What's going down?
The episode kicks off with Will sticking up a poster advertising Glee club invitationals, followed by another performance of Don't Stop Believin' by the kids but with Quinn taking the lead now that Rachel's left to be Sally Bowles. However, she can barely get through the song without having to run to the toilet to regurgitate her breakfast. The club isn't shining quite so bright without its star.
Terri is having the opposite problem, with still no signs of morning sickness in sight. Will finally becomes suspicious as to why she appears to be showing none of the symptoms of pregnancy but she covers telling him that at work she does "her best Linda Blair impression every half hour." His attention is turned though when he realises a Vocal Adrenaline secret. Six-year seniors are able to stay in Glee club for as long as they're in high school. Their 24-year-old waiter has been purposely failed for years as he's "the only one who can do the triple flip." This proves to be some serious food for thought for Will.
Over at school Emma offers some counsel to Finn after taking a "special interest" in him and definitely not because Will told her about Quinn's bun in the oven. She tries to persuade him to try and convince Rachel to come back to the club. Without her, any hopes of him bettering himself are starting to fade. She tells him that he has a better chance of getting a free ride to school if he sticks with Glee and continues to excel in the arts than pursuing a football scholarship.
It doesn't look like Rachel will be coming back to the club any time soon, as she throws herself into rehearsals for Cabaret. She may be just a sophomore but has still won the lead after all. "When stars are found you have to let them shine," she tells us. The school's journalist compromises her, however, and states that if she doesn't show him her "over the shoulder boulder holder" the reviews are going to be less than complimentary. Finn then turns up and offers to run lines with her, though from his flirting it seems he has more in mind.
After mulling over which high school drop-outs he can bring to Glee, Will happens upon one April Rhodes, played by Broadway superstar Kristen Chenoweth. Emma gives him her file and off he trots to her swanky mansion. Though all is not as it seems - it turns out she's a not so glamorous squatter and by the looks of things an alcoholic. Back at school she was the stage's leading lady who Will clearly had a huge crush on but nowadays things aren't quite so good, which is why she jumps upon his offer to come back to school and to Glee. She gets to be back in the spotlight and Will promises to "get you sobered up and buy you some underwear."
The club don't share Will's enthusiasm and refuse to welcome her with open arms. Why would they want an old person in the club? Though after belting out the Liza Minnelli classic Maybe This Time, they realise the girl can sing, as she tells them "to put that in their pipe and smoke it." As we cut between Chenoweth and Rachel singing the song, one can only think that whichever writer thought of this is surely a genius.
It would appear though that the club have simply interchanged one diva for another and they aren't happy about it. Cue April trying to win over the kids in a variety of humorous ways. She teaches Tina and Mercedes the art of shoplifting, gets Kurt well and truly drunk and hits the showers, in the boys' locker room naturally. It's all in a day's work.
Over at Cabaret rehearsals, Sandy cuts into Rachel telling her she's just not up to his high standards. While Sandy may just be using some reverse psychology, Miss Berry has a near nervous breakdown. April tries to comfort her in the toilets but it backfires as she tells Rachel that Finn is "one cutie pie she's got her eye on." First she takes her role as a star of the club and now her love? Rachel tries to put her in her place but April's not scared.
While April may have won the Glee kids over, the way in which she's done so hasn't gone unnoticed. When Kurt pukes all over Emma it's the final straw. She has a long talk with Will questioning if his decision to bring in the club's old star was really a wise one, though only after she's been the hospital for four decontaminating showers. Enter serious feelings of guilt from Schue.
Despite asking "if there's diseases in there or something?" Rachel agrees to stick her hand in a bowling ball on her sort of date with Finn. His flirting and flattery are beginning to work on Rachel as he tells her how Glee isn't the same without her. In typical clichéd fashion, the pair shares a kiss after she scores a strike. This is enough for her to declare that she's quitting the musical to come back to Glee.
