Glee/Recap/S2/E02 Britney Brittany

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
< Glee‎ | Recap‎ | S2


Mr. Schuester announces the Glee club's assignment. If you guessed that it's Britney Spears, then you're wrong. It's actually easy listening. However, most of the club finds this boring. Kurt instead takes a suggestion from a facebook group with "over five members" that the Glee club do songs by Britney Spears, much to Will's dismay. Everyone in the club supports this except for one person- Brittany. It turns out that middle name that Brittany has been forgetting is Susan and her last name is Pierce. Therefore, her name is Brittany S Pierce (say it quickly and you'll get it). Brit feels like she's been living in Britney's shadow. The Glee club drops the thing about Britney songs for now, probably because if they didn't they would face the wrath of Santana.

Emma, surprisingly, agrees with the idea of Britney songs. She points out that Britney has somewhat managed to turn her life around. When Will disagrees with this comment, she calls him uptight. Emma reveals that Carl, her dentist that she started dating at the very end of Season 1, has been helping her with her control issues. When Will's about to leave, who enters, other than Carl the dentist himself! Carl mentions that the kids of Lima have a problem with tooth decay. Will suggests that Carl speak to the glee club, because "you can't sing without teeth." We swear, it's just this reason. It's not to prove to Emma that he's not too uptight. Not at all.

Azimio and Karofsky visit Finn at his locker. They take his jacket and rip it apart. They start to get in a fight, but Artie arrives to apologize for causing Finn to get kicked off the football team. Azimio and Karofsky pause. Apparently, while slamming people into lockers and slushie-ing people are more than okay- hitting a kid in a wheelchair is against Azimio's moral code. Um... Okay, then. They leave Finn alone, but promise to be back.

Carl visits the Glee club and has them chew capsules that turn the plaque on their teeth blue. Most of the club has white or light-blue teeth. The people whose teeth are covered in blue dye are Artie, Brittany, and (Despite the fact that she flosses between classes) Rachel. Brittany is the first to visit Dr. Howell. Right as he puts her under the anesthesia, "I'm A Slave 4U" comes on. Brittany spends the rest of the appointment imagining herself in the music video. When it's over, she wakes up, and Carl tells her that she needs to come back, because she had 68 cavities (more cavities than teeth) and he couldn't get them all.

Finn and Rachel are discussing why Finn's been feeling under the weather. Finn's upset because he's off the football team. Rachel's not, though. To her, it means that he can't leave her for a Cheerio. Finn gets upset about this and ends up agreeing when Santana says that Rachel looks like one of the bait girls on "To Catch a Predator".

Santana joins Brittany for her second appointment, despite the fact that her teeth are perfect. So they both, of course, share a fantasy sequence to "Me Against the Music". At the end, Brittany meets Britney Spears herself... in her fantasy, that is.

Brittany comes back the day after her "Me Against the Music" fantasy and demands all of the glee solos. Kurt takes this as proof that the club needs to do Britney Spears songs. When Mr. Schue says no again, he yells at Mr. Schuester and calls him uptight. This hits a nerve for Will, so he sends Kurt to the principal's office.

Will visits Carl for a checkup, and Carl politely aks Will to back off. Will agrees. Carl also tells Will that he needs to be more impulsive, and that his need for control is why he's grinding his teeth in his sleep. Will meets Rachel in the waiting room and they talk for a bit. She then has a fantasy sequence to "Hit Me Baby One More Time."

Rachel comes the next day in her "Hit Me Baby One More Time" outfit. Finn isn't happy because the entire school is staring at her. She realizes that her relief at Finn not being on the football team is not okay, so she gives him permission to rejoin the football team if he can. Jacob Ben Israel offers to give Finn his house in exchange for Rachel, because she is "wanky wanky".

Will takes Emma to work in his new convertible. It's just a coincidence that it's just like Carl's, by the way. He's almost about to park it when he's confronted by Terri. She reprimands him for buying an expensive car, because she is under the impression that they will get back together, and when they do, she wants to have some money left. Terri's a nutcase.

In the music room, Santana gives Rachel some... well, I guess the term would be 'compliments'... on her new look. Kurt persists in telling Will that they need to do Britney. No, not like that. Will gets An Idea after Rachel tells him that Britney gave her new confidence. Sue walks in and asks for a word with Will.

In the teacher's lounge, Sue tells Will that last night, she caught Jacob Ben Israel in the library naked, getting off to videos of Rachel in her Britney Spears outfit. OK, that is just disgusting. Sue basically tells Will that the Glee club's Britney craze is to blame. Will tells her that they're not going to do a Britney performance.

Artie has a dentist-induced hallucination in which after reprimanding Tina for dumping him, he and the football team win, accompanied by 'Stronger'.

In the locker room, Finn and Artie rejoin the football team. Yay.

Music room. Artie explains why they're having Britney hallucinations. Will walks in and tells them that there's good news and bad news. The good news is that they're doing a Britney number. The bad news is that he's joining them. Well, he didn't put it quite like that, but you get my point.

Rachel and Finn talk. She still doesn't trust him.

Assembly. Sue finds out that the club's doing a Britney number. She's not amused. Figgins introduces New Directions, who perform 'Toxic' and start a sex riot. Yes, you read me correctly.

In the teacher's lounge, Sue tells Will that she hurt her spine in a sex riot. She gives him a batshit insane speech and threatens to sue him.

Will and Emma talk. She convinces him that he doesn't need to change just to impress her, and he goes off to return the new car.

Quinn tries to get Finn to get back with her. He refuses, and she tells Rachel that her plan worked. Finn must really love Rachel. In the music room, Rachel blathers on about how she now knows not to crush Finn, and sings him 'The Only Exception'. Episode ends.

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 the Glee club
  • "The Only Exception" by Paramore, performed by Rachel


This episode contains examples of:

  • A Date with Rosie Palms: Jacob does this after he sees Rachel's Britney Spears outfit, much to Sue's horror.
  • Aint 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.
  • 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: 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: Despite the fact that the kids in the glee club claim that they grew up with Britney Spears, they would have been three or four at most at the height of her popularity.
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