The Spanish Teacher

The Spanish Teacher is the twelfth episode of Glee's third season and the fifty-sixth episode overall. It premiered on February 7, 2012.

Will and Sue's teaching abilities are questioned after there have been some complaints and is revealed that there is a spot for tenure. A student is questioning Will's ability to teach Spanish, and after Sue's ability to coach the cheerios is questioned, Coach Roz Washington steps in to try and steal her job. Will goes to a Spanish night school lesson and meets David Martinez who speaks fluent Spanish and brings Mr. Martinez to Glee Club. Sam and Mercedes seek Emma's guidance after they kissed, although Mercedes is dating Shane, and Emma advises them not to talk until the end of the week, only to speak through song. Eventually, to settle things, Santana challenges Will and David and encourages them to have a Spanish-off.

The episode was directed by Paris Barclay and written by Ian Brennan.

Plot
The episode opens with Will, Puck, Finn and Artie singing La Cucaracha in front of the class while Santana and the other students gaze vacantly at them. Figgins calls Will to his office after getting a complaint about his "Taco Tuesday" performance. Figgins says that questions have been raised about Will's teaching ability. He then tells him about a tenure and Will says he really wants it. Figgins then suggests he brush up on his Spanish by taking Spanish classes.

Will goes to night school where he meets his teacher David Martinez. He invites David for a cup of coffee, which he reluctantly accepts. While they are talking, Will learns that David quit his job as a tooth model to be a teacher. When David suggests he teaches Spanish to the Glee Club by doing Latin songs, Will sees this as a great opportunity to improve his chances of getting the tenure.

The next day, Will finds Sue talking to the Glee Club boys about sperm donation, (except for Artie and Kurt who she believes are not good candidates). Will asks Sue why she wants to do this and she confesses she wants to have a baby and even suggests that Will donates his sperm. She also tells him she is another candidate for the History teacher tenure. Becky informs Sue that Figgins needs her in his office.

In his office, Figgins tells Sue that a student complained about her coaching the Cheerios and that Coach Roz Washington will be helping to coach the Cheerios. Roz tells Sue that her moves are too old fashioned and that her time is over.



In the choir room, Will asks the kids where they think they will be in 2030, and while Rachel and Kurt say Broadway, Artie thinks he will be walking and Puck says that he will be in jail, dead, or both. Will tells them that they need to learn Spanish because it will be spoken by most of the population by 2030. David enters the choir room, and Will tells the Glee Club that the assignment for the week is to sing songs by Latin Performers or Latin descendants. David tells the kids they need to sing with "duende" referring to the passion as they perform. Santana asks him to show them how, which prompts David to perform Sexy and I Know It.

Sam and Mercedes go to Emma's office to talk about their feelings because Mercedes is confused since their kiss and she wants to follow her real feelings without hurting Sam or Shane. Emma tells them they need to go for a week without talking to each other in any way so that they realize their true feelings toward each other.

In the gym, the Cheerios perform a new choreography created by Coach Roz which everybody loves including Becky. Sue accuses Roz of trying to steal her job when she is trying to have a baby and Roz tells her she is too old and that she doesn't need to steal her job because Figgins will give it to her. Roz also states that Sue is over as a coach and as woman (referring to the fact that she can't have a baby).

At Rachel's house, Mercedes, Rachel and Kurt are having a sleepover and they are watching Twilight. Mercedes and Rachel begin making comments about true love and marriage, and Kurt asks them why they are being so "weird and serious."

Rachel pauses the movie to tell Mercedes and Kurt about Finn proposing to her and that she said yes, but she asks them to keep it a secret. Mercedes and Kurt believe it's a rushed decision and that it will ruin her dreams. Rachel says that even though she will be a star, Finn is also one of her dreams and that the fear was not the decision, it was her being too scared to realize it. This inspires Mercedes to perform Don't Wanna Lose You for that week's assignment, which is directed towards Sam.

The next day in Glee Club, Sam, along with the boys, performs Bamboleo/Hero where he openly flirts with Mercedes. Will asks them about the boots they are all wearing and Finn says that David's been teaching them about Latin Culture. Santana makes a sneer comment that Will needs to defend his Spanish Teacher honor by also performing a Latin song.

Emma questions Sue about why she wants Will to be the father of her baby, to which Sue replies that she knows she is vindictive and has anger issues and that she doesn't want her child to have those traits. She says that no matter how much she insults him, Will always treats her kindly and that she wants his kindness for her baby. Emma tells her that being a mother will be good for her.

In the boys' locker room, Kurt gives Finn pamphlets for potential colleges, all of which Finn reject saying that "college isn't for everyone." Kurt reveals to Finn that he knows about his engagement to Rachel. Finn tells him that Rachel is the only good thing he has, but Kurt disagrees, saying he has had a tough year but his time isn't over. He says that Finn is a star who shines just as bright as Rachel and that no other Glee Clubs have "The hot, straight football player who can sing and sort of dance" and Finn thanks him for his advice.

