Glee Season 4 Re-watch - 4x21 - Wonder-ful
‘S wonderful, ‘s marvelous!
Oh, “Wonder-ful.” Thank you. Thank you for being you.
(And if you think this recap doesn’t have a heavy dose of Klaine goggles, then it’s like you don’t even know me at all. I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS EPISODE, OKAY?)
We start, of all things, with Rachel calling Schuester to tell him about her Funny Girl callback. I think Rachel might be giving him a little too much credit for her success, but it’s sweet and would certainly be immensely gratifying for a teacher to hear that.
It was WONDERFUL news, which he shares with the club. And even though half of them don’t know Rachel, they’re super pumped for her. Plus, Brittany’s being recruited by MIT, Schue re-proposed to Emma and she accepted, Tina might be going to vet school (whut?). So much WONDERFUL news, Schue feels compelled to spew about five different song lyrics before announcing that it’s Stevie WONDER(-ful) week. For kids who weren’t born until at least the mid-to-late nineties (I think I just threw up a little), they’re awfully excited to spend the week with someone who had hits in the 70s and early 80s.
Oh hell, I ain’t complaining. Who doesn’t love Stevie Wonder? And though I am usually quite wary of tribute episodes of Glee, Stevie Wonder has a pretty extensive and amazing repertoire of hits to choose from, so it’s all good in the hood.
Kitty follows Artie down the hall and wants to know why he’s being a pouty-puss. She thinks it’s because he was eyeing her up and down during Guilty Pleasures week (whoa, Glee remembered that far back?), and that he’s never getting a piece of that action. While that is a bummer enough, that’s not why he’s upset. He’s upset because he got into the Brooklyn Film Institute, and he isn’t going, and he doesn’t want to talk about it. Kitty is up to the challenge.
KURT! Oh Kurt. Darling beloved Kurt is in the loft, packing for a trip back to Ohio. Burt is getting some test results post-cancer-treatment and Kurt wants to be there. Kurt is feeling incredibly anxious about it, and after all this guy has been through, can you blame him? He deals with anxiety by enacting all variety of superstitious rituals, including tapping his nose and only wearing hopeful and positive colors.
He struts confidently back into the halls of McKinley in painted-on jeans, a bright yellow shirt, and a blue scarf. He looks about five years older than when he was last a student in those halls. Not only do the clothes make him look like he’s another six inches taller, but they project a certain confidence and maturity that is just incredible. He has such ownership of himself.
Kurt tells us it’ll be nice to see everyone, and reassures us that he won’t hook up with Blaine again (wait, would that be a bad thing?). He says it’s weird seeing Blaine, but not as weird as it was, and he can’t tell if that makes him feel sad or not. I can’t quite tell what to read into that statement, but the overall effect is that Kurt seems a lot more at ease around Blaine now. Even at the wedding, as they were getting it on (bow chicka bow wow aww yeah), Kurt was still cautious, still keeping him at an emotional arm’s length. That doesn’t quite seem to be the case anymore.
Oh, and if that weren’t enough amazingness, Mercedes and Mike are back, too! HOORAY! The three alums run arm-in-arm into the choir room just in time for Kitty to give us an acrobatic “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” mostly directed at Artie to his chagrin. Her voice doesn’t do anything for me, but it’s a great song and a fun number. She uses it as an excuse to announce to the choir room that Artie’s been accepted into film school, and while everyone’s excited for him, he still didn’t want her to tell his secret.
Mercedes, however, is there as a vocal coach and was not a huge fan of Kitty’s performance. No one in that room is terribly used to constructive criticism, so she doesn’t take it all that well. Mike, it turns out, is there to help choreograph and I’m not sure if Tina’s feminist rage is real or if she’s just put out to see her ex-boyfriend around. She turns it on Kurt, asking if he’s there to lecture them about clothes, and he gives her a quiet-but-pointed “my dad has cancer.” Blaine jumps in to defend Kurt with a sarcastic, “thanks, Tina,” in case you wondered where his loyalties lie.
Artie storms out of the choir room as Kitty follows, he’s pissed that she spilled the news he wanted to keep secret, apparently because his mom is freaking out and doesn’t want him to go to New York all by himself. Kitty is being nice partly because she likes to keep people on their toes - you just never know with her - and partly because she actually believes Artie could be great there. God damn, I think I like Kitty, now.
