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This isn't about who I want to go to bed with, it's about who I want to go to bed as. |
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—Sheldon Beiste, Jagged Little Tapestry | ||
Sheldon Beiste, previously Shannon Beiste, is a major character on Glee. He was a recurring character since his introduction as a female character in the second season through the sixth season. He is the current football coach at William McKinley High School who replaced Ken Tanaka. He was married to Cooter Menkins. However, Beiste leaves Cooter in Props after Cooter continues to physically and emotionally abuse him. In Jagged Little Tapestry, Beiste comes out as transgender and announces he is going to transition to male, thereby changing his name from Shannon to Sheldon.
He is played by Dot-Marie Jones.
Biography
Shannon replaces Ken Tanaka who resigned after suffering a nervous breakdown after the wedding to Emma Pillsbury fell through and becomes the new football coach. Because sports are considered a bigger money earner than cheerleading and Glee Club, Principal Figgins cuts the Cheerios and New Directions' budgets by 10%. Sue becomes furious at her and Will's budget being cut, so she asks Will to help her "destroy" Shannon. Surprisingly Will agrees, which causes them to become "frenemies." Together, the two of them begin "Operation: Mean Girls" in which the two of them prank and bully Shannon, by ordering a massive amounts of pizza under his name and trying to alienate
Shannon, Sue, and Will
Shannon allows Finn to re-join the football team with Artie.
Coach Beiste makes Finn quarterback again after Sam is injured in the game and is unable to continue playing.
Coach Beiste as a Cheerio in Sam's mind
Finn suggests that Sam uses Coach Beiste as a way to cool down when he is feeling sexually aroused. This method is soon adopted by other members of the Glee group including Tina, which causes Mike to confront Shannon demanding he stay away from "his girl". Shannon, confused, speaks to Will who reveals the "cool down method," prompting him to quit his job due in large part to the fact he can't stand how no one will give him a chance at the school aside from Will.
Shannon and Will kiss
The guys make up with Shannon.
Shannon is seen lecturing the football team, telling them not to spray athlete's foot in their team mates eyes. Sue interrupts Shannon and informs him that she is cutting the football program. Shannon asks her who the Cheerios are going to cheer for. Sue is left speechless and leaves after claiming that she will "answer her question later."
Coach Beiste is seen coming in the locker room breaking-up the fight between Sam and David, and furiously demanding what was going on that caused the fight.
Shannon organizes Secret Santa, but due to a diversion from Sue , Becky swaps Shannon's tub of names with a tub with only her own name. Later on Sue's scam is revealed and Shannon, along with Emma and Will, confront Sue to which she tells them that she is everybody's Secret Santa and she has legal rights to the gifts. Will checks out the legal rights and when Sue returns to her office the next day, she finds the football team taking her gifts to put under the tree for orphan children. Will tells her that because she misrepresented herself,
Shannon talking to Will
Coach Beiste recruits Rachel, Tina, Mercedes, and Lauren to the football team. He also forces the football team to join Glee Club to foster a sense of unity. While speaking to Will about the problems he has with the football team, he jokes that he's worried that Will might attempt to kiss him again. Will plays along and assures him that he won't kiss him again. Later, Coach Beiste suspends the entire football, sans the Glee Club members, because they do not wish to participate in their own half-time show. However, later the football team change their minds which results in state championship victory for the Titans.
Shannon takes Santana to the school nurse after she was beaten up by Lauren, the latter of whom he yells at to leave before she gets into more trouble.
Shannon helps Will have fun. After seeing how uptight he is, he takes him to a bar where he goes to a lot. He gets drunk at the bar, and the two sing One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer. He later takes the drunken Will home, and they talk for a bit. Shannon says while they were responsible in not drinking and driving perhaps they are a bit old to be going out and partying. Shannon advised Will to drink plenty of water and take some aspirin before going to bed. Shannon gives Will a platonic kiss before leaving his apartment.
Shannon appears eating lunch with Will when Emma protests letting Holly Holliday teach the Glee kids about sex. He giggles at Emma's unintentional double entendre.
Will seeks out Shannon's advice about whether he should allow Sugar join New Directions even though she has a terrible singing voice. Shannon tells Will if he wants the Glee club to win, he will have crush Sugar's dream.
