Glee BritneyEpisode

Tuesday's Britney Spears-themed episode had all the hype of the Second Coming: from the initial whisperings on Twitter last season, to the rumors, to the confirmation of those rumors, to twitpics from the set, to the fact that many of "Glee's" current fans actually grew up on the music the episode was showcasing. It's safe to say the expectations for "Britney/Brittany" were outrageously high.

Shockingly enough, the show delivered. I say shockingly because the last tribute episode (the Madonna one) was a fun experiment and clever lip service to Madge, but not much else. The plot didn't advance, barely anything of import happened, and the whole thing seemed built around the gimmick of having Jane Lynch do the "Vogue" video. "Britney/Brittany," for all its awkward brown-nosing, gets the job done as an episode, and there's not much else you can ask of it.

And to think, it could have been a Christopher Cross tribute. Because Schuester, in his infinite wisdom, is hell-bent on focusing the Gleeks' talents on soft rock, including Cross and one Michael Bolton. Good God.

But the Glee club will not be dissuaded so easily: Kurt has caught wind of a Facebook initiative, five members strong, to get New Directions to perform a Britney Spears song at the homecoming pep rally. Clearly these are the same guys who ran Obama's grassroots campaign. Schuester balks at the idea (an in-joke to Matthew Morrison saying he didn't want to do a Britney episode), as does Brittany, but it's too late: the club's interest is aroused.

Also arousing their interest is Carl (John Stamos), Emma's peppy dentist BF. He's one of those doctors who's kind of a dork in his attempts to be cool, but he seems to genuinely care about Emma and he's pretty funny. The lady Gleeks just want to get lost in his eyes, but they've got bigger problems: after a free exam from Carl, we find out Brittany, Rachel, and Artie all have awful teeth and need some work done. Luckily for them, the laughing gas is strong enough to make them hallucinate, and since everyone's got Britney on the mind, they're fantasizing themselves in Brit-Brit's videos while they're under.