Glee: Wheels
November 10th 2010 23:34
Watching the cheerleading practice to get her mind off things like her sonogram bill, Quinn (Dianna Agron) tells Finn that he’s got to get a job soon or they’re going to be in trouble. He says he’s trying but nobody’s hiring right now. He almost got in at the Olive Garden, but they said he was too tall to be a busboy. She tells him to try harder because her parents can’t find out.
Meanwhile, Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) has informed Will that there’s not enough money in his budget to pay for the special bus they need in order to take Artie’s (Kevin McHale) wheelchair to Sectionals. Will isn’t happy about this one bit. The best part of Glee Club is the ride to the event! Determined to figure out a way to raise the money, he tells the kids that they’re going to have a bake sale. They’re not impressed. After all, why can’t Artie’s dad just take him up? Artie, who at first said it didn’t bother him, admits that it did kind of hurt his feelings that they wanted him to take a separate car, and, disappointed that his students are being so selfish, Will gets all of them wheelchairs. For a few hours every day, they’re going to have to go to ride in them. Maybe then they’ll understand how hard it is for Artie, who has to work twice as hard at their routines.
For this week’s song, Mr. Schue pulls out “Defying Gravity”, and Kurt (Chris Colfer) perks up. He wants that solo. Unfortunately they don’t have time to rework it for a male lead, and Will gives the lead to Rachel. Crushed, Kurt goes home depressed. When his father finds out what happens, he’s furious, and goes to Principal Figgins about it. Will agrees that he wasn’t being fair and decides to hold a tryout for the song. Rachel vs. Kurt. The kids will vote, and whoever they choose as the winner ends will get the song.
Kurt works all week, finally hitting the high note he needs, and super excited he runs home to tell his dad. Unfortunately, that same morning, his dad got a phone call of some kid calling Kurt a horrible name, and when Kurt sees his father’s face, hears what happened, he realizes that it really hurt his father. If he gets up and sings a girl’s song in front of everyone, it’s only going to get worse. Even though he wants that solo, Kurt loves his dad more, and ends up purposely blowing the high note so Rachel wins.
Meanwhile, the bake sale isn’t going so well. Nobody wants to buy from losers, and they’re convinced that’s what they are. The only one who buys one is Becky (Lauren Potter), a very nice girl with Down syndrome, after Brittany (Heather Morris) pays for it. She looks at the rest of them. Okay, how much have they made now? Well, counting that one dollar they just made? One dollar! Grimly they all realize this is not going to work. Puck, taking it upon himself to show Quinn that he’s a better choice than Finn when it comes to being a father, uses his wheelchair to convince Sandy (Stephen Tobolowsky) that he needs some medical marijuana. Touched by his story, Sandy hands some over, and Puck sneaks “just enough to give you a wicked case of the munchies” into the cupcakes he and Quinn baked. Suddenly they’re selling like crazy! Proud of himself, Puck takes the money they make to Quinn, but she won’t take it and neither will he. They’re not going to steal from a friend in a wheelchair. Will is very proud of his students and hands the money over to Artie to go take to Principal Figgins himself. When Artie isn’t as happy as they expected he’d be, he realizes that he’d rather just get a ride from his dad to Sectionals and use the money to build a ramp into the auditorium for all the kids in wheelchairs.
Inspired by Will’s work with the Glee Club, and his putting his students in wheelchairs, Principal Figgins tells Sue she’s going to have to start holding open auditions for Cheerios. Now that Quinn’s off the team, she has an open spot, and she’s going to give everyone a chance at it. Sue is not happy, and even less happy when it’s Will who has to sit in on her tryouts to make sure she does so. When all but one student is left, Sue, finding it all ridiculous, is ready to give up. Will tells her there’s just one more student. When Becky walks in, Will shifts uneasily, leaning over to Sue and whispering, “Be nice.” Becky starts to jumprope, fumbling every few jumps, but her heart’s in it. Sue stops her, and just when Will is holding his breath for her mean comment, she tells Becky that she’s in. Will is confused, what’s Sue up to? He’s worried because he knows her, but she insists that he knows nothing about her. Later on, Will wonders to Principal Figgins if maybe she has a brain tumor, when out of nowhere, Sue comes in and pays for three new handicap ramps. Neither of them have any idea why she would do that. What’s her angle?
After school, Sue signs it at a nursing home, saying that she needs to get there more often. The nurse tells her she gets there plenty of times. Sue follows her to a room, where the nurse announces to Jean Sylvester (Robin Trocki), that her little sister is there to see her. As it turns out, Sue’s big sister has Down Syndrome as well. “Hi!” She waves at her sister and comes in, asking her what she wants to do today. Jean wants to read. Grinning and softer than we’ve ever seen her, Sue sits down on the bed next to her sister, takes her hand, and starts reading. “Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in the forest. Whenever she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Red Riding hood.”
Back at school, Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Artie race down the hallway in their wheelchairs. He beats her of course, years of experience, and she laughs, saying she wants to get out of the chair. Why? “So I can do this.” She stands up and kisses him. Tina confesses that she pretended to have a stutter when she was in 6th grade because she was really shy and didn’t want to give a report on the Missouri Compromise. She’s been faking it ever since because people will leave her alone that way. But he knows what that’s like, right? “No,” Artie says grimly, “I don’t.” He tells her that he doesn’t have a choice. He would never try to push people away. “Being in the chair kind of does that for you.” Sadly, he says that he thought they had something in common. He was wrong. Now she gets to go be normal, and he’s still in his chair. Sadly, Artie wheels away.
Will watches as his kids perform “Proud Mary” in wheelchairs. “Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river…” They rock it and everyone congratulates Artie. It’s a lot harder than it looks! They have a whole new respect for him and his wheelchair.
1. "Wicked" - Defying Gravity
2. Billy Idol - Dancing With Myself
3. Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary
| 41 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
