They were blamin' it on the aaaaaaalcohol alright

The New Directions imbibed enough alcohol to blame a whole episode's worth of antics on! Parties, drinking, spin the bottle, singing and throwing up. The Glee Clubbers did one heck of a number and I'm not talking about their performances.

Suddenly, everyone at McKinley is getting drunk and coming to school either drunk or hungover. When or how this pandemic hit, no one seems to know. Figgins wants it fixed, Rachel wants to write an original song, and Glee Clubbers just want to have fun.

I think it was interesting to see Rachel succumb to peer pressure as far as drinking goes just to be able to write an original song. In her quest for fame, fortune, and Broadway, she seems to be taking whatever path that might get her in the back alley. Rachel used to have more confidence than this. I want to see it back. I also found it interesting that Finn did not drink, at least at Rachel's party. Finn normally goes with the crowd and this was a nice change for him but it felt a little out of character. I think it would have been almost more interesting to see Finn drunk and Rachel sober, but I guess they had to find some way to work in Blaine and the possibility that he is not gay and give Kurt a heart attack.

Kurt and Blaine and Blaine and Rachel. What a triangle to mes with! There isn't much to say here except whoa. Blaine and Rachel's duet was pretty awesome, it was good to see Blaine work through his feelings and not just shove them away with "well I'm gay so this is silly" and it was good to see Rachel go after someone and then turn rejection into a positive experience (hopefully she will continue to be able to do this). Kurt, poor Kurt, though always seems to get the broad side of the paddle--he has someone, even a companion, he doesn't have someone; his dad wants to talk to him, his dad doesn't know how to talk to him. I'm glad things worked out for Kurt to still have Blaine as a friend who understands what he deals with.

And then there's Will. Will who should be an adult, Will who should be responsible and understand and actively use alcohol reasonably, Will who should know how to work out his feelings for Emma. Will whom I love so much. Beiste is a good friend for Will, he just has to learn his own limits better as Beiste can totally out-drink him (and I'm pretty sure any other living person). Last season, Will was dealing with a fake pregnancy, a crazy wife, feelings for Emma, and then a divorce, and the burgeoning Glee Club and he navigated through all that with strength, poise, and character. This season he's dealing with Glee Club, feelings for Emma, and a crazy ex-wife/divorce with little more than fumbling success. What has happened to Will Schuester? I hope real Will returns and hands doppelganger Will over to zombies to have his brains eaten.

The performances in this episode were decent and tons of fun. The obvious track "Blame It" was outstanding fun and well-done. "Tik Tok" was strong but truly was a showcase for Brittany's choreography which was stellar (although the performance became gross when Brittany and Santana threw up). Rachel and Blaine's duet "Don't You Want Me" was cute and odd with an awesome pinch of high school awkward but was a solid performance. Rachel and Blaine's voices compliment each other very well. This is the first time since Jesse St. James that Rachel has had a singing partner whose voice truly matches her own, but even Blaine's tonality goes better with hers than Jesse's did. And finally "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" was a fun introduction to Coach Beiste, showing she has football brawn and singing chops.

Overall, I liked this episode and I think it set the stage well for the coming episodes in giving Rachel zeal and confidence in songwriting, showcasing Beiste's vocal talent, and giving us a better look inside the characters.