The world of Lima Ohio will come to an end on Tuesday, when the two-part Glee 100th episode celebration concludes. It’s the end of the Glee club, but not without a last ditch effort to save it by April (Kristin Chenoweth) and Holly (Gwyneth Paltrow).
I’ll be back later with my thoughts on the show. This episode serves to wrap up the McKinley storylines before the series moves the action to New York City to follow the post-high school lives of the graduates.
Listen to ALL Seven Songs from “New Directions”
I had the opportunity to watch a screener of the episode yesterday. For FULL rundown of the plot, CLICK THIS LINK. It’s basically the entire episode, in bullet form!
And here are my thoughts on the episode:
I wasn’t as moved by “New Directions” as I was by last week’s “100,” which felt more cohesive overall, and had more poignant nods to the past. As the last episode before the story moves to New York City permanently next week, its attempt to tie up loose plot ends felt, at times, like a hasty series of pat conclusions, strung between songs. Not that the episode was without its charms and sweet moments, however.
Ryan’s need to give everyone a happy ending is a bit much. Did every couple YOU know in high school go on to live happily every after? Although, the overkill may be prompted by that ONE happy ending that never will be. The death of Finn ripped a whole in the center of the show, one that can’t be filled by overcompensating with happily-ever-afters for the rest of the cast.
The end of Glee club is especially poignant. There’s no way to know, but if Cory hadn’t died, I suspect his character would have continued to anchor the Lima side of the story until the series ended at the conclusion of Season 6–perhaps with another huge win at Nationals, and Finn leading the way. The death of Finn meant the death of Lima. The only way to continue Glee was to reinvent it. This episode would have served as a solid series ender if the production had decided not to carry on.
Easily, my favorite moment was Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Mercedes (Amber Riley) singing “I Am Changing.” At some point in Season 2, the writers decided to make Rachel Kurt’s best friend. It’s funny that the “Tots” incident was called back here. In that Season 2 episode, Kurt told Mercedes she needed to find her own man, now that he’d found Blaine. Nothing was ever the same between them again. Having them join forces for a duet was really a blast from the past. They sounded sublime together! As a scheme to bring Rachel and Santana back together again, I laughed when the spotlights suddenly hit them in the audience.
I Am Changing – Kurt and Mercedes
Glee at it’s dumbest: How can we wedge guest star, Gwyneth Paltrow, into this story? Have her character, Holly, cook up a dumb plot that involves shoehorning music into random after school clubs as a scheme to bring back Glee…or something. So, why not pick Animal Husbandry, and have Gwynnie impersonate Temple Grandin (the autistic animal husbandry pioneer) in the most WHAT THE EFF way possible. THEN have that scene inexplicably and randomly wind up at an 8o’s disco foam party. Just because. Oh Glee. The outfits were pretty cool, though.
Party All The Time – Gwyneth Paltrow and New Directions
Poor Tina Cohen Chang. Long story short, she won’t be going to New York with the gang. She’s been shunted off to Brown in Rhode Island. Close enough so Jena Ushkowitz can drop by as a guest star once in a while, but it appears that she’s pretty much off the show. It’s just as well. The writers turned her character into the butt of every Glee joke. In typical fashion, Tina spent the episode annoyingly indecisive and histrionic. Although the dream sequence, where she imagined the Glee gang as characters in the TV show Friends, was a pretty awesome parody of 90’s sitcoms, laugh tracks, dumb jokes and all. We got Kurt and Blaine making out horizontally with open mouthed kisses, before Tina bursts into their bedroom to scream, “If I wanted to watch men in capri pants slobber all over each other, I’d watch Monday Night Football!” Since Tina was in charge, Mike Chang shows up to win her back. Rachel IS Rachel in her Rachel haircut. Actually, the 90s haircuts were pretty hilarious. And if I was having a fantasy, I’d keep Chord Overstreet in his underwear the entire time, too.
“Loser Like Me” was sung, at first, by Artie, Blaine and Sam to cheer Tina up and convince her to come to New York without a plan. Glee has done the acoustic flip with songs before, notably the a cappella version of Whitney’s “How Will I Know.” Making “Loser Like Me” acoustic gave it gravitas and was loads better than the poppy original. The harmonies were gorgeous.
Loser Like Me – Artie, Tina, Blaine Sam
The scene where Brittany fills the choir room with lilies for Santana was just lovely. The two don’t get back together yet in this scene, but they both realize that what they are currently doing isn’t making them happy. Yes, Santana, deep down, is enjoying making Rachel squirm. So much, that she turns down the offer a sentimental Rachel (after that Kurtcedes duet!) makes. Ten days as Fanny does not entice Santana. She wants it all. But leave it to Brittany to cut through the bullshit, helping Santana realize that Broadway really isn’t her dream. “I spend months tangled up in knots, and in 5 minutes you straighten me out,” says Santana. I’ve mostly not cared for the Santana/Brittany pairing because while Santana was written as a flesh and blood person, Brittany is usually a caricature. Here Brittany is well rounded. It’s a good thing, as Heather Morris is more than capable of playing a 3 dimensional character.
Rachel breaths a sigh of relief when Santana reveals that she’s texted the Funny Girl producers her resignation as Rachel’s understudy. She admits, jokingly that she’s too lazy to do eight shows a week, and that she knows Broadway has been Rachel’s dream since she was “in utero.” Still, she’s giving up the opportunity for herself, not to please Rachel. Just like that, they are friends again. Rachel suggest they sing a spirited duet of “Be OK,” tidying up the relationship in time for the all-New York storyline. Not that it matters. Santana WON’T be in New York for the first 3 episodes. She appears in 5×17. But who knows after that. Rumor has it Naya wants to leave the show. What better way to write her off than to have her sail off into the sunset (or Lesbos, as it were) with her high school sweetheart. In one of the last scenes of the episode, instead of running away, Santana suggests they take a vacation together and then move to New York–which will explain Santana’s absence in the next few episodes. We’ll see what happens after that.
