 = Vitamin D ( Glee ) = 
 
 " Vitamin D " is the sixth episode of the American television series Glee . The episode premiered on the Fox network on October 7 , 2009 . It was written by series creator Ryan Murphy and directed by Elodie Keene . In the episode , glee club director Will Schuester ( Matthew Morrison ) pits the male and female club members against each other for a mash @-@ up competition . Will 's wife Terri ( Jessalyn Gilsig ) takes a job as the school nurse to stop him becoming closer to guidance counsellor Emma Pillsbury ( Jayma Mays ) , but is fired after giving the students performance @-@ enhancing pseudoephedrine tablets . 
 The episode features mash @-@ up covers of " It 's My Life " by Bon Jovi and " Confessions Part II " by Usher , and " Halo " by Beyoncé Knowles and " Walking on Sunshine " by Katrina and the Waves . Both tracks were released as singles , available for digital download . " Vitamin D " was watched by 7 @.@ 30 million US viewers , and received generally positive reviews from critics . Performances by Morrison , Mays and Jane Lynch as cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester attracted praise , as did the staging of the musical mash @-@ ups . However , Aly Semigran of MTV and Mandi Bierly of Entertainment Weekly both noted critically that dramatic storylines in the episode dominated over the musical performances . 
 
 = = Plot = = 
 
 Believing the glee club members are becoming complacent ahead of the forthcoming sectionals , director Will Schuester ( Matthew Morrison ) divides the club into boys against girls for a mash @-@ up competition . Cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester ( Jane Lynch ) observes that head cheerleader Quinn Fabray 's ( Dianna Agron ) performance standards are slipping . When Quinn blames her tiredness on her glee club participation , Sue renews her resolve to destroy the club , planning to sabotage Will 's personal life . 
 Sue tells Will 's wife Terri Schuester ( Jessalyn Gilsig ) that guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury ( Jayma Mays ) has romantic feelings for Will . Determined to stay close to her husband , Terri takes a job as the school nurse , despite having no medical qualifications . She encourages Emma 's boyfriend , football coach Ken Tanaka ( Patrick Gallagher ) to propose to her , which he does . After asking Will if there is any reason she should not marry Ken , and being warned off Will by Terri , Emma accepts his proposal . Terri is still hiding the fact she experienced a hysterical pregnancy from Will , and upon realizing how much her life is changing due to her pregnancy , Quinn agrees to let Terri secretly adopt her baby . 
 Finn Hudson ( Cory Monteith ) is exhausted by his extra @-@ curricular activities , so Terri gives him pseudoephedrine tablets , which Finn shares with the rest of the males in the glee club . The effects of the tablets enhance their performance , and they give an energetic mash @-@ up of " It 's My Life and " Confessions Part II " . When Kurt Hummel ( Chris Colfer ) tells the girls the secret behind the boys ' performance , they , too , request the tablets from Terri , and give a high @-@ spirited mash @-@ up of " Halo " and " Walking On Sunshine " . Finn and Rachel Berry ( Lea Michele ) feel guilty for cheating , however , and agree to nullify the competition . When Principal Figgins ( Iqbal Theba ) learns what has happened , he fires Terri and , angry with Will , appoints Sue as co @-@ director of the glee club . 
 
