"Glee: Season 1, Episode 11--Hairography" Review

By our guest blogger, Kristen Lopez

The definition of "Hairography," as defined by Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), is as follows: "Eye-catching hair--swinging, shaking--that masks a mediocre and lackluster performance." That episode-specific detailing of the phrase is seamlessly integrated into the eleventh episode as the theme this week focused on the kids being confident that they could succeed in something but learning it only covered their own insecurity and lack of knowledge in whatever problem they were dealing with. It's hard to say this might be "Glee's" best episode, as every episode ends up being better than the last, but it'll be hard to top it.

This week's "Glee" followed Will (Matthew Morrison) as he attempted to invite a few neighboring schools over to show off their skills while trying to figure out if Sue (Jane Lynch) is trying to divulge the details of their set list to the competition. Quinn (Dianna Agron) tells Terry (Jessalyn Gilsig) she wants to keep the baby, and tries to spend more time with the real father, Puck (Mark Salling), by babysitting Terry's nephews. The pregnant cheerleader enlists the help of Kurt (Chris Colfer) to convince Rachel to distract Finn (Cory Monteith) in the meantime, but Kurt's ulterior motives end up hurting Rachel's chances with the quarterback.

As mentioned above, this episode was all about masking insecurity via one's appearance and it led to a lot of side-splitting moments.

The Jane Addams Academy's rendition of "Bootylicious" kicked everything off and caused Will to make the group sing a mash-up of "Hair" and "Crazy in Love." The choreography in this episode was amazing--it also showed that intricate dance routines have been missing from this show as of late. The Jane Addams Academy and Haverbrook, the school for the deaf, stole the episode. I mentioned the "Bootylicious" number but the Haverbrook schools' rendition of "Imagine" was inspiring. While a school for the deaf singing might sound like an unusual experience, the McKinley kids, led by diva Mercedes (Amber Riley), turned the song into a beautiful and inspiring rendition of it.

The series has really made a statement about including kids with disabilities and this sequence proved that they really want to include everyone, regardless of their abilities. It was a downright beautiful moment, and John Lennon's “Imagine” always delivers.

On the humor side Rachel attempted to seduce Finn by dressing like Sandy at the end of "Grease." Kurt instructed her to dress “like a ho” and while it was painful to watch Rachel crash and burn, Finn turned out to be a decent guy who loved a girl that dressed normally. Kurt also got to show off his heartbreak by realizing that he and Finn never will be together, even if Quinn wasn't pregnant. Dianna Agron continues to dominate as Quinn, coming a long way from her throwaway role as the evil cheerleader. She wants to give Puck a chance and the two share a sweet moment singing “Papa Don't Preach” for Terry's nephews. In the end it was all for naught as Quinn learned her baby daddy was “sexting” another girl, who openly threw it in her face. When Quinn went to Terry to ask if Will would be a good dad, both women came together to realize what a great guy Will is. Terry hasn't been the best character--especially since she's pretending to be pregnant--but even she realizes Will would be a perfect father.

Beyond the fact that after only a few more episodes, the show will take a hiatus until April, the only minor gripe here is that Will seemed a bit stupid by giving the set list to Sue. He seemed overly confident that she wouldn't reveal it but she did so immediately. It could be said that Will makes his own misplaced judgment with a form of “hairography,” but it just seemed like a means to move the plot forward. Other than that, this episode was perfect and it'll be hard to top it this week.

Check out behind-the-scenes footage of the "Hairography" episode here: