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Glee: Goodbye

“We’re just gonna sit here and we’re gonna let go.... Can you do that with me? Can you surrender?”

Ahh. So many goodbyes to say. For this review I’ll talk about each of the graduating characters in turn:

Kurt, Porcelain

Of all the inner monologues, I think I enjoyed Kurt’s the most. Going from a timid, closeted, unknown guy who was bullied daily, to a happy and loved up one-time prom queen who has baby gays watching him for fashion tips is quite an accomplishment. Of course, he’s more than just a trendsetter, he’s also a role model for McKinley gays who may not have the support network he’s had and need to know it is possible to be happy, out and gay at high school in Ohio.

Mercedes, Ms Jones

Ahh Mercedes, you’ll enjoy LA land I am sure. Wish you’d gotten more screen-time.

Quinn, Q and Puck, Puckasaurus

Can a kiss really do so much for someone? I suppose it depends on what they’re used to. Just dancing with Puck was enough for Becky back in Prom-A-Saurus, but you’d think he’d be a bit more jaded... what with all those cougars whose pools he cleans. It also seems like Puck has completely forgotten about Becky post prom, which ain’t good. It’s nice to see Quinn being altruistic for a change, but since they never really wrote her and Puck as all that starcrossed, it seemed a bit of a quick fix to push them together her. I would rather have had a guest appearance from Lauren Zizes. Speaking of bad decisions regarding guest stars...

Santana, Salsa Caliente

Santana’s mum appears now? What a waste, they should have cast her for Santana’s coming out story, not now, to give her career advice and supply lump sums of money. In a morbid way, I’d rather Santana found out her grandma had died and left her the money. I am pretty happy that Santana randomly decided she wanted to go spend her mum’s cash in NYC, and will thus hopefully appear there with Rachel and maybe Finn and Kurt next season. I guess that means Brittany and Blaine can console each other about their long distance lovers. But what is going to happen to Kurt now that he doesn’t have a place at NYADA?

Finn and Rachel (Finchel)

I was actually quite surprised that only Rachel got into NYADA. After the plot with her messing up her audition, and the events last week, it was almost guaranteed that she’d get in, and far less certain that Finn would. But Kurt! Poor Kurt, what is he going to do now? While Finn and Rachel breaking up was shocking, and sad, I am glad that they aren’t going to be rushing into marriage. Finn’s motivation for wanting the join the army pretty much came out of nowhere, but it worked well because Cory Monteith and Lea Michele acted their guts out in that scene. Wow, it was so intense!

Loved

- Will finally told Finn about planting pot in his locker.

- Sue’s goodbye with Quinn was excellent. I am glad Sue’s character has come to a point where I can watch her just acting like a (vaguely) normal person without feeling like I am seeing a dog stand on its hind legs. I actually got a lump in my throat. On a less emotional note, ooh wasn’t Quinn’s multicoloured dress pretty?

- Sue coached the Cheerios to victory so she’s at least partially responsible for bringing two national trophies to McKinley High this year.

- We saw the Changs and Quinn’s mum at graduation as well as Burt, but not Santana’s mum, Carol Hummel or Rachel’s dads. Still, it was a nice touch.

- Rachel’s suitcase was tiny. I hope Hiram and Leroy are going to bring the rest of her things up!

Didn’t Love

- Will couldn’t even write something meaningful in Finn’s yearbook because he was too cut up? Come on William, grow a pair!

- How is becoming an actor redemption for a war hero who killed himself? It’s the war hero’s son being free to follow his dreams, that’s how! I didn’t like the implication that enlisting was the only way for Finn to honour his dad’s memory. Maybe this plot point would’ve worked better if they’d shown Finn being troubled by his dad’s dishonourable discharge before this episode.

- Roz and Sue teaming up to get rid of Figgins? Well, it wouldn’t be hard, but why would they need to work together to do it? Maybe Roz is going to become Principal next year?

- Despite Glee burning through plots faster than fire burns through a..really flammable thing, there are still a few plot ends left untied, or ideas that I wanted to see Glee explore that they probably won’t do now. The main thing Karofsky, but I would’ve liked to see Santana get closure about her gran’s lack of acceptance of her sexuality as well. Emma’s OCD and her therapist need revisiting too, but at least she’ll still be around next year.

