Season 2, Ep 18 - Born this Way
During a Glee Club dance rehearsal, Finn (his lack of dancing prowess
on full display) accidentally elbows Rachel in the face, breaking her
nose. Dr. Ronnie informs her the break is clean, and as such won’t
require any surgery; he does however suggest she take advantage of the
situation and (after assuring her it won’t adversely affect her singing
voice) opt for “a little vanity adjustment.”
The next day
Rachel informs the other Gleeks she is considering getting a nose job;
while the reaction is almost unanimously against the procedure, Santana
notes that all of them have something they would like to change about
themselves. Later, as Will helps Emma polish her grapes, he expresses
his dismay at his students’ inability to accept themselves as they are.
Furthermore he tells Emma that while he welcomes the chance to help her
cope with her OCD, he thinks that she too needs to deal with her own
obsessive-compulsive issues. Emma replies that while she may not have
been “born this way,” it is her lot in life and she accepts it. Emma’s
words give Will an idea: he wants to use the music of Lady Gaga to help
the kids accept their differences; he asks for Emma’s help. As Santana
defaces Quinn’s prom-queen campaign poster, she admits (via voice-over)
her belief that if she were elected prom queen she could win the
gullible Brittany away from Artie by saying it was “a royal decree.”
She comes to the conclusion that the only way for her to win the crown
is if she can win the jock vote, but she knows Sam doesn’t have enough
heat at McKinley to help her campaign. She then sees Dave Karofsky, and
thinks he may be just the jock she’s looking for; when she sees
Karofsky checking out Sam’s butt, she realizes that the raging
homophobe is in fact gay himself. Later at the Lima Bean, Santana,
Tina, and Mercedes have coffee-talk with Kurt and Blaine. Kurt admits
his jealousy at not being able to go to New York to compete at
Nationals with his old classmates; Blaine offers that he would fully
support Kurt returning to McKinley if it weren’t for Karofsky. Santana
realizes that if she can facilitate Kurt’s return it would boost their
chances at winning Nationals, making her a hero and assuring her
prom-queen victory. Will tells the kids their lesson for the week is
“acceptance,” and it has two parts: the first is for the kids to
perform songs about accepting the best and worst parts of themselves;
the second is that they will do a group number “by the queen of
self-love: Gaga.” The kids all love the idea. Emma tells the class she
is helping with the costumes, which will consist of plain white
t-shirts personalized to include a word or phrase that best describes
“the thing you are most ashamed of and wish you could change about
yourselves but can’t.” As an example she pulls open her jacket to
reveal her shirt that reads: “Ginger” (a reference to her red hair).
Will is shocked: this isn’t the word he expected to see.
As
Lauren Zizes stares longingly at the display case that holds the prom
crowns, she confesses to Puck that she wants to run for prom queen too
but thinks she has little hope of defeating Quinn. Quinn goes with
Rachel to revisit Dr. Ronnie. Rachel says that while she hasn’t decided
whether or not to have the surgery, she wants to see what Quinn’s
perfect nose would look like on her face. As the doctor takes some
pictures of Quinn to make a composite photo, the two girls start to
sing a duet mash-up of “UnPretty” by TLC and “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story;
the song segues into a performance for the Glee Club. In the hallways
Lauren’s campaign has begun; Quinn takes note of three of McKinley’s
more rotund students staring in awe at Lauren’s campaign poster. Quinn
confronts Lauren, and accuses her of making a joke out of the election;
Lauren counters with her belief that she is “hot as hell,” and that
people want a prom queen who’s like them: “not everyone can be born
pretty.” Santana sits with Karofsky at the Lima Bean. She tells him she
knows he is gay; he tries to deny the accusation, but she knows what
she knows and his denial is futile. After confessing that she too is in
the closet, she suggests they act as each other’s “beard” in order to
win the prom crowns and “rule the school.”
In the choir room
Finn performs his assignment: he sings Sammy Davis Junior’s “I Gotta Be
Me” while dancing alongside Mike Chang; clearly Finn’s performance ⎯ in
contrast to Mike’s always stellar dance moves ⎯ is meant to highlight
his two left feet. Afterwards Will applauds Finn’s willingness to point
out something he’s embarrassed of. Rachel addresses the class; she
passes out the composite photo of her with Quinn’s nose. While Puck and
Finn (who says she’s beautiful just as she is) try to convince her to
abandon the idea, she seems to have made up her mind to go through with
the surgery. Will finds Emma in the teachers’ lounge; he tells her he
was disappointed she didn’t put “OCD” on her t-shirt as they had
discussed, and says that in order for her to get better she first needs
to admit she has a problem. In the choir room Principal Figgins
addresses an irate Glee Club; Karofsky stands by his side. The
jock/bully seems contrite as he tells the class he is truly sorry for
all that has transpired in the past; most of all he regrets chasing
Kurt away from McKinley. He says he knows he will need to earn the Glee
kids’ trust before they forgive him, and credits Santana for his
turnaround. Santana says that New Directions isn’t complete without
Kurt, and her rehabilitation of Karofsky was done so that Kurt would
consider coming back and helping them win Nationals. She also says that
while helping Dave to see the error in his ways, the two fell in love
and are now dating.
