Mash-Up (Glee)
The episode sees glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) attempt to create a wedding medley in the style of a mash-up for his colleagues Emma (Jayma Mays) and Ken (Patrick Gallagher).
Students Finn (Cory Monteith) and Quinn (Dianna Agron) find that they are no longer considered popular, while glee club members Rachel (Lea Michele) and Puck (Mark Salling) become romantically involved, as do cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) and local news anchor Rod Remington (Bill A. Jones).
The Wall Street Journal's Raymund Flandez described "Mash-Up" as a "turning point" for Glee, praising the episode for its character development.
[1] Football coach Ken Tanaka (Patrick Gallagher) and guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays) ask glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) to create a mash-up for their wedding, using "Thong Song" and "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady.
Puck's (Mark Salling) mother (Gina Hecht) encourages him to date a Jewish girl, and he decides to court Rachel Berry (Lea Michele).
Cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) falls in love with Rod Remington (Bill A. Jones), a television news anchor on the program where she has an opinion segment, and makes amends with Will.
Ken reverses his ultimatum after a conversation with a dismayed Finn and cancels the extra practice, allowing the football players to again do both activities.
Recurring characters who appear in the episode are glee club members Brittany Pierce (Heather Morris), Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera), Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.) and Matt Rutherford (Dijon Talton), athletes Lipoff (Zack Lively), Dave Karofsky (Max Adler) and Azimio (James Earl, III), football coach Ken Tanaka (Gallagher), and local news anchors Rod Remington (Jones) and Andrea Carmichael (Earlene Davis).
[2] The episode features covers of "Bust a Move" by Young MC, Sisqó's "Thong Song", Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline", "I Could Have Danced All Night" from the musical My Fair Lady,[3] and "What a Girl Wants" by Christina Aguilera.
[17] Entertainment Weekly's Michael Slezak criticized the "Bust A Move" performance, writing that Morrison gave a "pale imitation" of the Young M.C.
[18] Fellow Entertainment Weekly writer Dan Snierson called Morrison's performances "pretty impressive",[4] and MTV's Aly Semigran also enjoyed them, writing: "We want more!".
Glee's writers have also been praised for the episode's comedic content; one particular joke (performed by Lynch as Sue) was called an "instant classic" by television writer/producer Jane Espenson.
