# Glee season 3

The third season of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee was commissioned on May 23, 2010, by Fox while the first season aired. It aired between September 20, 2011, and May 22, 2012, and was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Ryan Murphy Television, with executive producers Dante Di Loreto and series co-creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan.
The series features the New Directions glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School in the town of Lima, Ohio. Season three follows the club competing on the show choir circuit, while its members and faculty deal with sex, sexual identity, gender identity, stress, domestic violence, teenage suicide, pregnancy, disabilities, texting while driving, outing and other social issues. The central characters are glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), and glee club members Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale), Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss), Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.), Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz), Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron), Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith), Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera), Brittany Pierce (Heather Morris) and Noah "Puck" Puckerman (Mark Salling). At the end of the season, eight members of the glee club graduate: Rachel, Mike, Quinn, Finn, Kurt, Mercedes, Santana and Puck.
The season was nominated for three Emmy Awards, one Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical and one Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | US viewers (millions) |
| 45 | 1 | "The Purple Piano Project" | Eric Stoltz | Brad Falchuk | September 20, 2011 (2011-09-20) | 3ARC01 | 9.21 |
| The glee club is down to ten members and needs to recruit, so director Will Schuester assigns them a project to get new singers. Cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester runs for congress on a platform of cutting the arts in schools, and directs new cheerleading co-captains Santana and Becky (Lauren Potter) to sabotage the pianos being used in the glee club project. Blaine transfers to McKinley High to be with Kurt and joins New Directions. Rachel and Kurt's post-graduation plans for New York suffer a setback. ||||||||
| 46 | 2 | "I Am Unicorn" | Brad Falchuk | Ryan Murphy | September 27, 2011 (2011-09-27) | 3ARC02 | 8.60 |
| Will sets up a boot camp for some of the members of the glee club to improve their dancing. Auditions begin for the school musical, West Side Story with Kurt and Blaine pitted against each other for the part of Tony. Kurt worries he's "too gay" to play any big roles on Broadway, but his father encourages him to be himself. Sue features Quinn in an anti-arts commercial for her congressional campaign. Shelby Corcoran (Idina Menzel) is hired to set up a rival glee club at McKinley High, and reaches out to her adopted daughter's birth parents Quinn and Puck. Kurt begins his campaign for senior class president. ||||||||
| 47 | 3 | "Asian F" | Alfonso Gomez-Rejon | Ian Brennan | October 4, 2011 (2011-10-04) | 3ARC03 | 8.42 |
| After Mike gets an "A−" on a chemistry test, his father wants him to drop glee club. He instead auditions for West Side Story. Mercedes also auditions, but refuses to share the role of Maria with Rachel when the two are to be double-cast; she also quits New Directions, and joins Shelby's rival glee club. Brittany's campaign for senior class president kicks into high gear, and Rachel becomes a third candidate, infuriating the other candidate, Kurt. Emma Pillsbury's parents visit, and cause a flare-up of her OCD. The musical's cast list is posted. ||||||||
| 48 | 4 | "Pot o' Gold" | Adam Shankman | Ali Adler | November 1, 2011 (2011-11-01) | 3ARC04 | 7.47 |
| Irish exchange student Rory Flanagan (Damian McGinty) arrives at McKinley High. He is living at Brittany's house, and she thinks he's a leprechaun. Mercedes starts recruiting for Shelby's new glee club, and succeeds in attracting Santana and Brittany, who are now officially dating. Sue gains a new competitor in her run for congress when Kurt's dad, Burt Hummel (Mike O'Malley), decides to run against her as a write-in candidate. Rory joins New Directions. ||||||||
| 49 | 5 | "The First Time" | Bradley Buecker | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | November 8, 2011 (2011-11-08) | 3ARC05 | 6.91 |
