Glee Season 3 Re-watch - 3x22 - Goodbye
Oh, friends, here we are! The end of Season 3, with less than a week until the end of the Epic Winter Hiatus of My Discontent. Hooray! But before we get back into shiny new Season 5, let's take a moment for the big event: Graduation 2012.
That the episode opens with the original five (Kurt, Rachel, Tina, Artie, Mercedes) singing "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat," complete with flashbacks to the pilot, should tell you the degree to which this episode is going to punch long-time viewers in the feels. God, this makes me grin. Sometimes I'm snarky and cynical, but man alive can I be sentimental. And seeing so clearly how much these five have grown... bam, pow, right in the feels.
Schuester's lesson is easy: find a song to say goodbye. *sniff* Thankfully for my heart, he starts it off with a version of "Forever Young" that I don't love all that much. I mean, everyone there is on the verge of tears, and I can only imagine what it must have been like to film, but I'm holding it together for now.
Time for some of the seniors to get their own turn. Kurt, my beautiful Kurt, kicks us off. He's voiceovering down the halls, clearly sitting on some kind of rolling cart since there's no normal walking motion, reminiscing about how far he's come. He holds his head up high, now. He smiles, he's relaxed in a way he never was in Season 1. People smile and wave. There might even be wee baby tadpole gays following in his footsteps!
He meets up with his dad in the auditorium, and I am a smiling schmoopy puddle of goo over here. (Is Burt wearing the same shirt as the proposal?! Fashion of Glee apparently does not track Burt Hummel, but my eagle eye says yes.) Anyways, sorry, tangent. Burt is talking about how, once Kurt was 7 or 8 years old, he felt like he had no idea what to do with this unusual boy of his. Once Kurt's mom was gone, he felt lost. But they managed something special together, something to be so, so proud of.
And Burt remembers when it started. "When we started walking towards each other, instead of opposite directions." It started when he walked in on Kurt dancing in a unitard with Tina and Brittany. And right on cue, out walk Tina and Britt in their "Single Ladies" outfits, with Kurt begging "oh god, Dad, please don't do this." And Burt, brilliantly, "sit down, and accept your present!"
All hail the glory that is Burt Hummel, learning a full minute of the "Single Ladies" dance. That was a thing of beauty. Best dad, ever.
And then we have Kurt and Blaine together in a classroom, and oh is this bittersweet. Blaine feels like they need to stop putting off discussions of how they're going to manage a long-distance relationship, but Kurt wishes they could stay in denial for a few more days. Once again, Blaine is very clearly worried about how they're going to work next year, but Kurt is confident. He can envision his old age, and Blaine is right there next to him as he retells the story of their epic love. Oh, my sweet boys. I am so sorry for the shit-show that is about to befall you, but I promise it'll be even better on the other side.
[Aaaand, once again, I'm talking to fictional characters in the past about what has already happened to them in the future. I have problems. Damn this show.]
Kurt's turn to say his official goodbye in the choir room, and with tears in his eyes, he sings "I'll Remember." Oh, my heart. And god, Blaine, knock me over with your heart eyes why don't you? God, I hate goodbyes.
In the meantime, Rachel has learned that acceptance letters from their dream schools have gone out, and she, Kurt, and Finn promise to open them all together in the choir room when they arrive.
Santana's POV is next, as she walks through the halls finding out good news from other friends. Mercedes has a recording contract and is moving to LA, thanks to Sam's video of her singing "Disco Inferno." Mike has a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. They offer her congratulations in turn on her own scholarship to University of Louisville, but on the inside, she wonders why the hell a star like her is going to do cheerleading in Kentucky. Time to ask Mama Lopez for advice.
Out for dinner at Breadstix are Brittany and Santana, and Santana's mom (Gloria Estefan! First concert I ever went to!). We get a darling moment to know that her mom is perfectly peachy with Santana being out, even if her abuela hasn't come around yet. Santana is having a crisis of direction. She blurts out that she doesn't want to go to Louisville, she wants to move to New York instead. Her mother tells her to go to college, that New York will still be there after she graduates.
