Glee 2x22 “New York”
I did like the Glee season finale. Really, I was hooked from the moment the Gershwin started up and made me remember New York the one time I made it there. It was a hot Sunday afternoon in July and the smell of garbage was piled high in otherwise empty streets but still. Skyscrapers and everything. The city they all sing about. On the Town, Tiffany’s, even Lady and the Tramp, in this episode they did ALL the movies. So New Directions lost or came twelfth or whatever. It really didn’t matter when winning was represented by Jesse St James, show choir consultant to the show choirs. Overall the episode felt less like a conclusion and more like the set up for a great new adventure. Life beyond Nationals.
If any thing I think the conclusion of this season’s main arc happened when Kurt clicked his ruby slippers and returned from Dalton/Oz. The first season was all about Rachel but the second has been about Kurt. I think this explains, amongst other things, the fall of Sue Sylvester. Rachel’s arc in the first season was about wanting to be part of something special in order to be special but finding out that being part of something was a good in itself. With that set up, Sue wasn’t just a classic musical comedy villain representing the jock forces ranged against singing and dancing, she was also the ghost of Rachel future. Sue Sylvester was a star. Smarter than but no less deluded than Singin’ in the Rain’s evil divatrix Lina Lamont. Sue was who Rachel could have become had she let ambition rather than friendship rule her.
What Kurt wants isn’t to be special but to be allowed to be different and this season has seen the emergence of a kinder, gentler, different brand of diva. Sue’s place as school sports star was usurped by Coach Beiste whose nature belied her name. Mercedes and Rachel’s diva-off ended in hugs, Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes discussed the suffering stars must go through to fuel their art, Quinn and Santana’s head bitchiness was given a back story of secret pain. Something of the sort was attempted with Sue. They brought back her mother, they even had her sing (musical comedy villains never sing) but it wasn’t enough. The Funeral episode may finally have done what even chicken cutlet hanging lanterns and losing at regionals failed to do but it remains to be seen. I doubt they will do this but I’d be happy if next season Sue’s antagonist role were taken by a combination of Jesse and Dustin Goolsby who were both hilariously awful in the final episodes. I’d miss Sue and I’d really miss Jane Lynch but all good things have to end some time.
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