"Choke" | |
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Glee episode | |
Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 18 |
Directed by | Michael Uppendahl |
Written by | Marti Noxon |
Featured music | "The Music of the Night" "School's Out" "Cell Block Tango" "Not the Boy Next Door" "Don't Rain on My Parade" "The Rain in Spain" "Shake It Out" "Cry" |
Production code | 3ARC18 |
Original air date | May 1, 2012 |
Guest appearance(s) | |
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"Choke" is the eighteenth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the sixty-second overall. Written by Marti Noxon and directed by Michael Uppendahl, the episode aired on Fox in the United States on May 1, 2012, and features the first appearance of special guest star Whoopi Goldberg as Carmen Tibideaux, Dean of the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYADA), and the introduction of Puck's father (Thomas Calabro).
Upon its initial airing, Choke attracted 6.01 million American viewers and received a 2.5/8 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic, down significantly from the 2.7/8 rating/share and 6.90 million viewers of the previous episode, "Dance with Somebody", which was broadcast a week before.
Rachel (Lea Michele) is focusing her upcoming NYADA audition, while Kurt (Chris Colfer) has a difficult time deciding what song to perform. Rachel advises him to go with a song he knows he can sing well. Rachel reveals that they will be auditioning for Carmen Tibideaux (Whoopi Goldberg), a famous and exacting performer and a newly appointed dean at the school. At the last minute Kurt decides to sing a song he claims is "something a little more out there, but much more me". Tibideaux is impressed by both his performance and the risk he took. Rachel sings a song she has known well since she was a child, but she forgets the lyrics and asks for another chance. After she stumbles again on her second attempt, Carmen ends the audition.
Cheerleading co-coach Roz Washington (NeNe Leakes) overhears Santana (Naya Rivera) making jokes about the origin of Coach Beiste's (Dot-Marie Jones) black eye and informs the girls that domestic violence is not a laughing matter. She teams up with Sue (Jane Lynch) and Beiste—who explains that she was hit by a speed bag—to teach the girls a lesson about domestic violence, and Sue assigns them to sing a song about women getting out of abusive relationships. The girls perform "Cell Block Tango", and Sue and Roz inform them that they completely missed the point of the assignment. Beiste, who walked out on the performance, tells Sue and Roz that her husband Cooter (Eric Bruskotter) actually did hit her. Sue insists that Beiste stay at her place, but Beiste opts to go to her sister instead. Beiste reveals the truth about her black eye to the girls. Beiste does not reveal that she has given Cooter another chance.