Mash Off

"Mash Off" was first broadcast on November 15, 2011, in the United States on Fox. It received a 3.0/8 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic, and attracted 7.08 million American viewers during its initial airing, which tied with "Pot o' Gold" for the lowest rating of the third season.[10] While the show's viewership was up slightly from the 6.91 million viewers for the previous episode, "The First Time", which was broadcast on November 8, 2011, the rating in the 18–49 demographic decreased slightly from the 3.1/8 rating/share received by that episode.[11]

Viewership was also up slightly in Australia, but decreased in Canada and hit a season low in the United Kingdom, where "Mash Off" was watched on Sky1 by 900,000 viewers, down over 7% compared to "The First Time" the previous week, when 973,000 viewers were watching.[12] In Australia, "Mash Off" was watched by 683,000 viewers, which made Glee the fourteenth most-watched program of the night for the second week in a row. The viewership was up slightly from the previous episode, which was seen by 660,000 viewers.[13] In Canada, viewership was down slightly and 1.64 million viewers watched the episode, which made it the eighteenth most-viewed show of the week, down three slots but only 20,000 viewers from the 1.66 million viewers who watched "The First Time" the week before.[14]

Television critics were more favorable than not in their response to "Mash Off". Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone felt that the series returned to form in the episode, and commented: "We've said it before and we'll say it again: we like our Glee with just enough ridiculousness, and this week had it."[15] Entertainment Weekly journalist Abby West noted that she loved the fact that it "was a bullying episode that snuck up on us".[16] Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal opined that "Mash Off" was one of the best installments of Glee, and cited the episode's storylines as highlights: "The mash-up episodes every season can be hit or miss, but this year was perfected to the nth degree."[17] Amy Reiter of the Los Angeles Times wrote that there was plenty of "airy fun to be found" in "Mash Off", but added that "underneath all the silly fake mustaches and snappy quotes about root-beer fountains and robot teachers beat a very dark baboon heart. In the end, that murky, telltale undercurrent burst to the fore, like a ... slap in the face, leaving us gasping and a little confused."[18] Houston Chronicle's Bobby Hankinson stated that it was "surprisingly good", and that "Mash Off" was a "solid hour of television that was bursting with fantastic musical numbers and some really gratifying narrative developments".[19] Michael Slezak of TVLine said that the episode contributed to a revitalization of the quality of the show's third season.[20]

Television critics commended the interactions between Santana (Rivera, above) and Finn (Monteith, below)

Catriona Wightman of Digital Spy wrote, "This was a confusing episode of Glee. For a while, it seemed pretty unremarkable—a standard installment, meandering along enjoyably enough. But then, in the last few minutes, it suddenly got really rather dark indeed. I'm intrigued about what happens next."[21] The A.V. Club's Emily VanDerWerff gave "Mash Off" a "C" grade, and felt that the episode did not reach its full potential. She wrote, "The gut-punch moment is sufficiently gut-punchy, and we'll get to that in a bit. But everything building up to it is so messy that the solidly dramatic moment almost made me angry. There's something about this show that leads to messy tonal mash-ups. But where the show's musical mash-ups are usually pretty harmonious, the tonal shifts can often be brutally unsubtle."[22] James Poniewozik of Time felt that it was notably inferior to the previous episode, with many more "forgettable scenes and stories".[23]

The character development of Santana and her interactions with Finn were well received by critics. Poniewozik stated that Santana confronting her sexuality was one of the highlights of "Mash Off".[23] Wightman commented that despite Santana's callous personality, "watching her burst into tears and sob that she hasn't even told her parents about her sexuality yet [was] heartbreaking".[21] Robert Canning of IGN wrote, "The biggest development was the unexpected way Santana's sexuality became public. It was a nice way to end things, building tension towards hopefully more resonating episodes to come."[24] VanDerWerff said that "the last five minutes of this episode are phenomenal, one of those times that the show gets the mix of tones just right and something that's vaguely comedic gets more and more horrifying and dramatic, and then we plunge down the rabbit hole and everything goes nuts."[22] To Ryan Gajewski of Wetpaint, the scene that concluded "Mash Off" was a "fascinating twist, and one that makes it hard to choose sides". He added, "Santana has certainly been not-exactly-cuddly these past few weeks, but it's still clear that Finn totally crossed the line."[25]

The opening number for the episode, "Hot for Teacher", was commended by most critics. Futterman described it as a "high-energy performance with the right amount of absurdity".[15] Brett Berk of Vanity Fair gave the musical number a four out of five stars, and cited the choreography as the highlight of the performance.[26] West gave it a grade of "A−", and wrote, "This was such big fun and the backup guys ... really helped amp it up."[16] Slezak was less enthusiastic about the sequence. He was critical of Salling's vocals, and felt that a heavy metal song was not suited to his stylings; he ultimately gave it a "C+" grade.[20] He also criticized the choreography, and stated that he had to "downgrade a little for Blaine and Mike Chang's grotesque 'whoopsie, I'm hiding an erection!' dance move that will probably haunt me to my grave."[20]

The mash-up of "You and I" by Lady Gaga (left) and another "You and I" by Crystal Gayle (right) and Eddie Rabbitt was well-received by critics

