Glee 2x22: New York (Finale Review)

New York. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of. The Glee kids have battled various adversities such as slushy facials, homophobe jocks and playing for the Football team in Michael Jackson’s Thriller make-up but the moment everybody has been dreaming of has finally come. Nationals.

Unfortunately, all the hype surrounding the much awaited episode has proved to be too much for the writers of the hit TV show. The season 2 finale was a let-down to what we had hoped they would deliver. The first few musical numbers were childish and cheesy, reminiscent of those 90’s Pinoy movies where people would go out of town and burst into ahyper sing-and-dance routine. For a moment there, I thought I was watching Dolphy and his Home Along the Riles clan.

Second, how realistic was it that the New Directions fly to the city of Broadway dreams without a polished routine in their pockets? And not only that, the songs they were supposed to perform were not even written yet. I know it is a TV series and not real life, but a little more logic and a dash of reason would have been helpful.

Sunshine Corazon was back. Superb performance overall but honestly, somebody should fire her stylist. Seriously. I couldn’t concentrate half the time I was watching her belt out those high notesbecause I was genuinely disturbed on how the foundation on her face was darker than the colour of her body. Also, the dress didn’t fit properly and looked like a cheap rental for a Santa Cruzan parade. Did they make her look bad on purpose? Was it too much to ask to have a few strands of hair framing her face?

Plus, Vocal Adrenaline was clearly losing their touch. Comparing their performance with Jesse St. James killing Bohemian Rhapsody back in Season One Regionals with their current Nationals routine, it’s a mystery how they managed to get to the Top 10 in the first place.

New York obviously changes people. Rachel and Kurt have stepped into the Big Apple for less than 24 hours yet they act like Upper East Side’s Blair and Serena already.

Admittedly, the one redeeming part of the episode was the duo singing Wicked’sbreathtaking finale song “For Good” on top of the musical’s Broadway stage itself. It was such a heartfelt rendition baring the utmost passion and talent of the two most ambitious and talented characters on the show, I thought it was quite moving. I saw an interview asking creator Ryan Murphy of what would happen if the show choir members graduate from high school and I think it set the background for a Glee future after McKinley High.

I think the Achilles’ Heel of the series is its lack of compelling romantic pairs. So many shows have flourished just because of the chemistry between its lead characters. Who could forget Joey and Dawson, or Buffy and Angel or even Maulder and Scully? The whole Rachel and Finn love arc failed to elicit some sort of emotion from me. I couldn’t care less if they ended up together or went on separate paths. The on-stage kiss was not the climactic moment the show hoped it would be.

Bad writing, mediocre original songs and loopy predictable plot. This is basically what the Glee finale brought its salivating fans. I hope that in the future, the creators would concentrate more on story and character development rather than the Celebrity Guest of the Month. With just two seasons under its belt, Glee is still a neophyte show and for it to achieve longevity in the industry, it would take more than the Popular Song Cover of the Week to survive.