Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) is a guitarist and paraplegic manual wheelchair user. McHale describes Artie as a "nerd" who loves the glee club wholeheartedly and uses it as a form of escapism.[5] Artie uses a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury he received in a car crash at the age of eight.[6] During the first season, he begins to accept his disability and the fact he will never achieve his dream of becoming a dancer.[7] He has a relationship with fellow New Directions member Tina Cohen-Chang, who breaks up with him at the beginning of the second season.[8] Artie then loses his virginity to cheerleader Brittany Pierce,[9] and with encouragement from his former bully, Puck, they begin dating.[10]
McHale joined Glee from a dance background, and found it challenging to adapt to using a wheelchair,[5] but was able to utilize his dancing ability in the episode "Dream On", in which Artie dances in a shopping mall during a fantasy flash mob sequence.[11] The episode "Wheels", which places focus on Artie and his disability, drew criticism from a committee of performers with disabilities, who felt that casting an able-bodied actor to play a disabled student was inappropriate. Glee's executive producer Brad Falchuk responded that while he understood the concern and frustration of disability advocates, McHale had the singing and acting ability, talent and charisma required for the role.[12]
Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) is introduced as a gay student at Dalton Academy and a member of The Warblers, a season two Sectionals and Regionals rival of New Directions.[13] While Blaine was initially a recurring character, Criss was promoted to the main cast for the third season. The character is a love interest for Kurt, though in the episode "Blame It on the Alcohol", he and Rachel have a brief fling, resulting in Blaine reasserting his identity as gay. Murphy stated, "Darren has a major, major arc... He sort of becomes Kurt's mentor and then maybe love—he had to leave his own school because of bullying and goes to an all-boys academy and finds acceptance because that school has a no-bullying, zero-tolerance policy."[14] Blaine is a huge role model for Kurt, who develops a crush on him. During "Original Song", Blaine realizes he reciprocates Kurt's feeling, and they kiss. After Kurt transfers back to McKinley, they attend Kurt's junior prom as a couple. At the beginning of season three, Blaine decides to transfer to McKinley to be with Kurt, and joins New Directions.
Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) is a "strong, driven" member of the glee club, who is misunderstood by her peers.[15] Michele took the role in Glee because of Rachel's characterization, explaining: "Not only is she a singer, but she has so much heart—I think it's what we need on TV."[3] Michele described the first thirteen episodes of the series as: "Rachel's journey of finding herself within the glee club",[15] explaining that: "She's learning how to be a team player and work within this group."[15]
Rachel has an on-off relationship with Finn throughout the series. She briefly goes out with his best friend Puck,[16] and later dates Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff), the lead singer of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline, who ultimately betrays her in favor of his club.[17] Rachel discovers that Vocal Adrenaline coach Shelby Corcoran (Idina Menzel) is her birth mother—Rachel has two gay dads—but the two fail to forge a relationship.[18] At the end of season one, Finn professes his love for her.[19] They date over the summer and for several episodes in season two, but break up when Rachel makes out with Puck in revenge for Finn having lied about losing his virginity to Santana in season one. At the end of season two, they begin a renewed relationship after Nationals in New York, though Rachel warns Finn she'll be returning to New York for good after she graduates.[20] In the third season, Rachel is cast as Maria in the school's production of West Side Story, she runs for senior class president, and she and Finn have sex for the first time. In the new year, Finn asks Rachel to marry him, and she accepts.
Mike Chang (Harry Shum, Jr.) is a football player and dancer who joins New Directions in the episode "Preggers."[21] Shum stated that Mike is shy,[22] and that he joins the glee club despite it being "social suicide" as "he has finally found a place where he can express himself and feel accepted."[23] Initially a supporting character with no storylines of his own, Mike was slowly developed by the series writers.[24] In the final episode of season one, Mike says that before New Directions, "I was afraid to dance outside my room."[19] In season two he begins dating Tina, and gives his first lead musical performance duetting with her on "Sing!" from A Chorus Line,[25] and is selected to perform a dance routine with Brittany for Sectionals in "Special Education." He performs the show's first solo dance routine in "A Night of Neglect". Mike states that he is a senior in the season three premiere, "The Purple Piano Project", and Shum as Mike was promoted to the main cast for the show's third season.
Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz) auditions for the glee club with the song "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry.[26] She initially dresses in school-girl like clothing and gothic style clothing. She goes on a date with Artie, and confesses to him that she has been faking a speech impediment since the sixth grade, explaining that she wanted to drive people away, but now that she's a part of the glee club, she no longer wants that. Their relationship continues through the end of that first year. Tina and Mike Chang are counselors at Asian Camp over the summer, and they fall for each other; Tina formally breaks off with Artie at the beginning of the second season, and she and Mike are still in love when the school year ends, the only relationship in the glee club to survive the entire school year, and the longest unbroken relationship between the members since the club was formed. In the third season, her junior year and his senior year, she helps Mike when he decides to try out for the school musical and then to apply to dance school, and tells Rachel and the other girls that she had sex for the first time with Mike over the summer, losing her virginity.
