| Vulnerability | |
| Season 2, Episode 3 | |
| |
| Air date | June 19, 2012 |
| U.S. Viewers | 487.000 |
| Episode Guide | |
| Previous Dance-ability |
Next Sexuality |
Vulnerability is the third episode for Season Two of The Glee Project, a spin-off of Glee, in which young hopefuls compete for a guest starring role on the show. It aired on Oxygen June 19 at 10:00pm.
Guest Mentor: Cory Monteith
Homework Assignment Winner: Nellie
Eliminated: None
Summary[]
In the recap of the previous episode, it's pointed out that Blake, Michael, and Shanna haven't missed a beat, yet.
The episode begins with Robert telling the contenders that this week's theme will be vulnerability, and the song for the homework assignment will be My Life Would Suck Without You. Some of the contenders look excited, but others look a bit lost. Michael worries he doesn't have enough experience with being vulnerable because of how young he is. Charlie explains in confessional that it's difficult to be vulnerable to the bass beat of My Life Would Suck Without You. Two conflicts arise when the contenders are selecting their lines. First, Mario would like to have the same line Michael wants. Michael just hands it over, and seems like he wants no conflict. Mario would like to talk it out, as he has two favorites, but Michael just wants him to take the line. Second, Lily Mae and Aylin want the same line, and their tussle is a bit more intense. Lily says that her competitive side is coming out, now that she's been in the bottom three. Aylin concedes the line, saying "Well, take it then!" In confessional, she says that Lily Mae is beginning to rub her the wrong way.
Cory Monteith is this week's mentor. After listening to the performance he has notes for a number of the contenders, most of which combine a positive with a negative. For example, he tells Lily Mae that he likes her singing, and she started out vulnerable, but then she moves her hand up to her hair and acts a little sexy, which is inappropriate for vulnerability. He also think that Abraham and Ali are pushing it too hard, despite the great singing. Ali acknowledges that she needs to get beyond her theatre background/acting for the stage. The two purely positive comments he has are for Nellie, for hitting the high note perfectly, and obviously being vulnerable, and Shanna, and he chooses Nellie as the homework winner. In their one-on-one session, Cory tells Nellie she needs to tap into her emotions to do a vulnerable scene. He explains that he tends to think about his parents' divorce, and asks her what she'll think about to open herself up to her vulnerability. She responds that the previous day had been the ten year anniversary of her sister's death.
There will be no choreography this week, so Erik comes in to talk with them about bullying and the video shoot. He asks them to talk about times when they were bullied or witnessed bullying. Tyler talks about how he was bullied because he is so different, being half Jewish, half black, and transsexual. Abraham is emotional about his bullying experiences, and how even as a child, being brought up by two women, other kids frequently called him a "f@g," although he is heterosexual. Shanna was bullied because her mother was a drug user. Blake was small in middle school and was bullied, but when he had a chance to help someone in high school who was being bullied, he felt weak and walked away. Lily's very affected thinking about how Blake, who is so nice to everyone, is torn up thinking about this situation. She reveals that in middle school she was a bully and a queen bee, but in 8th grade she saw the movie Mean Girls and called someone she had bullied to apologize.
Most people do very well in the vocal booth with Nikki. She's particularly pleased with a few performances, especially Aylin who is thinking about how she was called a "terrorist" in school. Nellie, Michael and Shanna also do very well. She notes that Ali and Mario are having some trouble in the vocal booth, especially Mario having problems with pitch. Ali is good at being up and "professional," but has trouble breaking down.
During filming, Nellie is doing a good job, but seems like she might be overshadowed by the bullies acting around her. Lily Mae has a hard time lip synching and looking vulnerable and asks that they tell the other contenders to be quieter so that she isn't distracted. Charlie thinks that he needs to find some way to get into the bullying more. While he and the other guys are supposed to walk a few steps behind Mario, taunting him, Charlie gets carried away and impulsively takes Mario's stick. The mentors are concerned that this move was dangerous, and that he was doing something he wasn't directed to do by Erik. They consider it a weird acting choice. (However, in the video, Charlie is shown again taking Mario's stick, except Charlie is wearing a red hoodie, which shows that the mentors actually liked the idea and decided to reshoot the scene). The mentors note that Blake is an excellent actor, and Michael is doing well, given that he doesn't have acting experience/training. Watching from another room (via cable), Aylin points out that it looks like Blake is saying things to Michael that are really getting to him. She says "I need that!" Lily Mae looks at Aylin out of the corner of her eye, and it's clear she plans to give Aylin what she wants. Thus, when they get to their scene, Lily Mae is a far more convincing bully than she was when being bullied. Aylin is clearly upset and turns in a great performance, causing her to jump up and hug Lily happily after the scene is over.