 = = Production = = 
 
 Recurring characters who appear in " Vitamin D " are glee club members Santana Lopez ( Naya Rivera ) , Brittany Pierce ( Heather Morris ) , Mike Chang ( Harry Shum , Jr . ) and Matt Rutherford ( Dijon Talton ) , former glee club director Sandy Ryerson ( Stephen Tobolowsky ) , Principal Figgins ( Theba ) , football coach Ken Tanaka ( Gallagher ) , Terri 's co @-@ worker Howard Bamboo ( Kent Avenido ) , and local news anchors Rod Remington ( Bill A. Jones ) and Andrea Carmichael ( Earlene Davis ) . Joe Hursley guest stars as Joe . 
 The episode features mash @-@ up covers of " It 's My Life " by Bon Jovi and " Confessions Part II " by Usher , and " Halo " by Beyoncé Knowles and " Walking on Sunshine " by Katrina and the Waves . Both tracks were released as singles , available for digital download . " It 's My Life / Confessions Part II " charted at number 7 in Ireland , 14 in the UK , 22 in Australia , 25 in Canada and 30 in America , while " Halo / Walking on Sunshine " charted at number 4 in Ireland , 9 in the UK , 10 in Australia , 28 in Canada and 40 in America . Michele has revealed that she practiced talking " manically " for several days in order to convey the effects of pseudoephedrine on Rachel . In order to portray the character in her altered state , she questioned : " How manic is the right amount of manic ? What would Rachel be like on uppers ? What would she sound like ? " She deemed performing the mash @-@ up piece in that state " so much fun " . 
 
 = = Reception = = 
 
 The episode was watched by 7 @.@ 30 million U.S. viewers and attained a 3 @.@ 2 / 8 rating / share in the 18 – 49 demographic . Glee maintained its ratings from the previous week , despite all of the other new Wednesday night shows of the season declining by double @-@ digit percentages . It was the eighteenth most watched show in Canada for the week of broadcast , with 1 @.@ 61 million viewers . In the UK , the episode was watched by 2 @.@ 008 million viewers ( 1 @.@ 608 million on E4 , and 400 @,@ 000 on E4 + 1 ) , becoming the most @-@ watched show on E4 and E4 + 1 for the week , and the most @-@ watched show on cable for the week , as well as the most @-@ watched episode of the series at the time . 
 " Vitamin D " was nominated for the best " Comedy Series Episode " award at the 2010 PRISM Awards . It received generally positive reviews from critics . Shawna Malcom of the Los Angeles Times noted that she preferred the boys ' performance to the girls ' , commenting : " Their number had the same heart @-@ soaring power as " Don 't Stop Believin ' " [ performed in the pilot episode ] . " Malcom enjoyed Sue 's character development in the episode , claiming that , " In less skilled hands , there ’ s no doubt Sue would be an over @-@ the @-@ top disaster . But thanks to the incomparable Jane Lynch , I can ’ t wait to see what trouble the character stirs up next . " Aly Semigran of MTV also enjoyed the boys ' performance more than the girls ' , and gave the episode a mostly positive review , writing that it moved the series ' storylines to " a whole new level " . She felt , however , that the episode " didn 't have nearly enough singing " . Mandi Bierly for Entertainment Weekly similarly noted that : " So much happened in this hour that the musical numbers , though enjoyable , were almost an afterthought . " Bierly favoured the girls ' performance , and praised Morrison 's acting , commenting : " Matthew Morrison communicates so much with his eyes . There ’ s a softness and a longing in them that I ’ m always surprised Emma ( Jayma Mays ) matches . " 
 Mike Hale for the New York Times praised Mays ' performance , noting : " Jayma Mays registered Emma ’ s devastation with just the slightest widening of those enormous eyes . In fact all the best non @-@ singing moments in the episode were hers . " Hale was less impressed with the rest of the episode , deeming the pregnancy storyline " so boring that is hardly mattered " . He noted that : " For many viewers , the best moments in the episode probably came very early on and involved Jane Lynch ’ s Sue Sylvester , who still got all the best lines . " Jarett Wieselman for the New York Post agreed with this assessment , opining that although the episode was " filled with more brilliant moments than ever before " , the stand @-@ out scene was Sue writing in her journal , which Wieselman deemed " jam @-@ packed with so many one liners , it acted as a vacuum , sucking the smart out of everything else on TV from 9 : 05 to 9 : 07 pm . " Fellow New York Post critic Maxine Shen deemed the episode her favorite of the series so far . Anna Pickard of The Guardian called the pseudoephedrine storyline " relentlessly silly [ ... ] but joyfully so " , preferring the boys ' performance to the girls ' as " some excellent comedy helped me forget about Finn 's dodgy autotuned vocals for once " . 
 
 