Thursday, October 31, 2013

30 Seconds To Mars, 2013-10-31 - Mail Online, 'I've disappointed myself!' Lindsay Lohan opens up in Jared Leto's emotional film about LA...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2479551/Lindsay-Lohan-opens-Jared-Letos-emotional-film-LA--Kanye-West-gushes-city-gave-child.html

'I've disappointed myself!' Lindsay Lohan opens up in Jared Leto's emotional film about LA... as Kanye West gushes how city 'gave him his child'

Jared Leto has combined his musical and film talents to create a tear-jerker of a short film.

The 30 Seconds To Mars frontman and his band interviewed a series of celebrities - including Kanye West and Lindsay Lohan - along with a handful of everyday citizens to concoct a collective image of the wild city of Los Angeles in his short film entitled, City Of Angels.

The 11-minute video uses the band's single by the same name as a soundtrack as it sees Kanye revealing that the city is all at once his 'dreams' and 'nightmares', and Lindsay giving a heartfelt admission that she has 'disappointed' herself.


'This city gave me my child': Kanye West was one of the celebrities interviewed by Jared Leto and 30 Seconds To Mars in their short film called City Of Angels released on Tuesday
'This city gave me my child': Kanye West was one of the celebrities interviewed by Jared Leto and 30 Seconds To Mars in their short film called City Of Angels released on Tuesday

'The City of Angels is where I was able to find myself again': Lindsay Lohan appeared in a beautifully natural state as she spoke about her experiences of the same city
'The City of Angels is where I was able to find myself again': Lindsay Lohan appeared in a beautifully natural state as she spoke about her experiences of the same city

The Yeezus rapper opens the short film, and he starts by reeling off a few buzzwords that remind him of Los Angeles, which of course include 'Kim'.

Kanye - who is engaged to Kim Kardashian and the father of her baby daughter, North West - makes the emotional statement: 'this city took my mother, but it also gave me my child.'

'The City of Angels is my paradise, my nightmares and my dreams,' explained the artist who has faced and built bridges over plenty of media scrutiny in his career to date.

'I wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for this city': Jared Leto directed the short, heartfelt film
'I wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for this city': Jared Leto directed the short, heartfelt film

'They think I'm a goody-goody': Selena Gomez spoke of how her critics think of all ways to put her down
'They think I'm a goody-goody': Selena Gomez spoke of how her critics think of all ways to put her down

Speaking about the way he is treated, he goes on to state his opinion that: 'People let their frustrations out on me.'

But the rapper is not without a sense of humour, as he proves when he jokes about the way people that are not fans of his work have a tendency to curse in reference to him.

'My name is Kanye West, but actually I'm one of the few people whose middle name is 'motherf***ing,' he laughed, adding a rare moment of hilarity to the otherwise sad, heartfelt film.

And Kanye is appreciative of his legendary status, highly recommending it to others in a somewhat self-aware statement: 'People want fame, and I would never tell a person to not want that because it's f***ing awesome, actually.'

And more: Lily Collins also agreed to give her thoughts on the city that has given her fame
And more: Lily Collins also agreed to give her thoughts on the city that has given her fame

Truth: James Franco, who knows a lot about experimentation and trying his hand at various creative outlets, spoke about dreams having the 'flip side' of 'disappointment'
Truth: James Franco, who knows a lot about experimentation and trying his hand at various creative outlets, spoke about dreams having the 'flip side' of 'disappointment'

Lindsay appears as a make-up free, raw version of herself, displaying a brave smile as she dishes out some particularly personal words about herself and her life.

'The City of Angels is where I was able to find myself again, the real me,' the 27-year-old actress divulges.

'I've disappointed myself the most in my life. To not be like, 'wake the f*** up, look what you have. This is what you wanted.'

The naturally stunning star gives an impressively honest view on life and Los Angeles, as do the others interviewed for Jared's project.

Corey Feldman gives a heartbreaking explanation of how he was pushed into acting as a young child, before he even really knew himself.



