Recap / Glee S 1 E 15 The Power Of Madonna

The power to look like Madonna

Summary

Welcome to the first of Glee's tribute episodes, a celebration of the music of one Madonna Louise Ciccone.

We start with unexpected fangirl Sue V/Oing about how just saying the name makes her feel powerful. Since she has the power due to the latest blackmail over Figgins, Sue decrees Madonna's catalog be played at all hours of the school day. We then cut to her and her legion; Santana even sporting a "W.W.M.D" bracelet. The answer, by the way, is date a younger man, so Sue wants arm candy on all the Cheerios!, saying they need to think and act like Madonna. Don't worry folks, the Cheerios! (two in particular) do make better choices as it pertains to movie roles. Sue, being Sue, then decides her minions no longer have names. Ah, Sue, normally we give your dubiousness the sideeye, but in this context, we'll let it slide. Just before we hit the Title Card, we then get a Madge quote that also defines Sue to a T, naturally she then says Madge stole it from her: I'm tough, I'm ambitious, and I know what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.

Glee Factory. We see the penmanship of one Quinn Fabray, drawing a dubious abstract of one Rachel Berry, surrounded by hearts... huh. Hearts. Might wanna look into that down the road. Rachel, naturally, does not appreciate the artistry as she sets herself up by wanting to ask something private. Of course we get the expected insult from Santana as Rachel asks about dating, this despite being "single" for the moment; we know she's still dating Jesse on the sly. Hypotheticals come into play, leading up to Rachel asking when is the right time to get the V-Card punched. Turns out, in the middle of a intense makeout session, Jesse stated he wanted to "do it". Romantic, isn't he? Anyway, Rachel asks how does she stop a guy from getting mad if she says no? Santana offers profound wisdom, never say no. You'd expect nothing less from someone who never met a cock she didn't cultivate; clearly, she increased the overcompensation on certain denials. We'll get a clearer example of that later in the episode. Brittany, "innocent" that she is, dares to asks what's the worst that can happen and of course, Quinn is there to serve as a reminder. Mercedes is out due to the last guy she liked being Kurt, while Tina, clearly seeing the divide between her and Artie growing, grouses about how Artie, magnanimously "forgiving" her for lying about the stutter, decides if she wants him in certain fashions, to lose the fashions she has now. Cohen-Chang is unamused.

In the midst of this, Will, who was there the whole time, poor bastard, asks what's up, suggesting a trip to Ms. Pillsbury. Will, heart's in the right place, but considering who we're talking to, no. Just no. Emma is suitably flustered before saying she can't do her job if she doesn't have the kids' confidence. Will says he wants to help so that she's more prepared and Emma's brain goes to where you'd think it would. Will tries to clarify, saying the role models out there are dubious and they need stronger ones.

Cut to him in a hallway as he hears "Ray of Light" coming from the gym. Seems Madge makes for good cheerleading music as we see the Red and White in action, complete with men on stilts. As per custom, any routine normally considered amazing is mediocre at best in Sue's eyes as she declares them "Sloppy Freak Show Babies". Will commends the performance, the electrons within the pompadour firing up, but not before...

You think this is hard? I'm passing a gallstone as we speak!

Back to the Glee Lab, Will put the name of our subject on the board, asking for meanings. We get the expected ones (Genius, Icon, Hall of Fame MILF...) Quinn, your Death Glare is on point. Will calls for the obvious assignment: Madonna numbers for all. Noah and Finn, of course, are the only dissenters, leading to Will calling out the men for not treating the women properly, calling them bullying, sexist, and misogynistic. Finn, of course has no idea what that means. Of course, this then leads to another Brittany non-sequitur (When I pulled my hamstring, I went to a misogynist.) as Will challenges the men to put themselves in the women's shoes, stating that culturally, Madonna's legacy transcends the music, ultimately conveying a sense of equality.

Kurt adds that the look of Madonna is just as important as the songs, asking if he and Mercedes could do a project tying into the lesson plan. Puck, clearly deciding to forgo brains today, says he's still not down, and that no chick intimidates him. Noah, there are at least three women who intimidate you: Your mother, the woman you have feelings for (and who BTW is carrying your child), and the person who you used to throw slushies at. Simmer down. He then makes the mistake of saying her music doesn't translate to show choir and that of course throws down the gauntlet for Rachel to pick up, her and the other ND women deciding to Express Themselves thusly.

