“You kind of sing and dance like a zombie who has to poop.” – Jesse to Finn
It seems that “Funeral” is the most talked about episode of Glee in a long time, even before it even aired. For weeks there had been speculation on which character they were planning on killing off and many names were thrown out there such as Karofsky, Coach Beiste (where is she anyways?), Terri Schuester, and even Principal Figgins. Alas, we finally got our answer just in the first five minutes of the episode.
“Funeral” started off with Becky and her mother going to Mr. Schuester to ask if she could join the glee club. She told him that Sue kicked her off the Cheerios and she was heartbroken. Unfortunately for Becky, glee club wasn’t ready to take on another member since nationals were a week away and they wouldn’t have time to prepare. Mr. Schuester encouraged her to join next year and then went off in search for answers from Sue.
Mr. Schue finds Sue to lecture her about being cruel to Becky and Sue admits she doesn’t want Becky around because she reminds her of her sister, Jean, who had just died the day before. Sue proceeded to tell him that Jean wasn’t supposed to make it past thirty because of the down syndrome and was surprised to see that she had made it to fifty. I definitely shed some tears when she told him how Sue had been there for her every day since she had gotten pneumonia and then the night that Jean insisted Sue go home to rest, she died in her sleep. He tried to comfort her, but she didn’t want it.
Later, Finn and Kurt brought some flowers to Sue and told her they were there to help her because they both lost someone they loved with Kurt losing his mother and Finn losing his father. They decided they wanted to help with the funeral since Sue didn’t want to plan one. They presented the idea to the glee club and they agreed to help too.
Finn and Kurt also helped Sue clean out Jean’s room at the nursing home, but Sue didn’t want to keep any of her things, including Jean’s favorite tape of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Kurt tried to talk her into saving their memories, but she was too upset.
At the funeral, Sue thanked Mr. Schue and told him how Jean always stuck up for him when she would make fun of his hair. She got a surprise when she walked in to see that Finn and Kurt decided on a Willy Wonka theme and the area around the casket looked like the scene in the candy room. This whole funeral scene was very emotional; from Mr. Schue reading Sue’s eulogy, to the glee kids singing “Pure Imagination” while a video of Sue and Jean played on a tv and then Sue holding Mr. Schue’s hand. When Sue goes back to school, she takes Becky back as her Cheerios assistant, even promoting her to the captain of the team. Sue embraces her after an apology.
After the funeral, Finn realized that he didn’t have the same feelings for Quinn that he did for Rachel. He admitted to Quinn he was done trying. She wouldn’t accept his break-up, but he wouldn’t back down and told her he didn’t want to be with her. Back at school Finn goes to talk to Rachel, flower in hand, but he comes upon a tender moment between her and Jesse.
In glee club land, Mr. Schue hired Jesse St. James to be a consultant for the group and he ends up just being a jerk instead. He makes fun of Finn and then suggests that they ignore the death of Sue’s sister because they need to prepare for nationals. He also talks them into having one person be the lead for nationals and everybody else sing around them. Mr. Schue holds a tryout with Rachel, Kurt, Santana and Mercedes signing up.
Out of the four, I think Rachel had it. Her “My Man” from Funny Girl was really strong and she really put some emotion into it. Kurt made a good point when he said that “she may be difficult, but boy can she sing.” Mercedes was really close though with “Try A Little Tenderness.” Mercedes definitely has the pipes to do solos more often though. In the end Mr. Schue decided they were going to get through nationals as a group instead of just relying on one person.
Mr. Schue has plans of his own after nationals and will be heading to Broadway to be in April Rhodes’ show. Emma helped him pack his apartment, being the only one that knows what his plans are for the summer. I don’t think he will leave for good, he hinted at being back by the end of summer break, but I think they are doing this to create problems for the glee club during nationals.
Not much was plot was brought in from the fall out of last week’s prom except for the angst of the Finn/Quinn/Jesse/Rachel foursome. Now that Finn has realized how he truly feels I don’t think he will just sit and watch Jesse take Rachel from him again.
This episode was good, but kind of random at the same time. I do think it gave Jane Lynch a chance to do what she does best and it really showed her range. It is frustrating though that they can’t really decide what to do with her character, whether it be having a soft side or having tantrums in the school hallways. It will be interesting to see how she is going to act now that the one person that made her decent is gone.
Some stats and info about Glee, “Funeral”
TV SHOW – Glee
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 2, Episode 21
AIRED ON – May 17th, 2011
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FOX/Hulu
GENRE – Drama, Musicals, Comedy
CREATED BY – Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy
CAST – Chris Colfer, Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Kevin McHale, Naya Rivera, Jenna Ushkowitz, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, Heather Elizabeth Morris, Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss, Harry Shum Jr., Cory Monteith, Jayma Mays, Dianna Agron
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.