Will elects Shannon, Emma, and Artie to be the directors of the school musical. He also tries (and fails) to hold in laughter at Kurt's second audition for Tony. Shannon says that Rachel is perfect for Maria, because she always wants to meet its objectives, and believes that Kurt is not perfect for Tony because he's very feminine. During Blaine's audition, he cries with joy.
Shannon watches with Emma and Artie Mercedes' performance of Spotlight, which is her choice for audition song for the role of Maria. Shannon is later seen in the locker room talking to the team and tells them he's casting them as the Jets and it is mandatory. Then in the teachers' lounge, he is present when Emma is talking to Will about how Mercedes' performance was so different, she exudes a new confidence. Emma thinks Rachel is the perfect Maria while Coach Beiste thinks Mercedes seems like the riskier choice for Maria, but could be a more exciting choice. Later, Coach Beiste, Artie, and Emma meet in Emma's office and tell Mercedes and Rachel to perform again. After both girls sing for their call back, Shannon, Emma, and Artie tell them they're double casting the role of Maria, meaning it's being shared with between the two girls.
Shannon, Artie, and Emma are making necessary adjustments to the West Side Story. After Artie expresses concern to both Rachel and Blaine over their performance's blatant lack of sexual passion, Shannon leaves under the pretense that he needs to inflate the school's football supply. Artie later approaches him, asking why the sex conversation made him uncomfortable. After an initial protest, Shannon confides in Artie that he is still a virgin and that he has an (what she speculates to be) unrequited attraction to Cooter Menkins. Artie then coaxes Cooter into asking Shannon out on a date. Shannon is initially hesitant to accept the proposal, assuming that the date idea must be a set-up and expressing that he "[doesn't] look the way pretty girls look." Cooter eventually manages to persuade Shannon to accept his offer, and the two later attend the opening performance of West Side Story together.
Shannon is still supervising the school's presidential race as election day draws near, while simultaneously enjoying what he believes to be a solid relationship with Cooter. Shannon is later shocked when he discovers Cooter on a date with Sue at Breadstix, and confronts him about the situation. Cooter reiterates that he has feelings for Shannon, but also expresses his concern that their relationship
Shannon reveals to Will and Emma that he and Cooter eloped after a date at Taco Bell in which Shannon told Cooter that he felt he was his soulmate. Shannon, along with Sue, then sing back up and as a bridesmaid in Emma's fantasy Wedding Bell Blues.
Shannon gives Emma's pamphlet on cleaning your jock strap to the football team to make them listen to her. He then shows the pamphlet to Cooter who makes not only all of Ohio's schools buy the pamphlet, but he convinces the Big Ten to purchase them as well.
Shannon is seen as a part of the faculty meeting to discuss how to deal with the news of David's attempted suicide. He appears very emotional and comments on how senseless it is.
In Choke, Shannon walks down the hall with a black eye. Santana makes a joke that his husband had hit him. She thinks it is funny because she obviously doesn't think anyone hit him. He walks into the teachers' lounge to hear that Roz and Sue are discussing his black eye. He is taken aback to hear that the girls joked that he'd been hit. He claims he misjudged the timing when punching a speedbag and it rebounded to hit him. Roz, Sue, and Shannon confront the Glee girls about domestic violence. They give them the assignment to sing songs about empowerment, encouraging them to get out of a bad situation. The girls perform Cell Block Tango. During the performance, there are flashbacks of Cooter becoming increasingly upset and angry with Shannon. He gets up and leaves during the performance. When Sue and Roz confront Shannon about leaving, he admits that Cooter did hit him and gave him the black eye. He had been asking him to do the dishes all weekend, but he forgot. He also had been drinking and he hit him. He says he apologized right away. Roz asks why he didn't fight him back, but Shannon says he's not a violent person. Sue tells him he has to get out of the house. He admits he's afraid to leave him because he doesn't think anybody else will ever love him. Sue tells him that he can stay with her that night. Sue confronts him when he didn't come to her house. Shannon says he spent the whole night moving in with his sister Denise. He then tells the girls what actually happened and thanks them for possibly saving his life. The girls sing Shake It Out for him, but the montage shows that he has forgiven Cooter and gone back to him.
