I even asked Barbra to be at your audition.
Welcome to a tribute episode showcasing songs in the key of life.
Kurt returns to Ohio for Burt's appointment and stops by McKinley to help the New Directions prepare for Regionals, along with Mike and Mercedes. Artie is keeping a secret from his mom (special guest star Katey Sagal), but Kitty steps in to help Artie come clean. Rachel worries when Cassandra finds out about her Funny Girl audition, but is surprised when Cassandra changes her attitude towards her.
Next Time: The Season 4 finale, Regionals 2013, the reveal of "Katie", and the final flight of the majestic Rainbow Bicorn.
Songs (All by Stevie Wonder)
- Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours! performed by Kitty with New Directions
- Superstition performed by Mercedes, Marley, and Blaine, with Kurt, Mike, and New Directions
- You Are The Sunshine of My Life performed by Kurt with Kitty, Marley, and Tina
- I Wish performed by Jake with Marley and Mike
- Uptight (Everything's Alright) performed by Cassie with NYADA students
- Higher Ground performed by Mercedes
- For Once In My Life performed by Artie with New Directions
Tropes:
- Blatant Lies: Cassie claims that she found out about Rachel's call back from Barbra Streisand in a Target. Also, depending on your stance, her claim that she never hated Rachel.
- Call-Back : Mercedes' album is Hell to the No ; named for the song she wrote in Season 2.
- Department of Redundancy Department: One of Rachel's NYADA groupies refers to Meryl Streep as a "legendary legend".
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Fridge Brilliance: Learning how Cassie SUPPOSEDLY never hated Rachel, fans thought up lots of different reasons why she gave her the supposedly-demeaning "schwimmer" nickname:- As an Affectionate Nickname - she's not mocking Rachel's looks, but just applying it to her and/or thinks it's cute.
- To make her fight harder for what she wants. Yes, it's mean, but it's part of a plan.
- Because in Friends, Schwimmer's character turned his hobby into a very successful career and she wants Rachel to do the same.
- Also in Friends, the character Rachel gets together with Schwimmer's character, so her surname would be this. Yes it's a boring theory.
- A play or corruption of "swimmer", from the tadpole nickname for promising new students.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Heather Morris is missing because she's super pregnant and can't work as much; Naya Rivera apparently enraged Lea Michele/the producers so much they cleared her trailer.
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Reality Subtext: Lea Michele (Rachel) and Kate Hudson (Cassie) absolutely adore each other, which seeps into their later friendly scenes together, making these affectionate. - The Cameo: Harry Shum Jr as Mike Chang & Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones.
- Title Drop: "I'm trying to be wonderful... sometimes I'm sweet, sometimes I'm sour. Keeps it interesting." - Kitty. And by "it", she means Glee.
