'Glee' Season 3, Episode 20 Recap & Song List - 'Props'

Hey, remember that one asian girl who used to be on this show? She would sing every once in a while, and she dressed all goth, and she had a stutter at one point, but then it turned out that she didn't? Yeah, I don't remember Tina either.

But at least "Glee" is self-aware enough to realize that Tina has been largely ignored this season (and last season, really), as the majority of this episode focuses on her minor identity crisis. The group is preparing for Nationals, which means that Rachel is crowing about solos and whatnot, when suddenly Tina flies off the handle and pitches a fit in the choir room. She storms out, complaining that she's tired of swaying in the background while Rachel gets all the solos. Man, even when Tina throws a fit, it still isn't interesting... Mercedes and Santana totally already beat you to this particular outburst, Tina.

We get another very important lesson about responsible texting when Tina accidentally falls into a fountain at the mall while angrily texting Mike. Okay, so it doesn't have as much of an impact as Quinn's crash, but Tina does get a pretty bad bump on the head.

When she comes to, we get one of the biggest "WTF?" moments in the history of "Glee": until the next commercial break, Tina sees everyone as switched, so we have different actors playing different roles. For example, Kurt is now played by Cory Monteith, while Chris Colfer plays Finn. Likewise, Tina sees herself as Rachel, while Rachel is her. Here's the full list of switches:

Tina <==> Rachel
Kurt <==> Finn
Blaine <==> Puck
Santana <==> Artie
Brittany <==> Mercedes
Sue <==> Will
Sugar <==> Quinn
Sam <==> Rory
Joe <==> Mike

The whole point of this exercise is for Tina to spend a little time in Rachel's shoes and begin to understand the pressure that Rachel is under to lead the group. Plus, Tina isn't a senior, so she gets another year. Stop whining, Tina.

During the little dream state, though, Rachel-as-Tina manages to give Tina-as-Rachel advice about her disastrous NYADA audition, and how to get Carmen Thibideaux (guest star Whoopi Goldberg) to give her another chance. So, back in the real world, Rachel and Tina go to meet with Carmen in person and attempt to persuade her to give Rachel another chance. She dismisses them, but seems impressed by Rachel's persistence and Tina's glowing endorsement.

Rachel, who has been bombarding poor Carmen with voicemails, invites Carmen to Nationals to see her perform, sort of as a second audition. Carmen realistically reponds with incredulity, but something tells me she'll show up anyway.

Through all of this, Sue has been bugging the group to use more props and be flashier. That involves two things: a "Flashdance" number with real sparks and welding helmets, and a cross-dressing number with Kurt to combat Wade's "U'nique" performance, which was a hit for Vocal Adrenaline. Kurt makes a strong stand against it ("Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I like to dress up as a woman," he notes, in the social tolerance lesson of the week), but Puck decides to show he's a team player by coming to rehearsal in a dress.

That, in a weird sequence of events, gets Puck into a fight with Rick "The Stick" Nelson after school, during which Puck gets dumped into the dumpster, then gets out and pulls a fake knife on Rick. Coach Bieste catches this and chews Puck out, but the two find a kindred spirit in each other thanks to their emotionally abusive and empty pasts (and presents). Bieste finally leaves Cooter, and she and Puck sing a Taylor Swift song.

That's just one of the two episodes that aired tonight, so for a report of the action at Nationals, check out our other recap.

This Week's Numbers:

"I Won't Give Up" -- Jason Mraz -- Rachel

"Because You Loved Me" -- Celine Dion -- Tina (as Rachel)

"Mean" -- Taylor Swift -- Puck and Bieste

"Flashdance... What a Feeling" -- Irene Cara -- Tina and Rachel