‘Glee’ Departs With An Emotional Farewell

Warning: This Article contains spoilers for the series finale of Glee.

Glee debuted six years ago with such a strong first season that it attracted an enormous fanbase almost instantaneously and, although many state that Glee‘s first season remains its best season, there’s no denying the loyalty of “Gleeks” throughout the world. Glee‘s two-hour finale reminded fans why the show made joining high school glee clubs cool with a look back at the show’s past six seasons and the characters that made Glee such a phenomenal hit.

The first hour of Glee‘s finale took fans back to the first episode by retelling the episode from an alternative perspective. Unlike that first episode, the finale deviated from Finn’s point of view and instead focused on what prompted other members to join New Directions. The William McKinley High School glee club made this segment of Glee‘s finale stand out for their rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.”

The second half of the Glee finale brought the audience back to the present and looked into the future of William McKinley High School, as Sue returned to dedicate the school’s auditorium, dubbing it the Finn Hudson Auditorium, memorializing both the Glee character and the late Cory Monteith. Sue topped off a speech about imagining the world as it should be by joining Glee members from all six seasons in a cover of OneRepublic’s I Lived.

The final shot of Glee gives fans a longing look at the dedication and at a memorial to Finn and Lillian Adler (Jane Galloway Heitz). Adler was the former leader of McKinley high’s glee club.

The Glee finale also gave a look into what the future holds for the remaining stars.

Rachel finds time to give birth to Kurt and Blaine’s surrogate baby, while marrying Jesse St. James, but even that can’t compare to the Tony Award she won for best actress in a musical.

As McKinley becomes a high school for the performing arts, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) learns that he’s been selected as the new principal, which prompts a cover of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s “Teach Your Children.”

Glee fans won’t be surprised to find out that Mercedes (Amber Riley) will be opening up for Beyoncé, before setting off to record an album of her own.

Finally, Glee reveals that Artie (Kevin McHale) will be making his own movie, which will premiere at Slamdance with a soundtrack provided by Mercedes. After learning that Mercedes’ commitment to Beyoncé will keep her from starring in Artie’s movie, Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) steps up to accept the role.

And that ends the sixth and final season of Glee.

Fans of Lea Michele can catch more of her on Ryan Murphy’s new project Scream Queens, when it airs this October.