Loves it: Olivia Wilde explained that LA has given her a place to 'experiment and grow and mess up'
Loves it: Olivia Wilde explained that LA has given her a place to 'experiment and grow and mess up'

Imagery: The short film featured Jared Leto walking through the streets of Hollywood in an all-black ensemble
Imagery: The short film featured Jared Leto walking through the streets of Hollywood in an all-black ensemble

'My parents needed money, so at that time it became my responsibility to pay the bills,' the actor said, adding: 'I've been to the top and I've been to the bottom more times than most people have ridden in an elevator.'

On a more positive note, Juliette Lewis could not be more thrilled with the city she calls home, gushing: 'Oh my god, I'm SO in love with LA!'

Olivia Wilde also adds to the list of reasons why Los Angeles is a special place, explaining how it has allowed her to 'experiment and grow and mess up and redeem myself.'

James Franco, who knows a lot about experimentation and trying his hand at various creative outlets, accurately notes that 'dreams and expectations also have the very dark flip side of disappointment.'

'It became my responsibility to pay the bills': Corey Feldman spoke of his early start as an actor
'It became my responsibility to pay the bills': Corey Feldman spoke of his early start as an actor

Picturesque: The short film had plenty of the City Of Angels music video interwoven throughout
Picturesque: The short film had plenty of the City Of Angels music video interwoven throughout

But he goes on to explain why he has gone head-on into the depths of the industry.

'Who knows what's going to happen after this, and if this is the only life then why am I not doing everything that I want to do?'

Actor Alan Cumming is not such a fan of the town affectionately nicknamed the City Of Angels, however, at one point stating simply: 'I don't like it.'

Selena Gomez, in spite of her other positive statements about Los Angeles, sheds like on her issues with the place too.

'They think I'm a goody-goody, then I'm boring, then I'm a fame w****, I use people,' she says of her critics.



'Oh my god, I love LA!' Juliette Lewis could not have been more complimentary about her city
'Oh my god, I love LA!' Juliette Lewis could not have been more complimentary about her city

'I wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for this city,' says Jared himself, who explains that 'City Of Angels is a short film about this wild, weird, and wonderful land, Los Angeles, California. A place that has left its mark on the world's imagination and a place where dreams can actually come true.'

The successful actor and musician - who also directed this short film - says that he made it for 'the dreamers who know that sometimes the impossible is indeed possible.'

The poetic piece of work strings together images and words from celebrities who - materially speaking - have it all, and juxtaposes them with interviews with 'real' people, some of whom have been broken by Los Angeles.

In a simplistic but provocative film setup, Jared also speaks with a group of celebrity impersonators, homeless people and a prostitute.

And more still: Ashley Olsen, who has been acting in Los Angeles since a very young age, divulged thoughts
And more still: Ashley Olsen, who has been acting in Los Angeles since a very young age, divulged thoughts

Heartfelt: The film interviewed Christopher Lloyd Dennis, who is a Superman impersonator in Hollywood
Heartfelt: The film interviewed Christopher Lloyd Dennis, who is a Superman impersonator in Hollywood

He interviews these brave people on the same black backdrop that he interviews the celebrities and they all wear their hearts on their sleeve to an equal degree, such that you wouldn't know who was already famous and who wasn't if it wasn't for the recognisably factor.

Jared spoke with a selection of Los Angeles residents who were courageous enough to discuss their lives on film, and their names are Christopher Lloyd Dennis, Holly Bevan, Haywood, Heather Levinger, Anthony Warfield, Jovan Rameau, and Yosh.

They speak of their struggles in the city that they came to in order to make their dreams a reality.

Impressive: Jovan Rameau, who came to the USA as a refugee from Haiti, does an excellent Michael Jackson impersonation on Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles
Impressive: Jovan Rameau, who came to the USA as a refugee from Haiti, does an excellent Michael Jackson impersonation on Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles

Strikingly similar mannerisms: Holly Bevan, a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, spoke of her life in Los Angeles
Strikingly similar mannerisms: Holly Bevan, a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, spoke of her life in Los Angeles

The band's music video for the track of the same name - City Of Angels - is interwoven throughout the series of interviews, evoking further images of dreams being simultaneously made and broken in the unique city.

