All of the hard work, auto-tuning, and themed episodes put in by GLEE's New Directions has paid off - New Directions goes to Regionals!
The episode starts with a line from Sue Sylvester that's been heavily advertised: "I'll see you on Saturday...at Regionals." Sue breaks the news to Schuester that she will be judging the performances at Regionals, joining Josh Groban, Olivia Newton-John, and local celebrity Ron Remington, as we later learn.
An end of the year pizza party at Mr. Schuester's home, following a flashback to the actual conception of Quinn and Puck's baby, quickly turns into a pity party at which the kids mope around about inevitably losing sectionals with the loss of Jesse. The party prompts Will to show up in Emma Pillsbury's office for guidance - yes, Emma Pillsbury! After Emma dispenses thoughtful wisdom about Will's predicament, the conversation quickly changes to the relationship (or lack thereof) between the two, and she drops the bomb that she has started seeing a dentist (a character who will appear next season, rumored to be played by John Stamos).
Will cries in his car on the side of the road after receiving this news; Sue's line later in the episode about his propensity for crying like Michael Landon on ‘Little House On The Prairie' sums up my feelings perfectly. As much as I adore Matt Morrison, the face he makes whenever he needs to act sad or perplexed is a little too over the top for my taste. Anyway, as he cries on the side of the road, what should come on the radio but ‘Don't Stop Believing,' the song that initially convinced him that New Directions was worth the struggle at the beginning of the season.
The scene then cuts to Will writing "JOURNEY" on his dreadful white board, the vessel by which he dispenses his weekly themes in single words (never has a board seen such underuse in a school). He then launches into another inspirational speech about the, you guessed it, journey the club has taken over the nine months they have been together, and informs the club that they'll be performing a Journey medley at Regionals. The theme this week admittedly fits the plotline, so I'll let it slide...for now. The club, including the newly reconciled Rachel and Finn, agree wholeheartedly with Schuester, and begins to rebuild its hopes for winning the competition.
New Directions' Journey medley including ‘Faithfully,' ‘Any Way You Want It,' ‘Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin',' and, of course, ‘Don't Stop Believing' competition performance is good and energetic, but fails to pack the same punch that the numbers at Sectionals did. Even though ‘Don't Rain On My Parade' was clearly not a ballad, that number alone was far more intense than any of the ones performed at Regionals - perhaps a choice on the part of the writers, in light of the twist at the end of the competition later in the episode.
The club finishes their set, runs backstage and Quinn's water breaks, presumably as a result of jumping up and down for ten straight minutes. Before said physical event though, her tearful, proud mother appears, asking her to move back home and breaks the news that she left her husband after he cheated with a crazy, tattooed woman - a reference to the extramarital exploits of Jesse James, perhaps? He DOES share a name with a GLEE character, after all.
Which leads us to the montage - or mash-up, to use the terminology - of Vocal Adrenaline's excellent performance of the ever-epic Queen anthem, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,' and Quinn's giving birth to her baby. Though the sequence, which takes the entire time from commercial to commercial, is undeniably bizarre (namely Quinn screaming "Let me go!" in sync with Vocal Adrenaline), I have to give props to the writers for trying a relatively unique scene structure here. It was both campy and moved the plot in double time, showing both the competition and the long-awaited birth of the baby - as a result, the plot moves forward faster than its usual nugatory speed. On a similar note, this performance led me to realize that I like Vocal Adrenaline better than New Directions as a glee club (gasp!). The performance, though predominantly led by Jesse ST. James, features many of the members of the club singing more than just back-up beats, and allows them to sing together as a club - more importantly, as a team. I can't think of a better way for Jonathan Groff to exit the series, though it only makes me want to see more from the very gifted performer.
