Here’s what you missed on Glee: Nationals

It’s graduation time!!!

Puck gets a second chance to pass his test for graduation.

Rachel, Finn, and Kurt get their acceptance/rejection letters.

Santana struggles with what she is going to do after graduation.

Blaine and Kurt are anxious about their (potential) long-distance relationship.

Maybe Next Time, NYC: For Kurt and Finn at least. Finn was rejected from Inside the Actor’s Studio and Kurt didn’t get into NYADA. After reading about characters returning I thought Rachel and Kurt weren’t going to get accepted into NYADA immediately. But it seems as though most o the graduating seniors will come back to the show in some facet. It would be strange seeing Rachel in New York interacting with completely different characters all on her on…the same goes for any other character that leaves McKinley. It seems like a bit much to try to maintain a main storyline when it has to be broken up in such a manner.

Santana Seeking Stardom? I have long thought that Santana has the most vocal range of any other member of The New Directions and it only makes sense that she is constantly questioning why she is usually second fiddle to Rachel or Mercedes. With the help of her selfless mother, Mirabel (Gloria Estefan), Santana is going to get her shot a New York too. Of all the pairings that can take place outside of Lima I think that Rachel and Santana in New York is an almost perfect fit. They are, and always have been, the best of frenemies–not counting everyone being nice to each because they’ve been through so much together, and they’re graduating yadda yadda yadda–and I think they would make an interesting storyline together.

O.O GPA?!?! Did Brittany dance her way to her senior year? I will admit I’m more athlete than mathlete, but how do you even make it out of home room with that?! Who needs prerequisites for Senior Class President anyway…

The New (Look) Directions: Artie, Rory, Sugar, Joe, Sam, some Asian girl, and Blaine are all that is left to carry on for next year. They have: strong male vocals, no strong dancers, and no female vocals at all. Are they still running with that whole Sugar can’t sing thing? Because I can’t un-hear this. Then that just leaves Tina…time to recruit!

Music

Forever Young – Mr. Schue (A) Although this wasn’t a rap, as Quinn requested, it definitely turned me into a “hot-mess teary train wreck”. Damn you Schuester and your penchant for having performances that tug at the heartstrings!

Single Ladies – Burt, Tina and Brittany (A++) In terms of sentimental value, this was an amazing graduation present. As a performance, coupled with the flashback to Kurt, it was an amazing reminder of the earlier Glee days. I wonder how long it took Mike O’Malley to learn those sweet, yet slightly stiff dance moves.

I’ll Remember – Kurt (B) This performance didn’t really stand and it wasn’t because Kurt’s voice wasn’t it’s usual amazing falsetto. I think it lacked the emotion I was expecting from every moment of this episode, which might have been an unfair standard.

You Get What You Give – New Directions Seniors (A+) Initially, I couldn’t decide if I loved Finn’s almost overly enthusiastic intro or hated him for being annoyingly enthusiastic, but all that stems from me being unsure of how I feel about Finn. Mercedes and Quinn insisted on wearing those awful awesome hats and Puck found it the best time to break out the moonwalk. But none of those things really took away from performance. By the end, the torch had been passed to all the non-seniors…another moment for a tear or two.

In My Life – New Directions Non-Seniors (B) These are the voices we can get used to hearing next year, and honestly, they sound really good. There’s not a Rachel Berry in the bunch of ’em, but still, it’s definitely a strong group. However, I didn’t appreciate that this song was dedicated to Finn….and only Finn.

Glory Days – Puck and Finn (A) I owe the show’s producers/writers/whoever a huge thank you. I just knew watching the seniors graduate would make me cry, but instead they made this the oddest graduate ceremony and I spent much of the performance thinking about how annoyed the other students must have been at New Directions stealing their moment, especially since everyone knew Puck barely graduated. However, we don’t watch the show for the other students, so in that respect I suppose it makes complete sense.

Roots Before Branches – Rachel and Finn (A) This whole performance was just perfectly done. The lyrics (“I gotta have/roots before branches/to know who I am“), although bittersweet, were incredibly fitting and it was so Glee that everyone showed up to the train station to tell her goodbye. Finally, Finn gave me a reason to like him again and Rachel didn’t pull a Mary Tyler Moore hat toss after she got off the train.

Quotes

“A part of me wants to lock these doors and stay in here with everyone forever.” -Mercedes

“We could use the wastebasket for the toilet and then we could eat Joe for the food since she’s been here the shortest so we know her the least.” -Brittany, who apparently thinks Teen Jesus is a girl

“You know how hard long distance relationships can be, we both saw The Notebook.” -Blaine

“What did you think was going to happen to me? I have a 0.0 grade point average.” -Brittany

“…or I could have started one of those letter writing campaigns like they had for Friday Night Lights or something.” -Finn

“Well you think that over Sue Sylvester while you nurse your 1,000 year old vampire baby. You just be sure to bottle feed because that baby is going to use those sharp ass teeth to bite holes in those saggy ol’ boobs.” -Coach Roz Washington