‘Glee’ Episode “Nationals”: The Two Best Performances (And Lindsay Lohan)

Well, it only took three full seasons (almost), but — spoiler alert for those who’ve yet to sit down and click “play” on their DVR list — New Directions finally won at nationals on Glee. The episode, aptly-titled “Nationals”, was notable for two particular performances during the staged competition in Chicago — William McKinley High’s brightest voices tackling Meat Loaf’s rock classic “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” and cross-dressing newcomer Unique belting out Elton John‘s Tommy jam “Pinball Wizard” along with the rest of Vocal Adrenaline.

At one point during the episode, Unique told Mercedes and Kurt that he may be transferring to a new school next year. (Gee, wherever could that be, we wonder?)

“Paradise By The Dashboard Light” on Glee

The show’s tiresome penchant for stunt casting continued with “Nationals”, as Lindsay Lohan, Perez Hilton and Rex Lee were wrangled in as judges at the competition. (Lohan and Hilton played themselves — and exchanged some ho-hum barbs about “comebacks” and Perez’s handling of Lindsay on his site — while Lee was cast as city councilman Alderman Martin Fong, a sort of show choir championships junkie.)

Another guest was Whoopi Goldberg, who reprised her role as NYADA dean Carmen Tibideaux. She drops in to nationals just in time to catch Rachel rocking Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” and “Paradise By The Dashboard Light”. And after New Directions’ most featured soloist flubbed her initial audition for the school a few episodes back, this seems to conveniently tie up whether or not she’s getting in. Or does it?

Guess we’ll just have to wait till next week’s Season 3 finale, “Goodbye”, to find out.