Santana, Mercedes, and Brittany barge into the teachers' lounge, claiming it would be a hate crime to kick them out. They confront Shannon because he is still wearing his wedding ring and Mercedes saw him at the movies with Cooter, despite the fact that he had told them he left him. He says he is giving him a second chance. He claims that he now knows that he's out if he treats him bad, but a flashback reveals that he has continued treating him poorly as he is seen clutching a kitchen knife before dropping it into the kitchen sink as he yells at him. Shannon breaks up a fight between Puck and Rick "The Stick" Nelson when Puck pulls out a prop switchblade. The two of them argue in the locker room. Puck yells about all of the ways he sees himself as a loser. He begins to cry and Shannon hugs him, becoming tearful himself. He says, "You and me, we're badasses. Nobody thinks anything hurts us, but it does." Following the realization he had with Puck, he goes home and stares at Cooter as he gives his apologies and excuses. He mentions to him that he's been sleeping with a knife under his pillow. He then tells him he's out. He says he can't hate him more than he hates himself. He says the awful part is that he loves him, but wonders what that says about what he thinks of himself. When Cooter becomes desperate
Shannon is first seen when he calls Will to break up the fight between the New Directions and can be seen watching them during their performance and also the ceremony of "Teacher of the Year."
Shannon is seen trying to tutor Puck before he retakes his geography test. Shannon also attends the graduation ceremony, standing next to Will and Sue and cheering on the graduates, smiling and dancing along to Glory Days.
The Role You Were Born to Play
Shannon counsels Will and Emma after they have a fight. His words convince Emma to go to Washington with Will. Shannon appears unconvinced about Emma's decision, however. Shannon is next seen on the football field talking to Finn about his new recruits. Shannon begins to tell Finn about Ryder Lynn, a recruit for the football team. He then yells at the recruits to huddle up. He later appears in Emma's office and gives her relationship advice - not to lie and be dishonest. Shannon knows Emma does not really want to go to Washington with Will. It is later revealed that Emma takes Shannon's advice.
Shannon is first seen talking to Finn about his costume, The Beiste Master. He tells him that as he is the faculty advisor for the club, he must dress up once a week. He says dressing up as a superhero is like being the person you aspire to be. In the teachers lounge, Shannon tells Finn to become the New Directions hero.
Shannon is first seen "marrying" Sam and Brittany. Next, he is seen pulling a name out of the Santa hat for Secret Santa and tells Sue about Millie Rose. At Breadstix, he tells Sam and Brittany they aren't actually married. The two are upset that the world actually didn't end, so he pretends his phone is buzzing. He picks it up and says it's a google alert. An archaeologist, named Indiana Jones, found a new Mayan calendar. The new end of world date is September 27, 2014. He is last seen watching Jake, Puck, Sam and Brittany sing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, still at Breadsitx.
Shannon talks to Finn and gives him ideas about what to do with Glee Club. He also attends the dance as a chaperon and convinces a group of "wallflower" girls to go out and dance.
Shannon is first seen when Ryder is talking, stopping him from going after Katie. Shannon and Will later share a dinner in the locker rooms. Shannon reveals that he has romantic feelings for W
Shannon is sitting at a table in the teacher’s lounge with Will and Emma. They discuss the recent events of Finn’s death and how surreal it all seems still, even weeks after his passing. Sue interjects with comments about how everyone is free to go out and express their feelings of sadness at the tree out by the football field she had erected at the exact same spot she had once caught Finn and Quinn making out. Shannon calls Sue out, asking her how she can possibly say such things under such serious circumstances, but Sue tells him that insulting those who mean the most to her is simply how she mourns.
