'Glee' Recap: 'Britney 2.0'

If Glee can do a Michael Jackson episode twice, I suppose it can do Britney Spears twice. Hey, why not? Everyone remembers the Britney tribute episode from season two, “Britney/Brittany,” in which glee club member Brittany S. Pierce is haunted by Britney Spears’ fame.

This week, in the second episode of season four, Brittany confidently opens the episode singing “Hold it Against Me,” in an elaborate dance number with the Cheerios, one that reminded me of her performance to “Run the World (Girls)” (Beyoncé) in season three. Things take at turn when Coach Sylvester kicks Brittany off of the Cheerios due to her low GPA.

In New York, Cassandra, Rachel’s new dance teacher played by Kate Hudson, won’t let Rachel dance tango because the class is short one guy and, according to her, Rachel has zero sex appeal. It’s not entirely clear why Cassandra picks on Rachel so much. Is she jealous of Rachel’s youth and talent, or does she sincerely want her to toughen up?

Brittany comes to school in clothes from the lost and found. In an attempt to inspire her, Will deems the week’s lesson Britney 2.0, a challenge for her to be youthful, energetic, and confident. Blaine and Artie start with “Boys” / “Boyfriend” (Britney Spears/Justin Bieber), a simple number in the choir room. They make an interesting duo and the scene reminds me of how much both characters stood out during their solos in the Michael Jackson songs at sectionals last season.

Rachel and Kurt find a new, spacious apartment. Finn still hasn’t contacted her, supposedly giving her space. Kurt plans to apply to Vogue while he waits to apply to the second semester at NYADA. Kurt informs Rachel that Cassandra was actually a huge up-and-coming Broadway star, who fell out of fame because of her temper and how she once treated an audience member.

Marley shows interest in Jake, which Unique disapproves of because he is gaining a reputation as a ladies’ man. Marley, Unique, and Tina sing “Womanizer” in a montage of Jake following girls around campus. Ironically, Marley ends up agreeing to meet him at the bleachers, where they perform “Crazy” / “(You Drive Me) Crazy” (Aerosmith / Britney Spears). I was so excited to see this duet because I’ve always been a huge fan of this Britney song. Meanwhile, the characters had great chemistry. I would love to see Marley and Jake reenacting the “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” scene from 10 Things I Hate About You. That’s how well they complimented each other.

Learning about Cassandra’s short-comings has given Rachel the confidence to defy her. To prove that she can be sexy, Rachel performs “Oops!...I Did it Again” for the second time on the show. She asks Brody, an attractive upper classmen for help. Cassandra is furious and puts Rachel on probation, making her sit out dances and wash the class dance belts. The scene is worth it though; the dance group does some impressive choreography involving rotating tables and it’s an interesting song choice.

Back at McKinley, Brittany, who is drinking 70 ounces of espresso and talking to a phone app she calls Kiki, only agrees to perform a Britney song at the school welcome assembly if they lip-synch. The performance is a disaster, ending with Brittany falling over and covered in Cheetos. Will is very disappointed, considering that if anyone were to catch wind of the incident, the group could be banned from competing for lip-synching.

Jake punches a football player for making fun of Marley’s mom, a lunch lady, in the cafeteria. Instead of taking him to Principal Figgins, Will takes him to the choir room, where Puck makes a cameo, meeting his half-brother for the first time. He admits to Jake that out of all of the crazy things he did in high school, being in glee was the only thing that made him a man. Jake goes to the next glee meeting, but Marley is sad to hear that he is dating Kitty, the head Cheerio.

Brittany resigns from glee until Sam cheers her up. Santana’s departure and having to do her senior year over hasn’t been easy. She thought if she hit rock bottom, like Britney Spears, that she could make a come back. With Sam’s encouragement, she gets her spot on the Cheerios back. She tells Coach Sylvester that she is technically still class president because she didn’t graduate and she stops writing her homework in the secret language she made up in middle school.

Brody shows up to Kurt/Rachel’s apartment with an orchid. It took him a forty-five minute train ride to get there and he says the orchid will be good luck in a new place. He tries to kiss Rachel but she pulls away. It’s obvious to Brody that she’s still in love with Finn, so he leaves, but not without saying that each time he talks to her, he will be thinking about kissing her.

I have kind of been wondering how Brittany will fit in this year. Episode one showed that Blaine is the “new Rachel,” but it’s still not clear how this group of old characters and new ones will interact and who they will become. I’m still intrigued, and will continue following the show to see where this new structure takes us. The episode closes with Marley singing the Britney song “Everytime.”