Afterwards, with Madge "Burning Up" in the background, we cut to Santana's locker as a wig-clad Brittany states she's dating a seven-year old... yep, sounds about right. Santana realizes she needs younger arm candy herself, Brittany suggesting Finn; when Santana reminds her about last episode, Brittany says the way to get a man to follow you forever is pop his cherry. We then see the boy in question, Santana sauntering up to him and offering herself, saying he needs to feel the pleasures of fornication under carnal knowledge. When Finn mentions Rachel, Santana correctly says she's with Jesse, then talks about the advantages for her, and only her. And while normally we'd say that any possible interaction with Santana and males become Hilarious in Hindsight, there's more to this than just that, and we'll elaborate in due course.

Back to Emma's office and apparently she has decided to forgo any more time on this earth as she dares to summon the Tracksuit Terror. Turns out, Emma's office is spared the non-stop Madonna as Sue decides she doesn't deserve it, saying her sensuality is less than zero and naturally, Emma's cogs start turning. Back to the gleeks, where Rachel wants Finn to duet with her on a Madge mashup as a way to convince the ND men about the assignment. Finn, never one for tact, goes right for asking if Rachel's still dating Jesse, Rachel of course tries to invoke the Blatant Lies but Finn sees right through them, clearly still pissed off that Rachel dumped him only to go to Jesse. Finn warning her that if Jesse screws up ND, they're done as friends. Rachel agrees as Brad cues up the music and in a nice visual touch, when they cut to the hallway, it's full of Madonna cos-players from all her eras.

In said hallway, and with "Frozen" as surprisingly dramatic background music, Kurt is discussing Kabbalah with Mercedes when Will asks them about the assignment, Mercedes saying the A/V Club's helping them out with a video as Sue crashes, not pleased that ND's doing Madonna before she can have her own tribute. However, apparently Madge has given Will the courage to be aggressive; when Sue goes for the hair joke, Will actually responds in kind asking how the Florence Henderson look is going, suggesting a new setting on her FloBee. And for the first time in the series, Sue is straight up flummoxed, quickly taking it out on unsuspecting extras.

As the music continues, we cut to Finn at his locker staring at Santana at hers. Seems that the primal need to mate overrides everything else, as Finn agrees to coupling but clearly not all there about it. Cut to the Polyester Prison, where its warden contemplates as Kurt and Mercedes enter the lions den. Sue then monologues about raising Jean while her parents, famous Nazi hunters weren't around, lamenting about not keeping up with current looks. But then she heard True Blue and that gave them cause to bleach hair, the damage from it causing Sue to keep it short ever since. Sue claims she picks on Will because he has superior hair. In any case, Kurtcedes need the Cheerios! for their project and are willing to strike a deal with the devil.

Library. Rachel cautiously enters, seeing a book drop on its own. We soon see that the book is Sondheim on Music, tipping her off that it is in fact one Jesse St. James, on enemy turf for clandestine romance. Jesse apologizes, saying Rachel deserves grand gestures and he is willing to wait. Rachel, of course, says she's ready, and they embrace, Rachel immediately regretting her words. Cut back to Will outside as Emma approaches, saying that Sue's claim of her lack of sex appeal lit a fire and she wants copulations.

Cut to Artie preparing his directorial debut, a take on "Vogue". And here we have another first. Whereas up to this point, Sue Sylvester has been strictly an antagonist, never getting involved in the numbers, this marks the first time Jane Lynch actually participates in a Glee number. It's also the first time Glee goes shot for shot with the original video, a practice they would invoke several more times during the course of the series.

Now. We have three pairings. At least one person in each is a virgin. This is a Madonna tribute episode. Can you guess what song will be played over a montage of attempted couplings? Why yes, of course, it's "Crazy for You". After the montage, we see that of the three pairings, only one was successful; naturally, since it doesn't actually hold any significance to storylines thus far, it is in fact Finn and Santana. Now, while this marks the epitome of Hilarious in Hindsight, this will also prove to be significant next season, and all the way into the early part of Season 3, where it will abstractly serve as partial motivation for one of the most emotionally revolting events in Glee history. Yes, that one.