Coach Beiste is sitting in the locker room as Puck enters. Shannon immediately sees that he is intoxicated and tells Puck that while it is understandable that he needs something to get through a difficult situation, what he really needs to do is let himself feel. “You don’t have to be scared to have feelings!” Shannon tells him. Puck reacts by telling him “That’s crap!” and then tells him that he doesn't feel like anyone understands that if he actually allows himself to feel, he will never stop crying and then proceeds to knock over a shelf, with Shannon tearfully joking that “Finn would have kicked over a chair”. Puck and Shannon sit together and he holds him as Puck finally lets go and sobs into his shoulder. Puck asks Shannon how he will move on without his best friend to help guide him. Shannon tells him that he will have to learn to see himself the way Finn saw him, and be his own quarterback, as Finn’s voice in their heads is all they have of him now. Puck and Shannon break down together, and Puck asks him to retire Finn’s football jersey number and frame Finn’s letterman jacket if they can retrieve it from Kurt so future students and football players will know who Finn was. Shannon agrees, but also makes Puck promise that he will return Finn’s memorial tree which he stole. Puck says it wasn’t big enough, but Shannon points out that it will continue to grow as the years pass.
Later on, Puck and Shannon are seen re-planting Finn’s tree, and they share a root beer in celebration once the task is done. Puck talks about the plaque at the trunk of the tree which has Finn’s birth and death years. He tells Shannon it is the line between these dates that really matters, as it contains everything that happened in his life. Shannon asks him what he plans to do with his “line”. Puck reveals that he wants to join the military, specifically, the air force, making a reference to the film Top Gun. Shannon hugs Puck and tells him that he is proud of him. Puck leaves, with Shannon telling him to “have a good line!” Shannon then notices that Puck has carved the word “Quarterback” into the tree’s trunk, which was Finn’s position in football. Shannon touches the word lovingly and smiles to himself.
Shannon is first seen in this episode calling the McKinley High Non-Denominational Christmas Club meeting to order. Artie tells the club that the school's manger scene has been defaced. After some discussion, the club decides to do a "living nativity scene" and Shannon announces that auditions will be tomorrow. The next day, Coach Beiste, Artie, and Will prepare to watch auditions for the Virgin Mary. Marley, Unique, and Tina have decided to audition together with Mary's Little Boy Child. Shannon claps enthusiastically after the performance, saying that he has "a little bit" of Jamaican in him an
In this episode, Shannon is seen only briefly, sitting on Principal Sue's "Blue Ribbon Panel" to decide who will be the class Valedictorian. Coach Beiste is clearly moved by both Artie's and Tina's speeches. His vote ended up resulting in a tie between the two.
Sheldon's original promotional picture for the sixth season
Dot-Marie Jones, who plays Shannon Beiste, was promoted to series regular in Season Six after four years as a recurring star.
Beiste is seen still at McKinley, coaching the Titans. He now has Sam as his Assistant Coach.
Beiste doesn't appear in this episode, but is mentioned twice; firstly by Spencer who tells Kurt, that He kicked the only two people who had a problem with him being gay off the football team and secondly by Sue who says she would even drug "awful coach Beiste" in order to make Spencer a quarterback.
Beiste enters the choir room, and tells Sam that he's ill. Sam asks if he's okay, since he has been skipping Football practice, and informs him that he has a sore knee, however he doesn't want to make a big deal out of it. Spencer enters, and asks Beiste to be the Quarterback for the next game, to which he denies his request. Spencer reports Beiste to Sue, and tells him about how he's constantly yelling at him, and he tells Sue about how he has been spotted by him after practice, wearing "men's" clothes. Sue confronts Beiste, and asks him what has been wrong with him lately. She tells him that she has seen him acting strangely, and that she has noticed the large amount of prescription medication that he has been possessing. This leads to Sue asking Beiste if he has cancer, to which he confirms that he does. Beiste tells Sam that he knows he has been acting strange lately, and that he has been seeing some doctors, and confirms that he lied about having cancer. It's then confirmed that he has Gender Dysphoria, and that it will be Beiste's first step of a gender transition. Beiste asks Sam to take over as the Coach of the Titans, and he will be going through procedures to have his breasts removed, and will be taking testosterone pills from the following week. Sue assures Beiste that his job is safe while he undergoes this process.
