History Recap / GleeS4E2Britney20

* FMinusMinus
* FanficFuel: Rachel and Cassie
* {{Homage}}[=/=]ShoutOut: Many, including attacking paparazzi, "leave Brittany alone", "It's Brittany... bitch", shaving her hair, etc.

* NotImportantToThisEpisodeCamp: Beiste, Sugar, and Finn.

After Brittany is kicked out of the Cheerios, she wants to find inspiration from Music/BritneySpears again to cheer herself up. In this second Britney Spears tribute episode, New Directions perform Britney songs in hopes of cheering up Brittany. Being kicked out of the Cheerios and daring to perform lead with New Directions for the pep assembly for the beginning of the year (instead lip-syncing), is surely not the Brittany we know. Jake and Marley perform a sweet number together, but will their relationship continue to grow? Rachel shows Cassandra July her sexy side when Kurt reveals to Rachel about Cassandra's breakdown, and Cassandra motivates Rachel by telling her she has no sex appeal.

After Brittany is kicked out of the Cheerios, she wants to find inspiration from Music/BritneySpears again to cheer herself up. In this second Britney Spears tribute episode, New Directions perform Britney songs in hopes of cheering up Brittany. Being kicked out of the Cheerios and daring to perform lead with New Directions for the pep assembly for the beginning of the year (instead lip-syncing), is surely not the Brittany we know. Jake and Marley perform a sweet number together, but will their relationship continue to grow? Rachel shows Cassandra July her sexy side when Kurt reveals to Rachel about Cassandra's breakdown, and Cassandra motivates Rachel by telling her she has no sex appeal.

However, unlike last time, which was mostly hallucinations, this time the songs serve mostly as backdrop for the emotions of our resident namesake character. As such, we start with a V/O of her saying senior year was awesome and she gets to relive it. However, in what at the time was an interesting twist, we pan back to see that this isn't a V/O at all, but her instead monologing to herself. Enter the Anderson to ask whom she's speaking to, her reply? ''"I thought I was doing a voiceover."'' Hey, if she can invent a time machine and realize a fellow student is her future daughter, is it that surprising she's a FourthWallObserver? After a proper V/O lamenting about how it was an understandably rough summer without Santana, she rally's herself with the obvious battlecry, and I think you can guess the one. Cut to the football field for a routine, but hey, can you Hold It Against Her? Of course not.

This is in fact one of two solos [=HeMo=] would have this episode; she would get one more later in the season, though sadly that one, while recorded, was never put in the episode. As you'll see, this emphasis on Brittany was not just because of a dubious piece of storytelling we'll see later, but, and we forgot to mention this, in another case of RealLifeWritesThePlot, though a joyous one, this was the final season for Heather Morris. See, towards the end of the season, she became pregnant, and the heavy workload was too much for her to bear, thus she decided to vacate the series. She would return for cameos of course, including one resolving the aforementioned piece of dubious storytelling, but this is her final season as a regular cast member, so Murphy, actually ''liking'' a cast member, kinda, sorta, decided to showcase her as much as possible.

Anyway, back to the action as this performance was not in fact a gratuitous one, but a standard Cheerio! routine. However, as is also standard, what is amazing in most people's eyes is mediocre if not appalling in the eyes of the Adidas Demon. Cut to her chambers where Sue reveals that due to Brittany's emotional heartache over the distance between her and the love of her life, that her grades, which as she's repeating her senior year weren't all that good to begin with, are in a freefall. Sue produces an algebra test done by her resident minion Becky, C-. Then, one by Brit-Brit. Per Sue:

-> ''"Your performance, very same exam, unearthed the hitherto undiscovered grade: F-. You answered every question with 'See Other Side', where you composed an elaborate crayon-scape entitled 'Happyville: The Town Where Math Was Never Invented'."''

Last year, Sue allowed her hormones to rule her; now that she's back to her senses, she reveals that the Red and White's collective GPA dropped three points, seems they figure if the co-head cheerleader can have bad grades and keep the colors why can't they? Sue, as you would guess, kicks Brit off the team and makes Kitty co-Head Cheerio. Brit is crushed as we hit the TitleCard.

