# Glee season 5

The fifth season of the Fox musical comedy-drama television series Glee was commissioned on April 19, 2013, along with a sixth season. It premiered on September 26, 2013, as part of the 2013 fall season. After a winter break, it returned on February 25, 2014, moving to Tuesday nights to finish its season. The second part of the season featured the 100th episode of the series, the 12th episode of the season, which aired on March 18, 2014. It was shorter than previous seasons, with twenty episodes instead of twenty-two.
The series features the New Directions glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School (WMHS) in the town of Lima, Ohio, and graduates of McKinley who have moved to New York City, some to attend the fictional New York Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYADA). Unlike previous seasons, the fifth continues the school year begun in season four. The first half of the season follows the club competing on the show choir circuit, while the remainder of the season focuses on graduation and the alumni's lives in New York City as its members, faculty and alumni deal with gay bashing, death, intimacy, STDs, transphobia and other social issues. The central characters are glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), cheerleading coach and school principal Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), glee club members Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale), Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss), Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz), Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) and graduates Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), and Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera). Previously recurring characters Jake Puckerman (Jacob Artist), Marley Rose (Melissa Benoist), Ryder Lynn (Blake Jenner), Wade "Unique" Adams (Alex Newell), and Kitty Wilde (Becca Tobin), who are current glee club members at WMHS, have been promoted to the main cast in the fifth season—though none of them appear in the last trimester, seven episodes, of the season, as the season moves its focus to the alumni. Heather Morris, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, and Harry Shum, Jr., who have portrayed Brittany Pierce, Mercedes Jones, Noah "Puck" Puckerman and Mike Chang (respectively) since season one, are no longer series regulars, but did appear as guest stars.
This is the first season not to feature Cory Monteith, who died shortly before production was scheduled to begin. The death of Monteith's character, Finn Hudson, was the subject of the third episode, "The Quarterback", which paid tribute to them both. The series went on hiatus after the third episode, and resumed airing episodes after the baseball postseason.
The season was nominated for one Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | US viewers (millions) |
| 89 | 1 | "Love, Love, Love" | Bradley Buecker | Brad Falchuk | September 26, 2013 (2013-09-26) | 5ARC01 | 5.06 |
| The first of two tribute episodes to the Beatles, with New Directions performing the Fab Four's musical catalogue at director Will Schuester's behest. Kurt and Blaine agree to become boyfriends once again, and Blaine is emboldened to ask Kurt to marry him. Rachel's dreams of Broadway seem to be in jeopardy when a "chemistry" audition ends abruptly; Santana gets her a job at the Broadway diner where she works. Artie and Kitty begin dating. Sue Sylvester is made interim principal of McKinley High after she frames Figgins (Iqbal Theba). ||||||||
| 90 | 2 | "Tina in the Sky with Diamonds" | Ian Brennan | Ian Brennan | October 3, 2013 (2013-10-03) | 5ARC02 | 4.42 |
| The second of two tribute episodes to the Beatles features the McKinley prom: when Tina is named one of the nominees for prom queen, she campaigns in a way that jeopardizes her relationship with her friends in glee club. Though she wins, Tina's triumph is sabotaged by Bree (Erinn Westbrook), a "mean girl" cheerleader. Rachel and Santana make a new friend at the diner where they work: a struggling artist named Dani (Demi Lovato), who is attracted to Santana and vice versa. Kurt gets a job at the diner. Sam is attracted to the new school nurse, a college sophomore named Penny Owen (Phoebe Strole). Rachel is cast in Funny Girl. ||||||||
| 91 | 3 | "The Quarterback" | Brad Falchuk | Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk & Ian Brennan | October 10, 2013 (2013-10-10) | 5ARC03 | 7.39 |
| Finn Hudson's death leaves a massive hole in everyone's lives and each individual grieves in a different way. ||||||||
| 92 | 4 | "A Katy or a Gaga" | Ian Brennan | Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner | November 7, 2013 (2013-11-07) | 5ARC04 | 4.01 |
| New Directions in Lima and the characters in New York explore "who they are as artists", using the music of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga in the process. ||||||||
| 93 | 5 | "The End of Twerk" | Wendey Stanzler | Michael Hitchcock | November 14, 2013 (2013-11-14) | 5ARC05 | 4.22 |
| In New York, Rachel decides that both she and Kurt should be tattooed; Kurt gets a botched tattoo, and Rachel, who claims she decided not to, actually gets one saying "Finn". New Directions learns how to twerk. Jake's new closeness with Bree becomes known by his girlfriend Marley. ||||||||
| 94 | 6 | "Movin' Out" | Brad Falchuk | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | November 21, 2013 (2013-11-21) | 5ARC06 | 4.09 |
| A tribute to Billy Joel's music. The seniors in the glee club start looking ahead to graduation and their lives afterward. Blaine visits New York for his NYADA audition, and Sam joins him for an audtion at Hunter College. Artie helps Becky figure out if college is right for her. Now that Marley and Jake have split up, Ryder begins to pursue Marley. ||||||||
| 95 | 7 | "Puppet Master" | Paul McCrane | Matthew Hodgson | November 28, 2013 (2013-11-28) | 5ARC07 | 2.84 |
| The glee club reacts badly to Blaine's plans for them to win Nationals, and he is unhappy with their response. In New York, his fiancé Kurt has similar problems with his band when he books their first formal performance. McKinley principal Sue Sylvester finally reveals why she started wearing her trademark tracksuits. There is a gas leak in the Glee room which makes Blaine, Jake, and Sue hallucinate. Bree comes to Jake with a problem. ||||||||
