Brittany Pierce, Glee

Brittany Pierce (Heather Morris)

On musical comedy-drama Glee, the relationship between Brittany and Santana was originally introduced as a background joke in the first season, when Brittany – a promiscuous cheerleader at the time – implied that the two cheerleaders were sleeping together. Despite admitting they loved each other in the second season and officially starting to date in the third, Brittany and Santana did not share their first on-screen kiss until the late Season 3 episode “Heart” (3×13), after 32 episodes and an active fan campaign in support of the couple. This was their first “official” kiss, though in an earlier episode it was implied they were making out in Brittany’s bed, and Santana kissed her neck.

Seasons 3-4

In Season 3, when Brittany and Santana were both main cast characters and in a happy and stable relationship, they didn’t share a single private conversation. Their only private conversations in Season 4 served as their breakup and subsequent conversations as best friends after Brittany began dating Sam. In the Season 4 finale, Brittany broke up with Sam and left high school early for MIT, being written off the show.

Season 5

At the start of Season 5, Santana dated fellow lesbian Dani. She reiterated her love for Brittany but stated the relationship was over and she was relieved she wouldn’t have to worry about Dani ‘straying for penis,’ a derogatory shot at Brittany’s bisexuality. Brittany returned mid-season 5 to declare her love and fight for Santana. She invited Santana on a one-way trip to Greece. Santana agreed, bought return tickets for a year in the future, then invited Brittany to live with her in New York when they returned from their travels.

Season 6

In Season 6, returning as guest stars for a 4-episode arc, Santana asked Brittany to marry her and she agreed. The two planned their wedding as the central storyline in “What the World Needs Now” where Glee made a statement on marriage equality as Brittany and Santana stood up for their love against Santana’s homophobic grandmother. Their friends serenaded them to close the episode with a rendition of the title song in celebration and support of their upcoming wedding. They got married on-screen in the episode “A Wedding,” though at the last minute they ended up having a joint ceremony with Blaine and Kurt. Santana and Brittany returned together briefly in the series finale for a last performance with the rest of the Glee Cast, set 5 years in the future.

Double Standards

The double standards for this same-sex pairing on Glee were obvious to fans. While it took most of two seasons for Brittany and Santana to share on-screen intimacy, there was little to no delay in doing so when Brittany was paired with a male love interest. When Brittany and male character Sam sang a duet together, shared private conversations, and kissed, it was in the very same episode in which they first showed romantic interest in each other (4×09). Brittany and Artie, in Season 2, also kissed after one episode.

After a major fandom uproar in S4 surrounding the treatment of the same sex pairings of Brittany/Santana and Kurt/Blaine, the inequality improved significantly. There were no love triangles once Brittany returned for Santana. In every episode they shared a storyline together in S5 & S6, Brittany and Santana kissed, exchanged “I love yous’, and had private conversations.

“In the beginning, Santana and Brittany, Heather’s character, were just allowed quick pecks because the writers had to assure the network that they were just dipping their toes in the gay pool. But as their relationship progressed, hook-up scenes with Heather could also be pretty uncomfortable (thought she never spit on me) when we were supposed to be in Love with a capital L, making out and then dropping jokes like ‘Oh ha-ha, isn’t scissoring just great?'” -Naya Rivera in her 2016 memoir Sorry Not Sorry.

Read more:

“Glee” writers can’t get their Brittana facts straight, Afterellen

Brittana Fans Launch a Counter Attack on Glee

9 Things “Glee” Did Right: On Bullying, Burt, Brittana, One Straight Butch and A Straight-Up Bitch

Appearances:

• 95 episodes. Main cast S2-4, recurring S1, ruest S5-6

Female love interests:

• Santana (recurring/guest S1/S6, main cast S2-S5, 116 episodes, wife)

Relationship story arc with a woman: Yes

Male love interests:

• Artie (Kevin McHale, main cast)
• Sam (Chord Overstreet, recurring S2-3, main cast S4-6)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Female (Regular), Male (Regular)

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.