I thought Chris Colfer's performance was amazing, and they actually handled all the religion stuff with a lot more nuance than I expected, so kudos to them.

And that's just it, isn't it? When they do that stuff well, they just absolutely hit it out of the park. Which is why it makes the less-than-stellar episodes so damned painful.

Some of the stuff Sue said about her sister made me cringe a bit, but eh.

See, maybe it's just that Jane Lynch can deliver a soliloquy on the phone book and make it work, but those things Sue said about Janie just felt so damned real. And I can't think of another actor right now who can imbue a single syllable with as many layers and as much meaning as Jane did with Sue's simple "No" at the very end.

I think some of the most beautiful music in the world is spiritual. 17-year-old-me didn't feel that way and I would have been the first one down to the principal's office to lodge a complaint. I'm a bit surprised that Kurt was the only atheist in class. Maybe the only one who felt he could speak up about it.

As a grown-up I do believe it's OK to teach the bible (as literature) in public school, just as it's OK to talk about The Last Supper in art class & therefore singing spirituals in glee club is just as OK. But there I go again- analyzing this largely non-sensical show.

I loved that episode. I thought that the religious stuff was well-done, on the whole - I'm sad that Kurt's atheism was being treated as a religious outlier, but not unrealistic, especially in small-town America. In the end, I think the show ended up landing on "It's good when other people care about you, however they express that caring in their own spiritual way" which I mostly agree with. I am an atheist, but if I was having a rough time I would accept every "I'm praying for you" and feel truly thankful for it, so I guess I liked that Kurt came around to that way of seeing it. I didn't think even when Mercedes took him to church that she was really trying to force her belief system on him - she was just using her faith as a way of expressing her personal support.

Also, I liked all of the musical numbers and LOVED three of them: Puck's Billy Joel, Rachel's Yentl moment, and, most of all, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." That was brilliant. Such a wonderful repurposing of the song, and Chris Colfer sang it amazingly and acted it even better. And the little bow-tie child Kurt was adorable. The show doesn't often depart far from the original ( Dancing with Myself and.... anything?) but I like it when they do, and this really got me. I cried.

I would've really liked the spiritual Bridge over Troubled Water except that I love the original more than perhaps any song in the history of life, so I have a hard time enjoying even good covers.

And I liked Sue, too. The sister storyline doesn't always work, and sometimes feels on the verge of manipulative, but Jane Lynch is such an amazing actress that I always feel it in the moment, even if after, during analysis, I have doubts. Also...

And I can't think of another actor right now who can imbue a single syllable with as many layers and as much meaning as Jane did with Sue's simple "No" at the very end.

...this.

Safety Dance was a standout, as well.

I could have done with less of Rachel's Yentl - by that I mean a shorter version - and a longer closing song, I thought it got it short shrift.

Totes second the Chris Colfer love. I adored his "A House is not a Home", as well.

I think it's time they stop giving solos to Finn -- maybe a verse here and there, but the guy just doesn't have the chops to carry an entire song and there are so many other people in that cast who deserve the opportunity to shine.

Like Mercedes. I love her voice. Although I am ambivalent about this week's "Bridge" cover, because I don't care for gospel as a genre.

I did find it interesting that the religion/spirituality episode immediately followed the Britney Spears episode.

I wish they would do a High Society episode. I have this vision of Kurt and Mercedes singing "Well Did You Evah?"

I've only seen this week's Glee to the first commercial break, so I can only say that Puck did a brilliant job on "Only the Good Die Young." But Puck has that Tin Pan Alley showmanship thing going for him, and Billy Joel is possibly the most Tin Pan Alley rocker ever (with Elton John being his only real competition, and possibly Stevie Wonder if you count Motown artists as "rockers").

While I like the idea of a High Society episode, and Kurt in particular would nail "Well Did You Evah?," I'm not sure who you build the plot around. There aren't any potential triangles at the moment. (Artie vs. Mike isn't strong enough, I don't think.)

I think it's time they stop giving solos to Finn

So much this. I actually enjoyed Corey Monteith this episode more than I have in a good long while, but his rendition of Losing My Religion was beyond bad.

I love Amber Riley's voice, but I didn't care for either of her songs this week. The Whitney song came off like an AI audition and I've heard better gospel covers of Bridge Over Troubled Waters. (Bebe and Cece Winans, for example). I felt like this version was a little shrill and sort of what people imagine church music at a a black church is like without it actually being like that.

Loved, loved Papa Can You Hear Me as a stand alone performance. I thought Lea Michele knocked it out of the park. However, I'm not sure it really worked in the story. It was kind of weird to see Rachel crooning this song to Burt and caressing his face tenderly when we've never seen them in a scene together before.

Overall, I liked the episode. There were some lovely parts(Chris Colfer singing I Wanna Hold Your Hand!) but I didn't love it.

It was kind of weird to see Rachel crooning this song to Burt and caressing his face tenderly when we've never seen them in a scene together before.

That didn't bother me. It struck me as Rachel enjoying being all caught up in the drama, but not really feeling anything for anyone else.

(Insert my standard pedantic rant about how "losing my religion" is not about losing one's religion.)