Glee - Episode 1.22 - Journey - Recap

Hello SpoilerTV Readers! I'm coming to you today with one of the sure to be many recaps on the finale of Glee. First I want to begin by addressing a common misconception; this is the season one finale, not season two! I’m sure most of the SpoilerTV readers know that, but you would not be surprised how many times I’ve read online that this is season two. The mid-season episode “Sectionals” was originally written to be a finale, but due to the success of the show it was picked up for a full season. I’ll be comparing the two finales in my recap, as well as talking about the series as a whole.

Despite Glees current success not all past musical network TV shows have made it very far. Remember Viva Laughlin? Yeah no one else does either, except for maybe Joel McHale on The Soup. So initially when Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, and Ryan Murphy, (onwards known as BrenFalPhy), began to write Glee they weren’t sure how far it would go, and wanted to make sure that they tied up all the loose ends in the thirteen episodes they had the green light for. So in “Sectionals”, the first finale that didn’t end up being the finale, all the loose ends were tied up perfectly. Both guys got the girl, all preggo secrets had been exposed, the good guys won and the bad tracksuit had been disgraced and exiled to Boca.

Once the full season pickup came, I like to think that BrenFalPhy sighed a collective ‘oh shit.’ So the first episode in the back nine was entirely devoted to taking all the loose ends that had been tied up in “Sectionals” and tearing them apart. Both guys lost the girl, the good guys haven’t really won (yet?), and the bad tracksuit returned with more fury and roofies. Will “Journey” be able to take the torn threads and make a neat little bow again? Or now that Glee will be around for at least another two seasons, will threads be left loose for a later date? Let’s get this journey started.

Normally when I look ahead at the song choices for a particular Glee episode, I’m usually left thinking, “how on earth are they going to work these in the plot?” Not too much of that tonight, we’re at regionals now and it’s Journey vs. Queen. The wildcards tonight are “To Sir, With Love” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.

The drama begins with the announcement that the ever deliciously evil Sue has landed herself a role on the judging table at regionals, an announcement that turns the Glee club pizza party into a pity party. We also got a nice flashback to the ill-fated Quinn and Puck romance, not sure if this really belonged in this episode other than to hint that Puck really did have feelings for Quinn. And the Tina crying scene? Didn’t buy it, sorry. This scenario of the club being knocked down emotionally then lifted back up is starting to get old. Wasn’t this the main plot of the previous episode, “Funk”? (And, yes I know that episode was aired out of order, but still.) We don’t sink back down for too long though, as Will is there to pump everyone back up with help from the still-virgin Emma. Not sure if we needed to know that particular detail, but I suppose if we didn’t gleeforum.com would be arguing about Emma’s sex life until the show started up again in the fall.

And that brings us to regionals! Nice and early in the episode, leaving room for plenty more after the competition. The first major surprise of the night is Finns confession to Rachel, yes the big L word was dropped, and it won’t be the last time tonight. The chemistry between these two is adorable throughout the whole mash-up, and a jealous Jesse shot would have been great but it didn’t make the cut. New Directions, (or Nude Erections if you say it fast), was vocally sound and the choreography was decent for the first half, but then seemed to drop off at the second half of the medley. Vocal Adrenaline consists of one singer and group of dancers who can chorus along, so Bohemian Rhapsody was a perfect choice. More surprising was the juxtaposition of Quinn’s labor with the song, both in lyrics and choreography. It was a brilliant sequence and for me redeemed a couple of the so-so episodes this season. The editing was seamless, and just like “Don’t Rain of My Parade” from the first sort-of-finale, I plan on re-watching it many many many times.

Now the scene with Rachel and Shelby confused me. It seemed to be out of order, she was referencing that Vocal Adrenaline had won, and that the rest of her team was at the hospital, but we had not yet seen the results announced. It kinda spoiled it for me when we did see who won.

And on a side note, hooray for topical humor! Quinn’s Glenn Beck loving dad was cheating with a tattooed woman.

To the judge’s room we go, and man those are some cold heartless people in there. It was almost overkill to the extent that Groban, Olivia, and Rod bashed New Directions. I understand that although the show is called Glee, the over arching theme is that dreams are great but reality is much sadder. Yes, most of those kids will never go on to be famous, or even leave Ohio. But they were holding onto a dream that three out of the four judges wanted to crush. And in that tiny room, Sue Sylvester’s heart grew three sizes that day. Not that it made a difference in who won.

And so a dejected Glee club disbands, Will packs everything up from the chorus room, and the kids let sing him a good-bye song. But first they need to tell him how much they changed their lives, for the better. I thought it was sweet, my boyfriend commented “where’s the violins for this?” (That’s what you get for watching LOST, where the violins show up for every dramatic moment!) And so begins “To Sir, With Love” starting with violins. We had to pause the DVR and laugh for a few minutes before continuing. The song was well done, and it was nice that there were plenty of solos to go around. I really like Santana’s voice, it’s a shame she wasn’t used more in the first half of the season.

Sue still hates Will, with a passion that can only be described as insatiable, but damnit if she’s not going to stick up for those kids. After all, what’s the difference between the dreams of her cheerios and those of the glee kids? Cashing in the last of her blackmail chips Sue saves the club, well at least for another year. Don’t expect her to loose her spunk next season, or cease the endless onslaughts on Wills curly locks, but for now the Glee club is saved despite coming in third.

As for baby Beth, Shelby managed to process the fastest adoption that I’ve ever heard of for a single woman planning to quit her teaching job. But this is TV land, and it’s nice to see her get another chance at motherhood, starting from the beginning this time.

Back to Love; there were confessions all around in this episode, starting with Finn and Rachel, continuing with Quinn and Puck, and of course Will still loves Emma.

And to close we come to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, which is there to show us that everything is going to be just fine in the world of Glee. The loose ends have been mostly wrapped up, but still enough drama has been left to continue over to season two. Finn and Rachel are together, and this time it really seems like it’s going to work out. New Directions gets another chance at sectionals and then regionals, and next time they’ll be better than ever. Sure, Sue will still be Sue, but not quite as evil. I left the episode feeling pretty satisfied. Still to come we have Emma’s dentist boyfriend, rumored to be played by John Stamos? Read that on gleeforum.com today, not sure if it’s confirmed yet. Also expect the Kurt and Finn drama to continue. Rumors for new characters and tribute episodes are spreading like wildfire already, and the Fall can’t come soon enough.

At time cliché and a tad after-school special? Yes. It had its ups and down episodes just like every other show. But without a doubt the first season of Glee was groundbreaking and bended the ideas of what could succeed on television. If you have any doubt about it’s impact on culture, then remember this: dolphins are just gay sharks.

P.S.- Sorry for spelling errors, man did I rush to get this out!

Streaming Options

Powered byJustWatch

---