Glee-ful Finale Fever Recap: New York

No Air

By CaliforniaKara

There are two things that make me very, very happy: Wicked and Glee. Sure, there are a bunch of other showtunes (Rent) and TV shows (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) that I enjoy, but Wicked and Glee thrill me. They’re both about the underdog overcoming obstacles and triumphing.

That whirlwind you heard around 9:15 PT tonight in the San Diego sky? No, not a monster tornado (though the Dorothy reference isn’t lost on me)...it was my eventual implosion as the two came together in this episode.

When Rachel and Kurt made it a point to visit the Gershwin Theatre to see Wicked, my heart skipped a beat. During “For Good” I altogether forgot to breathe. Literally, physically forgot to breathe. Tears welled at the beauty of it all. They’re harmonies, fantastic; the camera angles, flowing; the set, gorgeous. (Whether they were the right characters to sing those words aside...they were the perfect performers to helm it.)

As my BFF, a proud card-carrying friend of Dorothy, texted to me right after the song ended: “#1 Glee moment of all time.”

Word.

But that’s also why this ep worked: the moments. Small and big ones alike: Kurt’s surprised face when Blaine blurted out “I love you” at the coffee shop; Finn blurting his tongue into Rachel’s mouth; Trouty Mouth and Mercedes holding hands; Kurt and Rachel having breakfast at Tiffany’s; Quinn breaking down in front of Brittany and Santana; and, finally, the latter going all Lima Adjacent batshit crazy on Rachel post-performance (ESCUCHA!).

The rest of the ep followed a fun romp through the city, leading to the inevitable 12^th place finish out of 50 competing show choirs to wrap up Glee’s second season. Oh, and by the way, it wasn’t Finn’s kiss that ruined your chances at Nationals, kids. It was the crappy original songs that you spent all of half of half of one day composing. (Did you even rehearse?)

Alas, as Brittany said, “This year wasn’t about winning...it was about acceptance.” The Glee club kids fight, date each other, storm off, reject one another, but in the end accept each other. While the season was up and down – and all over the place with subplots and subplots of subplots – the last 20 minutes harkened back to season 1. Here’s to hoping they keep that momentum going into season 3.

Like Brittany, I’m looking forward to spending another year with the folks we’ve come to love! (And loathe, in some cases, as fans who have fallen off the show’s bedazzled bandwagon can attest to – I’m looking at you, Marja.)

While the season’s over, you’ll still get one more Glee-related recap from me before summer hiatus: I’m heading to the Glee Live concert Sunday night here in San Diego, so I’ll post a review after. Otherwise, enjoy your summer off, Gleeks!

Morning Announcements                                    

(i.e., questions, comments & sarcastic remarks)

·        If Zeus and the Real Housewives of West Palm Beach had a love child, I’m convinced that first show choir full of flowy white dresses and wispy hair would be the unholy result.

·        “I was just thinking of splitting them up boys and girls.” – Shue / “Most of the other teams split by sexual orientation.” – Hotel front desk attendant

·        There must be something in the film in New York – the show’s scenes that were shot there just looked better. Richer, deeper, clearer, whatever. Like they used different cameras or film.

·        "He did seem crazy. He charged my credit card by swiping it through his butt crack." – Rachel (Anyone else flash back to Jack swiping his through Karen’s bosom on Will & Grace?)

·        Recognize the strings behind Finn and Rachel’s Central Park bridge meeting? It was Gershwin’s Someone To Watch Over Me. Not exactly subtle, but cute.

·        Didn’t recognize Shue’s song? That’s because it was blatantly crappy cross-promotionalization of Matthew Morrison’s new album. The track’s called “Still Got Tonight.”

·        "You need to ask her out tonight. Take her on one of those big awful dates you see on those unwatchable romantic comedies that you grow a vagina with if you watch all the way through." – Puck

·        Finally, they did something different with Quinn’s hair. Less Farrah Fawcett Barbie and more high school Barbie. Maybe the rest of the season was just wigs?

·        Oh, the writers had a field day with the Top 10 choir names: Portland Scale Blazers, Vocal Adrenaline, The Waffletoots (a dig on Yale’s Whiffenpoofs), Singaz With Attitude, Jefferson City Airplane, Twelve Steps, Vocal Chordz, Soundsplosion, Teenage Scream, and Vocal Extreme.

·        Was the New Directions’ final performance song a big fat middle finger to the fans who complain about auto tune? Because they overly auto tuned the hell out of it!

·        "They're hideous. My kids are at least attractive. Yours look like they haven't been baked properly." – Goolsby

·        Sure, I fawned over the Wicked part too much. But can you blame me? I sat in that very theatre, row 21, stage right, for one of the Original Broadway Cast’s (yes, with Idina Menzel – Rachel’s mom – as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth – April Rhodes – as Glinda) last shows before they began leaving Wicked. What can I say, I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff.

·        "I'm spending my summer composing Pip, Pip, Hooray! The Broadway musical about Pippa Middleton." – Kurt

Posted in: CaliforniaKara,glee