Original Song

Original Song is the sixteenth episode of Glee's second season and the thirty-eighth episode overall. It premiered on March 15, 2011.

Preparations for Regionals place the New Directions with only a short amount of time to decide upon their setlist, to thrash their competition. Upon learning that Sue is now coach of Aural Intensity, the Warblers heading to Regionals too and the fact that they can't do Sing, the New Directions finally take Rachel's idea of writing original songs into mind. As members of the Glee Club brainstorm and perform original songs, they end up filling up their setlist with their original songs and are set to go to perform them at Regionals. As for Blaine and Kurt, their relationship is taken up a level after a tragic death of the Warbler's beloved mascot.

The episode was directed by Bradley Buecker and written by Ryan Murphy.

Plot
The episode opens with the Dalton Academy Warblers rehearsing a high-energy rendition of Maroon 5's Misery, which Blaine announces will be their opening number for Regionals. Blaine then tries talking to Kurt and asks him how he thought the song was. Kurt thinks the song is a bit 'Been there, done that' and admits he's jealous because Blaine gets so many solos.

Meanwhile, Rachel unveils her original composition for Finn, culled from her personal pain: Only Child. Finn admits that it's better than My Headband, but suggests that she's not really tapping true emotions, only acting them out, and that she needs to search deep inside herself to find what to write about.

Quinn continues her mission to re-establish her relationship with Finn, but also seems to be driven by her burning desire to become prom queen. In a voiceover, she worries that the allure of Rachel's talent may cause her to lose Finn, and she plots to make her play perfectly with the old maxim "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," by becoming Rachel's new best friend.

Under Kurt's guardianship, The Warblers' canary mascot, Pavarotti, suddenly dies. Distraught, Kurt sings The Beatles' Blackbird in tribute to Pavarotti, to which The Warblers join in. While Kurt is singing it is made obvious that Blaine has some sort of realization which causes him to stare at Kurt lovingly as if he's seeing him for the first time throughout the song.

Will informs the Glee Club that their plan to perform My Chemical Romance's Sing at Regionals has been shut down. The band has sent them a cease-and-desist letter, thanks to Sue's scheming; she claims to have met the drummer at a drum circle years earlier "and had a brief affair." Then she told him a scam story of Will's "long-running legal battle with PETA." Because she blames him for the loss of her Cheerios, she warns Will to consider her act "the opening salvo of World War Sue." When Quinn backs Rachel's suggestion to perform an original song and offers to help her write one, Will agrees to the plan.

Meanwhile, Santana is approached by Brittany outside her locker. Brittany wants to make up from their fight in Sexy, but Santana is still hurt from being rejected and reveals her plan to write her "own heterosexual lovesong for Sam." Sue then walks over and insults them, reminding them of their betrayal and that she plays dirty. When they open their lockers, dirt spills out all over them.

Blaine steps up and tells the Warblers that he's tired of leading every song and thinks their current performance formula will lead them to a defeat against New Directions and that they need to show more talent diversity. He proposes to add a duo lead at Regionals, and insists on singing with Kurt, to which the Warblers concede.

Next thing, the New Directions can be seen discussing their original songs. Santana unveils the song she's co-written with Tina, a saucy ode to Sam called Trouty Mouth. Sam seems quite offended by the song, due to all the joking references to his mouth. Will agrees with Sam that they won't sing it at Regionals: He thinks it lacks the epic feel needed for Regionals. Puck also presents his own song called Big Ass Heart, written in honor of Lauren. Will says it's a contender, but not quite there yet.

Meanwhile, Finn is purchased by Quinn. She wants him to help her launch their campaign for prom king and queen, but he wants to now put it off until after Nationals in deference to Rachel's fragile emotions. Quinn's reaction scares him into agreeing to kick off their campaign until after Regionals. All the while, Rachel was eaves dropping.

