- Title: Glee – All or Nothing
- tv.com: link
In the show’s Fourth Season finale (wow, has Glee really been on the air that long?), Rachel (Lea Michele) returns for her final call back for the new Broadway show of Funny Girl, Brittany (Heather Morris) returns from her campus visit to MIT (where they believe the blonde cheerleader might be the greatest mathematical idiot savant they have ever seen) with an over-sized ego, Ryder (Blake Jenner) discovers the identity of his online girlfriend and threatens to quit, and New Directions heads to Regionals.
Despite the objection of both Burt (Mike O’Malley) and Sam (Chord Overstreet), Blaine (Darren Criss) continues his plan to propose to Kurt (Chris Colfer) by asking Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) to help him pick out an engagement ring. Blaine also accepts an invitation from a loving lesbian couple (Patty Duke, Meredith Baxter) who have been together since high school. The evening ends with a proposal, but not the one that Blaine had planned.
Attempting to perform an intervention, Mr. Shue (Matthew Morrison) and Sue (Jane Lynch) get pulled into the latest episode of Brittany’s web series Fondue for Two where their host, oblivious to their concerns, uses the opportunity to reveal the father of Sue’s baby girl. Santana‘s (Naya Rivera) return helps set Brittany’s head on straight, and Ryder is finally convinced to perform at Regionals, but for both it will mark their final performance with the Glee Club.
Regionals sees New Directions square off against The Waffletoots, who perform “Rainbow Connection,” and Frida Romero (Jessica Sanchez) and The Hoosierdaddies who perform Foxes‘ “Clarity” and Little Mix‘s “Wings.” For their set New Directions, complete with several cast members who have been absent most of the season like Joe (Samuel Larsen) and Sugar (Vanessa Lengies), perform The Script‘s “Hall of Fame,” an all girl number of Icona Pop‘s “I Love It,” and for the season’s final number Marley (Melissa Benoist) leads the group in her original song “All or Nothing.” The episode also includes Rachel performing Celine Dion‘s “To Love You More” at her audition (the outcome of which is not divulged during this episode).
The episode ends with Brittany’s tearful farewell to the group, New Directions winning Regionals yet again (even if they were arguably the third best of teams competing), and an impromptu wedding of Will and Emma (Jayma Mays) in the choir room with the New Directions in attendance. The cameos by Baxter and Duke are incredibly unsubtle and smacks of stunt-casting, but the sentiment of the scene works well enough. It’s nice to see Will and Emma officially married and Brittany gets a big send-off all her own, but it’s surprising the show largely ignores both Artie and Tina’s final moments with the group. Even if Rachel and Frida Romero steal the episode’s best performances, the final members of the original cast get to head off into the sunset (to inevitably re-appear next season) with a win.
