Glee - Season 5 Episode 3 - Recap - The Quarterback

Grab your tissues ladies and gents. Like it or not, you will cry during this episode. I have blinked through my tears long enough to write this recap for those of you who missed it or just couldn't handle it. Here we go.

Glee recap: "The Quarterback".

The episode opens with most of the cast singing "Seasons of Love". Noticeable absent are Quinn (Dianna Agron) and Rachel (Lea Michele). Mike Chang, Puck, and Mercedes have all returned for the episode. As the song begins, I actually almost forgot it was all real for a moment.

Everyone is headed back to Lima to attend a memorial for Finn. It's been a few weeks since his funeral and no mention of how or why he died is ever made. I understand why but story-wise, it's kind of odd. I can't imagine what some poor kid watching this who had no idea what happened must have been thinking.

Sue delivers the first line of the night to snap us out of it by calling Coach Bieste a "Post-op Michael Chiklis." I hate myself for laughing but I laughed right through the tears that were already falling.

Schue is allowing the kids to sing songs for Finn this week. Mercedes sings "I'll Stand By You", the one song that I listened to the most after Cory died. Here come the tears. Sam and Artie duet on "Fire and Rain" while Puck chooses "No Surrender".

Not everyone is dealing with this the best way they know how. Puck is dealing with it by drinking and I actually feel really bad for him. He asks Kurt for Finn's jacket but Kurt says no. All he wants is something to remember him by. Following a tearful heart to heart with the Coach, Puck reveals he'll be joining the Air Force and will try and go on without his best bud. I think this is a nice end to Puck's character.

Santana attempts to sing "If I Die Young" and only makes it halfway through before breaking down, screaming, and running out of the room. Her earlier scene where she confronts Sue for taking down the memorial was even better. She tells Sue how much she's hated her all these years and actually pushes her into a cabinet. It's amazing. She later apologizes but Sue tells her she was right. We get a moment where Jane Lynch shined through talking about Cory. She says things like "He was such a good guy." "There's no happy ending." "It's so pointless." "All that potential." My heart hurts.

I went into this expecting to feel the worst during Rachel's scenes but it was actually the scene with Kurt and Finn's parents that caused me to absolutely lose it. In a scene that showed Burt (Mike O'Malley) wish he had hugged Finn more and Finn’s mom Carol (Romy Rosemont) break down completely over losing her son and still having to wake up every morning, I just wept openly. It was very well done and the best scene of the night.

Rachel appears at the end of the episode to sing "To Make You Feel My Love". I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed she sang it in front of the other kids. I had hoped it would be during a montage of sorts. The lack of Cory scenes and actual Finn in an episode that's a tribute to him was kind of odd and disappointing. But the little moments, like the drumsticks at the memorial, and the plaque Rachel hung up, made up for it.

Everyone's crying in this scene. I'm crying. But Will isn't. And he hasn't all night. He's been busy breaking up fights over who gets to keep Finn's jacket when it appears to be stolen. In the final scene of the night, Emma walks in on Will, who has the jacket, and he has finally allowed himself to cry over his friend. I'm torn between thinking this is weird and a clever shoutout to the Pilot episode with Creeper Will and thinking it's incredibly touching.

What did you think of the episode?