Glee: 2009, Dreams Come True
March 20, 2015 10:33 PM - Season 6, Episode 12 - Subscribe
The first hour is essentially a "new-run"-sort of thing in which we see more scenes of the original glee club forming at McKinley. The second hour is the glee club winning Nationals, Will becoming principal of the McKinley Arts School, Sam taking over New Directions, and pretty much everyone else moving to New York or Washington D.C. Guess who the last one is?
I should probably review them separately, but eh, why bother at this point:
2009: I want to call it a clip show (sorta is) or a rerun, but I'll call it a "new-run," as per Lynn Johnston's non-sterling example of what she did with For Better Or For Worse. I pretty much get the feeling that Ryan Murphy and co. just wanted to be nostalgic once again for what core cast remains alive (sigh). We find out that Kurt was reading one of Emma's pamphlets on suicide and his dad ordered him to join a team, Artie and Tina got dared into joining, Rachel and Mercedes had a rival-off from the get-go. Oh yeah, and adding to the "Wicked" weirdness, Rachel and Kurt sing "Popular."
New-run moments:
* Hey, it's Sin from Arrow! And a random furry!
* Will's expression of Tina singing "I Kissed A Girl" is frozen horror while he writes down "edgy" and "good energy."
* Artie sang "Pony"? He is having a GREAT time dancing to that. Will writes down stuff like "soulful" and "need ramps."
* Why did you bring Terri back? So she can do all the work of carrying their child. Barf.
Frankly, this is weird without Finn, though I oddly felt better when they cut to the first footage of "Don't Stop Believing" with him in it. They talk about him behind his back a lot. Artie praises him for wheeling him home. Kurt says Finn let Kurt take off his Marc Jacobs jacket BEFORE he got thrown in the dumpster. That was kinda nice....I guess....
OH MY GOD DID THEY JUST HAVE MATT POP UP IN THIS EPISODE?!? Yes, you have no idea who I am talking about. I'm referring to that guy who was brought in with Mike Chang to dance in the back and never got any characterization. I've always felt very sad for Matt. They also snuck in a Blaine cameo.
Six seasons later, we finally figure out why Sue hates the Glee Club: takes away attention from her cheerleaders. Has this ever been said before or was I supposed to infer it? I forget. Also, Will thinks singing is more important than cheerleading.
This episode is bringing back the debate about realism (these kids are just going to become mechanics) vs dreams (all Terri dreams about is buying out Pottery Barn).
Quotes:
"Has Kurt been acting strangely at home?" "Since he was two." --Emma and Burt Hummel.
"I want you on a team or I'm taking away the sewing machine!" -Burt
"I guess I just feel safer if I let my clothes do the talking." --Kurt
"One of my dads is black. It's another thing we have in common." -Rachel to Mercedes.
"Well, I'm pretty sure that you invited you." --Mercedes to Rachel about Rachel showing up at her church.
"My name is Tina Cohen-Chang and you totally don't care."
"What's up, Wu-Tang Witch?" -Puck
"Not even Meryl Streep would fake a stutter for three and a half years." -Tina
Hey, it's Sin from Arrow! And a random furry!
"Just give it to whoever is the most pathetic." --Terri on who should get a solo.
"I didn't get the solo. I lost it to that demented little Beanie Baby." -Mercedes
"I know nothing about you." "Like I said, best friends." --Will and Sue
"You can't go wrong with red and denim." -Kurt
Dreams Come True:
As per Parks and Recreation, we're gonna do a little back and forth in time to see how everyone ends up:
* New Directions 2015 win Nationals, beating the "Soprano-gasms."
* The superintendent gets McKinley to become an all arts school, putting Beiste but not Sam out of a job. Because shockingly, cutting all arts programs in favor of STEM didn't raise test scores any.
* The Glee Club has so many wannabe members that there's a Troubletones all-ladies group, an all men's group (I forget the name, it had Duty in it?), and a junior varsity. Sam, as per Finn's intended ending for the show, ends up coaching the New Directions. His first lesson is to assign COUNTRY songs. (Uh-oh.) He does a great job of copying Will in giving a speech though. "Let's do She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," says some kid who must have transferred in from my hick high school.
* Artie, Santana and Brittany, Kitty, Rachel, and Klaine all move back to NYC.
* Mercedes gets to be the opening act for Beyonce and gives a stunning farewell to "Someday We'll Be Together," blowing them a kiss as she leaves the building.
