So this week Will Schuester is enjoying the fruits of working for a glee club with an actual budget, but at what artistic cost? Why would we ask, when was the last time any of us cared about Will Schuster? We have Emma back this week, though! Finally portrayed by Jayma Mays and not a stand in with a red wig.

But it is important to keep in mind that Will is coaching some pretty driven (and particularly mean spirited) glee kids. This is after all, this is home base of the one and only Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff) who deserved a cameo but is probably too busy killing it on HBO’s Looking. Still, the image of egged Blaine and Rachel is a nice (well maybe not so nice) wink to earlier seasons.

(Source)

Will decides to implement one of his weekly life-lessons-through-song (because they’re always so effective) by rapping Macklemore’s “Same Love” and invites Unique in to teach these Mean Kids a thing or two. However, the Vocal Adrenaline “kids” (honestly how old are these people?) assert that they’re blind to race, creed, and gender identity – they hate everyone equally and just want to win. Such sweethearts, right?

I was really very excited about Coach Beiste’s return after his transition and I have to say that from my limited perspective (full disclosure your recapper is cis) I think the show is handling the matter with due respect. I mean, just the welcoming party of Sue’s quick Trans issues research (wouldn’t it be great if some people took a minute to read?) and Sam asking about and enforcing Coach’s pronouns all looked like good signs to me. Sue making the school a safe space not just for Coach Beiste but for others with different gender identities put a smile on my face.

“So good to have you back and in true form.” Couldn’t have said it better myself, Sam!

Meanwhile, in Rachel’s quickly changing life, her childhood home has been sold after Rachel’s “haunting” sabotage attempts. This throws her into a crisis, not unlike last week's. My personal thanks to Mercedes for pointing out that we just finished with Rachel and can someone please tell me why we’re on Rachel again. The Rachel Berry Show got cancelled, didn’t it? Looming adulthood, that’s why. Finding your place and your career, moving out of your parents’ house (moving back into your parents’ house) it’s all part of growing up, but Rachel isn’t taking it so well.

(Source)

So Vocal Adrenaline is using Coach Beiste to make the New Directions and Co. “think” they’re prejudiced frat kids in some strange and convoluted plan to distract the New New Directions from sectionals. They pile into a large black SUV that is replete with attractive 30 year olds trying to look 17 and vandalize Coach Beiste’s car. I’m really hoping the moral of this episode is just because you SAY you’re not a bigoted transphobic idiot doesn’t make you any less of one.

I do tip my hat to the show for putting it out there that a word so casually used by so many in the media is a horribly transphobic slur.

Kurt puts together a weekly lesson that has nothing to do with the education or best interests of his students. It’s just Rachel Berry needs a musical boost and we’re going to sacrifice the Glee club’s precious time to teach her about adulthood and going out into the word.

They enlist the help of almost all of the Old New Directions and may I say way to go Kurt, taking fate into your own subtle deft fingers and securing a Klaine duet we desperately need.

It appears that at this point Blaine and Dave are still together, I’m really rooting for a decent respectful break up and send off for Max Adler.

Sam and Spencer come to the rescue when they hear what Coach Beiste has to put up with, and their protectiveness towards the coach is amazing. Especially Spencer, proving that his earlier complaints about Coach were out of actual concern (which I didn’t actually doubt, but I appreciate the highlight).

Oh. Okay. Will is trying to be an authority figure now with the same tactic that didn’t work for the last few years. Which frustrates him and turns him into a pouting moody mess who snaps at his wife. His capitalist existential crisis doesn’t move me at all so I really wish his adorable baby boy was in this scene to pull focus from Will’s tantrum.

The gang is back in Rachel’s basement, are we going to go for spin-the-bottle part two?

“All About the Bass” was a really fun number and with two of the best voices on the show (Mercedes and Roderick) I took a little break from recapping to have a dance party, so sue me.

Oh, look! Rachel and Sam are skipping off upstairs for alone time! You know what’s more interesting than that? Spencer dancing with Artie by wheeling him in circles for the whole song.

Sam has some nice things to say though, like, “the wall doesn’t go away” in reference to Rachel’s carefully curated wall of memories and achievements. It’s good for people meeting milestones to hear that everything isn’t over, more accomplishments will come. But then Sam and Rachel are making out and suddenly I can’t care again.

(Source)

But now here it is, the moment we’ve all been waiting for! A Klaine Duet! Hasn’t it been ages? “Somebody Loves You” is a desperately appropriate song for the way Blaine keeps longingly side-eyeing Kurt (who is doing some strange mating ritual dance with an astronaut hat and feather boa).

The number is fun and loving and full of longing and everything we love about Klaine. Blaine bows out early since he has to get back to Dave (who he is apparently still dating despite Sue’s best efforts) and whilst we reminisce about the good old days of the relationship it’s easy to see the tension building until it finally snaps. And okay, I’m only human, it’s one hell of a kiss.

(Source)

I can’t be cynical about that kiss, okay? Especially when you pair it up with Cindy Lauper’s “Time After Time”. I squealed like the high school sophomore who started watching this show all those years ago. Then, of course, Blaine exits via dramatic jog down the darkened street.

As far as nostalgic final season scenes go, Rachel taking down all of her high school memorabilia was perfect. From the Hogwarts Moving Pictures to the montage of the team dismantling Rachel’s memory wall, this episode is crushing my snarky commentary song by song.

Back at McKinley, Unique pays a visit to Coach Sheldon Beiste. So is Glee actually acknowledging that Sheldon isn’t the first Trans character in Glee? I can’t speak from an informed point of view on the scene, I can only say it seemed respectful and thoughtful and that I hope it’s bringing a message of hope and encouragement to those who need it.

After kissing Kurt, Blaine is understandably confused (and probably more than a little guilty) in his relationship with Dave. He really doesn’t have the best track record of loyalty and faithfulness, but he does have the good habit of coming clean. I loved this scene from beginning to end. All I really wanted from the Blaine and Dave break-up was some understanding, a real dialogue, and a respect for Karofsky’s character. There’s no denying that this was exactly what I wanted to see and both Max Adler and Darren Criss were fantastic. Dave even sends Blaine off with some God-sent advice about declaring his undying love for Kurt, “Don’t sing it, just say it.”

(Source)

I don’t understand why the show would need to expand the Klaine drama for another darn week by adding as ridiculous a road block as the entirely inappropriately older man Kurt is spending time with. Break our Klaining hearts why don’t you? And with such few episodes to go!

Why is Will Schuester still featured prominently in this episode? Can we please have someone else give the lesson of the day? It seems like Will is engaging his career-driven students ins some psychological warfare. Play a potentially dangerous prank on the New Directions? No! Will only tricked his students into coming here to get another lesson from Unique again hitting everyone in the moral and emotional gut with “I Know Where I’ve Been”. It’s been a while since Glee gave us one of those numbers that can stand on their own. Three hundred singers who happen to be transgender playing on prime time TV? How amazing is that? Do you know what a powerful scene that is?

At the end of the day, the performance (which made me cry, to be perfectly honest) didn’t have the desired effect on Vocal Adrenaline, so we’re bringing Will back to McKinley and that took almost half a season.

Overall I think the episode handled the key issues of their Transgender characters with the necessary grace. Should such an important message have been overshadowed by the possibility of Klaine? Are we all freaking out about next week’s Brittana wedding? Share with us in the comments!