Following in the footsteps of “Furt” and “I Do,” “A Wedding” had some big shoes to fill in terms of showcasing a long-in-the-making emotional endpoint to a few series favorite characters. The episode successfully, and satisfyingly, does just that, but the major issue here is that it does it with more of a shrug and a shuffle than any sort of fanfare you may expect from a show like this.
Opening in the barn where Brittany was born, the episode quickly points out that any and all action and build-up we saw happening last week with Will’s job drama and the New Directions versus Vocal Adrenaline feud would be decidedly sidelined for an hour. Which is fine, getting to see forgotten faces bang out a few numbers on the dance floor (I still attest Sugar is the show’s least successfully used secret weapon) is a perfectly reasonable reason to sacrifice the season’s overarching plot for a bit.
In typical Glee fashion, there are dress montages, wedding rehearsal shenanigans, and guess list drama. Santana refuses to allow Sue to visit the wedding, for obvious reasons, and Brittany is freaking out over a few superstitious peaks-at-the-dress Santana made before the big day. Meanwhile, Kurt dumps his (much) older boyfriend, who encourages him to run after Blaine. And so he does, shocking literally no one. Their inevitability, while endearing, is this season’s least enjoyable arc. There was no reason beyond a script for the two to split, and while it’s great they’re back together so we can get on with things, the “drama” created out of thin air feels like wasted screen time in an already-shortened final season.
The writers even attempt to jam Tina into the plotline, halfheartedly forcing her to propose to Mike while at the wedding. I can’t tell if her character is supposed to be a meta statement on how little she’s had to do since she was a false stutterer, or if the showrunners to this day have no idea what to do with her. Either way, it’s still not working. Her quirky and awkward lines early in the episode, forced to admit she never introduced herself to the new kids so now they ignore her, come off less as endearing and more as writer cruelty.
