'Glee' Talks About Sex.. A Lot

Glee's really on a roll with its new, more mature storylines. Tuesday night's episode "Tested," took on three different sex topics, including Artie getting his first STD. But what really stuck out in the episode wasn't Blaine watching frat-boy porn or Mercedes being a virgin — it was Sam telling Artie that he needed to be slut-shamed for getting an STD. Considering the never-ending conversation about the topic that's now made its way into celebrity culture, was it cool of Glee to make that type of joke?

Tuesday night's episode was all about sex — about having it, not having it, why it's okay or not okay to not have it, insecurities about having it, and the consequences on either side. This isn't the first time Glee's taken on sex. I mean, Puck ran around advertising how many girls he slept with at McKinley (including Quinn, who he got pregnant). And there was the Madonna episode in which Rachel and Jesse, Finn and Santana, and Mr. Schuester and Emma all tried and failed (except for Finn) to get it on. So we're not surprised that, as a part of the more mature New York storylines, Glee took on sex again. But thankfully, "Tested" was unique in putting Blaine in a position of insecurity and in addressing the topic of STDs and failing sex-ed. Where the episode failed, however, was in Sam Evans — or rather, let's give credit where credit it due, the writers' room. Because that's where where someone thought it'd be okay to slut-shame someone with an STD in order to teach a lesson.

Virginity But No Slut-Shaming

Mercedes is a virgin, people, and apparently Sam is not. And deciding to live together brought up the sex talk in their relationship a lot sooner than they thought. Sam obviously wants to have sex — because, like he tells Mercedes, he's a 19-year-old guy and it's important — so they clash a little. (Keep in mind that Mercedes did NOT slut-sham Sam for having sex with Santana. Just saying.) Mercedes decides to bring him to church to help him understand why she wants to wait until marriage, but it still doesn't really click. She wants a man who can be a grown-up about sex, not a boy that needs it to make their relationship be real. And good for her for speaking up for herself and knowing what she's worth and making Sam realize it too.

Porn But No Shaming

Blaine's gained the Freshman 15 because he can't stop eating cronuts (which is kind of gross to think about now) and he's feeling insecure around Kurt, who's taken his experience from last week's "Bash" and gotten jacked. So they haven't been intimate, and Blaine's so sexually frustrated that he tries to stab Kurt in fencing class. In an effort to make himself feel better, he starts watching frat-boy porn — hurting Kurt in the process when he discovered the site, and they have to have a talk. (By the way, no shaming from Kurt either.) Kurt's hurt that Blaine's been hiding from him, because being in a relationship means trusting the other person to not judge you. He ends up supporting Blaine through his new diet that doesn't include frozen hot chocolates, but the porn conversation brought up something that Glee hadn't tackled before: that porn isn't just for horny people.

STDs... and Slut-Shaming?

This was the big, over-arching storyline of the episode: Artie got chlamydia because he's been living it up and not wearing condoms. So, basically, he learned nothing from Quinn's pregnancy and McKinley has a terrible sex-ed program. But that's beside the initial problem here. Artie shows up at the loft looking for guidance from his friends and instead, Sam starts yelling about slut-shaming him. Thankfully, Blaine and Kurt are like, "Really?" and shut him up but it was still an uncomfortable and jarring moment. Obviously, Artie knew enough to get checked at the clinic and he's going to be fine and now he knows that condoms are an important part of a healthy sex life (better late than never). And he's informed the girls he slept with and the girl he wants to date. But where are we at right now if slut-shaming, even if it involves men and not women, is turned into a joke? I would have thought Glee would've learned from musically slut-shaming Rachel when she made her promiscuous "Run, Joey, Run" video that this isn't okay. C'mon Glee. You should be the one who's ashamed.

Image: FOX