The Lima Bean! Kurt and Blaine are at the Lima Bean! Oh god, this episode, my heart. Blaine is checking last year’s news on his phone and is all kinds of excited about the prospect of marriage equality in New York, and being able to witness it in person, while he grabs about 30 packets of sugar (slow down there, darling). Oh, and Kurt, “you look cute today. And I mean, like, dirty cute.” Also known as, if you’d let me, I’d totally ditch our friends right this second and we can get reacquainted with the backseat of my car.
Don’t mind me. I’m just over here, grinning like a fool while I choke on air.
Kurt’s face is initially kind of a scrunchy “really?” with the first “cute,” and then when he gets the low-voiced “dirty cute” he stops in his tracks. His expression is almost a faintly-exasperated sigh, like, oh god, Blaine, are you seriously doing this? And yet I can’t help but think there was a little flutter underneath that kind of enjoyed the blatantly flirty, sexy compliment.
They join Mercedes and Mike at the table, where Mercedes is spewing industry buzzwords in excitement over her new album and how Mike should choreograph her first video. Kurt starts organizing the sugar packets and Blaine watches carefully - he can tell something’s up. Mercedes pauses that train of thought to ask, “alright, so what’s going on between you two? Because it was pretty boy-on-boy heavy at that wedding.” (Oh gee, you noticed?) Blaine jumps in with, “we’re not together, but it’s cool” while watching Kurt to make sure it’s an acceptable answer. The conversation turns to vapo-rub and Kurt’s stress level snaps. Everyone knows without asking that he’s worried about his dad, and they’re all there for him. Blaine reaches across to take Kurt’s hand and gives him the full-on heart-eyes Care Bear Stare. (I, for one, would be helpless if it were ever directed at me.) Kurt, for his part, doesn’t pull back, and maybe gasps in an extra breath as he sees their hands together on the coffee shop table. *swoon*
Rachel is all by herself back in New York, and is accosted in the NYADA hallway by the two sycophants from "Diva." They try to shake Rachel's confidence by saying that not only is she up against two actresses with heavy connections for Funny Girl, but that NYADA students require a teacher's sign-off before engaging in this type of extra-curricular activity. And surely, Cassie would relish the opportunity to destroy her least-favorite freshman.
Lesson time in the auditorium - Sam introduces Mercedes and I'm still sad that never really went anywhere. I would be fully in favor of Samcedes. Anyways, Mercedes is there to coach them, and wants to see Marley support her voice and rock out. Cue "Superstition," and I love love luuurrve it. Mercedes sounds amazing, as always, and I miss her terribly. Everyone else is grooving along, Kurt is shimmying with Mercedes, and my life is good. Blaine takes the second verse, speaking of dirty cute, and grooves those little hips all over the stage, including a flirty little chase with Kurt (*insert more fangirl squealing, I simply cannot help myself*).
After the auditorium, Mercedes and Mike corner Jake to tell him he's a triple threat and the club's secret weapon. Mercedes is weirdly flirty with him, which doesn't work for me, but yay for encouraging talent.
Kurt is at the oncologist's office with Burt and Carole (BURT! CAROLE! YAY!), pacing nervously and getting himself worked up into a snit over how long they've been waiting and the fact that Burt is wearing a dark-colored shirt under his flannel. That Burt snaps and yells at Kurt ("I am barely keeping it together, Kurt! Can you just knock it off, please?") makes this scene for me. Everybody's freaking out in their own way. But the doctor comes in and doesn't beat around the bush. The treatments have worked, the tumor is long gone, all is well.
Big papa bear hugs all around. Burt Hummel was not ready to leave, that's for damn sure. He's got weddings, grandbabies, and old-people sex with Carole still ahead of him. Life is so, so good.
Kurt has invited Burt back to the choir room to sing him a song "to celebrate life's most treasured and wonderful gift: a second chance." Burt used to always play this song for him in the car to make Kurt smile, so now it's Kurt's turn to sing and Burt's turn to smile. "I'm already there, kiddo." Best. Dad. Ever.
