Series finales have got to be just about the single trickiest aspect of writing a television show. Sure, heading into the Glee series finale, the writers probably don't have it as tough as, say, the writers of tricky mystery shows like Lost or Battlestar Galactica. But even series that you wouldn't expect to have tricky finales have been faltering in their home stretches lately: think Dexter and its lumberjacks, or How I Met Your Mother and its dead mother. (Better yet, don't think of those. Just pretend they never happened.) There are no four-toed statues or smoke monsters or glowing caves of light that Glee has to wrap up in its final two hours — but that doesn't mean there aren't lingering questions that Glee fans would love to see answered before the show takes its final bow.
First, there are the types of questions that probably will get answered: Did Rachel make the right decision in turning down Broadway in favor of returning to NYADA? Will Blaine & Kurt's marriage last? What ever will become of Sue Sylvester? And then there are those burning questions that probably won't get answered, either because there's no time... or because the writers just plain forgot.
Here are 10 burning questions that still need to be answered before Glee ends — but, sadly, probably won't be:
1. When Did Rachel Break Up With Sam?
Much of Rachel's storyline this season revolved around her feelings for Sam. Rachel was initially hesitant because of the lingering memory of Finn, but when she received a silent sign of approval from Finn's mom at the Brittana/Klaine wedding, it seemed full steam ahead for the new couple. A couple of weeks ago, when weighing the decision whether to go back to NYADA or accept a role on Broadway, Rachel told Sam that his opinion was the one that mattered to her the most — over Kurt's, over Blaine's, over Mercedes'. So when Jesse St. James returned last week, it was a bit of a shock to see Rachel lock lips with him with nary a word about Sam.
Did Rachel and Sam break up off-screen? Will she tell him about the kiss during the finale? Did the writers just decide to pretend like the whole relationship never happened when they realized Jonathan Groff would be available for the final few episodes? Samchel may never have been the most popular 'ship on the show, but the two characters deserve more closure than this.
2. Will Finn's Jacket Ever Be Mentioned Again?
One of the through-lines of Season 5's tribute episode to Finn Hudson (and the dearly departed Cory Monteith) was the football player's letterman jacket. Kurt found solace in it, and later loaned it to Santana for comfort. When they jacket went missing, Santana blamed Puck for stealing it, but he denied it. At the end of the episode, it was revealed that the real thief was Mr. Schuester, who took the jacket home and sat on his couch, hugging it and crying. It was a tender moment — but also one that needs following up on. Sure, it was sweet seeing Mr. Schue care so much about Finn, but he stole the jacket, and the kids still have no idea what happened to it. It would be a nice touch to see him finally give the jacket back to Kurt in the series finale.
3. What's Santana Going To Do With Her Life?
Oh, Auntie Snixx. It's easy to see what she so quickly became such a fan-favorite character, with her razor-sharp quips, her sultry vocals, and her sweet relationship with Brittany. We all cried when she and Britt finally tied the knot this season... So why does her story feel so incomplete? It's probably because we have no real idea of what's next for Santana, beyond her honeymoon to the Bahamas. She has flirted with so many different careers, it's hard to keep track. In Season 3, she said she just wanted to be famous at any cost (so Brittany released a sex tape of them online). In Season 4, she suddenly and randomly declared her desire to be a dancer. And in Season 5, she shot a commercial for Yeast-i-Stat before serving as Rachel's Funny Girl understudy before briefly working as a back-up singer for Mercedes before flirting with a career as Rachel's publicist.
This last option seemed the best fit for Santana — but then Naya Rivera was abruptly written out of the Season 5 finale, and by the time she showed back up in Season 6, that plot had been dropped completely. It would be great to get some sort of update on what the former Cheerio is up to. Is she back in school? Has she re-focused on acting? Has she become a public relations maven?
4. Why Did We Never Learn More About Blaine?
For a character the writers clearly enjoyed giving screen time and songs to, Blaine is ending the show as the most oddly under-developed of the show's main cast. Who is Blaine Anderson? Why does he love hair gel and bow ties so much? How did he magically de-age between Seasons 2 and 3? (That's some Benjamin Button nonsense right there.) What happened to Blaine's whole plot with Shirley MacLaine from last season? Matt Bomer gave a stellar performance as Blaine's exuberant older brother Cooper in a Season 3 episode, but his presence didn't shed much light on Blaine's personality. Fans were excited to hear that Glee had cast Gina Gershon as Blaine's mom this season... until she only uttered one line ("I'm Blaine's mom!") and never once interacted with her onscreen son.
Blaine's most promising piece of backstory came in the Season 2 episode "Prom Queen," when he revealed to Kurt that he was reluctant to go to prom because he had been beaten up at his old school's Sadie Hawkins dance for going with another boy. But then this piece of Blaine's history was literally never mentioned again. When there was a Season 4 episode titled "Sadie Hawkins," many viewers assumed the dance would cause this traumatic event to resurface for Blaine. It didn't. When it was revealed that the first half of the series finale would be a flashback, some hoped we would get to see this event unfold, or at least learn more about it. We won't. (Blaine reportedly only has one very brief scene in the Lima Bean.)