While Kurt is decorating Pavarotti's casket, Blaine asks him to help practice the song he's chosen for their duet: Candles by Hey Monday, which he chose because he wanted something a little more emotional than his usual Top 40 choices. He admits that he had a surprise revelation after being moved whilst listening to Kurt sing Blackbird. He's realized what his feelings for Kurt are. He reveals that he fell for Kurt while the latter sang "Blackbird." Then, Blaine leans in to kiss Kurt.

After being shocked for a few moments, Kurt grabs him and kisses him back with passion. When they break for air you can clearly see both of them are blushing. They then keep kissing.

Mercedes unleashes her original song, Hell to the No, which gets a positive response from all the Glee-clubers. Yet, Will's not sure if it's Regionals material. Pointing out that the greatest songs address some kind of personal pain, Will encourages the students to tap a great hurt for their tune, and the students realize that Sue has been the source of their greatest torment. When Finn says that Sue's torture tactics hurt at first, but ultimately "make you want to win," Will thinks they may have just discovered their original song.

Rachel then approaches Quinn because she wants to know if she and Finn are dating, which Quinn confirms. They both think that Finn should be with them, so Quinn tries to make Rachel forget Finn by telling her that he will only keep her from becoming a star. But Rachel doesn't want to hear it. She says that their relationship isn't over yet, but Quinn yells at her that it is. Quinn then wants to gt back to songwriting, but Rachel has decided that she wants to write the song on her own.

As the day of Regionals arrives, Sue admits to Will that she had lied about her connections to "My Chemical Romance," and also, that she chose Aural Intensity's set list with the judges in mind. The judges are: Rod Remington, Sue's anchorman ex; Tammy Jean Alberston, a recent Tea Party candidate and Twitterer; and Sister Mary Constance, a former exotic dancer turned nun. They are introduced in the scene that comes right after their talk. Aural Intensity's opening number is the peppy song, Jesus Is My Friend, as an obvious ploy to get the judges' favor.

Next up are the Dalton Academy Warblers. Kurt is nervous about singing a solo in front of a competition audience for the first time, to which he gets comforted by his new boyfriend. They open with the duet, Candles, sung by Kurt and Blaine. The latter follows up with Raise Your Glass and the audience responds enthusiastically, including the New Directions. At the end of the song Kurt rushes up to Blaine in a hug. The Warblers are all smiles after what they think was a winning performance.

Finn approaches Rachel before she goes on stage to sing her solo in order to wish her good luck. She reminds him that the last time they were here he told her he loved her. Finn simply replies that her song is really good before Rachel goes on to the stage to sing her solo Get It Right, a song reflecting on the past failures in her relationship with Finn and expressing her deep desire to reconcile with him. She looks over to him during the number, Finn smiles while Quinn looks on with concern. The finale is Loser Like Me, sung by New Directions and dedicated to the underdogs of high school. It ends with the group throwing slushie cups filled with red confetti at the audience. Finn and Rachel share a hug and Quinn looks on, disheartened.

Following the performances, the judges then discuss which club they think should win, not without touching several other subjects. A drunken governor's wife then announces that the New Directions are the winners. The team celebrate while Kurt and Blaine look on disappointed, but conceding. Sue sucker punches the governor’s wife to the floor in a rage, shocking the performers and audience alike.

Next thing, Kurt and Blaine bury Pavarotti in a bedazzled coffin. Blaine asks if it reminds Kurt of his mom’s funeral, and Kurt confesses that it does. Kurt also says that he is disappointed over their loss because he really wanted to win. Blaine assures Kurt that they have won, since they found love on their way to Regionals.

In the choir room, Mr. Schuester presents a MVP (Most Valuable Player) award to Rachel, who looks genuinely surprised and touched. He reveals that she was voted MVP unanimously. Rachel gives a heartfelt thank-you speech, first praising and admiring the song that the others wrote, sincerely thanking them for taking a risk with true team effort. The others rush up to her and embrace in a big group hug.

Unreleased Songs

 * Jesus Is My Friend by Sonseed sung by Aural Intensity.