Beiste is seen driving to McKinley while doing a voiceover (we do not yet see his face). He says he’s nervous of what people will say, but he’s living the way he wants. He continues, stating that he took some time off so he could become comfortable. We learn that he has changed his name to Sheldon and he is welcomed by Sue and Sam. He is shown grown a beard. Sam is excited of all the "guy talk" they will catch up and Sue informs that she has been doing everything to make McKinley a gender-fluid school. Sheldon is happy for both of them. He is later seen walking back to his car and sees that his car has been covered with toilet paper and jockstraps with "COACH TRANNY" written in it by VA students who drive away shouting to him. He is later seen eating in the staff room, when Sam and Spencer run in and ask him who were the VA students who did it, that they can teach them a lesson. Beiste asks them both to sit down and he tells that although he would appreciate it, he doesn't want anything to be done, as it wouldn't teach them anything. Spencer tells it would, but Beiste argues, that he has dealt with ignorant people, who couldn't understand him and is happy that Spencer is one of them that do. Sam apologizes, saying that he can't stand him getting hurt. Beiste states that he knows and sends them to football practice looking happy. Beiste is later seen walking on the boys locker room hearing foot steps, who is revealed to Unique Adams and they share a hug. Unique asks him, when he had his transition, having found out by Will. Beiste apologizes to her, saying it's been overwhelming to fit in and that nobody has treated him as normal and Unique says he's not normal, but special. He states that he doesn’t want to feel special all the time, but wants to be like every other guy. Unique asks if the procedure hurt and he says yes, but he has no regrets and it's the best thing that has ever happened to him. He wishes that he would not be alone and Unique says, that he's not. In the auditorium, where Will has tricked Vocal Adrenaline, the VA students who trashed Beistes car, Unique starts singing I Know Where I've Been with Sheldon coming to watch with the others. Behind Unique sings a choir full of transgender people. Sheldon comes up on stage and joins the chorus and sings back up with tears of joy coming from his eyes. After the performance Will tells to Beiste that he gathered around this 200-300 people choir with Unique to make him feel welcome and home.
Beiste is seen in Santana's, Brittany's, Blaine's and Kurt's wedding. He is seen dancing with Sue to Our Day Will Come.
Beiste is first seen with Sue when boys are seen doing their fitness test, and when Roderick fails to climb the rope, he notes that he should rest, but Sue disagrees. He is later seen eating lunch and states the best thing about being a dude, is that it isn’t lunch, but when she licks her lips, she can taste it all day, while other look disgusted. Sue informs that she blew the budget for getting new dancers for Myron's bar mitzvah, so he wants Sue, Will, Sam, Rachel and Sheldon to perform, so he reluctantly agrees. He is seen been choreographed by Will, before Will get's into a small argument and fight with Sue. He later performs Break Free with them.
The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester
Sheldon first appears during Geraldo Rivera's documental feature about Sue's life and lies. Sheldon, alongside Will, is one of the two people who defend Sue for her actions, saying that Sue was there for him when she was going through a difficult marriage with Cooter Menkins and his transition to male.
Sheldon appears when the Warblers and the New Directions are arguing whether to use a uniform at Sectionals or not, to inform them that they have a bigger problem than that: Sue has been hired as the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline.
He first appears when Spencer gets injured while in a dance practice. Later, he catches Sue and Vocal Adrenaline in the locker room. After he gets insulted by Sue and laughed at by Vocal Adrenaline, he sends them all off. Sheldon is later seen watching Sectionals, cheering and supporting the New Directions. At the end of the episode, he is seen celebrating New Directions' win at Sectionals in the choir room.
Sheldon was first seen in the auditorium, sitting with the grown-ups, as Sue gives a speech about how Will and his glee club's efforts changed her perspective about show choir, and generally, life. As Terri arrives, Sheldon shares the same feeling with the other grown-ups, surprised. He applauds as Sue renames the April Rhodes Civic Pavilion as Finn Hudson Auditorium. The New Directions, both old and new, are then introduced by Sue and starts to sing I Lived. Sheldon and the other grown-ups later on join the performance, which they all enjoy. At the end of the song, they all bow their heads, as a shot of the three plaques in the auditorium is shown, and the whole cast are heard laughing and cheering.Personality
Sheldon appears to be a very intense and driven man, who wants to do whatever he can to train his players into being a formidable football team. However, he has also shown to be very sensitive because of being bullied as a child due to her large size, deep voice, and somewhat masculine appearance. Although Sheldon's coaching style can be stern at times, he is an incredibly gentle and loving person, even becoming a mother figure to Puck, and for the rest of New Directions to a lesser extent. He has French heritage, as mentioned when he spells out his name. He also seems to enjoy music quite a bit, as he can be seen singing along to Need You Now and TiK ToK.
