Puppet Master (Glee)

Last updated
"Puppet Master"
Glee episode
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 7
Directed by Paul McCrane
Written byMatthew Hodgson
Featured music
Production code5ARC07
Original air dateNovember 28, 2013 (2013-11-28)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Movin' Out"		Next →
"Previously Unaired Christmas"
Glee season 5
List of episodes

"Puppet Master" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of the American musical television series Glee , and the ninety-fifth episode overall. Written by Matthew Hodgson and directed by Paul McCrane, it aired on Fox in the United States on November 28, 2013. The episode features the return of special guest star Demi Lovato as Dani, and of Adam Lambert as Elliott "Starchild" Gilbert. The reason why Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) always wears tracksuits is finally revealed.

Contents

Plot

Glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) is caught up with the school board's upcoming inspection of McKinley High and instructs the New Directions to brainstorm ideas for Nationals while he is unavailable. Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) makes several suggestions that highlight him, and becomes offended when the others, aside from Jake Puckerman (Jacob Artist), reject his ideas and accuse him of being controlling. Angry and frustrated, Blaine storms out of the choir room and calls Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), who warns Blaine not to force his ideas upon the others and become a "puppet master". Kurt also reveals he booked Pamela Lansbury's first gig at Callbacks, which Blaine promises to attend. Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera), Dani (Demi Lovato) and Elliott "Starchild" Gilbert (Adam Lambert) disagree over the choice of venue, but are convinced by how Kurt envisions their first performance, in which they sing "Into the Groove".

The school board visits McKinley ahead of the inspection to discuss with Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) the possibility of becoming full-time Principal, to which she agrees. She develops a crush on Superintendent Bob Harris (Christopher Cousins), and is disappointed to find out he thinks she is a man. Sue confides in Becky Jackson (Lauren Potter) that she changed her more feminine appearance and adopted her trademark tracksuits when she started working at McKinley, in order to be respected by the students. Becky then encourages Sue to embrace her femininity.

Blaine refuses to perform due to the New Directions' treatment of him and sits in the back of the choir room. Due to a gas leak, he hallucinates that his friends are puppets who idolize him, and leads them in a rendition of "You're My Best Friend". Blaine later thanks Jake for supporting him and mentions his experience at the back of the choir room that he is unable to explain. Jake continues to choreograph the Cheerios' dance routines, and upsets Bree (Erinn Westbrook) by bragging about having sex with the entire cheerleading squad. Will wants Jake to create a dance number for Nationals, but he refuses, claiming the glee club is not up to par with his talents. Sitting at the back of the choir room at Blaine's suggestion, he then hallucinates performing a mash-up of "Nasty" and "Rhythm Nation". Like Blaine, he is later unable to explain his hallucination. Shortly afterwards, Bree tells Jake she is pregnant and wants him to accompany her to the doctor's appointment.

Will offers to help Sue in exchange for additional money for the New Directions' Nationals wardrobe, but Sue refuses. While sitting in the back of the choir room, she hallucinates performing "Cheek to Cheek" with Will. Sue also confiscates a puppet of Kurt that Blaine made in crafts class due to him being unable to get over being called a "puppet master", and sends him to detention after he breaks into her office after hours to retrieve it, which prevents Blaine from attending Kurt's performance. He and Kurt get into a brief argument over the phone when Kurt finds out about the puppet, and Pamela Lansbury is later disappointed to discover the only person in their audience is a misguided old man hoping to meet Angela Lansbury.

Blaine, Jake and Becky meet in detention, and Blaine has another hallucination that helps him realise his need to try to control the situation due to stress is the reason he is hallucinating about puppets. Blaine then covers for Jake while he prepares to take Bree to the hospital. Bree, however, announces she just had a pregnancy scare. Jake is relieved, but Bree warns him that his narcissism and promiscuous ways will have unwanted consequences and he is more or less doomed to repeat his father and older brother's mistakes if he doesn't change soon, and cuts ties with him due to his bad influence. Moved by her words, Jake apologizes to Marley Rose (Melissa Benoist) for his selfish behavior and tries to make amends with her. Though Marley harbors no ill feelings for him, she confesses she now only views him as a friend and leaves him heartbroken.

Sue recruits Wade "Unique" Adams (Alex Newell) to help her, and impresses the school board, even fixing the gas leak. They promote her to full-time principal, and Sue asks Harris out on a date, but he still refuses. Simultaneously, Kurt announces that the old man from their audience happened to be the uncle of a scout, who has booked them a second gig at a popular nightclub. As an apology for his behaviour, Blaine crafts puppets of all of his friends and presents them. To end this episode, The New Directions and Pamela Lansbury then simultaneously sing "The Fox".

