Welcome to The Hurt Locker, Pt. 2 Recap!

Our first “competition” of season 6 is complete! It felt so good to sit back and watch some good ole’ auditorium group numbers by our New Directions. While none of the performers in this week’s episode were original members of New Directions, it was the perfect time to let all of the new character’s shine… and by that I mean, we got to hear Roderick sing!

We started this episode right where we left off, with Vocal Adrenaline finishing their goove-tastic set. The Warbler’s are up next. Except one Sue Sylvester has her own plans in motion that require some more time. Therefore, using power that no one seems to understand how she has, Sue extends the competition for two more days. Tomorrow, The Warbler’s will perform with New Directions closing out the show the following day. Everyone is totally pissed about it, probably since they are all still in school and this competition isn’t worth anything anyway. Rachel, however, is very pleased as this gives her more time to find more members to meet the 12 person requirement. Or as Sue puts it “the one rule that has always stayed the same yet still surprises everyone every year.”

I had a feeling the two people they would definitely recruit would be Kitty and Spencer, both of who did end up joining in at the end. Kurt tried convincing Rachel to go talk to Kitty but she’s hesitant to as she never took the time to get to know Finn’s glee kids and Kitty scares her.

Kurt: We need to recruit Kitty. She’s talented and she’s a senior.
Rachel: She hates me. I was so intent on being a Broadway star, I never even learned her name. Or any of their names. There was Puck’s brother, cross-dressing Mercedes, the one with the fat mom, and Raider.
Kurt: Ryder.

I wish they would bring more of these kids back, not just Kitty. I do really enjoy the new characters but hers was a good Glee class too and I don’t see the logic in not having them around anymore. Rachel is able to track down Kitty and basically grovels at her feet, begging her to come back to the glee club. Kitty appears to have moved on and is okay with simply staying on the cheerios like Sue wants. She still has the singing bug though because she manages to sneak into the auditorium and watch the Warbler’s perform. It was very reminiscent on the pilot episode.

While Rachel is doing that, Kurt is on his second official date with Walter, the older man played by Harry Hamlin that we met last episode. Sue, who is still on her Klaine mission, is pretending to be their server throwing out digs and insults, both of which are ignored by the duo. When you’re as handsome as Walter you don’t let things get to you. His words, not mine.

It’s time for Sue to move on to another plan, kidnapping and isolating Blaine and Kurt together. She is able to put together a fake elevator that goes to the auditorium (with its own bathroom) that the two fall for and therefore get trapped in. So, not only are the two trapped in a heated elevator with no working buttons, dead cell phones, and apparently soundproof to banging, she also has a small Sue doll that tricycles around issuing them commands and empty threats. Only in a Glee Recap. The rules are simple, they kiss or else they will die. It’s all definitely meant to be Saw-like, which was weirdly entertaining. That doll was super creepy too.

So, while they are trapped in the elevator, the Warbler’s perform even though their coach is nowhere to be found. Rachel is also starting to worry that Kurt is missing. The Warblers perform “ My Sharona” and “You Spin Me Round.” I want to note that that is the second song performed in the past two episodes that The Treblemaker’s sang in Pitch Perfect. It doesn’t really bother me or anything but since I pointed it out in the last recap it seemed fitting to do so here as well.

Sue has so many wheels turning right now. She has her plan to get Kurt and Blaine back together, her plan to take down Will Schuester, her plan to take down Rachel, and her plan to take down the New Directions. She is one conniving lady.

Unfortunately, the hypnotizing of Sam is still a story line. This episode she is using him to take down both Rachel and the New Directions. She tells him that he has to do whatever it takes to get Rachel to use three horrible and ridiculous songs for her set list. The songs are: “Justified and Ancient,”  “Dear Mr. Jesus,” and “Ascension Millennium.”

While trying to convince Rachel to change her set list to those songs he leans in for a kiss where Rachel snaps her fingers to get his attention and therefore snaps him out of his hypnosis. Neither of them are truly able to put together what Sue has been doing, but Sam apologizes and agrees to help Rachel recruit people for the Glee club as an apology.

This is where Spencer comes in. Even though we learned in episode 1 that everyone already knows he is gay, he (the writers) forgets that and decides in this episode that no one knows he is gay and therefore he cannot join the club for fear of his peers finding out and exiling him.  It’s a perfect moment for Sam to honor Finn by reminding Spencer that another quarterback chose to do something that he loved and took the ridicule and changed everything for the New Directions for the better.

Glee has managed to honor both Cory Monteith and Finn’s memory almost every episode this season. Just last episode he was the catalyst that swayed Will into taking it easy during the invitational. The one exception being getting rid of all of his New Directions kids, but that’s probably more for moving the story forward.

Kitty returns to an upset Rachel, who still has no idea where Kurt is (I’m getting back to that story in a second) and is unsure if her set list is enough to win. Kitty has an idea. She knows that Sue has a “songs that make her emotionally vulnerable” playlist hidden on her laptop and she knows how to get it. It seems like a good enough plan and a  fun look into Sue’s head. They are able to get the songs and things are looking up for the underdog New Directions.

It takes a little convincing and some back up from Kitty, but the New Directions are on board with Rachel’s new set list, although I definitely want to hear their Bruno Mar’s medley. While they are practicing Rachel is filing a police report to find Kurt. The officer they send is the old glee coach for the deaf team we met a few seasons back. He is poking around Rachel’s office stealing sheet music and other “evidence” in the missing person case. Seems a little fishy to me, but honestly you never know with this show.

Now, back to Blaine and Kurt trapped in the elevator. We are treated to a cute montage of the two eating the meal Sue provided them, taking naps and watching each other sleep, and playing a game of “Who Am I?” Kurt uses clues from their past relationships to get Blaine to guess, such as this is what they would’ve named a kid if they ever had one. Answer: Fettucini Alfredo. When it’s Blaine’s turns to give the clues he kills the mood by bringing up Karofsky.

Tricycle doll Sue pedals on out and tells them that she is filling the elevator with a gas that will sexually arouse them and all they need to kiss if they want to get out…it could get a lot worse if they choose to prolong it.

Rachel knows that they still need to go on without Kurt as the New Direction’s prepare to perform. Her  and Kitty’s plan works as their renditions of “It Must Have Been Love,” “Father Figure,” and “All out of Love” clearly have an emotional pull over Sue. She is a sobbing mess as we see little clips of why these songs make her emotional. One of them is a reminder of all the times her presidential candidate of choice lost and another is all of her failed movie auditions.

During their performance Blaine and Kurt decide to kiss with the proclamation that it will mean nothing. Normally, if you have to say something like that before, it will probably mean something. They manage to get out and Kurt is able to catch the end of his team’s performance.

It was so cute to see Mr. Schue beaming with pride and singing along in the audience. In the end, New Directions comes in first place, followed by The Warbler’s and then Vocal Adrenaline. It’s a good start for ND but definitely puts Mr. Schue in a bad place as Clint (VA’s lead singer) tells him that he can kiss his job goodbye. He thinks Mr. Schue cares more about the New Direction’s than his own team. He’s definitely right.

So, there’s no knowing of where any of these story lines are going to go but it has certainly been a fun yet absurd ride so far. Just as long as there is singing and some closure I think what lies ahead will be great.

See you next week!