Before we continue, let’s get this out of the way first: They do not reveal how Finn died. It’s not important as this episode is not about how Finn died, but how the people around Finn grieve and find the strength to go on. Yes, it may not give some fans closure in regards to the character of Finn but it was a choice the producers made. Some people thought they should’ve killed Finn the same way Cory died and I’m glad they didn’t. While Finn’s father became an addict, it wouldn’t have been true to the character to make Finn one either. And if Glee had chosen this episode to be the “drugs are bad, m’kay?” episode, I would’ve been mad. When Glee gets preachy, it gets very heavy-handed in my opinion.
Anyway, on with the show…
We open at the April Rhodes Civic Center (AKA the auditorium), where the new members of New Directions—Kitty, Ryder, Unique, Jake and Marley—stand on the stage, wearing black, and singing “Seasons of Love.” The senior members—Sam, Blaine, Tina and Artie—join them. And at the chorus, alumni join them—Santana, Mike, Kurt, Mercedes and Puck. Yes, Quinn and Brittany are not there. It’s a bit of an elephant in the room. The original cast members handle the heavy lifting and the new members are relegated to back up singers. At the end, everyone turns as a picture of Finn standing on the football field flashes on the screen.
The Glee card has the “L” made out of a silhouette of Finn, arm’s raised in “Don’t Stop Believing.”
Kurt’s voice over tells us that it’s been three weeks since Finn’s funeral. He goes on about how Mr. Schue has invited everyone back for a memorial. And how people want to know about how Finn died. But he wants to focus on Finn’s life. And how he will go on without his brother. Kurt looks over a picture of him and Finn at graduation before hiding it under his pillow. He’s afraid Rachel might see it. Kurt steps over to Rachel’s side and the camera loses focus as he tells Rachel he’s heading out and she’s more than welcome to join him. She doesn’t.
Over in Lima, the teachers mourn in the teacher’s room. Emma says she’s made herself available for grief counseling but no one’s come to her. Sue makes a snarky and meta comment regard Emma’s skills as a college adviser. Beiste is having none of that. She says Finn was one of the special ones and she can’t believe he’s gone. Will says he’s giving his Glee kids a place to work out their grief.
Which is naturally in the choir room. He writes “FINN” on the whiteboard and explains that anyone can get up and sing about their fallen comrade. Mercedes goes first, singing “I’ll Stand By You.” Gleeks who have been around since the first season will remember Finn sang this to the sonogram of Quinn’s baby when he thought she was his. And Amber gives a great performance but I kept waiting for Finn’s voice to join in, for someone to flash back to Finn singing this. But they didn’t, though it was all over Will’s face.
Sue calls Kurt into her office to tell him the tree he bought in Finn’s memory was stolen. We flash to someone on a motorcycle uprooting it and driving away. Three guesses as to who the culprit is and the first two don’t count. Anyway, Sue hits Kurt up for more money to replace the tree. He forks it over.
And your guesses are up—it was Puck who took the tree and has it holed up with him in his hotel room.
At home, Carole decides it is time to go through Finn’s stuff with Burt and Kurt’s help. Kurt finds the winning football from that game where Kurt was a kicker and everyone danced the “Single Ladies” dance. Burt takes that and then claims the “faggy lamp” in Finn’s room. I dimly recall an argument around that lamp but it’s really a leaping point into Mike O’Malley’s Emmy reel. He talks about how he should’ve hugged Finn more. Like right before Finn’s mysterious death, when he was nervous about some test. That was the perfect time for hug, Burt realizes too late. Carole assures him that Finn knew he loved him.
She then pulls out Finn’s letterman jacket and puts it in the donate box. Kurt pulls it out and says he wants to keep it. He wraps it around him and sniffs it. Kurt recalls how when Finn walked down the hallway wearing the jacket, it was like a superhero had arrived. And that Finn had really long arms.
Then Carole launches into the first speech which caused me to reach for my tissue box this episode. She talks about how she used to hear about children dying and couldn’t imagine what their parents went through. How they got up in the morning. Because there’s that moment where she forgets but then it hits her and it is like getting that call over and over. She says she has to go one being a parent even though she doesn’t have a child any more. Carole collapses on the ground as Burt and Kurt hug her.
Excuse me. I’ve got something in my eye.
