New Beginnings

New Beginnings is the first episode of the fourth season of Glee.

Plot
The episode opens with Claire Campion, McKinley’s rising star reporter, interviewing the New Directions, heavily emphasizing students in their senior year. Blaine is interviewed first, telling Claire he is determined to make this year the best year yet. He is also trying his hardest to get into dramatic arts and singing colleges. It is revealed he played an understudy for a chorus member in Mamma Mia for the last act of one of the shows when a chorus member was bit by a goat. Shane is trying to get filmed by Claire until he angrily throws a textbook at her. Tina reveals she’s following in Rachel and Kurt’s footsteps by applying for NYADA. Artie wheels up at that moment saying he finally found an all-white rap academy in the summer and took lessons and is sure he’ll be discovered before the end of the year. Rory’s American citizenship request was granted over the summer, and he is hoping to be completely Americanized by the end of the year to have a 100% American senior year. Rory also met Michael Buble over the summer when he tripped him and took a picture of both of them on the ground and was later arrested for twenty-four hours. Joe tells everyone he spent his summer working at the local radio station studio, hosting his own hour segment “Hart to Hart” which reached tens of listeners. Sugar says she was working on singing lessons and hanging out with her best “stuffed animal” heiresses. Sue reveals that since Figgins took a long vacation due to a Ferris Wheel accident, she will be principal for the first semester of school. She also says that she will not forget about her Cheerios but rather this gives her more confidence. She also has a new Cheerio named Cleo Lopez, a cousin of Santana.

Will wakes up the first day of school to find a letter from the national show choir league saying that all glee clubs will be required fourteen members to participate in competitions. At this moment, Sunshine Corazon walks in, saying she’s back at McKinley and wants to make her senior year memorable before she’s deported back to the Philippines. She asks to join the Glee Club. Most don’t want her to join, but Will reminds them they next two extra members this year, so Sunshine is welcomed into the club. Will assigns the Glee Clubbers that week to find interesting ways to gain new members for Glee Club. Joe then suggests that since he was a radio host for the summer, that the Glee Club should try and break into the airwaves and broadcast a message and a song. The glee club goes along with it wondering what song they should sing.

During lunch, Beiste comes to Emma and Will telling them she kicked everyone off the football team to start fresh. She says since her star players from last year are gone, she wanted to start fresh. When she reads off the list for signups, Will is surprised to see that Rory signed up and then hears a name that triggers something, Hank Saunders. Will runs out to the lunch room and pulls Hank out. Will remembers that Hank should’ve graduated last year. Hank says that he failed to graduate last year, so he has to repeat his senior year. Will also remembers he was in Sandy’s glee club and asks him about joining the New Directions. Hank says he signed up for the football team anyways and denies Will’s request. Will tells him if he doesn’t make the team, he can be welcome at the New Directions.

Sue calls in Claire Campion and asks her to be part of her Cheerios team only to help spy on the New Directions by installing security cameras in the rooms and watching them. Claire agrees to join if she can join Cleo as co-captain. Sue agrees because she used too much energy to find this “broad” already. Claire then becomes close friends with Cleo as they go to set up security cameras.

The next day, Joe, Tina, Blaine, Artie, and Rory are all in the recording room where the after school radio show is hosted and break into the airwaves. They all perform Pumped Up Kicks over the airwaves. Most people dance and sing to the music, while Sue is infuriated and Will runs to get them out of there. The gang finish their song and make it out just in time before Sue catches them.

Will confronts the group in a glee club meeting later that afternoon about the singers. He says that they could all be expelled from school if Sue caught them. Naomi Pettigrew, a sophomore at McKinley walks in at that moment, telling them she now knows their secret and will tell Sylvester if they don’t allow her in the club. After Will tells her each member needs to audition first, Naomi sings Love Song. Everyone gladly accepts her with her strong voice to the club.

That afternoon, Beiste holds football tryouts with the help of Will. Rory is drafted kicker after he is shown to be excellent at kicking. Shane and Hank then both battle each other for the role of quarterback and say they won’t accept any other positions, which is when Beiste is faced with a tough decision.