| 96 | 8 | "Previously Unaired Christmas" | Wendey Stanzler | Ross Maxwell | December 5, 2013 (2013-12-05) | 5ARC08 | 3.29 |
| In a Christmas special that was supposedly suppressed by the network in 2012—according to an episode-opening monologue by Jane Lynch—the New York cast work as holiday elves while the Lima glee club members vie to be in the living Nativity display at McKinley High. ||||||||
| 97 | 9 | "Frenemies" | Bradley Buecker | Ned Martel | February 25, 2014 (2014-02-25) | 5ARC09 | 2.99 |
| Friendships quickly dissolve in both Lima and New York, with some devastating repercussions. At McKinley, Artie and Tina are forced to square off against each other for the honor of being the valedictorian of the graduating class, while in New York, Santana successfully auditions for the role of Rachel's understudy in Funny Girl, and Rachel is incensed. ||||||||
| 98 | 10 | "Trio" | Ian Brennan | Sophia Rivka Rossi | March 4, 2014 (2014-03-04) | 5ARC10 | 2.68 |
| Elliott "Starchild" Gilbert (Adam Lambert) finds himself caught between feuding bandmates Santana and Rachel. Glee club members and good friends Tina, Sam and Blaine plan to spend some special time together before their impending graduation, but Becky (Lauren Potter) unexpectedly attaches herself to their group. Will and Emma (Jayma Mays) talk about having a child. ||||||||
| 99 | 11 | "City of Angels" | Elodie Keene | Jessica Meyer | March 11, 2014 (2014-03-11) | 5ARC11 | 2.30 |
| New Directions goes to Los Angeles to compete at Nationals, dedicating their performance to their late co-director Finn Hudson. They also take along his mother Carole Hudson-Hummel (Romy Rosemont) and stepfather Burt Hummel (Mike O'Malley) to see them compete. Former member Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), who now lives in Los Angeles, also attends. ||||||||
| 100 | 12 | "100" | Paris Barclay | Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk & Ian Brennan | March 18, 2014 (2014-03-18) | 5ARC12 | 2.80 |
| McKinley principal Sue Sylvester finally succeeds in disbanding New Directions at the school, and former members and friends of the glee club return to bid it and director Will Schuester farewell. He gives them a final assignment: reinvent their favorite past performances to celebrate the club. ||||||||
| 101 | 13 | "New Directions" | Brad Falchuk | Brad Falchuk | March 25, 2014 (2014-03-25) | 5ARC13 | 2.68 |
| April Rhodes (Kristin Chenoweth) and Holly Holliday (Gwyneth Paltrow) scheme to resurrect the newly-disbanded glee club. With the help of Brittany (Heather Morris), Rachel and Santana make an effort at a rapprochement. The McKinley senior class graduates. And this is also the last appearance of Melissa Benoist as Marley. ||||||||
| 102 | 14 | "New New York" | Sanaa Hamri | Ryan Murphy | April 1, 2014 (2014-04-01) | 5ARC14 | 2.59 |
| A few months after the end of New Directions, life in New York City poses challenges for the McKinley graduates, both newly transplanted and already established: Rachel is a leading lady on Broadway with all that entails, Kurt is now rooming with fiancé Blaine and must put up with couch-surfing Sam, and film school student Artie has trouble getting places in his wheelchair. Mercedes also comes to New York looking to record a new album. ||||||||
| 103 | 15 | "Bash" | Bradley Buecker | Ian Brennan | April 8, 2014 (2014-04-08) | 5ARC15 | 2.78 |
| Rachel tries to commit to her role as Fanny Brice, realizing that her NYADA obligations are holding her back. After attending a candlelight vigil for a close friend targeted by violence, Kurt is himself the victim of a homophobic attack. Sam attempts to rekindle his former relationship with Mercedes. ||||||||
| 104 | 16 | "Tested" | Paul McCrane | Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner | April 15, 2014 (2014-04-15) | 5ARC16 | 2.44 |
| Artie tests positive for an STD and is forced to tell all his sexual partners, as well as the girl he has a crush on. Blaine's personal insecurities lead to relationship problems between him and Kurt. When Mercedes reveals that she's still a virgin, Sam tries to prove that he's the perfect boyfriend in order to prepare her for her first time. ||||||||
| 105 | 17 | "Opening Night" | Eric Stoltz | Michael Hitchcock | April 22, 2014 (2014-04-22) | 5ARC17 | 2.45 |
| Rachel experiences a bout of self-doubt before the opening night of Funny Girl, but manages to pull off a successful show with the help of a pep talk from Santana. Will and Sue travel to New York to see Rachel's performance; while Will is called back to Lima to see the birth of his child, Sue stays behind and falls in love with a restaurateur named Mario (Chris Parnell). ||||||||
| 106 | 18 | "The Back-Up Plan" | Ian Brennan | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | April 29, 2014 (2014-04-29) | 5ARC18 | 2.41 |
| When a television executive (Jim Rash) invites Rachel to audition for a project in Los Angeles, Rachel jumps at the opportunity—at the expense of her commitment to Funny Girl. A wealthy socialite (Shirley MacLaine) takes Blaine under her wing and advises him to break off his engagement to Kurt. Mercedes fights to have Santana record a song for her new album. ||||||||
| 107 | 19 | "Old Dog, New Tricks" | Bradley Buecker | Chris Colfer | May 6, 2014 (2014-05-06) | 5ARC19 | 2.10 |
| Kurt befriends a retired Broadway performer, Maggie Banks (June Squibb), and steps in as a last-minute replacement for the lead role in her retirement home's production of Peter Pan. Kurt helps rekindle the relationship between Maggie Banks and her daughter. Rachel takes on Santana as her publicist, and together they start a dog rescue charity in order to salvage Rachel's reputation. It doesn't start out well initially, but eventually becomes a hit and they perform with residents from the retirement home. Sam adopts a dog without consulting Mercedes. ||||||||
| 108 | 20 | "The Untitled Rachel Berry Project" | Brad Falchuk | Matthew Hodgson | May 13, 2014 (2014-05-13) | 5ARC20 | 1.87 |
| An eccentric TV writer (Kristen Schaal) shadows Rachel and company to develop a script for Rachel's new show, but the initial result does not turn out promisingly. Sam and Mercedes hit a crossroads in their relationship when they realize that their commitment to each other may be too much to handle in the midst of diverging career paths. Blaine performs with June at her showcase, then mends fences with Kurt by asking him to sing a duet as an encore. ||||||||

