Fanfic / Glee The New York Story

Poster for "Glee: The New York Story"

Glee: The New York Story is a Glee fanfiction by FireGirl125. It is canonically set after Season 3, and follows the New Directions Alumni as they embrace adulthood in New York City.

It follows an "Episodes and Seasons" format, mimicking the production of a television show. The story also incorporates musical numbers.

The fanfiction was first published on August 25, 2013 and has been completed as of September 24, 2022. It "aired" for six "seasons" and 140 "episodes", including three non-in universe "specials".

It can be read on Archive of Our Own and Fanfiction.net. The story has over a combined 400,000 views and is one of the top reviewed Fanfictions on Fanfiction.net

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This Fanfiction includes the following tropes:

• Abusive Parents: Finn finds out his father is alive, and begins tormenting his own son. This only ends after Finn's father dies from a drug overdose.
  • Jessica when not in the foster care system, suffers at home abuse by her neglectful mother.
  • Puck endures verbal abuse from his mother.
• Accidental Kiss: Majority of the major couples have had an accidental kiss when they weren't dating as of yet.
• Accidental Murder: Marley as a last resort accidentally shoots and kills Lucas Hatchett after Lucas holds a gun to Puck's head. She is not charged as she was acting in self-defense, but the thought of killing someone causes her to suffer from PTSD.
• Accidental Proposal:
  • Puck: he blurts out for Marley to marry him in the McKinley choir room.
  • Kitty: she inadvertently proposes to Artie with a ring pop while Artie is unconscious from complications of tonsil surgery
• Adaptational Dye-Job: Marley dyes her hair blonde as part of an undercover job.
• Adopt the Dog: Finn goes against Rachel's wishes to adopt a dog named Cory.
• A Family Affair: Jake/Marley/Puck: Marley and Puck have an emotional affair while Jake had a physical affair with Bree. Marley and Jake break up and she immediately dates Puck, Jake's older brother. This causes conflict amongst the three for a good portion of the series.
• Afterlife Tour: In a variation of this, Rachel shows Finn what life would be like if he didn't exist. In a plot twist Rachel dies in Finn's vision and Rachel is merely a ghost showing Finn the alternate outcome.
• Aloof Big Brother: Despite everyone else knowing, Finn is completely aloof to the fact that Puck, his best friend, and Marley, his newly discovered half-sister, are in a relationship with each other.
• Alpha Bitch: Santana acts as the de-facto head bitch in New York, going as far as meddling in other people's business when it doesn't pertain to her.
• Alternate Reality Episode:
  • Gleedo: A good chunk of the chapter focuses on the Alternate Reality of the stories canon. After Blaine doesn't get a solo, he wishes for Finn to not exist, which in turn causes Finn to have an elaborate dream on what would happen if he wasn't in anyone's life.
• Alternate Universe Fic: The story in itself deviates from canon following "Goodbye", the season three finale of Glee.
• Ambiguously Jewish:
  • Puck, Jake and Rachel are canonically Jewish. However, Puck is the only one that remembers certain traditions, and even tries to get Rachel to embrace her Jewish side.
• Amnesia Episode: Rachel undergoes amnesia for a chapter and slowly remembers everyone... except Finn.
• Angelic Beauty: Marley is seen as such by an abundance of characters.
• Babies Ever After:
  • After suffering a miscarriage, Finn and Rachel end the story with a set of twins named Shawn and Sophia Hudson.
  • Marley and Puck have a daughter and son by the end of the story named Charlotte and Jaxon Puckerman.
  • Santana and Brittany have a daughter named Isabella Lopez-Pierce.
  • Quinn and Brody have a daughter named Elizabeth Rachel Weston.
• Baby's First Words: Charlotte's first words are 'Nessie', to acknowledge Jessica.
• Baby Sitting Episode: Rachel and Finn babysit Marley and Puck's daughter, with unforeseen results.
• Baitand Switch: It occurs twice in the series.
  • 'Glee School Musical': Artie announces who gets the role of Sharpay in the high school production of High School Musical. The reader assumes it will definitively be between Kitty or Sugar. Artie announces it's Madison, who helped Mason with his audition as Ryan.
  • 'Election Day': Kitty, who works for ABC Boston in Season Six, is assumed to be the person embezzling money from the studio and giving it to Russell Fabray for his campaign against Burt Hummel. As Puck makes everyone believe he is about to arrest Kitty for embezzlement, he announces he's arresting Kitty's producer, who is standing next to her, instead.
• Bank Robbery: Marley and Sebastian are in the middle of a bank robbery. Subsequently, Marley also goes into labor.
• Baseball Episode: There are two baseball subplots in two different episodes.
  • 'This Summer's Gonna Hurt': Sam accidentally grabs the glove of a New York Yankees outfielder while attending a game, and wrestles his conscious on whether to give it back.
  • 'Hey Now, You're An All-Star': Marley is competing in the MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball game, but doesn't know how to play baseball. Luckily, Sam has a New York Yankee on speed dial to teach her.
• Battle of the Bands:
  • Finn and Will Schuester take on this trope with the Glee Club. Finn and the boys battle Schue and the girls to see who is the better Glee Club teacher.
  • Kurt's band, Pamela Lansbury, and Blaine's band, The Breakfast Club, go head to head in a Battle of the Bands. The Battle of the Bands symbolizes more in Kurt and Blaine's relationship, as Kurt doesn't want Blaine to overtake something that's his, so Blaine recreates the same idea for his own.
• Beautiful Singing Voice: The series predominately focuses on music, so many of the characters have been noted for having beautiful singing voices. However, some make careers out of their vocals:
  • Finn: He becomes the director of the Glee Club, and becomes a professor at NYADA.
  • Marley: Due to her singing talents, she is given the opportunity to enroll into NYADA and graduates two years early. Her voice also leads her to become a successful musician.
  • Mercedes: She has a successful career as a recording artist, which is catapulted when Marley writes her an original song.
  • Rachel: She gets the starring role on Broadway for Funny Girl, Wicked (she later loses the role before opening Night), Vienna (a Billy Joel musical), and That's The Way It Is (A Celine Dion tribute musical).
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Marley is on the receiving end of this trope with multiple characters:
  • Artie: Marley spends more time with him as he tries to find himself in New York City, which makes him garner a crush on her.
  • Puck: After his breakup with Quinn, Marley comforts him and treats him with kindness. In turn, he ends up falling in love with her, where the feeling is reciprocated.
  • Sebastian: Marley shows kindness to him when he tries to find his place in Finn's Glee Club. The two become close, which causes Sebastian to realize that his garnering feelings for her and discover his bisexuality.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Marley fits this trope as there have been times where she's been pushed to her limit despite being the nice one of the group.
  • Finn: Marley's main conflict with Finn is him feeling he can control Marley and Puck's relationship. The turning point was her scolding Finn for his reaction when she announced she and Puck, who were now married, are expecting a child.
  • Jessica: Jessica steals Marley's credit card and makes a $2,000 purchase without consent. She then hides the credit card in Puck's jacket. Marley finds out the truth and yells at her, elevating her blood pressure in the process and needing a hospital.
  • Kitty: Kitty disrespects Puck in Marley's house which causes her to erupt at her, inevitably cutting off their friendship.
  • Rachel: Marley coincidentally becomes pregnant after Rachel unfortunately lost her unborn son, and Rachel takes all of her aggression out on Marley. When Rachel tries to spike Marley's non-alcoholic drink with vodka, Marley goes berserk on her, which in turn causes everyone to disown Rachel.
  • Santana: Marley butts heads with Santana when Santana threatens to out Marley's relationship to Finn. Marley vows to make Santana's life hell if she does so.
• Big Finale Crowd Song: "Long Live" by Taylor Swift was the final song in the series. It featured the entire cast.
