Glee: "The Comeback"

This week's Glee was more than just a comeback for Sue and Rachel. It was a comeback for the entire show. I don't know what happened since Glee left us at Christmastime, but we've gotten two weeks in a row of quality viewing, so I'm willing to concede that it's not a fluke. Whatever the writers are doing, I sure hope they keep it up. Now let me break it down for you, Bieber style.

The Good (Baby, Oh!):

• Sue. Love Jane Lynch. Love Sue Sylvester. When Glee was at its lowest point, Sue was one of the only things that kept me watching. Her one-liners and rips on Will's hair will never get old to me. But not only did we get plenty of classic Sue, with her mud-slinging and devious plans to destroy the Glee Club, we also got to see her softer side during her "field trip to the House of Sad." If your heart wasn't warmed even just a little by the sight of Sue Sylvester with a pediatric cancer patient on her lap singing, "This Little Light of Mine," well, I'd be hard-pressed to say that you have a heart.

• Rachel. Thank goodness Rachel and Finn broke up. It's been so long since we've seen Miss Berry's passion and drive for something other than the approval of an oafish football player. I loved that she paid Brittany to establish her as a trendsetter, but it was even better when it backfired. Apparently sexy schoolgirl/librarian chic is only trendy when worn by an airhead with a heart of gold rather than a bossy know-it-all. I could totally sympathize with Rachel's conniption fit about the proper styling of leg warmers, though. I am not a rule breaker, and neither is she, but it doesn't hurt anyone to think outside of the box sometimes. Unfortunately it takes more than a good idea (like singing an original song for regionals) to move mountains. Hopefully the self-proclaimed "team leader and arbiter of all that is good" will take Finn's advice and shove a great original song down the other kids' throats, if for no other reason than for me to see if a Glee original can do as well as their covers on the Billboard charts.

• The Justin Bieber Experience. When not even Mike Chang's abs can distract Tina from an intense game of Angry Birds, you know there's trouble in Asian paradise. I'm sure Emma has a pamphlet on how to put the spark back in your high-school romance, but rather than seeking help from their trusty guidance counselor, the boys opted to go Bieber. Though I could have done with one less actual Bieber song, I thought this whole subplot was really cute, and it reminded me of the days of the Acafellas (what did ever happen to Ken Tanaka, anyway?)

• Mercedes & Rachel have a diva-off. Sue's diabolical plan didn't quite work out as expected, but it was a great excuse to hear Amber Riley & Lea Michele belt it out with both attitude and emotion, the most essential ingredients to being a diva. My only complaint is that I hate the faces Lea Michele makes when she sings. But a few squinty eyes and gaping mouths here and there are not enough to take away from the goodness that was this duet.

The Bad (Baby, no!)

• Lauren's singing debut. From the outfit to the song choice to the backup dancers, this was a disaster waiting to happen. Although it did enlighten us as to the Glee Clubbers' choice of undergarments (or at least how Lauren would imagine them to be), it was not worth the two minutes of pain I had to endure while listening to this "anthem." Let's call a plus-sized spade a plus-sized spade: the girl can't sing. She can, however, do a mean hair twirl. Let's just hope that Lauren's hair twirl doesn't become a regular thing to compensate for her lack of vocal ability a la Mike Chang's dancing. I'm perfectly fine with having a non-singing, non-hair-twirling member of the Glee Club, as long as she makes me laugh.

The Ugly:

• Quinn. Okay, I will reluctantly admit that Diana Agron is one of the most beautiful creatures, physically, to walk the halls of McKinley High, but a seductive voice and good hair won't get you far in life when you're actually a sneaky bitch. At least Santana wears her bitchiness on her sleeve. Quinn just flits from boy to boy with no regard for the feelings she's trampling underneath her patent-leather Mary Janes. Despite the fact that Sam is fluent in an imaginary language and his mouth-to-face ratio is way off, he deserves better. His hostile breakup strategy wasn't the greatest, but Quinn got what she had coming to her.

Miscellaneous Tidbits:

• Does anyone else want Will to strike up a romance with the pediatric nurse? Maybe he wasn't referring to his ukulele when he said he brought his "special little guy."
  
• Why was Lauren the only one not wearing plaid for the "Sing It for the World" routine?
• Do you think I could get my husband to start watching Glee for the date ideas? Ice rink bumper cars? Painting coasters? Where do I sign up?

Quoatable Quotes:

• "I don't care how depressed I am. I will not date a curly."
• "You're lucky I left my blow gun at home, airbags, 'cause I got a clear shot at your nonnies."

What do you think -- has Glee made a comeback?