Jared directed the film, which features Alan Cumming, Ashley Olsen, Corey Feldman, James Franco, Juliette Lewis, Kanye West, Lily Collins, Lindsay Lohan, Olivia Wilde, Selena Gomez, Shaun White, Steve Nash and Zoey Deutch.

City Of Angels was released on Tuesday, and can be seen on 30 Seconds To Mars' Vevo page.

Courageous: Heather Levinger spoke to Jared about her life in Los Angeles in heartfelt, brave detail
Courageous: Heather Levinger spoke to Jared about her life in Los Angeles in heartfelt, brave detail

Silver man: Anthony Warfield is highly impressive as a statue man on Hollywood Blvd, and gave a tear-jerking account of his time in the same city
Silver man: Anthony Warfield is highly impressive as a statue man on Hollywood Blvd, and gave a tear-jerking account of his time in the same city

His story: Haywood spoke of his journey to Los Angeles to meet his mother, who was ultimately homeless
His story: Haywood spoke of his journey to Los Angeles to meet his mother, who was ultimately homeless

THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS - City Of Angels

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

30 Seconds To Mars, 2013-10-29 - MEO Arena, Lisbon

Tue, Oct 29, 2013 in Lisbon, Portugal @ MEO Arena

The tour of 30 Seconds To Mars is: "Love Lust Faith Dreams Tour".
It was my 5th 30 Seconds To Mars show. Second of this tour after the Marés Vivas show. And third show I went to the stage.
The concert was awesome like always.
I arrived at the MEO Arena one day early at 20:00 (already with about 10 people on the door where I was). Long wait till 18:30 (when they opened the doors on show day). It didn't rain on both days but it was very cold.
On show day I was asked to do a video about with it means to be an echelon. Hope to see it in a MARS video one day.

Before "30 Seconds To Mars" in MEO Arena, played "You Me At Six".

The first band was You Me At Six. They played 44 minutes.
I didn't know them before. They were awesome. A lot of rock. I like their sound.

Here it is the setlist:

01. Reckless
02. Loverboy
03. Little Death
04. Liquid Confidence
05. The Dilemma
06. Crash
07. Lived a Lie
08. Stay with Me
09. Bite My Tongue
10. Underdog

Note: First show of the European Fall Tour, with Thirty Seconds To Mars


Finally was time for 30 Seconds To Mars. They played 100 minutes.

They were amazing. Jared always great. In the breaks of some songs Jared always said something. On 1 of the last songs Jared throw me a pick with the triad on one side and the symbols on the other side. In the final music "Up In The Air". Jared called me again to go on stage (I was front row on the right side of the catwalk). On stage I took some photos of Tomo and Shannon and take a photo with Tomo and Shannon. Awesome memories that I will never forget.

Here it is the setlist:

01. Birth (w/ Taiko Drummers)
02. Night of the Hunter
03. Search and Destroy (LLFD Tour Drum Arrangement; Ext. Final Chorus; Ext. Outro)
04. This Is War (Chant Intro)
05. Conquistador
06. Do or Die (Acapella Intro; Acapella Outro)
Depuis Le Début (w/ acrobat)
07. End of All Days
08. City of Angels (Sing-a-long Intro; w/ Taiko Drummers)
Pyres of Varanasi (w/ acrobats; Ext. Outro)
Acoustic
09. Hurricane (Acapella Intro)
10. Alibi
11. From Yesterday
12. Was It a Dream?
13. Stay (Rihanna cover)
14. The Race (Live Debut)
15. Closer to the Edge (Chant Intro; Ext. Outro)
16. Kings and Queens
Encore:
17. Up in the Air (Guitar Intro; Ext. Bridge; Fans onstage; w/ Taiko Drummers)

Note: First show of the European Fall Leg


In bold are the videos I made.