Relationships
- Main article: Shannon-Will Relationship (Willbeiste)
- Main article: Cooter-Shannon Relationship (Shooter)
In The First Time, Shannon mentions that he has feelings for Cooter, viewing him as the one "who brings out her girl." Unbeknownst to Shannon, Cooter returns his feelings. Later in the episode, Cooter is persuaded to ask out Shannon by Artie. Shannon questions why he would want to go on a date with him, as he is the kind of man who can "have any pretty girl [he] points at." Cooter stresses that his feelings for Shannon are genuine and they end up going on a date to the opening performance of "West Side Story." By the events of I Kissed a Girl, Shannon and Cooter's relationship is in trouble, with Cooter opting to date Sue over Shannon due to a lack of romantic connection with Shannon. Shannon is devastated, but vows to fight for Cooter's love, and sings Jolene. He succeeds in getting him back, and reveals in Yes/No that they got married.
In Choke, Shannon reveals to Sue and Roz that Cooter hit him when he forgot to wash the dishes. Roz and Sue then tell Shannon to move out as soon as possible, with Sue offering to let Shannon live with her.
In Props, Shannon leaves Cooter, realizing he should have never gone back to him.Songs
- Solos
- Duets
- Back-up singing
| Season One | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Song | Episode | Sung by | Back-up with |
| Wedding Bell Blues | Yes/No | Emma | Sue |
- Solos (In a Group Number)
| Season Six | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song | Episode | Solos with |
| Break Free | Child Star | Rachel, Myron, Sam, Sue and Will |
Trivia
- His favorite kind of pizza is Hawaiian. (Props)
- His favorite food is everything and his favourite Beatle is George. (Shooting Star)
- He has a sister named Denise.
- In college, he was in a production of A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. He was the forum.
- He had two prized donkeys named Kim and Khloe, though he ended up selling Kim. Their names are a possible reference to Kim and Khloe Kardashian.
- He is often seen eating a whole chicken whenever he had a scene eating.
- His first kiss was Will Schuester. (Never Been Kissed)
- Unlike Ken, Sheldon actually loves football and is very committed to it.
- He has a "little bit" of Jamaican in him. (Previously Unaired Christmas)
- Beiste is one of two transgender characters on the show. The other is Unique Adams.
- He is the only female-to-male transgender character.
- In the original script for Dreams Come True, he became the assistant defensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns. Source
Gallery
Quotes
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Do not get up in The Panther's business, lady. You're all coffee and no omelette. |
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The Glee Club?! You came in third last year and you're asking for more money? That's a steer with six teats and no oink! [makes squealing noise] |
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My name's Shannon Beiste, I'm the new football coach. Spelled B-E-I-S-T-E. It's French. |
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—Sheldon Beiste, Audition | ||
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Hand them out, Wayne Newton. |
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All right boys its a pizza party. Dig in. Everyone has to eat four slices. Let's go! And when you're done, full pads out on the field. We're doing wind sprints. First 10 to puke are off the team. |
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—Sheldon Beiste to Football Team, Audition | ||
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I run the S.S Kick-ass, not the S.S Backtalk |
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—Sheldon Beiste, Audition | ||
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It's in your hands now, Lurch. |
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—Sheldon Beiste to Finn, Grilled Cheesus | ||
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I said say my name! |
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—Sheldon Beiste, Never Been Kissed | ||
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Watch your tone with me missy! You crap on my leg, I'll cut it off! |
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—Sheldon Beiste to Quinn, Never Been Kissed | ||
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You guys have got to find a way to come together or we're gonna get our asses kicked from here until Tuesday finds a saddleback full of buckwheat! |
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—Sheldon Beiste to the Football Team, The Sue Sylvester Shuffle | ||
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Cooter: Who's gonna love you now? |
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Sheldon: He's dead. And all we've got left is his voice in our head. I'm sorry, but it's time. You've gotta be your own quarterback.
|
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—Sheldon Beiste to Puck, The Quarterback | ||