Courage!

This was the episode's magic word. Whether it was Kurt being courageous enough to confront his bully Karofsky, Will bringing himself to explain Beiste the truth about the boys' - and Tina's! - strange behavior, or Puck confessing that he wasn't the strong guy at juvie but the one that got beaten up. Also, Beiste needed the guts to confess the fact that she had never been kissed to Will, and Artie had to struggle with courage when everybody left Breadstix without paying and it was up to him to decide upon a clean conscience or a cool exit.

And all this happened thanks to the tiny word "courage" and its source, the new Glee character Blaine. Much anticipated and awaited by fans as Kurt's possible love interest, there he is, rocking his glee club and New Directions' future competitor The Dalton Academy Warblers. This is another example of how the song tells the story so often on Glee: Kurt visits Dalton Academy as a spy for the upcoming sectionals performances but mostly to find out if life at this school was indeed that much easier for him than at WMHS. When the Warblers sing Teenage Dream it goes right under your skin and straight into your - and apparently also into Kurt's - heart. You can see it in Kurt's brightening face during the song how he imagines joining them in this perfect world of tolerance and love. When Kurt details his situation at WMHS and Blaine gives him strength - courage -, he has set the ball rolling…

Of course I'm talking about the Kurtofsky kiss. With all the talk and spoilers about Blaine, nobody would've imagined a kiss (and above all: Kurt's first kiss) given by full-time bully Dave Karofsky. When Will kissed Beiste later in the episode, you were already used to surprising pairings this episode and knew this would happen, but that moment in the locker room, Kurt and Karofsky insulting each other, you rather hoped that Karofsky wouldn't punch Kurt into the face. But you know what happened: they shared a short desperate kiss that makes room for a whole new storyline on Glee that I am really excited to follow, given that we are going to meet Dave's father in an upcoming episode as well.

Equally short but rather sweet was the "Beister" kiss. More a friend's favor, it - in addition to the boys' mash-up and apology - led to Beiste staying at WMHS and to another defeat for Sue. And what will happen to the confetti canons now?!