We then cut to a laptop and the reason for Brittany's pain, as we see Santana in University of Louisville colors say she's sorry Sue kicked Brit off the team. After a mention of "scissor-Skyping", which sounds kinda painful, Santana, as you'd expect, says she's busy. So we have a couple who are a state apart, and one keeps saying she's busy. The Brittana fans at this point began to suspect that Murphy might have something hideous planned, and as we'll see in a few episodes time, they were right to be worried. Anyway, as they part, we then see his Lordship Tubbington in his shades and leathers; seems the poor cat joined a gang thus making poor Brit-Brit twice as upset. Poor LT, he knows naught what he does. Who does know what she does is Cassie, as we cut to her class extolling the importance of a good tango, saying it is essentially visual sex. She naturally singles out Rachel as she speaks and she does kinda have a point; I mean yeah, we've seen the dresses, the Britney outfit and the default loafers, knee socks and short skirts are always turnons, but we think Rachel's only actual sex was missionary with the lights off for a minute, :30 at least as this ''is'' Finnegan we're speaking of. Anyway, Cassie partners everyone off expect Rachel due to uneven numbers plus the reason we just gave. One thing to look sexy, another to have teh sexytiems, but if its not in your heart, people will notice and they won't buy it. Besides, we all know there's only one person besides Rachel who can prove she has sex appeal, and she's at Yale.

Cut to Emma's office as Brittany arrives in an outfit literally taken from the lost and found, the depression runs deep. This is apparently a "Britervention", as Wemma suggest daily meetings. Brit declines as you'd expect. Emma says this is a loss of identity, and that ignites the cells in the Schue cranium. Cut to the choir room minus Sugar because as we've established, she's helping Brit fix the time machine thus taking both their minds off of Santana and thus no one would notice if a student vanished. Will reveals ND's performing at a pep rally, then ties it into Brit-Brit's emotional problems by, in a 180 from two years ago, officially declaring a "Britney Week". Blaine and Artie then indulge in some "Boys/Boyfriend", mashing up Bieber because Murphy hates us. Afterwards, as Brittany appears re-energized, we cut to a loft in Bushwick, where Kurtchel are riding bikes. They're riding bikes because they're considering renting the place... [[FriendsRentControl at $1800 a month]]. Either [=NYADA=]'s paying stipends or Papa Burt's being a congressman comes with big checks cause Damn. Anyway, as we fade to night with some Domino's, Rachel asks Kurt if he's heard from Finn and it appears it's a regular occurrence. It's apparent that this is more than concern over his well being, as Rachel appears to want the old and the new. We'll get the results of that later as Kurt reveals the Britney Week and Rachel immediately gets nostalgic. Yes, they only graduated four months prior, but these levels of change can make it seem like forever. Anyway, Kurt reveals plans to re-apply to [=NYADA=] and that he's got a job at Vogue.com. He says he's really found himself, a new focus. Notice how he didn't mention Blaine? Yeah. Rachel wishes she had focue, as Cassie's really getting to her. Kurt is flummoxed, as we then get Cassie's backstory: seems she was an "it" girl on Broadway, until the first out-of-town tryout for Theater/DamnYankees, where a phone went off in the middle of the performance. She didn't take it well, having a conniption fit and smashing said phone. Kurt tells Rachel that if Cassie wants sexy, she should get it as we get a break.

We return to see Jake chat up Tina, as Marley walks by and runs into Unique, who says they should bond against the male [=McKinley=] elements. When Marley mentions Jake Unique accurately calls him a bad seed, saying that in a two-week span he's already left a trail of broken hearts. She deems Jake a "Womanizer" and that of course triggers the next song. Afterwards, we find that sadly, Marley's already hooked as Jake offers to hang out with her and she agrees. Cut to Central Park and Brody exercising as Rachel approaches. She asks him to be her tango partner, but apparently Cassie doesn't allow upperclassmen to perform in her class. He of course then agrees as it's back to the choir room for "3", done by Sam, Tina, and Joe. Wait. Either he's clueless or a CovertPervert; this being Glee, it's 50/50. Afterwards, we see that apparently, Brittany's earlier declaration that she was fine was slightly incorrect, as she tries for Britney circa 2007; first a thwarted head shaving, then she exits the choir room and finds JBI and GIVES HIM THE BEATDOWN WE'VE WAITED FOUR YEARS FOR HALLELUJAH! As we get an extra doing his best Chris Crocker, we then see a carefree Puckerman on a scooter. Will intercepts and basically we see Jake asserting himself. However, we then see the real reason he blew off his classes, as we cut to the bleachers where Marley sits and he arrives six-string in hand. After accurately pointing out Jake hiding his pain in the Puckerman style, she then reveals a history of bullying and attempts to adapt. [=McKinley=] is the first time she can be. When Jake bashed ND, she points out the Britney Week, saying she has a way of singing her favorite song. Evidently Jake does too, cueing up a "Crazy" Britney/Aerosmith mashup. This is the first time Jacob Artist and Melissa Benoist duet; the obvious chemistry shown here predicates more to come. Afterwards, Marley suddenly feels "cold" and cue the jacket around the shoulders. Jake leaves while Marley moons over him and we moon over a break.

We return to the choir room, where all of ND have sit Brittany down for another attempted "Britervention". They figure that if performing was a way for her to express herself, that she should be the lead in the pep-rally performance. She agrees, but then says she has to lip sync, Blaine pointing out lipsynching defeats the purpose of glee club. See, her voice is too weak from yelling at shrubs, yes, so she'll pre-record, then choreograph a routine so good, no one will notice. Now, if you're a Britney fan, you can guess the song from a mile away as we cut to Cassie's class, where Rachel arrives in her sexiness, eyes full of legs, makeup on point. Cassie dismisses her, only for Rachel to show her otherwise. Yes, tapping into the latent eroticism which should only be reserved for another blonde who's not Cassie dammit, we cue up a piano-based "Oops I Did It Again", where upon we see Rachel writhe in ways that make Cassie go hmm. However, what we get is her saying that Rachel memorized a routine and was merely okay, Brody was good and the song choice sucked. And then we see that for all the talk of a "new" Rachel, there is one thing that remains and that is the ego getting pinged. She accuses Cassie of being jealous, saying she, and the rest of the class have the rest of their careers to look forward to, whereas Cassie is just a "Website/YouTube joke". Right. Second episode in a row folks: Rachel, you're an idiot. Naturally, Cassie's BerserkButton is pressed and Rachel is kicked out.

Cut to the [=McKinley=] cafteria where poor Millie Rose is getting the usual bashing. However, Jake arrives and, chivalry does come in many forms, bashes the bashers. Will arrives and removes Jake, taking him to the choir room where it's now time for a "Pucktervention". Yes, Will got on the horn to Noah, who dismisses Jake's supposed toughness by pointing out his own established rep, then points out that yes, New Directions may be eclectic but it was that eclecticism that matured him to where he is now. Granted, it's not an ideal life, but he's a better man. It should be pointed out that Puck still has the mohawk. We mention that for it's the base for a slight visual piece of CharacterDevelopment we'll see throughout the season. Anyway, Jake ponders as we cut to the pep rally, where after the standard Figgins intro, we see ND in action and yes folks, mocking a rather infamous performance from the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, it's "Gimme More", complete with lipsynching and Brittany looking not all there. As you'd expect, the students are confused, and Will is pissed, as we cut back to the choir room where he rails on ND, saying that the rep's deeper in the toilet, plus there's fear the governing body of show choirs could ban them from performing. Brittany then promptly quits. Right. Granted, if they had told Will about the plan, he probably would say no, but Figgins would allow it regardless. Sam, for reasons to sadly be revealed later, looks pensive as we cut to Cassie stretching. Rachel, to no one's shock, is there to apologize. Cassie makes the valid point that Rachel snapped after mere criticism, which as the teacher Cassie was supposed to dish out. She then says that if someone taped Rachel's outburst Rachel would essentially be heading back to Lima. She's cruel because she doesn't want anyone to make the same mistakes she did. She then makes clear that if not for [=NYADA=] policies, Rachel would be done. However, policy dictates a second chance, so Rachel is on probation and made to clean the dancer equivalents of jockstraps. Glamorous all around.

