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Glee Season 2 Episode 17

A Night of Neglect

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AIRED: Apr 19, 2011

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7.2

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EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

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Fresh off their Regionals victory the Glee club focuses on their next challenge: winning Nationals. Meanwhile Sue gathers a team to destroy New Directions which involves Vocal Adrenaline.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (10)

GLEE!

9.0

By lovepoppies, Nov 15, 2011

Glee's back and so are my unnecessarily extensive reviews! From the title of the episode, I thought this was going to be a "very special" episode where one of the Glee clubbers got in a car wreck or something else equally devastating but thankfully no one was injured (at least physically) and we all got an hour with more moments of levity than we did somberness.

Now that the Glee Club has earned a spot at Nationals the group's next obstacle is to raise money in order to go. How will they do this? By selling saltwater taffy of course! But before Puckerman has a chance to lace the candy with pot, the brainy members of the club (and Brittany) pipe up and ask that they also raise money for an Academic Decathlon trip as well. "Why Not?" asks an optimistic Schuester and the group is instructed to sell a mere 21,000 pieces of taffy. Luckily, this absurd idea is put to rest after Holly Holiday suggests that the club hold a benefit concert instead.moreless
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The only thing neglected was the script

2.0

By puteytang, May 18, 2011

Hugely disappointing return of Glee after a long hiatus. Premise was okay but execution sorely lacking. Have they run out of ideas for Sue's character? It's like the writers never quite know what to do with her and this episode was worse than grasping at straws as far as her ongoing vendetta against the Glee Club and Will. League of doom? Seriously? Ridiculously contrived and poorly conceived adding the annoyance of ludicrous comic book-type characters to a storyline that had absolutely nowhere to go. What on earth were they thinking? Salt water taffy sales? Mercedes is a great character but she was reduced to a spoiled diva-wannabe by Lauren (who is really getting old as far as characters go) and that subplot had nowhere to go either. I was just starting to get into the relationships of the Glee club members. In one fell swoop the writers managed to undo a lot of the solid foundations upon which some of the relationships had been built. Gwyneth Paltrow's character had nowhere to go and we all knew it but they kept her in one episode too many. Same thing with Sunshine Corazon. Her reappearance had no purpose whatsoever, leaving us to wonder why bother at all.

They took the easy way out and got stupid. That's the best I can say for the script. It lacked any intelligence or substance and made a mockery of the relationships that previous episodes had worked very hard at establishing. If they don't get back to that foundation, I am afraid it will be more of the same nonsense and they will have lost perspective completely. Which means they may lose some of us as viewers inevitably. At least those of us who value intelligent, witty writing and loathe unimaginative, wasteful drivel. We have better things to do with our time.moreless
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Neglected artists (and characters) are finally given the spotlight...

7.5

By Dfan46, May 08, 2011

Glee's back and so are my unnecessarily extensive reviews! From the title of the episode, I thought this was going to be a "very special" episode where one of the Glee clubbers got in a car wreck or something else equally devastating but thankfully no one was injured (at least physically) and we all got an hour with more moments of levity than we did somberness.

Now that the Glee Club has earned a spot at Nationals the group's next obstacle is to raise money in order to go. How will they do this? By selling saltwater taffy of course! But before Puckerman has a chance to lace the candy with pot, the brainy members of the club (and Brittany) pipe up and ask that they also raise money for an Academic Decathlon trip as well. "Why Not?" asks an optimistic Schuester and the group is instructed to sell a mere 21,000 pieces of taffy. Luckily, this absurd idea is put to rest after Holly Holiday suggests that the club hold a benefit concert instead.

The League of Doom (or Legion of Evil, I'm not quite sure what it's called myself), Sue's latest attempt to destroy the Glee Club, felt a little cartoonish – Sandy's outfits certainly reinforced this opinion, as he looked like a pink version of Zorro later on. The coach of Vocal Adrenaline served very little purpose and Terri was all but sidelined to make room for Sandy and the Hecklers – Becky, Azimio, and the walking disaster that is Jacob.

Sunshine's second appearance on the show actually gave her some minor development. Her "superior-to-all" complex feels a little too similar to Rachel's but this may be intentional (both of them over-emote during song, that's for sure). Having said that, her stay lasted only long enough for her to belt "All by Myself" and then it was back to Vocal Adrenaline where she'll probably remain in obscurity until Nationals.

The Mercedes diva-in-overdrive plot was all kinds of ridiculous but it had its moments. She and her manager Lauren make a solid duo but I prefer the Mercedes/Quinn dynamic better - sadly the writers have all but abadoned it. I sort of wish we were shown a cutaway of Puck rounding up the puppies for Ms. Jones but I guess he's already been sent to juvie once this season.

