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.

Eh. It would have been nice to see the others come round to a little understanding of his perspective too. I was really struck when Emma was arguing with Sue "it's the only thing anyone is doing to comfort him and you're trying to stop it." Hello? Kurt made it pretty damn clear that it wasn't a comfort to him and in fact made things harder. But Kurt's the one who gets to apologize for being caught up in himself?

I did think the Mercedes-Kurt part ended on a better note. But all in all I found it pretty aggravating.

Kurt's number was stunning, and Rachel's was pretty amazing too. I didn't love the others.

What did Creed say after, "Be cool, Michael?.."

I was really struck when Emma was arguing with Sue "it's the only thing anyone is doing to comfort him and you're trying to stop it." Hello? Kurt made it pretty damn clear that it wasn't a comfort to him and in fact made things harder. But Kurt's the one who gets to apologize for being caught up in himself?

This bugged me a lot, too, even coming from the opposite direction--I do think that prayer matters, and I pray for all kinds of things and all sorts of people, but I also try to pay attention to what the people actually tell me about themselves. If someone has been as clear as Kurt about not believing, not wanting to hear about it, and feeling alienated and despised by the PTB of organized religion, I can't think of any possible way to say "I'm praying for you" that won't come across as hostile or challenging or, at best, all about me and my niceness instead of the person who's in distress.

And the song/prayer session around Burt's hospital bed? Way out of bounds. Even if Kurt hadn't walked in on it, there's no way he wouldn't have found out. Intrusive, unkind, totally thoughtless. If you truly believe that prayer matters, it shouldn't matter where you do it--if Rachel really wanted to pray for Burt instead of revel in the drama of praying for him, she could've done it somewhere else, anywhere else, where Kurt wouldn't have to walk in on what must have felt like an assault on his dad.

I agree, JZ, except that I kind of got the feeling Carol and Finn sort of invited them. And I know that they're not technically related to Burt, but Finn is right that in their own way they have become a family. Certainly I think that Carol had some rights there.

Carol had some rights (Finn can go take a flying leap), but the only two conclusions I can come to are that (a) she thought her rights overrode the feelings and express wishes of Kurt, who had already been through one parent's death and whose wellbeing and comfort should have overridden everyone else's, or (b) she had no idea what Kurt thought or believed, in which case there's not much family there.

I mean, I'm totally, "Yay prayer! Go team prayer!" But when the occasion of the prayer is a sick man whose vocally atheist kid has lost one parent already and is coming visibly unglued from grief and terror in front of you, you should back way off and pray your heart out somewhere else, where it won't give the kid an extra punch in the gut.

Unlike Finn, who just bleats his way through most songs.

I'm beginning to feel uncomfortable with Finn. The PTBs seem to think he's the central male character in the show, but they don't seem to know what to do with him anymore. Last season, he had an interesting tension between the jock and the singer. Now -- he's just kind of bland.

It doesn't help that he doesn't have a vocal niche in the club. Among the guys, Artie raps, Kurt does show tunes, and Puck is the showman. Among the gals, Rachel does (melo)dramatic ballads, Mercedes does gospel, and I have to give Quinn a soul nod based on last season's "It's a Man's Man's Man's Man's World." Finn's just kind of there.

We're now halfway through the episode, and I have to agreeon the prayer scene at the hospital bed. Kurt didn't use the best option when the other clubbers said they were praying for him -- a simple "Thank you" would have been better. But they went way, way out of bounds with the prayer meeting around Burt's bed. Okay, Carol and Finn had reason to be there as (at least quasi-) family. Rachel might be stretching it, but as Finn's girlfriend, she could be justified. The others -- no. (And if anyone has the right to sing a song called "Papa, Can Your Hear Me?" to Burt, it was Kurt and not Rachel.)

And if Carol, Finn, and Rachel want to pray quietly, that's their prerogative, and it isn't Kurt's place to demand that they not. But turning it into a big production (unless Burt is particularly religious, and we don't have any info one way or the other on that point) -- again, no.

The scene around Burt's bed was the only one that made me truly uncomfortable, because it went so expressly against Kurt's wishes and as insensitive as high schoolers can be, that was a bit beyond the pale, especially since it seemed to be pointing towards this having been Mercedes' brainchild, perhaps with Carol's permission.

(BTW, I do find it plausible that something like Kurt's atheism might not have come up and yet there would still be a fair measure of closeness-- unless Burt or Carol were big church-goers and Kurt refused to go, thereby giving a legitimate excuse for the discussion/revelation to have taken place, then I don't think it's something that's going to necessarily come up as a point of conversation.)

Anyhow, from a storytelling/writing standpoint, I see why the writers did it and frankly, it was lazy as hell-- that scene served two purposes: for Rachel to sing a song with some sort of distinctive faith background for her and bring everyone around Burt's bed (inappropriate, much?) and perhaps, more importantly, to show both the viewers & his classmates that Kurt's not simply a non-believer, but that he's willing to explore outside the bounds of conventional Western religion for help and comfort (since he referred to the acupuncturist as his sikh and anyone who knows better, please correct me if I'm wrong), but the definition of a sikh is: "any human being who faithfully believes in One Immortal Being; ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak Dev to Sri Guru Gobind Singh; Sri Guru Granth Sahib; the teachings of the ten Gurus and the baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru; and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion"

So, from that standpoint, Kurt choosing to rely on the sikh for assistance is really no less selfish, in its way, than Finn praying to Grilled Cheesus.

I get that the writers were trying have Kurt say "I don't believe in YOUR definition of religion," and they did to a certain extent, but rather than have him declare himself a non-believer of all religion so vociferously at the beginning, and then turn to a religious practitioner later on because it was convenient (whether the acupuncture has anything to do with the religion, I have no idea, but I'm going with how the writers referred to the acupuncturist) was just stupid lazy.

Seriously, that was the one scene that raised my hackles but more for the execution than anything else.

So, from that standpoint, Kurt choosing to rely on the sikh for assistance is really no less selfish, in its way, than Finn praying to Grilled Cheesus.

I'm not sure I agree with "selfish." Spiritual, or relying on a higher power, yes. But while Kurt had very good personal reasons for wanting his father to recover (and let's face it, he is dependent on Burt), I can't see "help my father" being as selfish as "let me touch Rachel's boobs."

But the sikh was there to do acupuncture, not to pray. I'm in agreement that it was a weird element though.

I'm not sure I agree with "selfish." Spiritual, or relying on a higher power, yes.

Yeah, selfish was perhaps not the right word, but coffee hasn't kicked in yet and I couldn't quite think of what I wanted to use. There were parallels, although of course, Kurt's reasons are grounded in a more profound need sort of way, since he does need Burt and Finn doesn't exactly need to have touched Rachel's boobs.

As an aside, it's Rachel who's beginning to really get on my nerves. The charming self-absorption has devolved into a raging megalomania that's gone from funny to painful.

But the sikh was there to do acupuncture, not to pray.

But again, not knowing anything about the connection, if there is any, between the two, does the application of the medical technique have anything to do with the spiritual?

I think perhaps because it was grounded in something concrete—the actual physical act of doing something to "help" Burt, was one reason that Kurt was more willing to look to the sikh.

I don't know. I mean, I know I'm overanalyzing it to death, but it's the one thing that consistently gets me about the show-- when they do things well, they do them so very well, with nuance and subtlety, but then they too often go and blow it by taking a lazy way out. It's like the writers who put a hot and heavy sex scene when the protags are in the middle of a jungle, running away from bad guys with guns. Because really, that's the best time to have sex up against a tree.