As the glee club readies itself for Sectionals, Rachel receives a surprise visit from Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff), who reveals that he has been cast as the male lead opposite her in the new musical. Despite telling Sam that she's made up her mind, Rachel is still unsure as to whether she should go back to college. Meanwhile, Roderick and Spencer ask Kitty and Will to help them improve their dance moves, which results in Spencer spraining his ankle. Despite the injury being severe, Spencer opts for a cortisone injection so that he can still perform with his friends. Roderick, however, finds a better solution by incorporating Spencer into the Sectionals set in a unique way. Before the day of the competition, Sue glitter bombs the choir room, taints the McKinley water supply and sets fire to Will's car—all seemingly for revenge. Her coaching of Vocal Adrenaline also results in an overblown competition set, complete with human cannonballs. This ostentatiousness costs them the victory, with New Directions emerging as the winners. Afterwards, Sue tells Will that, because he stood up for her during Geraldo Riviera's exposé, she had sabotaged Vocal Adrenaline by deliberately alienating the judges, while also helping New Directions improve their physiologies with her earlier shenanigans, thereby ensuring their victory. After Sectionals ends, Rachel tells Jesse that she has decided to return to NYADA and turn down the musical. Though disappointed, he accepts her decision and offers her a place to stay in New York; the two then share a kiss before parting. As the glee club celebrates their victory and sends off a departing Rachel, they have the previous trophies put back on display with the latest one as Sue looks on with approval.
However, we have one last piece of business to attend to. They say all good things come to an end, and for Glee, and these recaps, our Journey is about to reach its end...
Songs
- "Listen To Your Heart" by Roxette, performed by Jesse and Rachel
- "Broken Wings" by Mister Mister, performed by The Falconers
- "We Built This City" by Starship, performed by Vocal Adrenaline
- "Hey Mickey" by Toni Basil, performed by Vocal Adrenaline
- "Take Me To Church" by Hozier, performed by Roderick, Jane, Skylar, and Kitty with New Directions
- "Chandelier" by Sia, performed by Jane, Kitty, and Madison with Myron and Spencer
- "Come Sail Away" by Styx, performed by Mason and Madison, Spencer and Kitty, with New Directions
Tropes:
- Ambiguously Gay: Is it safe to say by now that Kitty definitely at least likes girls? All of this ambiguous
Ho Yay must be deliberately being put into the show, more in this season (mostly about Kitty and Quinn) than ever. Today's quote: "Mmm, I love waffles." with Spencer looking grossed at the idea.- Also applies to Myron as well.
- Back for the Finale (of this part of the season) in Stock Footage: Credited for this episode are Jonathan Groff, Dianna Agron, Ashley Fink, Samuel Larsen, Vanessa Lengies, Damian McGinty, Heather Morris, Naya Rivera, Mark Salling, Harry Shum Jr., Dijon Talton, Jenna Ushkowitz, and of course, Cory Monteith on top of the main cast as "Special".
- Call-Back: Sue actually shoots her performers out of cannons, something she's been planning since season 2.
- Celebrity Paradox: Kurt mentions GLAAD, but who hosted the GLAAD awards when Naya Rivera and Dianna Agron would have, because they were representing the show?
- Minor Injury Overreaction/Major Injury Underreaction: Spencer is told to not put pressure on his sprained ankle or he may never walk again. In Real Life this seems a bit extreme, so it's an overreaction for nothing. In-Universe, however, Spencer tries to pretend he's uninjured and the rest of the team treat him as if he's having a major underreaction to an equally major injury.
