"Dance with Somebody" is the seventeenth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the sixty-first overall. Written by Ross Maxwell and directed by Paris Barclay, the episode aired on Fox in the United States on April 24, 2012. It is a special tribute episode to Whitney Houston, who died ten weeks earlier (February 11), and features seven of her songs.
Upon its initial airing, this episode attracted 6.90 million American viewers and received a 2.7/8 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic, an increase of over 10% from the 2.4/7 rating/share and 6.23 million viewers of the previous episode, "Saturday Night Glee-ver", which was broadcast on April 17, 2012.
Plot
Will (Matthew Morrison) notices that several of the glee club members are still dejected two months after the death of Whitney Houston. School counselor Emma (Jayma Mays) explains that they are focusing on the pain of Whitney's death so that they do not have to think of the pain of leaving their friends after graduation. Will makes their assignment for the week a tribute to Houston.
While shopping for sheet music in preparation for his performance, Kurt (Chris Colfer) meets Chandler (Justin Castor), a student from another school, who helps him choose a song. The two exchange telephone numbers, and later Chandler sends flirtatious text messages to Kurt, who responds to them positively. Kurt sees the exchanges as innocent, but his boyfriend Blaine (Darren Criss) sees it as cheating. The two get into an argument, and Blaine sings "It's Not Right but It's Okay" to express his feelings. Later, Kurt and his father Burt (Mike O'Malley) discuss Kurt's future in New York. Burt tells Kurt that he misses the boy that Kurt used to be. Kurt then sings "I Have Nothing" to express his regrets to Blaine. Following a counseling session with Emma, Blaine reveals that he has been distant because he's deeply distressed at the thought of Kurt moving to New York, and how it will affect their relationship. The two make up.
Brittany (Heather Morris) and Santana (Naya Rivera) sing "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", inviting the rest of the club to dance with them during the performance. Quinn (Dianna Agron), still using a wheelchair after her car accident, refuses to participate, and reveals to Joe (Samuel Larsen) that she is depressed because she has not been making progress in her physical therapy sessions; Joe responds by offering to accompany Quinn to her physical therapy. They then sing a duet of "Saving All My Love for You", but Quinn believes Joe is not interested in a relationship because she is disabled. At another physical therapy session, Joe and Quinn discuss their ambiguous relationship, and decide that it is "something new".
Will hires a wedding planner (Joel McKinnon Miller) for his upcoming wedding with Emma. After some disagreement over the logistics behind planning a wedding a month away, Will fires the wedding planner and admits that he wants to get married before the glee club members go their separate ways; Emma assures him that no matter when they decide to get married, the glee club would be there.
After performing "So Emotional" with Santana, Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) realizes that she and Santana could have been friends instead of the enemies they were for most of their high school years; they agree to be friends. Puck (Mark Salling), meanwhile, thanks the male glee club members for always being his friends when he was not always a friend to them. New Directions then spontaneously gathers in the auditorium and sings "My Love Is Your Love".
Production
"Dance with Somebody" is the second episode in the third season to be directed by Paris Barclay, and the second to be written by Ross Maxwell. The episode began shooting on March 8, 2012, only 25 days after Whitney Houston's death, and concluded shooting a week later on March 15, 2012. The next episode began shooting in parallel on March 12, 2012. The same day that shooting began, it was reported that the episode would be a tribute to Whitney Houston and feature her songs, though "not be a typical tribute" as the show had previously done for artists but rather a "character piece".
Recurring guest stars appearing in the episode include Kurt's father Burt Hummel (O'Malley) and glee club members Sam Evans (Overstreet) and Joe Hart (Larsen). Former glee club member Matt Rutherford (Dijon Talton) is seen in a still photograph near the end of the episode.