Videos of 30 Seconds To Mars (10 videos):

30 Seconds To Mars-Birth & Night Of The Hunter, MEO Arena, PT, 2013-10-29 HD
http://youtu.be/hX70ELEG3Qk
And the video:


30 Seconds To Mars-Search And Destroy, MEO Arena, PT, 2013-10-29 HD
http://youtu.be/rjQwdXBwHG4
And the video:


30 Seconds To Mars-This Is War, MEO Arena, PT, 2013-10-29 HD
http://youtu.be/2N6Cl9k1FVk
And the video:


30 Seconds To Mars-Conquistador, MEO Arena, PT, 2013-10-29 HD
http://youtu.be/vI7VbeWNFco
And the video:


30 Seconds To Mars-Do Or Die, MEO Arena, PT, 2013-10-29 HD
http://youtu.be/T9WFZM8P5ic
And the video:


30 Seconds To Mars-City Of Angels, MEO Arena, PT, 2013-10-29 HD
http://youtu.be/U49V_ap9QHg
And the video:


30 Seconds To Mars-Hurricane + Alibi + From Yesterday + Was It A Dream, MEO Arena, PT, 2013-10-29 HD
http://youtu.be/cHfhz2IaIz8
And the video:


30 Seconds To Mars-Stay, MEO Arena, PT, 2013-10-29 HD
http://youtu.be/JTdr6Gd9Rd4
And the video:


30 Seconds To Mars-The Race, MEO Arena, PT, 2013-10-29 HD
http://youtu.be/ut_oKE65qmU
And the video:


30 Seconds To Mars-Closer To The Edge, MEO Arena, PT, 2013-10-29 HD
http://youtu.be/Ekxx0HBvgxg
And the video:

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

30 Seconds To Mars - City Of Angels

This is the amazing new video of "City Of Angels" by "30 Seconds To Mars".
This is a magical video with some knowned personalities of Hollywood, LA, California, USA, North America, Earth.

THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS - City Of Angels



Hope you will love this awesome lyric.

30 Seconds To Mars - City Of Angels

There was truth.
There was consequence against you -
A weak defense, then there's me;
I'm seventeen and looking for a fight.

All my life
I was never there;
Just a ghost
Running scared.
Here, our dreams aren't made - they're won.

Lost in the City of Angels;
Down in the comfort of strangers, I...
Found myself in the fire burned hills,
In the land of a billion lights.

Bought my fate
Straight from hell.
Second sight
Has paid off well for a mother, a brother and me.

The silver of a lake at night;
The hills of Hollywood on fire;
A boulevard of hope and dreams;
Streets made of desire.

Lost in the City of Angels;
Down in the comfort of strangers, I...
Found myself in the fire burned hills,
In the land of a billion lights.

I found myself in the fire burned hills,
In the land of a billion lights.
(Of a billion lights, of a billion lights, of a billion lights...)

Angels

Angels

I am home!
Home!
Home!
Home!

Lost in the City of Angels;
Down in the comfort of strangers, I...
Found myself in the fire burned hills,
In the land of a billion lights.

One life, one love - Live!
One life, one love - Live!
One life, one love - Live!
One life, one love -
City Of Angels (Angels)
['the city' is whispered and then overlaps] The City Of Angels (Angels)
The City Of Angels
The City Of Angels
(The City Of Angels) [whispered]

Friday, October 11, 2013

Cory Monteith "Glee Tribute Episode", 2013-10-11 - Season 5, Episode 3 ‘The Quarterback’

http://www.hypable.com/2013/10/11/glee-season-5-episode-3-recap-quarterback/
By Natalie Fisher (@nataliefisher) at 11:45 am, October 11, 2013


Glee season 5, episode 3 “The Quarterback” aired last night. Read our full recap of Glee’s tribute to late star Cory Monteith below.

To start with, you should all know that I don’t want to write this recap. I can’t believe that the day is really here where I have to write this recap. Glee returned to season 5 with such an element of sheer joy. It made it easy to forget the shadow hanging over the show, and even though I knew, we all knew, this episode was coming, I wasn’t really prepared to deal with it and didn’t really process it as reality.

And yet. Here it is. The Quarterback, focusing on Finn Hudson’s death as Glee’s tribute to Cory Monteith, opens on the glee club, past and present members, in mourning clothes, onstage in the audotorium. They perform “Seasons of Love” from Rent, one of the world’s greatest songs about life and death. This new is one that long-term fans of the show have always hoped would be a huge featured performance for New Directions, but I don’t think anyone ever expected to see it in quite this way.