The next day, Puck watches as some people decorate a dumpster. Kurt comes up and demands the tree back. Puck brushes him off and asks why everyone is using the dumpster for arts and crafts. Kurt is amazed Puck forgot and we get a brief flash to Kurt being thrown into the dumpster. I thought this was about Finn, not Kurt? Anyway, Puck finally notes that Kurt is wearing Finn’s letterman jacket. He offers to buy it but Kurt refuses. Kurt walks off as Puck seethes.
We go to the auditorium where Sam and Artie sing “Fire and Rain.” It’s a beautiful arrangement and simple—with just Sam on guitar. Chord and Kevin sound really good together. Once again, the newbies are only background singers. When the song ends, Santana gets up and walks out of the auditorium. She goes to Finn’s (old) locker, where a memorial to the late quarterback has been set up. As she looks over it, a young girl approaches her. This is Dottie Kazatori (Pamela Chan), who was Tina’s personal assistant in the last episode until she betrayed Tina for a Cheerio’s outfit. Which she is still wearing but she asks how Tina is doing then asks why Santana isn’t in the auditorium with Tina. Santana just needed to get out of there. As he looks on, Janitor Figgins wipes his own eyes.
But then the Cheerios come along and start taking down the memorial. Santana asks them what they are doing and Bree, the new captain, tells her Principal Sue wants the memorial gone. Santana demands that Janitor Figgins do something but he is powerless to do anything. And too sad about Finn as well. So Santana goes to talk to Sue. I have to admit this part rang a bit false too me given the amount time between this episode and Finn’s death. Three weeks seems excessive to leave up a memorial to a former student at a locker which isn’t his anymore. It’s someone else’s and I bet they haven’t been able to get to it for nearly a month. And in fact, it looked like it had taken over the entire set of lockers so many people were denied access to their lockers. Look, I’m not advocating for taking the memorial down altogether but I do think it’s time to move it to some place where it’s not interfering in the school day.
Anyway Santana storms into Sue’s office and lets loose on her former teacher. How she’s an awful person and how Santana never liked her. It ends with Santana shoving Sue into her coat rack and then Santana flees the office.
Meanwhile, drunk!Puck starts destroying things in the locker room. Beiste is having none of that and stops him. She lets him unleash his anger and sorrow at losing his best friend. Puck says that Finn was his moral center. The one who kept him from spiraling into a life of crime. It’s touching. He admits to stealing the tree, saying it didn’t seem good enough for Finn. Beiste reminds him that trees grow and asks him to bring it back.
Tina meets with Emma and talks about how she’s sick of wearing black. But it’s not because she hates mourning. It’s because it reminds her of her old goth persona and she’s worked so hard to shed that image, dammit! Emma digs through her desk and pulls out some of her famous pamphlets. My favorite is “Am I Callous?” She sends Tina on her way as Will shows up. Emma is glad to see him because it’s time for his grief counseling session. But Will tried to brush it off, saying he’s fine. Emma doesn’t think so as he hasn’t cried and she’s worried he’s too busy trying to be everyone’s rock to let himself grieve. Will admits he’s not doing as well as he wants but he says he has to be strong.
In the choir room, Santana sings a song for Finn—The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young.” And it’s a great rendition. But this is a time when you can tell the vocals are prerecorded. Santana starts to break down while singing but her vocals remain perfect, no sign of the sobs she’s trying to choke back. I think this recording would’ve been fine for iTunes but they should’ve gone with a live rendition for this scene. Anyway, Santana breaks down and runs from the room when the others try to comfort her.
Kurt finds her in the auditorium, crying. She says she was going to surprise everyone and just say nice things about Finn. And she even wrote it down. But then she said something mean like she always does and she got mad at herself. So Kurt lets her read her list to him, reminding us all that Santana and Finn used to have sex once upon season one. He then gives her Finn’s letterman jacket. Because…!
In the choir room, Puck sings “No Surrender” to a chair. It’s raw and another top notch performance. Everyone enjoys it and there’s a mood of love in the choir room…then Santana storms in. She explains that she went to have a lie down in the nurse’s office and when she awoke, the letterman jacket was gone. She believes Puck took it and everyone is quick to agree. But he protests that he’s innocent and Will sends everyone to go calm down. Puck stays behind to get Will to believe him. Will doesn’t say that, only telling Puck that “if” he stole it, to give it back.
