Susy Pepper's Back from Therapy and A Secret's Finally Out on 'Glee'
Glee Season 1, Episode 10, “Ballad” is my favorite episode so far and it’s not only because Sarah Drew is the iconic Susy Pepper.
Real talk? I was in tears when everyone sang “Lean on Me” to Quinn (Dianna Agron) and Finn (Cory Monteith) at the end of the episode. I don’t think it’s easy to make me cry in general, let alone for a movie or TV show to make me cry.
I mean, I sobbed when Japril’s (Jesse Williams and Drew) son died on Grey’s Anatomy but I’d planned on it happening, was drunk, and I think a second mentor for my Master’s thesis had flaked on me recently so….it was complicated.
Why did one performance on Glee make me cry? I think I genuinely love the message of the song. Plus, I could always use someone to lean on and really missed Cory while watching. I wasn’t a Glee mega-fan or anything. But he does a trust fall in the scene and looks so happy while everyone sings to him — he should just be here. There are so many people from this cast that should still be here.
Moving on to the episode, it’s quirky but not overly camp, which I’ll always favor. My biggest criticism of any scene is that all of the kids are immature, so Mercedes’ (Amber Riley) speech to Puck (Mark Salling) that he needs to back off because Quinn chose Finn to be the father of her baby, while sage, feels odd.
I owe Finn an apology, too. Or at least half of one. After telling Quinn’s parents about her pregnancy he actually says, “But we didn’t even have sex.” So he’s only half as dumb as I thought he was and perhaps he’s more ready to learn the father’s true identity than I gave him credit for.
The theme of the episode is unrequited crushes, and Glee handles the teacher-student aspect with more care than I remembered.
Let’s start with Susy Pepper (because is there another place to start)? At this point in her career, Drew was well-versed in playing an outcast. It’s fun to watch her add flavor (the pun’s there) to it.
Susy is weird, but she’s also a bit of a mastermind. Plus, there’s a point to her. She’s there to help Rachel (Lea Michele) wake up.
In her final scene, it’s been two years since her extreme crush on Mr. Schu (Matthew Morrison) and her esophageal transplant. Therapy has really helped her understand her past behavior and she’s spot on about the origin of Rachel’s crush.
It’s so much easier to crush on someone you can’t have when more appropriate crushes don’t give you the time of day (I’m very familiar with this type of crush). I forget Susy’s exact words to Rachel, but I remember thinking, “You go girl. You grow and mature and take ownership of your past mistakes.”
It’s impressive to see any character do that on Glee, let alone in one episode.
This woman ate the hottest pepper in the world when her teacher set appropriate boundaries. Put respect on her name for owning who she is and passing on wisdom. (Also, in the pepper scene I initially thought she was going to pull out a razor so genuine kudos to the Glee team for making the right choice there).
Susy is also one of few secular characters Drew played at the time who was just awkward, not awkward, quiet, and oh btw, religious — so she’s refreshing.
Back at Glee Club, pairing the kids off for ballads is a unique catalyst for all of the truths about Quinn’s pregnancy that come out. Even at its crush stage, Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Finn laying the groundwork for being stepbrothers is my favorite.
Thank goodness Kurt is moving this secret pregnancy plot forward because I’m ready for Puck and Finn to fight about it already. Is Glee so old that this plot lasts all season? Please tell me it’s not.
As happy as I am that I truly love an episode, I couldn’t help thinking how much Artie (Kevin McHale) would’ve meant to me if the actor were authentically disabled. He does have a great voice, though.