Glee Finale a Crowning Jewel On the Season That Saved the Show

You put two episodes of Fondue for Two in a Glee episode and I'm in. But I would have probably been in anyway.

After a decent second season and a lackluster third, the fourth season of Glee tried to do what most shows can't — at least not successfully anyway — transition a high school show outside of the walls of, in this case, McKinley High.

Not everyone can pull a One Tree Hill and just skip college and make everyone 22 and an adult, especially since Glee is so dependent on growing younger sophomore and junior talent while showcasing the seniors before they graduate and many times after.

And this finale episode did that in spades with topical story lines, touching moments, funny weirdness, and a script that had Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy all over it.

Here are the best moments. (Oh, and if you got this far and didn't realize there would be spoilers, there will be. Get over it.)

Brittany's MIT madness, using Fondue for Two as a psychiatrist's couch, and otherwise being brilliant:

Ever since being cast after coming on as a dance coach for the "Single Ladies" dance Kurt did in season one, Heather Morris has been the dancing queen, lovably lackluster student and Britney 2.0 — and did it all with a humanity that's hard for the typical "dumb blonde" cast member to pull off.

Ryder standing up to the Catfish, even if you could see it wasn't Marley a mile away:

Ryder has been struggling all season with self confidence, from his dyslexia holding him back in school to his best Puckerman buddy stealing away his dream girl after realizing Kitty was a terrible girlfriend choice at the beginning of the season. So to see him stand up for himself like that with Unique was, in a way, a character building moment for him but also a heart-breaker because you feel for Unique.

But let's be honest: lying to someone for weeks and standing them up twice — no matter how you look, it's gonna be hard to get over that one. Also, I hope he doesn't actually quit the team after regionals.

The lovely couple Blaine and Kurt go to Breadstix with:

Let's be honest, it's hard to find a couple anywhere who can serve as a good example of how to stay together for a long time. So for Blaine to find it in a ring shop even with Tina being all fake couple-y with him is kind of a feat. Especially when the couple he finds are basically the Portia and Ellen of Lima, Ohio. I still hope Kurt says no to his proposal though. Blaine can do better — there I said it.

The fact that the season didn't end with nationals:

Glee at many times can be fun and surprising, but around high school show choir performance time it can get formulaic. The fact that they actually had them get into regionals on a technicality was a step in the right direction, but the New Directions always had to win regionals. But having the season end with the cliffhanger of nationals, with Emma and Schu's "they finally did it" wedding and Blaine's maybe proposal, and the fact that we don't yet know if Rachel Berry's Journey and Celine Dion renditions were enough to land her Fanny in Funny Girl are all signs that season five has the potential to be another good crop of stories.