• Birthday Episode: There were two episodes that dealt with birthday's.
  • Marley: Piece of Me's main storyline is Marley's 18th birthday approaching.
  • Rachel: Glee, Actually's story regarding Finn and Rachel entails that Finn forgot about Rachel's birthday, which happens to fall near Christmas.
• Bitch Alert:
  • Kitty: After Marley cuts off their friendship, Kitty goes and makes Marley and Puck's lives hell, even going as far as damaging their daughter's stroller.
  • Quinn: Quinn resorts to bitchy measures when she realizes she wants to get back together with Puck. but is deflated when Puck is in a committed relationship with Marley.
  • Santana: Santana felt hurt that Brittany didn't want to get back together with her, so took it out on Marley, who was in a happy relationship.
  • Tina: Tina attempted to change the set-list without Brody's consent, and used Quinn's cancer as a way to keep Brody out the way.
• Blaming the Victim:
  • Will Schuester and subsequently the New Directions blamed Marley for bullying Bree when Bree had been verbally and physically abusing her.
  • Finn vowed to never forgive Puck when Puck saved his life by arresting him for being behind the wheel while drunk.
• Blinding Camera Flash: Isabelle Wright of Vogue had a running gag of taking photos with flash of the Alumni while they came out of the Vogue elevator, stunning them in the process.
• Bottle Episode: Majority of 'Happiness Begins' takes place in the NYADA choir room.
• Brainless Beauty: Brittany fits this trope to a tee.
• Breakout Character:
  • Jessica Goodwin was supposed to be in one episode. Due to positive reception, she was written in as a series regular.
  • Jenny McCarthy was supposed to be in 4-5 episodes. Due to positive reception, she was written in as a series regular.
  • Marley Rose was slated to be a recurring character. Due to positive reception, she was written in as a series regular and essentially became the main character.
  • Sebastian Smythe was slated to be a recurring character. Due to positive reception, he was written in as a series regular.
• Break-Up Song:
  • 'Say Something' by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera was used for Kurt and Blaine in Season 2.
  • 'Spaces' by One Direction was used for Quinn and Sam in Season 4.
  • 'If The World Was Ending' by JP Saxe and Julia Michaels was used for Marley and Puck in Season 6. They get back together an episode later, hence their breakup was temporary.
• But I Can't Be Pregnant!: Marley assumes she's pregnant, but Puck temporarily doesn't believe it because he had a vasectomy years prior. Turns out, vasectomies aren't 100% full-proof and Marley was pregnant!
• Career-Ending Injury: Finn assumes he can never play music again because he severely injures his arm which took away mobility.
• Caught Monologuing: Finn catches Brittany monologuing when she reveals her plans to be the best dancer at Juilliard.
• Celebrity Lie: Jacob Posey and an unwilling Marley make the paparazzi believe that they're in a relationship, all while Puck was oblivious.
  • He later finds out the lie from a news magazine.
• Character Death:
  • Finn (and Marley's) father dies of a drug overdose in Season 2.
  • Juliet Jones, Garret's sister and Santana's employer dies of a drug overdose in Season 3.
  • Finn and Rachel's unborn son dies when Rachel gets into an accident on the road in Season 4.
  • Vicky Martinez, a former student of Finn's, dies while trying to con a drug dealer at rehab in Season 5. Finn, who is in rehab for his alcoholism, unfortunately watches the encounter.
  • Puck's father dies after it was believed he committed suicide in Season 6. It was later revealed he was poisoned by a crime boss to send Puck a message.
  • Marley's grandmother dies of old age in Season 6.
• Character Outlives Actor:
  • Cory Monteith who portrayed Finn, died during Glee's fifth season. The premise of the story was to give Finn Hudson a satisfying ending.
  • Naya Rivera and Mark Salling, who portrayed Santana and Puck, died following the conclusion of Glee. Their death's did not impact the story, and their characters were able to have a happy ending.
• Character Signature Song:
  • Rachel sings Defying Gravity twice in the series, and vows that anything Wicked or Funny Girl is hers.
  • Finn and Rachel performed You Are Woman, I Am Man three times in the series.
• Christmas Episode:
  • A Very Glee Christmas: The Alumni return to Ohio for the holidays and Finn helps put together the Christmas show.
  • Glee, Actually: Artie, Brittany, Finn, Kitty, Marley, Puck, Rachel and Santana stay in New York for Christmas but have different storylines: Santana plans a proposal for Brittany, Marley and Puck bring Christmas cheer to a foster child named Jessica Goodwin, Finn sends Rachel on a scavenger hunt when Rachel thinks Finn forgot her birthday and Christmas, and Artie and Kitty dance around getting back together.
  • A Wonderful Christmastime: The Alumni return to Ohio to help with the Lima Christmas show. Marley and Puck celebrate their first Christmas with their daughter while Rachel tries to overcompensate on Christmas spirit to distract her from her father.
• College Is "High School, Part 2": The Alumni's stay at NYADA mimics their lives back in Ohio.
• Concert Episode:
  • Finn Harmonic competing at Sectionals in Season 1, 3 and 6.
  • Finn Harmonic competing at Regionals in Season 2, 4 and 6.
  • Finn Harmonic competing at Nationals in Season 2, 4 and 6.
  • Finn Harmonic competing in the Wild Card round in Season 6.
  • Marley performing at the Grammys in Season 5.
  • Rachel performing at the Tony Awards in Season 6.
• Convenient Miscarriage:
  • Finn and Rachel suffer a miscarriage after going back and forth on whether they want a baby. The storyline ends with Rachel having a miscarriage in a car accident.
• Cop Show:
  • Puck's storyline at work is him going up the ranks at the New York City Police Department.
• Corrupt Politician:
  • Quinn's father Russell Fabray runs against Kurt's father Burt Hummel in Season 6 and has an arrange of conservative views. He is later discovered and arrested for embezzling money into his campaign with the help of Kitty's news producer at ABC Boston.
• Courtroom Episode:
  • Cloud 9: Marley is forced to confront her sexual harasser in court in Season 3.
  • Smoke and Fire: Part of the episode takes place in a courtroom as Marley and Puck fight Jessica's mother for custody of Jessica in Season 5.
• Crack Pairing: The story explores an abundance of crack parings—pairings that were not canon in the T.V. show.
  • Artie and Marley
  • Kurt and Sebastian
  • Madison and Jake
  • Marley and Puck
  • Quinn and Brody
  • Sebastian and Marley
• Credit Card Plot: In order to fit in with her classmates, Jessica steals Marley's credit card and spends $2,000 at Forever 21. She is unable to return the items and has to get a job to make the money back.
• Creepy Twins: The Alumni joke Mason and Madison are 'incest twins'.
  • They are also too chipper for Santana, which in turn freaks her out.
• Crime of Self-Defense:
  • Marley having to shoot Lucas Hatchett after he kidnaps her and attempts to kill Puck.
• Cringe Comedy:
  • Tina writes a horrible script for her T.V. show C.H.U.M.S.
  • Blaine also writes poor fanfiction of 'Grey's Anatomy' renaming it 'Glee's Anatomy'.
• Cruel Cheerleader: Kitty, especially in Season 5.
• Daddy's Girl:
  • Finn with Sophia in Season 6.
  • Puck with Charlotte in Season 5-6.
• Designated Victim: It's Marley. It's always Marley. If it's not Finn or Puck or Rachel, or even Santana...it's definitely without a doubt Marley.
• Did You Just Have Sex?:
  • After Marley loses her virginity, Tina and Rachel in particular notice there is something different about her, and find out she had sex with Puck.
• Domestic Abuse:
  • Finn finds out his classmate Celina had been in an abusive relationship and helps her get out of it.
  • Jessica has her hands purposely burnt on the stove by her mother after bringing home a friend from school.
