This episode is about — you guessed it — bad reputations. The gleeks gain one because of a “who’s hot/who’s not” list. Emma finds out about Will’s bad rep and calls him out for it, and the “not-as-hot” gleeks have a backfiring plan to get one. This all starts, however, with a few of our singing friends posting a video of Sue dancing to Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical,” which somehow brings ONJ on the show. Molly Shannon also guests stars, and Artie raps MC Hammer.
Music Tip: Rachel takes a stab at being “musically promiscuous.” I’m not completely sure what she’s going for here, but she wasn’t the first one to make (or at least try to make) a statement through music. Songs can be found from virtually any era that were written to protest, evoke a certain mood or just make a statement, think “Blowin’ in the Wind,” or “A Change is Gonna Come.” This doesn’t only happen in the pop music world though — classical works that broke from the norm weren’t well-received either. There was a riot at the premiere of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” a classic now but a rebellious piece at the time. Fortunately for Rachel, no tomato-throwing results from her quest for a bad reputation, but she does receive the silent treatment because of her song.