Time to transfer out of

That askance look? We're casting it at you, Mr. Schue. (Photo by Mike Yarish/FOX)

Spoilers for the previous two episodes of “Glee” — “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” and “Never Been Kissed.” Got it?

It's hard to use “absurd” as a criticism when you're talking about a show as patently absurd as “Glee.” When you've got 35-year-old actors who suddenly morph into high school students who suddenly morph into Auto-Tuned, costumed musical savants complete with a spontaneously appearing backing band that magically knows which song you're going to sing, reality is secondary. But somehow, a couple of things shone through all that frippery and seemed important. One was Mr. Schuester's earnest advocacy of the kids in the glee club. (Another was all things Kurt, but I think that's something for another post.)

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The last two episodes have done a good job of undoing Mr. Schue as a hero for the high-school masses, though. One of the most widespread gripes about “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” was the unbelievability that a school could even think about putting on “The Rocky Horror Show.” That didn't strike me as entirely odd, though; way back in high school, the summer theater program I was in decided to put on “Grease.” While it's worlds tamer than “Rocky Horror,” “Grease” includes a number of moments that might be considered too risqué for students, especially when those students are attending middle and high school in a modestly sized city in the South. Let's just say that in that production, Sandra Dee was not “lousy with virginity,” and all the chicks were doing for Greased Lightning was screaming. So it's entirely within reason that faculty could try to sanitize an ill-thought-out musical choice by cleaning up the lines and lyrics.

The bigger problem with McKinley High's “Rocky Horror” was that Mr. Schuester decided to do the musical, with all the risk it entailed for the children he is teaching, in an attempt to woo Emma Pillsbury. A teacher who would use his entire class as pawns in his personal romance seems like a bigger threat than one who would decide to stage a not-quite-appropriate play.

It's a move that nudges his character from well-intended to creepy, a trait further amped up this week when he magnanimously decides to kiss Coach Beiste, putting her out of her never-been-kissed misery. Dot Jones, who plays Coach Beiste, is a champion arm wrestler and shot putter, something I kind of wish the “Glee” writers had used to their advantage in that particular scene.

What do you think — is this a whole new Creepy McCreeperson side of Mr. Schuster, or has he been hiding smarminess under those sweater vests all along?

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