• Double Standard Rape: Female on Male:
  • Stephanie gets Sebastian drunk and has sex with him, which constitutes as rape. However, Stephanie claims no one will think it's rape since she is a woman.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty:
  • Sergeant Nettles towards Finn in the pilot. However, he sends Finn out of the army with a semi-honorable discharge, and provides a voice of reason for Finn in the finale after Finn leaves Rachel and their kids for Lima, Ohio.
• Driven to Suicide:
  • Juliet Jones in Season 3. After her sex tape with Santana leaks, she is embarrassed to the point where she overdoses on pills. Juliet dies.
  • Marley Rose in Season 3 and 5. Marley becomes the most hated person in New York after Juliet and Santana send a video of Marley retaliating towards Bree to TMZ in an effort to make Juliet look good. She is caught with a razor in her hand by Puck. In Season 5, nude pictures of her and Puck are leaked by Jacob Posey due to her not wanting to be on the bikini cover of Sports Illustrated. She takes a pill concoction and ends up on life support in the hospital. Marley's life is miraculously saved.
• Dropping the Bombshell:
  • Finn finding out that his father was actually alive, and that his mother lied to protect him.
  • Finn finds out from a letter sent to his house that Marley is his sister.
  • Brittany reveals to Santana that she was the one who leaked the sex tape between Santana and Juliet to the news.
  • Rachel finding out that she was pregnant after going to a routine doctors visit.
  • Tina finding out her birth mother was alive this whole time, but doesn't want a relationship with her.
  • Marley revealing to Puck that she's pregnant based off symptoms Jessica's classmate noticed.
  • Rachel finding out that Finn was arrested for DUI after becoming an alcoholic.
  • Quinn blurting out to Brody that she has cancer.
  • Puck, instead of accepting help from those around him leaves while only leaving a note for Marley, following the death of his father.
• Drunk Driver: Finn goes behind the wheel after a night out with an old friend, and is subsequently arrested by Puck for DUI.
  • Finn is promptly sent to rehab for his alcoholism and his mental issues, as he's still coping with the loss of his unborn son.
• Eating Solves Everything:
  • To cope with her father's not accepting her pregnancy, Rachel is found in the cafeteria eating over 30 cookies.
  • After Finn and Rachel push Marley too far in regards to her callback, Marley resorts to binge eating everything in sight instead of properly dealing with her stress.
• Egocentric Team Naming: The NYADA Glee Club is named after a combination of Finn and the Philharmonic: Finn Harmonic. However, it was agreed upon with most of the Glee Club members.
• Electric Love: Puck and Marley on various occasions mention that when they first kissed it felt like 'jolts of electricity'.
  • It also can't be a coincidence they sing "Electric Love" by BØRNS in Season 5, right?
• Embarrassing Middle Name: Jessica reveals Puck's middle name is Elijah, in which he makes her promise to keep it a secret since Marley will poke fun at it for sounding like a name from 'The Vampire Diaries'.
• Ensemble Cast: The story mostly started off with Finn, Rachel, Santana and Kurt, but when the Alumni little by little moved to New York, they arguably became main characters as well.
• Everybody Has Lots of Sex: Very rare to find an episode where no one is having sex.
  • Finn and Rachel, and Marley and Puck probably have the most sex in the entire series. Which makes sense...considering they have literal children in the back-half of the story.
• Everyone Must Be Paired: All of the main characters are in relationships at the end of the series.
  • Artie and Kitty
  • Blaine and Kurt
  • Brittany and Santana
  • Brody and Quinn
  • Finn and Rachel
  • Marley and Puck
  • Mercedes and Sam
  • Mike and Tina
  • Sebastian and Elliott
• Everything Explodes Ending: 'True Colors' literally ends with Puck and his cop buddies in the middle of an explosion at the 12th precinct. It's assumed they are dead but are promptly revealed to be alive by the next episode.
• Ex-Big Bad: There are a revolving door of them throughout the series.
  • Christopher Hudson (Season 1-2)
  • Paolo San Pablo (Season 2)
  • Lucas Hatchett (Season 3-5)
  • Jacob Posey (Season 4-5)
  • Stephanie Clark (Season 4)
  • Amelia Hatchett (Season 5)
  • Joey Mascarpone (Season 5-6)
• Extremely Overdue Library Book: 'Redo (Part 1)': Santana has an overdue book from when she was in High School. In turn Santana argues that she's not paying them for the book.
• Face Realization:
  • Jenny starts off as a self-centered brat, who wants to be the lead of Finn Harmonic due to her talents. However, she slowly changes her ways when she realizes there's more to being in Glee Club than performing (ex. making friends).
  • Stephanie Morales definitely ends Season 5 as a villain...but she returns in Season 6 reformed and willing to make amends with those she hurt.
• Fair Cop: Puck fits this trope to the tee.
  • As well as the rest of his colleagues at the 12th precinct.
• Fair-Weather Friend: Quinn, Rachel, Santana and Tina have shown moments where they can be flaky friends.
• Fairy Tale Wedding Dress: Rachel, Marley and Brittany had variations of this dress at their respective wedding.
  • Brittany's mother and Santana also wore wedding dresses along with the former three in "The One With Brittany's Mom" as a way to help Brittany's mother cope with the breakup to Brittany's father.
• Family Man: Finn and Puck become this trope to their wives and kids after vowing to be nothing like their father's.
• Feud Episode:
  • "Hudson vs. Schuester"
  • "Puckleberry Finn"
  • "Battle of the Bands"
• 15 Minutes of Fame: In "Wrong Song", Marley is initially given 15 Minutes of Fame after helping out a homeless person that country superstar Juliet Jones publicly belittled. The 15 Minutes of Fame end when Santana and Juliet change the narrative by having the world think Marley is a horrible person.
  • Marley does end up becoming extremely famous for her musical talents in the back-half of the series.
• First Day of School Episode: There are four different chapters that solidify the beginning of the school year.
  • "Counting Stars": Rachel and later Finn's first day at NYADA. Finn and Rachel's freshman year.
  • "New Directions": Blaine, Kurt and Marley's first day at NYADA, and Puck's first day at BMCC. Finn and Rachel's sophomore year.
  • "Same Love": Blaine, Kurt and Marley's first day of Sophomore Year. Finn and Rachel's junior year.
  • "Five Years Later": Finn's first full year as a professor at NYADA.
• Foreign-Language Tirade: Santana has multiple of these, as she is Latina.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Rachel envisions winning a Tony Award. She does so in the series finale for her work on "Vienna".
  • Marley and Puck play '20 Questions' prior to their wedding in Season 4. Marley is asked what she would name their unborn child. Marley reveals Charlotte from Charlotte's Web. In Season 5, when Finn and Rachel visit Marley in the hospital, Marley and Puck quote Charlotte's Web to reveal their daughter's name is Charlotte Rose Puckerman.
  • After Puck and Marley have sex in Marley's childhood home, Puck is later greeted by Marley's mother, Millie. Millie jokes that 'she wouldn't be surprised if grandchildren came out of that'. Two episodes later, Marley is pregnant.
• For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: While everyone dresses up for Halloween for the Halloween Party, Marley does not, as she is not a fan of the holiday.
  • At the end she dresses up as a cop as a way to seduce Puck.
• Former Bigot: Luke Johnson showed bigoted tendencies towards Kurt, Blaine and Sebastian. But after Sebastian and Marley confront him about his behavior, he reveals he had a closed off way of thinking and wants to learn from Sebastian.
• Foster Kid: Jessica Goodwin, who was originally in the foster system due to her abusive mother, becomes the de-facto Foster Kid of the series. Marley and Puck grow fond of her, to the point where Jessica comes to live with them after being abused in yet another foster home. Marley and Puck fight for custody of Jessica against her abusive mother, and win in Season 5.
