Kurt and Sam demand respect as Rachel continues with her extended charade. Check out our recap of Glee season 5, episode 19, “Old Dog New Tricks,” which was written by none other than cast member Chris Colfer.

The Chris Colfer-penned episode opens with Blaine, Kurt, Rachel and Santana talking about her ditching Broadway performances for her TV show pilots. Meanwhile, back at the diner, an older woman asks Kurt to post her performance poster for Peter Pan. They get to talking and Kurt ends up confiding in her like they were friends from McKinley. It turns out he’s been talking to Maggie Banks, a former Broadway legend. She invites Kurt to come check out their rehearsal.

At an animal shelter Rachel organizes a dog rescue charity. Sam and Mercedes talk about potentially getting a dog. Mercedes says no because Sam is enough. That’s fair. Sam, Mercedes and Rachel sing “I Melt with You” by Modern English, which is literally just them hanging out with dogs.

Rachel organizes Broadway Bitches, the dog rescue charity, where Kurt asks to perform. Rachel and Santana say no, which cues yet another dog-themed pun as Kurt says, “I wish someone would throw me a bone for once.” Okay, enough of this.

Kurt shows up at Maggie’s rehearsal of Peter Pan where an elderly man playing Peter Pan bursts through the window, except, bad news: he’s dead. Kurt offers to fill in as Peter Pan. Kurt sings “Memory” from the musical Cats and is joined by Maggie toward the end. There’s something hauntingly beautiful about hearing the two of them sing together.

Meanwhile, Sam ended up getting a dog, which he named McConaughey. Mercedes is understandably pissed. Sam convinces her that it’s worth it, but then the dog comes galloping down the stairs with part of Mercedes’ weave. She freaks out and tells Sam to pack up the dog and get it out of there.

On a faux New York City street in LA, they stage Rachel walking six or seven dogs where she poses for the paparazzi and talks about Broadway Bitches. The dogs freak out and start chasing someone, dragging Rachel along with her as the paparazzi snap pictures along the way.

Kurt breaks the news that he’s Peter Pan to Santana and Rachel, who aren’t willing to come to his opening show. “I am doing something good for the animals,” says Rachel seriously. Kurt says he’s done being a friend only when it’s convenient for Rachel.

Artie and Sam work on training McConaughey in a Doggie Gauntlet of Doom while they perform “Werewolves of London.”

During rehearsal for Peter Pan, Maggie gets flowers from her daughter, who says she can’t make it to Maggie’s opening night. It all sounds sad until the nurse tells Kurt that Maggie sends herself the flowers because Claire hasn’t been there to see Maggie in years.

Mercedes and Sam talk about McConaughey. Sam reminds Mercedes that he took care of his whole family when they had no money. He respectfully demands that Mercedes starts to appreciate him as a man and not a boy. Mercedes understands and says that he should still not have the dog because they won’t be able to care for him properly.

Kurt shows up at Maggie’s daughter Claire’s office in hopes of getting her to opening night. Claire tells Kurt that she wasn’t always a “sweet old lady” and that Maggie used to forget her at school. Kurt tells Claire that Maggie is full of regret, but she doesn’t want to hear about it. Before Kurt leaves the office, he tells her that his mom died when he was eight and that she should reconsider being so bitter.

At Broadway Bitches, Santana helps pick out the right dog for Rachel to take a photograph with before a mom wanting to rescue picks the same one. Rachel says no and the mom puts her in her place, calling her a fraud and says that she can’t hide a lie with more lies.

Backstage, Blaine is helping Kurt get ready as Peter Pan. Kurt admits that for the first time since he moved to NYC he feels like he’s doing something with purpose. Kurt asks Maggie to become his family, saying that they’d be doing each other a favor. She says that she loves the idea. Kurt then calls Rachel and says that he supports Rachel at the benefit and thanks her for being a great friend. Rachel surprises him by saying that she has to get off the phone because her best friend’s show’s about to start! Awwww! There’s the Rachel we once knew!

Kurt changes up the music in Peter Pan and performs “Lucky Star” by Madonna as the opening number. During the performance, Claire, Maggie’s daughter, shows up with flowers. Claire gives Maggie the flowers after the performance and it seems as if their relationship is on the mend. It turns out they managed to get a bus together for the Peter Pan cast to perform at Broadway Bitches!

At the diner, everyone performs “Take Me Home Tonight” which is fitting as they start handing out adoption dogs. It turns out that they found a couple of owners for McConaughey during the performance too. Following the performance, a camera crew asks Rachel how she was inspired to hold such an awesome event. Rachel thanks her publicist Santana and her best friend Kurt.

Next week is the season 5 finale where, according to the preview below, Blaine hooks up with Brittany. We repeat: Blaine hooks up with Brittany.

What did you think of Glee season 5, episode 19, “Old Dog New Tricks”? Did Chris Colfer do a great job writing his first Glee episode?