Glee - A Katy or a Gaga

To try and calm the New Directions nerves after learning about their stiff competition at Nationals in only a few weeks, Mr. Shue's (Matthew Morrison) latest assignment puts each member out of their comfort zone as the more conservative members master performances of Lady Gaga while the "edgier" members (or what passes for edgy on Glee) of the group are given songs by Katy Perry. Although the episode makes use of the conceived feud between the singers (which may or may not actually exist in any real form), it has a hard time explaining the differences of the two who are equally extravagant (albeit in different ways). In fact, you could easily argue that the episode's final song, a Perry number, is more over-the-top than the episode's earlier Gaga numbers.


Sam (Chord Overstreet) and Nurse Penny (Phoebe Strole) discover how little they actually have in common which is the same problem Jake (Jacob Artist) and Marley (Melissa Benoist) having been dealing with. Trying to prove he can be the hardcore kind of guy Penny usually goes for, Sam pulls out all the stops for his performance of "Applause" alongside Blaine (Darren Criss), Ryder (Blake Jenner), and Artie (Kevin McHale). Marley's refusal to jump out of her comfort zone, which is already shaken by her jealousy over of Jake's attraction to Bree (Erinn Westbrook), gets her suspended for the remainder of the week. Team Katy has equal trouble with bickering between Jake, Kitty (Becca Tobin), Unique (Alex Newell), and Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) while trying to come up with both a concept (which at one point included Jake dressed as a gay Thundercat) and a song before finally deciding to go simple with an empty-stage performance of "Wide Awake." Despite Sue (Jane Lynch) "laying the hammer down" by suspending all members of the club a week for their inappropriate dress, New Directions (minus Marley) comes together for a final number of "Roar." In New York Kurt (Chris Colfer), Santana (Naya Rivera), and Dani (Demi Lovato) put together a band which is difficult considering they only get a single person show up to auditions. Although Kurt isn't impressed, "Starchild" (Adam Lambert) wins over Santana and Dani with his performance of "Marry the Night." Despite initially declining membership in Pamela Lansbury, Rachel (Lea Michele) joins the new band which coincidentally is also performing "Roar" as the episode comes to a close.