• Found Family: Puck/Marley/Jessica.
• Found Family via Work: Puck and his co-workers at work: Anna Reynolds, Scott Reynolds, Holly Collins, Lindsey Shaw and Oliver Knight.
• Fourth Wall: Rachel and Marley are watching a television show called "Red Band Society" and mention its a mix of "Grey's Anatomy" and 'a show called "Glee".
• Friend to Psychos: Finn and Rachel to Marley and Puck, especially after losing their unborn son.
  • Rachel goes on a tirade towards Marley after finding out Marley was coincidentally pregnant right after Rachel lost her child. She verbally abused Marley, and went as far as trying to spike her non-alcoholic drink with vodka.
  • Finn throws a broken bottle of alcohol at Marley and Kurt in the peak of his alcoholism. He also later blames Puck for him getting arrested and sent to rehab when Puck was just trying to save his life.
• Gay Best Friend:
  • Kurt to Rachel
  • Sebastian to Marley. Sebastian later discovers he is bisexual.
• Gift of Song: Finn and Rachel sing "Love Is An Open Door" to Marley and Puck as a wedding present. However, Puck hates the movie Frozen, and it was clear there was no thought behind it other than to give Rachel an ego boost. Rachel and Finn then decide to give Marley and Puck a different gift.
  • Finn and Rachel end up singing "From This Moment On" by Shania Twain at their wedding reception, which is better received.
• Girl's Night Out Episode:
  • "The Hangover": Marley and the girls go out for Marley's bachelorette party, where the girls sneak into a bar and Santana charms the bartender into giving them alcoholic drinks.
• Give Away the Bride: Finn escorts Marley down the aisle and essentially gives her away to Puck.
• Given Name Reveal:
  • Finn's first name is revealed to be "Finnegan" after he accidentally drops one of his mother's prized plates.
  • Puck's first name is revealed to be "Noah" and his middle name is revealed to be Elijah. Jessica had called Sam who gave her the information needed.
  • Marley's middle name is revealed to be Marie. Puck reveals this as he's proposing to Marley.
• Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex:
  • "Secrets": After Puck takes down the bad guy after he was presumed dead, Marley and Puck have sex to celebrate.
  • "Two Souls in A Ghosttown": After it's revealed Marley is alive and she is taken to the hospital, Marley and Puck have sex in Marley's hospital room.
• Grade Skipper: It's revealed Marley took summer classes in between her freshman and sophomore year, which gave her enough credits to graduate High School. Marley graduates at 17, and immediately gets accepted into NYADA after she impressed Madame Tibideaux.
• Grand Finale: Puck and Oliver finally took down Joey Mascarpone, Marley and Puck move to Los Angeles, Rachel gets her Tony Award, Finn returns from Lima after realizing he needs Rachel, and Quinn, Santana and Brittany have their first babies. Then in the grand scheme of things, Marley, Rachel, Finn and Puck have one last goodbye, and everyone gathers in the auditorium to sing "Long Live".
• Green-Eyed Monster: Jealousy fuels the fire for some of the storylines.
  • Finn becomes jealous of the amount of time Rachel spends with Puck, especially when he finds out Puck has a crush on Rachel (S2).
  • Blaine becomes jealous of the amount of time Kurt and Elliott are spending with each other (S3).
  • Santana becomes jealous when Brittany spends more time helping her mother plan a wedding instead of focusing on their own (S4).
  • Puck becomes jealous of the amount of time Marley and Artie spend with each other. (S3) He goes through the same thing with Marley and Sebastian in Season 5, but actually raises the stakes by forcing Sebastian to cut off the friendship from her.
  • Rachel becomes jealous of all the good things happening in Marley's life while she is suffering from grief (S4).
• Grew a Spine: Marley relied heavily on Finn and Puck to fight her battles for her when she is first introduced. However, as time goes on, she develops a backbone and is confidently able to stand up for herself.
• Grief Song: There's a song for every occasion on Glee.
  • "Candle in The Wind" after Finn's father dies.
  • "If You Could See Me Now" after Garrett tries to cope with Juliet's death.
  • "White Houses" after Marley believes Puck is dead.
  • "Don't You Worry Child" after Rachel loses her unborn child.
  • "One More Light" after Puck gets news his father dies.
• Halloween Episode:
  • "This Is Halloween": The Alumni return to Ohio to help with the Halloween Party to raise money for the New Directions. Sue, Jake and Bree steal the schools laptop computers and cause a mechanical malfunction, subsequently locking the doors to the school. It's up to Puck, Marley, Finn and Rachel to find the computers and release everyone from the confines of their former High School.
  • "Supergleeroes": Sebastian, Marley and Puck's co-worker Oliver receive superhero costumes that resemble The Flash, Supergirl and Green Arrow. What's even crazier is the costumes have superpowers!. When the 12th precinct is under siege, it's up to Marley, Sebastian and Oliver to free the rest of the police officers and save the day.
• Halloween Songs: It's Glee, of course there is!
  • "This Is Halloween": Opening Number with New Directions/Alumni/Will Schuester.
  • "Ghostbusters": Finn and Marley after Finn tries to convince Marley that Halloween is fun.
  • "Calling All The Monsters": Brittany, Santana, Tina, Kitty and Unique. Used as a distraction while the Glee Club is locked in the choir room.
  • "Thriller/Heads Will Roll": Artie, Brittany, Finn, Rachel and Santana. At the Halloween Party.
  • "The Monster Mash": Kurt, Tina and Brittany. At the Halloween Party.
• Hallway Fight: Puck and Jake.
  • Jake overhears rumors that Marley and Puck slept with each other while Marley and Jake were together, which wasn't the case and was mainly fueled by Jake wanting to find a reason to confront Puck. Puck insists it didn't happen, but Jake, who doesn't believe him, pushes him and starts beating him up in the school hallway. When Marley, Santana and Brittany realize Jake is assaulting Puck, Marley goes to stop it, but ends up in the crossfire when Jake accidentally hits Marley in the face.
• Heel Realization: It takes all of Rachel's friends disowning her, and Sebastian throwing up on her shoes, for Rachel to realize that she had been incredibly insufferable.
• Heel Turn: Despite being Puck's trusted Captain, Holly Collins ends up being in cahoots with Joey Mascarpone.
• Heirloom Engagement Ring: Puck's mother Gina gives Puck her old engagement ring after seeing how happy Marley makes him.
• Hero on Hiatus: Puck leaves the police force to spend more time with Marley and their kids. Five years later, he's a happy stay-at-home dad, but is forced to reconsider going back to the police force after his father dies and his son was close to being targeted as a way to send him a message.
• Hide Your Pregnancy: Naya Rivera's pregnancy was written into the story as Santana being a surrogate for her aunt.
• Holiday Episode: There were two Thanksgiving episodes, two Halloween specials and three Christmas episodes.
  • "Thanksgiving": Thanksgiving Episode (S2)
  • "A Very Glee Christmas": Christmas Episode (S2)
  • "This Is Hallowen: Halloween Episode (Special)
  • "Coming Home": Thanksgiving Episode (S4)
  • "Glee, Actually": Christmas Episode (S4)
  • "Supergleeroes": Halloween Episode (Special)
  • "A Wonderful Christmastime": Christmas Episode (S5)
• Home Porn Movie: Marley admits to Rachel of having photos and video of her and Puck having sex in an effort to spice up their marriage.
  • This comes into play later when Jacob Posey tries to blackmail Marley into doing a sexy photoshoot for Sports Illustrated. When Marley doesn't do as he says, Jacob leaks the video and photos on the internet, with the press having a heyday regarding Marley's personal life. This leads to Marley attempting suicide.
