Glee Recap: The Substitute Sings In The Rain

Last night’s episode of Glee had to be one of the best so far this season!

In “The Substitute,†the much anticipated guest appearance of Gwyneth Paltrow proved to be a major hit. The Oscar-winning actress can’t hold her own with Lea Michele, but she can still sing a tune. Paltrow plays Holly Holliday, the fun loving and quirky substitute who takes over for the ill Mr. Schuester, who is strangely nursed back to health by his ex-wife. In a vom worth scene, he accidentally makes love to her before quickly kicking her to the curb again…Oh Mr. Schue, when will you learn!

The Glee students become intrigued by Holly when she begins teaching Mr. Shue’s Spanish class. Kurt urges her to take over the club in Mr. Schue’s absence, because no one wanted the bossy Rachel to take over. She accepts his offer, and upon her first day of directing she let’s them sing a song of their choosing. So Holly breaks out into the popular song, “F*ck You,” (or rather “Forget You”) by Cee-Lo. Everyone falls in love with their new substitute…expect for the always skeptical Rachel. Even though she warms up to her as they sing a cute rendition of “All that Jazz.â€

Meanwhile Sue Sylvester takes over as principal in Mr. Figgin’s absence and rules with an iron fist. First, her strong hatred for the Beast causes her to discontinue the football team, even though she doesn’t follow through with it in the end. She then takes a liking to Holly and crowns her the new director of the Glee club. However, that doesn’t last very long either.

Mercedes wanted to strike against Sue for discontinuing her favorite snack (tater tots). Kurt explains to her that she eats unhealthy foods because she isn’t comfortable in her own skin. He tries to set her up with a popular and good looking football player, but she’s skeptical. She then realizes she is being selfish and jealous of Kurt’s new relationship with Blaine and decides she needs to let go of her anxieties and just give the cute jock a chance.

After dealing with the mess Sue made, Holly then realizes that she’s too lenient with her students and decides to continue substituting instead of being the Glee club’s full time teacher. So Mr. Schuester gets his job back and lets the Glee club mix a rendition of the 1952 hit “Singin’ in the Rain,†most notably performed by Gene Kelly, with a song they chose, “Umbrella,†by Rihanna. Holly and Mr. Schuester to a great job combining both of these songs and then perform it on a flooded auditorium stage. How are they going to pay for all that water damage with such a small budget?! I thought they were supposed to be saving money to get to nationals!

And Mike Chang got another song! Even though he didn’t actually sing at all, it’s great to see him get the screen time he deserves!