Rachel and Sam continue to be indecisive about their relationship as the glee club celebrates the music of Burt Bacharach and Mercedes is invited back to mentor them before Sectionals. Mercedes' first order of business, however, is to lure Rachel back to Broadway by scheduling her to audition for an original musical; Rachel, still nursing her wounds after abandoning Funny Girl for her failed TV show, does not feel confident that she is ready. With encouragement from her friends, however, she travels to New York and attends her audition. Mercedes also encourages Sam to pursue Rachel, which he does. Meanwhile, Santana and Brittany begin planning for their wedding day. Brittany tells her parents, Pierce and Whitney (Ken Jeong and Jennifer Coolidge), about her engagement (although not before being told that Stephen Hawking is her real father) and hires Artie as the wedding planner. She also gets in touch with Santana's estranged grandmother, Alma (Ivonne Coll), and tries to reconcile the two. Her plan fails when Alma cannot overcome her homophobic prejudices. Nevertheless, the pair are comforted by the support of their friends, who toast their love in song.
Next Time: Transitioning, whether it's out of a childhood home, from one school to another, or from one gender to another. Plus, a very "Unique" cameo.
Songs (all written by Burt Bacharach)
- "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" from Promises, Promises, performed by Rachel and Sam
- "Baby It's You" by The Shirelles, performed by Mercedes with Rachel, Brittany, and Santana
- "Wishin' and Hoping" by Dionne Warwick, performed by Brittany and Artie with Blaine, Sam, and the Cheerios
- "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross, performed by the boys
- "They Long To Be Close To You" by Richard Chamberlain, performed by Sam
- "Promises, Promises" from Promises, Promises, performed by Rachel
- "Alfie" by Cilla Black, performed by Santana
- "What The World Needs Now" by Jackie DeShannon, performed by nearly everyone in this episodenote
Tropes:
- Ascended Extra: Those dancers/cheerleaders/HeMo's best friends/etc. that have been appearing for the last six seasons? They finally get in the credits.
- Call-Back: Brittany says that Abuela could be in a retirement home production of Peter Pan. She also mentions Santana dying her hair blonde for no reason. Brittany's mom makes a reference to Santana's "Yeast-i-Stat" commercial.
- Call-Forward: Mercedes says she's "all about that bass", the name of a song she sings next episode. Whitney adds as a throw-away that Brittany was born in a barn in Indiana, which becomes the main setting two episodes later.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Brittany to Santana's abuelita, when she refused to attend their wedding.
- The Cameo
- Heather Morris as Brittany Pierce
- Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez
- Kevin Mchale as Artie Abrams
- Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones
- Entitled Bastard: Abuela, after treating Santana so awfully, expects the latter to defend her from Brittany.
- Family Theme Naming: Whitney S. Pierce is Brittany S. Pierce's mom. Her dad is Pierce Pierce.
- Shout-Out: There's a theatrical release poster for Charlie St. Cloud in Brittany's bedroom.