* Sue and Becky have a dramatic run down the hallway hug and make up session. "I should have been treating you like a paid intern," Sue says.
* Sue pees in Will's office and calls Blaine "Mrs. Porcelain." Klaine thank her for bringing them back together, and Sue gives Kurt a lovely speech about how he's taught her stuff or whatever. Meanwhile, she's not a big fan of Blaine, she doesn't really get him.... "But you're doing you, and that's swell." "Thank you, Sue, I feel the same way about you."
* Sue and Will duet on ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All." They hold hands, and then she leaves the stage, kicking Brad the piano player's bench out from under him. Presumably this kills him because he's never seen again and another female piano player is shown later.
Five years later, Vice President Sue "Pocahontas" Sylvester reunites with her old buddy Geraldo to announce that she will run for President. GOD HELP THE UNIVERSE. Sue is the fucking queen of the Karma Houdinis.
* Kurt somehow has a time capsule locker. "Why are you crying and laughing at the same time?" he says to Blaine.
* Five years later, Klaine have put on the first LGBTQ version of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and are showing up at Harvey Milk Elementary(?!) School to sing "Daydream Believer" in...interesting suits. Doing some kind of monster arm dance.
* Five years later, Artie filmed a movie that made it into the "Slamdance" film festival, Tina was in it.
* Five years later, the NYC glee club members (and Kitty and Roderick moved there, I guess) reunite to watch the Tony awards in someone's apartment, presumably Rachel's. I wonder how Artie made it up those huge stairs. Will, Emma, their kids, Sue, and a Secret Service agent are watching at Will's. Rachel is pregnant with Klaine's baby, paying it forward like her mom did, and she's married to Jesse St. James, who directed her in "Jane Austen Sings." Others up for Best Actress in a Musical tonight include Maggie Smith for Miss Jean Brodie's Second Prime, Willow Smith in Cabaret, Anne Hathaway in "Anne!." Rachel of course wins and dedicates her award to Will. Sue hands him Kleenex.
The last scene is in fall 2020, as Sue (in a presidential track suit) praises the Glee Club to the entire adult cast (even Terri is there) and dedicates the Finn Hudson Memorial Auditorium. Probably almost every single person who was ever even partially in Glee Club hops on stage to sing "I Lived." The show ends focusing on the plaque with Finn's quote: "See the world not as it is, but as it should be."
Okay, much as I wasn't super thrilled with the "new run" bit of that, I'll admit that seeing how people ended was nice. I'm still disgusted that Sue never went to jail and will presumably become president and ru(i)n the world come 2024, but...*sigh* that's Glee for ya. Rachel got her Tony and all's right with the world. And the arts are saved forever.
Before I leave all two of you besides me who watched this show till the bitter end, some links:
Glee's best 50 performances, ranked.
Some quotes from Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch:
I should probably review them separately, but eh, why bother at this point:
2009: I want to call it a clip show (sorta is) or a rerun, but I'll call it a "new-run," as per Lynn Johnston's non-sterling example of what she did with For Better Or For Worse. I pretty much get the feeling that Ryan Murphy and co. just wanted to be nostalgic once again for what core cast remains alive (sigh). We find out that Kurt was reading one of Emma's pamphlets on suicide and his dad ordered him to join a team, Artie and Tina got dared into joining, Rachel and Mercedes had a rival-off from the get-go. Oh yeah, and adding to the "Wicked" weirdness, Rachel and Kurt sing "Popular."
New-run moments:
* Hey, it's Sin from Arrow! And a random furry!
* Will's expression of Tina singing "I Kissed A Girl" is frozen horror while he writes down "edgy" and "good energy."
* Artie sang "Pony"? He is having a GREAT time dancing to that. Will writes down stuff like "soulful" and "need ramps."
* Why did you bring Terri back? So she can do all the work of carrying their child. Barf.
Frankly, this is weird without Finn, though I oddly felt better when they cut to the first footage of "Don't Stop Believing" with him in it. They talk about him behind his back a lot. Artie praises him for wheeling him home. Kurt says Finn let Kurt take off his Marc Jacobs jacket BEFORE he got thrown in the dumpster. That was kinda nice....I guess....
OH MY GOD DID THEY JUST HAVE MATT POP UP IN THIS EPISODE?!? Yes, you have no idea who I am talking about. I'm referring to that guy who was brought in with Mike Chang to dance in the back and never got any characterization. I've always felt very sad for Matt. They also snuck in a Blaine cameo.
