Glee: The “Journey” is Over

Last night was the last episode of Glee until Fall (and I already miss it!). And while the season has had its ups and downs on the road to Regionals, it definitely ended on a high note.

The show moved at such a fast pace, I thought I had missed something. We get a few minutes leading up to Regionals, when we find out the dreaded Sue Sylvester will be one of the “celebrity” judges, and then suddenly we’re there!

The Journey medley was fantastic and I loved the Finn/Rachel moment just before they started singing. I don’t think it made sense for them to be together so soon after the egging incident; I would think Rachel would have trust issues for a while, but I guess this is a light-hearted show that doesn’t want to get bogged down with reality.

Vocal Adrenaline’s Bohemian Rhapsody was fantastic, but soulless just as New Directions said it would. The ballet dancing and piano interludes didn’t really work for me, but maybe that might be because I don’t think anyone can do Bohemian Rhapsody as well as Freddie Mercury did. I loved the intercutting of Quinn’s labor with it, even thought that must have been the fastest birth in history for the glee kids to make it back for the award announcements.

I’m glad the pregnancy and Shelby’s storylines are wrapped, I wasn’t too pleased with either throughout the season and now the writers can start fresh for season 2.

While sad that New Directions didn’t place, it wouldn’t have made sense for them to win it against Vocal Adrenaline’s performance since theirs had such more complicated staging, choreography, and was just overall a better production. The singing of both groups was amazing, thanks to those broadway trained voices, so when it comes down to spectacle, Vocal Adrenaline had it in the bag. I just wish we had seen some of Aural Intensity’s performance to know if they truly deserved to beat out our favorite Glee kids.

The reveal of Sue being a big ole softie was cute, but a little out of nowhere. With this and last week’s sudden infatuation with Will, it seems the writers are just trying to use her wherever they can because she’s such a fan favorite.

The celebrity judges were too cartoony for me, but I guess they had to be in order to push Sue to do the right thing and vote for New Directions. I was surprised there wouldn’t be a conflict of interest reason for her not to be a judge, since she works at a school that is competing. Oh well, trivial matter that I can get over it.

After the loss to Vocal Adrenaline, Glee had some tearjerker moments with the serenade to Mr. Shue with “To Sir, With Love.” At the heart of the show, beneath the showy numbers and ridiculous love/pregnancy plotlines, it’s all about finding who you are through the arts. Without Mr. Shue believing in these kids, there would be no glee club and therefore no friendship between this group of misfits.

And now we get to enjoy them struggle through sectionals and regionals all over again. Sue said that she'll "relish the thought of another full year of constantly besting" Will and the Glee clubbers, and I'll be watching it every week. 

Overall, it was a great ending to a solid season. While the show started out fantastic and then faltered, it was able to regain its footing in the end.

Random odds and ends:

• My favorite quote: "Your hair looks like a briar patch. I keep expecting racist animated disney characters to pop up and start singing about the Bayou."
• I would totally read Sue’s book “I'm a Winner and You're Fat.” Apparently Glee is releasing tie-in books this summer, please let this be one of them! “I’m a Winner and You’re Fat” and “Sue’s Diary” make so much sense as releases than the prequel that they announced. 
• My favorite musical number from the night was, of course, the Journey medley! Watch it again below: 

What did you think of the finale? Or the season a whole? Let me know in the comments!