page_title: Ballad (Glee)
section_title: Reception
hierarchical_section_title: Ballad (Glee) / Reception
caption_attribution_description: English: Jane Lynch on December 4, 2008.
context_page_description: "Ballad" is the tenth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on November 18, 2009, and was written and directed by series creator Brad Falchuk. "Ballad" sees the glee club split into pairs to sing ballads to one another. Rachel is paired with club director Will and develops a crush on him. Quinn's parents learn that Quinn is pregnant, and she moves in with Finn and his mother when her own parents evict her. Gregg Henry and Charlotte Ross guest-star as Quinn's parents Russell and Judy Fabray, and Sarah Drew appears as Suzy Pepper, a student with a former crush on Will. Romy Rosemont returns as Finn's mother, Carole Hudson.
  The episode features covers of seven songs, including a mash-up of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" by The Police and "Young Girl" by Gary Puckett and The Union Gap. Studio recordings of all songs performed in the episode were released as singles, available for digital download. "Ballad" was watched by 7.29 million US viewers and received mixed reviews from critics.
context_section_description: "Ballad" was watched by 7.29 million US viewers and attained a 3.2/8 rating/share in the 18–49 demographic. It was the highest-rated program on the night of broadcast with adults 18–34 and teens. In Canada, it was the twentieth most watched show in the week of broadcast, attaining 1.74 million viewers. In the UK, the episode was watched by 2.149 million viewers (1.752 million on E4, and 397,000 on E4+1), becoming the most-watched show on E4 and E4 +1 for the week, and one of the most-watched show on cable for the week, as well as the most-watched episode of the series at the time.
  The episode received mixed reviews from critics. Elizabeth Holmes for The Wall Street Journal was disappointed that cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester did not appear in the episode, though was pleased that the pregnancy plot appeared to be coming to an end. Bobby Hankinson for the Houston Chronicle was also pleased the pregnancy plot moved towards a conclusion, and called "Ballad" one of the best episodes of Glee to date, commenting: "it's increasingly clear that the episodes without the messy adult drama are the strongest." Eric Goldman for IGN observed that "Ballad" proved Glee is capable of delivering a "pretty solid" episode without Jane Lynch's presence, rating the episode 8/10. Zap2it's Liz Pardue felt the absence of Lynch, but praised Chris Colfer's performance as Kurt.
  Mike Hale of The New York Times did not miss Sue's presence in the episode, and wrote that "Ballad" contained some scenes which were "as honestly emotional as any since this series began, most of them involving Kurt and Finn". Gerrick D. Kennedy for the Los Angeles Times appreciated the episode for subverting expectations, by having Finn's mother react supportively to the news of Quinn's pregnancy, rather than the more affluent and financially capable Fabrays. Dan Snierson for Entertainment Weekly opined that "Ballad" was not as good as the preceding episode, "Wheels", but that overall: "it did offer up a few choice cuts and fun moments while advancing one big story line". James Poniewozik of Time agreed that "Ballad" was not as good as "Wheels", commenting: "it's amazing how Glee can career from excruciating to transcendent within a single episode." The Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn, watching Glee for the first time, deemed the episode "deliriously, deliciously bad", deriding the casting of young adult actors as teenagers, the "one-dimensional stock characters" and the "kitschy plots". Zorn questioned: "So do people actually like this show, or just revel in its over-the-top, spectacular and, I admit, compelling badness?"
caption: The absence of Jane Lynch was lamented by several critics.
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