Quinn Fabray, real name Lucy Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron) is introduced as Finn's girlfriend, head of the cheerleading squad and president of the celibacy club.[26] She is described by Agron as Rachel's enemy, and "terrible, the meanest girl."[27] Quinn joins the glee club because Finn is a member, and because cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester wants her to bring the club down from the inside.[28] She oscillates between desiring acceptance, which she finds in New Directions, and desiring popularity, which she finds on the Cheerios. She reveals to Finn that she is pregnant and tells him that the baby is his, although the real father is Finn's best friend Puck. Eventually the deception is revealed, and Quinn decides to give the baby away. In the season finale, Quinn gives birth to her daughter, whom Puck names Beth. The baby is adopted by Vocal Adrenaline coach Shelby Corcoran (Idina Menzel), Rachel’s birth mother.[19]
At the beginning of the second season, Quinn rejoins the Cheerios and again becomes the captain, regaining her popularity, though later in the season she quits to remain faithful to New Directions. She begins a relationship with Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) in "Duets" but is later unfaithful to him, rekindling her romance with Finn. In the episode "Comeback", Sam makes a last-ditch attempt to win her back, but ends the relationship after finding out from Santana that Quinn cheated on him with Finn. Quinn and Finn get back together, though eventually Finn realizes his true feelings for Rachel, and breaks up with Quinn.
During the summer between seasons two and three, Quinn undergoes a transformation: she dyes her hair, gets a tattoo and a nose ring, and takes to smoking behind the bleachers with her new clique the Skanks. However, in "I Am Unicorn", when Shelby Corcoran joins the McKinley High faculty and talks to Quinn about being involved in Beth's life, Quinn pretends to clean up her act and returns to New Directions, but she intends not to merely be in Beth's life, but to get full custody of her daughter. Her attempts to prove Shelby an unfit mother fail; eventually, she realizes with Rachel's help that Shelby is Beth's true mother, and stops trying to reclaim Beth. Shelby resigns and leaves McKinley.
Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) is star quarterback of the school's football team who risks alienation by his friends to join the glee club. He is dating cheerleader Quinn, but is conflicted by his growing feelings for Rachel.[28] Quinn later tells Finn she is pregnant and he is the father. Finn intends to support her, unaware the father is actually his best friend Puck.[21] He has a premature ejaculation problem, which causes him to believe he is the father of Quinn's baby despite the fact that they have never had sex.[21] When he discovers the truth, he breaks up with Quinn and turns to pursuing Rachel. In the season one finale, he professes his love for her before New Directions performs at Regionals, and the second season finds Finn and Rachel a couple. A flurry of infidelities forces the two apart, though Finn succeeds in winning Rachel back in the season two finale, though Rachel warns him that upon graduation she will be leaving Ohio for good.
Burt Hummel (Mike O'Malley) is Kurt's father (and Finn's stepfather after his marriage to Carole Hudson) to whom Kurt comes out in the episode "Preggers".[29] Both James Poniewozik for Time and Tim Stack for Entertainment Weekly praised O'Malley's performance in the storyline, with Poniewozik additionally commenting: "the fact that Dad [...] ends up not being the boor we think he's going to be is one of the first signs that Glee is growing up as a series, that having established a world of primary-color stereotypes, it's now willing to subvert those expectations."[29][30] Initially a recurring cast member, O'Malley was promoted to a series regular from season two.[31]
During the first season, Kurt acts as a matchmaker for Burt and Carole Hudson (Romy Rosemont), Finn's widowed mother. He feels left out when Burt and Finn bond, but Burt reassures him that he will always come first. Burt and Carole briefly live together, until he throws Finn out for using a homophobic slur against Kurt. In season two, Burt has a heart attack but recovers. He and Carole marry, using their vows to express pride in their sons. In the third season, Burt wages a write-in campaign for congress against leading candidate Sue Sylvester, and wins.
Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) is a singer who is bullied by the football team. He has a high vocal range, and is identified by Fox as a soprano singer.[32] His voice could actually be described as a countertenor. Colfer originally auditioned for the role of Artie, however Murphy was so impressed by his performance that the role of Kurt was created for him, replacing a character named Rajish who was initially intended to be a member of the glee club.[1] The character's name is derived from The Sound of Music's Kurt von Trapp, whom Colfer once played in a production of the musical, and the German Hummel figurines due to his complexion.[33] Colfer describes Kurt as "a tough guy in designer clothes", explaining that he "puts on a very confident, 'I'm better than you' persona, but underneath it all he's the same anxious and scared teen everyone is/was at some point."[34] Over the course of the first season, Kurt comes out as gay and develops a crush on Finn. He also joins the football team as a kicker, with Finn's help, and the cheerleading squad as a singer, though he ultimately quits both. In the episode "Wheels", he competes with Rachel to perform "Defying Gravity" from Wicked. Murphy selected the song after Colfer relayed a story from his own high school days, whereby his drama teacher refused to let him sing it because of his gender.[1]
After Dave Karofsky bullies him into a depression early in the second season, Kurt becomes close friends with an openly gay student at Dalton Academy, named Blaine Anderson. He then transfers to Dalton Academy to escape Karofsky and joins their show choir named The Warblers. He soon develops romantic feelings for Blaine, with Blaine eventually realizing he returns these feelings. The two begin a relationship. Kurt eventually returns to McKinley, and Blaine is his date for junior prom. They formally declare their love at the end of the second season, and at the beginning of the third season, Blaine transfers to McKinley to be with Kurt. The two have their first sexual experience in the episode "The First Time".
Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) is a "diva-in-training who refuses to sing back-up," with a "flair for fashion".[35] Early in season one, Mercedes develops a crush on Kurt, unaware that he is gay. She is hurt when he rejects her, but supportive when he confides his sexuality. After this, the two become especially close friends.[36] Dismayed at never receiving solo songs, Mercedes and Kurt join the cheerleading squad, the Cheerios, as vocalists.[37] She briefly dates Puck, but ultimately breaks up with him and quits the Cheerios, afraid of turning into someone she does not want to be. She becomes friends with Quinn when the pregnant ex-cheerleader gives her advice during her stint on the Cheerios, and when Quinn is unhappy having to stay at Puck's house, invites Quinn to move in with her family.[17] When Quinn gives birth, she asks that Mercedes be present for the delivery of her child. In season two, she writes and performs an amazing, original song entitled "Hell to the No." After the prom, which she attends in a group with Rachel and Sam and Jesse, Mercedes and Sam begin dating in secret, but he moves away during the summer, and Mercedes has a new boyfriend by the beginning of the third season. In the third episode, Mercedes quits the glee club and joins the new, rival McKinley show choir, the Troubletones, run by Shelby Corcoran, later recruiting Santana and Brittany to join her there.Later, when the Troubletones lose sectionals to New Directions, they rejoin their original glee club, on condition that they can have one song to themselves.
Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera) is a cheerleader who joins the glee club in the episode "Showmance". Initially a spy for cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, she comes to enjoy her club participation.[38] Her romantic relationships with fellow members Puck and Sam are followed by the realization that she is in love with her best friend Brittany. Afraid of coming out as a lesbian, Santana uses football jock Dave Karofsky—who is also closeted—as a beard to bolster her heterosexual façade and to boost her chances of becoming prom queen, though she fails at the latter.
Having originated as a minor antagonist, Santana's role became more prominent in the second half of the first season,[39] and she became a main character in season two.[40] Rivera characterizes Santana as "a bit of a bad girl", prone to sarcastic remarks.[41] Though she stated in May 2009 that Santana "loves boys",[42] she later deemed Brittany her character's soul mate.[43] In March 2011, Falchuk confirmed, "Santana is a lesbian. She might not be ready to come out yet, but she is."[44]
During the season three premiere, Santana is named co-captain of the Cheerios; both she and the other co-captain, Becky Jackson, are dismayed at having to share the post. As a show of loyalty to Sue, she participates in setting one of the glee club's pianos on fire and is dismissed from New Directions by Mr. Schuester. She returns briefly to the club, and then abandons it for the new, rival McKinley show choir, the Troubletones, run by Shelby Corcoran, but when the Troubletones lose to New Directions at Sectionals and disband, she returns again. She starts dating Brittany, but not publicly, and is outed as a lesbian by Finn.
Brittany S. Pierce (Heather Morris) is a cheerleader who joins the glee club with Quinn and Santana in the episode "Showmance".[28] Prior to appearing in Glee, Morris was a back-up dancer for Beyoncé Knowles. She was originally hired as a choreographer to teach cast members Colfer and Ushkowitz the "Single Ladies" dance. A week later, she was cast as Brittany.[45] Morris had a recurring role throughout the first season, and was promoted to a series regular for season two.[46] Many of Brittany's lines are unscripted, and are instead devised by Murphy during filming, or improvised by Morris. Morris portrays Brittany as being "literally insane". She is used by the series' writers to say things no other character would, to the point that Morris considers some of her lines nonsensical.[47] Brittany's character traits include finding recipes confusing, cheating off intellectually disabled classmates and not knowing her right hand from her left.[48] She makes her singing debut in the season two episode "Britney/Brittany", performing three songs—"I'm a Slave 4 U", "Me Against the Music" and "Toxic"—all by Britney Spears.[49] Brittany has a physical relationship with Santana, in which Santana gives Brittany a hickey in the season 2 episode "Duets"; in that episode Brittany also has a brief romance with Artie that leads to a more serious relationship later in the season.[9] She quits the cheerleading squad in "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle". In the episode "New York", Brittany tells Santana that she loves her far more than she's ever loved anyone else. Jarrett Wieselman of the New York Post compared Morris as Brittany to Lynch as Sue, deeming her "one of the funniest second bananas on TV."[48] In season 3, she is elected senior class president, beating out Kurt.
Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays) is the school's guidance counselor who has OCD, with obsessions and compulsions primarily focused on contamination and cleanliness. She has romantic feelings for Will.[50] Mays has deemed Emma an "amazing" character to play, explaining: "I don't find that female characters are always written with a lot of depth, but she's so well defined on the page. Sure, she's terrified of germs and in love with a married man, so seeing her as the voice of reason for the kids is amazing."[3] Glee's costume designer Lou Eyrich selects "quirky" outfits for Emma, to reflect her "sunny disposition".[51] In an attempt to get over Will, Emma begins dating football coach Ken Tanaka,[28] becoming engaged to him in the episode "Vitamin D".[52] However, when Will is unable to attend a competition with the glee club, Emma volunteers to take them in his place, postponing her own wedding by several hours. Acknowledging her continuing feelings for Will, Ken breaks up with her on their wedding day. Emma submits her resignation as guidance counselor, but as she is leaving the school, Will finds her and stops her with a kiss.[38] She reveals to Will that she is a virgin,[53] but does not go through with her plan to lose her virginity to him.[37] At the end of the first season, she tells Will she has started dating a dentist named Carl Howell, and in the second season her relationship with Carl (John Stamos) blossoms to the point that they get married in Las Vegas in the episode "Special Education". It is subsequently revealed in the episode "Sexy" that her marriage with Carl is facing difficulties and has not been consummated. She admits that she still has feelings for Will, and she and Carl separate; he later requests an annulment of their marriage. She begins to get treatment for her OCD in "Born This Way". When the third season begins, she and Will are living together. In the midseason episode "Yes/No", Will asks Emma to marry him, and she accepts.
Noah "Puck" Puckerman (Mark Salling) is Finn's best friend and football teammate, who initially disapproves of Finn joining the glee club. Puck joins Will's all-male a cappella group, the Acafellas, hoping to impress the mothers at the school's PTA meeting, as he prefers older women.[36] He later discovers that he is the father of Quinn's baby. She rejects him when he offers to support her and the baby, calling him a "Lima loser." Later in the same episode, Puck joins the glee club.[21] He briefly dates Rachel and Mercedes,[16][54] but ruins his chances with Quinn by sexting Santana in her presence.[55] Regardless, Puck attends the birth of his daughter, who he names Beth, and tells Quinn that he loves her.[38] In season two, Puck is sent to juvenile detention for stealing an ATM. The producers engineered his absence from the series to allow a romance to develop between Quinn and new student Sam Evans.[56] Following his return, Puck helps Artie hook up with Brittany, and recruits Lauren Zizes for glee club. He falls in love with Lauren, and they run unsuccessfully for junior prom king and queen together, but she breaks up with him at the beginning of their senior year in season three. Shelby Corcoran, who adopted baby Beth, gets a teaching job at McKinley, and invites Puck and Quinn to be a part of Beth's life, provided they both become more responsible. Puck does so, and Shelby allows him to see Beth. Quinn decides she wants to regain custody of Beth from Shelby, but Puck is torn, and tells Shelby of Quinn's plans. He then falls in love with Shelby. She sleeps with him once, though she tells him afterward she has made a mistake, to his disgust, and subsequently resigns from McKinley.
Terri Schuester (Jessalyn Gilsig) was Will's wife of 5 years, but they were together 15 years total. Terri briefly believes herself to be pregnant, and pushes Will to take a better paying job as an accountant.[26] She discovers she has actually experienced a hysterical pregnancy, but hides this from Will, afraid he will leave her.[28] After confiding her deception in her sister Kendra, Terri approaches pregnant cheerleader Quinn Fabray, with an interest in her baby.[21] She briefly becomes the school nurse, but is asked to step down after giving the glee club pseudoephedrine tablets.[52] In the episode "Mattress," Will uncovers Terri's ruse when he discovers her pregnancy pad in a drawer.[57] Terri begins attending therapy, but Will tells her he no longer loves her and leaves her as he falls in love with guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury.[38] Their divorce is finalized late in the first season. Terri manages to seduce a sick and lonely Will in the second-season episode "The Substitute", but is re-buffed by her ex-husband as he expresses his need to move on. Near the end of the second season, Terri is recruited by Sue Sylvester to join Sue's League of Doom to destroy the New Directions glee club directed by Will,[58] but Terri undoes the damage and tells Will that she's been promoted to manager at work, and is being transferred to a new store in Miami.[59] It is unknown whether she will return in season three.
