REVIEW: Glee, Season 3, ‘Props’ and ‘Nationals’

The New Directions head to Nationals in season three’s penultimate episode.

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*SPOILERS AHEAD*

At last we’re getting more than a couple of episodes at a time, and this week we were treated to a double bill in anticipation of the big season finale.

The first episode went all Freaky Friday on us, with a whole fifteen minute body swap dream thing going on, and although I have come to expect the most ridiculous of things from Glee, I still shake with dread when they do it. Luckily it was only for a about fifteen minutes and not the whole episode, but it’s clear they are starting to push Tina and Santana to the front of the Glee crowd ready for next year, and yes there is definitely a fourth season, but more on that next time.

One of the most disappointing things about Glee, and not even in a OMG-I-can’t-believe-they-just-did-it was the way they handled the domestic violence story. The entire thing from start to finish was given a total of two episodes. TWO?! What could have been potentially their best plot of the season was discarded as nothing more than a bit of filler and a convenient segue into a few performances. It was insensitive to bring such a controversial issue into the show and not deal with it properly, and we could have seen a lot more of Coach’s character, which also would have been a positive.

However, these episodes were preoccupied with two things: saying goodbye to the graduating students, and establishing the dynamics for next year, and to be fair they do this exceptionally. Sue is finally back in charge of the Cheerios, so fingers crossed she finds her mean streak again, and other characters are slowly taking centre stage, preparing us for the imminent departure of Finchel. Well, not quite, but more on that next week.

Whoopi Goldberg reprises her brief guest appearance in an earlier episode as the NYADA teacher. It wasn’t over the top, and she wasn’t on screen just for sake of having her there, and I would say it’s the best guest appearance of the season. Certainly beats the awful, crowbarred appearances from Perez Hilton and Lindsay Lohan as judges of show choir competition. It wasn’t bad, just very average.

Here’s a big spoiler for you so look away now if you haven’t watched it, but New Directions won the national championship. The episode was shamelessly dedicated to all the fans and cynics who persevered with the show from day one – the first half built up as being the last hoorah for the main characters and almost entirely comprised of performances, and the second being a self-congratulation as the McKinley kids and Will parade the trophy around the school.

Finally, Mr. Shuester won that coveted teacher of the year award that nobody spoke of until the end season three. It would have made a lovely end to the series, but we’ll have to grit our teeth and sit through the sentimental blubberfest of next week’s ‘Goodbye’.