Written by Brad Falchuk and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, it aired on Fox in the United States on September 20, 2012, and features Glee's second episode dedicated to the music of Britney Spears.
Kurt plays Rachel a video of Cassandra which reveals that ten years earlier, she used to be a promising star on Broadway but wrecked her first performance so dramatically due to pressure that no one wanted to hire her again.
Meanwhile, in Lima, Ohio, Brittany Pierce (Heather Morris) once again finds her true identity as she performs Britney Spears's "Hold It Against Me" during cheerleading practice before being interrupted by coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), who kicks her off the Cheerios due to her bad grades and replaces her with Kitty Wilde (Becca Tobin).
Hoping to cheer her up, guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays) convinces glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) to have New Directions perform Britney Spears' songs.
Subsequently, Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) and Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) perform a mash-up of "Boys" and Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend", for Brittany, and she is once more inspired by Spears.
Will interrupts the altercation and sends Jake to the choir room, where he's surprised to find his half-brother Noah "Puck" Puckerman (Mark Salling), who now lives in Los Angeles.
In New York City, Rachel enlists the help of her friend, NYADA upperclassman Brody Weston (Dean Geyer), to prove to Cassandra that she can be sexy by performing a sultry rendition of "Oops!...
In Lima, Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz) performs an acoustic version of "3" with Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) and Joe Hart (Samuel Larsen).
Brittany attempts to shave her head and is stopped by Will, after which she walks into the hallway, only to be provoked by Jacob Ben Israel (Josh Sussman), who she beats up with an umbrella in front of the student body.
As this plays, Brittany pines alone in her bedroom for Santana who is offline on iChat, and Rachel paints over a drawing of Finn's name that she had made on her apartment's wall.
[3] Returning recurring characters in this episode include special guest star Kate Hudson as NYADA dance instructor Cassandra July, McKinley's guidance counselor and Will's fiancée Emma Pillsbury (Mays), glee club members Joe Hart (Larsen), Wade "Unique" Adams (Newell) and Marley Rose (Benoist), new McKinley student Jake Puckerman (Artist), Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba), cheerleader Kitty (Tobin), NYADA upperclassman Brody Weston (Geyer), McKinley gossip blogger Jacob Ben Israel (Sussman), and Marley's mother (Stahl).