Glee Episode Recap: "Laryngitis"

Tuesday's episode of Glee — "Laryngitis" — finds Rachel panicking when she gets a sore throat, Kurt trying to change his personality to please his father and Puck making a strategic move to climb the social ladder.

Let's all start by shedding a tear: Puck's Mohawk is no more. He worries that the loss of his signature hair signals the loss of his mojo. The geeks have even turned the tables on him, throwing him into the dumpster. Puck notes that Mercedes used to be unpopular, but now she's the talk of the school being on Cheerios. Since he can't join her, he decides he should date her.

Meanwhile, Rachel is freaking out because she's starting to lose her voice. This is due to the fact that she's basically the only person who actually sings during rehearsal (or on the show, for that matter.) She even has an AV club member bug the room to figure out if anyone else is singing. Negative.

Puck takes his first swing at getting Mercedes on his arm. He admits that he needs to get a popular girl to date him so he'll be on top again. Unfortunately, she's not digging his lines, especially because he likes to love 'em and leave 'em. "I'm a sex shark. If I stop moving, I die," Puck says. Swing and a miss.

Will calls out the glee club for not pulling their weight during rehearsals, and gives them their new assignment: Find a song that best represents where they are in life right now. Each member will have to do a solo, which really excites Kurt. What doesn't excite Kurt? The fact that his father is taking Finn to the Reds game.

"Girl, you've got more curves than a Nissan ad," Puck says to Mercedes. Strike two! Moving on, Rachel takes a crack at the assignment by singing "The Climb," by Miley Cyrus. Is it just me or is this really terrible? Oh yes, it's meant to be bad. "Rachel, I think you've lost your voice," Will says.

Sue confronts Kurt on missing cheerios practice. He reveals that he feels like he's losing his father because of his sexuality. Sue ponders if Kurt really knows whether he's gay or not. Kurt decides to shake things up by dressing in flannel and choosing a John Mellencamp song for his project. It's all an attempt to bond more with his father.

Over at the doctor's office, Rachel continues to panic over the loss of her voice. The doc says she needs to have surgery, but Rachel declines to let a scalpel rule her life. Finn tries to calm her down, but also incites an argument when it comes to her and Jesse's relationship. He loves her more than Jesse does, prompting Finn to sing — you guessed it — "Jesse's Girl," by Rick Springfield. (Does anyone else love when Finn gets on the drum set?)

Puck decides to jump up and do his song, which is basically just another play for Mercedes, who actually joins him to sing Sammy Davis Jr.'s "The Lady is a Tramp." (If you didn't think Puck was the cutest little thing ever before this, now there is no question!) Too bad Santana isn't pleased with Puck's new choice for arm candy. Later, Mercedes asks Quinn for her approval to date Puck. She's more than willing to lend her baby daddy out, though warns that Puck is definitely using her.

Kurt is the next up to take a shot at his project. Wearing a trucker hat and vest, Kurt sings Mellencamp's "Pink Houses." Everyone is confused since the project is supposed to reflect their voice. Still, Kurt rocked it. "Don't lose track of who you are just because it might be easier to be somebody else," Will says.

Here's a new twist: "So you're pretty much the only guy in this school that I haven't made out with because I thought you were capital G gay, but now that you're not, having a perfect record would mean a lot to me," Brittany tells Kurt. (Ha!) The pair later make out on Kurt's couch, though they're quickly interrupted by his father. Burt ponders why his son has changed so much, but insists that he'll go along with whatever his son decides.

At school, Mercedes decides to put Puck in his place in their relationship. I love that she's using him right back. It's already working since the nerds fear him again. There's only one problem left for Mercedes to deal with: Santana. The pair sings Brandy and Monica's "The Boy Is Mine" to work out their differences in regards to Puck, who loves seeing two girls fighting over him. (Um, Naya Rivera, you have an awesome voice. Please sing more on Glee. Thanks!)

Day 3 of Rachel's freak-out. She still doesn't want to give in to having the surgery. Finn decides to bring Rachel over to his friend Sean's house. Sean explains to Rachel how he became paralyzed from a football injury, and that he used to be so upset that he couldn't do what he loved anymore. Though Rachel tries to leave, he goes on to say that once he got a wheelchair, he pretty much tried to end it all. Though he misses his old life, he finally realized he has other things to be grateful for and shouldn't be afraid. It's a nice wakeup call for Rachel.

Mercedes decides to quit the cheerios squad because she was losing herself. "You have to be true to who you are," Mercedes says, hoping it will go through to Puck. Speaking of relationship issues, Kurt and Brittany are shocking the heck out of everyone by being together. This new coupling hasn't improved his relationship with his father though, who continues to take Finn out rather than hang out with Kurt.

To work out his frustrations, Kurt sings "Rose's Turn," from Gypsy. (Stealing the show one number at a time: Go Chris Colfer!) His father catches his performance, having blown off hanging out with Finn. He's really impressed, even if the style of music isn't his cup of tea. Burt insists that Kurt doesn't need to be anything but himself and he'll love him no matter what.

Rachel returns to Sean's house to share her realization that she is more than just a singer. To thank Sean for his help, she'd like to give him singing lessons, especially now that her voice is back. They sing U2's "One," which leads into a group number from New Directions.

So, what did you think of tonight's episode? Was it nice to have more time devoted to other characters? Discuss in the comments!

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