## Production

The season's production was set to begin in mid-July, with shooting commencing July 29, 2013. On July 18, 2013, it was announced the show would go on a two-week hiatus while its writers and producers rewrote the storylines and figured out how to handle the death of Monteith's character, Finn Hudson. On July 19, 2013, the show announced through their Facebook page that the season would premiere September 26, one week after the original date, and filming would begin in early August. The season ultimately began shooting on August 5, 2013, a week later than originally planned, though studio recording and costume fittings for the cast began four days earlier.
On July 20, 2013, Ryan Murphy stated in an interview that Monteith's character would die in the third episode of the season and that episodes one and two will be tribute episodes to the Beatles. Lea Michele, Monteith's girlfriend who also stars as Rachel Berry on the show, was involved in the decision. After the third episode was completed, there was another hiatus while the creative team reworked the rest of the season. The show returned after the baseball postseason was over, and aired five episodes in a row without interruption.
For the 100th episode, Fox ran a promotion called "Gleeks Choice" at the end of November 2013 where fans could choose ten songs from a list of thirty that were performed in the past episodes of the series. The ten songs that received the most votes would be featured in the episode. The list of thirteen songs that was eventually released in late February 2014 for the two-part 100th episode contained eight songs from the original thirty-song list, not ten.
On March 17, 2014, it was revealed that Chris Colfer would write an episode. It was later revealed that he will be writing the nineteenth episode of the season.

