Kurt's Turn or How Mario Bros. Changed Civilization

The episode Laryngitis starts with a shock for Glee jock Puck, whose Mohawk got shaved off by the doctor, due to the false diagnosis of a freckle. He doesn’t only lose his scalp hair, but also his confidence and reputation. It goes as far as a dumpster toss by Jacob and his friends, so Puck makes up a plan for getting his rep back: Dating Mercedes, who has become popular since joining the cheerios.

Thanks to Mr. Schue’s assignment of the week to “come up with a song that best represents how you see yourself and where you are in your lives right now” and Quinn’s blessing for a Mario Bros.-filled relationship, they sing a wonderful Lady Is A Tramp together, earning angry looks only by Santana. Predictably, there had to be a cat fight between Santana and Mercedes and they choose to carry it out in song, hence The Boy Is Mine. Puck was only proud that two girls would fight over him. Eventually, Mercedes quits the cheerios and splits up with him, when she sees how he throws other children into the dumpster again.

However, the reason for this week’s assignment actually is someone else: The always concerned and complaining Ms Berry. She tells Schue about how much vitamins she has to take in order to keep her throat clear and her voice strong, since the other Glee members are only lip-syncing during rehearsals (who’d thought that they actually do rehearsals?!). When Rachel wants to do her rendition of Miley Cyrus’ The Climb, she eventually loses her voice and is stopped by Mr. Schue in order to spare the others her further singing off-key. She finds herself at the doctor’s office waiting for the diagnosis that would mean the end of her singing career before it even started. But of course, the anxiety is reasonless and she is released with a prescription for antibiotics to cure her tonsillitis. Finn accompanying her tries to give vent to his feelings for her, which (unlike Jesse’s) would also be present when her voice didn’t come back. And by her embarrassed look, Rachel seems to understand the message Finn wants to deliver in Jesse’s Girl, his song choice to sing in front of the Glee club.

Finn and Rachel, however, are not the only one’s struggling with love and relationships: Kurt has to stand by and watch, how Burt takes Finn out to sports games, and decides to behave more like a man in order to win his father back. Thanks to the so very unlike Kurt rendition of the rock song Pink Houses he ends up making out with Brittany in his bedroom. But Mr. Schue was right: This isn’t Kurt. He only behaves this way to please others, which is reflected in Rose’s Turn. This slightly adapted Kurt version of the Gypsy song eventually reunites father and son in tears and hugs.

Thanks to Finn, Rachel is introduced to Sean, a paralyzed ex-football player and Finn’s friend who tells her how he struggled with life after his accident, but found another passion to concentrate on: Singing. Rachel is moved by his story and understands that life is full of second choices and hers wouldn’t end if she lost her voice. When she returns to Sean’s house later, she suggests giving him singing lessons and the episode ends with U2’s One sung by Sean and Rachel, later joined by the Glee club.

It was a different episode from the ones so far, since we didn’t hear Rachel sing that often, but I think, it didn’t lack her singing voice (or her temper, for that matter). I found One a little weak, but the other songs, especially Jesse's Girl, Lady Is A Tramp and Rose's Turn easily made up for that performance. What do you think?

Trivia fact: Mark Salling himself seems to like Super Mario Brothers just like his alter ego Noah Puckerman, as he was at the release of the new Mario Sports Mix Wii game: