Episode Report Card LTG: B+ | 1 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Journey's End
By LTG | Season 1 | Episode 22 | Aired on 06.08.2010
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.This may have been the simplest, most straightforward episode of Glee yet. In the 'A' plot, everyone seems psyched for Regionals -- until they learn that Sue is one of the judges. Since they're all certain she'll ensure that they neither win nor place, Will and the kids are convinced that Glee Club is over. But a pep talk from Emma gives Will the motivation he needs to get the kids pumped up again. Well, Emma plus the magic of Steve Perry. Because Will decides the kids should perform a Journey medley at Regionals. And they put together a nice medley of "Faithfully," a mash-up of "Any Way You Want It" and "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'," and (of course) "Don't Stop Believin'." To counter that, Vocal Adrenaline performs "Bohemian Rhapsody." (And by "Vocal Adrenaline," I mean Jesse with a little back-up.) But New Direction's efforts are in vain, because the judges (Sue, newscaster Rod, Josh Groban and Olivia Newton-John) award first place to Vocal Adrenaline and second place to Aural Intensity.
Having failed to place at Regionals, New Directions is slated for the chopping block. Emma puts up a fight with Figgins, to no avail. But Sue has been touched, both by the kids' devotion to Will and by the class prejudice of renowned snob Olivia Newton-John, so she engages in one last act of blackmail and gets Figgins to give the club one more year to try to place at Regionals. As always, Sue makes everything better.
In other developments, Emma is dating her dentist, but Will declares his love for her and vows to put up a fight. And Finn declares his love for Rachel. And Quinn's mother shows up, just in time for Quinn's water to break after the Regionals performance. Quinn delivers the baby and bonds with Puck over the experience. But she sticks to her plan to give up the baby for adoption. Fortunately, Shelby has decided to give up Vocal Adrenaline to focus on having a normal life, so she adopts little Beth. Finally, in addition to the other songs mentioned, the kids sing "To Sir With Love" in tribute to Will, and he responds with a performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously, on Glee -- well, you already know, or you wouldn't have been watching the finale. I'd rather talk about what we're going to use to fill the empty void in our souls while we wait for the second season of Glee to start. I have two suggestions that might help you make it through the long, long summer. First, The Choir, on BBCAmerica. It's just chock full of rags-to-riches stories about the kind of empowerment you can find in musical expression. And I'm guessing that cutie-patootie choirmaster Gareth Malone will not start rapping, ever. Next is Beautiful People on Logo. It's gayer than Kurt's sailor hat in this episode, the boys are apt to burst into showtunes at the drop of a hat, and the writers appear to share a drug supplier with the writers of Glee, because the plot of any given episode is about as insane as you can possibly imagine. Between those two shows, you'll undoubtedly find a big enough supply of the fierce and fabulous to make it until next fall.
Will is hanging a poster in the hallway, inviting students to support New Directions at Regionals that Saturday. (Of course, the poster fails to give the time or location of Regionals, thus demonstrating why Will is part of McKinley High's brain trust.) Sue walks by and tells him she's looking forward to seeing him on Saturday. Will can't believe she would show up to support the club -- but she's not coming to show her support, she's coming to Regionals as a judge.
Flash sideways to the Maharishi's Sanctum of Screaming. In this case, it's Will doing the screaming, insisting that Figgins cannot let Sue destroy the Glee Club by acting as a judge. Figgins, demonstrating that as bad a principal as he is he's still smarter than Will, reminds him that he doesn't actually have any control over the actions of the Show Choir governing board. If they want to invite a teacher from one of the schools in the competition to judge that competition, it's beyond the powers of Figgins, the Show Choir Code of Ethics, or the laws of logic to do anything about it. Sue tells Will that the decision was made to invite celebrities to be the judges, and she's in as the super-celebrity coach of the Cheerios. Will starts to talk to her about hard work and how wrong it is to crush the dreams of children when Sue interrupts him: "I have to be honest, Will, I'm having a really difficult time hearing anything you have to say today, because your hair looks like a briar patch. I keep expecting racist animated Disney characters to pop up and start singing songs about livin' on the bayou." Sue is also offended at the idea that she won't be anything but an impartial judge. Will: "You leaked our set list at Sectionals, Sue." Sue: "I have no memory of that." Figgins has a good memory, however -- he reminds Will that New Directions must at least place at Regionals or he'll disband the club. Title card.