I have been a "Gleek" from the very beginning, cheering on this melting pot of misfit underdogs as they triumphed over slushies, bullying and their own insecurities, rejoiced in song and dance and at long last emerged as National Show Choir champions just in time for many of the glee club members' graduation, the focus of tonight's season three finale.
The seniors: Rachel (Lea Michele), Finn (Cory Monteith), Quinn (Dianna Agron), Puck (Mark Salling), Mike (Harry Shum, Jr.), Kurt (Chris Colfer), Santana (Naya Rivera) and Mercedes (Amber Riley). Brittany (Heather Morris) was to graduate but with a 0.0 GPA ... um, no. Of course how ANYONE in the glee club managed to graduate from McKinley High is a wonder seeing as how NONE of them ever went to ANY OTHER CLASS!!! But hey, suspension of disbelief and all that. Not like we saw the 90210-ers (old and new) in class either ...
Indeed, many a show based in high school has had the inevitable graduation episode, but few have actually led to students actually leaving, but Glee seems to be indeed saying goodbye to at least have the regular cast members we've come to love (and sometimes hate a little ... right, Santana?).
Mercedes is off to L.A. to be a back-up singer for an indie music label.
Puck - who pulled off an 11th-hour C- to graduate with his class - is off to L.A. to start a pool-cleaning business.
Mike will be attending the Joffrey School of Ballet in Chicago.
Quinn has a bright future as a member of the Class of 2016 at Yale.
Kurt - we don't really know ... he didn't get into the NY Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYADA) ... a surprise given his amazing audition.
Then there's love birds Finn and Rachel. Finn believed he had nailed his audition - for James Lipton himself! - for the Actor's Studio, but failed to gain admission. Rachel, who overcame her first NYADA audition - she choked, bad - by soaring at Nationals and impressing the stolid auditioner Carmen Tibideaux (played by Whoopi Goldberg), got in. But feeling for her friend Kurt and fiancee Finn, she decided to defer for a year and stay to help them prepare for the next year's auditions.
But Finn would have none of that and instead put her on a train to the Big Apple, telling her that she's going to be a star without him. He loves her that much. So what lies in the future for Finn? The army, to redeem his father's good name (dad was wrongfully dishonorably discharged).
Glee has always been an ensemble show, but you can't deny the focus has often been on Rachel Barry, a self-absorbed, take-no-prisoners, destined-for-Broadway diva who still managed to find a place in the glee club and make friends she never thought possible (Quinn, Santana). So it was no surprise that the season finale ended with us bidding goodbye to Rachel at the train station with the whole club and Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) and Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays) waving her off, following her as she exits the train station in Manhattan and watching her sing her way through the streets of NYC to start her new life.
There were rumors that the show was going to find a way to keep around some of these key players next year, so I wonder if they'll follow through on that. Or perhaps we'll have our favorite glee underclassmen welcoming new members who will undoubtedly win our hearts with their own journeys. We'll of course see at least two of them from this summer's Glee Project 2 (winners receive a seven-episode arc on the show), which of course was promoted during the hour.
Some favorite moments:
Kurt's dad Burt's (Mike O'Malley) graduation present to his son - a recreation of the dance to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" (from season 1) - considered a turning point in the troubled relationship between father and son.
Gloria Estefan as Santana's mom, who accepted her daughter's choice to go to NY instead of college, hence supporting her following her dream.
Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) showing the heart we know she has - glimpses break through - as she heralded protege Quinn on her bright future and hugging her with genuine affection ... and tears.
The graduation ceremony itself. Sure, there were OTHER seniors in the graduating class, but we don't care about them. We only watched our glee-sters be introduced like football players at the Super Bowl to a terrific rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days." Every graduation should rock out like that!
Great lines:
"I am proud of what you and I did ... together." - Burt to son Kurt
"You never saw me for the things that made us different. You only saw me for the ways that we're the same." - Kurt to the other guys in the glee club
"If we hadn't changed, we would never have been friends." - Quinn to Rachel
"I am that sure you're something special. You're gonna be a star without me. I love you that much." - Finn to Rachel
Songs:
"Forever Young" (Rod Stewart)
"I'll Remember" (Madonna)
"Glory Days" (Bruce Springsteen)
"In My Life" (The Beatles)
(there were others but couldn't identify the titles ... have to find on iTunes later ...)
Get your gleek back on this fall when Glee returns Thursdays at 9 p.m. on FOX.
Hoping to hit 100 Twitter followers by September (1 year anniversary) so join the tour here: www.twitter.com/TV_Tour_Guide
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