Special Guest Stars

 * Kathy Griffin as Tammy Jean Albertson
 * Loretta Devine as Sr. Mary Constance

Guest Stars

 * Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang
 * Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans
 * Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson
 * Ashley Fink as Lauren Zizes
 * Bill A. Jones as Rod Remington

Co-Stars

 * Telly Leung as Wes
 * Riker Lynch as Jeff
 * Titus Makin Jr. as David
 * Eddy Martin as Thad
 * Curt Mega as Nick
 * Dominic Barnes as Trent
 * Darcy Shean as Carla Turlington-Stevens

Absent Cast Members

 * Mike O'Malley as Burt Hummel
 * Jessalyn Gilsig as Terri Del Monico
 * Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury

Trivia

 * Seven original songs are featured in this episode, one of which was cut.
 * As seen in the episode, both Tina and Quinn can play the piano. Tina is at the piano while Santana sings Trouty Mouth, and Quinn tests out keys while composing in the auditorium. Santana is seen at the piano during Mercedes' song, Hell To The No, but it is unclear if she can actually play because in all her shots, she is waving her arms.
 * It was discovered from the leaked script that there was a cut scene involving Quinn and Rachel. Source
 * This is the first time they used original songs at a competition.
 * This episode has the second highest amount of songs featured in the series, the first being Pilot. A total of 12 songs were featured, and only nine being released.
 * This is the fan-voted all-time favorite episode according to Glee's Final Countdown.

Errors

 * When Sue visits Will in his office right before Regionals, after Will ties his scarf, one shot shows his scarf tied normally, then the next shot shows his scarf tied tighter.
 * After Hell to the No, When Mr. Shue asks the kids what their favorite song is, to which Brittany answers with My Headband. Ironically, Rachel only sang that song to Finn in Blame It on the Alcohol, so that means Brittany never heard it. However, it is possible Rachel may have performed this song again.
 * During the scene where Santana and Brittany open their lockers and dirt falls all over them, you can see the dirt on Santana's mouth before it even fell out.
 * During the same scene, Brittany opens her locker twice. First when the camera is centering on Santana, and then again when it centers on Brittany.

Quotes
":Brittany: Hey.


 * Santana: [looks at Brittany then back to her locker]
 * Brittany: Can I ask you a question? We used to be really close, and I really miss being your friend.
 * Santana: Still waiting for the question.
 * Brittany: Did I do something wrong?
 * Santana: No. Look, I don't know. Did you? All I know is you blew me off to be with Stubbles McCripplePants. That's fine. It's your loss. 'Cause now I get the chance to write an awesome heterosexual song about Sam that we're going to sing at Regionals.
 * Brittany: Wait, you're still dating Sam? But you told me you were in love with me.
 * Santana: I honestly don't know what I was thinking. Can you stop staring at me? I can't remember my locker combo."

":Finn: Hey. Break a leg.


 * Rachel: Last time we were here you told me you loved me.
 * Finn: I really like your song.
 * Rachel: Listen carefully, because I mean every word of it."

":Kurt: Why did you pick me to sing that song with?


 * Blaine: [nervously] Kurt, there is a moment when you say to yourself, "Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you forever." [places hand on Kurt's] Watching you do Blackbird this week, that was that moment for me... About you. [pause] You move me, Kurt. And this duet would just be an excuse to spend more time with you. [leans in and kisses Kurt, then sheepishly] We should... We should practice.
 * Kurt: [smiles] I thought we were. [kiss again]"

":Will: What is your favourite song of all time?
 * Brittany: My Headband.
 * [...]
 * Will: And what are all these songs about?
 * Brittany: Headbands."

":Kurt: I just really, really wanted to win.
 * Blaine: You did win. So did I. We got each other out of all this. That beats a lousy trophy, don't you think?"

":Santana: AHH! (Dirt being thrown on her and Brittany)
 * Brittany: I don't even remember putting that in there!"

":Santana: Uhh, Mr. Schue, I have another verse of "Trouty Mouth."
 * Sam: [holds up notebook with the words: "Hell No"]"