Dreams Come True (Glee)

Plot

After a moment of reflection on his own show choir past, Will Schuester joins the New Directions on stage as they compete in the national championship finals, having won Regionals off-screen. New Directions wins, and Superintendent Bob Harris informs Will that McKinley High is being converted into a performing arts school, with Will appointed as its principal. Three months later, Will is nervous for his first day but is consoled by his wife Emma Pillsbury.

He welcomes back past and present New Directions members who have reunited and announces that New Directions will no longer be the only glee club; he is re-creating the Troubletones and creating a new all-boys group and a junior varsity glee club, though he will not coach any of them. He bids them farewell with a song. Blaine Anderson asks Sam Evans to move to New York, but Sam declines, stating he is happy where he is. Will then introduces Sam as the new coach of New Directions.

Mercedes Jones announces she has been selected as the opening act for Beyoncé and leaves with a song. Kurt Hummel and Blaine meet Sue Sylvester in Will's office, thanking her for reuniting them; Sue explains that learning about Kurt's struggles opened new worlds for her. Sue reconciles with Becky Jackson, who apologizes for exposing Sue to the national media. Sue says goodbye to Will with a song.

In a flashforward to 2020, Geraldo Rivera congratulates Sue on winning reelection as Vice President of the United States under Jeb Bush, and she states her intent to run for President in 2024.

Production

Multiple former actors returned for the series finale. Jonathan Groff guest starred as Jesse St. James, while Geraldo Rivera and Andrew Rannells appeared as themselves. Other returning regular character guest actors included Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray, Jacob Artist as Jake Puckerman, Jessalyn Gilsig as Terri Schuester, Blake Jenner as Ryder Lynn, Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury, Heather Morris as Brittany Pierce, Alex Newell as Wade "Unique" Adams, Mike O'Malley as Burt Hummel, Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez, Mark Salling as Noah "Puck" Puckerman, Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang, Becca Tobin as Kitty Wilde, Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang, Max Adler as Dave Karofsky, Christopher Cousins as Superintendent Bob Harris, Laura Dreyfuss as Madison McCarthy, Ashley Fink as Lauren Zizes, Noah Guthrie as Roderick Meeks, Samuel Larsen as Joe Hart, Vanessa Lengies as Sugar Motta, Billy Lewis Jr. as Mason McCarthy, Finneas O'Connell as Alistair, Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson, Romy Rosemont as Carole Hudson-Hummel, Dijon Talton as Matt Rutherford, Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins, Josie Totah as Myron Muskovitz, Samantha Marie Ware as Jane Hayward, and Marshall Williams as Spencer Porter.

Tim Bagley was introduced as the Harvey Milk Elementary School teacher. Melissa Benoist and Damian McGinty were invited back but declined due to scheduling conflicts; Benoist was filming the pilot for Supergirl, while McGinty had returned to Celtic Thunder. The episode featured five musical cover versions and one original song: "Teach Your Children" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young sung by Morrison; "Someday We'll Be Together" by Diana Ross & the Supremes sung by Riley; "The Winner Takes It All" by ABBA sung by Lynch and Morrison; "Daydream Believer" by The Monkees sung by Colfer and Criss; "This Time" an original composition by Criss sung by Michele; and "I Lived" by OneRepublic sung by Michele, Criss, Overstreet, Morrison, Riley, McHale, Colfer and Guthrie with all cast members in the chorus, the last song sung on the series after over 700 musical performances.

The EP Glee: The Music, Dreams Come True was released on March 17, 2015, debuting at number 63 on the Billboard 200 with 8,000 units sold.

Reception

The series finale was watched by 2.54 million viewers and received a 0.7 rating/2 share in the adult 18-49 demographic, slightly decreasing from the preceding episode "2009" which had 2.69 million viewers and a 0.8 rating/3 share. Lauren Hoffman from Vulture rated the combined episodes of "2009" and "Dreams Come True" four out of five stars, stating the final episodes return to the show's core ideas about humor, joy in music and dance, and creating things with loved ones. Christopher Rogers from Hollywood Life called it a fitting conclusion. The A.V. Club's Brandon Nowalk graded the two-part finale a D, describing it as lacking coherent plotting. Miranda Wicker from TV Fanatic rated the episode four out of five stars, calling it perfectly Glee.