Principal Figgins meets with Kurt and
Dave, and both their fathers; while Karoksky’s father seems to believe
his son is truly repentant for his earlier behavior, Burt is not so
forgiving. Kurt asks to speak with Dave privately. When they are alone
Karofsky spills the beans about Santana’s ulterior prom-queen motives,
and while he admits to still being confused about his own sexuality, he
promises the bullying (from him and others) will stop. Kurt seems
willing to play along, but lays down some ground rules that include
educating Dave on what it means to either be gay or have gay friends.
Puck talks to Rachel, “one hot Jew to another.” He wants to change her
mind about the nose job, and asks for an hour of her time tomorrow. In
the school courtyard the Gleeks welcome Kurt back into the fold; Blaine
and the Warblers arrive to serenade their departing member with Keane’s
“Somewhere Only We Know.” Afterwards Kurt and Blaine embrace; Kurt
says, “I’m never saying goodbye to you.”
Back inside McKinley,
Kurt roams the halls singing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s diva anthem “As If
We Never Said Goodbye.” Lauren confronts Quinn; she says she has done
some snooping, and has learned the truth that Quinn wasn’t born the
perfect specimen she is today. Among other changes made before
transferring to McKinley, Quinn lost a substantial amount of weight and
had a nose job. Quinn tries to deny the accusation but Lauren has
obtained her class photo from her previous school, and has already
plastered it all over the hallways. Lauren says once the other students
see what a fraud Quinn really is, they will all vote for her for prom
queen. Puck brings Rachel to a local mall; there they are met by Kurt
and the rest of the Glee Clubbers, who ⎯ in an attempt to discourage
the nose job ⎯ stage a “Barbaravention.” Kurt tells Rachel that getting
her nose fixed would be akin to spitting on Barbara Streisand’s legacy
of refusing to believe beauty could only be defined “by blondes with
chiseled faces.” A flash mob erupts: the kids (and several dozen other
shoppers) dance to Duck Soup’s “Barbara Streisand.” It is a joyous
event, and Rachel joins in with her friends.
After spending
forty-eight minutes of her fifty-minute session cleaning her chair,
Emma finally sits to talk with her new therapist Dr. Shane. With the
last two minutes remaining, the doctor diagnoses Emma with “a fairly
severe case” of OCD, but also says the condition is “very treatable.”
While Emma is clearly resistant to treatment (“this is who I am”), the
doctor wonders how (as a guidance counselor) Emma would treat a student
with diabetes: Would she recommend insulin or just chalk the problem up
to “that’s just who they’re supposed to be”? Dr. Shane offers Emma a
prescription, and says she’d like to see her back in a week. Back at
school Quinn has come to the conclusion she will now never be elected
prom queen, but apparently she’s the only one who feels that way: the
photos of the old Quinn seem to be an inspiration to all the
less-than-perfect students, proof that they too can “overcome.” Lauren
approaches Quinn; well aware that her plan has backfired, she
apologizes for outing the former Cheerio. Quinn in turn admits to
admiring Lauren for her boundless self-confidence, and the two walk off
arm-in-arm as friends. Brittany approaches Santana by the lockers, and
shows her her t-shirt for Glee Club: it reads “I’m with stooped,” and
has an arrow pointed towards her head. Santana reveals her own shirt
that reads “Bitch.” Brittany seems disappointed; she says she’s made a
better shirt for Santana: it reads “Lebanese” though Brittany clearly
meant “Lesbian.” Brittany says that when Santana confessed her real
feelings she was awed by the honesty, and she wants Santana to be proud
of herself. She says if Santana really loved her she would “put on the
t-shirt and dance with me,” but clearly Santana is still unwilling to
go public with who she really is. In her office Emma contemplates the
bottle of pills before her; after a moment she takes a pill from the
bottle, and swallows it. Will joins the Glee Clubbers (sans Santana) in
the auditorium for rehearsal; he commends them all for completing their
weekly assignment before revealing his own t-shirt that reads “Butt
Chin.” Rachel shows up, and thanks her classmates for their
intervention. After announcing she has decided against the nose job,
she reveals her shirt… that reads “Nose.” As the band revs up, the kids
(all in their personalized t-shirts) begin their exuberant performance
of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” Emma appears in the wings; she pulls
open her sweater to show Will a shirt that reads “OCD.” Will gleefully
pulls her on stage to join the others. Meanwhile, in the back of the
auditorium a pained Santana wears the “Lebanese” t-shirt; unwilling to
join her classmates, she sits next to Karofsky and the two watch the
performance in silence.
Become a fan of TV3 on Facebook
,
on Twitter .