Back to Kurtcedes celebrating their video. Unfortunately, they see Sue in her standard form; seems she'd rather leave reinvention to Madonna herself. We then get a visual gag, her in Figgins' office in a trademark cone bra. And then, since Kurtcedes made a deal with the devil, the devil's come to collect. We'll follow up later as we go to Gleeicon Valley, where Finn and Rachel stand awkwardly, asking about dates and what not. Rachel implies a punched V-Card, we cut to Jesse knocking on her door to confirm the contrary. Finn states the contrary, whereas we know otherwise. We then cut to Finntana in their "afterglow", Finn saying he's didn't feel anything... nope, not worth it. Forlorn looks abound as we cut to Will's office as Emma arrives to apologize; seems she was on radio silence for the weekend. Will says he's been trying to teach a lesson but hasn't learned it himself. He does however say he filed divorce papers, so that's a start; he then says he wants Emma to control her OCD, recommending counselors. Unfortunately, that's something she'll still have problems with for a while.

And then, a wild Jesse St. James appears. Cut to a put out Finn as it seems Jesse's switched sides and is now with New Directions. Everyone is displeased, save the obvious one. Will gets slightly forceful, saying everyone who's auditioned got in, SOP for ND. After Brittany notices a resemblance between Jesse & Will, Jesse makes it clear that as long as he was still with Vocal Adrenaline, Rachel would never completely be with him, saying he cares more about her than winning. Rachel is stunned and touched. Strangely, for some reason Quinn, who is sitting next to her, seems more concerned about Rachel being possibly suckered in by Jesse. Almost as if she cared or something... huh. Anyway, we cut to Sue on the bullhorn and we see the end result of Kurtcedes' deal with her; namely, the both of them in the Red and White, getting all of "4 Minutes" to entertain, and boy do they. Colfer and Riley nail it, simply nail it. Will and Emma are stunned to see two ND members in enemy colors, the rest of ND are stunned period. When Will confronts, once again, he gets the blowback, namely Kurtcedes not being pleased about being passed up for solos. They kinda have a point there. Kurt points out that being on Sue's squad would give them more chances to shine.

And from there, we get a number that shows that sometimes, simplicity can be effective. It's Will and the ND men, at the piano, doing "What It Feels Like for A Girl", which is the ND men's way of owning up to their faults. Puck naturally objects to it all, Artie lamenting about his treating Tina like crap as we cut to her blowing up at him. Finn calls out the behavior. Kurt makes a point, the pure talent compensates for the clashing personalities; if ND wants to kick it up, they have to see their fellow members as people, not just teammates. Finn says they need to make it right with the ND women; we cut to Artie apologizing to Tina, Finn apologizing to Rachel, then to Jesse, saying he'll put his own feelings aside for the sake of the team. And thus, we bring this tribute to a close with the cry to "let the choir sing", a little "Like a Prayer" to take us out for the week.

Next Time: Another trip down the back Rhodes.

Songs

• "Ray of Light" performed by The Cheerios
• "Express Yourself" Performed by Rachel, Quinn, Tina, Brittany, Santana, and Mercedes
• "Borderline/Open Your Heart" performed by Rachel and Finn
• "Frozen"
• "Vogue" Performed by Sue Sylvester with Kurt and Mercedes
• "Like a Virgin" performed by Jesse and Rachel, Will and Emma, and Finn and Santana
• "Justify My Love"
• "4 Minutes" (Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake) performed by Mercedes, Kurt, and the Cheerios
• "What It Feels Like for A Girl" performed by Will, Kurt, Puck, Finn, Matt, Mike, and Artie
• "Like a Prayer" performed by New Directions
• "Burning Up" - danced to by the Cheerios and performed in a cut scene by Jesse with Vocal Adrenaline

Tropes appearing in the episode

• Blackmail: Sue is still blackmailing Figgins.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: During "Like a Virgin" the women wear lilac and the men wear dark grey and black.
• Malaproper: When Brittany pulled a hamstring, she went to a "misogynist."
• One Name Only: Sue foregoes the Cheerios' last names.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: The physical resemblance between Jonathan Groff and Matthew Morrison is lampshaded.
  Mr. Schue, is he your son?
• Shot-for-Shot Remake: "Vogue", with hilariously swapped out lyrics
  Will Schue-ster, I. hate. you.
• Straw Feminist: Quinn's statement that women make 70 cents on the dollar to a man's salary seems random.