Glee Season 2, Episode 22

Glee Season 2, Episode 22

Television Review

By our guest blogger, Catherine Fuentes

In a rare change of scenery, the kids of McKinley High left the safe confines of their high school hallway and their favorite booths at Breadstix to run wild in the streets of New York. This was a welcome change of scenery for me, at least, since I got to see some very familiar landmarks, and I loved the energy that came with each scene and each song.

My excitement over the season finale of Glee ends there. I was incredibly disappointed by the original songs, and while at some points, I felt the cheesiness was appropriate, for the most part, I felt Glee blew the saccharine goodness way out of proportion to last us for the full summer hiatus.

I really liked the whole ensemble performance of “I Love New York,” because it felt like such a quintessential spring New York moment (which, as anyone who is familiar with the weather in New York lately, spring is something that we have been missing). The colors of the costumes were bright and fun, the scenery was great, the dancing seemed fun. It was just a good, cute scene.

Finn and Rachel’s date to Sardi’s seemed so typical of them (of her, really), that it made me smile, and fun fact: I learned that Sardi’s is the birthplace of the Tony Awards! Rachel got to meet her idol, Broadway queen Patti Lupone, who gave her good advice about show choir (and told her that Finn is a cutie). Finn and Rachel walking through Greenwich Village after the date was one of those scenes that was both cheesy and perfectly adorable: the rest of the Glee club guys showed up behind them to be the musical accompaniment of their New York movie date.

In the perfect and requisite Broadway moment of the episode, Kurt and Rachel sang “For Good” from Wicked on Wicked’s stage, which they had broken into. Before they sang, the two had a “breakfast at Tiffany’s,” where they got to enjoy authentic New York bagels and coffee, while making a pact to move to New York after graduation to chase their dreams. The performance reminded me that these two have Broadway voices, and while the rest of the club can sing pop songs well, these two have outrageous talent that can fill an enormous room.

In a truly meta moment of the episode, Mr. Schuester sang a Matthew Morrison song, “Still Got Tonight,” on a big Broadway stage, even though he assured the kids that he would not be leaving them for Broadway.

At the big Nationals competition, an all-girls choir sang Usher’s “Yeah,” which sounded great, but the choreography seemed a bit risqué for a high school group. Sunshine Corazon conquered her nerves in her solo of “As Long As You’re There,” with the moral support of Rachel Berry, which to me showed that Rachel has some semblance of a soul.

New Directions came out with a Finn and Rachel solo to original song “Pretending.” The song was fine, nothing special, but the drama came after the song: with the most awkward kiss to ever appear on Glee. Finn and Rachel kissed on stage accompanied by the most painfully awkward silence in television history. Jesse St. James later would go on to say that this kiss would cost them the competition, and I feel that he was entirely right. It was painful to watch.

Following the kiss, the entire club sang an uptempo number, which I actually really enjoyed as much as I could enjoy them singing an original song. I love when they sing innovative covers, not when they sing something I have no interest in knowing about.

The group failed to rank in the top 10 for Nationals – we later learned they came in 12th – but it remains to be seen whether the kiss, or their original performances, cost them the title.

The highlight of the episode came with Santana attacking Rachel in Spanish threatening her because she’s “Lima Heights Adjacent,” which was just hysterical, and another reason why Santana is my favorite member of the glee club.

Despite losing nationals, the club seemed very optimistic in their return to Ohio. Love was blossoming, people seemed happy and positive, and it feels that season three will start off harmoniously. It seemed that while the initial reason for the trip to New York didn’t pan out, the trip was good for all of their personal lives, and it was nice seeing a season end so positively. These characters grew, and the show tackled so many big issues this season, that it was nice seeing them be tied up so neatly.

The music on the finale was not memorable in the slightest, or barring the song from Wicked, particularly good, but I almost feel that it was the point. They weren’t meant to win the competition, but they needed to grow and feel good about themselves. That seems to be the bigger take-home message of Glee.