## Cast

Fox credits fourteen main cast members for the season: Matthew Morrison as glee club director Will Schuester; Jane Lynch as cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester; Chris Colfer, Lea Michele and Naya Rivera as McKinley graduates and former glee club members Kurt Hummel, Rachel Berry and Santana Lopez, respectively; and Jacob Artist, Melissa Benoist, Darren Criss, Blake Jenner, Kevin McHale, Alex Newell, Chord Overstreet, Becca Tobin and Jenna Ushkowitz as current glee club members Jake Puckerman, Marley Rose, Blaine Anderson, Ryder Lynn, Artie Abrams, Wade "Unique" Adams, Sam Evans, Kitty Wilde and Tina Cohen-Chang, respectively. Five actors received contractual upgrades, having formerly been recurring cast members: Artist, Benoist, Jenner, Newell and Tobin. Five actors depart the main cast: Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), who died on July 13, 2013; and Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman) and Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang). Riley, Salling and Shum have been listed among the guest cast for this season. Murphy tweeted on December 3, 2013, that he had asked all original cast members to return for the 100th episode — Riley, Salling and Shum returned, and Morris made her season five debut in this episode alongside Dianna Agron, who portrays Quinn Fabray. Kristin Chenoweth and Gwyneth Paltrow, April Rhodes and Holly Holliday on Glee, respectively, also returned for the 100th episode.
Two former main cast members, who appeared as recurring guest stars in the fourth season, have been cast in series regular roles in new television shows: Mike O'Malley on Welcome to the Family, and Jayma Mays on The Millers. O'Malley and Mays also confirmed their appearances. NeNe Leakes also returned as a recurring guest, by which point Dot-Marie Jones already filmed scenes for the season's third episode. Trisha Rae Stahl, who plays McKinley lunch lady (and Marley's mother) Millie Rose, appeared as well. Chace Crawford appeared on Glee's 100th episode as a Yale student named Biff who was also Quinn's new boyfriend. Iqbal Theba was also slated to return as a recurring character.
Ryan Murphy announced that Adam Lambert would join the cast during the fifth season; Chris Colfer later revealed that Lambert is to play the "nemesis" to Colfer's character, Kurt Hummel, who is a student at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYADA). It was initially reported that Demi Lovato was in negotiations to join the cast for a six-episode arc starting with the season's second episode as Dani, a friend of Santana (Naya Rivera) and Rachel (Michele) in New York, who also would interact and sing with Lambert's character; the show subsequently confirmed that Lovato would be joining the show. However, Lovato only appeared four episodes during the season, due to her commitments of The Neon Lights Tour. Lea Michele tweeted on August 22, 2013, that her friend Phoebe Strole would be appearing on Glee during the season; her character, Penny Owen, was a sophomore in college and a new love interest for Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet). Erinn Westbrook was cast as a new recurring McKinley cheerleader, Bree, said to be a "mean girl".
Early on, there were reports of seven new recurring characters being cast: three women and four men. The former included Ruby, a new African-American student at McKinley High, and two women in their twenties, Ryan, who sings and plays the guitar, and a "cute and quirky" character variously named Julie and Jenny, who will first appear in the second episode. So far, three characters have appeared that fit these descriptions, albeit with different names: an African-American student at McKinley High named Bree (played by Westbrook), a guitar-playing woman named Dani (Lovato), and Penny Owens. The four males include three men in their forties or fifties: the talented and egotistical Roderick Easton; an intelligent and good-looking teacher named Jim Elliott; and Jurgen, who speaks with an Austrian or German accent. The fourth, Henry, has just been reported by name. A character who would end up fitting the description of a man with a German or Austrian accent in his forties or fifties is Gunther (Christopher Curry), who runs the Spotlight Diner.

