['Glee' - 'Rumours']

Now that 'Glee' has completed almost two seasons, I'm wondering which kind of episode is better: one that centers around one artist or album or one that centers around a theme but uses songs from different artists. Both have their merits, but I'll tell you what: episodes revolving around a single artist or album are a heck of a lot easier to review.

Why? For one, you're not busy searching for song titles and artists. Second, you can see pretty easily if the episode adheres well to the theme set forth by the choice of that artist or album. And this week, the theme of "Rumors" was brought home pretty well by the glee club's cover of most of Fleetwood Mac's landmark album 'Rumours.'

And, in a pleasant turn of events, we not only got some well-done musical numbers, ones that seemed to have some emotion behind them, but we also got stories that seemed to be as coherent as any we've seen in this checkered season.

Even the Sue element of the episode fit in well, even if it still feels like Sue is a little over the top -- which perhaps Murphy, Brennan and Falchuk acknowledged by having her dress like a '70s era David Bowie and as Ann Coulter while she was talking to Terri at The Lima Bean. Sue even admitted that she hasn't quite been herself lately, that she's losing her grip. But instead of the cheese falling farther off her cracker, she actually hatched a relatively down-to-earth plan: resurrect the school paper, make it a rumor rag, and let the glee club tear itself apart from the inside.

So all the rumormongering really got the various couples -- and wannabe couples -- in a bunch of snits. Finn and Rachel spy on Sam because Finn thinks Quinn is cheating on him. Then we see Sam come out of a hotel with Kurt and that rumor flies around. Brittany lets fly on her 'Fondue for Two' vidcast that Santana plays for the other team, and Artie is so hurt that he actually calls Britt "stupid" for the first time ever, mainly because he thinks (rightly) that Santana is manipulating her.



Then, we get Will trying to help April Rhodes make it back to Broadway. It was fun to see Kristin Chenoweth back, though beyond the two numbers she did -- 'Dreams' and a funny duet with Will from April's comeback show -- she had a minimal presence. But, at least that was explained a bit: she was invited back by Terri to lure Will away from the glee club, and Lima all together, all so Terri can get their apartment back (she lives in an efficiency with a raccoon in the wall). So instead of a story about April, she was more a plot contrivance to tempt Will to ditch New Directions and move to New York.

But the emotions coming from the kids were palpable. Artie was extremely hurt by Brit's insistence that she can talk to Santana with their tongues really close to each other while she still goes out with him, and his pain comes through in 'Never Going Back Again.' Santana really does love Brit, and she belts out 'Songbird' to let her know. Rachel is hurt and confused by Finn's insistence on staying with Quinn, so she gives her own rendition of 'Go Your Own Way.' And you can feel the tension between Finn and Quinn in every note of 'I Don't Want To Know.' There have been very few episodes where song and story were married together so well.

Then we find out about why Sam was hanging around that hotel room. For the first time in a long time, real life came to McKinley, didn't it? Sam's whole family was staying in a hotel because Sam's dad lost the job they moved to Ohio for. I'd want to hide this predicament if I were Sam, too; it was enough to be the trouty-mouthed new kid, much less one that's flat broke. It's likely the reason why he turned Rachel down for the prom. Knowing that, despite all the crappy rumors, the gleesters got together to buy back Sam's guitar, it really made the camaraderie we saw on the whole choir's rendition of 'Don't Stop' possible.

More fun stuff:

-- The couple names were fun, of course: Finchel (Finn and Rachel); Puckelberry (Puck and Rachel); Pises (Puck and Lauren). Later we got Sarofky (Santana and Zarofsky). If someone can give me Artie/Brittany and Tina/Mike Chang, do so in the comments.

-- Brittany had a great plan for Santana to come out, didn't she. Come on 'Fondue for Two,' and just say yes when Brit asks her to the prom. But she couldn't even do that. That's OK; I wanted to see more of her interview with Lord Tubbington. Boy, is that a big cat; no wonder why she knows so much about cat diseases.

-- "You always give your first love the benefit of the doubt." Rachel, of course, was talking more about what she's doing with Finn rather than what Finn was doing with Quinn.

-- I liked how Santana bristled at being asked to be on the golf team after the rumors of her coming out came out.

-- Another Brittany bit, thanks to my wife: Did anyone see the stuffed Cheerio doll in her room?

-- Mercedes is right; fondue does taste like a stuffed diaper.

-- Good to see Emma taking her meds and getting better. Will says the kids will keep him from going to Broadway. But I wonder if Emma becoming somewhat normal is going to be more of a pull.

-- What rumor about Asian men did Tina want to refute? I have my ideas, but they're not suitable for a family blog...

'Glee' airs Tuesdays at 8PM ET on FOX.

Visit AOL Music to hear the songs from 'Rumours.'

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Watch the full episode here: