molly Shannon, and Jonathan Groff join the cast.
Several of the Glee kids laugh it up as they watch a video of Sue Sylvester dancing and lip-synching to Olivia Newton-John's song "Physical"; apparently Kurt discovered the tape (which Sue made herself) hidden in the coach's locker. In an attempt to go from being "asses" to being "bad-asses," they post the embarrassing video on YouTube. Before lunch the clip has gone viral, and Sue discovers she is becoming the brunt of jokes from both students and faculty alike. None-too pleased, Sue complains to Figgins and blames the Glee kids; she also points out that a "Glist" (a Glee-List or weekly ranking of the Glee kids based on "a hotness quotient of sexual promiscuity") is being circulated around the school. Figgins says copies of the inappropriate list were printed on the school copier using the Glee Club pass code; he tasks Will with identifying and suspending the Glist's creator, or else he will hold the entire club responsible. While pregnant Quinn sits atop the dubious list of morally questionable Glee kids, Rachel is dismayed to discover she is last.
Will confronts the kids and asks who is responsible for the Glist; everyone denies culpability. Will points out that between the Glist and the leaked video, the Club is beginning to garner a bad reputation; the kids aren't sure that is a bad thing, and are hopeful for an uptick in their school-wide status. Mr. Schuester is sympathetic, but points out: "becoming what you despise is not the answer." He gives them their assignment for the week: pick a song that (like the kids themselves) has become a joke, and rehabilitate its reputation. As an example he performs Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby"; the kids join in. Sue continues to experience the humiliation and "cruel slow-motion laughter" she had previously doled out; she doesn't like it. Motivated by her low placement on the Glist, Rachel asks Artie (and his friends in the A/V club) to help her make a "musically promiscuous" video that will afford her "the worst reputation in the school"; he agrees.
Kurt and some other Glee kids (who are considered such "zeros" they didn't even make the Glist) decide they need to boost their reputations by causing a scandal so extreme they can no longer be ignored. Kurt's plan is to do "the worst thing a student can do"…"be a disruption in the library." Sue shares her feelings of humiliation with her sister (and Downs Syndrome sufferer) Jean; she apologizes for not doing more to protect Jean when they were young. Jean reminds Sue of the importance of giving back, and says: "there is always someone who's got it worse than you do." Back at McKinley Sue goes to see Emma. Presenting herself as the guidance counselor's new therapist, Sue tells Emma about Will's make-out session with (Vocal Adrenaline coach) Shelby Corcoran, and about ("world-class banana magnet") April Rhodes' recent sleep-over… both events coming to light thanks to a few baby monitors Sue has strategically hidden around Will's apartment. Emma is shocked by the news; Sue encourages her to start standing up for herself, and to let Will know how she feels… in a public setting. Rachel asks Puck to collaborate on her song assignment: "David Getty's fantastically terrible Seventies' Top-Ten hit Run, Joey Run"; he agrees.
Following some more of Sue's prodding, Emma confronts Will in front of their co-workers. She says she knows about Shelby and April, calls him a slut, and says she's through with him. Kurt and his "C-List" crew enter the library, and perform MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This." Unfortunately the performance has less than the desired effect; the elderly librarian loves the song, and asks if they will perform it at her church.
Will interrogates the Glee kids individually about who's responsible for the Glist; everyone seems to have something to gain from it, but each maintains their innocence. In the wake of their failed library gambit, Kurt and the others decide that the only way to raise their "bad-ass" quotient is to confess they posted the "Physical" video, and suffer the consequences. While writing in her journal (lamenting her continued humiliation), Sue's phone rings: it's Olivia Newton-John. After proving her identity, the Australian pop-star says she's seen Sue's ridiculously embarrassing video, and has come to the conclusion that she botched the original version of the video by including fat men in spandex. She mentions that she will be in Ohio, and suggests she knows a way to save both her song and Sue. Will begins to experience his newfound (and unwanted) bad reputation as a "man-whore."
Prepared for the worst, Kurt tells Sue they posted the video; to everyone's surprise, she thanks him. Confused by the coach's response, the kids look on-line; they discover a new, updated remake of the "Physical" video featuring Sue and Olivia Newton-John, and a group of buff guys working out in tight gym clothes. Rachel presents her "bad reputation" video, which co-stars not only Puck but also Finn and Jessie in a three-way performance of the song's titular role. Clearly none of the guys were aware of the others' involvement. They all feel lied to: Rachel has used them to her own end. All three storm out.
Sue shares the story of her reversal of video fortune with Jean; while she's glad the taunting at school has ceased, Sue says there was always only one person she ever truly wanted to impress: Jean. She says her cut of the video's profits will be donated to her sister's assisted-living home. Will gives Emma a bouquet of flowers, and apologizes for taking some "wrong turns" on his journey of self-discovery. He wishes she could look at him the way she used to; she can't. She says if their relationship is ever going to work, they have to start seeing each other for who they really are. Later, after Will witnesses Quinn being jostled as she walks through the hallways she used to rule, he confronts her. He says he knows she wrote the Glist… a realization he was only able to reach after suffering the loss of his own good reputation. She confesses that she never meant any harm, but following her tremendous fall from grace, she grew tired of feeling invisible. He is supportive, and offers words of encouragement. Will tells Figgins he was unable to discover the Glist's author; the good news is there have been no subsequent Glists, and he doubts any more will appear. Figgins is dubious but satisfied. Jesse confronts Rachel about her betrayal; he says her dishonesty broke his heart. She tries to defend her actions, but he breaks up with her. Rachel and Jesse, with the help of Finn and Puck, sing Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." By the song's conclusion, she is left alone.
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