• Homophobic Hate Crime: Santana and Brittany go with Marley and Puck to a birthing class, where Santana is met with homophobia by another mom-to-be. Despite Marley and Puck standing up for Santana, she is unsure how to handle the comments and simply walks away. Santana later learns to be proud of who she is, and asks Marley if she can join her and Puck at their next class. Santana promptly stands up to the mother-to-be and effectively gets her banned from the birthing class.
  • Kurt is trying to scout the competition for the NYADA showcase and runs into Luke Johnson, who is a transfer student. Luke realizes that Kurt is gay by Kurt showing affection towards Blaine during his performance. Luke makes homophobic comments towards Kurt, and Sebastian steps in, which in turn causes Sebastian to get a black eye from Luke. Once Sebastian tells Marley about the encounter Luke had with Kurt, the two of them track Luke down and find out that he has been sheltered his whole life and has his own issues of being discriminated against. Luke later finds Kurt and apologizes, telling him that he may not understand, but he wants to learn.
• Horrible Honeymoon: Finn and Rachel decide to go on a honeymoon before their child arrives, and while Rachel envisions it will be romantic...it ends up being in a rundown hotel with mice in Atlantic City. Rachel and Finn try to make the best of the situation, but it at first is chalked up as the worst honeymoon they've ever been on. Rachel and Finn later realize the beauty Atlantic City has to offer and decide to stay, with Finn even upgrading Rachel to a new hotel.
  • Marley and Puck also go on a honeymoon although it's fake since it's an undercover sting job at the Plaza Hotel. Marley becomes frustrated because Puck is all work and no play, which stems from Puck working nonstop since their wedding. It also doesn't help they didn't have sex for six weeks, since Puck was trying to save their first time as a married couple for their honeymoon. Marley begins to chalk it up as a horrible honeymoon, but after a phone call to Rachel, Puck apologizes to Marley for being emotionally unavailable and makes it up to her. After the undercover sting is complete, Marley and Puck actually have their real honeymoon after Puck's co-workers combine their days off to give him a weeks vacation.
• I Am Not My Father: Puck's mother Gina is unable to separate him from his father, which is hinted when Puck introduces Marley to her and when Puck reveals he's getting married. Gina assumes Puck is going to be a low-life and mooch off his friends while in New York, to which Puck reveals he is nothing like his dead-beat father, and has actually tried to make a living for himself.
  • Puck proves his mother wrong by becoming a police officer and being a loving father to his children.
• I Banged Your Mom: Puck meekly tells Rachel that he and Shelby slept together, to which it temporarily disturbs Rachel. However, Rachel immediately brushes it to the side as she was not as close to Shelby.
  • Puck also slept with his middle school friend's mother, to which he immediately regretted after the fact.
• I Don't Like You And You Don't Like Me: Finn and Jesse, especially after they were both cast in Funny Girl.
  • However, over time Finn and Jesse grow an understanding for each other and eventually become good friends.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Puck gives a variation of this speech to Sue Sylvester when Sue makes Will add Bree to the Glee Club at the expense of Marley's safety.
  • Finn gives this speech to Puck after he reluctantly accepts Puck and Marley's relationship. Finn threatens to come after Puck with a chainsaw and baseball bat in the case Puck hurts her.
• "I Hate" Song: Again...there's Glee. There's a song for everything.
  • "Hate (I Really Don't Like You)": Finn and Jesse
• I Just Want to Be Loved: Quinn reveals to Brody that she just wants someone to love her after her failed relationships with Finn, Puck and Sam.
  • Luckily, Quinn gets her wish with Brody.
• I Never Told You My Name: A variation of this trope occurs when Puck tries to find out who leaked Marley's eating disorder to TMZ. When he confronts Rachel, Rachel mentions the word "Kacey"—Marley's former bully in middle school—to which Puck replies he never mentioned the name 'Kacey', indicating it was Rachel who leaked it to TMZ.
• Infant Sibling Jealousy: Kurt and Finn both feel jealous when Burt and Carole announce that they're having a baby. Finn's jealousy was right off the bat, but came to realization that no matter what, his mother was still going to love him. Kurt's jealousy happened shortly after the baby was born, as he was afraid the baby would grow up to be intolerant of the world. He realized he as being silly as he should know the baby is going to have the best parents growing up.
• Informed Kindness: Tina and Kurt assure Marley that Puck is a nice person, while at that point Puck hadn't done anything valuable to prove that he was a changed or kind person.
  • From that point forward, Puck does prove he is a kind and good person.
• Interrupted Intimacy: Finn is a culprit of interrupting Marley and Puck's intimacy time, mostly coming in when he needs advice.
  • Once Marley and Puck move out, Jessica takes over that role.
• It Meant Something to Me: A variation of this trope occurs when Quinn reveals to Marley what Puck's true body count was after Puck gave Marley a vague answer. Marley reveals her losing her virginity meant something to her and she questions if Puck was the right person to give it to.
• It's All About Me: While Rachel tries to be less selfish and more of a team player, she has tendencies to become an egomaniac, especially when things don't quite go her way.
  • Tina also shows tendencies of this trait when Brody wouldn't change the setlist for Sectionals. Tina took questionable measures to change the setlist and give herself the lead.
• It's Okay to Cry: Burt comforts Finn after Finn had been holding in his emotions regarding his father's death.
  • Marley comforts Puck after he reveals he felt guilty about not seeing the signs of Jessica's abuse, admitting that 'he feels like a wuss crying in front of his wife'.
• I Was Named "My Name": Millie reveals she had Bob Marley music on while in labor. When announced it was a girl, Millie decided to name her Marley.
• Jewish American Princess: Rachel is described as such multiple times.
  • It is also used as an endearing nickname for her by Puck.
• Kidnapped While Sleeping: Marley was drugged on a plane before being kidnapped by Lucas and Stephanie.
• Kinky Cuffs: Marley—in costume—handcuffs her and Puck together after Puck decides to spend Halloween Night with her.
• Kissing Under the Influence: At a house party, Kurt and Blaine kiss while drunk. The two of them are broken up at that point.
• Let's Have Another Baby: Months after their daughter is born, Puck brings up the topic of him and Marley trying for another baby.
  • Marley and Puck actually do get pregnant with their second child by the end of Season 5.
• LGBT Awakening: Entering the story, Sebastian is out as a gay man. After helping Marley through a bank robbery, he realizes he may have feelings for her which leaves him confused. After talking things through with Finn, Sebastian comes to terms that he is bisexual, and to be proud of who he is.
  • In the final season, it's revealed he is married to Jenny, but Elliott coming back into town makes Sebastian realize that he is meant to be with Elliott.
  • Jessica, who is certain that she is straight and in a committed relationship with her boyfriend, is shellshocked when she realizes she is in love with her best friend Samantha Perkins. The two of them eventually get together, and Samantha proposes to Jessica in the series finale.
• Living Out a Childhood Dream: Majority of the characters turn their teenage hobbies into careers.
  • Artie becomes a filmmaker.
  • Blaine becomes a musician doing Las Vegas residencies.
  • Brittany becomes a talk show host for Fondue For Two
  • Finn becomes a professor at NYADA.
  • Kurt becomes a wedding designer.
  • Marley and Mercedes become successful recording artists.
  • Mike becomes a professional dancer.
  • Puck becomes Sergeant for the Los Angeles Police Department.
  • Quinn becomes a high profile lawyer.
  • Rachel ends up on Broadway.
  • Santana becomes a ballerina.
  • Sam works for the NFL.
  • Tina is a photographer.
• Locked in a Room: Quinn and Santana lock the Alumni in the choir room in order for them to air their grievances out about Finn.
  • They actually do become locked in when neither Quinn or Santana have the key.
• Lost Wedding Ring: A major plot point in "The Hangover" is Finn losing the wedding rings that Puck entrusted him with. This leads to the two of them going through hell to find them.