She moves to congratulate Brittany on being accepted to Purdue (the chicken farm, it turns out, not the university), but she can't go to either because she isn't graduating. And *there's* a bomb to drop a week before graduation. From Britt herself, "what did you think was going to happen? I have a 0.0 grade point average." Santana latches on and decides that, if Britt is staying in Lima, maybe she should, too. Her mom just shakes her head.
Back in the choir room, the seniors are singing to the underclassmen en masse, with the New Radicals' "You Get What You Give." And really, just to twist the knife a little deeper in my own gut, this was a favorite song of mine at a very similar time of my life, so in case I wasn't feeling nostalgic ENOUGH. It's a perfect song for the moment, as the graduating seniors hand the reins of Glee Club over to the younger ones staying behind. There's a bunch of great, playful moments in the song, but by the end, they've managed to switch places with the underclassmen and are looking out to them, and you can tell everyone is yet again on the verge of tears.
Another Finchel break, they're debating styles of chairs for their upcoming wedding. Rachel moans a bit about how she's compromised on food and location, why must she compromise on chairs? Finn, though, mumbles that maybe she's compromising on her choice of husband. She all but rolls her eyes at the comment, swearing (once again, clearly) that she has no doubts about Finn and is happy as can be to be marrying him. Oh, lost, insecure Finn.
Speaking of Finn, it's his turn for a voiceover. He congratulates himself for making it from the first day of the year, when he had absolutely no idea what he wanted, to now: moving to New York with his wife-to-be and his gay stepbrother, and he just KNOWS he nailed his acting audition with James Lipton. (teehee) Finn goes to pick up his yearbook from Schue, who signed it with the lamest, most generic message possible. He just couldn't find the words for his dear teenaged BFF. But best of all, before Finn can leave, Schue 'fesses up to planting weed on him in the pilot to get him to join Glee Club. Clearly, Schue felt badly about it, but Finn thinks this is pretty much the most hilarious story he's ever heard.
At home, though, Finn still feels like there's something unresolved. As he talks to his mom about how he tried to get his dad's dishonorable discharge overturned, he wonders how he could possibly be honoring his father's memory by becoming something as frivolous as an actor.
The tables have turned, and now the underclassmen want to say their goodbye and their thanks to the seniors. Especially Finn, who had a lot to lose back when he was popular and the Glee Club was the bottom of the barrel. They sing "In My Life," an all-time favorite of mine, and there's an awful lot of wistful looks crossing the room (especially between my sweet boys, and Blaine can hardly maintain eye contact he's so broken up about this). Hugs all around when the song ends, except for Puck, looking isolated up in the top row of risers.
Quinn's turn for the voiceover treatment, and she's so pleased to end her high school career back on top of the social pyramid. Still, she's worried about one in their group: Puck, still studying geography with Coach Bieste. Quinn wants to use what remains of her social capital to give back before she leaves. First up: a Metro North train pass so she and Rachel can visit between New York and Yale. She says she's happy that Rachel and Finn are together, that they were clearly meant to be, and Rachel says she always felt the same about Quinn and Puck.
Quinn has Puck over that night to help him study, and though he's frustrated, she wants to help. She loves him, he's special to her. They certainly have a hell of a bond, what with a kid and all. She helps him study by offering to make out with him. Um, okay?
Puck's voiceover is pretty sure that was a magic kiss, and he has gone from being down on himself to getting his swagger back. Time to ace that damn test and graduate.
Coach Roz and Sue have their own little moment of a truce - they're never going to like each other, but maybe they can bond over their hatred of Principal Figgins? Yeah, okay, whatever.
As Coach Roz leaves, Quinn enters (in a beautiful rainbow-stripe sundress) to return her Cheerios uniform, but Sue insists she keep it. The two of them have a surprisingly touching and heartfelt goodbye of their own.
Pacing outside of the geography classroom is all of the New Directions seniors, waiting to see if Puck managed to pass his test. C-minus! It's a Puckerman A-plus! Graduation time!
