The Gleek Critique: "The Spanish Teacher" Episode

Ricky Martin guest stars as a singing Spanish teacher on Glee, image property of Fox.

by Jack Garcia

Glee gets bilingual in tonight's episode!  Unfortunately, Mr. Schuester is not-so-bilingual... which really is a bummer considering he's a Spanish teacher.  When a student files a complaint about his lackluster teaching abilities, Mr. Schuester decides to take a night class to brush up on his Spanish.  The instructor, David Martinez (played by guest star Ricky Martin), also happens to be a spectacular performer, so he decides to show off his music skills to the students.  The students really dig him, and their assignment for the week is to sing songs that are in Spanish by latin artists.

Sue Sylvester, finds herself in a similar situation as Mr. Schuester:  a student has complained about her teaching as well.  Apparently Sue has lost her passion for cheerleading and the swim coach is eying her job.  But Sue has bigger aspirations now... more maternal aspirations.  As shocking as it may seem, she wants to have a baby.  And even more shocking is the fact that she wants Will's sperm to do the trick!

Rachel spills the beans about her engagement with Finn to Mercedes and Kurt and both of them are surprised at the news.  Kurt confronts Finn about it, telling him that the real reason he asked Rachel to marry him is because he's given up on himself.  Finn insists that isn't so, but ultimately questions his motives.

Mercedes and Sam talk with Ms. Pilsbury about their feelings toward one another and the fact that Mercedes has a boyfriend.  Ms. Pilsbury helps out with one of her quirky pamphlets.  Will doesn't think her pamphlets are so awesome though, and he snaps at her while struggling with some Spanish translations.  She's hurt, of course, but when some of her pamphlets help out the football team and spread to all the other teams in the district, Will realizes just how motivating Emma's pamphlets really are.  She's such a good teacher, in fact, that she earns tenure.

It is discovered that Becky was the one who wrote about Coach Sylvester and Santana was the one who wrote about Mr. Schuester.  Santana helps Mr. Schue to realize that Spanish isn't his thing, so he convinces Principal Figgins to hire David Martinez as the new McKinley Spanish teacher.  So what will Mr. Schuester teach besides the glee club?  Well, he likes The History Channel.

The Pros:

• I learned something while watching Glee!  By 2030 more than half the nation will speak Spanish as a first language!  See?  It's an educational show.
• Gloria Estefan's "Don't Wanna Lose You" is a beautiful song (growing up my dad had all of her cassette tapes) and I thought Mercedes did well with it... even the parts in Spanish.
• In response to Mercedes, Sam sang a mash-up of "Bamboleo" by the Gipsy Kings and "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias with the other boys.  He sounds even sexier in Spanish!
• Ricky Martin sang twice in the episode, and I enjoyed his duet with Santana the most.  The two of them sang "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna and it was fantastic.  I think it was my favorite song of the night.  The other song he sang with the glee kids was L.M.F.A.O.'s "Sexy And I Know It" which was fun enough, but not really the best to showcase his voice at all.
• I really enjoyed the scene between Kurt and Finn, mostly because I like seeing how the two get along as brothers.  We don't see that enough.
• Surprisingly, I thought Ricky Martin did a decent job with the acting on the show.  He's a singer, not an actor, so I was impressed that he seemed pretty natural with his dialogue.
• Will's apology using his own pamphlets was pretty adorable.
• Sue was pretty funny this episode, and I loved how everyone kept asking "With whose vagina?" every time she mentioned she wanted to have a baby.  Can you imagine a little baby in a track suit?

The Cons:

• Mexican hipster boots??  Why boys?  Why?
• No Blaine this episode because he's still recovering from his eye injury.  Stupid slushie.
• Ricky Martin guest stars but nobody sings a Ricky Martin song?  Where was "Livin' La Vida Loca"?
• Mr. Schuester's Spanish rendition of "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley goes on my con list.  His matador costume combined with Mike and Brittany running around like bulls was really pretty pathetic.  I guess it was supposed to be... but still.  Even the opening rendition of "La Cucaracha" was less painful to watch.