Bad Reputation

Bad Reputation is the seventeenth episode of Glee's first season and the seventeenth episode overall. It premiered on May 4, 2010.

Mr. Schuester starts an investigation when a salacious list about members of the Glee Club circulates the halls of McKinley High. Meanwhile, Sue is mortified when a video of her performing the Olivia Newton-John classic, Physical surfaces thanks to Kurt who steals a video from Sue's computer. Sue is embarrassed as the Glee Club and the student body jokes with her, and she retaliates with a "Glist" ranking glee club members on their sexual quotient. This causes drama and Will tries to find the creator of the Glist. Some of the students who are ranked low or aren't even on the Glist try to boost up their bad reputation. Will also has the students find songs with bad reputations and to attempt to make them better.

The episode was directed by Elodie Keene and written by Ian Brennan.

Plot
When Kurt steals a video of Sue performing Olivia Newton John's Physical from her office during Cheerios practice, the club members decide to post it on YouTube as a joke. Sue is mortified and in retaliation gives Figgins a list she has found, called a "Glist" which ranks the glee club members based on a sexual quotient. Figgins tells Will that he must find the creator of the list, or he will be forced to disband the glee club and suspend all of its members. Will reprimands the club members, and for their weekly club assignment he has the students find songs with bad reputations and rehabilitate them, performing Ice Ice Baby as an example.

Sue is ridiculed by her co-workers regarding her appearance in the video and makes an enemy of her new colleague, alcoholic astronomy teacher/badminton coach Brenda Castle. Her sister, Jean, reminds Sue that when they were hurt as children, they would volunteer at an animal shelter as a reminder there was always someone less fortunate than themselves. In light of her sister's advice, Sue decides to act as a therapist to school Emma Pillsbury, informing her that Will has been unfaithful to her. Emma confronts Will in the teachers' lounge, publicly shaming him.

Glee club members Kurt, Mercedes, Artie, and Tina are upset over not being included on the list, while Brittany is aghast at not being listed among the top three - especially after her stints at making out with nearly everyone in the school including boys, girls, and the school janitor. They perform a rendition of U Can't Touch This in the school library to cause a disruption in the hope of earning a bad reputation. Their plan backfires, and the librarian asks them to perform at her church's Sunday service.

Next, Kurt confesses to Sue that he is the one who stole her video; however, prior to his confession, Olivia Newton-John contacts Sue who requests her help for remaking the Physical video. As a result, Sue actually thanks Kurt for his actions. The song's re-release gains Sue a position in the top 700 recording artists, ending the ridicule by her colleagues - which she rubs in their faces. She donates her share of the profits to her sister's residential care facility.

After apologizing to Emma and presenting her with flowers, Will sees a depressed-looking Quinn in the hallway and suspects that she is responsible for the Glist. He confronts Quinn who confesses saying she wrote it because she went from being the most popular girl in school to being made fun of and getting no respect from the student body. As one of the reasons she calls out "Having a bad reputation is better than no reputation at all." She apologizes for her actions and breaks out in tears. To prevent her from being suspended, Will lies to Figgins and says that no culprit has been found, but convinces him that as no new lists have been posted, the matter should be dropped. Quinn stands behind Will clearly upset, and Figgins looks at her. He agrees with Will and leaves.

Rachel asks Puck to assist her in their glee assignment, creating a video for Run Joey Run. Unbeknownst to each of them until the video is completed and being showed in glee club, she triple-casted him along with Finn and Jesse St. James to play the role of her boyfriend, Joey. They are offended to see they were all playing the same role, being edited in at different points during the video to make it seem as though the three boys were fighting over her. Puck and Finn are extremely angry, and Jesse breaks up with Rachel as a result. The episode closes with Rachel, Jesse and Finn singing Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Special Guest Stars

 * Jonathan Groff as Jesse St. James
 * Molly Shannon as Brenda Castle

Guest Stars

 * Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins
 * Patrick Gallagher as Ken Tanaka
 * Stephen Tobolowsky as Sandy Ryerson
 * Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez
 * James Earl III as Azimio Adams
 * Max Adler as Dave Karofsky
 * Heather Morris as Brittany Pierce
 * Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang
 * Dijon Talton as Matt Rutherford

Special Appearance

 * Olivia Newton-John as Herself

Co-Star

 * Robin Trocki as Jean Sylvester

Absent Cast Member

 * Jessalyn Gilsig as Terri Del Monico

Trivia

 * Watched by 11.62 million viewers.
 * Cory stated that the "blood" on his hand during Run Joey Run was just ketchup.
 * At the end of Rachel's Run Joey Run video, "Fin" alludes to the way old films would end. Rachel was attempting to make her music video seem as artistic as a French New Wave classic. "Fin" means end in French (and also in Spanish).
 * On Jesse's black t-shirt it says UTGÅNG and below EXIT. UTGÅNG means exit in Swedish.
 * This episode marks the final appearance of Ken Tanaka, who would leave after suffering a nervous breakdown and would soon be replaced by Coach Shannon Beiste. He would reappear again in a photo during Shooting Star.
 * One of the ballerinas in Total Eclipse of the Heart is Melissa Sandvig, also known as, the "Naughty Ballerina" from the fifth season of So You Think You Can Dance.
 * Sue wants her cheerios to wear their uniform all the time yet both Mercedes and Kurt weren't wearing their uniforms all the time.

Cultural References

 * During the interrogations, Puck told Mr. Schue that he was just moving the Glist from Rachel's locker, so it wasn't him. He says, "I was being a man, doing the right thing." This quote is in reference to an act by comic, Russell Peters.