"Prom-asaurus" is the nineteenth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the sixty-third overall. Written by Ryan Murphy and directed by Eric Stoltz, the episode aired on Fox in the United States on May 8, 2012, and features McKinley High's senior prom.
Prom-asaurus attracted 6.67 million American viewers during its initial airing and received a 2.7/8 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic, up significantly from the 2.5/8 rating/share and 6.01 million viewers of the previous episode, "Choke", which was broadcast on May 1, 2012.
Plot
McKinley High Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) has a talk with Brittany (Heather Morris) for being an ineffective senior class president, and tells her that he is considering abolishing the position. As a result, Brittany vows to make the upcoming senior prom a memorable one. She decides that the prom will have a dinosaur theme and imposes a ban on hair gel at the prom, which upsets Blaine (Darren Criss), an extensive user of hair gel.
Sue (Jane Lynch) announces the three finalists for prom king and prom queen, which include Finn (Cory Monteith) and Brittany for prom king, and Santana (Naya Rivera) and Quinn (Dianna Agron) for prom queen. Becky Jackson (Lauren Potter) is very upset that she was not nominated. Rachel (Lea Michele) is upset to see a poster touting Finn and Quinn's joint candidacy and confronts him, knowing that Finn lied to her about the posters, and is upset that her fiancé will be dancing at the prom with Quinn—his ex-girlfriend—instead of with her. Finn misunderstands why he didn’t tell Rachel the truth. Meanwhile, Quinn has made progress in her physical therapy, with Joe's (Samuel Larsen) aid, and has regained some of her ability to walk. She asks Joe to keep it a secret until after the prom. Later, after seeing Quinn use her recent disability to gain a sympathy vote from a student, Finn starts to have misgivings about their joint campaign.
After discussing her own misgivings about the prom with Blaine and Kurt (Chris Colfer), Rachel decides to throw an anti-prom party at a hotel. Puck (Mark Salling), still dejected after failing an exam he needed to pass in order to graduate, agrees to go, as does a still-angry Becky. The party starts off awkwardly, and Becky calls it "the worst anti-prom ever". Meanwhile, at the prom, Finn walks in on Quinn , who is standing up in the restroom and is upset that he chose her over Rachel because of her fake disability. Finn chides Quinn for using her wheelchair to bribe votes and calls her out for being self-centered. Quinn begs Finn to stay for their mandatory dance, which he agrees to, but during the dance he physically threatens her to stand up and continues ranting about her selfish acts to get prom votes. Joe confronts Finn and Sue threatens to kick him out of the prom, but Finn leaves voluntarily. He arrives at the anti-prom party and urges Rachel and the others to return to the prom with him. Rachel agrees to go, as do Kurt and Blaine, but Puck and Becky stay behind. Finn buys Rachel a corsage and presents it to her. Becky tells Puck about her desire to become a prom queen, and he decides to crown himself and Becky as the king and queen of the anti-prom, fashioning crowns out of a beer box, after which the two also return to the prom.
At McKinley, Rachel apologizes to Quinn about Finn’s mistake and tells Quinn that she voted for her, and is happy that they became friends. Santana and Quinn count the prom king and queen votes, only to discover that four people voted for Brittany for king and Finn won, while Quinn has defeated Santana by a single vote. Despite the title being what both wanted, Santana realizes she didn't want to win unless Brittany did as well, and Quinn's victory leaves her feeling empty. After hearing Rachel’s kind words about her, Quinn decides to do Rachel a favor. She conspires with Santana, and after Finn is announced as prom king, Rachel is declared the write-in winner for prom queen as an apology. Finn and Rachel dance to "Take My Breath Away", sung by Quinn and Santana, and Quinn surprises the crowd by shakily standing during the performance. At the end, Rachel gets nervous and is worried that it was a joke and that she will be dripped on like in Carrie. After Finn gives her words of encouragement, Rachel feels more comfortable about being the new Queen and proudly announces her rightful place as prom Queen.
Production
The episode was directed by Eric Stoltz and written by co-creator Ryan Murphy. It had begun shooting by March 27, 2012, while the previous episode, "Choke", was still being shot, and concluded on April 5, 2012. The prom scenes were completed the day before shooting ended.