I'm a little unclear on the logistics of Finn and Puck performing "Glory Days" at the same time that they accept their diplomas, but let's not start applying real-world concerns to Glee at this point, shall we? The song is great, upbeat in a way that a graduation ceremony should be, even if the actual lyrics of the song are a little less positive than they might realize.
Speaking of not applying real-world logic, graduation is over and Rachel, Finn, and Kurt all have their college letters. It's time to find out. Finn wishes they could freeze this moment, before they know what's next and everything changes. But they can't. Finn goes first: he didn't get in. Kurt is next, and because there is no justice in this world, he didn't get in, either. He looks like he's in absolute shock and Finn is the one to put an arm around him. Finally, Rachel's turn. Rachel, miraculously, got in. Finn is immediately happy for her, but Kurt can barely move the muscles of his face to try to find a smile for her.
Rachel's turn for a voiceover, as she clears out her locker once and for all. On paper, she has everything she might always have dreamed of: prom queen, engaged to Finn, on her way to Broadway. But she can't stand the idea of going to New York without Finn and Kurt, so she tells us in a chipper voice that she has happily decided to defer her admission for a year to help both Finn and Kurt with reapplying next year.
I remember watching this the first time and not being able to pick my jaw up off the floor. Not only was I beside myself at Kurt not getting in, but the idea of Rachel Berry staying around Lima for an extra year by choice? No no no, not right not right. Don't do it, Rachel.
Before we leave McKinley for the year, Santana clears out her locker when her mom walks up to present her graduation gift. Apparently it's a big honking check that was supposed to be her college fund. Mama Lopez is handing it over, whether Santana decides to use it for New York or whatever her dream is. Awww.
And now, it's time. Finn picks up Rachel, ostensibly for their wedding, but he looks shifty. Something is going on. Instead of the church, he pulls up to the train station. He's putting her on the train to New York and they aren't getting married. She's not deferring for the year, she has to go to New York.
Rachel is shocked and heartbroken. "You don't want to marry me?" Finn loves her more than anything, so much so that he can't let himself be an anchor weighing down her dreams. And he's not following her to New York. He's joining the Army, and Rachel can barely breathe for what is happening right now. The wedding is off, he's pretty much breaking up with her, and he's joining the ARMY? Surrender, he says. Follow her destiny, let him follow his. And if they're meant to be together, it will happen, no matter what.
This was no spur-of-the-moment decision for Finn. He's sent Rachel's dads ahead to meet her in New York, and all of New Directions are at the train station to say goodbye. Brokenhearted Rachel sings "Roots Before Branches" as she hugs everyone and cries her way onto the train, Finn jogging along as it starts to pull away.
And then, there she is, pillbox hat and swirling camera shots, in New York to start her new life.
You know, I used to think this was a brutally sad episode, but that was before I even knew pain (“The Break-Up,” “The Quarterback”). But that’s life, I suppose. And that’s why I love this episode so much, and the whole senior-year/graduation arc in general. The details might be a little wacky, but the heart is so true to how I felt at that point in my life. On the one hand, there was an awful lot of fun to be had as a senior in high school. But it was all tinged with varying levels of uncertainty and fear and anxiety and excitement for this massive change that was coming next, this big leap towards adulthood.
It’s a huge transition, and at the time, it’s one of the biggest things to happen to a kid. We have no idea at the time that even more heartbreaking things are coming (break-ups, unfathomable losses). In that moment, graduation and moving on is everything.
So forget about the wonky details of college acceptance letters coming after graduation, and the impracticality of putting someone on a train in this day and age. Those are just tools to tell the story of the emotion, and that’s the part that Glee so often nails. Everything about this episode, swinging back and forth between excited and giddy and nostalgic and wistful and terrified and sad, captured that feeling. What a way to end the season.
Hey, I made it! I recapped the entirety of Season 3 before the end of the hiatus! I’m hoping to be back with a wrap-up post to talk about my general feelings on Season 3 now that I’ve watched it again, but I can’t promise anything.
Thanks to the three or four of you who have read these and stuck with me, I always love chatting with all of you! See you next week for the return of Season 5!