I absolutely ADORE "You Are the Sunshine of My Life." In addition to it sounding great and being a nice trip into Kurt's lower register, I think the whole thing shows us a much more relaxed Kurt than we have seen in the past. So much of what we've seen Kurt do has either been screaming to make people pay attention, or building walls to protect himself, or on a rare occasion, opening his heart to let us see some of the hurt inside. It's not as often that we get to see him so content and at ease, both in the environment and in the song. He seems a bit older and wiser, and in that, more able to appreciate the joy of the moment. I also think the choreography hits a really great sweet spot, fun and casual. Chris Colfer has many amazing talents, but I still wouldn't call him a natural dancer. This was a really nice quality and quantity of movement for him. Not that he hasn't successfully pulled off more complex stuff, but this was a really nice fit.
Best of all, Papa Burt loved it too. How could you not? God, I love these two together. On the surface, a strange pairing. But the surface matters not even a little bit when you have a father and son who love each other this fiercely. Blaine, for his part, looks like he could burst with pride and love and possibly into tears. He wants back into that family so badly.
Rachel's running lines in the dance studio at NYADA when Cassie comes to torment her. Her callback conflicts with her dance midterm, so she's rescheduling it for first thing in the morning, just to be a pain in the ass.
Back in the choir room, Mike and Jake do "I Wish." It's a good number, and Jake's voice bothers me less than usual (Stevie Wonder is magic, apparently). But while I love watching the two of them dance together, it mostly serves to remind me that I really miss Mike, and that Jake Puckerman is no Mike Chang. Sorry, dude.
In the meantime, Mercedes missed the performance because she was taking a call with her shady producer in the auditorium. He wants her to do a sexier photo shoot or use a body double for her album. Much like seeing Mike dance with Jake, this makes me sad that we haven’t gotten more Mercedes this year. Seeing her work hard and sound great but come up against roadblocks because she isn’t built like a Victoria’s Secret model is an interesting and important story. Sucks that it gets crammed into about two minutes.
Artie gets home from school to find Kitty sitting on the couch with his mom, meddling in his business. Yep, she took it upon herself to talk to Mrs. Abrams about Artie going to film school, and lo and behold, she didn’t even know about it! So much for it being his mom who’s keeping him from going to New York. No, it’s that Artie is both scared and feeling guilty for leaving his mom behind after she’s supported him for so long. His mom shakes her head and tells him that’s exactly what he’s supposed to do. And also, “if you ever imply again that I’m an old hag, I’m gonna tip you over.” Look, ninety seconds and I love Artie’s mom. Dang, I’d like to see her again.
At NYADA, Cassie is ripping Rachel to pieces on the way to her dance midterm. She gets into the room to find the entire class of So You Think You Can Dance alums actually waiting to cheer her on for her big callback. How is it that Cassie July has been one of the most consistent characters all year? I mean, she’s horrible, but she has said and demonstrated from the beginning that she’s trying to prepare her students for the reality of trying to make a life as a performer. They have a party to the tune of “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” and it’s tons of fun.
Mercedes is back in the choir room to teach a little lesson about staying true to yourself while trying to make it in a business that wants to make you something else. Will can’t resist the song quote and has to say she did it by taking the “Higher Ground” as the band strikes up the song. I can’t even get annoyed at the pun, because Mercedes is so very great and the song sounds fantastic. She’s confident and so strong. Mike, Kurt and Unique jamming in the front row are delightful. Hell, Sam even feels inspired to do a stripper body-roll, and I will almost never complain about that.
And then we’re back in the auditorium, where Blaine Warbler has requested an audience with Papa Hummel. He’s got a rainbow lapel pin for our favorite mechanic/congressman, because OBVIOUSLY Burt Hummel is going to be working hard for marriage equality, because Burt Hummel is the best. Blaine takes the political support as a good sign, because clearly that means that Burt will have no problem with Blaine asking for Kurt’s hand in marriage. God bless Burt Hummel: “are you kidding or are you nuts?”
Heart-eyed Blaine knows that Kurt is the one for him. He knows he screwed up, but in typical Blaine-logic, he thinks the way to get Kurt back is to “do something bold.” Oh, honey. No. Burt tries not to laugh in his face or smack some sense into him. He likes Blaine. He likes that Blaine loves Kurt. But he knows this is a terrible, terrible idea.
