Mash Off
The episode was written by Michael Hitchcock and directed by Eric Stoltz, and originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 15, 2011.
Special guest star Idina Menzel is featured as rival glee club director Shelby Corcoran, and she and Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) hold a mash-up competition between the Troubletones and the New Directions.
Santana (Naya Rivera) mercilessly taunts rival glee club member Finn (Cory Monteith), who ultimately responds by publicly accusing her of cowardice in her relationship with Brittany, thereby revealing to their fellow students that she is a lesbian.
Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) starts a propaganda campaign against Burt Hummel (Mike O'Malley), her chief rival in the special election for congress.
Puck (Mark Salling) fantasizes about his substitute teacher, Shelby Corcoran (Idina Menzel), whom he recently kissed and has since fallen in love with.
He sings "Hot for Teacher" by Van Halen, with Mike (Harry Shum, Jr.), Blaine (Darren Criss) and Finn (Cory Monteith).
Puck tries to convince Shelby, who adopted the child he fathered with Quinn (Dianna Agron), to start a relationship with him, but she rejects the idea.
Cheerleading coach Sue (Jane Lynch) starts a campaign against Burt Hummel (Mike O'Malley), her main rival in the election for congress.
As she walks away, Finn retaliates by telling her to come out of the closet, and calls her a coward for constantly tearing others down while not accepting herself and her relationship with Brittany.
[4] This episode marked the 300th musical number Glee has filmed, which was a mash-up of two Adele songs: "Rumour Has It" and "Someone Like You", with lead vocals by Amber Riley and Naya Rivera.
"[6] However, the scene was not broadcast because it was, according to Murphy, "too long for the episode"; he also stated that the footage, with the title "How Sue Sylvester Became a Bitch", would be released in the future, "either as a DVD extra or online".
[8] Recurring guest stars appearing in the episode include teacher Shelby Corcoran (Menzel), Kurt's father and new congressional candidate Burt Hummel (O'Malley), Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba), football coach Shannon Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones), cheerleader Becky Jackson (Lauren Potter), rival glee club member Sugar Motta (Vanessa Lengies), and exchange student Rory Flanagan (McGinty).
It received a 3.0/8 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic, and attracted 7.08 million American viewers during its initial airing, which tied with "Pot o' Gold" for the lowest rating of the third season.
Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone felt that the series returned to form in the episode, and commented: "We've said it before and we'll say it again: we like our Glee with just enough ridiculousness, and this week had it.
"[17] Amy Reiter of the Los Angeles Times wrote that there was plenty of "airy fun to be found" in "Mash Off", but added that "underneath all the silly fake mustaches and snappy quotes about root-beer fountains and robot teachers beat a very dark baboon heart.
"[18] Houston Chronicle's Bobby Hankinson stated that it was "surprisingly good", and that "Mash Off" was a "solid hour of television that was bursting with fantastic musical numbers and some really gratifying narrative developments".
[23] Wightman commented that despite Santana's callous personality, "watching her burst into tears and sob that she hasn't even told her parents about her sexuality yet [was] heartbreaking".
"[24] VanDerWerff said that "the last five minutes of this episode are phenomenal, one of those times that the show gets the mix of tones just right and something that's vaguely comedic gets more and more horrifying and dramatic, and then we plunge down the rabbit hole and everything goes nuts.
[15] Brett Berk of Vanity Fair gave the musical number a four out of five stars, and cited the choreography as the highlight of the performance.
"[20] Berk said that the mash-up of the two "You and I" songs "almost worked",[26] while Los Angeles Times writer L'Oreal Thompson praised the vocals of Menzel: "It's official.
"[27] Slezak awarded the performance a "B" grade, and opined: "I loved the audacity of mashing up Lady Gaga with an Eddie Rabbit–Crystal Gayle chestnut, and the results had the sheen of '70s a.m. radio fare.
"[30] Slezak, however, issued the performance an "A−" grade, and wrote, "The Troubletones beat New Directions in this particular battle, but I loved the frothy, silly spirit of this number, with the guys dressed like Miami Vice extras, Puck and Blaine rocking Oatestaches, and Tina getting a little moment on lead vocals.
"[20] Votta characterized the performance as a "fun, retro number",[29] and Jen Chaney of The Washington Post was similarly pleased, and gave it a "B+".
[17] Futterman wrote that the performance was one of Glee's best sequences: "Mercedes and Santana nail their vocals and the song combines great tracks from one of the year's biggest albums while capturing both the sass and sadness of the Troubletones at this particular moment.
"[15] Votta called it the best performance since the cast's rendition of "Don't Stop Believin'" in the season one finale, "Journey to Regionals", and stated, "Naya Rivera's powerful vocals and the strong arrangement still packs the emotional punch Glee was targeting.
[34] The mash-up sparked a revival in sales for "Rumour Has It", which achieved a new peak at number sixty that same week, during which it sold 42,000 digital copies.