Cut to Brit-Brit and a map Sam made to lead her to the auditorium. Right. Sam figures out the game: fake a meltdown so Brit can make the comeback. After acknowledging why Brit adores Brit; namely her ability to overcome, we see her snuggle into Sam. This would be cute, if not for events to come that would intensify a freefall of ratings. Anyway, we get the crux of all the issues and it is of course Santana, Brit saying she was a protector, lover, friend and the use of the past tense is intentional {{Foreshadowing}} for the aforementioned events; the use of the term "best friend" instead of "girlfriend" also being intentional as well. She says part of the comeback is getting back on Sue's squad; we cut to her office as Brit arrives, pointing out, rather accurately, that student body presidents end their terms with their diplomas; since Brit didn't get one, she's still president and thus tries to draft an order putting her back on the Cheerios! Sue counters by saying she's back on provided she graduates. Future events will take her off the squad for good, but not graduation. Brit says Wemma are tutoring her to get the grades up, producing a C- test as proof. Sue says good enough, and Brit-Brit is back in the Red and White. Cut to Bushwick where Kurtchel are staking territory by painting walls; Rachel of course painting an obvious name. Again, he broke up with you, just saying. There's a knock at the sliding door and a random Brody appears. Kurt naturally and promptly bails, as Brody produces flowers. He then reveals that to no ones shock, he's got a thing for her, but realizes she's still got a thing for the ex and thus if there's a chance for reconciliation, he'll back off. See, like we said, "new", more open minded Finnegan. He leaves Rachel to ponder as we break.

We return to start the home stretch with Jake finding Marley and revealing his intent to join ND. Nervous flirting ensues, however there was one character we only saw briefly at the top of the episode, and who now decides to assert herself. Yep, our resident Kittycat appears, and reveals she's got her claws hooked into the young Puckerman. Kitty leads a reluctant Jake away as Marley stands depressed. From there, we cut to Jake officially being welcomed to ND and with three minutes left in the episode that means one more song; thus we cue the Benoist pipes which shine "Everytime", intercutting with Rachel finally getting her tango on while Cassie glares and Brody pines, Brit staring at an iMac wishing it was the other half of her soul, Marley staring at Jakitty and trying hard not to fall to pieces, and Rachel staring at her ex's name and finally beginning the moving on process by painting over it. Fun to be had by all, and more fun to come...

Next Time: Kurt finds some Sex in The City. No, [[Series/SexAndTheCity not]] [[Creator/SarahJessicaParker that]]. Also, a sadly expected return, and we find out what happens when a main character decides to start dressing like the actress that portrays her. Yes.

* NotImportantToThisEpisodeCamp: Beiste, Sugar, and Finnegan.

* [[WhatTheHellHero What the Hell, Glee Club?]]: Will angrily chews out the New Directions for lip syncing.

We return to the choir room, where all of ND have sit Brittany down for another attempted "Britervention". They figure that if performing was a way for her to express herself, that she should be the lead in the pep-rally performance. She agrees, but then says she has to lip sync, Blaine pointing out lipsynching defeats the purpose of glee club. See, her voice is too weak from yelling at shrubs, yes, so she'll pre-record, then choreograph a routine so good, no one will notice. Now, if you're a Britney fan, you can guess the song from a mile away as we cut to Cassie's class, where Rachel arrives in her sexiness, eyes full of legs, makeup on point. Cassie dismisses her, only for Rachel to show her otherwise. Yes, tapping into the latent eroticism which should only be reserved for another blonde who's not Cassie dammit, we cue up a piano-based "Oops I Did It Again", where upon we see Rachel writhe in ways that make Cassie go hmm. However, what we get is her saying that Rachel memorized a routine and was merely okay, Brody was good and the song choice sucked. And then we see that for all the talk of a "new" Rachel, there is one thing that remains and that is the ego getting pinged. She accuses Cassie of being jealous, saying she, and the rest of the class have the rest of their careers to look forward to, whereas Cassie is just a "YouTube joke". Right. Second episode in a row folks: Rachel, you're an idiot. Naturally, Cassie's BerserkButton is pressed and Rachel is kicked out.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: After Cassandra picks on her, Rachel tries this ("We've got our whole careers ahead of us, and you're just a YouTube joke.") It kinda backfires when Cassandra points out that if she can't handle the pressure of dance class, there's no way she'll make it in the real world.