Blaine is caught up both in his desperate desire to have Kurt back in his life, and the winds of social change. He tells Burt, “I don’t think you understand how it feels to finally be able to legally get married.” But Burt knows that marriage is more than just theoretical, and more than just romance. “It’s just a really big difference between marrying a person, and marrying an idea.”
I loved this scene so much. I loved starry-eyed and earnest, but also desperate and petulant, Blaine. I loved Burt, as I always love Burt - the no-nonsense voice of reason. He shoots Blaine’s proposal down in no uncertain terms, but he’s not mean. He is clearly rooting for them to find their way back to one another, but has the perspective of being both older and an outsider - they just need to be patient.
And yeah, Burt’s talking to us, too. “Stop worrying.” “It’s gonna be OK.” “When two people love each other, like you two do? Everything works out.”
Burt Hummel knows his son. He wouldn’t speak for Kurt if he didn’t know it to be true. He knows Kurt still loves Blaine. BOOM. It’ll all be OK.
Yes, fine, I have a lot to say about that scene. Moving on.
Back in the choir room, Mercedes is giving them one more lesson about bringing their passion to Regionals. Artie speaks up in defense of following your passion, and gives a nod of thanks to Kitty. Yay, they’re adorable.
At NYADA, Rachel stops by to thank Cassie for busting her ass all year long and making her better because of it. Cassie finally gives a genuine compliment, that she saw a spark in Rachel from the first day and wondered if this one might make it. Cassie seems quite sure Rachel’s going to get the role, which is a bit of a stretch for me, but yay for hugging it out.
McKinley hallway, and Blaine is nervously leading Kurt off to a slightly quieter spot to talk. Our usually bouncy and smiling ex-Warbler keeps looking over his shoulder and seems like his heart is in his throat. He’s got something he wants to say to Kurt, something he wants to ask, and it’s complicated. Kurt can see something’s up and seems a little anxious, himself. “Go ahead,” he says, “you get kinda cute when you get nervous.” (*squee!*) You can actually hear Blaine’s heart skip a beat at that comment, but then he stumbles over his words. He wants to ask if Kurt will m... maybe stick around for Regionals?
Kurt was so clearly under the spell of the moment, which snaps with the request about Regionals. “Oh! Oh, yeah, of course!” That so wasn’t what he thought Blaine was going to say. In my head, Kurt was pretty sure Blaine was going to ask him on a date. And in that moment, he found himself wanting to say yes. “You had to know I would have said yes.” Neither of them is talking about a show choir competition, are they?
Kurt slips his arm into Blaine’s and says, “what a wonderful, wonderful week.” Blaine sighs. “And with you in it? A wonderful life.”
*faints*
Kurt, Mike, and Mercedes are a grinning audience as Artie leads New Directions in “For Once in My Life,” and I love every last bit of it. The seventies-ish color scheme of oranges and yellows, the backup-singer choreography behind the microphones, and OH YES the fact that everyone is smiling and Blaine doesn’t take his eyes off of Kurt for one second. (Artie and Kitty are all smiles for each other, too, which I quite enjoy.) The alums and Schuester jump on stage for the last chorus, and my boys are sharing a microphone and I cannot wipe this smile off of my face.
After the absolute train wreck double-header of “Sweet Dreams” and “Lights Out,” I was feeling some serious late-season fatigue. The last two episodes were lame at best, maddeningly awful at worst. I missed everything about Kurt, I was mad that he and Blaine were still broken up, and I was annoyed at the realization that the McKinley school year had suddenly and inexplicably deviated from the actual, real-world calendar. Morale was low, is what I’m saying.
And then, along comes “Wonder-ful.” Even the parts of it that aren’t quite my favorites, I don’t actually feel physically compelled to fast-forward through them. The whole thing is a delight, top to bottom. And SO MUCH KURT, I could cry from relief. I still want more. I ALWAYS want more. I want to actually, really and truly, explicitly know what’s going on inside his head, especially as it relates to his feelings about Blaine. But even with that, god damn I love this episode. I grinned from ear to ear the first time I watched it, and I’m doing it again now. More than any other episode this season, it very simply made me happy.