[A note: my usual instant-recap for 5x09 will most likely be later than usual, but I’ll try to write it when I can!]
That the episode opens with the original five (Kurt, Rachel, Tina, Artie, Mercedes) singing "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat," complete with flashbacks to the pilot, should tell you the degree to which this episode is going to punch long-time viewers in the feels. God, this makes me grin. Sometimes I'm snarky and cynical, but man alive can I be sentimental. And seeing so clearly how much these five have grown... bam, pow, right in the feels.
Schuester's lesson is easy: find a song to say goodbye. *sniff* Thankfully for my heart, he starts it off with a version of "Forever Young" that I don't love all that much. I mean, everyone there is on the verge of tears, and I can only imagine what it must have been like to film, but I'm holding it together for now.
Time for some of the seniors to get their own turn. Kurt, my beautiful Kurt, kicks us off. He's voiceovering down the halls, clearly sitting on some kind of rolling cart since there's no normal walking motion, reminiscing about how far he's come. He holds his head up high, now. He smiles, he's relaxed in a way he never was in Season 1. People smile and wave. There might even be wee baby tadpole gays following in his footsteps!
He meets up with his dad in the auditorium, and I am a smiling schmoopy puddle of goo over here. (Is Burt wearing the same shirt as the proposal?! Fashion of Glee apparently does not track Burt Hummel, but my eagle eye says yes.) Anyways, sorry, tangent. Burt is talking about how, once Kurt was 7 or 8 years old, he felt like he had no idea what to do with this unusual boy of his. Once Kurt's mom was gone, he felt lost. But they managed something special together, something to be so, so proud of.
And Burt remembers when it started. "When we started walking towards each other, instead of opposite directions." It started when he walked in on Kurt dancing in a unitard with Tina and Brittany. And right on cue, out walk Tina and Britt in their "Single Ladies" outfits, with Kurt begging "oh god, Dad, please don't do this." And Burt, brilliantly, "sit down, and accept your present!"
All hail the glory that is Burt Hummel, learning a full minute of the "Single Ladies" dance. That was a thing of beauty. Best dad, ever.
And then we have Kurt and Blaine together in a classroom, and oh is this bittersweet. Blaine feels like they need to stop putting off discussions of how they're going to manage a long-distance relationship, but Kurt wishes they could stay in denial for a few more days. Once again, Blaine is very clearly worried about how they're going to work next year, but Kurt is confident. He can envision his old age, and Blaine is right there next to him as he retells the story of their epic love. Oh, my sweet boys. I am so sorry for the shit-show that is about to befall you, but I promise it'll be even better on the other side.
[Aaaand, once again, I'm talking to fictional characters in the past about what has already happened to them in the future. I have problems. Damn this show.]
Kurt's turn to say his official goodbye in the choir room, and with tears in his eyes, he sings "I'll Remember." Oh, my heart. And god, Blaine, knock me over with your heart eyes why don't you? God, I hate goodbyes.
In the meantime, Rachel has learned that acceptance letters from their dream schools have gone out, and she, Kurt, and Finn promise to open them all together in the choir room when they arrive.
Santana's POV is next, as she walks through the halls finding out good news from other friends. Mercedes has a recording contract and is moving to LA, thanks to Sam's video of her singing "Disco Inferno." Mike has a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. They offer her congratulations in turn on her own scholarship to University of Louisville, but on the inside, she wonders why the hell a star like her is going to do cheerleading in Kentucky. Time to ask Mama Lopez for advice.
Out for dinner at Breadstix are Brittany and Santana, and Santana's mom (Gloria Estefan! First concert I ever went to!). We get a darling moment to know that her mom is perfectly peachy with Santana being out, even if her abuela hasn't come around yet. Santana is having a crisis of direction. She blurts out that she doesn't want to go to Louisville, she wants to move to New York instead. Her mother tells her to go to college, that New York will still be there after she graduates.
