Review: "Glee; All Or Nothing" (S. 4/ Ep. 22 2013) " Was This Episode All Or Nothing?"

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By: Jeff Lake

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It is an unfortunate time to be a Gleek. Mainly because the season is over and we were left on multiple cliffhangers of sorts. The season finale, titled All or Nothing was not exactly, all or nothing.


Will (Matthew Morrison) announces that regionals will be held in McKinley's auditorium this time around. Meanwhile, Brittney (Heather Morris) meets with professors at MIT about her odd ability to see patterns and numbers beyond what the normal mind can do, giving her the offer to become a MIT student as part of early enrollment.

This in turn goes to her head. She demands getting all the solos at regionals or she does not perform at all.


She only gets worst from here. Brittney does several vastly out of character things including breaking up with Sam (Chord Overstreet) via text in front of his face (exactly how that sounds).


The only Rachael scene of the episode. She has her final call back for Funny Girl, singing Celine Dion's To Love You More in order to try to earn her spot as the lead.

(Rachael has her final call back for Funny Girl, attempting to win them over with her rendition of To Love You More by Celine Dion.)


Blaine (Darren Criss) asks for Sam's advice about going about asking Kurt (Chris Colfer) to marry him, despite Blaine and Kurt not being a couple since Blaine cheating on Kurt way back in the beginning of the season, even though they hooked up at Will and Emma's (Jayma Mays) failed wedding. Glee can really be confusing when you miss a few moments. I was confused just trying to explain that.

Sue (Jane Lynch) returns for a couple of scenes this episode, teaming up with Will to try to bring Brittney back down to reality. This ultimately, fails. Sam calls Brittney's ex-girlfriend Santana (Naya Rivera) to come to New York to try and talk Brittney down as well. These two scenes were painful mostly because of these attempts at serious moments being surrounded by Brittney's webcam show Fondue for Two that has made me cringe every single time it comes up beyond the first time. I hope it does not come back next season.


Blaine meets a lesbian jeweler while picking out rings. Blaine, Kurt, the jeweler, and her life partney all go to Breadsticks in order to have dinner, and so that Blaine can see how a homosexual couple in love is when marriage is involved. Kurt drops the fact that Blaine and himself are not together, but Blaine is persistent in his love during the episode.


The moment I have been waiting at least many episodes for. Ryder's (Blake Jenner) love life and secret admirer problem. He pulls a Brittney, saying he will not perform at regionals unless Katie reveals herself. After angrily kicking several things, Marley (Melissa Benoist) confesses to be Katie, while Jake (Jacob Artist) gets in between the two.

Marley describes it as a joke gone way too far and Ryder storms out of the room. Later Ryder and Marley are walking down the hall, Marley is trying to explain the situation, however Wade (Alex Newell) confesses to be the “real” Katie. Ryder says that the two never had anything, and that he will never talk to Wade again.


At regionals Ryder tells Will he will perform tonight at regionals because it would be unfair to punish the whole club for one person's actions.

(Not a performance, but the emotion filled finale to one of the most annoying Glee plots ever, condensed into one youtube video)


And it is time for the performances!
The minor and could not care less about show choir group perform, followed by the actual threat to The New Directions, The Hoosierdaddies. They unleash their secret weapon that Will scouted out, a sophomore girl named Frida (Jessica Sanchez). The group performs the songs Clarity by Zedd and Wings by Little Mix.

(Clarity and Wings performed by the Hoosierdaddies.)
For a brief moment I thought they were an actual threat to The New Directions. But then Brittney rejoined the club after a heartfelt moment explaining how The New Directions are a dysfunctional family. She apologizes for her outburst and gets back together with Sam.


Now it is time for our heroes to kick some butt. Musically of course. Starting off with Hall of Fame by The Script, following that with I Love It by Icona Pop, before finishing their performance with an original song created by Marley, titled hopefully you guessed it: All or Nothing, bringing some of the older cast to tears. A short transition later and The New Directions have won this year's regionals.

(In order of performance, Hall of Fame, I Love It, and All or Nothing, The New Directions stand surprisingly tall at regionals)


The episode closes with Emma and Will having a quick and small marriage ceremony in the choir room, so that Emma won't freak out like last time. The two exchange vows, referencing an early episode of Glee when Will cleaned off gum from her shoe with a credit card.

The credits roll on the scene, just after we see Blaine holding a ring box behind him as he stands next to Kurt.


Our Honest View gives Glee; All Or Nothing S. 4/ Ep. 22 a 8.5/10.  It was a little all over the place/ A few plot points were left unsolved like the results of Rachael's audition. Also I am surprised and actually a little disappointed that The New Directions won. But Ryan Murphy and his writing crew know what they are doing (they are bringing in the big bucks after all). I am thinking that the next season will pick up right where they left off this season, as the cast heads towards nationals. All I know is that I cannot wait to see what happens when season five hits.

Special: What Being A Gamer Means TO US!