Glee Against The Music

Sit Down, You're Rocking The Boat from Guys and Dolls performed by the original New Directions:
I never thought I’d get nostalgic about That performance! And yet, it was pretty effective at showing just how far the New Directions have come.

Forever Young by Rod Stewart performed by Will:
This was sweet, and very appropriate, but I would have preferred a callback to one of Will’s Season One performances.

Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyoncé performed to by Burt, Tina and Brittany:
Just brilliant. I wasn’t sure if I was crying with laughter, or just crying because I wish every gay kid could have a dad like Burt. Now if Burt had only worn the leotard... on second thoughts the flannel was fine!

I'll Remember by Madonna performed by Kurt:
Again, sweet and appropriate, but I think the New Directions guys would agree with me in saying that something a little bit more upbeat, even outrageous would have fit better.

You Get What You Give by New Radicals performed by New Directions Seniors:
I really enjoyed this, it was a great vocal performance and the staging was a nice touch - the seniors dancing around everyone else then leaving them standing there, ready to pick up the torch.

In My Life by The Beatles performed by New Directions Juniors:
I’m not sure all of the juniors have had enough screentime for this to be that meaningful. I still feel like Irish and Teen Jesus can pretty much be summed up by those monikers, and Tina, Sam and Sugar aren’t much better developed, so Blaine and Artie were the only ones I was concentrating on.

Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen performed by Finn and Puck:
Good choice of song for a very emotional and triumphant scene, even if it is about people whose glory days are behind them, which is hopefully Not the case for the McKinley seniors. I loved Sue spontaneously hugging Will, and watching everyone receive their diplomas. Even Puck!

Roots Before Branches by Room For Two performed by Rachel with Finn:
Beautiful. What a gorgeous song, I love discovering new artists through Glee. Coming off the back of that incredibly emotional scene in the car, it was heartbreaking and lovely to watch Rachel’s journey to New York. Finn running along beside the train and Rachel breaking down when she couldn’t see him any more was very sad. She looked like a real star walking away down the New York street. Even though I know we’ll see her next year, it was a very fitting goodbye to her.

Quotes for Gleeks

Brittany: “We can use the waste basket for the toilet. And then we could eat Joe for the food since she’s been here the shortest so we know her the least.”

Artie: “We went from the ghetto to the penthouse... national champs, baby!”

Kurt: “When I first got to McKinley I was afraid to make eye contact. I didn’t talk about my politics, I didn’t share what was in my heart, I…oh, let’s just call the Cadillac pink and be done with it. I was in the closet. And most days I was also in the dumpster. But McKinley has made me a stronger, more socially conscious, fashion-forward person.”

Blaine: “You know how hard long-distance relationships can be. We both saw The Notebook.”

Santana: “This is embarrassing. I’m a star. So what am I doing heading to Kentucky? I’m just as talented as Mercedes, Boy Chang, Berry or Lady Hummel.”

Finn: “I never hurt anyone real bad and it turns out I never actually accidentally got anyone pregnant.”

Sue: “You’re nothing like me. You’re better. Sure, I’m as smart as you are and every bit as pretty. But somehow you’re slightly less evil. And I admire that. I admire you, Quinn Fabray. I admire your perseverance. You’re gonna go so far kiddo.”

Finn: “We’re just gonna sit here and we’re gonna let go and let the universe do its thing, and if we’re meant to be together, then we’re gonna be together. Whether it’s in a little shoebox apartment in New York or on the other side of the world. Will you do that with me? Will you surrender?”

Ahh what a stellar episode to end a strange season that has had several stellar episodes, but also a few abysmal failures. Glee has been so very up and down, that some weeks I have been itching to review it, and sometimes I’ve just been completely turned off.

So, since the episode is entitled "Goodbye", I guess I should tell you, I won’t be reviewing Glee Season 4. Sure, I’ll be watching, and I am very eager to see watch happens next in the lives of Blaine, Kurt, Santana, Finn and Rachel. But the other characters have been rather neglected, or as in the cases of Will and Sue, just plain badly written at times. This isn’t the last you’ll hear of me, I will be reviewing the missing episodes from the review list before the summer is over. Time for a re-watch to remember the good times with our graduating cast members?