She moves to congratulate Brittany on being accepted to Purdue (the chicken farm, it turns out, not the university), but she can't go to either because she isn't graduating. And *there's* a bomb to drop a week before graduation. From Britt herself, "what did you think was going to happen? I have a 0.0 grade point average." Santana latches on and decides that, if Britt is staying in Lima, maybe she should, too. Her mom just shakes her head.
Back in the choir room, the seniors are singing to the underclassmen en masse, with the New Radicals' "You Get What You Give." And really, just to twist the knife a little deeper in my own gut, this was a favorite song of mine at a very similar time of my life, so in case I wasn't feeling nostalgic ENOUGH. It's a perfect song for the moment, as the graduating seniors hand the reins of Glee Club over to the younger ones staying behind. There's a bunch of great, playful moments in the song, but by the end, they've managed to switch places with the underclassmen and are looking out to them, and you can tell everyone is yet again on the verge of tears.
Another Finchel break, they're debating styles of chairs for their upcoming wedding. Rachel moans a bit about how she's compromised on food and location, why must she compromise on chairs? Finn, though, mumbles that maybe she's compromising on her choice of husband. She all but rolls her eyes at the comment, swearing (once again, clearly) that she has no doubts about Finn and is happy as can be to be marrying him. Oh, lost, insecure Finn.
Speaking of Finn, it's his turn for a voiceover. He congratulates himself for making it from the first day of the year, when he had absolutely no idea what he wanted, to now: moving to New York with his wife-to-be and his gay stepbrother, and he just KNOWS he nailed his acting audition with James Lipton. (teehee) Finn goes to pick up his yearbook from Schue, who signed it with the lamest, most generic message possible. He just couldn't find the words for his dear teenaged BFF. But best of all, before Finn can leave, Schue 'fesses up to planting weed on him in the pilot to get him to join Glee Club. Clearly, Schue felt badly about it, but Finn thinks this is pretty much the most hilarious story he's ever heard.
At home, though, Finn still feels like there's something unresolved. As he talks to his mom about how he tried to get his dad's dishonorable discharge overturned, he wonders how he could possibly be honoring his father's memory by becoming something as frivolous as an actor.
The tables have turned, and now the underclassmen want to say their goodbye and their thanks to the seniors. Especially Finn, who had a lot to lose back when he was popular and the Glee Club was the bottom of the barrel. They sing "In My Life," an all-time favorite of mine, and there's an awful lot of wistful looks crossing the room (especially between my sweet boys, and Blaine can hardly maintain eye contact he's so broken up about this). Hugs all around when the song ends, except for Puck, looking isolated up in the top row of risers.
Quinn's turn for the voiceover treatment, and she's so pleased to end her high school career back on top of the social pyramid. Still, she's worried about one in their group: Puck, still studying geography with Coach Bieste. Quinn wants to use what remains of her social capital to give back before she leaves. First up: a Metro North train pass so she and Rachel can visit between New York and Yale. She says she's happy that Rachel and Finn are together, that they were clearly meant to be, and Rachel says she always felt the same about Quinn and Puck.
Quinn has Puck over that night to help him study, and though he's frustrated, she wants to help. She loves him, he's special to her. They certainly have a hell of a bond, what with a kid and all. She helps him study by offering to make out with him. Um, okay?
Puck's voiceover is pretty sure that was a magic kiss, and he has gone from being down on himself to getting his swagger back. Time to ace that damn test and graduate.
Coach Roz and Sue have their own little moment of a truce - they're never going to like each other, but maybe they can bond over their hatred of Principal Figgins? Yeah, okay, whatever.
As Coach Roz leaves, Quinn enters (in a beautiful rainbow-stripe sundress) to return her Cheerios uniform, but Sue insists she keep it. The two of them have a surprisingly touching and heartfelt goodbye of their own.
Pacing outside of the geography classroom is all of the New Directions seniors, waiting to see if Puck managed to pass his test. C-minus! It's a Puckerman A-plus! Graduation time!
I'm a little unclear on the logistics of Finn and Puck performing "Glory Days" at the same time that they accept their diplomas, but let's not start applying real-world concerns to Glee at this point, shall we? The song is great, upbeat in a way that a graduation ceremony should be, even if the actual lyrics of the song are a little less positive than they might realize.