Gilsig has deemed Terri "a woman of conviction", willing to do "whatever it takes" to keep Will from leaving her.[3] She explained that Will and Terri's communication is weak and that Terri is "missing a lot of the skills for the marriage,"[60] commenting that Terri feels threatened by Will's commitment to the glee club, worried that it will pull him away from her.[61] Gilsig characterized Terri as emotionally still being in high school,[62] and as of December 2009 did not know how long her character would feature in the series, as she was initially only created as an obstacle to come between Emma and Will.[63]
William "Will" Schuester (Matthew Morrison) is McKinley High's Spanish teacher who becomes director of the glee club, hoping to restore it to its former glory.[64] Morrison has assessed that the crux of Glee is "about [Will's] passion for music and influencing his kids".[65] Will is married to his high school sweetheart Terri. Believing her to be pregnant, unaware that she is actually experiencing a hysterical pregnancy, he considers leaving the teaching field to become an accountant.[26] He ultimately decides against it, though briefly works after hours at the school as a janitor to earn extra money.[28] His dedication to the glee club wavers when his choreography skills are called into question, but after starting a well-received all-male a cappella group, the Acafellas, he recommits to the club.[36] After discovering Terri faked her pregnancy,[57] Will ends his marriage and shares a kiss with Emma.[38] He also kisses Vocal Adrenaline coach Shelby Corcoran, Rachel Berry's mother (Idina Menzel).[53] In season 2, with Emma having married Carl Howell, he starts a relationship with Holly Holliday (Gwyneth Paltrow) in the episode "Sexy". Eventually, Holly gets a job in Cleveland, leaving Will free to pursue Emma after Emma's marriage ends in an annulment. April Rhodes returns and asks for Will's help with her new Broadway project: a one-woman show entitled Crossrhodes, but he ultimately decides that his kids in New Directions are more important than his dreams of Broadway.
Susan "Sue" Sylvester (Jane Lynch) is the coach of the cheerleading squad called the Cheerios, and the glee club's "arch-nemesis."[4] Lynch states that Sue is "pure evil and doesn't hide it,"[3] having been created as a product of Murphy, Brennan and Falchuk's "inner mean girl."[4] With regards to her motivation, Lynch explained: "Sue will do whatever it takes to win. If that means she has to prostitute herself or take advantage of a 16-year-old boy, she'll do it. It's all about power and winning. That's her entire world view."[66] Sue enlists cheerleaders Quinn, Brittany and Santana to help her bring the glee club down from the inside.[28] She has her own spot on the local news, which she uses to editorialize on issues such as support for caning and littering.[21] At the end of the episode "Vitamin D", Sue is made co-director of the glee club,[52] but soon scales back her involvement to an advisory role.[67] In the episode "Wheels", Sue allows Becky Jackson, a girl with Down Syndrome to join the Cheerios as a replacement for Quinn. It is later revealed that Sue has an older sister, Jean, who herself has Down Syndrome, showing a softer side to her normally abrasive character.[6] Hoping to sabotage the glee club's chances of winning at sectionals, Sue gives the club's set list to rival glee club directors Grace Hitchens (Eve) and Dalton Rumba (Michael Hitchcock).[55] When her actions are discovered by Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba), Sue is suspended from the school.[38] She is later reinstated after blackmailing Figgins, and wins her sixth consecutive national cheerleading title. In the season one finale, Sue judges in favor of New Directions at regionals, though they come third to rival clubs Vocal Adrenaline and Aural Intensity, and are disbanded for failing to place. Sue then blackmails Principal Figgins to reinstate the club, giving them another year to prove their worth to the school.