Right from the start, it’s evident that the entire cast is devastated and that the Glee production team has put more thought into every single movement and moment of this than they have into any episode before. The staging of Seasons of Love is perfect. The cast enters and sings in groups – first the new babies, who knew Finn only as a teacher: Marley, Jake, Ryder, Unique and Kitty – then the current members of New Directions who had been in glee with Finn – Blaine, Sam, Artie and Tina – and then the graduates, the original glee club members who were able to return for this episode. We see Puck, Mike, Kurt, Santana and Mercedes join the current glee club. They look like somebody died. That’s a glib phrase we use, isn’t it, an overdramatic statement. Here, it is the truth. There are no other words for it, they look lost and horrified and numb and washed out, and I do not think anyone on that stage could have given this performance had it not been real. They are all wonderful actors and I am sure that some time in their careers they will need to act out grief, and it will be well done and touching in terms of filmed, fictional grief. This is not like that. This is real, and it is hell.

The episode’s story begins three weeks after Finn’s funeral, with a voiceover from Kurt as prepares to travel back to Lima from New York for a special glee club memorial. The cause of Finn’s death is never addressed, and Kurt’s inner monologue is rather defensive towards those – either characters or viewers – who may want to address it. “Everyone wants to talk about how he died, too, but who cares? One moment in his whole life. I care more about how he lived.” – this line is the first of many to come in the episode that feels directed at the public in a broken-fourth-wall way, things the Glee team wanted to say about the reaction to Cory’s death. Kurt hides a photo of himself and Finn, saying “I only keep that out when I know she won’t come in,” – the she, of course, being Rachel. We don’t see her, yet, but Kurt gently tells her closed door goodbye as he leaves. “This isn’t real,” he thinks to himself, because someone had to say it. It’s definitely a predominant sentiment that has been going through everyone’s heads these past three months.

glee-season-5-episode-3-recap-kurt-football-jacket

Glee chooses to use The Quarterback to show different reactions to death, different ways of mourning. In the staff room, Emma tells the others that no one has come in yet for grief counselling. Sue gets told off by Will and Bieste for being callous and insulting towards Finn in her pragmatism – Bieste spitting out a line that must get spoken at least omve by every group of people to ever go through a mourning process, “how can you even joke at a time like this?” The truth is, people are different, and they grieve differently, a point Sue uses to defend herself, and it feels genuine. “We honor Finn Hudson by taking care of the people he loved. And how do we do that? By helping them to move on.” “How?” “By not making a self-serving spectacle of our own sadness.”

Will writes Finn’s name on the whiteboard as the glee club and visiting graduates sit listlessly in the choir room. He explains that, though the funeral was for everyone in Finn’s life, he wanted to give the glee club a private memorial, and invites anyone who feels like it to spend the week singing a song dedicated to Finn. Mercedes chooses to have a turn immediately, and performs “I’ll Stand By You,” – a song that, as she explains, Finn once told her he sung to “his” baby’s sonogram, a memorable moment from season 1.

A bittersweet element of the episode is the reminder of some of this cast’s brilliant chemistry, the actors that no longer get to interact very much on screen. In a great example of this, Sue calls Kurt in for a meeting, and – both of them trying to maintain ultimate sass levels but just coming across appropriately deflated – the two of them discuss the fact that someone has stolen the memorial tree that Sue had planted for Finn. We see, in a cut away over which Sue explains that grief makes people do strange things, that it was Puck, who apparently wants to horde as much Finn paraphernalia as he can.

The next scene is one of the hardest things I have ever had to witness on television – Kurt and Burt help Carole pack up Finn’s room, deciding what to keep and what to give away. The Hummels both have very emotional moments regarding some of Finn’s possessions and the grief it draws out of them – Burt breaking down about the “faggy lamp” debacle, and not having hugged Finn enough, and Kurt cuddling into Finn’s letterman jacket, saying “Seeing him come down the hallway wearing this, it was like Superman had arrived.” But naturally, the most awful thing to watch is Carole, trying to be practical, and eventually breaking down into one of the most realistic portrayals of loss that I’ve ever seen, speaking out about the shock element of it all, how every day you have to re-remember and it hits you just as hard as the first time. “For just a second, you forget. And then, oh, you remember, and it’s like getting that call again, and again, every time. You don’t get to stop waking up. You have to keep on being a parent even though you don’t get to have a child anymore.”