| The school musical West Side Story is rehearsed and then performed, with Artie as lead director. Mike argues with his father about wanting to be a professional dancer, and Coach Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones) gains an admirer in the form of football recruiter Cooter Menkins (Eric Bruskotter). Kurt and Blaine debate whether to have sex, as do Rachel and Finn, the latter of whom is worried about being recruited for college football. New Dalton Academy Warbler Sebastian Smythe (Grant Gustin) makes a play for Blaine, and invites him and Kurt to a gay bar, where Dave Karofsky (Max Adler) gives Kurt some advice. ||||||||
| 50 | 6 | "Mash Off" | Eric Stoltz | Michael Hitchcock | November 15, 2011 (2011-11-15) | 3ARC06 | 7.08 |
| Sue pursues a smear campaign against Burt in their congressional race. Glee club directors Will and Shelby encourage some friendly competition between their clubs, but Santana does not go along with the friendly part and hounds Finn, with disastrous results. Puck falls in love with Shelby, to her dismay. The candidates for senior class president debate, and Rachel withdraws from the race, throwing her support behind Kurt. ||||||||
| 51 | 7 | "I Kissed a Girl" | Tate Donovan | Matthew Hodgson | November 29, 2011 (2011-11-29) | 3ARC07 | 7.90 |
| The election for McKinley High Senior Class President is marred by ballot-box stuffing, and Brittany is declared the winner. Coach Beiste challenges Sue over Cooter, and Sue's own election day results in an embarrassing defeat to Burt. Life gets more complicated for Quinn and Puck, Santana comes out to her family and the school with the help of the New Directions and Trouble Tones, and a shocking event upsets New Directions' plans for the forthcoming show choir Sectionals competition. ||||||||
| 52 | 8 | "Hold On to Sixteen" | Bradley Buecker | Ross Maxwell | December 6, 2011 (2011-12-06) | 3ARC08 | 7.11 |
| Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) returns to McKinley High and New Directions at Finn's urging just in time to compete in Sectionals—hosted by McKinley—against stiff competition, which includes McKinley's Troubletones and the Unitards, fronted by Harmony (Lindsay Pearce). Quinn makes a pivotal decision, and Sebastian plans a second try for Blaine. Finn admits he is jealous of Blaine and they reconcile. Tina helps Mike and his father come to an agreement about Mike's college plans. ||||||||
| 53 | 9 | "Extraordinary Merry Christmas" | Matthew Morrison | Marti Noxon | December 13, 2011 (2011-12-13) | 3ARC09 | 7.13 |
| New Directions celebrates the holidays, and the group is faced with a dilemma when they agree to perform at two different events that turn out to be scheduled at the exact same time. Rory suffers from homesickness, and bonds with Sam, who is also away from his family. Artie is set to direct a Christmas special for a local network and is inspired to do a tribute to Christmas specials of old. ||||||||
| 54 | 10 | "Yes/No" | Eric Stoltz | Brad Falchuk | January 17, 2012 (2012-01-17) | 3ARC10 | 7.50 |
| Will asks the glee club to help him propose to Emma in a very spectacular way, and he ultimately does. Sam joins McKinley's synchronized swim team, coached by Roz Washington (NeNe Leakes), desperate for a letterman jacket to impress Mercedes, who he wants to win back from Shane. Becky decides she wants Artie as her boyfriend and gets him to date her. Finn makes an announcement about his plans for life after high school and gets some devastating news, which draws him even closer to Rachel. ||||||||
| 55 | 11 | "Michael" | Alfonso Gomez-Rejon | Ryan Murphy | January 31, 2012 (2012-01-31) | 3ARC11 | 9.07 |
| Will announces a "Michael Week" after the former Troubletones reveal they are disappointed they didn't get to perform in the Jackson family medley at Sectionals. The rivalry between New Directions and the Dalton Academy Warblers deepens ahead of Regionals as both groups plan to perform Michael Jackson's music in competition. Quinn is the first senior to get news on her college plans, and Kurt and Rachel get news on their NYADA applications. Mercedes and Sam kiss, and Sebastian injures Blaine in an attempt to strike back at Kurt. ||||||||
| 56 | 12 | "The Spanish Teacher" | Paris Barclay | Ian Brennan | February 7, 2012 (2012-02-07) | 3ARC12 | 7.81 |
