Dynamic Duets is the seventh episode of Glee's fourth season and the seventy-third episode overall. It premiered on November 22, 2012.
The Warblers steal the New Directions' Nationals trophy. Most of the Glee Club members are part of a group called the "Society of Superheroes" meeting and in their superheroes costumes, they investigate the case. Jake and Ryder continue to fight for Marley, which alters to a serious case in which Jake discovers a secret of Ryder's. Finn sets an assignment for Jake and Ryder to pair up and Marley and Kitty to pair up and sing superheroes songs to get even, known as "Dynamic Duets." Kitty acts friendly, but in actual fact she is still trying to get Marley bulimic, Marley unaware of Kitty's plans. Blaine sings a song with the Warblers and considers returning to Dalton as he misses Kurt's presence at McKinley and their break-up.
The episode was written and directed by Ian Brennan.
Plot[]
Blaine - in his new identity as Nightbird - calls to order the first Society of Superheroes meeting. The McKinley kids are dressed as their own crusading creations: Asian Persuasion (Tina), Blonde Chameleon (Sam), Tarantula Head (Joe), Sweet 'N' Spicy (Sugar), Queen Bee (Becky), The Human Brain (Brittany) and the very Professor X-like Dr. Y (Artie). Blaine ignores Tina's prodding to contact Kurt and reports that the glee club's Nationals trophy has been stolen, replaced with a laptop message from a mystery man among the Dalton Academy Warblers.
Jake asks Marley out but is rebuffed by Ryder, who already has a date with her and warns that he won't let Jake hurt her. Tempers flare, but Finn breaks up their scuffle. Ryder and Kitty join the glee club, qualifying it to compete in next week's Sectionals. Finn grasps at straws for a theme - singing Foreigner songs in foreign languages while wearing foreign wardrobe - but the students aren't impressed.
As the SoS's advisor, Coach Beiste gets into character as The Beiste-master and suggests Finn try it himself. Meanwhile, Sebastian leads Blaine to a new mastermind; Hunter Clarington (Nolan Gerard Funk), a former military academy champion choir leader recruited by Dalton. The trophy was bait: Hunter plays on Blaine's feelings of alienation from New Directions and his desire to escape painful memories of Kurt to lure him back to the Warblers. Against the backdrop of Kelly Clarkson's My Dark Side, Blaine is seen slipping back into his blazer, feeling tempted.
Finn becomes The Almighty Treble Clef, "uniter of glee clubs." With simmering arch rivalries threatening the club's harmony, Finn uses an Avengers analogy: powerful individuals are even more effective as a team. For the new "Dynamic Duets" theme, he pairs enemies Jake with Ryder and Marley with Kitty as duet partners.
As tensions rise between Ryder and Jake, both assume the identity of Mega Stud, playing their rivalry out to R.E.M.'s Superman. After a full-on brawl, Finn enforces "the Kryptonite Lesson": each must confess his deepest fear to the other, in hopes of recognizing their greatest strengths. Meanwhile, Blaine confesses that, with hopes of dousing his broken-hearted feelings, returning to the Warblers may be "my birthright and my destiny."
Marley's ongoing issues with her body image - she's still experimenting with bulimia - and the possibility of a spandex costume scare her, but Kitty promises to be supportive. In the weight room, Jake passes Ryder a note detailing his secret fear, but Ryder insists that Jake be a man and reveal it to his face. Jake admits that he feels like he doesn't fit in anywhere because of his mixed-race background, and McKinley students like Phil Lipoff never cease to reinforce this. Ryder confesses that the reason he made Jake tell him aloud was that he can't read the note Jake passed.
After bolstering Marley's confidence in her outfit as Wall Flower, Kitty - wearing a skin-tight catsuit and cracking a whip as Femme Fatale - kicks off Bonnie Tyler's Holding Out for a Hero, joined by Marley's revised persona: Woman Fierce. By the duet's end, the students realize that Blaine has departed, going over "to the dark side."