Kurt and Puck’s scenes are ones I have missed sorely, and the bristling chemistry is still there when Puck begs Kurt for the letterman jacket, which Kurt has taken to wearing around. He offers to buy it, even – and then abuses him aggressively about it when Kurt refuses. It’s only fitting that this takes place as they watch some nerdy kids decorate the old dumpster as another tribute to the boy who changed the status quo and protected them from being tossed in it.

glee-season-5-episode-3-recap-quarterback-sam-artie

The next performance comes from Sam and Artie – “Fire and Rain,” picked out acoustically as the kids sit around in a circle on the auditorium stage, but Santana finds it hard to cope with and takes herself out into the halls, wandering to the shrine-like memorial of candles and notes at what would have been Finn’s old locker. She finds ex-Principal Figgins there, weeping himself, and when Bree arrives to remove the candles – on the fire marshall’s orders, via Sue – Santana freaks out, storming into Sue’s office. In probably Naya Rivera’s best scene to date, she tears Sue a new one, letting loose with everything she bottled up while she was a student, accusing Sue. of hating everyone, including Finn, and saying that Finn hated her too. Sue is very obviously taken aback, particularly when the confrontation ends with Santana physically shoving Sue back against the filing cabinets.

Tina chooses to attend grief counselling with Emma, and I feel genuinely bad for Jenna Ushkowitz that her character had to be the one in this episode to come across badly, because Tina’s issue is basically that she doesn’t know how much longer she can cope with wearing black after it took her so long to transition away from goth. Emma throws beautiful shade as she provides Tina with some pamphlets: “It’s Not All About You,” “Wait, Am I Callous?” but the real point of this scene is that Will drops by as Tina leaves, and he and Emma talk privately about how Will has not yet cried about the entire issue.

Puck wanders into Coach Bieste’s locker room, apparently drunk. These two characters have always had a special relationship and Bieste calls Puck out for his coping mechanisms, and for being scared to let his feelings out. Puck lashes out aggressively, punching the wall and tipping a trolley, and Bieste just lets him, before making him sit with her and holding him as he starts to sob. They start to talk while crying, both of them, as Puck pleads that he needs Finn around to help him be a better person, and Bieste, also heartbroken, tells him that he has to do it for himself now. “I’m telling you this straight, because that’s how you and I talk. He’s dead, and all we’ve got left is his voice in our head. I’m sorry, but it’s time, you gotta be your own quarterback.” The pair try to calm themselves as Puck suggests retiring Finn’s football number and trying to get his letterman jacket off Kurt to be framed and hung, and Bieste says she can try make that happen, if Puck promises to put the tree back.

Santana chooses to give her performance in the choir room of “If I Die Young” in the choir room, but she introduces it with her usual tongue in cheek chubby-guy insults, speaking irreverently about Finn in the way she would have if he was alive. Some of the others look around awkwardly at each other as she begins the song, which is beautiful, but she starts to cry while singing. When it overcomes her, some of the group, including Will and Mike, approach her, concerned and reach to hug her, but she warns them off her with her hands, holding them away and muttering “no, no,” before literally screaming and running out. A little while later, Kurt finds her, alone and staring blankly, in the empty auditorium. She explains her behaviour, saying that she “couldn’t do it” – that she’d had a whole plan to surprise everyone by being genuinely nice and saying all the good things she felt about Finn, but that she chickened out. Kurt asks to hear some of what she had wanted to say, and she tells him. Kurt, in turn, tells her how much Finn cared about her as well, and leaves her alone when she asks, wrapping the letterman jacket around her.

