'Glee,' 'Hold on to Sixteen' Recap -- Season 3, Episode 8

Posted on Dec 7th 2011 10:10AM by Crystal Bell

Glee Hold on to Sixteen FOX

Say what you want about 'Glee,' but any show that can actually pull off an amazing 'Man in the Mirror' cover is OK in my books, and that's exactly what the New Directions did in 'Hold on to Sixteen.' But it was more than just 'the Sectionals episode.' It actually gave me some hope for the rest of the season, hope that the writers had not forgotten about their characters.

Crazy Quinn? She's gone ... Hooray! It's been a rough few seasons with Quinn, but here's hoping that her crazy spell is officially over because I happen to really love Dianna Agron.

I don't know what I enjoyed more in this episode: Sam's anticipated return, the Troubletones awesome 'Survivor/I Will Survive' diva mash-up, the New Directions' Jackson family medley or Rachel and Quinn's surprising character developments.

But let's get back to Sectionals. It was a battle for show choir dominance, and in the end, only one glee club could advance to Regionals. And the Sectionals glory goes to ...

New Directions!

But let's be real: Did that really surprise anyone? Of course the New Directions were going to take it. It wasn't easy, though. Rachel and Finn had to travel all the way to Kentucky to pick up Sam Evans, who just so happened to be stripping under the stage name White Chocolate. It took some convincing. After all, he makes $60 for a 15 minute lap on that stripper stage. Would you want to give that up?

'Hold on to Sixteen' Songs

However, as Rachel and Finn explain to Sam, he's just a teenager. Doesn't he want to enjoy his youth? (Keep in mind that this was a major theme of the episode ... see below). So Sam is back at McKinley -- and he's totally after Mercedes' heart, and while she may not be ready to ditch Bubba yet, Chord Overstreet told me that Sam has a plan to win back Mercedes -- and it involves a speedo.

Get the full recap at AOL TV!

Watch 'New Directions Reunites With Troubletones on 'Glee''

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