Glee Review: You Better Twerk

at .

What happens when Miley Cyrus inspires an episode of Glee? That sort of sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, right?

Well, it isn't, and Glee Season 5 Episode 5 was actually not terrible despite the ridiculous devotion to the dance move currently winning awards for the dumbest name ever. 

Will Schuester actually made me think twerking is maybe not so bad... and then I started to wonder if perhaps I'm living in some sort of parallel universe. 

Learning to Twerk

If I never hear the name Miley Cyrus again, it will be too soon, you guys. Seriously. I need her and her tongue to go back where they came from and stop infiltrating every corner of pop culture.

Yet I found myself not hating the fact that Ryan Murphy and Co. drew on her recent craziness to write tonight's episode. 

I was nearly high-fiving Sue for her vow to end all twerking in Ohio schools and wishing she could make it a national campaign. I would vote for that. Her entire Sue C's it monologue is on our Glee quotes page because it was just that good.

But then Will had to go and present a reasonable presentation to the school board that made me tilt my head to the side and go "hmmm."

Don't get me wrong. Shue's devotion to the dance phenomenon made popular in clubs across the country was downright bizarre, and once again his blurred lines were all sorts of confused when it came to appropriate musical selections.

Regardless as to the interpretation of Robin Thicke's song, there's no denying the overt sexual nature of his lyrics. While I could appreciate that number in particular as a musical performance, and actually quite enjoyed it, all I could think was that these kids are supposed to be in high school. This song is being sung in a high school

The song did pave the way for a Marley-Jake-Bree revelation and it's actually sort of sad to learn that he really did cheat. There was so much potential there to paint him a different way. It looks like Jake didn't fall too far from the Puckerman tree after all. 

There was a stolen glance from Ryder in Marley's direction so this scandal will no doubt be used to push her his direction. I can't even really care right now.

I was and am way too busy listening to Unique sing "If I Were A Boy" and wanting her to find some happiness. And a place to use the restroom. (And wash her hands.)

Schue redeemed himself tonight for putting an end to the twerking nonsense in order to secure Unique a key to the faculty bathroom. His advice that she surround herself with an army of people who accept her and will fight alongside her was a moment that allowed Will to seem like a real adult. He needs a few more of those.

And now for the New York portion of our evening.

One minor nitpick about tonight, but why was it always night time in New York in this episode?

Is the fact that it's routinely night time there making anyone else but me A) wonder if everyone in New York has been turned into vampires or B) confused about how the timelines between Ohio and New York are working?

That's a silly thing to be bugged about, but really, the constant night time bugs me. 

The fact that Rachel and Kurt are both grieving and dealing with the loss of Finn, however, does not bug me one bit. It's healthy and I'm glad that at least some of the characters are being shown in the midst of the healing process. 

Both Rachel and Kurt were stuck in ruts and felt the need to do something drastic to break out of their grief. So of course tattoos are the obvious choice. 

Kurt's flubbed "It's Get Better" tattoo and his freakout were pretty hilarious. Rachel's reveal that she got a small "Finn" on her ribs was touching.

All in all, it was a good night for New York. (Except for Santana's absence.)

What did you think of Glee Season 5 Episode 5? Do you hope never to see twerking again? Where was Santana?

The End of Twerking Review

Editor Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
  • 3.0 / 5.0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
User Rating:

Rating: 2.9 / 5.0 (90 Votes)

Miranda Wicker was a Staff Writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in 2017. Follow her on Twitter.

Show Comments
Tags: ,

Glee Season 5 Episode 5 Quotes

Rachel: Okay, you know what, Kurt? You've become boring. You go to class, and then you come home, and you eat all this food and watch your stories, and you Skype with Blaine, and it's not even sexy Skyping. I know this because you just go to sleep. Same thing every day.
Kurt: I change up my afternoon smoothie occasionally.

I've kind of been going through hell the past month and I just needed something to snap out of it.

Rachel

Glee Season 5 Episode 5 Music

  Song Artist
You Are Woman, I Am Man Glee Cast iTunes
Blurred Lines Glee Cast iTunes
If I Were A Boy Glee Cast iTunes