In the second season, Sue is appointed acting principal after having Figgins infected with the flu but she later stands down. Sue arranges to have the cheerleading regionals competition moved to conflict with the football championship, and she forces Quinn, Brittany and Santana to quit glee club, which has to perform the halftime show since the Cheerios will be absent; the three of them ultimately perform with the glee club, resigning from the Cheerios. Missing three of its best cheerleaders, the Cheerios lose regionals after six straight nationals wins. Faking a depression after the loss, Sue joins the glee club for a week; when she can't destroy it from within, she decides to coach one of their rivals, Aural Intensity, to a regionals victory over New Directions, but New Directions emerges victorious. Sue's sister, Jean, dies later in the season, and Sue is devastated and unable to cope; when New Directions helps with funeral arrangements and performs at Jean's funeral, Sue says she's giving up her frequent attempts to destroy the glee club,[59] but she's back to her old ways when school starts in the fall. She also begins a run for a vacant Congressional seat, which she loses to Burt Hummel.[68]
Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) is a transfer student who joins the football team in season two. Encouraged by Finn to audition for New Directions, he joins the males of the group in a performance of "Billionaire", the same song with which Overstreet studio tested for Glee.[74] Despite some trepidation about the effect it may have on his social status, Sam eventually joins the glee club. With the connivance of Finn and Rachel, he and Quinn are partnered for, and win, a duet competition within the group, after which their victory dinner turns into a first date; the victory later nets them a lead performance at sectionals During the date, Sam admits to Quinn that he used lemon juice to bleach his hair, after Kurt suspecting he dyed his hair blond. Quinn accepts Sam's promise ring after he jumps in to defend Mike and Artie when they are attacked by Karofsky for telling him to stop harassing Kurt. But later in the season Quinn kisses Finn, and lies to Sam about it; Santana tells Sam, and by the end of "Comeback", Sam breaks up with Quinn and starts dating Santana, though she soon drops him to fake a relationship with Karofsky. Sam's parents lose their jobs, their house is foreclosed, and the family now lives in a motel room. At some point after going to junior prom together, Sam and Mercedes start to secretly date. His family moves to Kentucky over the summer, but Finn and Rachel convince him to come back to New Directions late that fall in time to compete in Sectionals. Although Mercedes has a new boyfriend, he wants to get her back.
Following Overstreet's casting, media speculation suggested Sam might have been created as a boyfriend for Kurt.[74][75] Overstreet later confirmed this, but stated that his storyline had been adjusted to pair Sam with Quinn, as a result of the chemistry the producers detected between himself and Agron.[76] Overstreet left the show when his option for being a series regular in season three was not picked up,[77] but he returned as Sam in the eighth episode of the third season for a multi-episode arc.[78]
Rory Flanagan (Damian McGinty) is an Irish foreign exchange student from who is living with Brittany's family. Rory first appeared in the episode of the third season in "Pot o' Gold". Brittany was initially convinced that Rory was a magical leprechaun whom only she could see and was there to grant her three wishes. Additionally, Rory is a fan of Finn Hudson, and is persuaded by Finn to join New Directions—he auditions with the song "Take Care of Yourself" in a performance characterized by Rachel as "magical". Rory looks up to Finn, and tries to defend Finn when Santana insults him, only to get his own share of insults from her. He is given his first lead vocal in a Hall & Oates mash-up, singing one verse in a duet with Tina. The character of Rory was created for McGinty after he won a recurring role for seven episodes on Glee as a contestant on The Glee Project. The idea of his character interacting with Brittany was first broached in the penultimate episode of The Glee Project, with the judges speculating that Brittany would not be able to understand a word the character said due to his Irish accent.[79] McGinty was only supposed to stay on Glee for seven episodes, but it was recently revealed that he will be staying on for a longer, undetermined amount of episodes.
McKinley High faculty
Shannon Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones) is the new football coach in season two, replacing Ken Tanaka. She comes to William McKinley High with an enviable record of coaching successful football teams, and Principal Figgins boosts the football program budget for her by reducing the cheerleading and glee club budgets, which dismays Sue and Will, and drives them into a temporary alliance against her. Beiste is dismayed by their rudeness, but forgives Will when he apologizes and goes on to develop a friendship with him. She contemplates resigning upon learning that several students have been fantasizing about her in order to curb their arousal while making out. Will has the students apologize and earn her forgiveness. He also learns that Beiste has never been kissed, which leads to him giving her a first kiss. Beiste later helps the glee club members preserve Brittany's continued belief in Santa Claus: disguised as Santa, she explains to Brittany why her wish that Artie be made to walk cannot be granted; later, she anonymously obtains a ReWalk to allow Artie to walk for short periods of time. When antagonism flares between the football team's glee and non-glee factions, Beiste forces the football team and glee club to work together for one week; despite encountering resistance and set-backs, the plan is ultimately successful and the team wins the championship game. During the episode "Blame It on the Alcohol", Beiste takes Will out for a fun time at a rodeo bar where she sings her first solo: "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer". In the third season, Beiste adds co-directing the school musical and running the senior class elections to her coaching duties. She falls in love with Ohio State football recruiter Cooter Menkins, and briefly ends up in a romantic triangle with him and Sue, but Beiste and Cooter later marry, a fact that is revealed in the episode "Yes/No".