Cut to Brit-Brit and a map Sam made to lead her to the auditorium. Right. Sam figures out the game: fake a meltdown so Brit can make the comeback. After acknowledging why Brit adores Brit; namely her ability to overcome, we see her snuggle into Sam. This would be cute, if not for events to come that would intensify a freefall of ratings. Anyway, we get the crux of all the issues and it is of course Santana, Brit saying she was a protector, lover, friend and the use of the past tense is intentional {{Foreshadowing}} for the aforementioned events. She says part of the comeback is getting back on Sue's squad; we cut to her office as Brit arrives, pointing out, rather accurately, that student body presidents end their terms with their diplomas; since Brit didn't get one, she's still president and thus tries to draft an order putting her back on the Cheerios! Sue counters by saying she's back on provided she graduates. Future events will take her off the squad for good, but not graduation. Brit says Wemma are tutoring her to get the grades up, producing a C- test as proof. Sue says good enough, and Brit-Brit is back in the Red and White. Cut to Bushwick where Kurtchel are staking territory by painting walls; Rachel of course painting an obvious name. Again, he broke up with you, just saying. There's a knock at the sliding door and a random Brody appears. Kurt naturally and promptly bails, as Brody produces flowers. He then reveals that to no ones shock, he's got a thing for her, but realizes she's still got a thing for the ex and thus if there's a chance for reconciliation, he'll back off. See, like we said, "new", more open minded Finnegan. He leaves Rachel to ponder as we break.

The second Music/BritneySpears tribute, starring Brittany S. Pierce being really sad that Santana isn't in Lima. Also, the purple mounts a vindictive return.

Brittany's redo of her Senior year starts with her getting a lower grade than anyone has ever got before. Damn. She's no longer academically eligible for the Cheerios! and so she goes for more inspiration from Britney. The New Directions perform most of the Britney songs they didn't two years ago to get her out of her funk. Brittany has a plan, though: a Britney break-down to rival one of Quinn's so that she can stage a Britney comeback. Sam somehow works out that this is what she's doing.

Brittany's strained her voice and needs to lip sync ("we don't lip-sync in glee!" Blaine lies), but everyone notices and the glee club's rating drops. Puck's brother and the actual new Rachel sing together.

In New York, Kurt and Rachel find a loft in Bushwick. It's [[FriendsRentControl cheap and spacey]].

-->'''Rachel:''' What's the crime rate like in this neighborhood? It looks a little shady.
-->'''Kurt:''' It's better than Detroit and Damascus.

Then at [=NYADA=], Rachel's dance teacher Cassandra July isolates her ("Schwimmer") from the class because there aren't enough people to pair up for the Tango and she completely lacks sex appeal. Rachel performs Britney, proving that Creator/LeaMichele can drop into the splits, to suggest otherwise. Hey, we all know there's only one person who can prove Rachel has sex appeal, and she's at Yale.

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment : Rachel is allowed back into class, but she has to wash the jock straps, or whatever they call them for dancing.
* FMinusMinus: Sue says to Brittany "Your performance on [an algebra] exam unearthed the hitherto undiscovered grade: F minus.You answered every question with 'See Other Side', where you composed an elaborate crayon-scape entitled 'Happyville: The Town Where Math Was Never Invented'."

* {{Homage}}[=/=]ShoutOut: Many to Britney, including attacking paparazzi, "leave Brittany alone", "It's Brittany... bitch", shaving her hair, etc.

* [[SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer Sir Not Appearing In This Episode]]: Dear Finnegan.

* [[WhatTheHellHero What the Hell, Glee Club]]: Will angrily chews out the New Directions for lip syncing.

The second BritneySpears tribute, starring Brittany S. Pierce being really sad that Santana isn't in Lima. Also, the purple mounts a vindictive return.

In New York, Kurt and Rachel find a loft in Bushwick. It's cheap and spacey.

Then at [=NYADA=], Rachel's dance teacher Cassandra July isolates her ("Schwimmer") from the class because there aren't enough people to pair up for the Tango and she completely lacks sex appeal. Rachel performs Britney, proving that Creator/LeaMichele can drop into the splits, to suggest otherwise.

!!!Songs (all by Music/BritneySpears unless specified):

* FMinus: Sue says to Brittany "Your performance on [an algebra] exam unearthed the hitherto undiscovered grade: F minus.You answered every question with 'See Other Side', where you composed an elaborate crayon-scape entitled 'Happyville: The Town Where Math Was Never Invented'."