Oh, “Wonder-ful.” Thank you. Thank you for being you.
(And if you think this recap doesn’t have a heavy dose of Klaine goggles, then it’s like you don’t even know me at all. I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS EPISODE, OKAY?)
We start, of all things, with Rachel calling Schuester to tell him about her Funny Girl callback. I think Rachel might be giving him a little too much credit for her success, but it’s sweet and would certainly be immensely gratifying for a teacher to hear that.
It was WONDERFUL news, which he shares with the club. And even though half of them don’t know Rachel, they’re super pumped for her. Plus, Brittany’s being recruited by MIT, Schue re-proposed to Emma and she accepted, Tina might be going to vet school (whut?). So much WONDERFUL news, Schue feels compelled to spew about five different song lyrics before announcing that it’s Stevie WONDER(-ful) week. For kids who weren’t born until at least the mid-to-late nineties (I think I just threw up a little), they’re awfully excited to spend the week with someone who had hits in the 70s and early 80s.
Oh hell, I ain’t complaining. Who doesn’t love Stevie Wonder? And though I am usually quite wary of tribute episodes of Glee, Stevie Wonder has a pretty extensive and amazing repertoire of hits to choose from, so it’s all good in the hood.
Kitty follows Artie down the hall and wants to know why he’s being a pouty-puss. She thinks it’s because he was eyeing her up and down during Guilty Pleasures week (whoa, Glee remembered that far back?), and that he’s never getting a piece of that action. While that is a bummer enough, that’s not why he’s upset. He’s upset because he got into the Brooklyn Film Institute, and he isn’t going, and he doesn’t want to talk about it. Kitty is up to the challenge.
KURT! Oh Kurt. Darling beloved Kurt is in the loft, packing for a trip back to Ohio. Burt is getting some test results post-cancer-treatment and Kurt wants to be there. Kurt is feeling incredibly anxious about it, and after all this guy has been through, can you blame him? He deals with anxiety by enacting all variety of superstitious rituals, including tapping his nose and only wearing hopeful and positive colors.
He struts confidently back into the halls of McKinley in painted-on jeans, a bright yellow shirt, and a blue scarf. He looks about five years older than when he was last a student in those halls. Not only do the clothes make him look like he’s another six inches taller, but they project a certain confidence and maturity that is just incredible. He has such ownership of himself.
Kurt tells us it’ll be nice to see everyone, and reassures us that he won’t hook up with Blaine again (wait, would that be a bad thing?). He says it’s weird seeing Blaine, but not as weird as it was, and he can’t tell if that makes him feel sad or not. I can’t quite tell what to read into that statement, but the overall effect is that Kurt seems a lot more at ease around Blaine now. Even at the wedding, as they were getting it on (bow chicka bow wow aww yeah), Kurt was still cautious, still keeping him at an emotional arm’s length. That doesn’t quite seem to be the case anymore.
Oh, and if that weren’t enough amazingness, Mercedes and Mike are back, too! HOORAY! The three alums run arm-in-arm into the choir room just in time for Kitty to give us an acrobatic “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” mostly directed at Artie to his chagrin. Her voice doesn’t do anything for me, but it’s a great song and a fun number. She uses it as an excuse to announce to the choir room that Artie’s been accepted into film school, and while everyone’s excited for him, he still didn’t want her to tell his secret.
Mercedes, however, is there as a vocal coach and was not a huge fan of Kitty’s performance. No one in that room is terribly used to constructive criticism, so she doesn’t take it all that well. Mike, it turns out, is there to help choreograph and I’m not sure if Tina’s feminist rage is real or if she’s just put out to see her ex-boyfriend around. She turns it on Kurt, asking if he’s there to lecture them about clothes, and he gives her a quiet-but-pointed “my dad has cancer.” Blaine jumps in to defend Kurt with a sarcastic, “thanks, Tina,” in case you wondered where his loyalties lie.
Artie storms out of the choir room as Kitty follows, he’s pissed that she spilled the news he wanted to keep secret, apparently because his mom is freaking out and doesn’t want him to go to New York all by himself. Kitty is being nice partly because she likes to keep people on their toes - you just never know with her - and partly because she actually believes Artie could be great there. God damn, I think I like Kitty, now.