7 comments:

  1. Great review harry.

    This ep was a brilliant end to the 3 year arc. (Let us not forget that Glee was planned as a movie)

    I'm still reluctant to watch next season, especially if we don't have the chance of seeing everyone.

    Agreeing with you, season 3 gave us great and so great moments. But Glee is Glee.

    Love these kids so much.

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  2. Lovely review, Harry. It was a good episode. I loved all of the references to their inauspicious beginnings (like "Rocking the Boat"). I wasn't surprised that Finn and Rachel broke up, because I could see it coming. I also wasn't surprised that Finn enlisted, since his father has always meant so much to him. (Like you, I was also thinking that was an awfully small suitcase Rachel was pulling behind her. :)

    Harry, thanks so much for reviewing two seasons of Glee for us! We're going to miss you.

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  3. Yay for Harry! I always look forward to your reviews.

    A lot of people were upset about Kurt not getting into NYADA, but I'm actually a bit happy that he didn't? I still want him to get to New York, but maybe doing something else, like design or something, seeing as for the first two and a bit seasons that seemed to be the direction he was heading in.

    Who else thinks that Blaine is going to be the/one of the captains for New Directions in season four?

    And please please please let them bring Sebastian back! Not to go after Blaine, or Kurt, but just to be his snarky self. Grant Gustin is doing a movie at the moment, and I know for sure that I will be seeing it.

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  4. I was thrilled Rachel went to New York (though surprised that Kurt didn't get into NYADA too) and okay with the break up, but absolutely hated the way it happened.

    First of all, while I agreed with him that she was making a mistake in deferring her acceptance, the way the scene was handled made me really hate Finn. I would have much rather seen Rachel realize she couldn't stand to put off her dreams and ask him to postpone the wedding. Instead, we got Finn being unbelievably cruel--how horrible to let the person you love believe the two of you are driving to your wedding and then drop a break up bomb on her instead. And instead of a sweet farefell scene, all of the Glee Club gathering to say goodbye felt like an ambush so she wouldn't have time to completely realize what was happening.

    Second of all, I'm with you about Finn joining the army, Harry. It was like Finn wanted to relive his dad's life and fix his mistakes for him. This storyline needed a scene with Carol and Burt warning him about what a mistake he was making to work for me.

    Finally, I guess I'm just not a romantic, because "if it's meant to be, it'll be" has never worked for me. Seems to me that breaking up with your fiance in the most insulting and condescending way possible and then moving to the opposite end of the country pretty much gaurantees it won't be.

    I guess I'll be saying "goodbye" to the character of Finn with this episode, because he lost me.

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  5. First of all, thanks for all the reviews Harry: they've been a genuine pleasure to read and it won't be quite the same without your take on things.

    I hated that Kurt didn't get into NYADA - it made no sense - and some of the departing characters were really short-changed but apart from that I really enjoyed this episode, it capped a strong run at the end of the series. The Rachel/Finn breakup was extremely well done by all involved and properly heart-wrenching.

    I guessed they were going to do Get What You Give (though I expected it to be just Finn to Rachel) as it really suits Finn's voice and it was awesome.

    In spite of myself I'm looking forward to S4, I hope they resolve some of the cliffhangers and give Kurt, Mercedes and Mike a proper ending.

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  6. Thanks for the kind words everyone :) I really appreciate you reading!

    Morgan - I am sure Captain Blaine will be the main reason I watch Season 4. If it's just one extended Darren Criss concert I'll be happy!

    Anon - your comment about Finn 'guaranteeing it won't be' cracked me up - I never saw it that way until now.

    My wishes for Season 4:

    - Even More Blaine!
    - Bring back Dave Karofsky
    - Bring back Sebastian Smythe
    - Show Will actually being a good teacher
    - Don't shortchange Bieste
    - Utilise Tina/Joe/Sam/Rory/Sugar or get rid of them. It's embarrassing watching them playing furniture.
    - At least half the Season should have Santana, Kurt and Rachel guest starring in the NYC 'show within a show'
    - Gwynnie P and Matt Bomer should guest star again

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  7. I think i'll be following casting spoilers for Glee to see who actually will stay on the show and in what capacity, because I just can't stand the uncertainty. :)

    ReplyDelete

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