Casting and creation was cast as Lauren Zizes Lauren is portrayed by actress
Ashley Fink. She made routine guest appearances throughout the first season, and became a member of the McKinley High glee club in the episode "
Special Education". Upon receiving the script in which Lauren joins the club, Fink initially reacted with disbelief. She commented, "I didn't quite believe it at first, I thought I was getting ''
Punk'd." She said that being cast in Glee'' makes her feel like "the luckiest girl in the world".
Characterization In her
first episode, it is revealed that Lauren is a member of William McKinley High's wrestling team. Seth Abramovitch of
TV.com expressed his dissatisfaction with her attitude: "Zizes isn't just a heavy, supremely confident girl. She's also extremely violent. She's on the wrestling team, speaks regularly of injuring
Puck, and, in one hallway smackdown against the jealous
Santana Lopez, proved she was a lot more than just bark. And you did catch that part about Zizes wanting to be famous for famous' sake, right? That she was willing to give herself up to Puck purely in pursuit of a reality show and fragrance line? There's a word for people who do things like that in the real world: It's 'asshole'." He went on to add: "Zizes has been hailed by feminists groups (well, by
Bust Magazine) as a new kind of plus-sized
heroine—an obese female role model who for once doesn't hate herself. On the contrary, she thinks she's the bee's knees. When 'Puck serenaded her with
Queen's "Fat-Bottomed Girls," she rebuffed him, saying, 'I look like America looks, and just like America, I need more than just a song to get my juices flowing'."
Relationships Over the course of
Glee second season, Lauren forms a relationship with local bad boy and football star
Noah Puckerman. As the season progresses, Lauren and Puck's relationship continues to grow stronger. Their relationship begins to form in the ninth episode of the second season titled "
Special Education". Television critics have responded positively to the pairing. Robert Canning of
IGN said of the episode "Silly Love Songs": "The absolute best part of "Silly Love Songs" was Puckerman's unexpected longing for Lauren Zizes. Actress Ashley Fink has been fantastic in her small role, delivering great one-liners with ease. She was equally strong in this, the first episode to truly give Lauren a larger role and fill out her character more. Heck, it was nice to even see her smile a few times. The casting on
Glee has either been very smart or very lucky since so many background characters have shined as they've been given bigger parts. The Lauren and Puck pairing came with a lot of laughs, but just as much heart. Puck singing Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls," induced a chuckle at first, then some toe tapping. But it was Lauren's reaction that truly made the moment: 'That's the first song you've sung to me and it made me feel like crap.' I can't decide if I want to root for this couple, but I certainly know I'm going to be rooting for Lauren." Emily VanDerWerff of
The A.V. Club commented: "For me, the episode's highlight was the very sweet, funny courtship between Puck and Lauren. This may be because the writers have trouble writing for a self-professed bad boy, even though his escapades are straight out of Archie comics and not actually all that “bad” at all. But it's always fun to watch Salling sing, and it's always fun to watch him be smitten. Fink ends up being a good match for him, chemistry-wise, as she projects a confidence and certainty that makes it immediately obvious just what Puck sees in Lauren. The storyline also played out like both characters had something approaching real feelings." In the following episode, VanDerWerff found her relationship with Puck "a lot less assured" than before, but
Entertainment Weekly Sandra Gonzalez deemed their scenes "as endearing as they are unrealistic", and
E! Online's Jenna Mullins wrote that "the ice around [her] heart melted just a bit when Puck mouthed Lauren that little bit of encouragement at the start of her solo." ==Reception==