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“Glee” recap (6.12): Once Upon a Time in Lima, Ohio (Part 1)

The first part of the Glee finally brings us right back to where it all began: 2009. The episode gives us a little insight as to what happened in the moments we weren’t privy to in the pilot. When a plucky Spanish teacher named Will Schuester took over a flailing glee club, and a young sophomore named Kurt Hummel was tormented in the halls. (It’s so weird to see Chris Colfer dressed as himself six years ago, especially since he’s changed so much.)

Kurt is pretty desperate and lonely, enough so that he stops by Emma Pillsbury’s office and nearly takes a pamphlet on suicide. Emma asks Burt to come in and discuss her concerns about his son, and it’s amazing to see how far Burt Hummel has come over the years. From a gruff, no-nonsense man who had no idea what to do with this child who was clearly his complete opposite, to the kind, loving, sage of a man who could make us all cry with the drop of a hat. He’s clearly upset by what Emma tells him, and in an effort to get Kurt out of his shell, he forces him to join a team at school. He doesn’t specify what kind of team, though. I’d forgotten how fabulous Kurt’s old room was, too.

The next day at school, Kurt meets Rachel Berry, who is a whirlwind of intensity. She’s in every club you can think of, and encourages him to audition for the new glee club run by “an old Justin Timberlake,” which is the best description of Will I’ve ever heard. Rachel agrees to help Kurt prepare for his audition. They sing “Popular” from Wicked and it’s terrific. Their voices blending and swirling. It’s one of the things I’ll miss. Kurt assumes this means Rachel will join him for a dual audition, but Rachel gives him a hard no. She’s a star, and she’s not willing to share any spotlight, even one in an audition. Rachel Berry is dead serious about success, and she’s hardened herself so much against teasing and ridicule that she’s almost like a machine.

So, Kurt turns to another star to help guide him: Mercedes Jones. Kurt calls her Miss Jones, which is beyond adorable, and she gives him a much warmer reception than Rachel did. He asks for her help, and Mercedes tells him to let his personality make the impression rather than his clothes.

He auditions for Will, singing “Mr. Cellophane” from Chicago, and he does indeed make a big impression. Kurt literally skips into Burt’s auto-body shop, the joy painted across his face, to tell him about joining glee club. Burt is less than thrilled, but when Kurt tells him that now he’s actually happy to go to school, his fatherly instincts kick in and he acquiesces. In Kurt’s head, he comes out to his father, hoping that he doesn’t stop loving him.

While Mercedes might put on a big smile in front of Kurt, she’s just as lonely as he is. She doesn’t have any friends to speak of at McKinley, so she decides to take the plunge and audition for glee club as well. Soon enough, she is accosted by Rachel Berry, who never takes a breath. Mercedes is convinced that Rachel is trying to throw her off her game, but Rachel just can’t help being Rachel. She tries to bond with Mercedes by telling her that one of her dads is black, but Mercedes is already exhausted and leaves her in the dust. Rachel chases after her, asking if she can hear Mercedes sing at church.

Mercedes wails at the beginning of the service, and Rachel is certainly impressed. She’s also intimidated and needs to find a way to undermine Mercedes so she doesn’t usurp her talent. However, Mercedes sees right through her and throws the gauntlet down.

Tina. Oh Tina, how I missed your gothy ways. Tina tells us in a voiceover that she’s fine with being unpopular-in fact, she’s trying to be unpopular. (Sure, OK, Tina.) It’s a goth thing, you wouldn’t understand. The stutter, the hair, the clothes, the ‘tude, it’s all to keep people at arms length and protect Tina’s shy soul. The only one she opens up to is Artie. The first thing Artie wants us to know via voiceover is that he is in love with Tina.

We watch as two of Artie and Tina’s friends dump their lunches all over Rachel and Kurt, and it turns out that it was because Artie dared them to. Artie does look rather horrified about it though. Apparently, dares are a big thing in this little clique. The lead goth chick (played by Bex Taylor-Klaus from The Killing and Arrow) dares Artie and Tina to audition for the glee club. Artie agrees a little too eagerly.

Not surprisingly, Artie and Tina nail their auditions. We of course remember Tina’s rendition of “I Kissed a Girl,” but we never did get to see Artie’s. His audition was “Pony” by Ginuwine and he nails it, even if it’s a less than appropriate song for a high school glee club audition. Tina jams out backstage, and tells Artie that he’s got the best voice she’s ever heard. Music to Artie’s ears.

The first day of glee club, it’s quite evident that Will is busy trying to recreate his glory days rather than choosing music that is cool and contemporary. He gives Artie the lead in “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat” because he’s incapable of thinking outside of the box, at least not yet. (Who am I kidding? Ever.) Rachel immediately protests, and when Will asks who wants to sing the Sandy part in the Grease medley, she loses her ever-loving shit. She thinks she’s the only person there who could play Sandy. She makes it about race rather than the fact that she’s just so desperate to be a star. Only Rachel would think that being thought of as a bigot would be better than being vulnerable.