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When my good friend Tre first approached me about being a video game article
writer I was first and foremost surprised, second honored that he and other good folks and
friends at “ourhonestview.com” would consider me and of course being a rabid video
gamer I was totally stoked as well!

But where to start off for a first article?

Mario?

Pacman?


PONG?

Although I had a few good choices in mind, it seemed logical to start with a question
few actually ask or even consider and that is (as the articles title implies)… What is a
gamer?

Is a gamer just somebody who plays video games? Well no, I don’t believe so. that’s
like saying an artist is just someone who paints a pretty picture, or a musician is just
someone who strums a guitar. No, there’s more to it than that. A musician will tell you that
it’s not just a matter of playing notes, you have to feel the music and let it move you, while
the artist will tell you that at times you have to let the art take shape and see what
develops.

Like these examples there is more to being a gamer. Video games and video gaming is a
crazy culture all its own and one that crosses over into many other cultures as well. It’s
one that has grown, spread, and evolved over time. One that is vast and varied with lingo,
jargon and terminology to match, with more than a few inside jokes and references that
only gamers will get. Anyone that has seen Wreck it Ralph will know what I’m talking
about.
But it’s not only that, like the musician or artist will tell you, it’s a form of expression
and trust me folks, gamers LOVE to express themselves as surely as villains love a good
monologue, or people in survival horror movies love to split up to cover more ground! Just
ask Bioware about Mass effect 3’s fan feedback if you don’t believe me.

Seriously, there are few ways to strike up a conversation with people of all different walks
of life and cultural backgrounds faster than a speeding death by head shot in halo 4 on
legendry than to bring up video games except for politics or religion, but that’s a whole
different issue. I should point out that video game conversations will also oftentimes
descend into some pretty hysterical and side splitting banter and/or debates.

The point is is that there is so much more to it all than just the playing the video games
themselves, although there’s a lot to of playing video games too. There are the stories they
tell and the experience of being drawn into them much like a reader gets drawn into a good
book. A few of my most memorable video game stories include Breath of Fire 3 on the Ps1,
Final Fantasy X on the PS2, Skies of Arcadia on the GameCube, and of course Mass Effect
12&3 on Xbox 360.

Other times it’s just the zany fun of a good party game with friends like Mario Kart,
Smash Bros, Twisted Metal 1 or 2, or Mortal Kombat. And of course there’s the memories and laughs you get from such get togethers.


Also, for many gamers there’s the feeling of nostalgia from playing old-school games on retro systems like the original Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Genesis, or even Atari. And let’s face it, who doesn’t like playing old-school Pacman, Mario, Sonic, etc.

Now there are some who say video are a bad influence.

 Can it be?

Well, in much the same way that movies or music can be, yes it can. Please note I said CAN, because games, just like movies, have a rating system. Movies are rated G, PG, PG13, R, and NC17, while
video games are rated E, E10+, T, and M. So what does any of that mean? Well parents, let
me ask you something; would you let your kids go see an R rated movie at the theaters by
themselves? No? Well it’s kind of the same thing with video games, so parents please stop
buying games like Saints Row the 3rd for your 1st graders…. “PLEASE!!”

But I digress a bit; yes video games can be a bad influence (I know I’m a traitor now
right), though no more or less so then other forms of media, and video games can be a form
of escape for some people. Don’t get me wrong; I love video games. I’ve been playing them
since the 1980’s and it can be easy to lose yourself in them. That being said, parents need to
be actively involved in and know what their kids are playing, as well as knowing what’s
really in them. Also, older players need to use some self-disciple and discretion. Again,
while video games are fun they’re no substitute for human interaction.

Alright that’s enough of the heavy stuff for now. So what else can we say about the
video game culture? Well, it’s come a surprisingly long way since they first debuted a few
decades back. For instance, video games now have an effect on many other forms of media
from movies, comics, novels, and anime, and that doesn’t even include the plethora of T-
shirts, energy drinks, toys, clothing, artwork, fan fictions, and music..... sweet, sweet, kick-
butt video game music tracks. Sorry, I got nostalgic for a second there, although video game
music scores are among some of the most unique and truly amazing music there is. Some of
my own favorite game soundtracks include the soundtracks from Double Dragons 2 the
Revenge, TNMT4-Turtules in Time, StarFox64, Final Fantasy X, any of the games in the
Mass Effect series, Skyrim, and I’ll give an honorable mention to Tiny Tina’s intro song from
Borderlands 2. What can I say; I love that song.

Indeed, video games and the video game culture have come a long ways, especially
considering that the first real console game, if memory serves correctly, was created by
accident with of all things electronic diagnostic equipment. So yup, there’s a lot to video
games and video gaming. So much so that if the contents of this article and the views
expressed here do not give you a suitable idea of what it means to be a gamer, well then I
am sorry to tell you this but: your princess is in another castle!

P.S. Thank you readers for… well reading this article. If you have any comments please feel
free to post them on our Facebook page. They are welcomed and appreciated.

Andrew Desrosiers

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Our Honest View