Dianna Agron, who played Quinn Fabray, appeared less frequently in the season than in previous ones, as did some of the other graduates, including Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.), and Noah Puckerman (Mark Salling), despite still being credited as main cast members for this season.[4] Agron and Jayma Mays, who continued to appear as guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury, were credited as guest stars this season rather than as series regulars.
Brittany is depressed, and turns to her namesake Britney Spears for inspiration, leading to the Glee Club and Sam to help her out. Rachel continues to struggle in adjusting to life at NYADA and in New York, as well as the constant tormenting of Cassandra, but gets help from new friend and classmate Brody. Puck returns when Will calls him and meets Jake for the first time as he gives him an attitude adjustment.
At McKinley High, Blaine and Sam run against Brittany and Artie for the student council, and win. Kurt gets an internship in New York at Vogue.com, working for Isabelle Wright (Sarah Jessica Parker) and excels, while he is inadvertently pulling away from Blaine. Rachel starts to warm up to her new classmate Brody and invites him to her and Kurt's apartment just as her former fiancé Finn shows up there unexpectedly.
The show's major couples face serious problems in their relationships: Finn, after being incommunicado for months, shows up in New York unexpectedly, and discovers he doesn't fit in with Rachel's life at NYADA. Blaine misses Kurt and feels left behind, and briefly cheats on Kurt before realizing his error. Santana and Brittany struggle because of the distance, and Santana decides to do the "mature thing" and have them set each other free. Marley tells Jake that she isn't keen on him spending time with Kitty (Becca Tobin), and Emma and Will have problems when Will is accepted into the Blue Ribbon Panel for the arts in Washington: he will be there for several months, and wants Emma to come with him, but she doesn't want to go.
The McKinley High production of Grease is being cast, and after Artie recruits Finn to help him direct, he calls in McKinley graduates Mercedes and Mike to help him and Finn with auditions for the musical. Competitors for the lead role of Danny include Jake and football player Ryder Lynn (Blake Jenner), while Marley and Kitty are rivals for Sandy, the female lead. Will also makes a big decision.
The McKinley High production of Grease opens, and Santana returns to help out with it when Wade is pulled out. Rachel also has another run in with Cassandra, her dance instructor, and Kurt and Rachel visit Lima, resulting in Cassandra seducing Brody to spite Rachel. Kitty convinces Marley that she is genetically predisposed to be overweight and that she needs to induce vomit in order to maintain a healthy weight. Ryder finds Marley trying to vomit in the bathroom. He tells her that she looks good and that what she is doing is not healthy, and kisses her backstage as Jake looks on. At the choir room, New Directions celebrates the positive reviews of "Grease". Will says his goodbyes to the glee club before leaving, and Finn officially takes over.
Romantic tension builds between Marley and two of the glee club's males, Jake and Ryder. Kitty and Marley develop a 'friendship' as Marley continues to ail. Blaine checks in on Sebastian and the Warblers when the glee club gets its Nationals trophy stolen and is given a tempting offer—to rejoin the Warblers. Meanwhile, Ryder is tested to discover the reason why he is failing all his tests, only to find out he is dyslexic.
New Directions prepare for and perform at Sectionals with dramatic results. They are helped by some of the glee club's graduates, including Quinn and Santana, who are home for the Thanksgiving holiday, resulting in new friendships and the flaming of old rivalries. Rachel and Kurt celebrate Thanksgiving in New York and Kurt starts to mend his relationship with Blaine.
On the wake of Marley's blackout, the New Directions lose Sectionals and are disqualified from the competition. Finn starts to contemplate his future with the glee club upon their loss and subsequent disbanding. Back in New York, the tension between Rachel and Cassandra increases. And Rachel gets invited to perform for the Winter Showcase while Kurt gets a second chance to audition for NYADA.