At home, Will is trying to work on glee music and his first wife Terri is bound and determined to crush his spirit. Terri was THE WORST but Jessalyn Gilsig really was delightfully maniacal in the role. He tries to tell her about his crappy day, but she doesn’t want to hear about it. She asks him if it’s worth it, if he’s willing to let their relationship suffer because of it. He promises that he’d never let that happen. Bwah! (p.s. if anyone ever tells you to choose them or your dreams, start creating an exit plan.)

The next day, Rachel finds Will first thing and presents him with a list of reasons why she should have the first solo. She is nothing if not industrious. Before he can even get in a word, Puck walks by and tosses a slushie in Rachel’s face. Will is horrified as a crowd gathers around to laugh at her. “I told you, everyone hates me,” she tells him, wiping the cherry ice out of her stinging eyes.

The next day in glee, Will tells the kids they can move into the auditorium. He also grants Rachel the solo in “You’re the One that I Want,” which really pisses Mercedes off. From the look on Will’s face, he did it out of pity for Rachel and the torment she faces. Mercedes calls for a sing off, but Will steps in and tells them to save that for a future episode.

Mercedes is really broken up about not getting the solo and turns to her mother for comfort. She calls Rachel a “demented little Beanie Baby” and threatens to quit the club. He mother reminds her that glee club just started and there will be plenty of opportunities for her to shine. Her mother tells Mercedes that she’s a star, but a true star knows when to share her spotlight. Rachel can only push her to be better, and one day, they will become friends. “Stars have a way of finding each other.”

We finally see Sue for the first time in the episode, and Principal Figgins is busy gushing about how the Cheerios are his number one priority. Sue questions Figgins about the glee club, but he tells her not to worry about it. However, Sue doesn’t want anything taking away attention from her cheerleading squad. She and Will play some one-on-one basketball, and she tries to get him to drop the glee club, which he thinks is absurd. Glee was his life as a high schooler. He tells her that the arts are more important that cheerleading and, right in that moment, Sue decides to destroy him.

Rachel works out in her room, all the while planning to be bigger than the sun. I have always appreciated Rachel’s ruthless ambition, which seemed to get waylaid in subsequent seasons. A true anti-heroine was born in 2009, and I have always rooted for her, despite her many faults. Back then, Rachel was posting videos of herself on MySpace, and being terribly cyberbullied for them. She would probably have been a YouTube star, nowadays. You were just born before your time, Rachel Berry. She tells us she’s “grown numb to the cruelty,” but that’s impossible. That feeling in the pit of your stomach when someone writes something awful about you…that never really goes away. Trust me. Rachel also lets us know that Will is studying to be an accountant because the pressure at home was too much to deal with and now Terri is “pregnant.” No Will means no glee. No glee, means no stardom for Rachel. She heads to Sheets and Things to confront Will’s wife. Rachel has met her match though, and there is not changing Terri’s mind. She wants expensive, material things, and a teacher’s salary isn’t going to cut it.

At the Lima Bean, Mercedes and Kurt are getting their gossip and caffeine on. Kurt is irritated that Finn has now joined the group and that he’s already bossing them around. He worries that once more jocks (Puck!) and Cheerios (Quinn! Santana! Brittany!) join, that he and Mercedes will get pushed to the wayside. Mercedes tells him hell to the no way is that going to happen. As they leave, Mercedes asks a be-blazered Blaine Anderson for some sugar. Even though Blaine wasn’t part of Glee until Season 2, we get to see that he’s a part of the Gleeuniverse. He has recently come out, and a fellow Warbler is commending him for his bravery. And scene.

Rachel is late for glee club, and there is a secret meeting happening with the other members. They want Finn out of the club, and Rachel protests. Yet, as each of them start to think about it, Finn hasn’t been that bad of a guy to them. Rachel reminds them that they have been excluded for so long, why should they start doing the same thing to anyone else. And, for the first time since she started high school, Rachel has made some friends. That’s saying something. The all agree to let Finn stay in the club.

Emma Pillsbury and her epic hair flip go to bat for Will. She asks Figgins to give him a raise for coaching the club, otherwise McKinley will be a laughing stock of a school with no arts program. While he can’t offer any money, he can offer Will some inspiration-a recording of his Nationals winning glee club performance. It does the trick. Well that coupled with Sue handing him her taxes to do. When Will walks down the hallway towards the auditorium, he hears a sound that changes everything. For him, and for us, the fans. Those first few a capella notes of “Don’t Stop Believing” still get me right in the gut. They remind me of the joy that Glee brought to me, and how music can move mountains. When I was a kid, I was painfully unpopular. Bullied, pushed around, taunted and tormented. My poor parents, like Burt Hummel, tried to find an outlet for me, for something to give me a reason to wake up in the morning. They sent me to theatre camp and music saved me just like it saved these kids. It is a universal truth, and Glee will always be a reminder of that.

Seeing Cory Monteith again had me bursting into tears. Losing him, such a bright light, could have ended Glee. Some say maybe it should have, but it did persevere. Few shows and casts have dealt with a tragedy of that magnitude. Maybe it was the music that was able to reach out and help us all heal, or maybe it was just that Glee gave us all something to believe in for a while. Whatever the reason, taking this trip back in time really put a lot of things into perspective. I don’t know about you, but I won’t forget the joy that Glee gave me over the years.

“Hold on to that feeling.”

Check back tomorrow for the second part of the Glee finale recap.

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