With Glee returning to streaming platforms thanks to a jump to Disney+ and Hulu, audiences are remembering one character that a number of people couldn’t stand: Will Schuester. At first glance, high school teacher Will Schuester (aka Mr. Schue) seems like the poster boy for altruism and good teaching. In Glee‘s pilot episode, he jumps at the opportunity to lead McKinley High School’s failing glee club, sacrificing his personal time and money to teach teens about the joy and community of music, and by most standards, he does a great job.
By the end of Glee season 3, the once-failing New Directions become the Glee Club National Champions. They also manage to climb to the top of McKinley High’s social food chain—at least for an episode—and create within the club a sort of family for themselves where they can express themselves through music. This, and the way the glee kids all seem to love Mr. Schuester throughout Glee, makes it potentially difficult to understand why so many viewers of the show so openly despise him. However, the dislike of Mr. Schue is rooted in distrust of his unprofessional and unbecoming behavior.
From Glee‘s first episode, Will Schuester exhibits extremely questionable, and at times severely inappropriate, behavior to both his students and other adults in his life. One of Will’s first actions as the high school club teacher in Glee season 1, episode 1 is to watch sophomore Finn Hudson as he sings in the locker room showers, the same student who would then go on to be the best man in his wedding. Both of these actions are incredibly inappropriate for any adult, let alone a public high school teacher. Will’s improper behavior only escalates as the show continues. In Glee season 1, episode 3, “Acafellas,” Will recruits Finn and fellow student Noah Puckerman to join a glee club of adult men, one of whom was a previously-accused sexual predator and was fired from McKinley for it. While it isn’t exactly inappropriate for teenage boys and adult men to cross paths in this way, Mr. Schue deliberately put his students in a situation that could be potentially dangerous. Similarly, when student Unique Adams is experiencing violent transphobia at McKinley in Glee season 5, episode 5, “The End of Twerk,” Will refuses to change his teaching style in an effort to protect her.
Will’s Problematic Behavior In Glee Wasn’t Just With His Students
Will Schuester’s actions are also disruptive to his personal relationships outside of teaching. In Glee season 1, episode 12 “Mattress,” an altercation occurs between Will and his then-wife Terri, who had suffered from a hysterical pregnancy and lied about it to save their tumultuous marriage. Instead of showing compassion for her, Will physically assaults her, and the incident ultimately leads to the end of their relationship. Many audiences have rightly viewed this interaction as avoidable and inexcusable, seeing that Terri only lied because of Will’s emotional affair with another teacher.
While he is an irreplaceable character in Glee, Mr. Schuester is never truly held responsible for his manipulative and inappropriate behavior. In fact, he is rewarded. The glee club wins two national championships and Mr. Schue falls in love again and remarries. He even becomes principal of McKinley in the Glee season 6, episode 13, “Dreams Come True.” It seems fitting, then, that viewers of Glee would deem him one of the show’s worst characters, even without his constant need to rap.
