Glee type TV Show network Fox genre Comedy

Music

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED GLEE‘s SEASON 2 FINALE, WHICH AIRED LAST NIGHT, STOP READING……… By now, most of you Gleeks know that New Directions didn’t even place in the top ten at Nationals. On the bright side, Finnchel is back together, Quinn got a jaunty new haircut, Kurt and Blaine both said, “I love you,” and Sam and Mercedes are now a couple! “Samcedes?” “Mersam?” That’s gonna be a tough one to combine into a catchy nickname. EW talked exclusively with Glee co-creator/executive producer Brad Falchuk about the New York City-set finale as well as what’s in store for season 3.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Did you always think New Directions would lose?

BRAD FALCHUK: Yeah. They’re not ready yet. I think there’s something about them winning that deflates things oddly. We knew what was going to happen. It’s not even that they lost but they didn’t even make that top 10. That’s how unprepared they were. That’s how unfocused they were. I kinda liked that. To me, if they make it to the top 10 after they’re so clearly not focused, they’re clearly not invested because they all have other things going on — it would have been a little disingenuous.

Why are Sam and Mercedes hiding their relationship?

We’re gonna have to wait and discover that. They have their reasons. That was something that was born out of the prom episode. We felt the chemistry there.

Quinn seemed so over the Finn break-up by the end of the show. Was that an act?

It was all in her hair, man. It really was. All the bad juju was in her hair and she cut it all off and everything got better. It wasn’t that she got over it all but I think she’s just grown up. Every culture has a ritual like that where you make some sort of physical change and it transforms you inside too.

It seemed like you were planting seeds of Sunshine Corazon returning to McKinley?

Unsure yet. We have some big plans for next year. It’s not worth getting into them because who knows? When we talk in September, everything I say will be different anyway. Don’t even bother. It’s a waste of time. That’s how we work. We have ideas and then we also wanna leave some room for a little discovery.

There was a lot of talk in the finale about graduating and going to New York. Does that mean this is the last season of Rachel, Finn, Kurt, etc.?

Oh, we’ll get into all that later.

Would you ever think of doing a spin-off with Rachel, Kurt, Blaine and Finn living in New York?

I don’t know. Like I said, I am basking in the glow of finishing. Talking about starting is way too soon.

But you all at least have a plan for the issue of most of the characters graduating?

Yes, we have plans definitely. This is not a willy nilly thing. We have plans for stuff and it’s gonna all be great.

It seemed like a lot of people were hoping Santana was going to come out of the closet. Was there any thought of that?

No. When we (co-creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan) talked about doing that story and about her really being gay, it was a big conversation because it’s a big deal. She’s a major character. We knew we were going to get some blowback, frankly. I think we’re all very progressive but the reality is a lot of the country isn’t as progressive yet. But we wanted to take the risk because it was a group of people that weren’t truly identified on the show. We were so respectful on the Kurt story and really have focused so much on that and the character and making the sure the struggle of a gay teen in Ohio was looked at. We wanted to do the same as this one. We knew it was going to take some time. We didn’t wanna rush it. We didn’t have the time to really tell that story. I’m not gonna just have her come out in the last scene of the episode. That’s a big deal. We dedicated two episodes to Kurt coming out and then it went on. We want to give it some time so we’re giving it some time and we’re going to get into it next season.

What did you wanna say to fans who watched the finale?

The episode’s first cut was 20 minutes long so we had to cut it down to really make it work. That episode was really about these kids and seeing them really out of their league and putting them in a big city and really wanting to get that Rachel/Finn thing going. I think a lot of people were let down by like, What happened to Will and Emma? What happened to Brittany and Santana? What happened to Quinn? There was a Will and Emma scene but we had to cut it for time. The Will and Emma people can rest assured that they’re both single now and he’s helped her get better. There will definitely be some hot action there.

You can’t please everyone.

No. But I wanted people to understand that it wasn’t like we forgot everyone: the story of the episode was the Rachel and Finn story. That was the driving story. It was about learning like, Look, you wanna win so badly that you wanna be a Broadway figure so badly that you’ll turn your back on everything. Then the moment you decide not to, you lose the championship because of it. You don’t make the top 10 because you decided to kiss instead. At the end of the day, even Rachel, who was so determined at winning, is good with it. And Kurt is good with it. Everyone understands that being together is more important than anything else.

I heard that you all are hiring new writers. So it will be more than just you, Ryan and Ian?

Yep. We’ll have an actual television writing staff like other places do. We’re trying to get a lot of quirky people and interesting people and people that are not what you’d expect. I think it’s gonna help us to get some fresh voices. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still our show.

So when will you start breaking stories for season 3? Have you even thought about that?

Oh, absolutely. We start at the end of June.

Can you give any kind of tease for season 3?

If I could, I would. Just know that we have some really great, big ideas. I am under the opinion it will be the best season.