The Lima Bean! Kurt and Blaine are at the Lima Bean! Oh god, this episode, my heart. Blaine is checking last year’s news on his phone and is all kinds of excited about the prospect of marriage equality in New York, and being able to witness it in person, while he grabs about 30 packets of sugar (slow down there, darling). Oh, and Kurt, “you look cute today. And I mean, like, dirty cute.” Also known as, if you’d let me, I’d totally ditch our friends right this second and we can get reacquainted with the backseat of my car.
Don’t mind me. I’m just over here, grinning like a fool while I choke on air.
Kurt’s face is initially kind of a scrunchy “really?” with the first “cute,” and then when he gets the low-voiced “dirty cute” he stops in his tracks. His expression is almost a faintly-exasperated sigh, like, oh god, Blaine, are you seriously doing this? And yet I can’t help but think there was a little flutter underneath that kind of enjoyed the blatantly flirty, sexy compliment.
They join Mercedes and Mike at the table, where Mercedes is spewing industry buzzwords in excitement over her new album and how Mike should choreograph her first video. Kurt starts organizing the sugar packets and Blaine watches carefully - he can tell something’s up. Mercedes pauses that train of thought to ask, “alright, so what’s going on between you two? Because it was pretty boy-on-boy heavy at that wedding.” (Oh gee, you noticed?) Blaine jumps in with, “we’re not together, but it’s cool” while watching Kurt to make sure it’s an acceptable answer. The conversation turns to vapo-rub and Kurt’s stress level snaps. Everyone knows without asking that he’s worried about his dad, and they’re all there for him. Blaine reaches across to take Kurt’s hand and gives him the full-on heart-eyes Care Bear Stare. (I, for one, would be helpless if it were ever directed at me.) Kurt, for his part, doesn’t pull back, and maybe gasps in an extra breath as he sees their hands together on the coffee shop table. *swoon*
Rachel is all by herself back in New York, and is accosted in the NYADA hallway by the two sycophants from "Diva." They try to shake Rachel's confidence by saying that not only is she up against two actresses with heavy connections for Funny Girl, but that NYADA students require a teacher's sign-off before engaging in this type of extra-curricular activity. And surely, Cassie would relish the opportunity to destroy her least-favorite freshman.
Lesson time in the auditorium - Sam introduces Mercedes and I'm still sad that never really went anywhere. I would be fully in favor of Samcedes. Anyways, Mercedes is there to coach them, and wants to see Marley support her voice and rock out. Cue "Superstition," and I love love luuurrve it. Mercedes sounds amazing, as always, and I miss her terribly. Everyone else is grooving along, Kurt is shimmying with Mercedes, and my life is good. Blaine takes the second verse, speaking of dirty cute, and grooves those little hips all over the stage, including a flirty little chase with Kurt (*insert more fangirl squealing, I simply cannot help myself*).
After the auditorium, Mercedes and Mike corner Jake to tell him he's a triple threat and the club's secret weapon. Mercedes is weirdly flirty with him, which doesn't work for me, but yay for encouraging talent.
Kurt is at the oncologist's office with Burt and Carole (BURT! CAROLE! YAY!), pacing nervously and getting himself worked up into a snit over how long they've been waiting and the fact that Burt is wearing a dark-colored shirt under his flannel. That Burt snaps and yells at Kurt ("I am barely keeping it together, Kurt! Can you just knock it off, please?") makes this scene for me. Everybody's freaking out in their own way. But the doctor comes in and doesn't beat around the bush. The treatments have worked, the tumor is long gone, all is well.
Big papa bear hugs all around. Burt Hummel was not ready to leave, that's for damn sure. He's got weddings, grandbabies, and old-people sex with Carole still ahead of him. Life is so, so good.
Kurt has invited Burt back to the choir room to sing him a song "to celebrate life's most treasured and wonderful gift: a second chance." Burt used to always play this song for him in the car to make Kurt smile, so now it's Kurt's turn to sing and Burt's turn to smile. "I'm already there, kiddo." Best. Dad. Ever.
