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'Glee' Recap: Tragedy at McKinley High

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 | chords center

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Phillip Parker, a 14-year-old who hung himself in his foster parents' bathroom. Seth Walsh, a 13-year-old who had been taunted and bullied repeatedly before hanging himself in 2010. Justin Aaberg, a 15-year-old Minnesota high schooler who hung himself after being bullied and breaking up with his boyfriend in 2009. Jeffrey Fehr, 18, who hung himself at his family's home in Granite Bay, Calif. Rafael Morelos, a 14-year-old who hung himself last month, Jan. 29th.

The list can continue, unfortunately, and before we jump into recapping this week's song and dance in "On My Way," it's important to pay attention to the real-life stories that inspired Tuesday's focus on "Glee," where Dave Karofsky attempts to take his own life in the face of homophobic bullying. And that's not the only tragedy that befalls McKinley as the club continues to barrel on to the end of the season.
'Glee's Max Adler on Karofsky's Suicide Attempt

The show opens on Rachel and Kurt looking at wedding magazines at Lima Bean, where Sebastian turns up with blackmail material to coerce Rachel -- a photoshopped image of Finn naked in red pumps that he'll spread all over the Internet unless Rachel drops out of Regionals. Back in the choir room Rachel says she won't negotiate with terrorists, while Sugar claims that if someone posted a picture like that of her on the Internet she'd kill herself, an eerie statement in the face of the rest of the episode. Finn is enraged that she won't step down to save him and he storms out. Meanwhile, Quinn goes to see Sue, who tells her she's with child. After giving Sue some advice on morning sickness, Quinn asks to rejoin the Cheerios but Sue won't let her back in. This is Quinn's one missing puzzle piece of a perfect life as she sees it now, and the only thing standing in her way is a hormonal Sue Sylvester.

"Cough Syrup" is the only song this episode that isn't in the Regionals setting, and it's used as a backdrop for Karofsky's bullying and suicide attempt. Blaine sings the song to Kurt, trying to move on from his anger at Sebastian by focusing on the upcoming competition. As he sings, we see Karofsky face torment in his new locker room, with his locker vandalized to say "fag," and the vitriol continues at home as the bullies have taken to his Facebook page to taunt him for his sexuality. Believing he's faced with no options, we watch Karofsky grapple with his desperation until he finally dresses himself in his best clothes before hanging himself from the beam in his closet.

It's shocking. Not that Karofsky would kill himself, but how bleakly and realistically "Glee" presents the moment to us. We have his torment enveloped by a performance from one of "Glee"'s other bullying victims, Blaine, who has faced opposition both at his old school with his bashing, and more recently from within his own community with Sebastian. Blaine is singing to his boyfriend, Karofsky's victim, but he's also being shown as a pillar of strength on "Glee," both on his own and as one half of the Klaine couple. It's the happiness and understanding Karofsky is seeking for himself, there but just out of reach. Any thoughts that Glee is, in fact, a comedy should be soundly crushed by now. It's a fantastical reality, and sometimes you laugh at that, but other times you cry.
VIDEO: Glee's Grant Gustin On 'Epic' Episode, 'Plot Twists'

We return to see, first, the teachers' reactions to the news, worried about how they should inform the students so as not to spark a string of copycat suicides, as has been noted in recent cases of gay teen youth across America. Sue especially gets emotional, regretting her lack of action when she was principal and could tell something was wrong, her new motherly instincts kick in and she worries about his parents finding him, and we're harshly flashed to that reality of his father clutching an unresponsive Dave. Figgins says, "It wasn't our job to know" and Emma questions "Then whose was it?"

The God Squad convenes to pray for Karofsky's recovery, and Quinn wonders how someone can get to that dark of a place. Quinn calls him selfish, and Kurt shows up to tell her she's short-sighted and doesn't know what Karofsky was going through. Quinn can't imagine things getting so bad that anyone would go to that extreme, and Kurt continues to emphasize the intensity of Karofsky's situation, that even now students are still writing on his Facebook wall telling him to "try, try again" and "better luck next time." Kurt's an atheist, so his appearance at the God Squad meeting is questioned by Quinn, but Joe says Kurt asked him if he could come to talk because he feels like he doesn't have anywhere else to go. He admits he feels guilty, that Karofsky had been calling him and he was ignoring it after the Valentine's incident. It's understandable that Kurt would pull away from someone who, after such a fraught backstory, recently admitted a crush, but hindsight is 20-20 and is clearly tearing Kurt apart. He can't even commit to visiting Karofsky at the hospital with the God Squad and their fruit basket.

NEXT PAGE: Rachel & Finn's Wedding Prep... Season Cliffhanger

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