  • It turns out the rings never left the loft. They were on Puck's dresser as Finn came in to take a razor.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Quinn and Santana fit this trope, as no matter what they do, it's impossible for them to be disliked.
• Love at First Sight: Puck admits he loved Marley the moment he saw her dressed as Katy Perry, doing an inappropriate number orchestrated by Will Schuester.
  • Finn admits to loving Rachel at first sight when they had their picnic as teeangers.
• Love Confession: There were plenty of love confessions throughout the series.
  • Finn admits that he came to New York feeling lost, and wants to get back together with Rachel because he can't live without her.
  • Blaine confesses he wants to be with Kurt again while they're in Los Angeles for Nationals. Blaine furthers his love confession by proposing to Kurt.
  • Puck confesses his love to Marley after realizing Quinn doesn't need him anymore. After Marley breaks up with Jake in Los Angeles, she immediately goes to the hotel where Finn Harmonic is staying and confesses her love for Puck as well.
  • Santana admits to Brittany she wants to be together again, and that she misses her. It takes some convincing but Brittany reciprocates her feelings, and Santana and Brittany get back together.
  • After Quinn beats cancer, Brody gives a love confession to Quinn and proposes.
• Love Triangle: The following love triangles occurred in the series:
  • Finn/Rachel/Brody
  • Santana/Brittany/Dani
  • Kurt/Blaine/Elliott
  • Finn/Rachel/Puck
  • Puck/Marley/Quinn
  • Puck/Marley/Jake
  • Puck/Marley/Artie
  • Kurt/Blaine/Sebastian
  • Sam/Mercedes/Quinn
  • Finn/Rachel/Stacy
  • Puck/Marley/Sebastian
  • Quinn/Brody/Sam
  • Artie/Kitty/Jenny
  • Sebastian/Jenny/Elliott
  • Simone/Garrett/Celina
  • Boone/Stephanie/Harry
  • Stephanie/Harry/Emilina
• Make Up or Break Up: After Puck is blindsided by Marley faking a PR relationship with Jacob Posey, he is understandably hurt and needs space. He battles his feelings about whether to forgive Marley or not.
  • He ultimately does forgive her, and their first child comes out of it.
• Married Too Young: Finn, Rachel and Marley were 18 when they initially got married. Puck was 20 when he got married.
  • Rachel and Marley were engaged when they were 17.
• Marry for Love: All of the couples that were married ended up being married for love.
• May I Borrow a Cup of Sugar?: A variation of this trope occurs when Sebastian asks if he can have some Splenda for his coffee.
• Mic Drop: Marley makes an empathetic speech at the Grammys where she reveals she is actually—and proud to be—married to Puck. After her speech she drops the mic and walks off the stage, which in turn leads to her being the talk of Hollywood.
• Mistaken Death Confirmation: The nurse gives enough context clues that Puck is dead.
  • Holly Collins also mentions to Marley that Puck died, but the false confirmation was intentional as it was to make sure Marley was out of the way.
• Morning Sickness: Rachel, Marley and Santana experienced morning sickness while they were pregnant.
• Musical Episode: Every. Single. Episode.
• My Eyes Are Up Here: In a comical twist to this trope, Puck is reading a book and Marley motions for him to look at her as she is trying to seduce him.
• My Favorite Shirt: When Jenny slushies Finn and Jesse, Finn mentions his favorite shirt is ruined.
• Narrating the Present: Some episodes have one of the characters narrating what is currently going on before the story is advanced.
• Nerd Glasses: Marley has to wear glasses in "Beneath Your Beautiful" as her contacts come in, and she is the subject of bullying by her own classmates because they're not used to her wearing glasses.
• New York Is Only Manhattan: The Alumni deviate from this trope as they end up renting two apartments in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn.
  • Marley and Puck however play into this trope as their first apartment as a married couple is a luxury apartment in Midtown, Manhattan. While not unrealistic given their jobs, the first place they thought of getting an apartment was in Manhattan.
• Oddball in the Series: Brittany plays into this trope as she is, as Finn calls her 'not the sharpest crayon in the Crayola box'.
• Office Romance: Two of Puck's co-workers, Scott and Anna Reynolds are married and work in the same police precinct.
  • Oliver Knight and Lindsay Shaw also start an in-office romance as it's revealed they had a one-night stand that resulted in a daughter.
• Offscreen Breakup: In Season 6, it's revealed Santana, Brittany, Blaine, Kurt, Mike, Tina, Artie and Jenny all broke up with each other. They are either in different relationships or single.
• Oh, Crap, There Are Fanfics of Us!: A variation of this trope is Marley mentioning the gossip magazines writing fictitious stories about her and Puck's marriage; Marley isn't willing to entertain but Puck is intrigued.
• Old People are Nonsexual: Burt and Carole deviate from this trope when they announce to Finn, Rachel, Kurt and Blaine that they're pregnant.
• One Last Job: Puck's last case in New York City is to bring Joey Mascarpone to justice once and for all.
• One-Man Band: Blaine plays into a variation of this trope, by hosting a one man show about his life from Dalton to New York. Santana then asks to be put out of her misery.
• One-Shot Character: Jessica Goodwin was meant to be a one-shot character, but eventually became a series regular.
• Only-Child Syndrome: Rachel is the focus of her fathers' lives because she is an only child.
• "On the Next Episode of..." Catch-Phrase: "And That's What You Missed on...Glee!"
• Open-Minded Parent: Millie Rose has been very open to Marley when she needs to go to her mother. Millie tends to handle Marley's issues with understanding.
  • Aside from Kurt and Blaine wanting to get married, Burt Hummel has also been a very openminded parent.
• Opposites Attract: Marley and Puck represent this trope well. Marley was a shy, kindhearted individual while Puck was troubled. However...it worked out for them!
• Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?: Marley implies Puck's penis is doing the talking when he tries to initiate sex.
  • "Battle of the Bands": Puck mentions his heart is doing the talking when Marley mentions, "that's not your heart talking".
  • "I Have Questions": Puck once again mentions his heart is doing the talking when he wants morning sex. Marley again mentions, it's not his heart talking.
• Origins Episode: "Smoke and Fire" goes into Jessica's origin story about how she ended up in the foster system and how she first met Oliver.
• Parental Marriage Veto: Finn and Rachel's fathers are vastly against Finn and Rachel getting married.
  • They go as far as planning to interrupt the wedding.
• Parody Episode:
  • "C.H.U.M.S": The episode is a play on F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Tina writes an offensive script for her NYU Television studio. There is also a parody of "Grey's Anatomy" written by Blaine called "Glee's Anatomy".
  • "The Hangover": Finn, Sam and Artie plan a bachelor party for Puck, and the boys wake up the next morning to Kurt having a tattoo on his face, Puck's wedding rings going missing and a tiger in the bathroom.
• Pep-Talk Song: It's Glee. Of course! Some examples include...
  • "I'll Stand By You": The Alumni sing it to Finn after he becomes wary of his father.
  • "Not The End": Finn sings this to Rachel to encourage her after she believes she failed her audition.
  • "Hey You": Brittany sings this to Santana after trying to convince her to not change what she loves about her.
  • "Fight Song": Quinn and Marley sing this after Quinn decides to face her cancer battle and Marley overcomes PTSD.
  • "Stand By You": The Alumni sing it to Marley after she comes out of the hospital following a suicide attempt.
• Playing the Victim Card: Rachel tended to play the victim during her arc where she gave Marley a hard time being pregnant, using her grief as an excuse.
• Plot Device All Along: It wasn't a coincidence that Marley was constantly being tested by other people. Joey Mascarpone purposely had Lucas, Amelia and Stephanie test her in order to watch Puck suffer. The only coincidence of Marley being tested that wasn't Joey's doing was Jacob Posey.