Production

The episode was in production around the end of October, when co-creator Ryan Murphy tweeted pictures of the puppets being featured in the episode, including a picture of Criss as Blaine surrounded by puppets. [1]

Recurring characters in this episode include Santana's girlfriend and member of Kurt's band, Dani (special guest star Lovato), band member Elliott "Starchild" Gilbert (Lambert), McKinley cheerleaders Becky Jackson (Potter) and Bree (Westbrook), Lima schools superintendent Bob Harris (Cousins) and McKinley janitor and former principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba). [2]

Six songs from the episode are being released as five singles: Queen's "You're My Best Friend" sung by Criss; "Cheek to Cheek" from Top Hat performed by Morrison and Lynch; the Janet Jackson mashup "Nasty / Rhythm Nation" performed by Artist, Benoist and Westbrook; Madonna's "Into the Groove" sung by Colfer, Lambert, Michele, Rivera and Lovato; and Ylvis's "The Fox" sung by the members of New Directions and Pamela Lansbury. [3]

Reception

Ratings

The episode, which aired on Thanksgiving in the United States, was watched by 2.84 million viewers and received an 18-49 rating/share of 0.9/3, making it the lowest rated episode of the series to date. [4]

Critical reception

The episode received mixed reviews from critics. Rae Votta of Billboard gave the episode a positive review, saying it "is pretty straight-forward in that it’s about control -- characters who want to control the world around them, characters who can't control the image thrust on them by others, and characters who want to control themselves. It’s clean, and relatively linear for all its wackiness. And it actually works. If only all of Glee could be this good." [5] She did, however, criticize the casts' performance of "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)," saying "it's absolutely batshit and nonsensical and yet somehow the perfect ending to an hour of gas-induced puppet, Janet Jackson and Fred Astaire related hallucinations." [5] Brandon Nowalk of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B−, saying "Clearly there's new life in these characters—hell, old life in half of the New Directions—and low-key episodes like 'Puppet Master' make great opportunities to explore and define them. Artists are certainly allowed to fail. Hopefully Glee starts failing bigger." [6]

Miranda Wicker of TV Fanatic gave the episode a more negative review, rating it a 1.5 out of 5, saying "The good news is that they buried an otherwise ridiculous and silly episode on a night when (probably) no one was watching, what with all the tryptophan comas and shopping. The bad news is that Glee Season 5 Episode 7 was 45 minutes of my life I can never get back and very little about it was redeeming." [7] Samantha Highfill of Entertainment Weekly also received the episode negatively, saying "Overall, I think the episode was trying just a little too hard, and what maybe could have been cute (but probably not) forced me to watch most of the hour through squinted eyes, and not because I was tired from eating turkey." [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blaine Anderson</span> Fictional character from the Fox series Glee

Blaine Devon Anderson is a fictional character from the American musical comedy-drama television series Glee. Played by Darren Criss, Blaine was introduced in the sixth episode of the second season as the openly gay lead singer of the Dalton Academy Warblers, a rival show choir to New Directions, the show's primary musical group. Blaine initially served as a mentor for New Directions member Kurt Hummel. Chemistry between the two, combined with fan support for the couple, led series co-creator Ryan Murphy to pair them romantically. Their relationship has been well received by critics, and they have been named "the most beloved TV couples of the millennium" by Jarett Wieselman of the New York Post. At the beginning of the third season, Blaine transfers to McKinley High and joins New Directions; concurrently, Criss was promoted from recurring guest star to the show's main cast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Sylvester</span> Fictional character from the Fox series Glee

Susan "Sue" Rodham Sylvester is a fictional character of the Fox musical comedy-drama series, Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Jane Lynch, and appears in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009, through the show's final episode, last broadcast on March 20, 2015.

"New Directions" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the one-hundred-first episode overall. Written and directed by series co-creator Brad Falchuk, it aired on Fox in the United States on March 25, 2014, and is the second part of a two-part anniversary episode that features the apparent end of New Directions after the club is shut down by principal Sue Sylvester. Many graduates of the glee club have returned, as have special guest stars Kristin Chenoweth as April Rhodes and Gwyneth Paltrow as Holly Holliday. This is the last appearance of Paltrow, Chenoweth, and Melissa Benoist on the series, although Benoist is still credited as a series regular throughout the remainder of the season.

"The Break Up" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the seventieth episode overall. Written by Ryan Murphy and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, it aired on Fox in the United States on October 4, 2012, and features the end of several long-established romantic relationships on the show: the couples Finn and Rachel, Kurt and Blaine, and Santana and Brittany all break up.

"Makeover" is the third episode of the fourth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the sixty-ninth episode overall. Written by Ian Brennan and directed by Eric Stoltz, it aired on Fox in the United States on September 27, 2012. In the episode, Brittany and Blaine go head-to-head in a debate for student council president, while Kurt lands an internship at Vogue.com and Rachel decides to give herself a makeover. The episode features the introduction of special guest star Sarah Jessica Parker as Isabelle Wright of Vogue.com.

