[S1E12] Mattress
"Mattress", also known as "Once Upon a Mattress", is the twelfth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on December 2, 2009. It was written by series creator Ryan Murphy and directed by Elodie Keene. In "Mattress", the glee club discovers that they are going to be omitted from the school yearbook. Club member Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) has the team cast in a local mattress commercial in an attempt to raise their social status. Glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) discovers that his wife Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig) has been faking her pregnancy.
[S1E12] Mattress
Cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) convinces Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) not to include a photograph of the glee club in the school yearbook, as in previous years, glee club photographs have been heavily defaced in the library copy of the yearbook by fellow students. Club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) personally buys a meager section of advertising space in the book so that a photograph featuring at least two members can be included. Fearing unpopularity, the club nominates Rachel (Lea Michele) to represent them in the photograph. Rachel convinces Finn (Cory Monteith) to appear alongside her, but after being teased by his peers, he drops out. When it transpires that the school photographer (John Ross Bowie) is soon to direct a commercial for his brother-in-law, a local mattress store owner, Rachel convinces him to cast the glee club in it, believing that local celebrity status will prevent the other students from mocking them.
Will is dismayed to learn that his close friend, guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), has arranged to marry her fiancé, football coach Ken Tanaka (Patrick Gallagher), on the same day the glee club will compete at sectionals. Will goes on to discover that his wife Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig) has been lying to him for months about her supposed pregnancy. She actually experienced a hysterical pregnancy and hid the truth from him for several months by wearing a pregnancy pad under her clothes, while planning to secretly adopt Quinn's (Dianna Agron) baby. Will walks out on her and spends the night at the school, sleeping on one of the mattresses given to the glee club in payment for their commercial.
"Mattress" was written by series creator Ryan Murphy and directed by Elodie Keene. Recurring characters who appear in the episode are glee club members Brittany Pierce (Heather Morris), Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera), Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.) and Matt Rutherford (Dijon Talton), Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba), football coach Ken Tanaka (Patrick Gallagher), local news anchors Rod Remington (Bill A. Jones) and Andrea Carmichael (Earlene Davis), hockey player Dave Karofsky (Max Adler) and football player Azimio (James Earl). John Ross Bowie guest-stars as school photographer Dennis, and Chuck Spitler plays his brother-in-law, mattress store owner Randy Cusperberg.[2]
The episode features cover versions of "Smile" by Lily Allen, "Jump" by Van Halen, "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin,[3] and "When You're Smiling" by Louis Armstrong.[4] Studio recordings of each of the songs except "When You're Smiling" were released as singles, available for digital download,[5] and are also included on the album Glee: The Music, Volume 2.[6] Jenna Ushkowitz deemed "Jump" one of her favorite songs on the album, explaining that it was fun to perform on mattresses and comparing it to "Proud Mary", performed in the episode "Wheels", which utilized wheelchairs as props.[7]
The club is more than happy to be in a local commercial, with the prospect of becoming celebrities and thus boosting their popularity within school. What are they going to be selling? Mattresses. "We here at Mattress Land believe that mattresses aren't just for sleeping and fornicating anymore. We believe that buying a mattress should be fun," they're told. Rachel isn't happy with the script and suggests that the club perform. She gets her way as we see the group hopping around on beds as they sing "Jump" by Van Halen.Will finally finds out that Terri isn't really pregnant when he comes across her fake bump while going through their drawers for his pocket square. He completely loses it and demands Terri to pick up her shirt, revealing another fake bump. She blames the whole charade on the Glee club, saying that ever since he started it she can feel him pulling away. She claims their marriage only works because he doesn't feel good about himself. Storming out he tells her, "You've made yourself a stranger to me now. Are you happy? Are you satisfied?" He's even more disgusted when he finds out she was going to take Quinn's baby.