Six seasons later, we finally figure out why Sue hates the Glee Club: takes away attention from her cheerleaders. Has this ever been said before or was I supposed to infer it? I forget. Also, Will thinks singing is more important than cheerleading.
This episode is bringing back the debate about realism (these kids are just going to become mechanics) vs dreams (all Terri dreams about is buying out Pottery Barn).
Quotes:
"Has Kurt been acting strangely at home?" "Since he was two." --Emma and Burt Hummel.
"I want you on a team or I'm taking away the sewing machine!" -Burt
"I guess I just feel safer if I let my clothes do the talking." --Kurt
"One of my dads is black. It's another thing we have in common." -Rachel to Mercedes.
"Well, I'm pretty sure that you invited you." --Mercedes to Rachel about Rachel showing up at her church.
"My name is Tina Cohen-Chang and you totally don't care."
"What's up, Wu-Tang Witch?" -Puck
"Not even Meryl Streep would fake a stutter for three and a half years." -Tina
Hey, it's Sin from Arrow! And a random furry!
"Just give it to whoever is the most pathetic." --Terri on who should get a solo.
"I didn't get the solo. I lost it to that demented little Beanie Baby." -Mercedes
"I know nothing about you." "Like I said, best friends." --Will and Sue
"You can't go wrong with red and denim." -Kurt
Dreams Come True:
As per Parks and Recreation, we're gonna do a little back and forth in time to see how everyone ends up:
* New Directions 2015 win Nationals, beating the "Soprano-gasms."
* The superintendent gets McKinley to become an all arts school, putting Beiste but not Sam out of a job. Because shockingly, cutting all arts programs in favor of STEM didn't raise test scores any.
* The Glee Club has so many wannabe members that there's a Troubletones all-ladies group, an all men's group (I forget the name, it had Duty in it?), and a junior varsity. Sam, as per Finn's intended ending for the show, ends up coaching the New Directions. His first lesson is to assign COUNTRY songs. (Uh-oh.) He does a great job of copying Will in giving a speech though. "Let's do She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," says some kid who must have transferred in from my hick high school.
* Artie, Santana and Brittany, Kitty, Rachel, and Klaine all move back to NYC.
* Mercedes gets to be the opening act for Beyonce and gives a stunning farewell to "Someday We'll Be Together," blowing them a kiss as she leaves the building.
* Sue and Becky have a dramatic run down the hallway hug and make up session. "I should have been treating you like a paid intern," Sue says.
* Sue pees in Will's office and calls Blaine "Mrs. Porcelain." Klaine thank her for bringing them back together, and Sue gives Kurt a lovely speech about how he's taught her stuff or whatever. Meanwhile, she's not a big fan of Blaine, she doesn't really get him.... "But you're doing you, and that's swell." "Thank you, Sue, I feel the same way about you."
* Sue and Will duet on ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All." They hold hands, and then she leaves the stage, kicking Brad the piano player's bench out from under him. Presumably this kills him because he's never seen again and another female piano player is shown later.
Five years later, Vice President Sue "Pocahontas" Sylvester reunites with her old buddy Geraldo to announce that she will run for President. GOD HELP THE UNIVERSE. Sue is the fucking queen of the Karma Houdinis.
* Kurt somehow has a time capsule locker. "Why are you crying and laughing at the same time?" he says to Blaine.
* Five years later, Klaine have put on the first LGBTQ version of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and are showing up at Harvey Milk Elementary(?!) School to sing "Daydream Believer" in...interesting suits. Doing some kind of monster arm dance.
* Five years later, Artie filmed a movie that made it into the "Slamdance" film festival, Tina was in it.
* Five years later, the NYC glee club members (and Kitty and Roderick moved there, I guess) reunite to watch the Tony awards in someone's apartment, presumably Rachel's. I wonder how Artie made it up those huge stairs. Will, Emma, their kids, Sue, and a Secret Service agent are watching at Will's. Rachel is pregnant with Klaine's baby, paying it forward like her mom did, and she's married to Jesse St. James, who directed her in "Jane Austen Sings." Others up for Best Actress in a Musical tonight include Maggie Smith for Miss Jean Brodie's Second Prime, Willow Smith in Cabaret, Anne Hathaway in "Anne!." Rachel of course wins and dedicates her award to Will. Sue hands him Kleenex.