Shelby Corcoran (Idina Menzel) is the coach of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline during season one, described by Murphy as "a sort of Faye Dunaway of Network".[73] She makes out with Will shortly after meeting him, but she resists sleeping with him when he says his divorce is not yet final and that he has just broken up with his new girlfriend, Emma. Fans had lobbied for Menzel to be cast as Rachel's biological mother, due to the strong resemblance between Menzel and Michele.[114] In the episode "Dream On", it is revealed that Shelby is, in fact, Rachel's biological mother. She had signed a contract that stated that she could not seek out her daughter until she was eighteen. In the season one finale, "Journey to Regionals", Shelby adopts Quinn Fabray and Noah Puckerman's newborn daughter, Beth. She leaves Vocal Adrenaline before the beginning of the next school year.[19]
Shelby returns in the second episode of season three, "I Am Unicorn", having been recruited to lead a second glee club at McKinley High by Sugar Motta's father when Sugar is refused entry into New Directions. Shelby offers to include both Quinn and Puck in Beth's life.[115] In "Pot o' Gold", Shelby tells Puck that she is struggling at being a mother; as the episode ends, they kiss. Puck falls in love with her, but Shelby tells him in "Mash Off" that the kiss was a mistake.
Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) is William McKinley High School's "stern but fair" principal.[116] Figgins allows Will to take over the school glee club; however, he insists that the students must place at Regionals in order for the club to continue.[26] He is blackmailed by Sue for most of the first season: she uncovers internet footage of him appearing in a support stocking commercial for Mumbai Air,[21] and she later drugs his drink and takes a compromising photograph of them in bed together.[53] In the second season, Sue serves as Figgins's temporary replacement when he catches the flu, and succeeds in having him fired, becoming principal in his stead. She resigns in the following episode, however, and he is reinstated. Near the end of the season, he hires the glee club to perform at the school's junior prom.
Although Figgins was initially conceived as White, Pakistani American actor Theba was cast in the role. He finds Figgins a challenging character to play, as it entails finding "the right mix of someone who is an authority figure but who is also very insecure about his own strengths as a person."[117]
Holly Holliday (Gwyneth Paltrow) is a substitute teacher at McKinley High. Her first appearance was in the second season episode "The Substitute", when she temporarily takes over as the director of the glee club while Will Schuester is out sick. Paltrow's Glee appearance marked her first ever scripted-series guest performance.[118] The role of Holly was created for her by series creator Ryan Murphy, a personal friend who suggested that she showcase her vocal and dancing talent ahead of the December 2010 release of the film Country Strong, in which Paltrow plays a country singer.[119][120] Holly makes a return appearance in the episode "Sexy", this time subbing for McKinley's sex education teacher. In that same episode she also begins a romantic relationship with Will. Holly's third and final appearance that season is in the episode "A Night of Neglect", in which she breaks off her relationship with Will because she knows he is in love with Emma. Although Murphy stated at PaleyFest in March 2011 that Paltrow as Holly would be returning in season three for a series of guest appearances,[121] no details had been provided by the end of that year. In the first season, Finn mentions Gwyneth Paltrow having named her child Apple during a discussion with Quinn on suitable baby names.
Sandy Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky) is the former director of the McKinley High glee club. Although he claims to have a girlfriend, Rachel refers to him as a "closet case", and he is fired for his inappropriate sexual behavior towards a male student. Following his firing, he becomes a drug dealer, reselling medical marijuana.[26] When he wants to join Will's band, the Acafellas, they initially reject him for being too "creepy", but change their minds when he tells them that Josh Groban is a friend of his and will attend their next performance if Sandy is in it. While Groban does attend, he does so only to serve Sandy with a restraining order for constantly sending him inappropriate photos and messages over the internet.[36] Colluding with Sue Sylvester to bring down New Directions, Sandy is appointed the school's arts director.[21] Sandy appears in Rachel's music video for "Run Joey Run", playing her father,[122] and gives Will advice about beating rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline.[17] His behavior is often eccentric, including doll collecting, writing fan fiction about Desperate Housewives, and attempting to create a role for himself as Cleopatra in the school production of Cabaret. The casting notice for the role of Sandy read, in part, "He's gay, but covers it ... most of the time. With a pastel sweater thrown over his shoulders, Sandy is the former Glee Club teacher, who is given the axe after an episode of inappropriate touching."[123] Tobolowsky, who plays Sandy, describes him as a humorous character who "just cannot connect with the normal world" and exists on the "outer boundary of reality".[124] Tim Stack for Entertainment Weekly has praised Sandy as "one of the most reliable characters for great lines and laughs".[125] In the first few episodes, it was implied heavily that Sandy was gay. The second season episode "A Night of Neglect" confirmed this, with Sandy characterizing himself as a "predatory gay". In that episode, he joins Sue Sylvester’s "League of Doom", using the codename "The Pink Dagger",[126] but ends up donating money to support the school's academic decathlon team, spoiling Sue's plans.
