Duets

"Duets" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the twenty-sixth episode overall. It was written by series creator Ian Brennan, directed by Eric Stoltz, and premiered on Fox on October 12, 2010. The episode featured seven cover versions, including a mash-up of "Happy Days Are Here Again" and "Get Happy" by Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland, respectively. In the episode, transfer student Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) joins the glee club. Director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) assigns the members to perform a duet with another classmate, and offers a prize for the best performance. The students form their duos and begin practicing, testing several relationships and initiating others; after first being recruited by Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), Sam ultimately finds himself partnered with Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron). "Duets" received generally positive reviews from critics, and many praised the show for its character development and varied song choices. The episode also featured a neck-nuzzle between Santana (Naya Rivera) and Brittany (Heather Morris), which was a subject of interest to many critics and led Christie Keith of AfterEllen.com to refer to the episode as "queerest episode of any series that's ever been on television". In its original broadcast, "Duets" was watched by 11.36 million American viewers. It was the top-rated program of the night in the 18–49 demographic, attaining a 4.7/13 Nielsen rating/share. Both viewership and ratings rose from the previous episode, "Grilled Cheesus". Plot Glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) announces a duets assignment and competition; the prize for the winning duo is dinner at Breadstix. He tells them that club member Puck (Mark Salling) has been sent to juvenile detention for stealing an ATM, and introduces a new member, Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet). Kurt (Chris Colfer) suspects that Sam is gay and asks him to be his duet partner; Sam agrees. Club co-captain Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) separately attempts to convince them not to be partners, as he fears that Sam will be bullied to the point of quitting if he sings a duet with another guy, but Sam insists on honoring his given word to Kurt, and Kurt is still angry at Finn for some homophobic comments he made when they were roommates.