Laryngitis (Glee)

"Laryngitis" is the eighteenth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on May 11, 2010. It was directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and written by series creator Ryan Murphy. In "Laryngitis", glee club member Puck (Mark Salling) dates Mercedes (Amber Riley) in an attempt to raise his social status. Kurt (Chris Colfer) is jealous of the time his father is spending with Finn (Cory Monteith), and Rachel (Lea Michele) worries about her future when she is diagnosed with tonsillitis. Mike O'Malley guest-stars as Kurt's father Burt, and Zack Weinstein appears as disabled former football player Sean Fretthold.

The episode features cover versions of seven songs, five of which were released as singles, available for digital download, and three of which are included on the soundtrack album Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers. "Laryngitis" was watched by 11.57 million American viewers and received mixed reviews from critics. Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club, Bobby Hankinson of the Houston Chronicle, Vanity Fair's Brett Berk and James Poniewozik of Time all enjoyed the episode, noting that it came after several lesser-quality episodes since the show's return from its mid-season break. In contrast, Lisa Respers France of CNN felt that "Laryngitis" was lecturing in tone, and more sad than it was comedic. Henrik Batallones of BuddyTV and Entertainment Weekly's Darren Franich both expressed concern with the disability plot, the former finding it forced and the latter questioning whether Glee honors its disabled actors, or uses them shamelessly.