Glee: Special Education

"Special Education" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the thirty-first episode overall. It was written by series creator Brad Falchuk, directed by Paris Barclay, and aired on Fox in the United States on November 30, 2010. In "Special Education", the McKinley High School glee club New Directions competes in the Sectionals round of show choir competition against the Hipsters and the Dalton Academy Warblers, while dealing with internal feuding that threatens to rip the club apart. The episode shows the former member of New Directions, Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), at his new school Dalton Academy, where he joins the rival Warblers. With his departure, New Directions must find a new twelfth member to remain eligible for the competition. Club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) decides to feature overlooked performers from the group for Sectionals, to the consternation of the usual lead singers, Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith). The episode received a wide range of reviews, with a small majority commenting favorably; some viewed it as a lesser version of the first season's Sectionals episode. By contrast, the six songs covered during the show received generally favorable reviews, with the most praise going to "Dog Days Are Over" and "Valerie" as performed by New Directions, and "Hey, Soul Sister" as sung by the Warblers. Upon its initial airing, this episode was viewed by 11.68 million American viewers and garnered a 4.6/13 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic, up significantly from the previous episode, "Furt".