| Will and Sue are competing for a tenured position at McKinley High, but complaints are received about both of them as teachers. Will goes to night school for a refresher course in Spanish, but his teacher there, David Martinez (Ricky Martin), becomes a potential rival for his position at McKinley when Will assigns a Spanish-themed week to New Directions and invites David to perform. Rachel tells Kurt and Mercedes that Finn has proposed to her, and Mercedes has issues in her own love life. Sue announces that she wants to become a mother, and she needs a sperm donor. ||||||||
| 57 | 13 | "Heart" | Brad Falchuk | Ali Adler | February 14, 2012 (2012-02-14) | 3ARC13 | 6.99 |
| Love is in the air and Will has the members of New Directions perform the best love songs they can find on Glee's second Valentine's Day episode. Sugar (Vanessa Lengies) holds a Valentine's dance for McKinley students, which Santana and Brittany attend as a couple; Artie and Rory compete to become Sugar's date. Rachel's fathers, Hiram and Leroy Berry (Jeff Goldblum and Brian Stokes Mitchell), throw a dinner party in honor of Rachel and Finn's engagement in their debut appearance. Kurt starts receiving Valentine's gifts from a secret admirer. A new transfer student to McKinley named Joe Hart (Samuel Larsen) is introduced. ||||||||
| 58 | 14 | "On My Way" | Bradley Buecker | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | February 21, 2012 (2012-02-21) | 3ARC14 | 7.46 |
| Defending Regionals winners New Directions compete against the Dalton Academy Warblers, whom they defeated the previous year—the victors will attend the Nationals show choir competition. Dave Karofsky tries to commit suicide after his classmates find out he is gay and post hate threats on his social media accounts, so Kurt tries to give advice to help him. Rachel decides to move up her plans to marry Finn. Sue says she is pregnant. Quinn ends up in a car crash while sending a text to Rachel. ||||||||
| 59 | 15 | "Big Brother" | Eric Stoltz | Michael Hitchcock | April 10, 2012 (2012-04-10) | 3ARC15 | 6.76 |
| Blaine's older brother Cooper Anderson (Matt Bomer), a Hollywood commercials actor, comes to Lima for a visit, and while in town gives an acting masterclass to New Directions. Quinn returns to school in a wheelchair, but hopes to regain the use of her legs. When the members of the glee club do a "senior ditch day" at Six Flags, she and Artie go instead to a skate park for some wheelchair excitement. Quinn recruits Joe Hart to join New Directions. ||||||||
| 60 | 16 | "Saturday Night Glee-ver" | Bradley Buecker | Matthew Hodgson | April 17, 2012 (2012-04-17) | 3ARC16 | 6.23 |
| The glee club does disco in a tribute to Saturday Night Fever. In order to help Finn, Santana and Mercedes figure out what to do after they graduate, Will assigns them to perform songs from the movie that would show how they feel about their lives. Finn decides to become an actor. Santana wants to become famous, but reconsiders when Brittany uploads a sextape of the two of them on the web. After her performance, Mercedes says she wants to become a recording artist; Sam posts a videoclip of that performance, which gets excellent reviews. Wade Adams (Alex Newell), a member of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline, asks Kurt and Mercedes for advice about whether to perform as his transgender alter ego "Unique". ||||||||
| 61 | 17 | "Dance with Somebody" | Paris Barclay | Ross Maxwell | April 24, 2012 (2012-04-24) | 3ARC17 | 6.90 |
| The glee club pays tribute to the late Whitney Houston. After realizing the kids are still feeling sorrow about her death, Will decides to feature Whitney's musical legacy in the club. Kurt meets a guy in a music store, and they start texting each other, but when Blaine discovers this he's deeply upset. After Rachel and Santana sing their first duet together, Rachel asks Santana to be her friend for their final high school days. Joe continues helping Quinn with her physical therapy, and they both wonder if they have feelings for each other. Anticipation for Will and Emma's wedding keeps building. ||||||||
| 62 | 18 | "Choke" | Michael Uppendahl | Marti Noxon | May 1, 2012 (2012-05-01) | 3ARC18 | 6.01 |
| Kurt and Rachel get ready for their audition for NYADA, and are thrown off-stride when they discover they will be performing for the school's dean, Carmen Tibideaux (Whoopi Goldberg). Puck's father (Thomas Calabro) shows up in Lima, which results in Puck making a decision about his future with the help of the New Directions Boys. Coach Beiste reveals a secret, and gets help from her fellow coaches Sue and Roz Washington (NeNe Leakes). ||||||||