The last scene is in fall 2020, as Sue (in a presidential track suit) praises the Glee Club to the entire adult cast (even Terri is there) and dedicates the Finn Hudson Memorial Auditorium. Probably almost every single person who was ever even partially in Glee Club hops on stage to sing "I Lived." The show ends focusing on the plaque with Finn's quote: "See the world not as it is, but as it should be."
Okay, much as I wasn't super thrilled with the "new run" bit of that, I'll admit that seeing how people ended was nice. I'm still disgusted that Sue never went to jail and will presumably become president and ru(i)n the world come 2024, but...*sigh* that's Glee for ya. Rachel got her Tony and all's right with the world. And the arts are saved forever.
Before I leave all two of you besides me who watched this show till the bitter end, some links:
Glee's best 50 performances, ranked.
Some quotes from Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch:
“The more I look back on the show, I think of it fondly, and I think about all the amazing changes it did for our world,” Morrison says, speaking of how it always let its characters express just who they were, or wanted to be (and not just because “it definitely afforded me the lifestyle that I’ve loved to have”). “I look at arts programs now, and I feel like theater is where the cool kids are, and it’s kind of changed. Theater is now accepted more than it used to be.” But, he says, “Glee had its heyday, and then it kind of just slowly started declining,” ending up on Friday nights, “which no one watches. It’s where shows go to die.” As he acknowledges: “There were just so many characters. There are a lot of people and a lot of story lines. It’s one of the biggest casts on television. They have the New Directions, the original New Directions, and then you have the new New Directions … The new ones didn’t really click with people, so they had to start bringing back in the old people.”
Lynch’s postmortem is similar. “It’s like emotional whiplash, my character,” she says. “I have that redemption scene with Matt: ‘I want to be your friend, I’m jealous of you.’ I had that scene six times.” In the end, it just became “confusing,” Morrison says. “They have so many things that we don’t even talk about. Sue having a child. We’re always like … I forget the baby’s name right now. Where’s Wanda, or whatever its name is?” Morrison also didn’t know the air date of the last episode off the top of his head."
jenfullmoon, thanks for the great Glee recaps this season.
posted by drezdn at 5:59 AM on March 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 5:59 AM on March 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
Thanks!
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:16 AM on March 21, 2015
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:16 AM on March 21, 2015
Really enjoyed the "Daydream Believer" number and the closing number, but I'll admit that during the closing number I was looking closely to see which cast members weren't there.
posted by drezdn at 7:25 PM on March 21, 2015
posted by drezdn at 7:25 PM on March 21, 2015
I was trying to do that, but they were all running around and it was hard to tell. Barely recognized Lauren.
Hah, here's the notes I was attempting to take very quickly on that: "all the old schoolers again look, there's quinn. artie, tina. sam. rachel mercedes klaine, all the kdis from this year emerge. and sugar. why sugar? why? mike and matt! brittana enter. karofsky. puck, his brother. wow,lauren got a makeover. jesse. unique. " And I recall that Ryder (Blake Jenner) was mentioned in the credits, but I didn't see him onstage.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:03 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hah, here's the notes I was attempting to take very quickly on that: "all the old schoolers again look, there's quinn. artie, tina. sam. rachel mercedes klaine, all the kdis from this year emerge. and sugar. why sugar? why? mike and matt! brittana enter. karofsky. puck, his brother. wow,lauren got a makeover. jesse. unique. " And I recall that Ryder (Blake Jenner) was mentioned in the credits, but I didn't see him onstage.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:03 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
The flashback to Don't Stop Believing, while nostalgic, also served to remind me how annoying the autotune on Corey's voice was. Other than that, I really liked the music, especially Popular, Teach Your Children, The Winner Takes It All, Daydream Believer, and I Lived. I was even strangely happy to see Sue and Becky get back together. Hard to see closeted bully Karofsky again in the first half. Overall, the plot was over the top in some points, but not excessively so for this show, and in the end I had always watched this show for the musical numbers first and foremost, and on that score the finale delivered in spades.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:04 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:04 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Would this episode have been written recently enough for Sue being VP to be a poke at Parks & Recreation's epilogue? Because it kinda felt that way.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:59 AM on March 23, 2015
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:59 AM on March 23, 2015
According to this, Glee wrapped on Feb. 21. The last episode of Parks aired on Feb. 24th.
posted by drezdn at 8:21 AM on March 23, 2015
posted by drezdn at 8:21 AM on March 23, 2015
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posted by Sweetie Darling at 5:42 AM on March 21, 2015