text: mattress ( glee ) " 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 . the episode features cover versions of four songs , studio recordings of three of which were released as singles , available for digital download , and are also included on the album glee : the music , volume 2 . " mattress " was watched by 8 . 15 million us viewers , glee 's series high at that point . it received mixed reviews from critics . the conclusion of the fake pregnancy storyline attracted praise , as did gilsig and morrison 's acting , however liz pardue of zap2it expressed dismay that so few songs were performed , while raymund flandez of the wall street journal deemed " jump " " the only memorable song of the episode " . plot 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 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 . sue informs will that the club receiving payment for the commercial revokes their amateur status , and thus their eligibility to compete at sectionals . quinn , who has been trying to convince sue to let her appear in the cheerleaders ' photographs despite being removed from the team due to her pregnancy , reminds sue that as their coach she has often given the cheerleaders perks which would also render them ineligible for competition . she demands that sue sacrifice one of the cheerleaders ' six pages in the yearbook to the glee club . sue agrees , and accepts quinn back onto the cheerleading team , but quinn tells her she no longer wishes to be a cheerleader . will announces that he will not be accompanying the club to sectionals , as he was the one who accepted payment , and as such they will only be allowed to compete without his involvement . the glee club then has their group photograph taken for the yearbook , but the copy in the library is subsequently defaced by hockey player dave karofsky ( max adler ) and football player azimio ( james earl ) . production " 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 ( 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 plays his brother - in - law , mattress store owner randy . the episode features cover versions of " smile " by lily allen , " jump " by van halen , " smile " by charlie chaplin , and " when you 're smiling " by louis armstrong . studio recordings of each of the songs except " when you 're smiling " were released as singles , available for digital download , and are also included on the album glee : the music , volume 2 . 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 . jessalyn gilsig referred to the confrontation between terri and will in " mattress " as " the reckoning " . she described it as sad to shoot , as she and morrison were so invested in the storyline , and explained : " what i hope is conveyed is that you see the child inside terri . you see the fear . " gilsig commented that viewers had been wondering why will was taking so long to discover terri was not actually pregnant , explaining : " i think people have been asking ' how slow is this guy ? ! ' . but [ in " mattress " ] will finally reflects that he is a fully evolved human being and puts two and two together . " she noted that while will and emma " are adorable together " , she still believes in terri and will as a couple as : " i think that she really loves him . people do crazy things out of deep , deep insecurity . she 's obviously flawed , but i think she has love in her heart . " while fan reaction to her character had previously resulted in a backlash gilsig found " tough " , she hoped that " mattress " would be the episode in which " anti - terri fans joined team terri " . reception " mattress " was watched by 8 . 15 million us viewers , glee 's series high in the 2009 – 10 television season at the time of its original broadcast . it achieved a 3 . 6 / 10 rating / share in the 18 - 49 demographic , again the show 's season high at the time , and a 4 . 3 / 12 rating / share with adults 18 - 34 , both its series high and the highest rating in the demographic for the night of broadcast . in canada , it was the ninth most watched show for the week of broadcast , attaining 1 . 8 million viewers . the episode received mixed reviews from critics . entertainment weekly 's dan snierson wrote that " mattress " " felt like a step forward after last week 's all - over - the - place hair toss " , and called the " poignant " ending " one of glee 's best " . in contrast , mike hale of the new york times wrote that with " mattress " , glee appeared to be " taking a break " ahead of the midseason finale episode " sectionals " . liz pardue of zap2it was relieved that " mattress " brought the fake pregnancy storyline to an end . she noted , however , that she was still unsatisfied with the episode , as the conclusion to the storyline should have come sooner , and there were too few songs featured . bobby hankinson of the houston chronicle called the episode " pretty good " noting that he " wasn 't crazy about any of the songs " but enjoyed the plot development , particularly the confrontation between terri and will . raymund flandez of the wall street journal was happy to see the " convoluted " fake pregnancy storyline end , and called the performance of " jump " " lively " and the stunts " incredible " , though he wrote that it was " the only memorable song of the episode " . gerrick kennedy of the los angeles times noted that in previous reviews , he had " never been shy of [ his ] disdain for mrs. schuester " , but that his hatred of terri " vanished " once the lie was over , praising the confrontation between will and terri . mtv 's aly semigran praised both actors , especially " a devastated matthew morrison " for having " nailed just what a scary , sad , and life - altering moment " it was . she deemed " jump " both " delightful " and the " musical number on the show to date " .