| 63 | 19 | "Prom-asaurus" | Eric Stoltz | Ryan Murphy | May 8, 2012 (2012-05-08) | 3ARC19 | 6.67 |
| As class president, Brittany organizes the senior prom, and decides this year's theme will be dinosaurs. However, some people are reluctant to go. After the announcement of the prom king and queen finalist candidates, some of the misfits plan an anti-prom party. Ultimately, most everyone sees their own dream come true during the prom as Rachel and Finn are nominated Prom Queen and King. ||||||||
| 64 | 20 | "Props" | Ian Brennan | Ian Brennan | May 15, 2012 (2012-05-15) | 3ARC20 | 6.09 |
| Tina is upset that Rachel continues to get all the glee club solos, but after she hits her head falling into a fountain and hallucinates experiencing life as Rachel and the rest of the club with switched personas, she helps Rachel try for another NYADA audition. Rehearsals continue for the glee club's Nationals performance. Puck and Coach Beiste help each other through some tough times. ||||||||
| 65 | 21 | "Nationals" | Eric Stoltz | Ali Adler | May 15, 2012 (2012-05-15) | 3ARC21 | 6.03 |
| The New Directions compete for the 2012 Nationals championship in Chicago, Illinois, performing for celebrity judges Lindsay Lohan, Perez Hilton and local politician Martin Fong (Rex Lee), with Vocal Adrenaline their chief competition. The New Directions win Nationals and Principal Figgins asks them to perform in the school's Teacher of the Year ceremony. ||||||||
| 66 | 22 | "Goodbye" | Brad Falchuk | Brad Falchuk | May 22, 2012 (2012-05-22) | 3ARC22 | 7.46 |
| The McKinley High class of 2012 graduates. Members of the glee club get their last assignment: the underclassmen and the seniors will say each others' farewell through the music. It's time for the seniors to follow their own dreams. Finn breaks up with Rachel so she could follow her dreams. The New Directions says goodbye to Rachel as she heads to New York City to study in NYADA. ||||||||

## Production

The series is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, Ryan Murphy Television and Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision. Series creators Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy serve as executive producers, alongside Dante Di Loreto. This constitutes a promotion for Brennan, who formerly received a co-executive producer credit. The first and second seasons were written exclusively by Brennan, Falchuk and Murphy. Although Murphy had intended to hire a team of five or six writers in January 2010, this plan was delayed, due to the existing team's reluctance to alter a working formula. Falchuk revealed in May 2011 that further writing staff are being sought to bring "fresh voices" to the series: "We're trying to get a lot of quirky people and interesting people and people that are not what you'd expect." Six new writers were confirmed, and began work on June 20, 2011: Ali Adler (also co-executive producer), Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (also co-producer), Marti Noxon and former first-season guest star Michael Hitchcock (who are serving as consulting producers), and staff writers Matthew Hodgson and Ross Maxwell.
The third season was structured with two "mini-seasons" mimicking the two high school semesters. While the previous two seasons have included multiple tribute episodes, dedicated to artists such as Madonna and Britney Spears, the musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the album Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, Murphy intended to feature just one such tribute in season three, in the form of a two-hour television movie; Falchuk was less definite about the number or format, saying only that if there was a tribute episode, it would be "in the second half of the season". It was revealed in early December that the tribute episode would feature ten to twelve of Michael Jackson's songs, and the episode was scheduled for January 31, 2012. However, in mid-January 2012, Murphy revealed that there would be an April episode centered on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack by The Bee Gees. Filming for the season was originally reported as beginning on August 10, 2011, but it began on August 9. The first episode of the season was directed by Eric Stoltz, and Matthew Morrison made his directing debut on the Christmas episode.
