This week's episode of 'Glee' focused on Sectionals which has come to be a pivotal point of the show every season.  The fact that the New Directions have to win in order for the show to advance takes a little bit of fun out of the story, but it's interesting to see what they go through and what the competition brings each time.  The Troubletones and the Unitards were the competition which made for some great performances.  This week also saw the return of Trouty Mouth aka Sam!

With Sectionals looming and Rachel banned from competing, the New Directions needed something else to push them over the edge.  Finn had the idea of trying to get Sam to come back to McKinley High, but when they went to find him they got a little bit more than they bargained for.  White Chocolate, aka Sam, was a performer at a strip joint, and nothing could have been funnier than Rachel's line, "Give me a dollar."  After convincing his parents to let him come back, Sam celebrated his return by singing 'Red Solo Cup' with the Gleeksters.  Aside from the fact that it's a stupid song, the reunion was great and the look Kurt gave Blaine was hysterical.

The time for Sectionals has come!  McKinley High was hosting the competition this year, and up first were the Unitards, featuring Harmony (played by Lindsay Pearce from 'The Glee Project').  The performance was a great energetic number, and they were a pretty decent group.  Nothing spectacular, but they're definitely a contending force.

Next up are the Troubletones!!  What a spectacular performance as well.  A mash-up of two empowerment songs by some pretty huge divas in the world of music was just perfect for Santana and Mercedes.  I personally thought they were better than the New Directions, and even though I hate that the girls aren't in New Directions, I absolutely love everything the Troubletones have done.

Next up are the New Directions!  Their set is a tribute to the Jackson family, and what better way to start off than with a Jackson 5 classic.  They took on the song and made it much more mature.  Sam also included some of the sexual hip rolls that he learned during his stint as White Chocolate which only added to more mature nature of the song.  Overall, it was fun.

The second song of their set is a Janet Jackson song, but I thought it was the weakest of their set.  The beginning with Quinn was just plain creepy and it didn't get much better after that.  Blaine got some nice parts in the song, but it wasn't the best.

Ending with one of Michael's greatest hits was the best way to end their set.  It was a beautiful beginning with the spotlights and the men taking the lead, and it only got better from there.  'Man In the Mirror' is one of those great songs that puts a smile on your face, and the New Directions did just that to me.  It was so much fun and it was probably this performance that won them the competition.

After the disappointing loss the Troubletones suffered (the look on Mercedes' face was gut-wrenching), Quinn convinces the girls to return to the New Directions by promising them more lead roles, and we finish the episode with the reunited New Directions singing a pretty great song.  I have never heard this one before, but in the show it was perfect and is actually one of my favorite 'Glee' songs now.  Great way to end the episode!

As you can see, a lot happened over the course of the episode.  I am so glad that Sam is back because he was one of my favorite characters when he was introduced last year in season two.  Another important arc of the episode was the relationship between Mike Chang and his father.  His father finally shows up at Sectionals, and by the end he has realized that he has to support his son's dreams because that is the true job of a parent.  Mike and Tina had a bit of a spat, but by the end they were all happy-go-lucky again.  Rachel also talked Quinn out of ruining Shelby's life by getting her fired, and I hope that Quinn keeps up this new attitude because the whole trying to get the baby back was really getting annoying.  Now the New Directions are on to Regionals, but until then we have the mid-season finale next week to look forward too.  It's time to get your Christmas jingle on, and there is a very special guest star who will be making an appearance!  Let's just say he sometimes goes by the nickname of Chewy...