A tribute to the film Love, Actually with five different storylines all dealing with the holidays. Sam and Brittany live as if it's the end of the world as the Mayans know it. The Puckermans, including half-brothers Puck and Jake and their mothers, come together for Hanukkah. Artie suffers a head injury in which he slips on ice and has an epiphany through a dream sequence in which he reflects what may have happened if he never was in a wheelchair and glee club never formed. In his black-and-white vision he sees Rory as his guardian angel, reminding him of who he was to the glee club. Kurt spends Christmas with Blaine and his father in New York, whilst discovering his father has prostate cancer. Sue struggles to get a Secret Santa present for Marley's mother, Millie, but has a change of heart after seeing Marley and Millie struggle.
The girls of McKinley High finally have the power when Tina plans a Sadie Hawkins dance. Everyone's nervous as the girls of New Directions ask their desired guys. Secret crushes spread throughout the glee club. Sam and Blaine also investigate a possibility of The Warblers cheating at Sectionals. The tension between the love triangle of Kitty, Jake and Marley weakens when Kitty sets her eye on Puck. Meanwhile, in New York, Rachel is preoccupied with Brody, so Kurt tries to find his niche in NYADA. He meets and forms a friendship with Adam, who is the leader of the glee club Adam's Apples.
The New Directions are reintegrated to the show choir competition. Quinn and Santana visit Rachel in New York to advise her not to shoot a nude scene for a student film project. The glee club puts together a sexy calendar to raise funds for the bus to Regionals, and Finn has a major confrontation with Sue. Meanwhile, Marley and Jake try to tell each other what they really feel.
Concerned New Directions doesn't have the killer instinct to win at Regionals, Finn assigns the club to let loose their inner divas. Tina's infatuation with Blaine reaches a tipping point and she comes to a realization. Santana’s return creates trouble for Sam and Brittany. Santana also tries to decide what to do with her future. Emma is in a time of chaos because of preparations for the upcoming wedding. With Will away, Finn and Emma help each other out. In New York, Kurt can not take Rachel's arrogant attitude, so he challenges her to a sing-off for bragging rights at NYADA.
Past and present New Directions members attend Will and Emma's Valentine's Day wedding, where they are invited to be the singers. Emma does not join Will at the altar, and at the reception afterward, some past relationships are possibly rekindled, current ones progress, and new ones may be beginning. After her return to New York, Rachel gets what appears to be bad news.
Will states that movies and films are another way to calm people down from the day-to-day anxieties, in this case, himself being left at the altar by Emma in the last episode. He sets up a mash-up Boys Vs. Girls competition, based on songs from films. The Glee Club peps up for the competition as they perform their 500th musical performance on the show. As the Glee Club prepares for the competition, Finn assists Will in finding Emma successfully. Back in New York, Santana gets too comfortable in the Bushwick apartment for Kurt and Rachel's approval. When Adam, Kurt, Rachel and Santana are snowbound, Santana digs out the dirty secrets and is certain who Brody really is and also find's out Rachel's pregnancy test results.
New Directions members deal with their own conflicts by performing songs created by feuding artists. Santana starts to distrust Brody, as she thinks he is hiding something and after she confronts him at NYADA, she is asked by Rachel and Kurt to move out. Brody is later revealed to be a gigolo. Meanwhile, Ryder starts online chatting with a mysterious girl, with whom he expresses great interest. Finn confronts Brody because of Rachel.
The singers of New Directions are faced with having to perform their musical guilty pleasures: songs and performers that people might really like, but if so usually keep that fact secret. Sam and Blaine hand out assignments to the glee club members. Rachel finally finds out the truth about Brody's extra-curricular activities. And Blaine admits to Sam being in love with him.
Brittany predicts that a meteor will strike Lima. For their weekly assignment, Will gives the kids the theme "Last Chance" in the hopes their fear of the impending disaster will inspire them to live each day as if it could be their last. While Will’s lesson plan has the residual effect of prompting a heartfelt and unexpected confession from Coach Beiste, its premise suddenly takes on new meaning when the school is immersed in a terrifyingly real event. Meanwhile, when Ryder discovers, much to his delight, that Katie – the girl he’s been communicating with strictly via text message – is a student at McKinley, he decides to initiate the next step in their relationship.