The mentors point out that Blake did the best all-around acting and singing job in the video. They also call back Aylin, Michael, Shanna, Tyler, and Abraham. Left on stage are Charlie, Nellie, Mario, Ali, and Lily Mae. The mentors tell Nellie that she needs to access her emotions more, and she notes that this is difficult for her. Ali needs to bring herself down from her stage acting to the small screen. Mario needs to work on his pitch problem. Charlie is told that what he did with Mario's stick was dangerous. Lily Mae had problems in both the vocal booth and in lip synching. She's told that she needs to deal with noise on set and not let it distract her from her acting and lip synching. Mario argues back, saying that he is classically trained, and explaining that he feels that he is ready. This is when Nikki points out that none of them are ready, because this is a boot camp. Charlie says he acted impulsively and he didn't even consider that it might be dangerous. He apologized to Mario. In the end, Ali and Nellie are called back, and Lily Mae will sing Mercy, Charlie will sing Fix You, and Mario will sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Lily says in confessional that she is angry that she's in the bottom three because she feels like she did well this week. Lily's Mercy is well-executed, but Ryan worries that she's not an underdog or vulnerable in any way. Lily Mae begins by explaining that she feels she hasn't been given a song she could use to show her vulnerability, but those ballads where she's just singing along with a piano are much more her. Then, she breaks down and begins sobbing and explaining that she's not the tough person she pretends to be to hide her feelings about being 240 lbs. While she acts like she doesn't care what other people think of her, she really does. Ryan's very impressed by this, and he says this is the first time he's really seen her. Next, Charlie comes out and sings Fix You. Ryan says that each note he was scared that Charlie was going to blow it and didn't know where he was going next, but each note he pulled out, and that's what they really need on the show—he does not want Glee to be karaoke (meaning, I think, he wants interpretations of the songs, not strict copies). He speaks to Charlie about what went on during the video shoot, and Charlie says that he knows he made a mistake. He's very comfortable with stage work, but he isn't yet used to acting on camera. After he leaves, Ryan says he thinks that's the best last chance performance he has yet seen. Finally, Mario comes in and sings a moving version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. He apologizes for his attitude towards Nikki's note about his pitch, and tells Ryan that he just wanted to emphasize that he is ready for this competition. Ryan says this is one of the hardest last chance performances, since they all did so well.
Waiting for the elimination decision, Mario tells the other contenders that he didn't understand why he was called out by Nikki, because several other people had pitch problems, too. Shanna visibly reacts to this, as do Aylin and Abraham. Aylin says that was not necessary for him to say, and a bickering session ensues. It's clear that a large number of them are irritated with Mario's attitude. Lily Mae takes on the task of trying to explain to him that the things he is saying aren't coming off the way he means them to, and she is self-aware enough to realize she also has this problem and needs to correct herself. Mario just wants the discussion to end. Aylin tells him that he always wants them to hear him, but then won't listen to others, and he says that he is having a hard time being heard most of the time. She says "Are you kidding me?"
Throughout the episode, Aylin and Charlie have been pretty close, hugging and leaning on one another. He teases her that she's going to miss him if he goes, and then says affectionately "you know something? I'm gonna miss you too.." So, a bit of a moment, but no kissing.
When Robert comes to get them, we get to see that they are, indeed, sending Mario down with his cane to feel the braille writing on the wall. Lily is very happy when she sees the callback list, and Charlie is surprised. Mario appears to be crying again, but when we see it is says in writing and in Braille "Congratulations! You're all called back!" Everyone is very happy and hugging, and the three at-risk contenders sing Keep Holding On together.
During the episode, tonight's human interest video involves Blake and Charlie dressing up in masks, capes, and bras, and coming into the exersice room to see four of the girls acting like goofy superheroes, who are going to end the bickering about things like who gets to eat the leftover pasta and who gets which line. It's very charming and shows a youthful and funloving side of both men.
Songs[]
- My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson. Sung by The Glee Project Contenders.
- Everybody Hurts by R.E.M. Sung by The Glee Project Contenders.
- Mercy by Duffy. Sung by Lily Mae
- Fix You by Coldplay. Sung by Charlie
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland. Sung by Mario
- Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne. Sung by Lily Mae, Charlie, and Mario.
Trivia[]
- This marks the second time that there is no elimination, after season 1's Generosity episode.
- This marks the first time that the Callback sheet is posted both in English and in Braille for Mario.
- This episode ended up with a 0.2 rating 18-49 with 0.487 total million viewers, being a slight increase from the last episode.
- This is the first episode to have more than one person singing the main lines of Keep Holding On. In Generosity, the final four sang only the backup of Keep Holding On.
- According to Shanna's tumblr post, some of the things Shanna and Blake said to Michael in the bullying scene were "You knew, how could you not know” and “We’ll stop if you cry Michael— cry Michael.”
- The only reason Charlie was in the bottom 3 was that he took Mario's cane, under the argument that he cannot follow directions and that it could be really dangerous.
Call Back List[]
| Called Back |
| Blake |
|---|
| Abraham |
| Michael |
| Shanna |
| Aylin |
| Tyler |
| Ali |
| Nellie |
| Charlie |
| Lily Mae |
| Mario |
| Not Called Back |
| Congratulations! You're all called back! |
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Cory Monteith Guest Mentors on The Glee Project!
Cory Monteith Guest Mentors on The Glee Project
Vulnerability and Cory Monteith on The Glee Project
Vulnerability promo
| v - e |
|---|
| The Final 14 • Individuality • Dance-ability • Vulnerability • Sexuality • Adaptability • Fearlessness • Theatricality • Tenacity • Romanticality • Actability• Glee-ality |