They go back in and Kurt awkwardly takes the floor. “Hi, I’m Kurt Hummel and I’ll be auditioning for the role of NYADA student. Tonight I’m going to perform a song that I’ve loved since I was six, but I think for the first time in my life I finally understand what it means.” He begins “Being Alive,” very still, stiller even than Rachel was, very raw and still very stricken. It’s all in his lower register and it’s very powerful, as powerful as “Defying Gravity,” his first solo on the show, and as powerful as “Blackbird.” When he finishes, he’s still frozen, eyes darting everywhere, and when they give him a standing ovation as well, tears start to fall silently down his face.
After the Showcase, Rachel, continuing with her new “live each day as if it were your last” mantra, decides to call Finn. Their conversation is painful and beautiful, as Rachel comforts him about what happened at Sectionals and Finn holds himself back from crying when he asks about Rachel’s own competition and she tells him that she’s won. Rachel cuts to the chase and tells him what she’s called to remind him – that even if they’d never won their Sectionals or gone to Nationals, that being in glee still would have been worth it. “It’s about the love of the music. It’s about people like Puck and Artie not just singing together but actually being friends. Brittany and Mike dancing just for fun when no one else was around. It’s even about the romances,” she tells him quietly, saying even if they come and go, they’re still important. Both of them are really holding back tears on every line here, and I cried without restraint each time I watched the scene. Rachel encourages Finn not to let the club go – not to let them give up on their dreams, and not to give up on his own.
Finn, filled with new determination thanks to his “moose,” shows up as promised to his 9:54 p.m. rehearsal slot, but Marley is the only other person to show up. They’re both disappointed by this, especially as Marley thinks she may have found a new rehearsal spot – not a great one, but one they can’t be kicked out of. Finn takes this option and runs with it, opening a computer and composing an email to the glee club. “Don’t You” by Simple Minds plays over his voiceover in a blatant Breakfast Club homage as the club members receive and read the email while doing their new extracurriculars – I particularly want to know how many takes it took for the shot of Blaine and Tina pulling out their phones to read while keeping hula-hoops aloft around their hips in Cheerio practice. “Every one of us loves music, and no one can take that away from us. I’m not giving up on you.” He invites them to the new rehearsal space that afternoon, and hopes that they will all show up.
Marley and Finn await their errant club members at the new “choir room” – the outdoor courtyard with stone bleachers, you may remember from numbers such as “Empire State of Mind” and “It’s Not Unusual.” Somehow, they’ve convinced the band to stick around as well, even though it’s getting dark and starting to snow. Marley apologises to Finn, calling herself naïve, insecure and self-centred, and placing the blame on herself for the club shutting down. He smiles at her and tells her that at least they’re still there, and begins to sing Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” to her. She joins in, and on the next verse, they hear new voices – Blaine and Tina; then Sam and Brittany, Kitty, Artie, Jake and Ryder, Joe, and Unique. The group descends the stairs to join Marley and Finn, bopping in the snow, hugging and fist-bumping along the way, and we fade out from them and in to Kurt, standing frozen once again, this time in the Bushwick apartment. Rachel finds him like this, clutching a piece of paper, eyes swollen from crying. It’s his NYADA letter. He’s gotten in, of course, and he’s finally earned it.
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