Glee: Relationship Death At A Funeral

It felt like there wasn’t that much plot development in this week’s Glee. Maybe that’s because it featured four solo auditions in full — or perhaps I’m just disappointed that there was nothing about Brittany and Santana’s relationship this week.

Not that there weren’t any good moments from the two of them. This week Mr. Schue hired the delightfully douchey Jesse St. James as a consultant to help New Directions win nationals. Schue and Jesse hold an audition for a nationals solo, even though this is against everything the club stands for. Kurt sings “Some People,” Mercedes belts out, “Try a Little Tenderness,” and naturally, Rachel covers Barbra Streisand with “My Man” from Funny Girl. Each performance was fantastic, but let’s take a moment to re-watch Santana’s take on “Back to Black.” Apparently she achieved the raspy Amy Winehouse voice by “smoking cigars.”

Jesse, who took a course in reality TV judging before he flunked out of UCLA, eviscerates everyone but Rachel, and pushes Schue to give her the solo. However, he suddenly remembers that he’s been teaching the kids to work as a team for two years and decides there will be no solo. Brittany suggests that if Jesse wants to continue practicing his reality TV skills, he can “come on Fondue For Two and judge my cat.”

Meanwhile, Sue enlists Terri’s help to divert the glee club’s American Airlines flight to nationals through Libya, hoping that they’ll get kidnapped and killed. (Did you know that AA has “immaculate” planes, or that it buys product placement on hit TV shows?) It turns out Sue’s more murderous than usual because her sister Jean, who had Down syndrome, died of pneumonia. Kurt and Finn help her put together a funeral, and have the glee club sing “Pure Imagination” after learning Jean loved Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory.

Sue can’t make it through her eulogy, so Will, who’s possibly her worst enemy, steps up to help her read it. In the speech Sue says love is like being attached by an “invisible tether and no matter how far away you are, you can always feel them. And now every time I reach for that tether I know there’s no one on the other end and I feel like I’m falling into nothingness.” Yikes. The whole scene was pretty devastating, and must have been particularly rough on those hoping to unwind by watching high school kids sing, dance, and get into ridiculous hijinks.

After the funeral, Finn breaks up with Quinn because he doesn’t feel “tethered” to her. She informs him that they’re actually staying together. Finn asks, “Can’t you feel anything?” and she starts to cry. The scene probably would have been really interesting if the writers had clearly laid out how Quinn went from being humbled by teen pregnancy to reverting to her cold, social-climbing ways.

Back at McKinley, Finn heads to the auditorium to give Rachel a rose but spots her kissing Jesse. Terri tells Will she’s moving to Miami, meaning we’ll probably never see her again. Then Sue tells Becky, who she fired from Cheerios because she reminds her of Jean, that she’ll be captain next year and gives her a hug. Next she thanks Will for being a good friend and wishes him good luck at nationals. She won’t be going after the glee club anymore either, because she’ll be busy running for the House of Representatives as part of the Sue Sylvester American Liberty Party. So, does this mean Jane Lynch is leaving Glee, or is the show just opening the door for more political humor to coincide with the 2012 election?