I absolutely ADORE "You Are the Sunshine of My Life." In addition to it sounding great and being a nice trip into Kurt's lower register, I think the whole thing shows us a much more relaxed Kurt than we have seen in the past. So much of what we've seen Kurt do has either been screaming to make people pay attention, or building walls to protect himself, or on a rare occasion, opening his heart to let us see some of the hurt inside. It's not as often that we get to see him so content and at ease, both in the environment and in the song. He seems a bit older and wiser, and in that, more able to appreciate the joy of the moment. I also think the choreography hits a really great sweet spot, fun and casual. Chris Colfer has many amazing talents, but I still wouldn't call him a natural dancer. This was a really nice quality and quantity of movement for him. Not that he hasn't successfully pulled off more complex stuff, but this was a really nice fit.
Best of all, Papa Burt loved it too. How could you not? God, I love these two together. On the surface, a strange pairing. But the surface matters not even a little bit when you have a father and son who love each other this fiercely. Blaine, for his part, looks like he could burst with pride and love and possibly into tears. He wants back into that family so badly.
Rachel's running lines in the dance studio at NYADA when Cassie comes to torment her. Her callback conflicts with her dance midterm, so she's rescheduling it for first thing in the morning, just to be a pain in the ass.
Back in the choir room, Mike and Jake do "I Wish." It's a good number, and Jake's voice bothers me less than usual (Stevie Wonder is magic, apparently). But while I love watching the two of them dance together, it mostly serves to remind me that I really miss Mike, and that Jake Puckerman is no Mike Chang. Sorry, dude.
In the meantime, Mercedes missed the performance because she was taking a call with her shady producer in the auditorium. He wants her to do a sexier photo shoot or use a body double for her album. Much like seeing Mike dance with Jake, this makes me sad that we haven’t gotten more Mercedes this year. Seeing her work hard and sound great but come up against roadblocks because she isn’t built like a Victoria’s Secret model is an interesting and important story. Sucks that it gets crammed into about two minutes.
Artie gets home from school to find Kitty sitting on the couch with his mom, meddling in his business. Yep, she took it upon herself to talk to Mrs. Abrams about Artie going to film school, and lo and behold, she didn’t even know about it! So much for it being his mom who’s keeping him from going to New York. No, it’s that Artie is both scared and feeling guilty for leaving his mom behind after she’s supported him for so long. His mom shakes her head and tells him that’s exactly what he’s supposed to do. And also, “if you ever imply again that I’m an old hag, I’m gonna tip you over.” Look, ninety seconds and I love Artie’s mom. Dang, I’d like to see her again.
At NYADA, Cassie is ripping Rachel to pieces on the way to her dance midterm. She gets into the room to find the entire class of So You Think You Can Dance alums actually waiting to cheer her on for her big callback. How is it that Cassie July has been one of the most consistent characters all year? I mean, she’s horrible, but she has said and demonstrated from the beginning that she’s trying to prepare her students for the reality of trying to make a life as a performer. They have a party to the tune of “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” and it’s tons of fun.
Mercedes is back in the choir room to teach a little lesson about staying true to yourself while trying to make it in a business that wants to make you something else. Will can’t resist the song quote and has to say she did it by taking the “Higher Ground” as the band strikes up the song. I can’t even get annoyed at the pun, because Mercedes is so very great and the song sounds fantastic. She’s confident and so strong. Mike, Kurt and Unique jamming in the front row are delightful. Hell, Sam even feels inspired to do a stripper body-roll, and I will almost never complain about that.
And then we’re back in the auditorium, where Blaine Warbler has requested an audience with Papa Hummel. He’s got a rainbow lapel pin for our favorite mechanic/congressman, because OBVIOUSLY Burt Hummel is going to be working hard for marriage equality, because Burt Hummel is the best. Blaine takes the political support as a good sign, because clearly that means that Burt will have no problem with Blaine asking for Kurt’s hand in marriage. God bless Burt Hummel: “are you kidding or are you nuts?”
Heart-eyed Blaine knows that Kurt is the one for him. He knows he screwed up, but in typical Blaine-logic, he thinks the way to get Kurt back is to “do something bold.” Oh, honey. No. Burt tries not to laugh in his face or smack some sense into him. He likes Blaine. He likes that Blaine loves Kurt. But he knows this is a terrible, terrible idea.