Rachel psyches herself up for what she believes will be the most important audition of her life: a chance to play "Fanny Brice" in an all-new Broadway production of Funny Girl. She gets a surprise visit from her mother, Shelby, who offers some very valuable advice. Finn begins to settle into his new life as a college student at The University of Lima. While he takes to the school’s party atmosphere with ease with new roommate Puck, it takes heartfelt conversations from friends to put his priorities back in order. Meanwhile, Marley, tries to work up the confidence to suggest that Mr. Schue look at her original music as an alternative for Regionals.
Note: This is Cory Monteith's last appearance as Finn.
McKinley High loses power, and New Directions performs acoustically while electricity is unavailable. Ryder shares a secret from his past—he was sexually abused when he was a child. Meanwhile, Vogue.com boss Isabelle Wright recruits her former intern Kurt Hummel to help out at a company-sponsored event to raise money for charity, with Rachel and Santana along for good measure.
Kurt returns to Ohio for Burt's appointment and stops by McKinley to help the New Directions prepare for Regionals, along with Mike and Mercedes. Artie is keeping a secret from his mom (special guest star Katey Sagal), but Kitty steps in to help Artie come clean. Rachel worries when Cassandra finds out about her Funny Girl audition, but is surprised when Cassandra changes her attitude towards her.
Rachel has her Funny Girl callback whilst the New Directions take on the Hoosierdaddies with lead singer Frida Romero (Jessica Sanchez) and the Waffletoots (Yale Whiffenpoofs, with lead singer Brandon Levin) at Regionals. Brittany returns from MIT to McKinley with a new attitude. Ryder finally discovers who Katie is. Will and Emma decide to marry in surprise in the show choir room while Blaine plans on proposing to Kurt.
Production
Development
The fourth season continued with McKinley High in Lima, Ohio as the primary setting, while also following several of the just-graduated characters to New York City and the fictional performing arts school (NYADA). The Ohio portion of the show featured a number of new characters.[28]
Co-creator Ryan Murphy had confirmed that all regular cast members from the third season will be returning to the show for its fourth season, though "it doesn't mean everyone will be doing 22 episodes".[29]
Fox announced on May 14, 2012, that Glee would be moving to Thursday nights at 9 pm ET for the fourth season. Episodes aired after that evening's 8 pm ET music competition "results" shows—The X Factor in the fall and American Idol in midseason.[30] The season premiered on September 13, 2012[3] with the second episode of the season serving as the show's second Britney Spears tribute, featuring eight of her songs.[31]
In the UK, Glee airs as part of Sky 1 Sundays at 8pm and broadcast began on January 6, 2013.[32]
Some changes were made to the show's writing staff. Marti Noxon announced that she would no longer be a writer or consulting producer on the show,[33] and co-executive producer and writer Ali Adler stated that she would be scaling back her work on Glee to focus on her new NBC comedy The New Normal, which she co-created with Murphy.[34]
On July 14, 2012, Glee attended San Diego Comic-Con in California. Co-creator Brad Falchuk revealed that Damian McGinty (Rory) would not be returning in the fall but stated he could return in the spring. Falchuk announced that Vanessa Lengies (Sugar) and Samuel Larsen (Joe) would be returning. Falchuk also had aspirations to bring back Alex Newell (Wade) at some point during Season 4. Other season details include the following: Sue had her baby when Season 4 commenced; episodes alternated between Ohio and New York, much like McKinley High and Dalton Academy in Season 2; and Kurt (Chris Colfer) remained in Ohio before moving to New York. Brad Falchuk also revealed that Will (Matthew Morrison) and Emma (Jayma Mays) would still be engaged when the season began, and he went on to state there would be many new faces during the season, also commenting that Rachel would have a roommate and new friends in New York. Season 4 featured a teaming up of Coach Roz (NeNe Leakes) and Sue (Jane Lynch) to take down Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba).[35][36]
