Never Been Kissed (Glee)

During its original broadcast, "Never Been Kissed" was watched by 10.99 million American viewers and attained a 4.6/13 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic.[18] Its rating was a season low to that point; however, Glee was the top-rated show for the night of broadcast in all under-50 categories.[19][20] It was the most-viewed scripted show of the week amongst adults 18–49, and ranked twenty-first amongst all viewers.[21] In Australia, the episode was watched by 1.081 million viewers, a decline from previous weeks, which was attributed by David Dale of The Sydney Morning Herald to many regular viewers being away on Schoolies week.[22] In Canada, 1.97 million viewers watched the episode, placing twelfth for the week.[23] In the UK, the episode was watched by 2.64 million viewers (2.20 million on E4, and 438,000 on E4+1),[24] which made it the most-watched show on cable for the week.[25]

Glee was nominated in the Outstanding Comedy Series category at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards: "Never Been Kissed" was one of six episodes submitted for consideration, paired with the season's fourth episode, "Duets".[26] Jones received an Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nomination for her work on Glee's second season, and submitted her performance in the episode for final judging.[27]

Critics were polarized by the storyline about the bullying of Kurt (Chris Colfer, pictured).

"Never Been Kissed" received mixed reviews from critics, who were polarized by Kurt's storyline. While CNN's Lisa Respers France thought it was Glee's best episode thus far and IGN's Robert Canning rated it 9 out of 10, which signifies an outstanding episode,[28][29] Linda Holmes of National Public Radio dismissed it as "one of the most facile and emotionally inauthentic episodes the show has ever produced",[30] and Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club deemed it a failure on "almost every level."[31] The Huffington Post's Leah Anthony Libresco found it an "extraordinarily counterproductive" response to the string of teenage gay suicides in early 2010.[32] Bobby Hankinson of the Houston Chronicle and James Poniewozik of Time approved of the storyline in principle—the former opined that Glee's willingness to raise mainstream awareness of such issues was "incredibly courageous", and the latter appreciated that it would span a multi-episode arc—but both were critical of its depiction in practice.[33][34]

Many elements of the plot were highlighted as being problematic. Holmes felt that Karofsky's swift transition from bullying to kissing Kurt was absurd and "emotionally unsound".[30] Libresco disapproved of Will for treating Kurt's upset as the key problem, rather than the unchecked bullying which provoked it. She found Blaine's advice to Kurt "misleading and dangerous", especially the suggestion that targeted children should be held responsible for confronting their attackers and putting themselves at risk of further injury, rather than for protecting themselves.[32] VanDerWerff and Poniewozik were critical of Dalton Academy: the former found its tolerance unrealistic and the latter was disappointed that Glee declined to depict a flawed high school tackling bullying in favor of creating "an almost otherworldly paradise".[31][34] Poniewozik also noted that the storyline was inherently flawed, as the show had previously treated bullying in a light-hearted manner, but opined that its saving grace was the focus it placed on Colfer, "probably the strongest actor with the most interesting character among the Glee kids".[34]

Further praise for Colfer's performance came from Canning and Entertainment Weekly's Tim Stack, who approved of the episode for its depiction of there being no simple solution to the bullying.[29][35] Amy Reiter of the Los Angeles Times commented that it was testament to the writers and cast that Karofsky's kiss startled the audience as much as it did Kurt, and commended the transitioning of Karofsky from a faceless jock into "a nuanced character with a back story and hidden motives of his own."[36] MTV's Aly Semigran wrote that, should the episode inspire a single teenager to have courage in the face of discrimination, or re-consider bullying, it would be an impressive accomplishment.[37]

The Beiste storyline was met with criticism. Reiter questioned why Beiste was made to look to high school students to "gauge her own desirability", an element she found "hazy and creepy".[36] Poniewozik criticized the depiction of Beiste as an object of pity, and felt that Will's behavior was worse than the students' when he acted with "amazing condescension" and kissed her. Both Poniewozik and Semigran disliked the way viewers were made complicit in Beiste's humiliation by being invited to laugh at her expense,[34][37] and Holmes criticized Glee for denying Beiste dignity, with the observation that such a plot would never have been given to Kurt.[30] VanDerWerff commented negatively on the way Glee plays up Beiste's "masculine nature" while simultaneously lecturing viewers against mocking her. She called the kiss "somehow both heartfelt and completely horrifying".[31] Canning praised Jones in her "best performance this season", as well as Beiste's "raw and real" confession to Will.[29]

The Puck sub-plot received generally positive reviews. Poniewozik called it the "best and most authentic of the night", with praise for Salling's performance,[34] and Canning felt that it served well as a comical break from the episode's other storylines.[29] Brett Berk of Vanity Fair enjoyed the additional depth given to Puck, and he, Stack and New York's Rebecca Milzoff commented positively on Puck's budding friendship with Artie.[7][35][38] VanDerWerff deemed it the episode's "least objectionable" storyline, though wrote that the awkward inclusion of their duet, the abruptness of Artie's feelings for Brittany, and the "forced nature" of the scene in which Puck confesses that he does not want to return to juvenile detention all "conspired to keep the storyline from lifting off."[31]

The Dalton Academy Warblers performing "Teenage Dream" on the 2011 Glee Live! In Concert! tour, led by Blaine (front right).

Reviews of the episode's musical numbers were also mixed, with the mash-ups less favorably received than the other performances. Canning felt that the songs intruded on the storytelling.[29] Hankinson wrote that the mash-ups were "shoehorned in [to an] already over-stuffed hour",[33] and Emily Yahr of The Washington Post said they served "no real purpose".[39]

BuddyTV's Jen Harper enjoyed the harmonies and simple arrangement of "One Love/People Get Ready",[40] and Anthony Benigno of the Daily News gave it an "A", with praise for the vocals.[41] Stack graded it "B-". He called it a "nice performance", but incongruous in context,[35] a concern shared by Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone, who preferred Salling's rendition of "Only the Good Die Young" in the episode "Grilled Cheesus".[42]

Perry expressed approval of the cover of her song, "Teenage Dream", through the social networking website Twitter.[43] Harper found the choreography uncomfortable viewing, and Hanh Nguyen of Zap2it agreed that the performers appeared to be "rockin' out a bit too much to it", but felt that the song worked "remarkably well" overall.[40][44] Futterman deemed it the best song of the episode, and appreciated that it was more understated than numbers performed by rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline during the show's first season.[42] Stack went further and called the performance one of his favorites on Glee; he enjoyed the choreography and arrangement and graded it "A+".[35] Benigno again gave the song an "A"; he called it "flawless" and an improvement on Perry's original.[41] In December 2012, TV Guide named the rendition one of Glee's best performances.[45]

The girls' Bon Jovi–Rolling Stones mash-up was received favorably by Stack and Milzoff—the former graded it "A", the latter called it "brash and fun", and both writers appreciated the black leather costumes.[35][38] While Harper also liked the costumes and the energetic performance, she felt it "paled in comparison" to the last mash-up the girls performed, in the season one episode "Vitamin D".[40] Futterman commented that the costumes and choreography overwhelmed the vocals, to the point of being "a little too Miley and not enough Glee".[42] Benigno called the song a "cacophony" and gave it his lowest performance grade of the episode, a "D". He suggested that Glee had been responsible for "reviving the mashup fad", but hoped the girls' performance would serve to end it again.[41] The boys' Supremes–En Vogue mash-up was graded "A" by Stack, who liked the combination of artists.[35] Harper preferred the girls' costumes but felt the boys gave the better performance,[40] while Futterman found it overly-sentimental in context, but also preferred it to the girls' song.[42] Benigno gave it a "C", and commented, "Not quite the debacle the previous mash-up was, but given how fantastic this episode was, the sendoff should've been better."[41]

All four of the cover versions featured debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, and appeared on other musical charts. On the Hot 100, the show's rendition of "Teenage Dream" debuted at number eight,[46] and sold 55,000 downloads on its first day and a total of 214,000 copies in its first week, the best first-day and first-week sales numbers for any Glee Cast single.[47][48] It was the first Glee single to top Billboard's Digital Songs chart,[47][49] and debuted at number ten on the Canadian Hot 100.[50] "Teenage Dream" was also the first single since the pilot's "Don't Stop Believin'" to be certified gold in the US.[51] The other three songs on the Hot 100 were "Start Me Up / Livin' on a Prayer" at number thirty-one, which also made number twenty-two on the Canadian Hot 100; "Stop! In the Name of Love / Free Your Mind" at number thirty-eight, which also made number twenty-eight on the Canadian Hot 100; and "One Love/People Get Ready" at number forty-one, which also made number thirty-two on the Canadian Hot 100.[46][50]