Five seasons, over 1000 songs, a lot of drama, and multiple fights and Glee has finally reached 100 episodes. And they definitely pulled out all the stops for their centenarian. Beware: there will be spoilers.
The high school musical drama, celebrated its 100th episode this week with a bang. All the old Glee Club members find their way back to the classroom for one last hoorah before the club was officially disbanded. This included some old favorites: Brittany S. Pierce (Heather Morris), Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron), Noah “Puck” Puckerman (Mark Salling), Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.), and Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley). Gwyneth Paltrow, reprising her role as substitute teacher, Holly Holiday, and Kristin Chenoweth, reprising her role as alcoholic April Rhodes, also made guest appearances.
The show centered on remixing past song selections that Gleeks voted for via Facebook. These numbers included a reunion of The Unholy Trinity (Brittney, Santana, and Quinn) for “Toxic”, a cute dance number between Brittany and Santana of “Valerie”, and a trio of Mercedes, Kurt, and Rachel reprising “Defying Gravity”.
Being back at high school brought back a lot of feelings for the McKinley High graduates leading to a “diva off” between Mercedes and Rachel, Santana ripping Rachel a new one, and the rekindling of many old relationships. Rachel and Mercedes are able to bond over their continued anxiety over their days of being bullied in high school and mend their friendship but Rachel and Santana are still on the rocks. As for “Brittana” and “Quick”, both Brittany and Puck put their hearts on the line for their high school loves and though Santana is still hesitant, by the end of the episode Quinn jumped right back into Puck’s arms asking him to stay with her.
The episode also made a small but significant tribute to Finn, as Mr. Schuester gathered the original Glee Club members in the auditorium to give them an awe inspiring speech about how much Glee Club not only helped them but helped him as well. Looking at the plaques of Finn and Lillian, they reflect on how much the club meant to them, bringing tears to almost everyone’s eyes and leading Holly and April to try to think of a plan to save the club.
It’s debatable whether or not they’ll be successful, especially because after this episode the show will be moved entirely to New York and the next season will be the show’s last. The next episode is sure to be a tearjerker though, as the Glee club continues to perform redone old songs, the seniors finally graduate, and the romantic gestures continue.
Photo: Daniel Varghese / The Georgetown Voice
