Funeral (Glee)
The episode featured Jonathan Groff guest starring as Jesse St. James, who is brought in as a consultant to help the New Directions glee club prepare for the National Show Choir competition.
Lynch was nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards for her work on the show, and submitted this episode for judging.
Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera), Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) all audition, with Jesse and Will as judges.
Ultimately, Will decides to ignore Jesse's advice and instead plans to do for Nationals what brought them victory at the Regionals competition: having the whole group sing original songs.
She lashes out by having the glee club's flight to Nationals in New York City rerouted so it has a layover in war-ravaged Tripoli and kicks Becky Jackson (Lauren Potter) off the Cheerios.
While going through Jean's belongings, Finn and Kurt discover that her favorite movie was Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and arrange a funeral inspired by the film.
"[4] The day the episode aired, Lynch revealed in an interview that Murphy had conferred with her before proceeding with the storyline: "He took me aside at a party and said 'I want your blessing on this before we move forward.'
"[5] Lynch was nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards for her work on the show, and submitted "Funeral" to be the episode by which she would be judged.
Other recurring guest stars in the episode include glee club members Mike Chang (Harry Shum, Jr.), Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) and Lauren Zizes (Ashley Fink), cheerleader Becky Jackson (Lauren Potter), and in an uncredited appearance in a video shown during the funeral scene, Sue's sister Jean Sylvester (Robin Trocki).
Additional guests include Becky's mother Donna Jackson (Kari Coleman), and Jim Metzler as the Reverend who presides at the funeral.
[19] Rolling Stone's Erica Futterman said that the episode "felt like a recycled version of things we've seen previously" and added that the show is "not as entertaining when it's simply a showcase".
[21] The Atlantic's Kevin Fallon wrote, "Killing off Sue's sister seemed cruel, but ultimately paid off—it's too bad the episode completely derailed afterward, dying its own rapid death in turn.
"[19] BuddyTV's John Kubicek stated, "it's impossible for me to say that Lynch wasn't exceptional, because her slow breakdown and attempt to cover-up her emotions was well done and fit perfectly with the character.
"[24] Respers France commented that "we got to see the range and complexity of Sue Sylvester", and Sandra Gonzalez of Entertainment Weekly said that Lynch did an "outstanding job of delivering even the funniest quips with an underlying sense of sadness".
[19][27] Houston Chronicle's Bobby Hankinson also hit on the lack of preparation for the upcoming competition and stated that it seemed "like a very bad idea" to be going without a setlist already decided on, much less with songs unwritten.
"[29] Poniewozik wrote of Will's Broadway plans that "his ambitions, and guilt over them, make a much more believable and compelling conflict than Matthew Morrison has had to convey for much of the season.
Online's Jenna Mullins, who called the scene where Finn and Kurt help Sue with her sister's room "positively heartbreaking", and the trio of characters "magnificent".
[27] Santana's rendition of "Back to Black" was declared "spot on" by Futterman, and Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal wrote that it was performed "with raspy sensitivity", and went "deep into the emotional truth of the song".
Gonzalez missed Kurt's usual charisma and thought the performance "a bit lackluster", and Benigno called it "kind of a boring cover".
[33] Gonzalez gave it an "A" and called it "pure perfection", but Benigno was more restrained with a "B+", and wrote "she hits a little too hard for my taste" and "the vocals … threaten to engulf the song itself".
Flandez called it "heartstopping", and Futterman summed up with, "she nails the Funny Girl closer, making it one of Rachel's top performances on the show".
[33] Benigno felt that while the song was "really quite good", the "stupidity of the scene" it was in detracted from it, resulting in a grade of "B+", while Gonzalez, when she gave it an "A−", said she hadn't been a "huge fan of the cover" when she heard it before the show aired, but it grew on her in context.