Speaking of not applying real-world logic, graduation is over and Rachel, Finn, and Kurt all have their college letters. It's time to find out. Finn wishes they could freeze this moment, before they know what's next and everything changes. But they can't. Finn goes first: he didn't get in. Kurt is next, and because there is no justice in this world, he didn't get in, either. He looks like he's in absolute shock and Finn is the one to put an arm around him. Finally, Rachel's turn. Rachel, miraculously, got in. Finn is immediately happy for her, but Kurt can barely move the muscles of his face to try to find a smile for her.
Rachel's turn for a voiceover, as she clears out her locker once and for all. On paper, she has everything she might always have dreamed of: prom queen, engaged to Finn, on her way to Broadway. But she can't stand the idea of going to New York without Finn and Kurt, so she tells us in a chipper voice that she has happily decided to defer her admission for a year to help both Finn and Kurt with reapplying next year.
I remember watching this the first time and not being able to pick my jaw up off the floor. Not only was I beside myself at Kurt not getting in, but the idea of Rachel Berry staying around Lima for an extra year by choice? No no no, not right not right. Don't do it, Rachel.
Before we leave McKinley for the year, Santana clears out her locker when her mom walks up to present her graduation gift. Apparently it's a big honking check that was supposed to be her college fund. Mama Lopez is handing it over, whether Santana decides to use it for New York or whatever her dream is. Awww.
And now, it's time. Finn picks up Rachel, ostensibly for their wedding, but he looks shifty. Something is going on. Instead of the church, he pulls up to the train station. He's putting her on the train to New York and they aren't getting married. She's not deferring for the year, she has to go to New York.
Rachel is shocked and heartbroken. "You don't want to marry me?" Finn loves her more than anything, so much so that he can't let himself be an anchor weighing down her dreams. And he's not following her to New York. He's joining the Army, and Rachel can barely breathe for what is happening right now. The wedding is off, he's pretty much breaking up with her, and he's joining the ARMY? Surrender, he says. Follow her destiny, let him follow his. And if they're meant to be together, it will happen, no matter what.
This was no spur-of-the-moment decision for Finn. He's sent Rachel's dads ahead to meet her in New York, and all of New Directions are at the train station to say goodbye. Brokenhearted Rachel sings "Roots Before Branches" as she hugs everyone and cries her way onto the train, Finn jogging along as it starts to pull away.
And then, there she is, pillbox hat and swirling camera shots, in New York to start her new life.
You know, I used to think this was a brutally sad episode, but that was before I even knew pain (“The Break-Up,” “The Quarterback”). But that’s life, I suppose. And that’s why I love this episode so much, and the whole senior-year/graduation arc in general. The details might be a little wacky, but the heart is so true to how I felt at that point in my life. On the one hand, there was an awful lot of fun to be had as a senior in high school. But it was all tinged with varying levels of uncertainty and fear and anxiety and excitement for this massive change that was coming next, this big leap towards adulthood.
It’s a huge transition, and at the time, it’s one of the biggest things to happen to a kid. We have no idea at the time that even more heartbreaking things are coming (break-ups, unfathomable losses). In that moment, graduation and moving on is everything.
So forget about the wonky details of college acceptance letters coming after graduation, and the impracticality of putting someone on a train in this day and age. Those are just tools to tell the story of the emotion, and that’s the part that Glee so often nails. Everything about this episode, swinging back and forth between excited and giddy and nostalgic and wistful and terrified and sad, captured that feeling. What a way to end the season.
Hey, I made it! I recapped the entirety of Season 3 before the end of the hiatus! I’m hoping to be back with a wrap-up post to talk about my general feelings on Season 3 now that I’ve watched it again, but I can’t promise anything.
Thanks to the three or four of you who have read these and stuck with me, I always love chatting with all of you! See you next week for the return of Season 5!
[A note: my usual instant-recap for 5x09 will most likely be later than usual, but I’ll try to write it when I can!]