Berk said that the mash-up of the two "You and I" songs "almost worked",[26] while Los Angeles Times writer L'Oreal Thompson praised the vocals of Menzel: "It's official. Shelby sings Gaga as good as, if not better than, Gaga sings Gaga."[27] Slezak awarded the performance a "B" grade, and opined: "I loved the audacity of mashing up Lady Gaga with an Eddie Rabbit–Crystal Gayle chestnut, and the results had the sheen of '70s a.m. radio fare. Shelby's voice was almost too crystal clear for the Gaga half of the composition."[20] Futterman said that Menzel "can kill a Gaga ballad", and while she "outshines" Morrison, he "complements her nicely".[15] West gave the mash-up a "B+", called it "really well-done" and said it was "elevated" by Menzel's voice.[16] MTV's Kevin P. Sullivan wanted Menzel to interpret more songs by Lady Gaga.[28] In contrast, Rae Votta of Billboard denounced the sequence, and called it "horrendous".[29]

West gave the mash-up of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" / "One Way or Another" a "B" grade,[16] while Slezak gave the performance a "B+". Slezak wrote, "Santana's moments on lead were obviously stronger than Finn's Auto-Tuned into submission vocals, but that doesn't mean the number wasn't a hoot."[20] Futterman called it a "fierce match", and added the mash-up was well crafted.[15] Hankinson rated it the second best performance of the episode.[19] Brian Moyler of Gawker, who writes of his dislike of mash-ups, characterized it as "the only mash-up of the night that actually makes sense" but he called it an "awful aural clash" and "the second least dreadful".[30]

Moyler felt that the combination of "I Can't Go for That" and "You Make My Dreams" was "an abomination" and "New Directions at their worst". He summarized: "The outfits are hokey, the dance is silly, and the music has absolutely no emotion in it."[30] Slezak, however, issued the performance an "A−" grade, and wrote, "The Troubletones beat New Directions in this particular battle, but I loved the frothy, silly spirit of this number, with the guys dressed like Miami Vice extras, Puck and Blaine rocking Oatestaches, and Tina getting a little moment on lead vocals."[20] Votta characterized the performance as a "fun, retro number",[29] and Jen Chaney of The Washington Post was similarly pleased, and gave it a "B+".[31]

The episode's concluding musical number, "Rumour Has It" / "Someone Like You", was acclaimed as its main highlight. Raymund Flandez described Rivera's vocals as "electrifying" and "golden".[17] Futterman wrote that the performance was one of Glee's best sequences: "Mercedes and Santana nail their vocals and the song combines great tracks from one of the year's biggest albums while capturing both the sass and sadness of the Troubletones at this particular moment."[15] Votta called it the best performance since the cast's rendition of "Don't Stop Believin'" in the season one finale, "Journey to Regionals", and stated, "Naya Rivera's powerful vocals and the strong arrangement still packs the emotional punch Glee was targeting."[29] Chaney awarded the sequence an "A+" grade: "Given the emotional stakes raised by Santana's outing, which happened in the scene right before this performance, and the fact that it marked the series's 300th musical performance, this marriage" of the two Adele songs, "Rumour Has It" and "Someone Like You", was "all the more powerful".[31] Moyler asserted that the number was "perfection" and said, "This is why I watch Glee. It is just brilliant from Mercedes first belting to the snaps on the beat to the choreography with the girls walking in a circle and making little whispers to Santana bringing tears to my eyes singing 'Someone Like You' as if it was the last song she'll ever sing in her damn life."[30] CinemaBlend's Melissa Duko stated that the show "hit it out of the park" and added that it was her favorite performance of the season.[32] Slezak gave the number an "A+" and wrote, "Nobody can completely match Adele doing Adele, and yet Naya Rivera and Amber Riley somehow made the sum of this mashup a worthy equal to Adele's glorious original parts."[20] In December 2012, TV Guide named the mash-up one of Glee's best performances.[33]

While five singles were released from the episode, it was the four mash-ups that debuted on the Billboard Hot 100. "Rumour Has It" / "Someone Like You" debuted at number eleven in the issue dated November 23, 2011. It sold 160,000 digital downloads in its first week, the fifth-highest first week digital sales for the series.[34] The mash-up sparked a revival in sales for "Rumour Has It", which achieved a new peak at number sixty that same week, during which it sold 42,000 digital copies.[34] In Canada, the mash-up entered on the Canadian Hot 100 at number twelve on the strength of sales of 14,000 downloads.[35]

The remaining three mash-ups that charted in the Billboard Hot 100 were "You and I" / "You and I" at number sixty-nine, "I Can't Go for That" / "You Make My Dreams" at number eighty, and "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" / "One Way or Another" at number eighty-six.[36] In Canada, "I Can't Go for That" / "You Make My Dreams" debuted at number seventy-four, "You and I" / "You and I" at number ninety-three, and "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" / "One Way or Another" at number ninety-five.[35] "Hot for Teacher" did not chart, though it and "Rumour Has It" / "Someone Like You" were both featured on the subsequently released soundtrack album Glee: The Music, Volume 7.[37]