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'Glee' recap, finale an emotional 'Journey'

By Alicia Sutton Jun 9, 2010, 17:10 GMT

Rachel\'s sad note was played in the finale, Lea Michele - 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Arrivals - Staples Center - Los Angeles, CA, USA © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

Oh "Glee," how we all miss the days of when you were first starting out and the hair jokes were still funny.

Last night’s season finale has glimpses of said days, but it also had a lot more drama and less comedy.  Right off the bat the show opens up with Sue (Jane Lynch), in her usual vicious manner, telling Mr. Shue (Matthew Morrison) that she is a judge at Regionals, meanwhile throwing in a cringe-worthy hair joke: “Your hair looks so much like a briar patch that I’m expecting racist, animated Disney characters to pop out and start singing songs about the bayou."

Courtesy of FOX

Mr. Shue holds a team meeting informing the Glee club about Sue’s unlikely judge status and asks for ideas on a song list for Regionals.  The team, too depressed to brainstorm, cry instead and tell each other how much they mean to one another and how they had no friends before Glee.  Although a touching moment, it makes me question why they haven’t had a set list for months as opposed to looking for one the week before the finals.

Staying positive, Mr. Shue goes to Emma (Jayma Mays) for guidance.  Where has Emma been the last few weeks?  Her kooky presence has been missed.  Turns out she is dating her dentist!  Despite that depressing news, she gives Will some good advice about how it’s not the winning or losing that’s important, but how you feel while you are doing it.

Depressed over Emma’s confession about dating another man as well as the predicament with Glee, Mr. Shue breaks down crying in his car while Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” plays.  He has an epiphany and tells the Glee kids, “Who cares what happens when we get there, when the getting there has been so much fun?”
Hence the Journey-themed song list for Regionals.

On a happy note, Rachel (Lea Michele) and Finn (Cory Monteith) finally seem to get over all the obstacles in their way!  They kiss in the hall and then later, right before going on stage, the first proclamation of love in the finale occurs when Finn tells Rachel he loves her and she responds with a big smile.  It was sweet moment in the action packed singing and drama filled episode.

The singing is fantastic.  The dancing, not so much. 

With a medley of  “Faithfully”/”Any Way You Want It”/”Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’”/”Don’t Stop Believing” the Glee kids in New Directions delivers vocally.  Excited, they rush backstage where Quinn’s (Dianna Agron) mom Judy (Charlotte Ross) appears and tells Quinn that she wants her to move home and that she kicked her Dad out for having an affair. 

Good timing on mom’s part as Quinn’s water breaks and off to the hospital they rush.

In a brilliant sequence, Quinn’s labor and delivery (who has a baby that fast, seriously!?) is choreographed with the rival Vocal Adrenaline’s performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Wow, what a great scene this was.  Cheesy and wonderful, Jesse (Jonathan Groff) comes strutting down the stairs in his pink shirt and sits at the white piano.  Freddy Mercury is smiling in his grave. 

Cut to Quinn giving birth calling out for mama the same time as Vocal Adrenaline sings out.  Puck (Mark Salling) looks completely horrified, which is spot on for most men in the delivery room. 

The sequence ends with Quinn holding her baby girl and smiling, which makes you wonder if she is going to keep the baby.  She doesn’t, but she and Puck seem to be on the same page now, especially when Puck tells Quinn that he loves her.

Rachel goes to her mother Shelby Corcoran (Idina Menzel) asking her to come to McKinley to coach New Directions.  A bit tactless, mom tells Rachel it’s too late for them and she wants to give up coaching to have a family.  Ouch.  Anyone born with a brain knows that she will adopt Quinn’s baby, which she does in the end. 

Back in Regional land, the judges meet.  With Olivia Newton-John and Josh Groban, how could this scene not be superb?  Olivia claims that “Brunettes have no place in show business” and Josh is so self-absorbed that Sue is baffled to learn that she is just like the New Directions kids she set out to destroy. 

It all comes down to a suspenseful moment on stage and Vocal Adrenaline wins first place.  They out-performed and out-sang New Directions so it would have been way too corny if the McKinley team won.

The last proclamation of love happens toward the end when Will tells Emma he loves her.  To say goodbye to Glee and Mr. Shue as their Glee teacher, New Directions, in a bit of a support group-esque fashion tell Mr. Shue what they were before Glee club and how the judges were wrong, they did win because they had a teacher like Mr. Shue.  They sing “To Sir, With Love” which has Mr. Shue all teared up.

If there was no second season coming, this would have made a good ending, but since we all know that "Glee" will be back next year, Sue shows she has a little heart and gets Glee club reinstated while revealing to us that she voted for New Directions to win. 

With a sweet farewell, Puck and Mr. Shue sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” which leaves us with high hopes for a great next season with more great songs, better dance numbers, less hair jokes, and more Brittany (Heather Morris) one-liners. 

Alicia Sutton is a self-professed TV addict and contributor to Monsters and Critics' smallscreen.