Summary
We start this week's episode with New Directions bearing witness to the fighting styles of the tracksuit demon and hairgel songman, in slo-mo, no less. The fighting even continues with the VO's, slightly Breaking the Fourth Wall and revealing that this ultimate explosion of Vesuvian proportions is a byproduct of Sue being forced to co-run the club with Will. Will's mad he's basically become her, while Sue's complimenting her own prowess, natch. Mid face-contortionate yelling, we jump across to Figgins' office, where the super powered head himself is wanting a report on their job running ND, Teeth-Clenched Teamwork being the sole focus. Figgins says he doesn't want the glee kids to take sides, as we Gilligan Cut to the choir room where Will is polling them on their musical tastes. Mercedes and Kurt want more variety, while Rachel wants eleven backup singers and Mike wants to pop-and-lock. Figgins also doesn't want infighting, naturally we cut to Sue wanting the Unholy Trinity for a status report. Quinn states the minority students feel they're being repressed; Sue's sprung with motivation to try and make glee so toxic it'll dissolve. We also get a look into the dark, fettered, recesses of Sue's brain:"Like the time I sold my house to a nice, young couple, and I salted the earth in the backyard so that nothing living could grow there for a hundred years. You know why I did that? Because they tried to get me to pay their closing costs".
Back to Figgins, and the duelling leaders having come up with something. Each co-director will have a number at Sectionals, Figgins is pleased while Sue and Will clearly wanna run like hell away from each other. Figgins, either oblivious or torturous, makes them hug to prove they are really on the same side: threats are whispered into ears accordingly as we hit the Title Card.
Quinn is having an ultrasound with Finn by her side. As the nurse asks what they'll do when the baby's born, we see that it's a girl. Finn is excited, Quinn is nonplussed. We then find Will in a waiting room looking at a couple excited at their pregnancy, turns out he drove Fuinn. Finn says the kid's fine, and another heart-to-heart ensues. Finn expresses his understandable anxiety over raising his alleged daughter, turns out Quinn wants to give it up, regardless of whether it's to Terri or not. Finn has all of the anxiety and none of the control, saying Will wouldn't understand.
Cut to Rachel's locker and here's Jacob Van Israel to torment us. Shudder. Anyway, jist is JBI found out about Quinn and when Rachel denies it gets hit with a reminder that Finn's not with her. This is enough for her to confront and we get the terms: his silence for a pair of her undershorts. As the audience dies a thousand deaths, we cut to Sue rigging the coin toss to decide which number gets run first. She calls upon, Kurt, Artie, and all other non-Caucasian students to join her; when Will objects, he sets himself up for both being told it is allowed in the official rules and the (un)natural accusation of being racist.
We cut to Terri and her equally insane sister and some antivaccination Take That!, followed by Will hanging up and lamenting his powerlessness. Terri give naught a toss until he mentions Quinn and naturally she's all ears; apparently Quinn's 10 weeks ahead. Will then gets a second wind and says he's coming to her next "appointment". Terri is agast. After the break, we see Finchel discuss Rachel's sacrifice to keep Quinn's kid under wraps. Finn gives Rachel praise for her actions, unfortunately running right into the boil on the ass of life who wants another pair. Squick. Turns out, Rachel tried for a fakeout but forgot to remove the tag. Oi. JBI then tries for mouth violation and CAN WE MOVE TO THE NEXT SCENE PLEASE?!
...thank you.
As "Sue's Kids" gather together, we get more of "Sue's Corner":
Sometimes people ask me, 'Sue, how come you're so sensitive to minorites?' Well, I'll tell you why. Because I know firsthand how hard it is to struggle as a minority in America today. I'm 1/16th Comanche Indian. In fact, I like minorities so much, I'm thinking of moving to California to become one.
Sue enters with appropriate accompaniment. Why? Because say what you will, but Sue does have the ability to play to strengths. Specifically, Mercedes' ability to vocalize with the best of them. Thus, a little "Hate on Me" to suit the mood, Mike and Matt with the according moves and the entire group getting down as we see Will observe and be saddened. This ignites the fire that melts the hairgel and both of them throw down publicly, Sue saying she has no problem getting Will fired if it means she wins.
We cut to Will grading papers as Terri offers a beer, saying she could help Will with his glee problems. After being reminded about the last time she helped (see previous recap), Terri tells Will that he needs to fight dirty on this one. Cut to Sue and a random reporter, Sue exposing about the fear she instills in her Cheerios! when she summons the Head Cheerio, who states Will flunked the team, instilling Sue with rage not seen to this point, and will not be seen for quite a while. Cut to the break, then to Figgins' office, where Sue rages while Will points out a test where one of the Cheerios! misspelled her name and answered every question with a sombrero (three guesses which one. Hint: Her cat loves to read her diary). Figgins then pointed out some dyslexia in regards to a previous game while Will says since '92, 95% of the team was flunking Spanish. Sue responds with more madness:
Let me break this down for you, okay? I empower my Cheerios to be champions. Do they go onto college? I don't know, I don't care. Should they learn Spanish? Sure, if they wanna become dishwashers and gardeners. But if they want to be bankers and lawyers and captains of industry, the most important lesson they could possibly learn is how to do a round off.
Deep Sue. Deep.