Tipped off by Jake, Finn takes Ryder to undergo a test that diagnoses him as dyslexic. Ryder feels like he's been concealing a secret identity, afraid of being perceived as stupid and letting his PhD. father down. Now set to receive some help, Ryder tells Finn he owes him, but Finn reminds him that he really owes Jake.
Jake notices that Marley's mom has lost some weight, and she in turn encourages him not to give up on Marley and try changing a little - like she has. When Lipoff insults Mrs. Rose, Jake stands up to him. A fight is avoided when Ryder and the glee kids rally behind Jake, as Ryder assures Jake he now has his back as well.
In Los Angeles, Puck is working at Hollywood Boulevard as a superhero - The Pucker Man - charging for photos with tourists. Jake calls for advice: Can he pursue Marley without screwing over Ryder, who he now sees isn't so bad Puck says to play it cool and soon Marley will be desperate for him: "Don't be a dick, but don't give up." Sam tries to convince Blaine to stay, but Blaine confesses his secret: When doubting his future together with Kurt, he hooked up with a Facebook friend - he realized immediately after how perfect he and Kurt were for each other, but his betrayal ruined everything. Sam urges Blaine to forgive himself, using David Bowie's song Heroes to convince Blaine not to exile himself. They're soon on a mission to Dalton, recapturing the Nationals trophy and replacing it with Blaine's Warbler jacket and a note that says "No Thanks" with Blaine and Sam running with the trophy.
Ryder postpones his date with Marley to study for an early appointment with a dyslexia specialist the next day. She grows insecure - aided by Kitty's subtle digs about her weight - then confident: super heroine Marley won't wait around, so she boldly marches up to Jake and asks him out, and he accepts.
Blaine returns the trophy and announces that he's staying, and the students present Finn with a gift: a superhero utility belt disguised as a backpack and loaded with goodies, including a treble clef pin to affirm his status as "uniter of glee clubs." As New Directions performs Fun's Some Nights, a new unity settles in among the former rivals.
Superheroes[]
- Blaine Anderson as Nightbird (spoof of Nightwing from DC Comics)
- Tina Cohen-Chang as Asian Persuasion
- Sam Evans as Blonde Chameleon
- Joe Hart as Tarantula Head
- Sugar Motta as Sweet 'N' Spicy
- Becky Jackson as Queen Bee
- Brittany Pierce as The Human Brain
- Artie Abrams as Dr. Y (spoof of Professor X from X-Men)
- Ryder Lynn as Mega Stud
- Jake Puckerman as Mega Stud
- Kitty Wilde as Femme Fatale (correctively Fatal Fatale; spoof of Catwoman from DC Comics)
- Marley Rose as Woman Fierce (originally Wall Flower; spoof of Wonder Woman from DC Comics)
- Finn Hudson as The Almighty Treble Clef
- Noah Puckerman as The Pucker Man
- Shannon Beiste as The Beast Master
- Dottie Kazatori as Chai Tea
Songs[]
| Song Title | Original Artist | Performer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| My Dark Side | Kelly Clarkson | Blaine Anderson with Dalton Academy Warblers |
| Superman | The Clique (R.E.M. version) | Jake Puckerman and Ryder Lynn |
| Holding Out for a Hero | Bonnie Tyler | Marley Rose and Kitty Wilde with New Directions |
| Heroes | David Bowie | Blaine Anderson and Sam Evans |
| Some Nights | fun. | New Directions |
Guest Cast[]
Guest Stars[]
- Dot-Marie Jones as Shannon Beiste
- Vanessa Lengies as Sugar Motta
- Samuel Larsen as Joe Hart
- Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson
- Melissa Benoist as Marley Rose
- Jacob Artist as Jake Puckerman
- Blake Jenner as Ryder Lynn
- Becca Tobin as Kitty Wilde
- Grant Gustin as Sebastian Smythe
- Nolan Gerard Funk as Hunter Clarington
- Trisha Rae Stahl as Millie Rose
- Jodi Harris as Mrs. Penkala
Co-Stars[]
- Pamela Chan as Dottie Kazatori
- Ian Gilligan as Eli.C
- Ryan Heinke as Stoner Brett
- Daniel Curtis Lee as Phil Lipoff
- Jesse Luken as Bobby Surette
- Dominic Barnes as Trent
- Riker Lynch as Jeff
- Titus Makin Jr. as David
- Eddy Martin as Thad
- Curt Mega as Nick
- Joey Haro as Warbler #1
- Steven Skyler as Warbler #2
- Cooper Rowe as Warbler #3
- Jonathan Hall as Warbler #4
- Marie Delage as "Female French Tourist"
- Sebastien Stella as "Male French Tourist"
Absent Cast Members[]
- Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel
- Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester
- Lea Michele as Rachel Berry
- Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester
- Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones
- Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez
- Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang
Trivia[]
- The Glee logo is reminiscent of the bat-signal in the title-card.
