With the glee club gearing up for Regionals, Rachel getting her shot at an iconic Broadway role, and Finn entering college, ‘Sweet Dreams’ provided us with some irritating, some humorous, and some nostalgic moments.
This week’s "Glee" was one of the less exciting episodes of the season, but it did provide some important plot points to keep the show moving into its last three episodes of the season.
With the glee club gearing up for Regionals, Rachel getting her shot at an iconic Broadway role, and Finn entering college, ‘Sweet Dreams’ provided us with some irritating, some humorous, and some nostalgic moments.
The glee club is on edge: Following the scare of last week’s episode, certain members of the glee club have started acting differently. Sam is trying to convince everyone that he has a twin named Evan (yes, Evan Evans) and keeps switching between his two identities, Tina is embracing a fashion style called ‘steampunk,’ Unique is caught taking birth control in hopes to help her develop more feminine features, and Marley has vowed to share her songs with the world.
Mr. Schuester is stuck in the past: When Mr. Schuester finds out that the theme for Regionals is ‘dreams’ he tells the glee club that they will be performing a set comprised of Gary Wright’s “Dreamweaver,” Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams,” and Hall and Oates’ “Dreams come True.” After protest from the glee club including the remark “Finn used to let us have a say” Mr. Schuester breaks and tells them all that they don’t know what is best, and shoots down Marley’s original song idea very quickly saying it was a very different group in the room the last time they took that route.
When Mr. Schuester over hears Marley, Blaine, Sam, and Unique singing one of Marley’s original songs, he realizes he needs to change things. His first mission in doing that is to make amends with Finn and get him to return to helping the glee club. This leads Mr. Schuester to the University of Lima, Finn’s new home.
Finn’s college life: When we first see Finn he is talking about how much he enjoys college and how different it is from high school. While he has this revelation, multiple versions of the ‘Harlem Shake’ break out around him. Finn also soon finds out that Puck is also at the University of Lima (not for an education just for the parties). When Mr. Schuester shows up in their dorm, Puck and Finn have built a slip’n’slide in the hallway and Finn is not budging on returning to help with glee.
Finn and Puck next save a frat party by performing “Fight for your Right” when the sound system gives out. The frat leader (after thinking that Finn and Puck are boyfriends) invites the pair to join the fraternity. The next day Puck discovers that Finn has missed an exam in one of his core courses and is slipping on a lot of his work. In one of Puck’s better moments he sits down and tells Finn that he will never be a good teacher if he can’t even apply himself in college.
Soon, Finn opens his eyes and returns to Mr. Schuester at McKinley saying that the dean agreed to give him course credit for helping the glee club and he is ready to help get them to Regionals.
Rachel gets her chance: Rachel is preparing for her audition to play Fanny in a revival of “Funny Girl” on Broadway. Rachel is determined to sing a Barbra Streisand song for her audition until she gets a visit from her biological mother Shelby at NYADA. Shelby explains that the casting people will not be looking for another Barbra and Rachel needs to sing something more special to her, something that will show how unique she is.
When she steps in front of the casting people, the piano player begins playing “Don’t Stop Believing” and as Rachel sings she imagines the nostalgic performance of the song in the pilot episode of Glee. After she has finished one of the casters asks her why it looked like she was thinking of something while singing and she replies that she was thinking about her friends, because without them she would not be there.
A few days later, Rachel is sulking in the kitchen with Kurt because she has not yet received a call from “Funny Girl.” As she discusses it with Kurt, he phone begins to ring. Rachel Berry has received a call-back for the role of Fanny.
At the end of the episode, Mr. Schuester is back to embracing the kids in glee, culminating in a performance of one of Marley’s original songs. The club is ecstatic to have Finn back and continue to prepare for regionals. Roz Washington has returned to McKinley, taking over the Cheerios and she is on to Becky and Blaine, thinking one of them is behind Sue’s dismissal. Blaine also becomes suspicious of Becky, seeing her strange reaction when the situation is brought up.
Next week, there is a blackout at McKinley, Blaine is ready to interrogate Becky, Sue has a new job, and Sarah Jessica Parker returns.