Sue accuses Santana of presenting the complaint to Figgins about her coaching skills while she is trying to have a baby, to which Santana responds "With who's vagina?" and Will tells Sue that's enough.

At Will and Emma's apartment, Will is trying to translate a song while Emma is looking at her new counseling pamphlets. Will says that he needs the tenure to support her and their future family and Emma tries to show her support by showing him her pamphlets. Will believes the pamphlets are silly, and Emma tells him he's being mean. Will responds with "You got a pamphlet for that?" and Emma walks away angrily.



The next day in the auditorium, Santana and David perform La Isla Bonita. After the performance, David leaves to grade exams, and Santana tells Will the floor is all his. Will then performs A Little Less Conversation dressed as a classical Spanish torero with Mike and Brittany dressed as bulls, all while being accompanied by Mariachis. Although everybody enjoys the performance, Santana hates it.

Will realizes that Santana presented the complaint to Figgins and she tells him that he treats teaching Spanish as a joke by creating the already presented stereotypes. She confronts him by asking why he decided to be a Spanish teacher and Will confesses that it was the only spot for teaching at the time. Santana tells Will that a "wise teacher once told her that without passion, there is no success" and when he asks her who told her that, she answers that he did while teaching Glee Club.

At lunch time, Will meets Beiste and Emma at their table and Beiste says that thanks to Emma, the guys now have hygiene about their privates and that Cooter made the Ohio State football team also aware of the importance of it. She also states that she has never seen any teacher with such passion as Emma's. Beiste asks Will if he is proud of Emma and he answers that he is indeed.

At the Night Shift Spanish Class, David is giving awards to his students and gives Will the award of Best Improved. Will tells David that Figgins is offering him a job as Spanish Teacher because he and the Glee Club kids suggested him. David, truly moved, hugs Will and tells him that his parents were immigrants and had to lie to study High School and now he will get to teach it.

The next day, Sue is shown in her office with Becky. Becky tells her that she needs to confess something. Sue replies that she already knows Becky presented the complaint to Figgins because she noticed that it was written in crayon. Becky apologizes but Sue congratulates her for being a good co-captain. Sue tells Becky that she is there for her and the Cheerios, and Becky leaves telling her she will be a great mom.

Sam and Mercedes count down the last few seconds on the clock until it has been exactly a week since they have last talked, and they go to meet each other in the hallway. Just as they are about to express their true feelings toward each other, Shane arrives telling Mercedes they are going for lunch. Shane and Mercedes walk away together, leaving Sam looking heartbroken.



At Will and Emma's apartment, Will prepares a romantic dinner for Emma as an apology for how he treated her the night before. He tells her how proud he is of her for being rewarded the tenure position at McKinley, and the episode ends with Will and Emma kissing.

Unreleased Songs

 * La Cucaracha by Traditional. Sung by Artie Abrams, Finn Hudson, Noah Puckerman and Will Schuester

Background Songs

 * Dang Diggy Dang by The Beatards - Danced to by Brittany and Cheerios.
 * Looking Back by Kerry Muzzey. Background music during Sue's monologue and Santana's talk with Will.

Special Guest Star

 * Ricky Martin as David Martinez

Guest Stars

 * Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins
 * Dot-Marie Jones as Shannon Beiste
 * Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans
 * NeNe Leakes as Roz Washington
 * Damian McGinty as Rory Flanagan
 * Vanessa Lengies as Sugar Motta
 * Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson
 * LaMarcus Tinker as Shane Tinsley
 * Mary Gillis as Mrs. Hagberg
 * John Marshall Jones as Chili
 * Roger Keller as Bill
 * Brenda Ballard as Stephanie

Absent Cast Members

 * Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson
 * Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang

Trivia

 * This is the seventh episode where Rachel doesn't sing a solo.
 * Jenna Ushkowitz (as Tina Cohen-Chang) and Darren Criss (as Blaine Anderson), though credited, do not appear in this episode.
 * This makes The Spanish Teacher the first episode in which Tina is absent.
 * It is revealed by Sebastian Smythe in On My Way that Tina fell ill with the "Asian Bird Flu."
 * Darren is absent because he was performing How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Broadway while this episode was filmed.
 * During the performance of Sexy and I Know It, Finn draws a face on a box, which is a reference to the Shuffle Bot from LMFAO, the group who performs the song.
 * This episode scored a 3.3 rating 18-49 with 7.81 million total viewers. Source
 * When Will asks where they think they'll be in 2030, Rachel and Kurt both say Broadway and then say "Twinsies." This is a reference to the YouTube-video Sh*t Girls Say Ep 1.

Quotes
""The one thing Glee clubs and theatre programs don't have is the Hot Straight Football player who can sing and sort of dance.""

""Ladies, I appreciate you spending time with me while Blaine recovers, but why are you acting so weird and serious? Our periods don't come until the end of the month.""

""Mr. Schue, what's with the shiny coat? I thought you were Kurt.""

""I'm bilingual.""

"Santana: "I wanna remind you of something that an amazing teacher once taught me: Without passion you can't succeed."

Will: "Who taught you that?"

Santana: "You did. And you do, when you teach Glee.""