- The prom arrives. The glee club performs as a substitute band, Kurt wants to have a good time with Blaine, while Quinn and Santana vie for the crown.
- The junior prom approaches. Mercedes doesn't have a date, so Rachel makes a suggestion; Kurt invites Blaine who fears a repeat of a beating the last time he went to a dance with a date; Santana and Karofsky organize gay-protection squads as part of their law-and-order campaign for prom king and queen; Kurt notices that no one has harassed him for more than a week; Puckerman wants Artie's help in spiking the punch at the dance; and, the glee club is going to provide some of the music at the prom itself. The dance starts, Quinn and Finn seemed poised for coronation, Finn can't keep his eyes off Rachel, and is school homophobia on holiday?—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
- Open a week away from the junior prom. Jacob interviews Puck (Mark Salling) about his poll numbers -- he and Lauren (Ashley Fink) are trailing Quinn (Dianna Agron) and Finn (Cory Monteith). He tosses in a question about whether it's true Lauren wears the pants in their relationship.
Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) calls Will (Matthew Morrison) and Sue (Jane Lynch) into his office. His first choice for prom band (Air Supply) cancelled and he wants New Directions to perform. Will doesn't like the idea, given they are only three weeks away from nationals. When Figgins says he'll pay them $400 to perform, Will feels like he can't pass up the chance.
Prior to Glee club, Lauren talks about being unable to find a dress. She's worried she'll have to make one. The kids talk about how important they feel prom to be, particularly Quinn. Mercedes (Amber Riley) says she isn't going because nobody has asked her yet. Will comes in and tells them about performing at the dance. Since he wants them to be able to enjoy the prom themselves, he's plans to stagger the songs so they can spend time dancing with their dates. An upset Mercedes leaves the room. Rachel follows.
In the hall, Mercedes tells Rachel that she just wanted to feel like a princess for just one night. She wanted someone to tell her she looked beautiful and ask her to dance. Rachel also doesn't have a date. She tells Mercedes she has a plan.
Kurt (Chris Colfer) asks Blaine (Darren Criss) to prom. Blaine tells Kurt the story of attending a Sadie Hawkins dance with a boy soon after coming out. While waiting to be picked up for the dance, a group of kids beat them up. Kurt thinks this will be an opportunity for him to face a different group of bullies. Blaine eventually agrees.
Mercedes and Rachel approach Sam (Chord Overstreet) with a prom idea. They want him to take them both to the dance. Realizing he's short on cash these days, they loan him $20. The idea is he'll borrow a suit from his dad and they'll buy $5 dresses from Goodwill. They'll walk to the dance after eating the bargain buffet at Breadsticks. He agrees.
Kurt is brought in to help some of the girls pick out their dresses. He tells them he's going to the dance with Blaine. Santana (Naya Rivera) takes him aside and offers a full security detail from Bully Whip. She admits she's doing it because it will help her get votes for queen against Lauren and Quinn.
Puck tells the dateless Artie (Kevin McHale) that he needs to win the respect of the school's underworld as it's anti-king. He doesn't think his reputation could withstand the hit of being named king. To regain Puck's rep as a loveable miscreant, he needs to spike the punch. He knows Sue will never let him near the bowl. While he distracts Sue, he wants Artie to pour gin into the punch. Artie is only concerned with what will get Brittany (Heather Elizabeth Morris) to accept his prom invite.
Rachel tests out a version of "Rolling In The Deep" for the A-V club. She's joined unexpectedly by Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff), who walks in singing from the back of the auditorium. It sounds like he's failed out of college. Jesse calls what he did to her "my one great regret." He's says he's come to make amends. He asks her to prom.
Rachel tells Finn that Jesse is going to be joining Mercedes and Sam on their budge prom night. Finn wonders how she can trust Jesse. and She says it's none of his business. Finn doesn't seem excited about the whole prom process. Rachel gives him some advice on flower selection.
Santana and Karofsky (Max Adler) are very loudly protecting Kurt as he walks through the hall.
Artie comes into Brittany's cooking class and asks her to prom with a rendition of "Isn't She Lovely." Sam, Puck and Finn back him up with instruments. Brittany calls the performance "lovely" but is still upset he called her stupid. She's going to go to the dance by herself and "work on me." He apologizes. On the way out of the room, Artie agrees to help Puck spike the punch.