Broadcast began on September 20, 2011, in the US, where Glee airs on Fox in the 8 pm timeslot on Tuesdays. It debuted in Australia on September 21, 2011, at 8:30 pm on Network Ten, hours after the US broadcast. In the UK, the show moved from E4 to Sky1, and premiered on September 22, 2011, two days after the US. Both Network Ten and Sky1 later decoupled their broadcasts from the American schedules. Network Ten did so after the sixth episode, "Mash Off", and Sky1 announced after airing the ninth episode, "Extraordinary Merry Christmas", that in 2012 they would air all the remaining episodes in an unbroken weekly run, scheduled so that the final episodes of the season would broadcast "within days" of their initial US premiere. A subsequent change in the US schedule required adding a week's break after the fourteenth episode, "On My Way".
The cast began recording for their musical numbers on the show beginning on August 8, 2011. They also began recording material for a new Glee Christmas album that month.

## Cast

Fox credits fifteen main cast members for the season: Morrison as glee club director Will Schuester, Jane Lynch as cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, Jayma Mays as guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury, and Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Heather Morris, Amber Riley, Naya Rivera, Mark Salling, Harry Shum, Jr. and Jenna Ushkowitz as glee club members Quinn Fabray, Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Artie Abrams, Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson, Brittany Pierce, Mercedes Jones, Santana Lopez, Noah "Puck" Puckerman, Mike Chang and Tina Cohen-Chang respectively. Criss and Shum, Jr. received contractual upgrades, having formerly been recurring cast members. According to journalist Michael Ausiello, one main cast member who is no longer a series regular is Jessalyn Gilsig as Will's ex-wife, Terri Schuester. O'Malley, who plays Kurt's father Burt, was a series regular during the second season, but is listed among the guest cast for this season.
Murphy stated that some of the original characters would depart at the end of the season. He explained: "This next season will be their senior year, and then that they will graduate. We didn't want to have a show where they were in high school for eight years. We really wanted to be true to that experience." It was initially reported that the third season would be the last for Michele, Monteith and Colfer. However, during the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con panel, executive producer Brad Falchuk stated that while Michele, Monteith and Colfer will graduate by the end of the third season, "because they're graduating doesn't mean they're leaving the show". Falchuk insisted "it was never our plan or our intention to let them go. ... They are not done with the show after this season."
Chord Overstreet, who played glee club member Sam Evans during the second season, did not return to the show at the start of the third season. According to Falchuk, Overstreet was invited back to guest-star for ten episodes "with an eye towards becoming a series regular at midseason", but Overstreet declined. It was reported on October 18, 2011, and confirmed by Murphy six days later, that Overstreet would be returning as a recurring character starting with the season's eighth episode. With Sam gone at the beginning of the season, Falchuk said that Mercedes "has this new boyfriend she met over the summer who's pretty cool". Friday Night Lights' LaMarcus Tinker is portraying Mercedes' new love interest, Shane Tinsley. Formerly known as "Bubba" and then as "Marcus", he is "a massive linebacker for the McKinley Titans". Their relationship was compared to Cuba Gooding Jr. and his wife in Jerry Maguire, as he "encourages her to want more for herself". Ryan Murphy has said they plan to introduce four new cast members, "kids that come in with their own stories." At least two of these are female students: Sugar, who is well-off, self-confident, and has a tin ear, and Sheila, "a modern-day Joan Jett". The recurring role of Sugar Motta is played by Vanessa Lengies. Both Tinker and Lengies appeared in the season premiere, as did a character named Sheila played by Raven Goodwin, who is one of the Skanks, a group of outcast girls that includes Quinn. Another new recurring character is Sebastian Smythe, played by Grant Gustin, a "gay Dalton Academy Warbler who sets his sights on Blaine". Idina Menzel reprises her role as Shelby Corcoran in a story arc that has her teaching at McKinley; she first appeared in the season's second episode. Jonathan Groff returned for a third season as Jesse St. James, appearing in two episodes as the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline. Murphy also intended for guest star Gwyneth Paltrow to return as substitute teacher Holly Holliday. Other recurring characters who are returning include former glee club member Lauren Zizes (Ashley Fink), Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba), football coach Shannon Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones), cheerleader Becky Jackson (Lauren Potter), school reporter Jacob Ben Israel (Josh Sussman), and TV news anchors Rod Remington (Bill A. Jones) and Andrea Carmichael (Earlene Davis). Closeted gay athlete Dave Karofsky (Max Adler) also returns, as does Finn's mother Carole Hudson-Hummel (Romy Rosemont) along with Quinn's mother Judy Fabray (Charlotte Ross) and Puck's mother (Gina Hecht). Starting this season NeNe Leakes had a recurring role as Coach Roz Washington.
