They demonstrated the
power of Madonna. They have shown us the theatricality of Lady Gaga. This week,
Glee took us on a journey of the sexiness of Britney Spears. The cast performed
popular hits by Spears including: “Hit Me Baby One More Time,” “I’m A Slave 4
U,” and “Me Against the Music.”

I find it refreshing
when Glee incorporates pop culture artists such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, and
Britney Spears into their episodes and performances. Too often these women
receive publicity about their scandals, but Glee provides them with a different
opportunity and shows audiences the valuable lessons these women have to offer.

           The
episode particularly focused on Brittany S. Pierce (Heather Morris), who has
always felt overshadowed by the talent of Britney Spears. Enjoyed for her comical
one-liners during the first season, Morris, along with Naya Rivera (Santana
Lopez), were promoted to season regulars.

           Audiences
were also finally introduced to Dr. Carl Howell (John Stamos), Emma’s dentist
and new love interest. Doing anything to catch Emma’s (Jayma Mays) attention,
Will (Matthew Morrison) invites Dr. Howell to talk to the glee club about
dental hygiene. When Howell comes in, he discovers Brittany’s 68 cavities in
her mouth. When Brittany goes to Dr. Howell’s office to have her teeth pulled,
he puts her under anesthesia and right before he does so, plays Britney Spears
on the radio, inducing Brittany to have a Spears fantasy giving Brittany a
confidence boost.

           Not
long afterwards, fellow glee club members Santana, Rachel (Lea Michele), and
Artie (Kevin McHale) have Spears fantasies during their visit at the dentist.
Soon the whole glee club is pressing Will to let them perform a Spears number
at the homecoming performance.

           Although
at first unwilling, Will decides to take the advice of many others and “loosen
up,” allowing the club to perform Spears’, “Toxic,” and also performs with
them. At the assembly, the performance creates a sex-riot. The chaos even
causes an injury for Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), who plans on suing Will.

           Meanwhile,
Rachel and Finn (Cory Monteith) are struggling to perfect their relationship.
Both are protective of each other but Rachel eventually and unwillingly allows
Finn to rejoin the football team. Additionally, Artie becomes a member of the
football team trying to catch Tina’s (Jenna Ushkowitz) attention.

           However,
there were some small moments that were crucial to understanding character
development. For a small time when Rachel feared she was losing Finn, she
enlisted Quinn Fabray (Dianna Argon) for help. After asked by Rachel, Quinn
approaches Finn about revising their previous relationship. Although Finn admit
he will never lose his feelings for her, he loves Rachel and kindly asks her to
respect that, at which point Quinn reports this information to Rachel.

           For
majority of the first season, this sort of interaction between Rachel and Quinn
was unheard of. During Quinn’s pregnancy, audiences saw her learn many new
lessons and develop a new sense of maturity. However, after seeing her rejoin
the cheerleading squad, I was curious as to whether this previous character
development had been wasted. However, this scene reassured me that Quinn is still in touch with the
same morals she developed through her pregnancy.