It seems Blaine will be joining New Directions for their prom performance. Burt (Mike O'Malley) tells Blaine and Finn stories of his prom as Kurt shows of his outfit: an homage to the royal wedding highlighted by a kilt-like bottom. Burt thinks Kurt is just trying to stir the pot. Blaine seems to agree with Burt, thinking they shouldn't give anybody a reason to hurt them. "I want you to be yourself but I want you to be practical." Kurt has no intention of changing his outfit.
Kurt wonders to Karofsky if perhaps the reason nobody is bothering him is because nobody cares anymore that he's gay. He says he now notices the pain in Karofsky. He hopes the day will arise soon that he's able to come out. Karofsky begins to cry, saying he's "so freakin' sorry" for what he did to Kurt.
As Quinn gets ready for the dance, she pictures being nominated queen later that night. Finn picks her up and gives her the wrist corsage.
During dinner, Jesse apologizes for what's happened to Sam's family. He tells the table his plan is to open up a dance studio specializing in consulting with show choirs. Rachel thinks it's a fantastic idea. Finn and Quinn stop by the table. Finn and Jesse immediately start snapping at each other.
The first prom dance song we see is Puck, Sam and Artie performing "Friday." The crowd seems to love it, with Brittany yelling to the ceiling "Best prom ever."
Rachel has slow-song duty, singing Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts." Kurt comments to Blaine how inclusive the prom is, but calls it "a lie" as he looks over at Karofsky dancing with Santana. Sam tells Mercedes how beautiful she looks and asks her to dance. At the end of the song, Quinn tells Finn being there with him is what she's always wanted. He doesn't look so sure.
Puck tells Artie it's go-time and asks Sue to dance. She points out there is no music. She turns just in time to catch Artie pouring a bottle into the punch.
Sue brings Artie to her office. She threatens to give him a dental cleaning if he doesn't tell her who put him up to spiking the punch. She thinks it was Puck, who would be expelled if caught. Artie says all he wants is to go back out there and dance with Brittany.
Blaine sings "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You," backed up by Tina and Brittany. Finn walks over to Jesse and Rachel, who are enjoying themselves. He pushes Jesse off, telling him to "keep it PG." This leads to more pushing. Finn proceeds to hit Jesse just as Sue arrives on the scene. She kicks them both out of the dance. Quinn is devastated by what this means for her candidacy.
Cut to Figgins announcing the winners. The king is Karofsky, which receives a so-so response from the crowd. The principal then announces the queen "with an overwhelming amount of write-in votes is . . . Kurt Hummel." The room is deathly silent. Kurt runs for one of the exits. Blaine follows.
Kurt is beside himself out in the hall, telling Blaine they were kidding themselves in thinking some kind of progress had been made: "It's still the same." Blaine thinks it was a joke. Kurt's opinion is the vote proves the hate is still there, just hiding beneath the surface.
In the girls bathroom ,a furious Quinn blames Rachel for losing, saying nobody voted for her because they knew "he would rather be with you." She slaps Rachel across the face.
In the hall, Santana is also crying. She tells Brittany she wanted there to be just one night where she was queen. She thinks she's going to be an outsider her whole life.
Kurt says he's not going back to the dance. Both Quinn and Santana are talking about transferring.
Kurt eventually tells Blaine this prom was supposed to be about redemption. He wants to go back in to show everybody that no matter what they say "they can't touch us."
Quinn tells Rachel she's terrified about the future. Rachel thinks she's much more than just a pretty girl.
Santana tells Brittany the kids must have sensed she's a lesbian: "Do I smell like a golf course?" Brittany thinks Santanta would have won if she had been herself. Brittany wants her to go back in and be there for Kurt.
Artie refuses to rat-out anybody. He says it was his idea to spike the punch with lemonade. Sue is irritated. After all this, he hadn't even tried to put alcohol into the punch bowl.
Kurt walks definitely to the stage. Figgins reluctantly places the crown on his head and hands him his scepter. Kurt turns to the crowd and says "eat your heart out Kate Middleton." The crowd applauds. This is the point where the queen and king are supposed to dance.
On their way to the floor, Kurt whispers this would be a good time for Karofsky to come out. "Make a difference," Kurt says to him. The music starts and Karofsky says "I can't," before walking away. Blaine walks up and dances with Kurt as Santana and Mercedes sing "Dancing Queen."
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