It features the marriage proposal by Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) to Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), the revelation of Rachel Berry's (Lea Michele) future on Broadway, the official dating of Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) and Kitty Wilde (Becca Tobin), and the return of Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) to Mckinley High School as the new principal.
In New York City, Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) attends a chemistry reading for Funny Girl, but it is brief and she later hears the director and leading man worry that she is too young, and sings "Yesterday" in frustration.
She begins working as a waitress in a singing Broadway diner with Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera) in order to make ends meet and gain life experience.
She informs Will and Roz Washington (NeNe Leakes), Sue's replacement as coach of the Cheerios, that they must win Nationals competitions in show choir and cheerleading, respectively, or be fired.
He and Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) rally New Directions, Vocal Adrenaline, the Dalton Academy Warblers and the Haverbrook Deaf Choir to participate in Blaine's proposal through a performance of "Help!".
Blaine becomes concerned by Tina's bitterness and recruits Sam, Jake Puckerman (Jacob Artist) and Ryder Lynn (Blake Jenner) to cheer her up through a performance of "I Saw Her Standing There".
They arrive at Dalton Academy, where Blaine serenades Kurt with "All You Need Is Love", accompanied by the four glee clubs, and with Rachel, Santana, Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) and Burt in attendance.
[3] On July 19, 2013, Glee announced through their official Facebook fan page that the season premiere would air on September 26, one week after the original date, and filming would begin in early August.
This is the first episode that the actors playing the roles of Jake Puckerman (Jacob Artist), Marley Rose (Melissa Benoist), Kitty Wilde (Becca Tobin), Wade "Unique" Adams (Alex Newell) and Ryder Lynn (Blake Jenner) have been given main cast credits.
Peter Facinelli played the Funny Girl director, Rupert Campion, and Ioan Gruffudd the lead male actor in the show, Paolo San Pablo.
[10][13] Other recurring characters in this episode included former glee club member Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), Kurt's father Burt Hummel (Mike O'Malley), cheerleading coach Roz Washington (NeNe Leakes), Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) and Haverbrook School for the Deaf choir director Dalton Rumba (Michael Hitchcock).
Lauren Hoffman of Vulture gave the episode a 4 out of 5, saying " it was a strong hour of Glee: fun, vibrant, and (against all odds) aware of continuity and character development.
I understand the practical and emotional concerns that kept Glee from addressing his death at the outset of the season, but it was jarring to get absorbed in last night’s episode and then suddenly remember why Finn wasn’t there.
It’s just that all of this pales in comparison to the mind-blowing romantic epicness that is about to go down," referring to Blaine and Kurt's storyline, which she commented positively on, saying "it's the most wonderful, beautiful, perfect proposal we’ve ever seen in our entire lives."
"[26] Rae Votta of Billboard also gave the episode a mixed review, and wrote that Glee is now a completely different show from whatever creator Ryan Murphy intended, for better or for worse.
It had to come back sometime, and instead of pulling off the bandage of grief upfront, Glee gave themselves a soft landing with a two-part season opener focused on the music of The Fab Four.
Phares also commented positively on how "[the album] could have left the cast's women stuck on the sidelines as screaming Beatlemaniacs, [but instead] it had the ladies front and center [on songs] like the sweet rendition of "Here Comes the Sun" and the playful take on "A Hard Day's Night".