On July 31, 2012, executive producer Murphy revealed on his Twitter account that the first group number of the season would be a cover of Adele's "Chasing Pavements".[37] Murphy also tweeted that there would be an episode titled "The Break-Up" and a two-part Thanksgiving episode in which the Sectionals competition will take place.[38][39] Murphy also stated that the show would be doing another Christmas episode this season.[40]
Executive producer Falchuk stated that Season 4 will not revolve around relationships as much as past seasons, commenting, "Relationships in general will be less of a focus this year, I personally think a lot of these characters are more interesting not in relationships. And I think with a lot of them we will be exploring that. Whether they break up or not, we’re really focused on giving them more individual stories."[41]
Filming
Season four of Glee began filming on Tuesday, July 24, 2012.[42] A substantial amount of exterior shots depicting New York City were shot on location in that city.[43] Studio recording for the season began earlier, by July 19, 2012, with Jenna Ushkowitz and Heather Morris recording on that day.[44]
Cast
Fox credits fourteen main cast members for the season: Matthew Morrison as Glee Club director Will Schuester; Jane Lynch as cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester; Chris Colfer, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Naya Rivera, Mark Salling and Harry Shum Jr. as McKinley graduates and former glee club members Kurt Hummel, Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson, Mercedes Jones, Santana Lopez, Noah "Puck" Puckerman and Mike Chang respectively; and Darren Criss, Kevin McHale, Heather Morris, Chord Overstreet and Jenna Ushkowitz as current glee club members Blaine Anderson, Artie Abrams, Brittany Pierce, Sam Evans, and Tina Cohen-Chang respectively.[45] Overstreet received a contractual upgrade, having formerly been a recurring cast member.[46] Two previous main cast members who are no longer series regulars are Jayma Mays as guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury, and Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray, though both are listed among the guest cast for this season.[47]
Two actresses appeared in multi-episode guest-starring arcs as part of the New York sequences: Sarah Jessica Parker as Isabelle Wright (first reported as Isabelle Klempt),[28][48] and Kate Hudson as Cassandra July.[49] Parker's character is a mentor to Kurt, and Hudson's character is Rachel's dance teacher at NYADA;[50] Hudson was originally reported to be appearing in six episodes during the fall.[28][31]
The Glee Project winner Blake Jenner was awarded a recurring role, initially set for at least seven episodes, starting with the fifth episode; he plays Ryder Lynn, a new McKinley student, who joins New Directions with Finn's aid.[55][56] Jenner has commented that he would enjoy playing a character like Finn.[57]Glee Project runner-up Ali Stroker had a guest role on "I Do" as Betty, Emma's niece and Artie's love interest.[58]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a 65% with an average rating of 7.07/10, based on 23 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads, "Glee may have lost a few of its major characters, but several strong storylines help to compensate, and the songs are as strong as ever."[66]
On Metacritic it received a score of 73 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[67]
Ratings
As of April 19, 2013, after 19 of 22 episodes in the season, the season had averaged a 3.6/10 rating/share among adults 18-49 and 8.70 million viewers when counting live plus 7 Day (DVR) Ratings.[68]
Live + SD Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of Glee season 4
Glee: The Complete Fourth Season was released on October 1, 2013, in DVD (with 6-set discs) and Blu-ray (with 4-set discs), and contains the special features; "Glee Music Jukebox", "Movin' On Up: Glee in NYC", "Deleted Scenes", "Jarley", "Building New York", "Glee on Film", "The Road to 500", "Blaine's Time Capsule" and "Glee Premiere Party!".[69] After Cory Monteith's death on July 13, 2013, they decided to re-design the Season 4 DVD cover art to include an image of Finn. However, this change has altered the release date.
