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 Chanukah. 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.
Next Time: It's the old switcheroo as it's Sadie Hawkins time. Plus, an unexpected cameo, a main character's questionable behavior increases, as does one of the old guard, and... well, we all know New Directions will be reactivated. Wanna find out how?
Songs:
- Feliz Navidad by José Feliciano, performed by Artie
- White Christmas by Irving Berlin (Michael Bublé and Shania Twain version), performed by Klaine
- Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah, Barenaked Ladies version, performed by Puck and Jake
- Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms, performed by Sam with the Cheerios
- The First Noel by Davies Gilbert, performed by Marley
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland, performed by Brittany, Puck, Jake, Sam, Blaine, Kurt, and Marley
Tropes:
-
Ass Pull: That Mike didn't graduate, when in season 3 it was suggested that the only thing causing him to even get an A minus was the glee club. Also, he and Sam being part of the bullies when they never once showed such a sign before. This applies to Finn, Ryder and Artie too. - Call-Back: The steep ramp from Big Brother, and Quinn's wheelchair.
- Celebrity Paradox: You get to see Paramount lot 14 and the sign that says Glee films there when Puck and Jake visit Hollywood.
- Creator Cameo: Because the Hollywood studio parts were actually filmed just outside the set, a lot of the crew (and an odd accidental cast member) showed up in the background.
- Empty Wheelchair Memorial: In the alternate timeline, Quinn's.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Artie's dream.
- Driven to Suicide: It's implied that this was Quinn's fate, showing how bad things got without the glee club because of how greatly it differs from her outlook in season 3.
- Fridge Horror: We see Rory as Artie's guide. We haven't heard from him since the end of last season, with the implication that he was supposed to go back to Ireland after the school year. Now, remember who guided George in IAWL? Yep.
- The Ghost: They couldn't get Dianna Agron for the alternate history scenes, so they killed Quinn. She's a major plot point without ever appearing (appearing less might have done wonders for her plots in the previous seasons, then).
- Also applies to Santana, no mention whatsoever.
- Homage: To both It's a Wonderful Life and, as the title suggests, Love Actually.
- It's a Wonderful Plot
- Take That!: Sue says that Love, Actually is "a movie that I don't think anyone cares for but is constantly on cable".
- The Cameo: Mark Salling as Noah Puckerman, Harry Shum Jr as Mike Chang, Jessalyn Gilsig as Terri Schuester, Damian McGuinty as an avatar of Rory Flanagan.
- Tear Jerker: Quinn's fate. And she's not even in the episode.
- The Woobie: Marley, Artie, and non-appearing Quinn.
