It advances the love triangles between Rachel (Lea Michele), Finn (Cory Monteith) and Quinn (Dianna Agron) and Emma (Jayma Mays), Will (Matthew Morrison) and Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig), and sees antagonist Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) begin to conspire against the club.

"Showmance" introduces recurring cast members Jennifer Aspen, Kenneth Choi, and Heather Morris, and guest-stars Valorie Hubbard.

Brian Lowry for Variety, however, received the episode poorly, deeming the show a one-hit wonder, while Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times noted weaknesses in the adult characters.

Cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) informs glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) that New Directions must have twelve members to be eligible to compete at Regionals.

Rachel Berry's (Lea Michele) crush on Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) leads her to join the celibacy club, which he attends with his girlfriend, Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron), who is head of the Cheerios.

He begins working at the school as a janitor after hours, and shares a romantic moment with guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays).

[1] Recurring cast members who appear in the episode are Gallagher as football coach Ken Tanaka, Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins, Jennifer Aspen as Terri's sister Kendra Giardi, Romy Rosemont as Finn's mother Carole Hudson, Ken Choi as Terri's OB/GYN Dr. Wu, and Rivera and Morris as new glee club members Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce.

[2] It was revealed at the 2011 Glee Comic-Con panel that a scene had been written for this episode that featured Rachel's fathers, but it was subsequently cut from the script even though the actors had already been cast and reported for shooting.

[3] The episode features cover versions of Kanye West's "Gold Digger", Salt-n-Pepa's "Push It", "Take a Bow" by Rihanna, "I Say a Little Prayer" by Dionne Warwick, Chic's "Le Freak",[4] and "All by Myself" by Eric Carmen.

[11] However, as Scott Collins for the Los Angeles Times noted, the other major networks besides Fox all opened the evening by airing a speech by President Barack Obama, disrupting regular viewing patterns.

"[16] David Hinckley of the Daily News rated the episode 4 out of 5 stars and commented: "Glee could have a hard time sustaining what it has set up.

[20] Lowry praised Colfer and Michele, however stated that the show's talent was squandered by its "jokey, cartoonish, wildly uneven tone".

[20] He deemed the show a "one-hit wonder", writing that: "the musical numbers—generally less infectious and buoyant than the first time out—can’t compensate for overly broad characterizations and absurdly soapy situations.

"[23] The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan commented similarly: "there's one big flaw in Glee [...] and it may be a harbinger of bad things to come.