Blaine is caught up both in his desperate desire to have Kurt back in his life, and the winds of social change. He tells Burt, “I don’t think you understand how it feels to finally be able to legally get married.” But Burt knows that marriage is more than just theoretical, and more than just romance. “It’s just a really big difference between marrying a person, and marrying an idea.”
I loved this scene so much. I loved starry-eyed and earnest, but also desperate and petulant, Blaine. I loved Burt, as I always love Burt - the no-nonsense voice of reason. He shoots Blaine’s proposal down in no uncertain terms, but he’s not mean. He is clearly rooting for them to find their way back to one another, but has the perspective of being both older and an outsider - they just need to be patient.
And yeah, Burt’s talking to us, too. “Stop worrying.” “It’s gonna be OK.” “When two people love each other, like you two do? Everything works out.”
Burt Hummel knows his son. He wouldn’t speak for Kurt if he didn’t know it to be true. He knows Kurt still loves Blaine. BOOM. It’ll all be OK.
Yes, fine, I have a lot to say about that scene. Moving on.
Back in the choir room, Mercedes is giving them one more lesson about bringing their passion to Regionals. Artie speaks up in defense of following your passion, and gives a nod of thanks to Kitty. Yay, they’re adorable.
At NYADA, Rachel stops by to thank Cassie for busting her ass all year long and making her better because of it. Cassie finally gives a genuine compliment, that she saw a spark in Rachel from the first day and wondered if this one might make it. Cassie seems quite sure Rachel’s going to get the role, which is a bit of a stretch for me, but yay for hugging it out.
McKinley hallway, and Blaine is nervously leading Kurt off to a slightly quieter spot to talk. Our usually bouncy and smiling ex-Warbler keeps looking over his shoulder and seems like his heart is in his throat. He’s got something he wants to say to Kurt, something he wants to ask, and it’s complicated. Kurt can see something’s up and seems a little anxious, himself. “Go ahead,” he says, “you get kinda cute when you get nervous.” (*squee!*) You can actually hear Blaine’s heart skip a beat at that comment, but then he stumbles over his words. He wants to ask if Kurt will m... maybe stick around for Regionals?
Kurt was so clearly under the spell of the moment, which snaps with the request about Regionals. “Oh! Oh, yeah, of course!” That so wasn’t what he thought Blaine was going to say. In my head, Kurt was pretty sure Blaine was going to ask him on a date. And in that moment, he found himself wanting to say yes. “You had to know I would have said yes.” Neither of them is talking about a show choir competition, are they?
Kurt slips his arm into Blaine’s and says, “what a wonderful, wonderful week.” Blaine sighs. “And with you in it? A wonderful life.”
*faints*
Kurt, Mike, and Mercedes are a grinning audience as Artie leads New Directions in “For Once in My Life,” and I love every last bit of it. The seventies-ish color scheme of oranges and yellows, the backup-singer choreography behind the microphones, and OH YES the fact that everyone is smiling and Blaine doesn’t take his eyes off of Kurt for one second. (Artie and Kitty are all smiles for each other, too, which I quite enjoy.) The alums and Schuester jump on stage for the last chorus, and my boys are sharing a microphone and I cannot wipe this smile off of my face.
After the absolute train wreck double-header of “Sweet Dreams” and “Lights Out,” I was feeling some serious late-season fatigue. The last two episodes were lame at best, maddeningly awful at worst. I missed everything about Kurt, I was mad that he and Blaine were still broken up, and I was annoyed at the realization that the McKinley school year had suddenly and inexplicably deviated from the actual, real-world calendar. Morale was low, is what I’m saying.
And then, along comes “Wonder-ful.” Even the parts of it that aren’t quite my favorites, I don’t actually feel physically compelled to fast-forward through them. The whole thing is a delight, top to bottom. And SO MUCH KURT, I could cry from relief. I still want more. I ALWAYS want more. I want to actually, really and truly, explicitly know what’s going on inside his head, especially as it relates to his feelings about Blaine. But even with that, god damn I love this episode. I grinned from ear to ear the first time I watched it, and I’m doing it again now. More than any other episode this season, it very simply made me happy.