## Reception
### Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a 71% with an average rating of 7.5/10, based on 14 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads, "Glee finds beauty in tragedy during a season that cathartically addresses the untimely passing of star Cory Monteith, while finding some new grace notes among its expansive ensemble, but the series is still indulging in the soporific tropes and cheesy self-seriousness that some viewers have come to dread."

### Ratings

Measurements of live plus same day (DVR) viewers fell considerably, relative to previous seasons. While season 4 saw the first viewership numbers below 6 million for an episodes, season 5 saw the first viewership numbers to fall below 2 million an episode.

#### Live + SD Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of Glee season 5 :
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating/share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Love, Love, Love" | September 26, 2013 | 2.0/5 | 5.06 | 1.2 | — | 3.2 | — |
| 2 | "Tina in the Sky with Diamonds" | October 3, 2013 | 1.6/5 | 4.42 | 1.1 | — | 2.7 | — |
| 3 | "The Quarterback" | October 10, 2013 | 2.9/8 | 7.39 | 1.4 | 3.16 | 4.3 | 10.54 |
| 4 | "A Katy or a Gaga" | November 7, 2013 | 1.5/4 | 4.01 | 1.1 | — | 2.6 | — |
| 5 | "The End of Twerk" | November 14, 2013 | 1.4/4 | 4.22 | 0.9 | — | 2.3 | — |
| 6 | "Movin' Out" | November 21, 2013 | 1.4/4 | 4.09 | 0.9 | — | 2.3 | — |
| 7 | "Puppet Master" | November 28, 2013 | 0.9/3 | 2.84 | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | "Previously Unaired Christmas" | December 5, 2013 | 1.1/3 | 3.29 | 0.9 | 2.05 | 2.0 | 5.34 |
| 9 | "Frenemies" | February 25, 2014 | 1.2/3 | 2.99 | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | "Trio" | March 4, 2014 | 1.0/3 | 2.68 | 0.7 | — | 1.7 | — |
| 11 | "City of Angels" | March 11, 2014 | 0.9/3 | 2.30 | 0.6 | — | 1.5 | — |
| 12 | "100" | March 18, 2014 | 1.1/3 | 2.80 | 0.7 | — | 1.8 | — |
| 13 | "New Directions" | March 25, 2014 | 1.1/3 | 2.68 | 0.7 | — | 1.8 | — |
| 14 | "New New York" | April 1, 2014 | 0.9/3 | 2.59 | 0.7 | — | 1.6 | — |
| 15 | "Bash" | April 8, 2014 | 1.0/4 | 2.78 | 0.6 | — | 1.6 | — |
| 16 | "Tested" | April 15, 2014 | 1.0/3 | 2.44 | 0.6 | — | 1.6 | — |
| 17 | "Opening Night" | April 22, 2014 | 0.9/3 | 2.45 | 0.6 | — | 1.5 | — |
| 18 | "The Back-Up Plan" | April 29, 2014 | 0.9/3 | 2.41 | 0.5 | — | 1.4 | — |
| 19 | "Old Dog, New Tricks" | May 6, 2014 | 0.8/3 | 2.10 | 0.5 | — | 1.3 | — |
| 20 | "The Untitled Rachel Berry Project" | May 13, 2014 | 0.6/2 | 1.87 | 0.6 | — | 1.2 | — |

## Home video releases

Glee: The Complete Fifth Season was released on January 6, 2015 in DVD, with 6-set discs. The Blu-ray only has a Japan release and is a 4 disc set.
Glee – The Complete Fifth Season :
| Set details | Set details | Special features | Special features | Special features | Special features |
| 20 episodes 6-disc set Running Time: 878 minutes 1.77:1 aspect ratio English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | 20 episodes 6-disc set Running Time: 878 minutes 1.77:1 aspect ratio English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | Glee in the City Glee Music Jukebox GLEEful: Celebrating 100 Episodes of Glee | Glee in the City Glee Music Jukebox GLEEful: Celebrating 100 Episodes of Glee | Glee in the City Glee Music Jukebox GLEEful: Celebrating 100 Episodes of Glee | Glee in the City Glee Music Jukebox GLEEful: Celebrating 100 Episodes of Glee |
| DVD release dates ||||||
| Region 1 | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Region 4 |
| January 6, 2015 (2015-01-06) | January 6, 2015 (2015-01-06) | October 20, 2014 (2014-10-20) | October 20, 2014 (2014-10-20) | October 9, 2014 (2014-10-09) | October 9, 2014 (2014-10-09) |