Glee - Season 4 - Episode 4 - Recap Video - The Break Up

Wow. If you've ever been a fan of the show at all, tonight's episode is must-watch television at its finest. In what has to be one of the best hours of Glee ever, four of the show's major couples face some very real problems.

Marley and Jake continue their flirting when he reveals that (*shocker*) he is taking dancing lessons. Brittany and Blaine look on from another lunch table, reminiscing about when they first started dating Santana and Kurt, respectively. Blaine's sentiment that "every day felt like Valentine's day" is enough to make you realize this episode is going to be a real sucker-punch to the heart.

In the wake of what happened at the end of last week (Finn walking in on Rachel with Brody), Rachel reveals to Kurt that she and Finn didn't go to bed till late, but they didn't even talk all night. Finn reveals to Rachel that he only lasted 16 days in the arms, after which he shot himself in the thigh while cleaning Rachel (the name of his gun). Since then, he was just backpacking through Georgia and was too embarrassed to call. His reasoning actually makes perfect sense, especially considering the reason he left was to honor his father's name and he quite obviously wasn't able to accomplish that. Rachel, desperate to find Finn "a new dream", suggests that he attend classes at NYADA with her to see if he likes it. If Kurt can't get in to NYADA, then there's pretty much no way Finn is going to either… but Finn humors Rachel just for the hell of it.

Santana, chatting with Brittany about how appalled she is that Kurt was able to get the internship with Vogue.com, reveals that she enjoys being a cheerleader and likes going to college so she can still be close to Britt (awww!). She even waits to do her laundry just so she'll be forced to go back to Lima and visit. Blaine calls Kurt in the hallway, who has taken over Isabelle's phone for the week and seems uber busy. He's even too busy to wait for Blaine's "I love you", which would be frustrating even for a couple that wasn't long distance like the two of them.

Finn goes through the motions sitting in on Rachel's classes, clearly having doubts about staying. Blaine also struggles trying to get ahold of Kurt, leading to a spectacularly depressing rendition of "Barely Breathing". I was in tears by the end of this number, especially seeing Blaine "poke" some mystery guy named Eli on his Facebook. Horny much?

It's Friday night, and Blaine surprises Kurt by showing up at the apartment. Now the four of them (Rachel, Finn, Kurt, and Blaine) can be all happy and have a good time at the bar Callbacks where they can sing the night away, right? Well, sorta… It starts innocently enough, but Brody shows up and puts some pressure on Finn to sing with Rachel. With a pretty intense edge to his voice, Finn says she should just sing the duet with Brody "since you're both NYADA students and it's a NYADA tradition." Another song I didn't think of as being all that depressing has a particular sting because Rachel is singing it with Brody, and that look Finn gives her…. poison. "Give Your Heart a Break" isn't the most depressing number of the episode by a longshot, but it still hurts if you're a Finchel fan.

Just when you think it can't get any more emotionally intense, Blaine takes the mic and piano and sings a stunning version of "Teenage Dream", which couldn't be any further from the version he first sang to Kurt. The intensity bleeds through Blaine's voice and it cues Kurt in that something is definitely wrong. You can 100% feel that Blaine is just on the verge of bursting out in tears. Walking through the park after leaving Callbacks, both couples are chatting when the emotional intensity finally reaches its peak; Blaine tells Kurt that he "was with someone", and Rachel tells Finn that she kissed Brody. Needless to say, both Kurt and Finn pretty much freak out. Blaine and Kurt feel the most real of any relationship on the show, and seeing Kurt driven to tears is the worst part of the episode for me. It's so raw and real that it's almost an immediate callback to the finale last season, which was emotionally charged in the final moments, but has nothing on this episode. The four of them sing an upsetting multi-screen version of No Doubt's classic "Don't Speak", which is fitting.

Finn, leaving early the next morning without saying goodbye, runs into Kurt, who echoes his heartbreak. The two of them have their first brotherly bonding scene in awhile, and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Even though the scene is short, it's one of the best in the episode.

Meanwhile, Kitty invites Marley (and the whole Glee club) to the Left Behind Club, where they can ready for the Rapture. It's certainly an odd scene, especially when Kitty cruelly plays a joke on a poor Asian girl where everyone leaves their clothes on the seats and the girl thinks she's been left behind. Marley is the first to call out the absurdity of it, and quickly leaves, even though Brittany doesn't want to leave because she can relate to being left behind. She tells Santana how much it hurt when she was left behind. Finn takes a special moment to visit Mr. Schue, telling him he needs to talk to him about something; seconds later, Finn's sobbing on Will's shoulder.

Finn and Blaine have an awkward moment where he asks Blaine why he cheated, which he obviously has no good answer for. The rest of the Glee club arrives a bit more happy to see Finn, who suggests the fall musical should be Grease. I definitely approve, as Grease is oodles more interesting to me than West Side Story. Later, Will tells Emma he was approved for the committee, but Emma doesn't want to leave because she loves her job so much. As she says, she can't just drop everything and follow him around. He's being a little selfish, but so is she to be honest. A couple months of supporting your fiance doesn't seem like much of Will to ask, to be honest.

In the Vogue.com building, Kurt reads a note from Blaine that came with flowers, but without much thought, he tosses the note into the garbage. At McKinley, Santana chats with Brittany, telling her how much she misses expressing things through song in the choir room when she just didn't have the words. She breaks into the best possible version of a terrible song I've ever heard with "Mine". Santana's voice trumps Taylor Swift's any day of the week. The two of them are both crying by the end, and Santana tells Brittany about a moment she had back at school. She had an "energy exchange" with another lesbian, a moment where she was attracted to someone else. She didn't act on it, but she thinks it's time to give their relationship a little break, if just for now. It hits Brittany pretty hard, and they give each other one last kiss.

Jake breaks up with Kitty after she continues her awful name-calling with Marley, which at least opens up one cute couple possibility. One couple moves forward, while four move so very much backward. If that's not making some sort of sadistic statement, then I don't know what is.

In the auditorium, Rachel and Finn meet up and she calls out his major immaturity in snubbing her for so long and in leaving without saying goodbye. He was strong enough to push her to go to New York without him, but too immature to call her when things were getting rough. Rachel says that Finn was her first love and she wants him to be her last, but they have to be done for now because she "can't do this anymore." Finn doesn't protest much, but the two lock into a meaningful embrace. Then comes what may be the best performance of any Glee episode: all four couples (Rachel and Finn, Kurt and Blaine, Santana and Brittany, and Will and Emma) sing "The Scientist" by Coldplay, complete with flashbacks to the first time each of them met. If this scene alone doesn't at least get you choked up, then you may have no heart.

So, just like that, no more Brittana, Klaine, or Finchel. I really hope that they get back together at some point this season, and by them I mean all three couples. I can't stand the heartbreak this caused! And now, we have to wait till November for new episodes… blasphemy! What did all you Gleeks think of tonight's episode?

Some of the best quotes:

"I couldn't face you seeing me as a Lima loser." -Finn
"What the hell am I gonna do in New York, run a hot dog stand outside Madison Square Garden?" -Finn
"This is the song that I sang the first time I ever met the love of my life… so Kurt, this is for you." -Blaine
"She was either crazy, or a lesbian." -Santana
"You know I will always love you the most." -Santana
"When it comes to you, I'm always gonna be that moon-eyed girl that freaked you out at our first Glee rehearsal." -Rachel

Full Performance of "Mine"

Full Performance of "Barely Breathing"

Full Performance of "Give Your Heart A Break"