Swan Song

"Swan Song" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the seventy-fifth episode overall. Written by Stacy Traub and directed by co-creator Brad Falchuk, it aired on Fox in the United States on December 6, 2012. The episode features the return of special guest stars Whoopi Goldberg as New York Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYADA) dean Carmen Tibideaux and Kate Hudson as NYADA dance instructor Cassandra July, on the eve of the school's Winter Showcase. Plot Immediately after her collapse onstage at Sectionals, the glee club helps Marley Rose (Melissa Benoist) backstage. Unknown to the glee club at the time, leaving the stage in the middle of a performance is grounds for disqualification, and despite Will Schuester's (Matthew Morrison) efforts to get New Directions to return to the stage, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) informs them that the Dalton Academy Warblers have been declared the winners of Sectionals. With New Directions' performance season over, Sue claims the choir room and auditorium for her own use, leaving the glee club without a practice venue, but confides to Becky Jackson (Lauren Potter) that she considers it an empty victory. Interim director Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) tries to rally the glee club members to prepare for the upcoming holiday concert, but the entire club is dejected and points out to Finn that several members are seniors and do not have a "next year" to make another run at Nationals; Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) in particular blame Marley for their loss. As a result of the glee club's performance season ending early, most of the club members take up other extracurricular activities. The loss also spurs Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) and Brittany Pierce (Heather Morris) to express their feelings for each other. In New York, Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) prepares for his second NYADA audition, and dean Carmen Tibideaux (Whoopi Goldberg) hands Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) a highly coveted invitation to perform at the Winter Showcase. Dance teacher Cassandra July (Kate Hudson) believes that Rachel is not ready to perform at Winter Showcase, and the two have a dance showdown to "All That Jazz" from Chicago. Rachel realizes that she is not as good a dancer as Cassandra, and chooses to focus on singing for her Winter Showcase performance.