Figgins lays down the law and checkmates Sue's blackmail by revealing he uploaded the flight instruction video himself, only getting two hits. Speaking of hits, we then see the first occurance of another trademark moment: Sue pitching a bitch fit while Carmina Burana backs her up. Cut to Spanish class, where Finn not so subtly hands Quinn a name for her kid: Drizzle. That may be okay for Puck, but not so much for her as she secretly thanks the heavens Puck's slightly smarter than Finn. After class, Quinn detonates on Finn, reminding him she's giving the kid up and he's to do nothing about it. When Finn says he's a part of this, Quinn states her parents will burn her alive if they find out. She ain't kidding. Finn then drives the shoe in the teeth further by saying he wishes she were a little more like Rachel. Quinn, basically figuring out everything at this point, says that some men do cheat on pregnant girlfriends, then warns Finn not to be one of them.
And here we come to a interesting detour from the plot, the assembled New Directions jamming to Nelly unplugged. I say interesting, because apparently, they were playing around between takes, and were asked to do the same thing, but on camera. In any case, the plot resumes with Will deciding that their number will be "No Air" with Finchel on lead. Quinn, clearly seeing the future in certain regards, complains about togetherness. Girl's got a point. After the overblown number, complete with auto-tuned Finn and wind swept hallways, Quinn, again, peering through the fourth wall, correctly asks if Finchel will dominate every performance. Cut to the domain of the insane, Sue wanting verbatim quoting as we cut back to Quinn planting seeds of dissent. Back to Sue's office as we see Puck and Brittany, Puck with the Judaism and Brittany with the Dutch based dumb blondness.
Speaking of dumb blondes, though in this case dumb and insane blondes, Terri is scrambling to put on her fake stomach as Will walks in wanting Terri to cook, Terri admiring this forcefulness. Will then books a doctor's appointment and Terri's not so admiring anymore. Cut to the teacher's lounge and Hairgel's on the warpath, confronting Sue over losing more kids. Sue offers them back if Will passes the Cheerios!, Will naturally refuses. Cut to Terri's OBGYN, where her and her sister bully the doc into handing them an ultrasound to cover Terri's tracks.
Cut to Rachel's locker, which is slammed by Quinn and HOLY SHIT THE EPISODE IS SAVED! The gloriousness that is these two commences with Quinn warning Rachel to back off of Finn. Rachel admits her ulterior motives, but then reveals that she knows the Unholy Trinity are Sue's moles. Rachel then says, quite correctly, that when Sue finds out Quinn's pregnant, she'll be dropkicked off the squad post haste, so Quinn better know who her real friends are. This then leads into Dianna's first solo (with the Cheerios! as backup), demonstrating that while her vocals are lighter, doesn't mean it's no less powerful as Lea's. And again, we point out the electric chemistry between these two, and believe me, more of this epicness will follow.
Sadly, we have about 13 minutes left. Dammit.
After the break, we get some awkwardness, as we see Quinn, Rachel, and Finn on stage in the auditorium, ready to perform to the rest of ND, currently in Sue's clutches. We then see an attempt at "No Air", only for Sue to order "Sue's Kids" to bail. And thus Will's had all he could stands and he can stands no more, as we see the fight at the top of the episode was a case of In Medias Res. Truths are layed bare as ND stands terrified. Finn, surprisingly, is the only to break it up, leading the rest of ND to rail on the supposed "adults" in the room.
We begin to wrap up business for the week with Will being given Quinn's ultrasound, while we are reminded in proper fashion that when provoked, Sue can be a demon on par with Lucifer. Seems that while she's decided to step down from Glee, she wanted to still contribute, namely asking Will for set lists, so she can give them to other glee clubs. She also wanted to give Will a parting gift. We soon see it as Will gives a pep talk, Sue then drops the boom about Quinn's pregnancy. Seems she cowed JBI into spilling the info and we see Quinn breaking down in Finn's arms while Rachel stands near, horrified at the turn things have taken. We end for the week with "Keep Holding On"; Quinn clearly trying to do just that.
Next Time: The first appearance of one of Glee's signature elements.
Songs in the episode
- "Hate On Me" performed by Mercedes Jones and "Sue's Kids"
- "Ride Wit Me" performed by New Directions
- "No Air" Performed by Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson, and "Will's Kids"
- "You Keep Me Hangin' On" Performed by Quinn Fabray
- "Keep Holding On" Performed by New Directions
Tropes in "Throwdown" include:
- Ambiguously Bi: Quinn, the Dream Sequence with the all-female Cheerios. Three seasons on, it'll prove to not be so ambiguous.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Will and Sue's voiceover.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Sue salted the earth when she sold her house, so nothing would grow. The purchasers' crime? They expected her to pay their closing costs.
- Foreshadowing: A subtle example. The group jams on
"Ride Wit Me" and it's one of their best first season performances, because it's fun and loose. In "Sectionals," Finn makes a Call-Back by saying they're at their best when they're loose and unrehearsed. - Instant Web Hit: Subverted. Sue has been blackmailing Figgins. He puts the video on YouTube himself and it only gets two hits.
- Intrepid Reporter: Jacob Ben Israel
- Leave the Camera Running: As mentioned above, a variant as it pertains to ND performing "Ride Wit Me".
- Ominous Latin Chanting: When Sue goes on a rampage, and during Will and Sue's fight.
- Phony Degree: Sue has a PhD. Will: "You got it online!"
- Stalker with a Crush: Jacob Ben Israel
- Take That! / Straw Political: To the anti-vaxxers. Kendra's accusations that hospital vaccinations made her kids stupid, and that too much "pitocin" made them gingers.Terri: I suppose I could use the money (for vaccines) for an organic crib mattress. What are the chances my kid's gonna get polio?
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Sue running Glee.