Schue decides to go and sleep at school, which is easy considering there's just been a delivery of mattresses as payment for the commercial. Sue yet again spoils things. After seeing it on TV she tells both Will and Figgins that it immediately disqualifies them from sectionals as they aren't allowed to do paid work. Will protests that they can simply give the mattresses back but Sue declares they can't because there happens to be a soiled one in his office. Thus everything about his marriage and the fake pregnancy is revealed. With Figgins unable to bend the rules he tells them that Glee club is now over for good. Uh oh.Cut to Sue's diary: "Dear journal, I finally got Will Schuester and that glee club out of my hair. This is a day that will live in infamy." Quinn interrupts her moment of victory as she enters in her Cheerios uniform. "It's like looking at a porno star in a nun's habit," she's told and despite it still fitting Sue still denies her a place on the photo. She then blackmails Sue, saying she'll reveal that the Cheerios have been getting free gifts all along unless she's allowed back on the squad and the Glee club is given a full page in the yearbook. With her hands tied Sue tells her ex-head cheerleader, "You know, Q, I've forgotten just how ruthless you are. You're like a young Sue Sylvester." As she leaves Quinn rejects her place on the squad saying she'd rather be in Glee, where she's wanted and accepted.
While confiding in Emma about his impending marriage break-up Will is taken aback when she mentions divorce. He's still unsure about what to do and it seems as if the guidance councillor doesn't have the answer either. She accepts that Terri is a complete psycho but says she can see "her intentions were good," as Will is "a lot to lose."We later see Schue sacrifice himself as director of the Glee club in order for it remain. He says that he should be the one disqualified as it was he who "accepted" the mattress when he slept on it. Now the club is on their own with just a short space of time before sectionals. Finn protests that they "can't do it without him" but Schue encourages them to go out there and give it their best shot. He only asks that when they take their yearbook photo they're smiling with pride, despite that he can't be in it with them. As the episode closes we see the club get ready for the photo shoot while singing "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin.
Several of Finn's football teammates tell him they are already planning to deface his Glee picture. Finn ends up not showing up for the photo shoot and Rachel was about to give up but decided to take the picture without him. (When You're Smiling). When the photographer tells Rachel he is directing a commercial, she convinces him to cast her and the glee club. Rachel tells Glee clubbers she's landed them their first "big break." The commercial is for mattresses and all the guys are excited.
Sue spots the Glee kids' mattress commercial on TV. Quinn asks Sue to be in the cheerleader photo, however Sue dismisses this idea and tells her about how they won't be able to sing at Sectionals since they lost their amateur status trough the commercial.
Sue goes to Figgins and tells him that as New Directions has performed in a commercial and accepted payment for it (the mattresses), their amateur status has been revoked and they are no longer eligible for Sectionals. Worse, as one of the mattresses has been slept on, they cannot be returned or even given away. Will admits that he slept on the mattress as his marriage is in serious trouble. Figgins is sympathetic, but tells Will that his hands have been tied by the school board... the club is finished.
Will tells the Glee kids that he has fixed it so that they can still compete at Sectionals, as he slept on the mattress, he is the one who accepted payment. As a result, only he is disqualified, but now cannot join them at competition. Everyone balks at this, certain they can't win without him there (they're not even convinced they can win with him there). Will reassured them that "If you can't win without me there, then I haven't done my job," he tells them. He asks that they take their Glee photo with pride, which they do.
The Mannings are a ranching family from Oregon who believe luxuries and trust must be earned. This means the kids living in their home start off with a mattress and one change of clothes. Do they have what it takes to buckle down and get with the program?
Sadly, they just cut to the Clocktower, so it is via the power of editing that we see the giant clay statue standing before Oracle, Helena and Dinah (Rachel Skarsten). I really wanted to see how Reese and Helena would transport a huge clay statue all the way to the Clocktower. I imagine them lugging it to Reese's car, then strapping it on the roof like a mattress and slowly driving across town, each of them with a hand out the window attempting to hold it in place, and then meeting Alfred, who's waiting for them with a dolly at the freight elevator. 041b061a72