The Glee Project, a reality series featuring auditions for the show, started airing on Oxygen on June 12, 2011, and the final episode of the season was broadcast on August 21, 2011. The winning prize was a seven-episode guest-starring role in the third season. The show was originally intended to air on Fox ahead of season two, but was cancelled due to Murphy's desire to concentrate on the main series. The project was revived when Oxygen purchased re-run rights to Glee, and Murphy committed to executive produce the series as it is part of the Glee brand. Di Loreto served as an executive producer, alongside Embassy Row's Michael Davies and Shauna Minoprio. Assisted by Glee's choreographer Zach Woodlee and casting director Robert J. Ulrich—who screened over 40,000 applicants—they selected the winner over ten episodes, from a shortlist of twelve contenders. After the show completed shooting, Murphy announced that the winner would play Sue's archenemy on the show. However, there were two winners of The Glee Project prize of a seven-episode arc, Damian McGinty and Samuel Larsen. The other two finalists, Lindsay Pearce and Alex Newell, each won a two-episode arc on the show. Pearce appeared in the season premiere as Harmony, a singer who intimidates Rachel with her talent, and returned in the eighth episode in which Harmony led a rival show choir at the Sectionals competition. McGinty appeared starting in the fourth episode as Rory Flanagan, an Irish exchange student who is living with Brittany's family. Larsen debuted in the thirteenth episode as transfer student Joe Hart, and Newell first appeared in the sixteenth episode as Wade Adams, a member of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline.
In a July 2011 interview, Murphy noted that when he and Falchuk ask fans what they want to see, meeting the parents of the characters is a major demand. He said that "some of them" would be seen in the future. Several sets of parents were introduced over the course of the season: Mike Chang's parents, Julia Chang and Mike Chang Sr., played by Tamlyn Tomita and Keong Sim respectively; Emma Pillsbury's parents, Rose and Rusty Pillsbury, played by Valerie Mahaffey and Don Most; Sam Evans's parents, Dwight and Mary Evans, played by John Schneider and Tanya Clarke; and Rachel's parents, Hiram and LeRoy Berry, played by Jeff Goldblum and Brian Stokes Mitchell respectively. Rick Pasqualone appeared as Sugar Motta's father, Al Motta. Thomas Calabro appeared as Puck's father. Gloria Estefan played Santana Lopez's mother, Maribel, in the season finale.

## Reception
### Critical response

Robert Canning of IGN summed up about the premiere episode that "Unfortunately, the premiere didn't add anything new to make me think I wasn't eating the same sugary snack we've been force-fed all summer." James Poniewozik of Time magazine wrote that "Monteith especially acts the hell out of the scene, but the way it unfolds, both of them in the car watching their realities change, is one of the best things the show has ever done", while The A.V. Club's Emily VanDerWerff gave the season a "C+", and stated: "Wildly ambitious at times, not always successful, but always trying weird, new things." Huffington Post's Crystal Bell said regarding the season finale: "We did end up with a graduation episode that was heartfelt, comical and, yes, absolutely ridiculous".
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a 53% with an average rating of 7.18/10, based on 19 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads, "Impending graduation and a race to the top provides this season some emotional power and stakes, but Glee will strain many viewers' credulity with a flurry of melodramatic developments that feel more cynically calculated than organic to characters who feel increasingly more like soundboards than people."

