Glee/Recap/S1/E01 Pilot

Summary
Spanish teacher Will Schuester decides to take over the Glee club after the former coach has *ahem* an "incident" with student Hank Saunders and is subsequently fired. Will has auditions for the Glee Club, which he renames New Directions, and ends up getting five students: Mercedes Jones, Kurt Hummel, Tina Cohen-Chang, Rachel Berry and Artie Abrams. They aren't the most popular of kids, and a Glee club doesn't exactly work with five people, so Will goes recruiting. After getting a bit of advice, he talks to the football team, but no one signs up. Then Will overhears Finn Hudson singing in the shower, and uses some pot the old glee club coach gave him to blackmail Finn into joining the Glee club. After a few rehearsals with the newest member, Will decides to take the club on a field trip to see another show choir perform. Finn lies to the football team to miss practice so he can go.

They see the other show choir, Vocal Adrenaline, perform and are (understandably) freaked out. As New Directions leaves the performance, Finn gets caught by his fellow football players and decides to quit the club. As his "Welcome back present" they trap Artie in a port-a-pottie and try to tip it. Finn chooses to free Artie and return to Glee Club. They are skeptical of Finn's return but give him a chance anyway, and he leads them to put together an epic version of "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey Slightly before that, Will's wife, Terri, finds out she's pregnant and suggests that Will get a better paying job so that he can take care of his family. Will almost quits his job at McKinley to become an accountant, but Emma Pillsbury, the guidance counselor talks him out of it, and seeing the Glee club perform is what finally convinces him to stay.

Songs from the episode

 * "Where is love" from Oliver, performed by Sandy Ryerson and Hank Saunders.
 * "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, performed by Mercedes Jones
 * "Mr. Cellophane" from Chicago, performed by Kurt Hummel
 * "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry, performed by Tina Cohen-Chang
 * "On My Own" from Les Misérables, performed by Rachel Berry.
 * "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat" from Guys and Dolls, performed by Artie Abrams and New Directions
 * "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon, performed by Finn Hudson
 * "You're the One that I Want" from Grease, performed by Finn Hudson, Rachel Berry, and New Directions
 * "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse, performed by Vocal Adrenaline
 * "Leaving on a Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul, and Mary, performed by Will Schuester.
 * "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey, performed by Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson, and New Directions.

This Episode contains examples of
"Rachel: He was touching Hank, caressing him. It was 'so wrong."
 * Actor Allusion: Rachel sings "On My Own" as her audition song. Lea Michele, who plays Rachel, made her broadway debut in Les Misérables, and was going to be in the revival, but instead decided to be in Spring Awakening.
 * All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Finn mentions he is dating head cheerleader Quinn Fabray.
 * Artistic License: Biology: Finn's lie to miss football practice so he can go on the glee club trip is that his mom has to have her prostate out.
 * Puck has to look it up to find out "chicks don't have prostates".
 * Blatant Lies: Rachel says that she was not the one who turned in Sandy Ryerson. Cue a cut to her in Figgins' office.


 * Early-Bird Cameo: One of the a capella songs that plays in the background is "When I Get You Alone", which later appears in Season Two.
 * The episode in general. It premiered months before the rest of Season 1.
 * Five-Token Band: New Directions, especially before Finn joined. Rachel is Jewish, Kurt is gay, Mercedes is black, Tina is Asian, and Artie is in a wheelchair.
 * Neat Freak: Emma, who is shown eating grapes and wiping each one before she puts it in her mouth.
 * Stuffed Into a Trashcan: Kurt, early in the episode.