Meanwhile, Santana goes back to Sue’s office to apologize. But Sue says Santana was right about a lot of things…except how she felt about Finn. Santana suggests she could use it as a learning experience but Sue shuts that down. She says she liked Finn, thought he would make a good teacher and was looking forward to antagonizing him and his Glee club for years to come. But that was all gone now, wasted potential.
Puck returns the tree and has a root beer with Coach Beiste. He says he’s transitioning into his Finn-free life and found a way to get direction: He joined the air force. Beiste wishes him well before he hops on his motorcycle and flies off screen. Considering Mark Salling was not signed onto a contract for this season, I’d daresay that was our goodbye to Noah Puckerman.
Santana posts reward posters for the letterman jacket, offering $10,000 for its return. Will says that’s a big reward but Santana has no intention of paying it. She’s using it to lure out the thief and then will kick the person’s ass. Sounds about right. Anyway, she wants the jacket before she goes home. Will clarifies that she means New York and Santana adds that she doesn’t plan to return to Lima for a long time. Will looks sad but says that as a teacher, he expects his students to grow up and leave the nest. He says it is far more preferable to the alternative and glances at Finn’s memorial. Is this Santana’s goodbye to the Ohio side of Glee?
The current members of New Directions walk down the hall, each holding a pair of red drumsticks tied with black ribbon. They stop in front of the memorial and place them down. Kitty comments about how it seems cheesy. But a voice says it is wonderful. Rachel Berry comes on screen, being dragged by Kurt as she has latched onto him for dear life. She says she had to see the memorial before it was gone. I guess the kid who now has Finn’s locker complained.
After the commercial break, Rachel stands in the choir room before her friends (and the new members of New Directions). She talks about how she likes to sing in her car and how Finn gave her someone to sing along with. And she would like to sing the first song she ever performed with Finn: “To Make You Feel My Love.” Watch it here:
(Warning, you might want tissues)
Like Santana’s “If I Die Young,” this is another case where the recording doesn’t do the scene justice. Lea does project her own hurt as well as Rachel’s into her vocals but it still doesn’t match the fact she’s crying in the scene. This is another case of wanting to hear more of a live performance than a recorded one.
I also like how they dressed Rachel in this scene as well. It’s more “Old Rachel” than “New Rachel.” And it made sense.
After the commercials, Rachel goes to see Will in the choir room. They have a talk and Rachel says she always knew how her future would go. That she would go and become this big Broadway star and win a few Tonys. When she was done, she’d come back to Ohio—where Finn would be teaching—knock on his door and say she was home. And then they would live happily ever after.
Ryan Murphy has said Glee’s sixth season will be its last (meaning the series finale will air in May 2015). And the news outlets ran the story, of course, making it sound like it was the first time the idea had ever been introduced even though an executive from FOX said Glee was likely to end at season six over the summer. But I guess it was different since Ryan Murphy is the executive producer/co-creator. Anyway, Murphy said he had planned the last scene of the series but Cory’s death changed that. I agree with those commenting on the internet that Rachel’s speech here revealed what Murphy had planned to be the last scene.
Anyway, Rachel presents Mr. Schue with her own memorial to Finn—a plaque to be hung in the choir room. He takes a look and asks if Finn really said the quote emblazoned on it. Rachel laughs and replies that Finn was smart in his own way. Will agrees and hangs it up. He hugs a distraught Rachel as the camera pans over it. The quote from Finn on it? “The show must go…all over the place…or something.” It’s from the first season, I think when Finn was trying to rally the troops for their sectionals performance.
Will goes home for the night, settling in on his couch. He opens his satchel and pulls out…Finn’s letterman jacket. While touching, it does also make Will seem like a douche in the earlier scene when he tells Puck to put the jacket back. If he knew he took it, why didn’t he deliver a “the culprit will return it” platitude instead?
Emma comes home and hears sobbing. She follows it to find Will in tears on the couch, sobbing into the jacket. Emma hugs him as the episode ends.
And thus Finn is dead. But Murphy has promised he won’t be forgotten. That Finn will be mentioned throughout the season. But there will still be something missing, no doubt. And this gave us a chance to say goodbye.
I had seen the creators say this episode was a celebration of Finn and Cory. But I don’t think it really was. In my opinion, a celebration of Finn and Cory would’ve featured…I dunno…footage of Cory and Finn. I believed it was a great episode about grief and how people mourn the loss of a loved one.
Goodbye, Finn.
Goodbye, Cory.
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