‘Glee’ Recap: ‘Born This Way’

Whoa! Tonight was the biggest episode of 'Glee' yet, with 90-minutes of self-loathing, learn-to-love-it action inspired by Lady Gaga and her huge be yourself hit, 'Born This Way.' PopCrush has your recap right here.

New Directions begin to prepare for the big Nationals competition with a 'booty camp' -- ie, dance lessons. But things go south when Finn knocks Rachel in the face, and she falls and breaks her nose. When the doctor suggests that she get a nose job, adding that she may even be able to hit higher notes, she consults her glee club friends, which causes them to think about their own flaws.

In Santana's words, "If you look in the mirror and you don't like what you see, you should change it!" but Will pumps the brakes because it goes against everything their group stands for, and he wants them to realize that their little family is a cultural melting pot. With Emma's help, Will decides to bring in the club's two favorite teachers -- him and Gaga -- so that the kids will realize they should love who they are, because they were 'born this way.'

Quinn tags along to the doctor to be a model for Rachel's new nose, but as expected, she's having doubts. The two team up on a 'Glee'-style mash-up of ‘I Feel Pretty/Unpretty’ (West Side Story/TLC), and T-Boz, Left Eye, and Chili -- oh, and Finn -- help Rachel realize that true beauty comes from the inside and that Quinn's insides are pretty ugly.

But when Lauren Zizes decides to go for prom queen against the blonde cheerleader, she discovers that the McKinley High beauty queen actually had a nose job herself, and plasters the walls with pre-bombshell Quinn, who looked quite a bit different when she was 'Lucy Caboosey' in middle school.

Finn, who is self-conscious about his dance moves, is really feeling this week's moral lesson, and shows his friends that he loves who he is with a big solo rendition of Sammy Davis, Jr.'s ‘I’ve Gotta Be Me,' while Mike dances alongside him.

Santana spots Karofsky checking out Sam's butt and outs him, but promises not to blow his cover if he can help get Kurt back to the school. The big bully football player comes forward in front of the glee club to apologize for being mean to them, and with Santana's persuading, swears to rehabilitate himself so that Kurt can come back to a safe zone. Naturally, Kurt sees through his guise and agrees to keep quiet if the anti-gay gay football player will agree to join a gay rights group.

Even though Dalton Academy is sad to see Kurt go, the Warblers come over to McKinley High to see him off with a courtyard performance of Keane's ‘Somewhere Only We Know,’ led by Blaine, which brings Kurt to tears.

Admittedly, we all shared a collective sigh of relief when Kurt came home to the winning team, and we loved how he walked through the halls belting a beautiful version of ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’ (Barba Streisand) while he reacquainted himself with the school. Then, in order to get through to Rachel about her inner and outer beauty, he enlists the 'Glee' kids to dance through the local mall to a Streisand mix, which lifts Rachel's spirits to the max.

Emma has been struggling with her own (major) OCD issues, but helps the glee club make their 'costumes' for the big finale number in the auditorium. The kids sport shirts with their biggest insecurities written on them -- Mike's lack of vocal skills, Kurt's love of boys, Sam's trouty mouth -- all of the things that they learn to love in order to appreciate who they were born to be, and the group dances and sings to a very powerful copy of what other than Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way.' Oh, and Rachel decided against the nose job. Phew!

Tune in next week as PopCrush brings you a recap of the 'Rumours' episode!