Ken Tanaka (Patrick Gallagher) was the head coach of the football team and was previously engaged to Emma. Gallagher has stated: "I think you understand where Ken comes from as they go on. You understand where the bitterness comes from, and people may start to like him a little. Ken will keep going [after Emma]. Ken will go after what he wants. The one thing Ken won't do is give up."[127] Though Gallagher is Chinese-Irish, Ken is Japanese.[128] Comparing himself to his character, Gallagher detailed: "I'm more like him than I care to admit. I realized I was going for what I like to think as an older version of me from years ago. I think Ken is not happy with where he is in life. I think he's still got a good heart, but there's this insecurity and bitterness piled on top of it. I think love is in Ken's head, and love for me is kind of an idealistic concept. But one thing I really respect about him is that he goes after something: He just doggedly pursues Emma. I wish I was more like that. In some ways, he's a little bit braver than I am. I mean — look at what he wears. That takes guts."[128] Gallagher finds the character interesting, as to play the role he has to face his own "insecurities" and "bitterness".[129] Gallagher feels that he draws much of Ken's characterization from himself, while also "channeling" his high school gym teachers.[129] He commented: "the real challenge is to find the balance between not trying to be too funny, not trying to make it funny, just letting it be funny, and just delivering the line and letting the writing do the work for you."[129]
He did not return for the second season; the new football coach, Shannon Beiste, is played by Dot-Marie Jones.[130] Principal Figgins explains that Ken had a nervous breakdown.[8]
Other McKinley High faculty
John Lloyd Young guest stars in the episode "Acafellas" as Henri St. Pierre, "a retired wood shop teacher with an excellent singing voice".[131] Molly Shannon appears twice during the first season as Brenda Castle, an alcoholic astronomy teacher and badminton coach who clashes with Sue.[132] Brad Ellis has a recurring role as Brad, the pianist who accompanies New Directions.[133] Barbara Tarbuck appears in the third season as Nancy Bletheim, a geometry teacher who's been at McKinley High for 42 years, who supports Sue's congressional run.[134] Mary Gillis plays Mrs. Hagberg, who appears in "Prom Queen" teaching home economics, in "I Am Unicorn" teaching geography and in "I Kissed a Girl" teaching math. NeNe Leakes guest stars as synchronized swimming coach Roz Washington, who is introduced in "Yes/No".[135]
Sebastian Smythe
Sebastian Smythe (Grant Gustin) is a student at Dalton Academy who transfers into the school in the show's third season. He is introduced as a new Dalton Academy Warbler in the fifth episode, "The First Time". When Blaine Anderson, the former lead singer of The Warblers who has transferred to McKinley High, comes to Dalton to invite his Warbler friends to see a musical he's starring in at McKinley, Sebastian is attracted to him and propositions him, but Blaine is happy with his current boyfriend, Kurt Hummel, and turns him down.[144] Sebastian suggests that he and Kurt join him at a local gay bar, though his further efforts to come between Blaine and Kurt are unsuccessful, and Kurt later warns Sebastian away. Sebastian becomes captain of the Warblers, and in "Michael", he spikes the New Directions plan to do Michael Jackson songs at Regionals by adding Jackson's music to the Warblers setlist, and when the McKinley glee club challenges the Warblers for the right to use Jackson, throws a slushie spiked with rock salt that injures Blaine—Kurt was the intended target—such that he needs surgery to repair his cornea. Santana gets him privately to admit his perfidy, but unknown to Sebastian his admission was taped, and the other Warblers are made aware of his actions.[145]
Jesse St. James
Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff) is the male lead of Vocal Adrenaline and one of the main antagonists of the first season.[146] He is directed to befriend Rachel by Vocal Adrenaline coach Shelby Corcoran, who is secretly her biological mother. Jesse and Rachel begin dating, and he briefly transfers to McKinley High, joining New Directions. Once the truth about Shelby is revealed, however, Jesse transfers back. He ends his relationship with Rachel by egging her in the McKinley High parking lot along with his fellow members of Vocal Adrenaline, humiliating her. In the episode "Prom Queen", he returns, after having flunked out of college, in an attempt to befriend Rachel again, claiming that his biggest regret was choosing Vocal Adrenaline over love. He joins Rachel, Sam and Mercedes, who have teamed up to go do "prom on a budget", at the McKinley junior prom. He sets up a consulting business to help show choirs with their performances; his first client is New Directions. His attempts to resume a relationship with Rachel ultimately fail; she and Finn get back together. Jesse will return for "multiple episodes" at the end of the third season as the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline.[147]
In a controversial essay for Newsweek, critic Ramin Setoodeh wrote that Groff, who is openly gay, was unconvincing as the straight Jesse ("he seems more like your average theater queen, a better romantic match for Kurt than Rachel").[148] Groff's performance was defended by Murphy and guest star Kristin Chenoweth, both of whom described Setoodeh's essay as homophobic; it was also condemned by GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios.[149][150][151]
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