The next day, Puck performs Bruce Springsteen’s “No Surrender” for the club, but as he finishes, Santana comes storming in and accuses Puck of stealing the jacket. Apparently she’d been laying down for a “grief siesta” in the nurse’s office, had hung the jacket up on the door, and when she woke up, it was gone. Everyone rounds on Puck pretty fast, some angry, some, like Kurt, just accepting, but even Mr Schuester, when he tries to stop the fighting and sends everyone away, kind of implicates Puck by saying he understands the sentiment.

Santana goes to see Sue again, to try and apologise, but Sue tells her that she’d been 100% correct – that she’d been horrible to Finn and that she was completely devastated that he had died thinking that she hated him. Santana mumbles something about taking it as a lesson about talking to people or something, to which Sue responds with one of the most important lines of the episode: “Cut the crap. I don’t care about people, I care about him. He was such a good guy. There’s no lesson here, there’s no happy ending. There’s just nothing.” Glee really could have gone the opposite way, for this episode – the track record shows that they definitely try and make everything a lesson, a teaching moment, a PSA, and an untimely death due to addiction could pretty much be at the top of the list for dramatic teaching moments.

But this is so much bigger and more important than that, and I’m glad the show chose not to try and incorporate that type of plot. Sue sits back on her office couch and reveals her true feelings about Finn to Santana. She talks about how he would have been a great teacher and thought he’d be her colleague for the next thirty years, and both Jane Lynch and Naya Rivera really, really knock this episode out of the park in terms of demonstrating both their own feelings while also remaining true to their incredibly complex characters.

The current New Directions lay sets of drumsticks at Finn’s locker shrine, all of them solemn as Kitty announces, without venom, that it’s sort of cheesy. “No, it’s beautiful,” a voice says from behind them, and it’s Rachel, very small and frail, and clutching onto Kurt, saying that she’d felt the need to come and see what they had done for him.

glee-season-5-episode-3-recap-quarterback

Later, she stands up in front of them in the choir room, and the others can barely look at her, like facing her would hurt too much. “Nobody treat me with kid gloves, okay?” She tries to smile, and it’s just awful, but she very simply talks about how Finn loved her, and all of them. She describes how she used to sing with Finn when they were in the car together, how before him she used to sing alone, and she says that what she is about to perform is the first song they sang driving around together. She sings “Make You Feel My Love” while openly crying. Most of the rest of the room is also openly crying, holding onto each other as Rachel holds onto herself, gripping each elbow with the opposite hand, literally holding herself together. I don’t think any of those tears, from Lea and Cory’s friends, their family of the past five years, were acting. I cannot imagine what it would have been like having to sit in that room and watch her do that. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen on television.

Afterwards, Will attempts to compose himself and finds Santana sticking up reward posters for Finn’s jacket – she’s offering a $10,000 reward as bait in an attempt to make the thief come forward so she can beat the crap out of them. As he talks to her, my suspicions about the whereabouts of that jacket, which twinged a little earlier on, deepen severely, but I cross my fingers that we’re not going there because I don’t think my body can possibly contain more hate for Will Schuester than it already does. Puck and Bieste share a root beer as Puck re-plants the memorial tree, and Puck gets introspective about the memorial marker there – the line between Finn’s date of birth and date of death, his whole life in that little line. Bieste asks him what he plans to do with his line, and he tells her that he’s going to be joining the military.

Rachel goes to visit Will, to thank him for what he’s been doing and to give him her own memorial – a photograph plaque she had made, similar to the one of Will’s teacher Lillian Adler, with Finn’s photo and a quote, “The show must go… all over the place… or something.” Rachel lets out some of her grief while talking to Will about how Finn was her entire life plan, and how she doesn’t know what she’s going to do now. “Something different?” “Maybe something better.” “I just.. don’t think that that’s possible. He was my person.”

This conversation is the last dialogue of the episode, but not the last scene – over instrumental music, we see Will entering his home, sitting down, clearly drained, and opening his satchel to pull out the damned letterman jacket. He holds it against his face and starts to cry, which is how Emma finds him as she returns home as well, and the episode closes on that image, before flashing up a tribute screen of Cory’s own name and life dates.

Glee returns Thursday, November 7 at 9 p.m. eastern/pacific. Watch a first look at this link.

Watch a collection of PSAs the cast recorded in light of Cory’s passing by overdose: