Season 4, Episode 19:  Sweet Dreams

Ownership of Glee:  FOX, Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk

= = =

"Big news, guys. I just got a direct tweet from the Greater Midwest Regional High School Show Choir Board of Directors. The theme for this year's regionals is..." Will is cut off by Brittany.

"Sweaters." Brittany says.

"...dreams." Will finishes.

Brittany sighs. "Close."

"As you know, some of the past judges we've had haven't been that bright, or that sober, so our best bet is to take the dream theme literally. We'll start out with "Dream Weaver" and then we'll segue into "Sweet Dreams" and we'll bring it home with "You Make My Dreams Come True." Okay?" Will says.

Marley and Violet are frowning.

"Marley, you're frowning." Will comments.

"No. I just don't know any of those songs." Marley says.

"Well, you'll know them soon enough because we're learning them today." Will says.

Marley clears her throat. "Maybe... could we try some original songs, like you did two years ago?"

Sam — sorry, Evan — nods. "Yeah, my twin brother Sam told me you guys totally crushed regionals two years ago with those sweet tunes."

"Well, S... um, Evan, that was a different time and a different team." Will remarks.

"Mr. Shue, could we at least talk about the set list?" Violet asks.

"I mean, when Finn was here, we got to help..." Artie is cut off.

"Do I have to remind you guys how lucky we are to even be at regionals? We're there on a technicality, which means there's absolutely no room for even the smallest of mistakes. Trust me. Anybody else have something they want to say?" Will interrupts.

No one else says anything.

Will nods. "Great. Brad, warm 'em up."

Violet looks in disbelief.

Will's trying to make them lose Regionals.

= = =

Will is having New Directions practice their set list the next day. "All right, guys, let's get right into it. And remember, the trick is the change in vocal quality from the smooth, sultry sounds of Gary Wright to the commanding tone of Annie Lennox, and then back to the poppy fun of Darryl Hall."

"Uh, Mr. Shue? Um, we kind of got together as a group after you gave us these songs yesterday, and we came up with some... alternatives." Blaine says.

Violet nods in agreement. They'd had a secret glee club meeting to arrange a new set list for Regionals.

Will looks shocked. "Why would you do that?"

"Mm, you might need some woman
parts to help you sell that." Unique says.

"I'll go get Evan." Sam says.

"Sam, sit down. Honestly, I don't even know what's going on in this room anymore. What happened to you guys? Openly defying me? Unique, you need to tone it down with the whole boob thing. Sam, we all know you don't have a twin brother, and frankly, it's distracting. And, Blaine, I am disappointed in you for allowing this to go on." Will says.

"I'm sorry, but we're just trying to..." Violet is cut off.

Will interrupts. "No, what you were trying to do is not rehearsing the song list that I gave you, and that is unacceptable. So here's what's going to happen. I'm going to go to the teachers' lounge and get the coffee that I skipped to get here early, and when I get back in five minutes, you will be ready to rehearse... my songs." Will says strictly.

Violet rolls her eyes as Will walks off. She mumbles very quietly under her breath. "Jackass."

= = =

Violet walks into Will's office. "Mr. Shue do you have a second?" She asks.

Will nods. "Of course." He says.

Violet sits down across from her teacher. "I say this coming from a place of love... but your set list is going to give us a guaranteed third place at Regionals."

Will scoffs. "Um... excuse me?"

Violet nods. "Look, I know everyone's been having different forms of PTSD since last week — I'm having it too — but you can't be serious about having three songs with the word dream in the titles. And we already did 'You Make My Dreams Come True' during last year's mash-off."

"Violet, I don't appreciate the tone you have with me. This is my glee club. I'll direct you guys the way I decide." Will states.

"And how much of this animosity is still lingering because Artie mentioned Finn's name this afternoon?" Violet pushes. Will stiffens. "Ooh, I struck a nerve. You're not over it. And I know you went to try and apologize; he told me."

"What is your point Violet?" Will asks sternly.

"My point is that you are projecting your distaste about the Miss Pillsbury/Finn kiss onto us, and it's not fair. We want to win Regionals, Mr. Shue. But not with your set list. Our Journey medley is what cost us our first Regionals. I don't want to leave McKinley knowing that we lost because our director didn't come up with a better set list." Violet explains.

Will grows irritated. "That's enough, Miss Corcoran. You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Actually I do. This glee club has been my family for four years. You were harsh on Blaine, Sam and Unique. I think your set list sucks, and I think we could win with original songs, just like we did two years ago." Violet pushes.

"Enough! It's my decision on what you guys are singing. You have no right to come in here and tell me how to run my glee club!" Will shouts.

Violet flinches and her eyes well up with tears. "I wasn't trying to. I was just trying to get you to listen to our ideas. I... I'll just leave." She says and starts walking off.

"Violet wait..." Will says, but she's already out the door. Will holds his head in his hands, knowing that she's right.

He's not over what happened between Finn and Emma.

= = =

Violet, Marley, Blaine and Unique are in the auditorium after glee rehearsal.

"I'm also naturally enhancing my breasts. Every night, I rub them with cocoa butter, Vitamin E and wild yams." Unique tells Blaine.

"Yes, uh, has anybody, uh, seen Sam?" Violet asks.

"Yeah, I think he's behind that curtain." Blaine states.

Sam smiles. "Sorry I'm late. What's up, Marley? Brad?"

"Uh, I wrote a song. I don't know if it's any good. I just... I want to hear it out loud. And no, it's not about my mom or bad Taylor Swift boyfriend drama. It's about how much friends like you mean to me." Marley explains.

"Lord, I am crying already." Unique says.

There's soft laughter.

"I just saw how upset you guys got after Mr. Shue yelled at us, and you four seemed to take the worst part of it. So, I wrote this song to make you feel better, as corny as that sounds. Will you sing it with me?" Marley asks.

"No. Just kidding. Of course we would. Hit it, dude." Sam says to Brad.

Marley, Sam, Unique, Blaine and Violet sing Marley's original song 'You Have More Friends Than You Know.'

[You Have More Friends Than You Know written by Marley Rose, sung by Marley, Sam, Unique, Blaine and Violet]

Violet hugs Marley. "Marley this was an awesome song. Would you mind if I helped you write another one? I've got a bit of experience."

Marley's eyes brighten. "Really? That'd be awesome."

Sam smiles. "You have more than just experience, Violet. Your original song 'Speechless,' it was what won us Regionals."

Violet blushes. "No it did not. It was 'Loser Like Me.'"

"No it was 'Speechless.'" Blaine agrees.

"Marley, that was incredible." Violet says.

Unique nods. "Child, it's the soundtrack to my life."

"Do you have any more songs like these?" Blaine asks.

Marley nods. "Yeah, a couple. Maybe we can meet up again and sing them."

"No. Forget that. No, what we need to do is tell everyone. We have to tell Mr. Shue about this." Sam says.

Marley shakes her head. "No. He made it pretty clear he's not interested."

Violet nods in agreement. "No matter what we say, we just have to accept the fact that he's our leader. Whatever he says is whatever we do."

Will walks away from the auditorium, thinking over their words and Marley's song.

He needs to make things right.

= = =

Rachel is backstage for her Funny Girl audition. "Rachel Berry, hit the stage, you're up." Says one of the directors.

Rachel walks out onstage and clears her throat gently. "Um... hi. I'm Rachel Berry, and I'll be singing a classic."

The piano begins playing Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing.'

Rachel starts to sing, and when she does, she thinks back to the first time she sang this song with Finn, Artie, Violet, Kurt, Tina and Mercedes four years ago. In her head, they're all onstage with her, singing and being a family.

[Don't Stop Believing by Rachel]

When Rachel finishes, she realizes it was all in her head.

"Well, thank you, Ms.... Berry. That was something... quite different." Says a director.

The male director takes the microphone. "Sorry."

"What?" One of the female directors ask.

"Rachel. Suddenly, something happened to you in the middle of the song. What was going on there?" He asks.

Rachel smiles. "I was thinking about my sister and my friends.  Um, how I wouldn't be the person I am today, standing in front of you, doing what I'm doing right now if they hadn't shown me that I could. If they hadn't believed in me."

"Thank you." The man says and Rachel walks offstage.

= = =

When Will walks into the choir room, Violet looks at her lap. She can't face him after he yelled at her. Not again.

"Looking good, Unique. You, too, Tina. Very Jules Verne. Hey, Blaine. Sam. Hey Violet." Will says.

"I'm Evan. Sam moved to Alaska." Sam says.

"Oh. Well-well, tell him he's welcome back anytime." Will says and then sighs. "So... just about 20 years ago, I was sitting right where you are now. I was co-captain of the soccer team with a forehead full of acne and a dream of being the next Vanilla Ice. And standing right here was Mrs. Adler. She constantly mumbled to herself and she stuffed used Kleenex up her sleeves. We all were convinced that she was crazy.bBut you know what? That's why we loved her... because we were crazy, too. This is the room that always felt like home. Maybe because we knew Lillian Adler loved music almost as much as she loved us. And that's how I feel about you. Every one of you. And-and I'm sorry if I made any of you feel like you don't have a voice in this room. You do. And I know someone else who does, too." Will says.

Finn Hudson walks into the room.

Artie smiles. "My man!"

Violet hugs her brother. "I'm so glad you're back!"

There's laughter and cheering.

"Finn and I are gonna be working together as a team. Equal partners. And we are not gonna eat, sleep or breathe until you've blasted through regionals and earned your rightful spot at nationals." Will says.

"Yes! Yes!" Everyone cheers.

"All right, down to business. Marley, you're up." Will says.

Marley nods. "Okay. I haven't quite memorized "Dream Weaver" yet, but I think I have 'Sweet Dreams.'"

Will smiles. "Didn't I tell you? Those are out. I want you to teach us one of your original songs. If that's okay."

Marley smiles. "I'd love that. Violet and I are working on a new song together."

Violet smiles as she hugs Marley. "So shall it be written! So shall it be done!"

= = =

The New Directions sing 'Outcast,' an original song written by Marley.

[Outcast written by Marley, sung by New Directions]

Will and Finn clap for the teens onstage.

They have a shot at bringing home another win at Regionals.

= = =

1987 words

Songs Mentioned/Performed
1. You Have More Friends Than You Know - Marley, Sam, Unique, Blaine and Violet
2. Don't Stop Believin' - Rachel
3. Outcast - New Directions

This was a good episode!

Next update:  Lights Out

2 episodes to Wonder-ful
3 episodes to All or Nothing

THREE EPISODES LEFT OF SEASON 4! WE'RE SO CLOSE TO THE END OF THE SEASON!