The Gleek Critique: "Goodbye" Episode

Santana and her mother (Gloria Estefan) on Glee.  Image property of Fox.

by Jack Garcia

In the Season 3 Finale of Glee, we say "goodbye" to several of our favorite characters (although temporarily because most of them are rumored to return next season) as they graduate from McKinley High School.  So what are everyone's future plans?

Well, Mercedes is off to Los Angeles to sing backup for an Indie label and Mike is going to be dancing in Chicago.  Quinn is off to Yale, but not before saying a tearful goodbye to Coach Sue and giving Puck one final kiss.  That kiss gave Puck the moxy he needed to pass his Geography test and therefore scrape up enough credits to graduate.  Now it's off to California to clean pools.

Not everyone will be graduating though.  Brittany, the lovable ditz with the best one-liners, has a 0.0 GPA and is being held back a year.  Santana discovers this while the couple are having dinner with Santana's mother, Maribel (Gloria Estefan), at Breadstix.  She's upset that Brittany will be stuck in Lima for another year... and she's also unsure of her own future plans.  She's been accepted on a cheerleading scholarship to Louisville, but her heart is set on being a performer.  Ultimately she decides to go to New York and pursue being an actress, and her mother supports her decision.

Not everyone will be going to New York either.  Finn, Rachel and Kurt are all awaiting their acceptance letters and when they arrive they wait to open them all together.  Finn goes first and is sad to learn that he wasn't accepted into The Actor's Studio despite what he thought was a good audition.  Kurt has equally depressing news:  he wasn't accepted into NYADA.  Rachel is last to open her letter and after all the disappointment she feels guilty to say that she was accepted.  Despite her flopped audition, it looks like Carmen Tibideaux gave her a second chance after all.

So what will Kurt do now?  He's going to stick around for a year and audition again.  He and Blaine had earlier decided not to split up despite Kurt's moving away, so now they won't have distance as an obstacle anymore.  But one couple does split up, and it's the biggest shocker of the episode.

Finn is driving Rachel to what she thinks is her wedding when they pull up at the train station instead. He tells her that she's going to New York to scout out apartments and tour her new school.  Her dads are meeting her there.  She's confused, telling him that she'll wait to go to New York when he's accepted into The Actor's Studio, and that's when he drops the bomb that he's enlisted in the army and he's going to Georgia.  He loves her, but he can't marry her.  He loves her, but he can't get in the way of her dreams.  So it's with a sad farewell that Finchel breaks up.  The episode ends with Rachel boarding the train and arriving in New York City.

A perfectly bitter-sweet ending to the season.

The Pros:

• Aw... the original glee club kids sang "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" again!  Just like in the pilot! :)
• Burt Hummel is the best dad ever.  The end.  His "Single Ladies" dance was hilarious and awesome all wrapped up into one.
• Finn and Puck's "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen was a great graduation song.  And I gotta say, I wish more graduation ceremonies were like the Glee graduation ceremony.  There was so much musical energy!  My high school graduation was a snore...
• Kurt sang Madonna's "I'll Remember" as his final farewell to the New Directions.  It was good and I was happy that he and Blaine are still together.  I love them.
• The Quinn/Puck kiss made me happy!  Those two need to get together again.  They were good for each other I think.  None of this Quinn/Joe crap.  Blegh.
• "You Get What You Give" by New Radicals and "In My Life" by the Beetles were good songs.
• Mr. Schuester hasn't sung in a while and I liked his "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart.  It had kind of a country feel and it was very touching.
• Roz Washington always cracks me up!  And her plan to join forces with Sue to bring down Principal Figgins next season sounds pretty interesting... hee hee.
• I'm glad Glee went the realistic route and Finn didn't get into The Actor's Studio.  There is no way in hell that would happen...
• The breakup wasn't necessarily a positive thing, but I thought the scene was one of Glee's best dramatic moments.  It was simply shot with no annoying piano accompaniment and I thought the actors performed very well.  It was heartbreaking, but it had to be done.  On that note, Rachel's final song ("Roots Before Branches" by Room For Two) was the perfect ending to the episode and I can't wait to see what she does in New York City.  You're a star, Rachel Berry.  You can do this.

The Cons:

• I wanted a Kurt/Blaine kiss and I didn't get it.  What a bummer.
• I thought I would cry more than I did, but I guess they are all coming back next season anyway.  This episode really could have been better.
• I feel really bad for Kurt.  He nailed his audition and got really high praise, so that rejection letter must have really blindsided him. 
• Gloria Estefan's special appearance was fun and all, but I wish she would have sang.  Her acting is only so-so.