  • Sergeant Nettles's words to Finn were a motivation for him to keep going throughout the entire series. Sergeant Nettles appears in the series finale to remind him of what's important.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Marley was introduced to the story as a 15-year-old. She is aged up to 17 in Season 3, as to make the age gap between her and Puck only two years versus three (she was 16 in the Season 2 finale).
  • Puck's sister Sarah was also aged up from 12 to 13 to bring conflict that Sarah was growing up too quickly for Puck's liking.
• Pokémon Speak: Brittany creates a language in "What I Like About You" where no one else will understand her. It quickly gets annoying.
• Pregnancy Scare: Rachel and Finn had a pregnancy scare in Season 1 when they weren't careful after getting back together.
• Pregnancy Test Plot: Rachel takes a pregnancy test at the end of Season 1, and when Finn asks for the results, all that happens is they stare at the test with blank faces. It turns out they weren't pregnant.
  • Marley and Puck take 15 pregnancy tests when Marley suspects she's pregnant in Season 4. She's pregnant, and when she asks Puck to throw away the pregnancy tests so they can tell Jessica that evening, Puck misses one. Rachel, who goes to visit Puck and wants someone to hang out with to curve her grief, goes to the bathroom and finds the pregnancy test. She angrily tells Jessica, who sees the test in Rachel's hand, that Marley plans on replacing her.
  • Marley and Rachel take pregnancy tests in Season 5 after they realize they missed their period. Both of them are pregnant at the same time, but Marley freaks out, thinking they need more pregnancy tests.
• Pregnant Badass: When Amelia is about to kill Sebastian, Marley, while in labor, smacks Amelia with a chair and kicks her gun away from her, which allows Oliver to swoop in and arrest Amelia.
• Pregnant Hostage: Marley and Sebastian are held hostage in a bank by Amelia Hatchett. Marley simultaneously goes into labor.
• Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Quinn in Season 3. Santana gives Quinn wind that Puck is now dating Marley, which upsets Quinn. From there, Quinn spirals when she tries to break up Puck and Marley in order to keep Puck as a back-up option.
  • "Heroes": Quinn and Santana happen to be at Callbacks when Marley and Puck come in for dinner. There, the four of them sit down together until Marley goes to the bathroom. Quinn decides to join Marley in the bathroom and proceeds to tell Marley about Puck's past, ranging from countless women Puck slept with, to him actually going to juvie. The icing on the cake is she mentions Beth, who is Quinn and Puck's daughter from High School. When Marley confronts Puck about it, Quinn is delighted that they're fighting.
  • "Yellow": Quinn comes to visit New York at the same time Marley is in Lima to be with her mother for a doctor's appointment. With Marley gone, Quinn uses this as an opportunity to try to win Puck back. This ranges from putting on a deranged musical number at Callbacks—with Santana and Brittany in tow—and trying to convince Puck that they belong together. When it doesn't work, Quinn overemotionally yells at Puck to screw himself and tries one last trick in the book. She takes enough pills where she has to go to the hospital, and when Puck and Rachel arrive, they realize Quinn did this so Puck would drop everything. Puck realizes Quinn has more pills, provided by Biff, and tries to take them away from her. She refuses. Puck cuts off his friendship with Quinn until she decides to get help, and makes it clear to her that the two of them will never get back together.
  • "Funny Girl": Quinn returns for Finn and Rachel's Opening Night on Broadway but is met with apprehension when she, Puck and Marley are face to face. Quinn slowly notices Marley's health deteriorating throughout the day and when it becomes noticeable by everyone, Burt mentions Marley's suffering from appendicitis. Quinn quickly tends to Marley and helps Puck and Burt get Marley to the hospital. There, she reveals to Puck that she broke up with Biff, and she has no more interest taking pills. From there, Quinn and Puck agree to be friends.
  • "The One With Brittany's Mom": Quinn is invited with the rest of the Alumni to the recording studio, where she realizes that Puck plans on proposing to Marley. Quinn ends up ruining the proposal after Marley says yes by objecting that they want to get married right away. This stems from Quinn's feelings for Puck while still with Sam. Quinn eventually apologizes for her outburst and gives Marley and Puck her blessing.
• Publicity Stunt: In order for Marley to keep her contract at Columbia Records, Marley is forced to enter a PR relationship with Jacob Posey, despite the fact she's married to Puck; Marley's record label doesn't believe that Puck as a cop is a good fit for Marley's image. Marley has to keep it a secret, but it gets harder when Jacob actually kisses her, and now she has to hide the evidence before Puck sees it. Unfortunately for Marley, Puck sees it on a magazine, which leads to their most heated argument.
• Rags to Riches: Marley and Millie are incredibly poor as the story begins. Marley works hard to get out of poverty and becomes a recording artist.
  • She repays her mother by giving her a credit card of her own, and buys her mother a house in a wealthy neighborhood.
• Real Award, Fictional Character: This occurs on separate occasions.
  • Puck wins "NYS Officer of the Year" in the Season 4 episode "The Tonight Show".
  • Marley wins five Grammy Awards, three in the Season 5 episode "The Grammys".
  • Rachel wins her first Tony Award in the series finale "Second Chances".
• Ready for Lovemaking: In "Out of The Woods", after Marley is finally able to get Jessica to go to bed by teaching her boundaries, she turns around and finds all of Puck's clothes on the floor, with a naked Puck covered by a blanket.
• Reformed Bully: Sebastian fits this trope as he arrives to New York only for him to become a friend to the Alumni. Sebastian was previously a bully to them, and Kurt in particular in High School.
  • Simone Barberrie, Jenny McCarthy, Brody Weston, Stephanie Morales and Emilina Hawthorne are all also examples of reformed bullies.
• Rejected Marriage Proposal: When Brody proposes to Quinn in "Once A Warbler, Always A Warbler", Quinn doesn't say anything at all. It's later revealed in the next episode, Quinn initially rejected his proposal because of her fear of commitment.
• Relationship Upgrade:
  • Finn and Rachel in "Your Love Is A Song"
  • Blaine and Kurt in "No Boundaries" and "Words Unspoken"
  • Marley and Puck in "No Boundaries"
  • Santana and Brittany in "The Gleeful World of Disney"
  • Kurt and Sebastian in "Secrets"
  • Quinn and Brody in "Rise"
• Re-release the Song: A few songs were performed more than once in the series.
  • "A Thousand Years" was performed by Rachel and Finn (S1), and Marley and Puck (S4)
  • "Defying Gravity" was sung by Rachel (S3) and by Rachel, Kurt and Mercedes (S4)
  • "Hey, Mickey" was sung by Tina, Marley and Brittany (S3) and Brittany, Brody, Marley and Puck (S4)
  • "Chandelier was sung by Santana (S3) and Marley, Santana, Brittany, Puck and Brody (S4)
• Rich Bitch: Not a bitch but Samantha Perkins enters the series as a wealthy teenager since her parents are soap opera actors.
  • Also not a bitch, but Marley becomes incredibly rich as the series goes on.
• Rich Sibling, Poor Sibling: Despite Finn living comfortably on a teacher's salary, he is "poor" in comparison to his sister, Marley, who is a well known recording artist.
• Runaway Fiancé: Not intentionally, but Puck almost missed his wedding because Jake, Bree and Sue Sylvester kidnapped him.
• Running Away to Cry: It happens a few times during the series.
  • When Rachel is sexually assaulted by Paolo, and Finn confronts her to the point where she runs off.
  • When Tina finds out her birth mother wants nothing to do with her.
  • When Rachel belittles Marley because Marley didn't vote for her in the "Diva-Off".
• Same Plot Sequel: Marley aims to find out more about Christopher, but is told by Puck to let it go. The same plot occurs in Season 6 when Puck's father dies and he wants to find out more about his father. The plot makes Puck come off as hypocritical, as he suddenly finds himself in Marley's shoes.
