Episode Recap: Glee S01E16 Home
How do you two not have a show on Bravo?
The episode started with Mercedes and Kurt in Sue’s office. It turned out Sue, after much campaigning, was named cheerleading coach of the last two thousand years by Splits magazine. A reporter was coming in seven days to do a report on the Cheerios and by that time, Mercedes had to lose 10 pounds or she would be off the team.
Meanwhile, Will was angry to find the auditorium padlocked. It turned out Sue had booked it for the whole week in preparation for the reporter, which meant Glee had no place to practice for the upcoming Regionals. Will wanted to protest to Principal Figgins but Sue told him not to bother, revealing that she was blackmailing Figgins. The Glee kids were dismayed at the news, but Will told the kids not to worry as he would find them an offsite location to practice.
Despite eating healthy stuff like chicken and salad, Mercedes was struggling to lose weight. She asked Brittany and Santana how they managed to stay so skinny. They revealed that they were on an extreme diet called the Sue Sylvester Master Cleanse which consisted of water, maple syrup for glucose, lemon for acid, cayenne pepper to irritate the bowels and a dash of ipecac, a vomiting agent (Brittany said sometimes she would also add a teaspoon of sand). Mercedes thought that wasn’t healthy but Santana pointed out that she could either feel terrible and look great or be off the team when the reporter gets there. Resolved, Mercedes ditched her healthy lunch. Quinn saw the whole scene unfold with a concerned look on her face.
Back at home, Finn was upset that his mother was selling his deceased father’s furniture. He stopped the buyer from taking the recliner, which was where the only photo of Finn and his father was taken. When he asked his mother what brought on the sudden change, his mother revealed that she was seeing someone. That someone turned out to be Kurt’s father.
Glee Season 1
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I'm nothing but a washed-up dreamer
Will was at the local roller rink to rent the place when he spotted April Rhodes singing karaoke in the centre. They did a quick duet of “Fire.” Afterwards, Will wanted to know what happened. It turned out April was the mistress of a wealthy tycoon who happened to own the roller rink. April agreed to the Glee kids coming to use the rink for practice and when Will accidentally let slip that he was getting divorced and looking for a new flat-mate, April invited herself to join Will the next night.
Back at school, Mercedes was getting weighed in Sue’s office. Despite eating healthily and walking everywhere, she gained 2 pounds. Sue reiterated her threat to kick her off the team if Mercedes didn’t lose the weight, saying Mercedes should do whatever it takes. Determined, Mercedes ditched eating all together.
Down in the hallway, Finn asked Kurt how their parents got together. Kurt said fate brought them together over a month ago at Parents Teachers Conference Night. In a flashback, the viewers learnt that Kurt had played an active role in introducing the two of them together. Finn was really weird out by the whole process, determined that he was going to stay put in his house and his father’s chair was going to stay. During Glee’s practice, Kurt performed “A House is Not a Home” to try and calm Finn’s nerves, with Finn joining in back in his house singing the song to his father’s chair.
Meanwhile, April invited herself into Will’s apartment. Will was a little uncomfortable with the whole thing but relented when April said it was just one night. He gave April the couch and warned her there would be no funny business. While he was busy arranging the apartment, April slipped a CD into the CD player and sang “One Less Bell to Answer/A House is Not a Home” with Will joining in halfway through. The two of them ended up together in Will’s bed.
At Breadstix, Kurt, Finn and their parents celebrated their first dinner together. Initially Kurt was extremely enthusiastic while Finn was bummed. But as Finn and Kurt’s father bonded over football, Finn’s mood picked up while Kurt’s went downhill. He tried to divert the attention away from sports but that didn’t work. Afterwards, Kurt didn’t like the idea of redecorating his place for Finn and his mother to move in. Kurt’s father tried to assure Kurt that he loved him but Kurt was still upset.
And I'm really hungry so stop trying to get me to eat you
In the cafeteria the next day, Tina and Artie was trying to convince Mercedes to eat something healthy. Mercedes snapped and told them she was determined to lose weight. Then halfway through her rant, she started seeing Tina as an ice-cream cone and Artie as a slice of chocolate cake. Turning around, she saw Rachel as a cupcake and Jesse as a hamburger. She then fainted.
Revived back in the nurse’s office, the nurse said Mercedes probably fainted from low blood pressure. As she walked out to get Mercedes some ginger ale, Quinn walked in and offered Mercedes a granola bar. Quinn told Mercedes she had been where Mercedes was and encouraged Mercedes to eat. She also encouraged Mercedes to remain comfortable in her own body and not let Sue take that away.
So when the reporter got there, instead of performing the number the Cheerios had practiced, Mercedes sang “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera. Shocked, Sue was initially trying to think of excuses to blow the thing over but it turned out the reporter was impressed. Initially disliking Sue, the reporter had come to the school with the aim to expose Sue as a coward and cheat but after that performance, he was so impressed he was going to write a glowing report, calling her “visionary.”
Kurt went to Finn and they agreed to end the relationship between their parents. Finn was initially going along with the plan but after a talk with his mother and then further bonding with Kurt’s father, he abandoned the plan. Kurt was watching the whole time from outside the window, extremely upset.
At the roller rink, Will found all the kids fooling around and not really practicing. Will talked things over with April and encouraged her to reach her potentials. April decided she was going to end things with her tycoon. But when she went over there and told him things were over, the tycoon had a stroke and died. His wife gave April $2 million as hush money and April bought the auditorium for the Glee kids as well as mounting an all-white production of "The Wiz" on Broadway. The episode ended with April with the Glee kids performing “Home” from the musical The Wiz.
