Last night's fall finale of Glee (our top new comedy pick) was exactly the whirligig of drama, comedy, and singing that we've come to expect. While Glee may pretend that it's a parody of musicals and after-school specials, as Troy would tell you, it's actually a show that uses singing and comedy to disguise exactly how depressing it really is. Of course, music and laughter are necessary components for most humans to make it through their banal-to-soul-crushing days, so who can hold it against the 12 students that make up McKinley High's show choir? It's the best part of Santana's day!

In thinking about how awesome last night's entry was, though (and it was awesome), the very things that made it awesome also got me thinking about some stuff they should really straighten out before the show returns April 13 (yes, April 13. Try to hold it together). Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, and Ryan Murphy, could you meet me over at camera three?

Okay, that's better. Three things:

1. Four songs in one episode? Bless. There's never enough singing in Glee as far as I am concerned. But the very first song was introduced when the kids tried to put together their set list after Will told them he couldn't help them with that. Mercedes' rock star moments are great, but you guys need to talk to one another. This scene directly contradicted the information we received in the previouslies, for pity's sake! Will already made the set list, the kids already knew what it was, and that's how Sue knew it to leak it to their competitors. Not only that, but aside from Mercedes taking on the ballad, nothing about the list changed. So what was the point of Mercedes doing a solo, besides having a rock star moment? Nothing at all? Perhaps the point was showing further character growth on the part of Rachel by having her not compete for the solo but voluntarily turn it over. Speaking of Rachel . . .
2. You need to decide what you are doing here. Kurt's hate of her sprung up out of nowhere in "Hairography," and that was the final straw for me because I. Don't. Get. It. Do people really dislike Rachel that intensely because she's overly enthusiastic? Her entire character arc over the last 13 episodes has been about learning to put the choir before her diva drive, and she's consistently done that, so . . . why do they all still hate her? Did you have her tell Finn that he wasn't the baby daddy just to give everyone a reason? Because that didn't work for me. When Puck confessed to Mercedes and she took a breath and told him that Quinn made her choice, that only made me dislike Mercedes.
   
3. Thank you for getting all that baby stuff out in the open. Now what are you going to do?
   Terri's diagnosis regurgitated from her community centre counsellor was a nice touch, but that makes all of two times that any of you have given any thought to Terri's internal life and why she would do such monstrous thing to the man she's been with for the last twenty or so years.  Jessalyn Gilsig is a great actress, and it's time the writing backed her up. Also, even after Will left Terri, Quinn's plan is still for Terri to adopt the baby? On her Bed, Bath & Beyond salary? After we saw that it was important to Quinn that Will be a good dad? Not that single mothers shouldn't adopt, that's not the issue. Just that it would be difficult for Terri to raise the baby on her own at this point, and you should at least pay some lip service to that end.

All that said, I really did love last night's episode, especially given that "Don't Rain on My Parade" is probably one of my favourite songs and fits Rachel to a T. Just, you know, do your audience a favour work on that other stuff over the break. And give Artie more solos. Or Puck just one.

Offside: When Finn yelled, "Why do I always have to be the bigger man?!", did anyone else reply, "Because you're freakishly tall?"

Updated: I seem to have forgotten to explain where I was going with that whole "heart's a drummer" bit (besides "Don't Rain on My Parade," that is). Though the two shows are on very different wavelengths and of very different qualities, I often mentally compare Glee to Friday Night Lights. Last night, when Will appeared in the locker room to talk Finn (wearing his letterman's jacket) into saving the choir at sectionals, I started thinking about Schue as the more touchy-feely version of Coach Taylor (he would most assuredly give you a hug or something), which made me wonder who Finn's corollary is. Over the course of the first season, Friday Night Lights demonstrated that Coach had already molded Jason Street into a man much like himself. Over the next two seasons, he tried to mold both Matt and Tim with varying results. Since we don't know anyone from previously years of show choir, Finn could well be our Jason, Will's first attempt to mold. Even so, I think he's much closer to Matt, a young man with a hardscrabble background who serves as the show's moral compass and its beating heart. After all, Corey Monteith is a dummer.