After tryouts, Rory joins Tina, Artie, Blaine and now Kurt who has two weeks before NYADA classes start. Kurt brings up the topic of Tina’s birth parents, and with the help of Artie, Tina and him are determined to find them. During the next morning, the two students are having trouble on ancestry.com finding any connections to her birth parents. A new girl named Iris or stylized as “iRis” is wheeled up to them by a student. “iRis” is really talking to everyone through a Skype system and a computer from her home due to the fact she is too afraid to go outside of her house. She tells them about a site that helps with international family members. Tina finds out the only way she’ll be able to find her parents will be to travel to China. “iRis” tells Tina she actually has a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world but was too afraid to use it to go outside her house. Tina, glad thanks “iRis”.

Will walks into the choir room to find sheet music when he hears whirring. Sue, from her office, is controlling the security cameras. Will goes up and breaks one of its connection. Sue tells him as principal she has right to see what’s going on in any class at any time and Claire is forced to rewire the camera back in.

Shane and Hank are in the hallway and both get into a fight at each other over their anger of who will get to be quarterback. When they are both disciplined, Will suggests to Beiste that they get to know who was the quarterback which turns out to be Shane. Hank, hurt, leaves the room in a rush.

In algebra, Sunshine and Tina find “iRis” in their class being highly gifted and smart. They both agree they should try and get “iRis” to join the club. When they ask her, “iRis” declines, so Sunshine starts singing You Gotta Be. After her song, “iRis” finally agrees to join the club. Naomi, appalled that “iRis” didn’t have to audition, goes to tell Sue some information.

In the hallways, Sugar confronts Joe telling him that since Rachel and Finn are gone, that they should be the club’s power couple. Sugar since her relationships with Artie and Rory didn’t work out, she really started going for Joe. Joe says he took on a life of solitude till he was 40 because of the big impact of the number 40 in the Bible, plus he thinks Sugar’s crazy and looks like a horse. Sugar tries to sing “Love Shack” while Joe runs away.

Artie is wheeling through the hallways when he comes to a new sophomore to school, Luke Draco. He wheels Artie in by telling him about rapping and wheelchairs. Luke then gets him to start smoking weed with him. Artie soon gets addicted to drinking and Luke gives him a weed for the week, telling him not to waste it. Luke, smiled in how his plan is already working, walks off the school grounds chucking a rock at a security camera.

The next day, Luke arrives at the glee club saying he wants to audition. Will is surprised by how many new members they had gained this week and now even more want to join. Luke says he was in his glee club, Vocal Extreme, at his old Kellogg High School. Naomi recognizes Vocal Extreme as the glee club hot off the presses and saying he’s untrustworthy. Luke sings I've Got The World On A String and is accepted into the club, much to Naomi’s dismay.

Artie receives Tina’s plane ticket from “iRis” he’d promise to deliver to her. Being high at the time, he makes a papier-mâché ball out of it. When Tina asks for the plane ticket, Artie still high says he made it into a ball. Tina furious at him, hangs up.

Will tries to bring up the subject of a baby around Emma and she quickly denies him, saying a baby is not in her future just yet.

The next day Tina is all depressed, and Artie arrives only for glee club, apparently giving up weed seeing what it did Tina. Luke sad his first plan didn’t work, suggests a song they sing to celebrate the new year and new members. The group joins in singing Come So Far (Got So Far To Go) when it is interrupted at the end by Sue. She comes in enraged at Joe who she finds out stole keys to get into the sound booth and got over the airwaves. She suspends him for two weeks.

At the end of the episode Hank walks up to Will saying he'll join the club.

Songs

 * Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People. Sung by Artie, Tina, Blaine, and Rory.
 * Love Song by Sarah Bareilles. Sung by Naomi.
 * You Gotta Be by Des'ree. Sung by Sunshine.
 * I've Got The World On A String by Frank Sinatra. Sung by Luke.
 * Come So Far (Got So Far To Go) from Hairspray. Sung by Rory, Tina, Joe, and Naomi.

Guest Stars

 * Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel
 * Dot Jones as Shannon Beiste
 * Kyra Christiaan as Cleo Lopez
 * Olivia Scriven as Claire Campion