RECAP: Glee Meets The Parents, Coldplay

You remember high school — how, depending on which part you wanted in the school musical, you were either best friends or worst enemies with the same person. Glee continued to insert dividing lines between the most loyal pairs on the show, including Rachel and Mercedes (Lea Michele and Amber Riley), Rachel and Kurt (Chris Colfer) and — in what is essentially the first time his character has gotten a main plot line — Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.) and his parents, who are upset about an A- he got in chemistry (it's the "Asian F").

The episode kicked off with more developments in Brittany's entrance into race for student body president, against Kurt, who's gunning for a stellar college admissions app and a gay victory. Brittany's strategy was to hail her candidacy as a fight for women's rights, leading what appeared the entirety of McKinley High's female population in a rendition of Beyonce's rousing anthem, "We Run the World (Girls)."

Meanwhile, Mercedes is tired of playing second fiddle to Rachel and decides to go after the lead role in the school musical, which gets drawn out first into a sing-off and then into an awkward "everybody wins" double casting. Mercedes calls foul and drops out of the play — and the glee club! — but not before Rachel could anxiously enter the race against Kurt and Brittany for class president, which naturally ticks off Kurt. Finn, as the merry-go-round from earlier seasons continues, doesn't seem too thrilled with Rachel's ruthless side.

In other news, Will took the initiative to get himself in the same room with Emma's parents, who turned out to be nuts-o "ginger supremacists" — meaning they believe red heads should protect the sanctity of their "species." Blaine (Darren Criss) gets the part of Tony in The West Side Story while Chang learns to sing and snags the part of Biff. With Mercedes fleeing into the arms of Ms. Corcoran (Idina Menzel), who's still trying to get a rival singing group off the ground, and with Emma still ravaged by OCD, the final number of the night — Coldplay's "Fix You," which marks the first time the band's been covered on the show — struck a somber note and foreshadowed more storm clouds, fewer rays of light for the frustrated, teenage songsters.

And that's what you missed on Glee.

Watch a clip from Tuesday's episode here: