Episode 'Glee' Season 2, Episode 17 - 'A Night of Neglect' Recap

We're finally back, gleeks. It's been a long hiatus, hasn't it? Well, some things have changed around McKinley, the first being that Brittany is (gasp!) totally smart!

She's a fill-in for the academic decathlon with Artie, Tina and Mike (aka "The Brainiacs"), and it turns out she's totally awesome at random trivia. Also an academic decathlete: Sunshine! Yep, she's back, and she's going to belt one out later.

So now, not only does New Directions need money for Nationals, but the Brainiacs do too. Will's brilliant idea is to sell salt water taffy. You know, because this is the 1920's.

Sue, meanwhile, is organizing her very own supervillain organization (it was only a matter of time, wasn't it?), and they're called the "League of Doom." Each member gets their own nickname: Dustin Goolsby of Vocal Adrenaline is "Sgt. Handsome," Sandy is "The Pink Dagger," and Terri is "Honey Badger" (there, now you don't have to Google it).

Holly's back too, and she and Will are getting very friendly. She warns him, though, that she's "both awesome and unavailable." Yep, because she has a solo album to record and she's the only person on this show getting offered consistent movie roles.

It's lucky she's around, though, because she gives Will a much better idea than the taffy: host a benefit evening for the neglected kids where they can sing songs by neglected artists. It's "A Night of Neglect."

Charice sings her obligatory song ("All By Myself") and, of course, totally kills it. She's awesome.

Meanwhile, Mercedes has been diva-ing it up so that she can earn some R-E-S-P-E-C-T and compete with Rachel for more solos and closing numbers. Among her demands: a bowl full of green M&M's and "fresh puppies" with which she can dry her hands. That just sounds like your hands would smell like wet dog.

Interesting historical note: the whole "bowl full of one color of M&M's" thing came from Van Halen, but it wasn't because they were a band full of divas. It was put in the contract to make sure that whichever venue the band was playing was actually reading the contract carefully. If there were no M&M's, then they knew that the venue had skimmed or skipped the contract, and any number of things could be wrong. *End of random trivia segment*

It looks like Emma's OCD is getting worse...and not in the charming eating like a cute little bird way, in the scrubbing spots off of the counter with an electric toothbrush way. It turns out Carl is gone and he wants an annulment (we all saw this coming). Will wants her to know he's there for her to clean her grapes. Holly catches a glimpse, though...drama!

But the jealousy doesn't stop there. When "Sgt. Handsome" goes to hit on Holly in order to fulfill his mission to break up Will and Holly, Will catches him making fun of his "tiny baby hands." Will says they're big enough to punch his teeth in. Will is soooooo not intimidating.

It's finally time for the concert, and it's finally time for some Blaine screen time (Darren Criss has mentioned lately that Blaine will play a lesser role than he has of late). Blaine and Kurt run into Karofsky, who is trying even harder than ever to not be gay. A word of advice, Karofsky...don't talk about pumping iron with a bunch of dudes. Blaine is ready to throw down, but then Santana steps in and totally wrecks Karofsky. Nice!

The "Night of Neglect" has been neglected, as Sunshine and her Twitter followers are a no-show. That means there's six people in the audience: Blaine, Kurt, and the four hecklers placed there by Sue. When Tina comes out to sing and is booed off stage, it's time for a drastic move: put salt water taffy in their mouths so they can't heckle any more.

It works for Mike Chang's performance dancing to "Bubble Toes" of all things. First of all, Jack Johnson is a neglected artist? I'd say Jack Johnson has already gotten way more attention than he deserves. Secondly, your dancing with a mop routine was better when Gene Kelly did it, you thieves. This is how it's done.

The Glee kids are out of taffy, so Holly takes the hecklers (minus Sandy) out to talk to them. There's a very pointed discussion about anonymous insults, especially on the internet (Charice makes a joke about the Entertainment Weekly comment boards). So the moral of the story today, kids, is don't insult celebrities. They have feelings too. It's a good point.

Mercedes is supposed to go on, but she has left the building. Rachel confronts her outside in the rain (dramatic), and Mercedes asks "Why are you a bigger star than me?" Well, the easy answer is that Rachel and Finn's relationship was the original driving force and major through-line of the show. But Rachel, being unaware that she's a character in a TV show, says that she's willing to do anything it takes to be in the spotlight, even if it means people don't like her.

Mercedes comes back in to close and sings Aretha's "Ain't No Way," which is apparently Sandy's favorite song...it shuts him right up. Um, quick question: where the hell did that choir come from?!

Anyway, Sandy is so impressed that he chooses to fund the trips himself. It's with his drug money, but as he says, "Actually it's a fantastic way to launder it."

Well folks, the time has come for Holly to leave, as her rendition of Adele's "Turning Tables" pretty clearly stated. She takes a job in Cleveland, tells Will that he's "too nice" for her, mentions that he and Emma should totally get it on, and then turns and walks away down the darkest hallway I've ever seen. Seriously, can someone turn on a light for her?

Also, that might be the only time you hear Gwyneth Paltrow say "amazeballs," so enjoy it while you can.

It that it? Not quite. Sue has yet one more meeting with the League. Pink Dagger and Sgt. Handsome have failed (mostly), so that can only mean one thing: it's time for Honey Badger to wreak havoc. Terri and her crazy are back!

I'm sure we'll see plenty of Terri's manipulation in the next episode, which is the extended 90-minute "Born This Way" ep. It looks like Kurt is back at McKinley (finally), and...is that Finn dancing? Uh oh.

Brittany and Sue's quotes of the week:

Brittany-isms: "Oh, I love salt water."

Sue-isms: "I was out bowhunting for hobos." "Wow, it would be hard being married to you."

Songs of the week:

"All By Myself" - Celine Dion

"I Follow Rivers" - Lykke Li

"Bubble Toes" - Jack Johnson

"Turning Tables" - Adele

"Ain't No Way" - Aretha Franklin