New Directions wants to perform a Britney Spears number at the Homecoming Assembly, but Will is reluctant to let them be that edgy. Emma's new boyfriend Carl (John Stamos), a dentist, treats glee club members Brittany, Santana, Rachel and Artie, all of whom experience Britney Spears fantasies while under anesthesia. Artie joins the football team, and Finn is reinstated. Will ultimately okays a Spears number and takes a lead role in the hopes of impressing Emma, but the assembly performance ends in chaos.
Next Time: Finn finds faith in food, while Kurt confronts his lack of it when tragedy hits.
Songs performed in this episode (all by Britney Spears unless otherwise noted):
- "I'm a Slave 4U", performed by Brittany
- "Me Against The Music", performed by Brittany and Santana
- "...Baby One More Time", performed by Rachel
- "Stronger", performed by Artie
- "Toxic", performed by Will and New Directions
- "The Only Exception" by Paramore, performed by Rachel
This episode contains examples of:
- Ain't No Rule: Against using Artie as a battering ram. Hence why he's on the football team.
- Attention Whore: Rachel can't wait for the day when the paparazzi attack her and she ambushes them.
- The Dentist Episode: It introduces Emma's boyfriend dentist Carl, who treats the glee club — most of the music performances are a product of being given gas for dental treatment.
- Funny Background Event:
- During "Me Against the Music" you can see Finn, with a surprised look on his face, while Santana is dancing.
- While Finn and Rachel are talking, Brittany is petting Jacob Ben Israel's hair and says "it's like a Jewish cloud."
- Squick: An in-universe example-the butt sweat stain on the chair in Sue's office.
- Sue: Stare into it, William, and you will see the light of all that is good go out of the world.
- Writers Cannot Do Math: Subverted; this group of glee kids were all born between late '93 and mid '95, and since Britney continued to be a chart-topper into the new millennium they would have most certainly grown up with her music. She was still pretty much 'A'-list come 2005, when the youngest of them were 10 years old.
