Five Reasons to Love Puck (with Video)

You know that saying about women loving bad boys? It’s true. Some of us might not admit it, but we all do. So, it's only natural that Glee’s resident bad boy has become one of my favorite characters. At first, Noah “Puck” Puckerman, played by Mark Salling, was nothing more to me than the slushie-tossing jackass who loved to throw my beloved Kurt (AND his Marc Jacobs jacket, gasp!) into trash bins. When I was in high school, guys like Puck tortured girls like me. I was one of those literary magazine nerds. I hung out with the fellow losers who dyed their unwashed hair purple, strummed on guitars during lunch and wrote heinously bad, weepy poetry. The jocks called me all sorts of names. They made high school a living hell. So why is it that Puck, one of “them,” is so appealing? Here are five reasons to love Puck, even though he’s kind of a tool.

1. He might have knocked up his best friend’s girlfriend, but at least he wants to help her take care of the baby. He even stole a book for her about raising a baby on a budget. Sure, he’s got the common sense of a gym sock and he thinks a bit too much with “little Puck,” but his heart’s in the right place.

2. He managed to somehow make over a completely cheesy, early 70’s elevator hit into a heart-melting, bedroom-eyed ballad. Anyone that can make a Neil Diamond song sexy deserves some love.

3. The food fight scene with Quinn is fantastic. It was a rare glimpse of the lighter side of Puck. I really enjoyed seeing him act goofy, even just for a moment. It helped that it was also the one and only fleeting moment of humor for Quinn during the whole season so far. It was nice to see her smile.

4. His contraband-laced cupcakes made it possible for the Glee club to afford a bus for Artie, who was once one of his victims. That is the fairy tale part of Glee–the part that would rarely happen in real life but makes for captivating television. I truly believe that Puck grew to genuinely like Artie, which is a big reason to love him.

5. OK, so this last one isn’t really about Puck, per say, but about the man behind Puck. Mark Salling is the anti-Puck. He doesn’t like the mohawk. He’s admitted to being a tireless romantic. He loves Nine Inch Nails like I do. He openly admits on Twitter (@Mark_Salling) to loving birds and rehabilitating them as a kid. And, most of all, he made this video a couple months ago. It is impossible not to fall for Puck after watching this great little home video about Salling's time on Glee. If you are a devoted Gleek like I am, I dare you not to get at least a *tiny* bit misty: