Romance in Song! "Glee" Season 1, Episode 1

The series premiere of Ryan Murphy's "Glee" was an exercise in relationships. Continuing from the pilot episode, first shown last May, the first episode was entitled "Showmance," and focused on love and the things people do in its name.

Rachel Berry, the socially awkward main soloist for Glee Club, seems to be developing feelings for fellow singer, Finn, the football jock with a performer's soul. He is oblivious to her overtures though his girlfriend, cheerleader Quinn Fabray, knows a threat when she sees it.

This causes Rachel to attempt to develop an eating disorder to be skinnier. Luckily for her, she doesn't have a gag reflex. Yet this effort was unnecessary since Finn admits that he is attracted to her for her best feature: her singing voice. The two proceed to share a kiss in an auditorium, though the ending is abrupt, to say the least.

Meanwhile, the Glee Club rehearses a very painful rendition of the disco song, "Le Freak," for an upcoming school assembly in an attempt to gain new recruits. Everyone in the club seems to, rightly, hate the song and believe that it will lead to a crucifixion of the club and its members. Everyone except for club director, Spanish teacher Will Schuester, who still believes disco is in. He redeems himself by rapping Kanye West's "Gold Digger," a performance that needs to be seen . . . over and over again.

Speaking of gold-diggers, Will is being forced to take a nighttime janitorial job in order to afford a house with a grand foyer for his wife Terri, and their new baby. Yet an after-hours charged (hot) moment with guidance counselor/germaphobe Emma Pillsbury involving chalk dust (it's all PG) has him standing on the banks of the infidelity pond.

This is just as well since it is later discovered that Terri is faking her pregnancy, though Will has yet to find out. At the same time, Emma decides to give up on the married man as she later decides to go on a date with football coach Ken Tanaka.

As if Will did not have it bad enough, the Glee Club decided to take matters into their own hands and change the performance song for the assembly. What follows is a hilariously inappropriate rendition of Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It," complete with innuendos in every position. The ploy works as it seems to compel three members of the cheer squad, including Quinn, to audition for Glee Club. She impresses Will and even gets a solo out of it.

Yet the development becomes worrisome as Quinn's real purpose is two-fold: to infiltrate the club, at the behest of "Cheerios" squad director Sue Sylvester and to watch over Finn.

As for him, Finn seems to have forgotten about his kiss with Rachel, since he is seen laughing with Quinn at the end of the episode. This leads Rachel to sing a heartbroken version of Rihanna's "Take a Bow."