Written by Regan Brown
On Thursday night’s episode of Glee, the cast bid farewell to one of the show’s most beloved characters, Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith). Even though this is a TV show, we all know that the tears shed were real. The love for Finn extended way beyond that of just some fictional character. This by far was one of the best episodes in Glee history because tackling the heartbreak and devastation of losing someone you love and care about is universal and this episode dealt with it beautifully.
Recap of Glee: “The Quarterback”
The episode opens with the glee club kids, past and present, singing, “Seasons of Love”.
Three weeks after Finn’s funeral, Kurt is packing and heading back to McKinley to participate in the memorial that Will Schuester has arranged. We hear a voice over as means to hear what Kurt is thinking. He makes it known that it’s not about how Finn died, but the kind of person he was that mattered most.
In the teachers lounge, Will, Emma, and Coach Beiste are sitting around a table talking when Sue comes in and starts making insensitive jokes about Finn’s death. Sue reveals that this is the only way she knows how to grieve.
Will tells his kids that this week they will honor Finn by singing about him. He tells them to pick songs that maybe Finn had sung or a song that reminds them of him. Puck gets mad and says singing isn’t going to bring Finn back. Mercedes gets up and is the first to sing. She sings “I’ll Stand By You”, which is the song Finn sang to Quinn’s sonogram when he still believed he was the father.
In one of the top emotional scenes from the episode, we see Burt, Finn’s mother, and Kurt cleaning out Finn’s room. They talk about how Finn was always accepting and demonstrated tolerance in every aspect of his life. Finn’s mother breaks down and questions how she’s supposed to wake up every morning and continue on living when she’s now a mother without a child. Burt feels angry with himself for not hugging Finn more, especially the last time he saw him. Kurt takes Finn’s varsity jacket, telling Finn’s mother that he wants to keep it.
The glee club meet in the theatre and Artie and Sam sing, “Fire and Rain”. At the end of the song, Santana gets up and leaves.
Santana goes to Finn’s locker, which has become a shrine. Bree, along with some of the other Cheerios comes over and starts blowing out the candles surrounding Finn’s locker as requested by Sue. In one of the highlights of the episode, Santana marches into Sue’s office and tells her what she really thinks of her. Santana calls Sue a , “cold self-centered bitch” as well as a horrible person who spent every moment she got making Finn and the rest of them miserable. Santana tells Sue that not only does she hate her, but Finn hated her as well. Santana ends her rant by pushing Sue and storming out of her office.
Will goes to visit Emma in her office. Emma is worried that he is busy taking of everyone else and not giving himself time to grieve. Emma makes note of this by telling Will he hasn’t even cried yet.
A drunk Puck goes into the boy’s locker room and gets into an argument with Coach Beiste. Beiste doesn’t understand why Puck won’t express his feelings and Puck tells her that he can’t cry because if he does, he’ll never stop. Puck does eventually break down and cry. He doesn’t know how he can be a good person without Finn around. At the end of their conversation, Beiste tells Puck to put back the tree he stole in the beginning of the episode.
Santana imagines that Finn is in Heaven with Elvis and sings, “If I Die Young”, but ends up breaking into tears before she can finish. She runs out of the choir room screaming when everyone tries to comfort her. Kurt finds Santana in the theatre and we find out that Santana feels guilty because everything she said to Sue, was really more about her. She was always making fun of Finn and feels bad that she can’t say anything nice now, even though she wrote it all down. She begins to cry and asks Kurt to leave. Kurt drapes Finn’s varsity jacket over her shoulders.
Puck decides to sing, “No Surrender” as his song to remember Finn. Santana storms into the choir room and accuses Puck of stealing Finn’s jacket. No body believes him when he says it wasn’t him.
Santana goes back to Sue’s office to apologize to her. Sue cuts her off and tells her she was right. Sue feels “destroyed” that Finn died thinking she didn’t like him when she really thought he was a great guy.
Puck plants another tree with help from Beiste. He tells her that he’s going to join the Air Force before taking off on his motorcycle.
Some of the glee kids are standing around Finn’s locker when Rachel makes her first appearance. In the choir room, Rachel tells everyone that Finn loved her and he loved them. She sings the first song the two of them ever sang together in the car, “Make You Feel My Love”. Afterwards, Rachel and Will talk about what’s next for her now that Finn is gone. Rachel hangs a photo of Finn on the wall and underneath is a quote of him saying, “The show must go on…all over the place…or something”.
Will goes home and we find out he’s the one who stole Finn’s jacket. Emma comes home and finds Will crying into the jacket. She sits down next to him and holds him.
The episode ends with: Cory Monteith 1982-2013
Glee will return Nov. 7 with all new episodes.
