GLEE-Cap: Journey

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.

Shelby and Rachel share a final scene together, in which Rachel asks Shelby to teach at McKinley and run the glee club with Schuester (because she totally has the authority to do that). Shelby refuses, stating that because she missed her chance to raise Rachel, she wants to try to establish a family for herself. Paired with Rachel's casual mention of Quinn's baby delivery, if you couldn't see the end of the episode coming (re: Shelby adopting baby Beth), you probably need a better prescription.

The episode features a scene in the judges' room, and starts out as hilariously as the one at Sectionals was - on a related note, I never thought I would see the day when Josh Groban exclaimed "Dag nabit!". The scene quickly turns to a bitter examination of stardom and Sue from the perspectives of Groban, Remington, and Olivia Newton-John, who all ultimately decide that New Directions does not deserve the first place position.

In fact, New Directions, as Artie observes, fails to even place at Regionals, losing to both Vocal Adrenaline and Aural Intensity, which is not as fun to type as it is to hear said out loud. No one seems to take the loss harder than Emma, who is seen at school uncharacteristically screaming in the middle of the hallways of McKinley railing against the injustice. This tirade leads to Will and Emma kissing, which is the last the audience will see of that plotline until next season.

‘To Sir With Love' is a little cheesy, but at least it gives each member (including Asian dancing kid and black kid, whose names are Mike and Matt, apparently!) to say what he or she will miss about the now-defunct New Directions. It also leads to the final confrontation between Sue and Will, which starts fiery and bitterly (on Will's end) while Schuester boxes up the club's rehearsal room, and features many of Sue's typical one-liners (re: Michael Landon tears). However, the mood soon transitions when it is revealed that yes, Sue did indeed vote for New Directions, and she has convinced Figgins to give the club another year in order to have the opportunity to best Will at every turn, as well as to recycle the ENTIRE major conflict of the season in the next one. Ah well, at least this scene was particularly well-written; it had the right balance of quirky, off-kilter humor and heart that the show could desperately benefit from.

The acoustic version of ‘Over The Rainbow,' performed by Will and Puck, is a sweet, touching, and above all, quiet way to end the first season. While I would have preferred a little more closure on certain plot points - maybe showing Quinn's mother alone, or the Hummels and the Hudsons coexisting happily, not to mention the missed opportunity to visually tie in the mid-season finale with a shot of Emma and Will parting ways - the song is nevertheless an adorable way to end the season. Though my feelings on the episode are mixed, I'm happier with 'Journey' than I thought I would be; it will definitely be interesting to see what new directions (pun completely intended) the show will take next season.

Alas, with the end of the first season of GLEE comes the end of my column. I have to say, though there have certainly been episodes that have made me want to tear my hair out and lace my Diet Coke with questionable substances, I've looked forward to writing the GLEE-Caps every week and will miss it. Though my opinions of the show and the opinions of those reading have, more often than not, clashed completely, I hope you all can value the different insights I've given as I have the ones you have commented with. I truly hope you all have had as much fun as I have on this Journey and that you will not stop believing.

...all snarks aside, folks, it's been a blast. McKinley's out for summer!

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GLEE follows an optimistic teacher who - against all odds and a malicious cheerleading coach - inspires McKinley High's Glee Club to conquer the world one singing competition at a time. GLEE stars Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Jessalyn Gilsig, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, Amber Riley, Mark Salling and Jenna Ushkowitz.

GLEE is produced by Ryan Murphy Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan are co-creators of the series. Murphy, Falchuk and Dante di Loreto serve as executive producers, while Ian Brennan serves as co-executive producer.

GLEE airs Tuesday nights at 9:00-10:00PM ET/PT.