Be OK – Rachel and Santana
Quinn arrives in Lima with a snooty East coast Brahmin as a boyfriend, and within a week, ditches him, and declares her love for Puck. It’s a development that comes totally out of the blue and feels random–one of those forced happy endings I mentioned earlier. Seriously. Quinn is a student at YALE and she can’t find a like-minded guy? After her blue-blooded boyfriend reveals his assholery when Quinn’s secrets surface, she settles for her high school sorta boyfriend. Not that it matters. Both of them are pretty much off the show. We’ll hear from Quinn and Puck when they get engaged and set their wedding date. Maybe they can double with Kurt and Blaine.
Dianna Agron and Mark Salling aren’t the strongest singers on the show, but this duet, a declaration of love before Quinn tells the Glee club that she’s decided to throw her lot in with Puck, was all kinds of sweet.
Just Give Me A Reason – Quinn and Puck
After all the drama llama between the kids, Will finally gets his moment in the spotlight. The film Artie puts together as a goodbye from the kids is framed as a message to Will’s unborn child. Each of the Glee clubbers share memories and talk about what an important influence Will had been in their lives. The sweetest moments were when Kurt movingly reveals to Baby Schuester “Without a doubt, your dad saved my life.” Tongue in cheek, Kurt continues, “Little Hepburn and Tracy wouldn’t have a daddy if it wasn’t for your dad. Those are the names of my kids who aren’t born yet either.” Blaine pops into the frame, “We used a surrogate.” Then Quinn, “I donated the egg!” Each of the clubbers talk about how Will brought out the best in them. Aw.
The film is a prelude to yet ANOTHER VERSION OF DON’T STOP BELIEVING. This was at least number 4. The first, was of course, the iconic pilot version. The second was sung at Season 1’s sectionals. And the 3rd, most movingly for me, was Rachel auditioning for Funny Girl with the song. As she moves through an intimidating audition, she imagines the originals on stage with her, wearing their original orange outfits, singing it with her. It was one of Cory Monteith’s last Glee numbers. Frankly, I think it should have been allowed to retire there. The latest version is fine, but at this point, it’s hard to be moved. I was much more shaken up when, during the nationals competition, Carole Hudson revealed that the club was singing all of Finn’s favorite songs.
Don’t Stop Believing
Graduation is a bit of an afterthought. But not half as much as the non-send off the poor newbies get. Apparently, a number with Will and April, “Total Eclipse of the Heart, that featured the newbies performing in a planetarium, was cut. There are official FOX stills from the performance in the gallery below. The sophomores got ONE brief scene. Unique tells Kitty she better say hi to her in the hall. “Of course!” snarks Kitty, “Somebody’s got to tell you your shoes don’t match your purse!” I wish she’d drop out and move to New York. When Jake glumly says, that Sue Sylvester finally won, Marley insists that she didn’t. “Maybe she took away Glee club, but she’ll never take away what we had.” An aborted run on Glee! I’m not going to miss that earnest drivel. Group hug. BYE NEWBIES. We hardly knew ye. And we may never know what happened to you.
The graduates collect their diplomas on stage from Sue. We never get that song that Blaine, Tina and Artie promised as the Valedictories. In a touching moment, Santana surprises Brittany with a cap and gown and Sue calls her name. She gets to graduate with her class after all. Becky Jackson graduates, and gets a big hug from Sue. Funniest moment is Rachel and Mike holding up “Queen T Forever” signs when Tina collects her diploma. Nobody outside of Glee appears to graduate, although there are people hanging around in caps and gowns. And there are no parents to be found. Plus, Tina breaks the news to her “chums.” That very morning, she heard from admissions at Brown. She got in. BYE TINA. The season 3 graduation was way more dramatic. Remember when Kurt didn’t get into NYADA? And Finn left Rachel at the train station, rather than marry her? Good times.
….Aaaand. The Longest. Frigging. School Year. FINALLY comes to an end. Mercifully.
The episode ends, fittingly, with Will and Sue in the empty choir room. Sue tells him that she’ll miss the fight, and that he was a worthy adversary. The push and pull between Will and Sue became pretty tedious–to the point that I couldn’t stand to have them on screen together. Please Glee Gods. Let it end here.
Because Sue believes he needs to be coaching a Glee club, she gets him an interview with McKinley’s old nemesis, Carmel High School, home of Vocal Adrenaline. Will is ambivalent. We never find out if Will decides to audition for the job. But will it matter if the character is written off the show? Jayma Mays, who plays Will’s wife, Emma, stars in a fairly successful CBS sitcom called The Millers. At this point, it’s going to be hard to revisit their story. Although, in a recent interview, Brad Falchuk said there are Lima stories that will be revisited next season. I have a feeling it has to do with bringing Sue Sylvester back in the mix, but you never know. Nationals could be in NYC again, with Will heading up a newly revitalized Vocal Adrenaline…
Sue gives Will a minute in the choir room alone. As we hear snippets of the kids–soundbites from the “To Sir With Love” scene from Season 1 (similarly, the kids were saying goodbye to Will when they believed Glee was being disbanded) and other past moments. The last voice is Finn’s before Will turns out the lights and leaves the room. “We went around the room and we asked ourselves what we wanted to win this thing for,” says Finn, “We wanted to win this for you.”
Next week, Glee moves to New York to follow the adult stories of the graduates as they make their way in the big city. There’s so much potential here. With a fresh start, maybe Glee can get it’s mojo back, at least a little.
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