5. What Happened To Kurt's Vogue.com Internship?
Don't get me wrong, Kurt is definitely a great singer —but fashion always felt like the better fit for the character than performing, in my humble opinion. His internship at Vogue.com, under the tutelage of Sarah Jessica Parker's Isabelle Wright, was one of the highlights of the show's uneven fourth season. So why was this storyline completely dropped? On a show where every character is obsessed with the performing arts, it was refreshing to see someone pursue a career in a different field. I understand that SJP is one of the most high-profile guest stars the show has ever had and they probably couldn't afford to keep her around, but surely there could have been ways to continue Kurt's journey down this career path without her. Watching Kurt develop his sense of style and become a New York City fashion icon would have been sheer bliss.
And fashion isn't the only one of Kurt's extracurricular activities to get dropped, either. Remember his band, One Three Hill, with "Starchild" and Dani (aka Adam Lambert and Demi Lovato)? Whatever happened to that?
6. Where Are Marley, Jake, & Ryder?
We knew that Season 4's crop of new kids had gotten pink slipped when they completely disappeared from the show after the 100th episode and the transition to full-time NYC. The writers were clearly underwhelmed by the response to Marley & Co. — so instead of trying to rectify their mistakes, they but bait and started over with a totally new crop of new kids. The explanation we were given in Season 6 was that, after she disbanded the New Directions for good, Sue made all the former members transfer to different schools in order to eradicate all traces of the club. Ryan Murphy promised that we would "catch up with those characters again," and that was true for Kitty and Unique. (Kitty re-joined Rachel's newly-formed New Directions and Unique put in an appearance to help Coach Beiste through his transition.)
But what about the other three? Marley, Jake, and Ryder may not have been Glee's most compelling characters, but that's as much (if not more) the writers' fault than their portrayers. Pretending like Melissa Benoist, Jacob Artist, and Blake Jenner didn't contribute greatly to the show's legacy feels disingenuous. It would have been nice to get one last update on these characters — or at least a resolution to their damn love triangle that the writers spent so much screen time on.
7. What Happened To The Catfishing Storyline?
Each of the new kids came with their own "issue" attached (Marley's bulimia, Ryder's molestation, Jake's commitment phobia) that were all unceremoniously dropped when the characters were. But by far the most interesting of them all was Unique's catfishing of Ryder. When Ryder found out that the girl on the other end of the chat window wasn't the perky blonde in the photo, but Unique, he was furious. He agreed to see Regionals through, but vowed to quit as soon as it was over. That was one of the big cliffhangers of Season 4... and when the show returned for Season 5, it had been utterly scrubbed from existence.
Ryder was still in the New Directions, all threats of quitting were forgotten, and he and Unique performed "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" alongside each other at McKinley's prom, nary a shred of animosity between them. What the heck?
8. Where Did Shelby Go?
Rachel's complicated relationship with her birth mother yielded great dramatic tension in Seasons 1 and 3... as well as a few eargasmic duets. ("I Dreamed A Dream," "Somewhere"; yes, even the arguably inappropriate "Poker Face.") But the last time we saw Shelby Corcoran, she was helping Rachel prep for her Funny Girl audition way back in Season 4. We haven't seen her since; not even on opening night of Funny Girl — her daughter's Broadway debut. Fans were hoping for one last appearance from Idina Menzel before the series wrapped, but at this point it seems like an impossibility.
Is it too much to hope that we'll hear Rachel at least mention her mom one last time? Did the former coach of both Vocal Adrenaline and The Troubletones finally find a happy home for herself and Beth after being ousted from McKinley by a bitter Quinn. Speaking of Beth, what happened to Quinn's relationship with her daughter? She was hell-bent on getting her back in Season 3, but she seems to have forgotten all about the child she gave birth to since then.
9. Who Is Sue's Baby Daddy?
When Season 4 started with Sue having become a mother, many people — on the show and off — wondered who the father was. Sue strung us along all season, constantly teasing the identity of her baby daddy, before finally revealing in the season finale that Michael Bolton had fathered Robin. Mystery solved, right? Not so fast.
Just a couple of weeks ago, in her excruciatingly long interview with Geraldo Rivera, the truth came out: Michael Bolton was not the father. He's never even met Sue Sylvester, he claims. So we're back at square one. Sure, it probably doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but it would be nice to put this dangling plot thread to rest.
(Also, on a related note: Where is Robin?)
10. How Did Brad Always Know Exactly What Song To Start Playing?
Seriously, the man must be like a wizard or something.
Images: Adam Rose (4), Beth Dubber (2), Eddy Chen (2), Mike Yarish (2), Jordin Althaus/FOX