I'm glad the Kurt and Blaine story arc has scaled back a bit so that other characters are given some screen time. Santana coming to the defense of Kurt was a little unusual – apparently she's been Slusheed one too many times – but seeing as the former cheerleader is struggling with her own identity, it actually felt genuine by the time she gave Blaine that subtle smirk.

Gweyneth Paltrow's involvement in this episode felt a lot more casual and even though her character's scenes are now expected (we know there'll be a scene where she's channeling a heightened version of a historical figure) she's still a welcome presence on the show. Her talk with the Hecklers felt more like a STFU to sometimes cynical reviewers like myself but at least it ended realistically – the thought of Azimio cheering on the Glee Club is sappy enough to make my stomach turn.

The idea of honoring neglected artists (and having underutilized characters cover them) was a good one and it allowed for some fairly interesting numbers. "I Follow Rivers" was my favorite song Tina's covered so far and, because of this, I briefly disliked Becky for booing her (Jacob, Azimio, and Sandy are intended to be detested so their jeers didn't bother me as much). I understand that Harry Shum Jr. is a very limited vocalist (actor, too) and his dance number would probably be a welcome interlude in an actual singing benefit, but because Glee is first and foremost a musical I thought his performance to "Bubbly Toes" was superfluous (maybe I'm being overly bitter because I originally read Quinn would be singing alongside Mike's dancing. I think her airy vocals would've suited the breezy song rather well.) I'm glad the music producers opted to go with Adele's haunting "Turning Tables" as Holly's solo instead of the too-well-known "Rolling In the Deep". And while it wasn't her greatest performance in the show's history, Mercedes did Aretha's "Ain't No Way" justice – enough for even Rachel to admit it was a worthy closing number.

I have to give kudos to whoever wrote the parting scene between Holly and Will. Her exit was inevitable, but Holly's last words to Schue were both funny and poignant. The rest of the episode's ending felt a little too pat, with Sandy having a change of heart and deciding to fund both clubs' trips. Now it looks like Terri A.K.A Honey Badger will be meddling with the group before long. Last time she drugged the kids up, so I have high hopes for her return to Mckinley High.

Episode Highlights:

Brittany's Brilliance – Never one to be pegged as a brain, Brittany flashed her extensive knowledge of cat diseases when it was necessary on The Smartypants Show. I've heard of canine AIDS thanks to The Office, but I had no idea felines suffered from it as well.

Santana's Super-Human Hair – Apparently Santana's locks can conceal multiple razors and a slider phone. I don't know what her shampoo and conditioning regimen consists of, but it must be working for her.

Holly's Office – Leave it to the frugal Figgins to assign Ms. Holiday a janitor's closet as a workspace. Maybe the principal overheard Sue's quip about Holly being "looser than a thrift store turtleneck and probably just as diseased" and banished the substitute to the room as a result.

Trivial Observations:

Mercedes wears a whistle to school – Why has she never used this to shut Rachel up before?

Corey Monteith is limited to two expressions - Cluelessness and that gassy infant look Santana nailed a couple episodes back.

Glee's at its best when it keeps things light and cheery (with occasionally dark undertones) and this episode did a pretty good job keeping that balance in check. It was refreshing to finally see underwritten characters like Mercedes and Tina have the limelight and with any luck the show will continue this trend in the upcoming weeks - though I'm sure the Karofsky plotline will rear its ugly head again before the season comes to a close. I hear April Rhodes may be stopping by - perhaps she'll be given a better send-off this time around and leave on just as good a note as Holly.moreless
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Glee club throws a "night of neglect" celebration

7.2

By JaCkKbAuEr2424, May 08, 2011

The best Glee episodes find a perfect balance between quirky humor, well-written drama, great songs and a nice chunk of character development, all while slowly finding a way to develop the plot.. despite my hatred of last year's plot involving Will's wife faking a pregnancy, the writing was good enough to dovetail that plot into Quinn's pregnancy, and all in all, I felt good about the direction about the season.

But this season is all about guest stars and Top 40 songs and lame plots involving bullying, characters hooking up, dumping each other and everything in between. The show even loses its humor half of the time, only reappearing here and there.. this episode was alright, but it was weighed down by Gweneth Paltrow's third appearance on the show, and while I liked her in the first episode, I've liked her less over time.

My main problem is that the show has no direction, and for a group called "New Directions," I think they need to take their name a little more seriously. For instance, let's look at Sue's plot: she gets Sandy, Will's ex-wife and the vocal coach of Vocal Adrenaline (I think that was him) to try and take down the Glee Club. For one, Sue is so intent on bringing them down, yet she was responsible for making them come back last season.. so what's the point? Second, it just felt like such a lifeless plot. The ex-wife had so little to do that it frustrated me to death.