• Satellite Character: Kurt and to an extent Santana. As the series goes on, they find themselves orbiting around other characters.
• Season Finale:
  • "Sectionals" (S1): Finn Harmonic competes in their first Sectionals against the Pixie Dixies.
  • "No Boundaries" (S2): The stakes and emotions are high as the New Directions and Finn Harmonic compete at Nationals in Los Angeles.
  • "Cloud 9" (S3): Finn Harmonic compete at Sectionals as Marley faces her sexual assaulter in court and Tina finds her birth mother.
  • "This Summer's Gonna Hurt" (S4): Finn's life spirals further out of control when Stacy and Finn go out for a night on the town. Marley's debut album is released and is asked to go on tour to promote it.
  • "Comin' At You Like A Dark Horse" (S5): Finn Harmonic competes in the Wild Card round as their last ditch chance to re-enter the show choir circuit.
  • "Second Chances" (S6): Finn, Rachel, Marley and Puck are at the crossroads as Marley and Puck prepare to leave for Los Angeles, Rachel prepares for the Tony Awards and Finn goes back to Lima, Ohio.
• Secret Relationship: In "Gleeduation", Marley and Puck had been privately dating for a couple months, and question whether to tell their friends. They eventually do tell their friends, but hold off until "What I Like About You" to tell Finn since Marley found out Finn is her older brother.
• Sick Episode:
  • "For The First Time" (S2): Finn spends majority of the episode sick with a fever as a reason to keep Rachel and Finn New York.
  • "Funny Girl" (S3): Marley gets progressively sicker as the episode goes on, before being rushed to the hospital to have an appendectomy.
  • "I Lived" (S4): Artie undergoes simple tonsil surgery. But that surgery isn't so simple when a doctor nicks an artery and Artie is stuck in a temporary coma.
• Song Fic: The story itself is a song fic, which incorporates music to fit the storylines.
• Spoiler Title: "Don't You Worry Child" and "Rachel Berry's House Party Extravaganza" are some examples imply what the plot of the chapter is going to be.
• Spoofs "R" Us: Finn actually mentions the defunct 'Baby's R' Us' when convincing Marley and Puck that they should send their unborn child there in order to spare Rachel's feelings.
• Stacy's Mom: The trope was taken extremely literally. A character named Stacy worked at a tattoo parlor and was a middle school friend of Finn and Puck. Puck takes a liking to Stacy's mother, and ends up sleeping with her.
  • Puck also sings the song "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne to further drive home the point.
• Staying with Friends: As Marley was only 17, Millie allowed her to spend the summer—and eventually move in—with Finn, Puck, Rachel, Santana and Kurt.
• Subbing for Santa: A variation of this trope is Finn running late as Santa Claus at the Lima Mall, leaving Santana, who is playing Finn's wife as Mrs. Claus, to sub in. It's played for laughs and hilarity ensues.
• Sucks at Dancing: Finn. The man cannot dance. He knows this. His friends know this. His teachers know this. And yet they feel the need to remind him.
• Surprise Pregnancy: Rachel and Marley's pregnancies came by surprise.
• Sweet Home Alabama: Jessica cracks jokes about the Marley/Puck/Jake love triangle as she mentions Marley got involved with "the country brothers" (Marley, Jake and Puck are all from Ohio).
• Talking in Bed: Finn/Rachel and Marley/Puck do this quite often.
• Teen Drama: A story about 18-19-year-olds coming from Midwestern Ohio to navigate college and New York City? Sign us up!
• Teen Pregnancy: TECHNICALLY, Marley is 19 when she's pregnant with her first kid. Technically an adult. But technically still a teen.
• Thanksgiving Episode: There are two Thanksgiving episodes.
  • "Thanksgiving" (S2): The Alumni spend Thanksgiving in New York City. Santana and Puck butt heads. Quinn comes to town to ruffle some feathers. Rachel hears back from her Funny Girl callback. And Kurt with Isabelle hosts a Kiki—what IS a Kiki?
  • "Coming Home (S4): The Alumni head to Lima to spend Thanksgiving with their families. Puck finds out his 13-year-old sister has started dating. Sam's family is about to lose their home after not being able to pay their mortgage. Finn and Rachel have some adult news to share with Burt and Carole. And the New Directions try to get back in the show choir circuit by proving Dalton Academy cheated.
• The Bad Guys Are Cops: Stephanie Clark and Holly Collins are two prime examples. However, it's later proven Stephanie isn't actually a cop. She was just there under Joey Mascarpone's orders to ruffle Puck and Marley's feathers.
• The Breakfast Plot: A variation of this trope occurs when Blaine is trying to name his new band. Marley mentions they all wouldn't have met if it weren't for Glee Club, like the five teenagers in 'The Breakfast Club'. Sam, Brittany, Blaine, Tina and Artie agree it's a good name, and call themselves 'The Breakfast Club'.
• The Bully: Bree—and later Kitty—fit this trope. For different reasons.
  • Bree was envious of how things naturally came to Marley, so she decided to bully her. She even joined Glee Club to make Marley's life hell.
  • Kitty disliked Puck for the mere reason that he "took Marley away from her". Kitty believed Marley was happier in High School, but it was obvious she was not. Once Marley cuts her off, she begins bullying both Marley and Puck, not caring who she hurts.
• The Pawns Go First: Joey Mascarpone stayed in hiding. However, he sends his pawns (Lucas, Stephanie, Amelia, etc.) to do his dirty work until he's ready to make his appearance.
• This Page Will Self-Destruct: In a variation of this trope, Stephanie Morales sends Finn a message regarding his Glee Club. After the message, Finn's iPhone explodes.
• Titled After the Song: Majority of the episode titles are from songs.
• To Be Continued: All of the two-part episodes end with "To Be Continued".
• Token Minority Couple: Tina and Mike. They're both Asian. It's been self-explanatory since canon.
• Undercover as Lovers: Puck and Marley have to play a married couple on their honeymoon for an undercover sting. It's a good thing they're both actually married!
  • Rachel and Puck also go undercover as lovers as they try to get into the theater to see Marley's audition. Rachel refers to Puck as "her husband".
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: Santana concocts a ruse where Finn has to act—he can't—and dresses all of the deer at the petting zoo as "Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer" just to propose to Brittany. Luckily Brittany liked it, because it worked!
• Wedding Bells... for Someone Else: Brittany is slated to get married to Alex of the Chainsmokers, but after the wedding is called off, the guests find out Brittany plans to get married to Santana instead.
• Wedding Episode:
  • "I Do" and "Enchanted" were Finn and Rachel's wedding.
  • "Who You Love" (Part 1 & 2) were Marley and Puck's wedding.
  • "The Last Time" and "Lover" were Brittany and Santana's wedding.
• Welcome to the Big City: The Alumni as they come from Lima, Ohio to New York City.
• What Did I Do Last Night?: In "The Hangover", the boys wake up with no recollection that happened the night before. Once they realize Kurt has a face tattoo, Sebastian has a pet monkey and there is a tiger in the bathroom, they all wonder what happened at the bachelor party.
• Wild Teen Party: Puck, Santana, Kurt, Blaine and Brittany throw a house party at the loft. It gets so out of control, Brittany tries to stop the party, only for it to end with Finn getting arrested.
• You Keep Telling Yourself That: In Season 5 and 6, Rachel would introduce herself as Puck's friend. His response, "You Keep Telling Yourself That."
• You Need to Get Laid: The episode "The Honeymooners" centers on Marley's need to get laid from her husband. The problem is, he's trying to save their first time as a married couple for their actual honeymoon.
• Your Door Was Open: Finn continuously forgets to lock the loft door, so Blaine or Sam, who live across the hall, are able to just come in when they feel like. They continuously remind Finn that the door was open when he asks how they got in.