Due to an illness
that spreads through William McKinley high school, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch)
has finally achieved the power and role she has always dreamed of: principal.
Obviously, her first goal is to ban the glee club. Luck comes her way when Will
Schuester (Matthew Morrison) catches the virus, starts to see the glee club as kindergarteners,
and must take ill for a few days.

Eccentric,
optimistic, and modern day substitute teacher Holly Holiday (guest star Gwyneth
Paltrow) fills in for Mr. Schuester as the glee club coach. In her attempt to
win the glee club over, she encourages them to perform songs they enjoy. This
leads to an energetic performance of Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You.”

Will struggles to get
over his illness, watching the 1952 musical, “Singin’ In The Rain” for
entertainment. This causes him to have a fantasy involving him and Mike Chang
(Harry Shum Jr.) dancing to Donald O’Connor’s classical dance, “Make ‘Em Laugh.”
The reenactment is well done, including parallel dance moves from the original
performance as well as similar props and backgrounds.

Mercedes (Amber
Riley) is starting to feel like a third wheel when she spends time with Kurt
(Chris Colfer) and new friend Blaine (Darren Criss). Eventually Kurt helps her
realize that she needs to spend time with someone special. 

Rachel (Lea Michele)
is struggling to adjust to the teaching styles of Holly. Rachel is interested
in performing, “a fun, upbeat, dance number,” and Holly encourages her by
performing a dance duet with her to “Chicago’s,” “Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag.” The
dance is again well done with similar costumes, dance moves, and stage back
drops as seen in the movie.

Not only is Holly
pleasing the glee club students, but Sue as well. When Sue earns a permanent
title as principal, her first adjustment to the school is to fire Will and
instate Holly as the glee club’s official coach. However, after the students
start to complain that they wish for Will to return and Holly allows the glee
kids to mess with Sue’s car, Sue decides to retract her decision and Will is
reinstated as the glee club coach.

When Will returns,
although the kids are pleased to have their former coach back, they miss the
excitement and spontaneity of Holly. Will suggests they should perform “Singin’
In the Rain” as one of their contenders for Sectionals, but he finds there is
not much enthusiasm or motivation. To end the episode, Will enlists the help of
Holly to help make “Singin’ In the Rain” more fun and modern. Together they
create a theatrical mash-up with Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” The performance is well
done with water dripping in the background and splashed across the stage.

Glee has had the
great fortune of having many guest stars on their show, but Paltrow is a
contender for one of my favorites. It was apparent that she enjoyed dancing and
singing on the show. She looked comfortable performing with the cast and
brought and fun attitude to her character. As for the fate of McKinley high
school, now that it rests in the hands of Sue, hopefully the glee club is able
to survive and continue to prepare for sectionals.