### Ratings
#### Live + SD ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of Glee season 3 :
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating/share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "The Purple Piano Project" | September 20, 2011 | 4.0/11 | 9.21 |
| 2 | "I Am Unicorn" | September 27, 2011 | 3.7/10 | 8.60 |
| 3 | "Asian F" | October 4, 2011 | 3.6/10 | 8.42 |
| 4 | "Pot o' Gold" | November 1, 2011 | 3.0/8 | 7.47 |
| 5 | "The First Time" | November 8, 2011 | 3.1/8 | 6.91 |
| 6 | "Mash Off" | November 15, 2011 | 3.0/8 | 7.08 |
| 7 | "I Kissed a Girl" | November 29, 2011 | 3.2/8 | 7.90 |
| 8 | "Hold On to Sixteen" | December 6, 2011 | 3.0/8 | 7.11 |
| 9 | "Extraordinary Merry Christmas" | December 13, 2011 | 3.0/8 | 7.13 |
| 10 | "Yes/No" | January 17, 2012 | 3.1/8 | 7.50 |
| 11 | "Michael" | January 31, 2012 | 3.7/10 | 9.07 |
| 12 | "The Spanish Teacher" | February 7, 2012 | 3.3/9 | 7.81 |
| 13 | "Heart" | February 14, 2012 | 2.8/8 | 6.99 |
| 14 | "On My Way" | February 21, 2012 | 3.0/8 | 7.46 |
| 15 | "Big Brother" | April 10, 2012 | 2.7/7 | 6.76 |
| 16 | "Saturday Night Glee-ver" | April 17, 2012 | 2.4/7 | 6.23 |
| 17 | "Dance with Somebody" | April 24, 2012 | 2.7/8 | 6.90 |
| 18 | "Choke" | May 1, 2012 | 2.5/8 | 6.01 |
| 19 | "Prom-asaurus" | May 8, 2012 | 2.7/8 | 6.67 |
| 20 | "Props" | May 15, 2012 | 2.5/8 | 6.09 |
| 21 | "Nationals" | May 15, 2012 | 2.5/7 | 6.03 |
| 22 | "Goodbye" | May 22, 2012 | 2.9/8 | 7.46 |

## Home video releases

Glee: The Complete Third Season was released on August 14, 2012, in DVD (with 6-set discs) and Blu-ray (with 4-set discs), and contains the special features; "Glee Music Jukebox", "Glee Under the Stars", "Deleted Scenes", "Santana's Santa Baby Music Video", "Young Sue's Oklahoma! Music Video", "Glee Give a Note", "Welcome to the Class", "Making the Finale", "Sue Addresses Her Fans", "More of Sue's Quips" and "Ginger Supremacists" Extended Scene". This was the first season to not have "Volume" releases.
Glee – The Complete Third Season :
| Set details | Set details | Special features | Special features | Special features | Special features |
| 22 episodes 6-disc set Running time: 963 minutes 1.77:1 aspect ratio English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | 22 episodes 6-disc set Running time: 963 minutes 1.77:1 aspect ratio English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | Glee Music Jukebox Glee Under the Stars Santana's "Santa Baby" Music Video Glee Give a Note Welcome to the Class Making the Finale Sue Addresses Her Fans Ask Sue: World Domination Blog Glee Swap: Behind the Scenes of "Props" More of Sue's Quips | Glee Music Jukebox Glee Under the Stars Santana's "Santa Baby" Music Video Glee Give a Note Welcome to the Class Making the Finale Sue Addresses Her Fans Ask Sue: World Domination Blog Glee Swap: Behind the Scenes of "Props" More of Sue's Quips | Glee Music Jukebox Glee Under the Stars Santana's "Santa Baby" Music Video Glee Give a Note Welcome to the Class Making the Finale Sue Addresses Her Fans Ask Sue: World Domination Blog Glee Swap: Behind the Scenes of "Props" More of Sue's Quips | Glee Music Jukebox Glee Under the Stars Santana's "Santa Baby" Music Video Glee Give a Note Welcome to the Class Making the Finale Sue Addresses Her Fans Ask Sue: World Domination Blog Glee Swap: Behind the Scenes of "Props" More of Sue's Quips |
| DVD release dates ||||||
| Region 1 | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Region 4 |
| August 14, 2012 (2012-08-14) | August 14, 2012 (2012-08-14) | September 17, 2012 (2012-09-17) | September 17, 2012 (2012-09-17) | September 19, 2012 (2012-09-19) | September 19, 2012 (2012-09-19) |