"Dynamic Duets" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the seventy-third episode overall. Written and directed by series co-creator Ian Brennan, it aired on Fox in the United States on November 22, 2012.

"Glease" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the seventy-second episode overall. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 15, 2012, and features the McKinley High production of the musical Grease, and the return of special guest star Kate Hudson as Cassandra July. Kurt and Rachel have awkward reunions with their exes, Will prepares to leave for his vacation and puts Finn in charge of the Glee Club while he is gone. Rachel and Kurt sever ties with their respective exes and leave at the end.

"Lights Out" is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the eighty-sixth episode overall. Written by Ryan Murphy and directed by Paris Barclay, it aired on Fox in the United States on April 25, 2013, and features the return of special guest star Sarah Jessica Parker as Isabelle Wright.

"Love, Love, Love" is the premiere episode of the fifth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the eighty-ninth episode overall. The episode was written by series co-creator Brad Falchuk and directed by Bradley Buecker, and first aired on September 26, 2013 on Fox in the United States.

"The End of Twerk" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the ninety-third episode overall. Written by Michael Hitchcock, and directed by Wendey Stanzler, it aired on Fox in the United States on November 14, 2013, and features the return of special guest stars Ioan Gruffudd as Paolo San Pablo, the Funny Girl leading man, and Peter Facinelli as Rupert Campion, the show's director.

"A Katy or a Gaga" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the ninety-second episode overall. It was written by executive producers Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner, and directed by co-creator Ian Brennan, and it aired on Fox in the United States on November 7, 2013. The episode features the music of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, the debut of guest star Adam Lambert as Elliott "Starchild" Gilbert, and the return of special guest star Demi Lovato as Dani, Santana's girlfriend.

"Movin' Out" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the ninety-fourth episode overall. It was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and directed by Brad Falchuk, and it aired on Fox in the United States on November 21, 2013. The episode is a tribute to the music of Billy Joel, and features seven of his songs. The episode features special guest star Tyra Banks as Bichette, the head of a modeling agency.

"Trio" is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the ninety-eighth episode overall. It aired on Fox in the United States on March 4, 2014.

"Jagged Little Tapestry" is the third episode of the sixth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 111th overall. The episode was written by series co-creator Brad Falchuk, directed by Paul McCrane, and first aired on January 16, 2015, on Fox in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hurt Locker, Part One</span> 4th episode of the 6th season of Glee

"The Hurt Locker, Part One" is the fourth episode of the sixth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 112th overall. The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Ian Brennan, and first aired on January 23, 2015 on Fox in the United States. It is the first part of a two-part episode which concluded on January 30, 2015 with the episode "The Hurt Locker, Part Two".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hurt Locker, Part Two</span> 5th episode of the 6th season of Glee

"The Hurt Locker, Part Two" is the fifth episode of the sixth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 113th overall. The episode was written by series co-creator Ian Brennan, directed by Barbara Brown, and first aired on January 30, 2015 on Fox in the United States. It is the second part of a two-part episode which began on January 23, 2015 with the episode "The Hurt Locker, Part One".

"The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 118th overall. The episode was written by Jessica Meyer, directed by Anthony Hemingway, and first aired on March 6, 2015 on Fox in the United States.

"Dreams Come True" is the series finale of the American musical television series Glee. It is also the 13th and final episode of the show's sixth season and the 121st episode overall. Written by the show's co-creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan and directed by Bradley Buecker, it aired on Fox in the United States on March 20, 2015, along with the previous episode, "2009", as a special two-hour finale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elliott Gilbert</span> Fictional character from the Fox series Glee

Elliott "Starchild" Gilbert is a recurring character in the musical comedy TV series Glee during its fifth season. Elliott is portrayed by actor and musician Adam Lambert. Elliott's main storylines have seen him share scenes with character Kurt Hummel as he is part of Kurt's band. Other storylines saw Elliott being involved with Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry during their feud. Elliott's performance of Lady Gaga's "Marry the Night" was well received by critics.

References

  1. ↑ Cerasaro, Pat (October 30, 2013). "Update: More GLEE Puppets, With Added Darren Criss! Is An AVENUE Q Tribute Happening?!". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Listings – Glee on Fox". The Futon Critic. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Glee Cast – MP3 downloads". amazon.com. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Thursday Final Ratings: 'Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular' Adjusted Up". TV By The Numbers. December 3, 2013. Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Votta, Rae (29 November 2013). "'Glee' Recap: Life's a Fantasy In Playful 'Puppet' Episode". Billboard. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  6. ↑ Nowalk, Brandon (28 November 2013). "Glee: "Puppet Master"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  7. ↑ Wicker, Miranda (November 28, 2013). "Glee Review: No Strings Attached". TV Fanatic. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  8. ↑ Highfill, Samantha (November 29, 2013). "Glee recap: 'Puppet Master'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.