I don't really have much to say about the episode overall.. it had a good variety of songs, but I feel like the writing staff has completely lost its way here.moreless
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Please get rid of Lauren and get rid of her soon.

2.5

By toridiva, Apr 29, 2011

Okay, I have never really been disappointed by Glee until last night. i watched this episode and it was stupid and boring.

It had few good things about it and was not enjoyable.

1)Kurt, Blaine and Karovsky:

Obviously, Born this way will be about them and I can't wait for that episode but they literally give them one entire scene together as a lovey dovey couple...Why not show how Kurt's dad is handling his son's first boyfriend. Why not elaborate more on both Karovsky and Blaine's character. The interaction was cute and even more funnier when Santana pretty much chewed Karovsky out but I hope Born this way is going to be MUCH better for these 3 boys.

2)Lauren needs to go

Point blank. She was funny at first but now she just aggravates me. I do not like her character and she really doesn't bring much to the show. Hopefully, Kurt's return means she will be leaving soon. Her "managing" Mercedes was stupid and pointless....

3)Mercedes is a diva

Ugh....This episode made me hate her character...she did redeem herself at the end but i did not like that they literally butchered her character in one entire episode

4)Sue

She was useless as well. Organizing the legion of doom yet she really didn't do much except complain and critique. Honestly, how much further can they go with Sue's character. Every season she is going to try and sabotage Glee club? She is my favorite character but give her more to work with.

5)Holly

Thank god she is gone and hopefully for awhile.

6)What was the point of Sunshine?

Her betrayal of the Glee club would have been much more rewarding had she actually been in the episode more. She was there all of two scenes and gone and then she screwed them over....ugh.

Let her stay gone till nationals please

What I did like

1)Kurt and Blaine's cute moment

2)Mike's dancing

3)Britney is smart lolmoreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Dianna Agron	Quinn Fabray
Chris Colfer	Kurt Hummel
Jessalyn Gilsig	Terri Schuester
Jane Lynch	Sue Sylvester
Jayma Mays	Emma Pillsbury
Kevin McHale	Artie Abrams

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Charice Pempengco	Sunshine Corazon	Guest Star
Gwyneth Paltrow	Holly Holliday	Special Guest Star
Cheyenne Jackson	Dustin Goolsby	Special Guest Star
Stephen Tobolowsky	Sandy Ryerson	Recurring Role
Harry Shum Jr.	Mike Chang	Recurring Role
Chord Overstreet	Sam Evans	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

Holly Holiday (guest star Gwyneth Paltro...

© 2011 Fox Broadcasting Company
Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) performs on Glee ...

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Lauren (Ashley Fink) helps Mercedes (Amb...

© 2011 Fox Broadcasting Company
Finn (Cory Monteith) and Quinn (Dianna A...

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- At the beginning of the episode, the equation Will writes on the whiteboard is incorrect. It reads "5,000 × .25 = 20,000." For it to be correct, either the 20,000 and the 5,000 should be switched or the multiplication sign should be a division sign.
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- The categories for questions in the Brainiacs competition were: Cat Diseases, Deadly Cyclones, Defunct Sodas, Famous Mervs, Fat or Pregnant, History of Shoehorns, Organic Chemistry, Potpourri, and White Rappers. The bonus question category was Hermaphrodite Nazi Sympathizers.
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QUOTES (2)
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- Jacob: My curly hair in Cairo twitter account helped bring down Mubarak. Technology has allowed us to be brutally cruel without suffering any consequences.
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- Holly: I spent three years sending hate mail to Debbie Gibson until she wrote me back and said the stress of my letters was giving her alopecia.
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NOTES (2)
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- International Episode Titles:
  Czech Republic: Večer přehlížených (A Night of Invisible)
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Canada: April 19, 2011 on Global
  New Zealand: April 22, 2011 on TV3
  United Kingdom: May 2, 2011 on E4/E4 HD
  Australia: May 4, 2011 on Channel Ten
  Sweden: May 11, 2011 on TV11
  Latin America: May 26, 2011 on FOX
  Czech Republic: December 10, 2011 on Prima LOVE
  Slovakia: January 15, 2012 on JOJ
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Sue creates a "Legion of Doom" and chooses "General Zod" as her supervillain nickname. The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains that first appeared in the 1978 animated series Challenge of the Super Friends. General Zod is an enemy of Superman in various DC comic book series, television shows, and films.
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