- Rather than only cutting to subsequent scenes, this episode features several scene-transition held in a "comic book"-style drawing.
- This is the first episode Will does not appear in.
- The second episode in this season where no NYC scenes were shown nor its characters.
- Kitty tells Marley that her superhero alter ego is "Femme Fatale" she says in French it means "kill women" but Marley corrects her, as the phrase actually translates to "Fatal Woman."
- Puck's line to Jake: "Don't be a dick" was omitted from the episode when broadcasted in the UK.
- John Kubicek of BuddyTV loved the costume designs of the superhero versions of New Directions and called them "hilarious and totally Emmy-worthy." source
- Marley "incorporates" a superhero while performing Holding Out for a Hero and Jake and Ryder sing Superman to her. Melissa Benoist would later star as the title heroine in Supergirl.
- Grant Gustin, who portrays Sebastian Smythe, who made an appearance in this episode, later went on to play Barry Allen in the CW show, The Flash.
- Darren Criss, who plays Blaine Anderson, went on to play a villain named Music Meister who goes up against Barry Allen and Supergirl in a special musical episode of both shows.
- Darren Criss has also voiced several animated superheroes and worked with Marvel comic book writer Stan Lee on an animated superhero show.[1]
- In Marley and Kitty's Performance of Holding Out for a Hero, Kitty enters the song the same way late Tennessee Drag Queen Tandi Iman Dupree [2] entered in her performance of the song at the Miss Gay Black America pageant in 2001. [3]
Cultural references[]
- Finn references The Avengers.
- Blaine references X-Men 2.
- Sam does an impersonation of Bane from the movie The Dark Knight Rises.
- This episode references the old 1960s Batman TV show in many ways, including using a symbol to transition between scenes, background music reminiscent of Neal Hefti's Batman theme, sound effect title cards, and brightly colored costumes.
- Ryder tells Finn he sounds like Yoda, referencing Star Wars. Finn replies "Deal do we have?", a nod at the way Yoda speaks
Mistakes[]
- When making his speech, Finn's marker disappears and reappears in his belt.
- While Blaine and Sam were running away with the trophy, the door Hunter and Sebastian opened, it starts opening and closing without anyone touching it.
Quotes[]
| “ |
Sam: Exiling yourself to Dalton won't fix anything. |
” |
—Sam Evans and Blaine Anderson | ||
| “ |
It was a guy that friended me on Facebook. And I went over to his place because I felt like Kurt was moving on with his life and I wasn't a part of it. And I got to thinking that maybe Kurt and I weren't meant for each other, that we weren't supposed to spend the rest of our lives together. But the horrible thing is, right after I did it, I knew we were. |
” |
| “ |
I'm the new captain of the Warblers... and I'm not even remotely bi-curious. |
” |
| “ |
I don't smell raspberry hair gel. Does anyone know where Blaine Warbler is? |
” |
| “ |
Blaine: And you, you need a team that's gonna gel! |
” |
