Season 2, Ep 14 - Blame it on the Alcohol
In the Principal’s office Figgins tells Will that an epidemic of
underage drinking is sweeping the school; he places the blame on the
recent emergence of alcohol-infused energy drinks and on the music of
Ke$ha (which he pronounces “Key-Dollar Sign-Ha,”) which glorifies binge
drinking. Figgins says he has decided to make this week “Alcohol
Awareness Week” at McKinley and asks Will to have the Glee Club perform
a song that “highlights the dangers of underage drinking” at the all
school assembly.
In the choir room Rachel works on composing her
anthem for Regionals; Puck enters. He tells her he knows her two dads
are out of town and suggests she use the opportunity to host a party at
her house for the glee kids; she refuses noting that he just wants a
place to “get drunk and have sex.” Later, Rachel performs her
work-in-progress song for Finn; Finn says her song (entitled “My
Hairband”) is “not emotional or like, good.” She agrees. He suggests
that in order to be “an artist” she needs to first “live a little”. She
agrees and decides perhaps a drinking party like the one Puck suggested
is just the ticket. Word of the party spreads among the gleeks; the
prevailing opinion is that without alcohol the party will suck, so Puck
agrees to bring wine coolers. With that news, “The Rachel Berry House
Party Trainwreck Extravaganza” is officially “a go.” That Saturday
night the gleeks converge on Rachel’s house; Kurt is also there and has
brought Blaine with him. While the party is slow to get started, things
really begin to heat up when Rachel gives the okay to raid her dads’
liquor cabinet; soon the party is in full swing and the teens (except
for non-drinker Kurt and designated driver Finn) are well on their way
to getting hammered. Tipsy Rachel finishes her wine cooler and suggests
the gang play “Spin the Bottle.”
The drunken kids play the
kissing game; Rachel spins the bottle and it points at Blaine. She
kisses him passionately and he reciprocates catching everyone
(including himself and Kurt) by surprise. Rachel thinks the kiss
heralds the beginning of her new relationship; she and Blaine perform
Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me.” They seem to have great chemistry;
Kurt is unnerved. Monday morning the gleeks are all suffering from
their night of over-drinking until Artie arrives bearing a thermos of
Bloody Marys; after sharing of the “hair of the dog” everything seems
to improve. Artie and the others perform Jamie Foxx’s “Blame it on the
Alcohol.” While the song is well done, Will worries the song choice
seems to glorify drinking and would be inappropriate for the assembly.
The kids (who are still tipsy from the Bloody Marys) counter that
finding an anti-drinking song is impossible because one doesn’t exist;
they add that adults drink all the time so to tell kids not to do it is
hypocritical. Later Will thinks on what his students have said; since
the most he drinks is a beer to unwind after work, he wonders if he is
out of touch with the kids. In the teachers’ lounge Will brings his
concern to Coach Bieste; she tells him everybody – especially teachers
– need to “get a little ridiculous sometimes” and suggests he join her
at her favorite honky tonk bar: The Rosalita Roadhouse, for a night of
stress relief.
The next day Rachel polishes off a Boone’s Farm
wine cooler; emboldened by the buzz she calls Blaine and asks him out
on a date. He accepts. Kurt is surprised by the events but Blaine
acknowledges the kiss with Rachel “felt good” and that he owes it to
himself to experiment. Kurt notes that Blaine is gay and says accepting
the date will only lead Rachel on; he adds that the kiss was only
enjoyable because they were both drunk. Blaine responds that he’s never
had a boyfriend: maybe he isn’t gay. Kurt doesn’t take this potential
game-changing revelation well at all. At Rosalita’s Roadhouse Will and
Coach Bieste throw caution to the wind as they enjoy their night out;
they are drinking and reveling at a pace the likes of which Will hasn’t
experienced since his own high school days. Will and the coach join the
bar’s band and sing a duet of George Thorogood’s “One Bourbon, One
Scotch, One Beer.”
Following their night of revelry a
surprisingly sober Coach Beiste brings the heavily intoxicated Mr.
Schuester back to his apartment; he acknowledges their night of
drinking was more fun than he’s had in a long time and questions their
ability to convince the kids to stay away from alcohol. Beiste offers
that while they can’t stop the kids from drinking, they can make them
aware of the dangers and hope they’re smart enough to make good
decisions on their own; she returns to the waiting taxi cab and leaves.
Later, Will drunk dials Emma and leaves her an amorous voicemail. Kurt
goes over to Rachel’s house ostensibly to help her clean up after the
party but his true motive is to find out how her date with Blaine went.
He learns – much to his relief – that the couple did not kiss again and
suggests that maybe it was the fact that both were intoxicated which
made the kiss seem more special than it really was. He challenges her
to kiss Blaine again without the added benefit of alcohol and see if
their perceived “chemistry” is still there.
The next day at
school Will runs into Emma; despite his trepidation he is relieved when
she fails to mention his late night voicemail. The absence of any sort
of comment is cause for more concern: if he didn’t call Emma, whom did
he call? Backstage at the Alcohol Awareness Week assembly the glee kids
are nervous about performing their under-rehearsed song; Rachel shows
up carrying a three liter bottle of some purple-ish liquid she made
from the remnants of all the liquor bottles from her dads’ cabinet (and
some cough syrup.) The kids quickly imbibe in the hopes the liquor will
calm their nerves. The gleeks perform Ke$ha’s “Tick Tock” for the
student body; while the nicely buzzing singers get most of the way
through the song and dance routine, Rachel’s “suicide” mixture
eventually begins to take its toll. Brittany vomits, setting off a
chain reaction involving her fellow performers, as well as several
members of the audience. Brittany concludes the vomit-infused
performance by announcing, “Everyone drink responsibly.”
The
next day Sue takes to the public address system and makes an
announcement to the school; she lays blame for the previous day’s
events at Will’s feet and drives her point home by playing the entire
voicemail left for her by the drunken teacher the night before. Will is
mortified to discover it was Sue he drunk dialed. Later in Principal
Figgins’ office Mr. Schuester (along with the entire Glee Club) waits
for the other shoe to drop; much to their relief however, it seems like
the Principal believes the vomit portion of the routine was a
purposeful special effect meant to scare the other kids straight. He
congratulates them on becoming “brilliant musical comedy performers”
and notes that it’s the first day in a month McKinley High has not had
a single act of public drunkenness. Despite missing the opportunity for
a teachable moment, Will is thankful the kids dodged a bullet. Later in
the choir room Will tells them he never again wants to witness anything
like what happened at the assembly; he tells them “drinking while
performing is unprofessional, drinking while at school is just stupid
and, most importantly, any of you drinking at all is illegal.” He goes
on to say that even he will refrain from drinking and hands the kids
pledge forms to sign which state they promise not to drink until after
Nationals. At Dalton Academy Rachel waits with Kurt; as Blaine
approaches she steps in front of him, grabs his face in her hands and
plants a kiss on his lips. As Kurt anticipated there are no sparks this
time; both kissers seem relieved. Blaine realizes he is in fact
“one-hundred percent gay” and Rachel says having a relationship with a
man who ended up being gay is “songwriting gold.”
Become a fan of TV3 on Facebook
,
on Twitter .