‘Glee’ Premiere Recap: Rachel Returns Home & A Fan Favorite Couple Splits

‘Glee’s final season kicked off on Jan. 9 with a lot of shocking revelations! Rachel heads home after her TV show is cancelled, Blaine gets kicked out of NYADA, and Kurt goes toe-to-toe with Karofsky. Plus, most of the original cast returns for an epic reunion.

It’s been eight long months since we last saw Rachel (Lea Michele), Kurt (Chris Colfer), Blaine (Darren Criss), Sam (Chord Overstreet) and the rest of the gang, and a lot has changed for our favorite characters on Glee. In fact, when the season premiere aired on Jan. 9, we learned Rachel’s TV show That’s So Rachel bombed, Blaine got kicked out of NYADA, and the newbies — Marley (Melissa Benoist), Ryder (Blake Jenner) and Jake (Jacob Artist) — were all transferred, thanks to Principal Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch). And that’s not all — a fan favorite couple also split!

‘Glee’: Kurt & Blaine Break Up, Rachel Returns Home — Season 6 Premiere Recap

After Rachel learned her TV career was heading nowhere — her show was cancelled — she tucked her tail between her legs and headed home to Lima, Ohio. Unfortunately, things just kept getting worse for McKinley High’s most promising graduate. She learned her dads are getting divorced and they’re selling their house. (Rough stuff!)

Rachel then met up with Blaine for coffee, where she learned more bad news — Kurt and Blaine broke off their engagement months ago. Apparently, Rachel went into hiding after her show got cancelled and cut herself off from everyone. Even worse, Blaine admits he got kicked out of NYADA because he was so depressed and his grades slipped. He now coaches the Warblers at Dalton.

While back in Lima, Rachel also paid visits to Sam, who’s the assistant football coach at McKinley High, and Mr. Schue (Matthew Morrison), who’s leading the glee club at Carmel High. (Was that Max George we saw?!)

After a pep talk with Mr. Schue, Rachel gets inspired to bring back the glee club at McKinley High. Because Sue eradicated all the arts programs from the school, Rachel went to the superintendent and said she’d contribute all of her savings in order to resurrect New Directions. Luckily for her, money talks and she was granted permission, however, she was told she had to lead the club.

Kurt, who regrets dumping Blaine, also headed back to Lima to lean on his BFF. He’s currently doing a work study program, so he told Rachel it’d be a great idea if they coached New Directions together. He’s also hoping to win back Blaine, but that may prove to be difficult since Dalton Academy’s sexiest alumna is now dating Dave Karofsky! (Don’t worry. We’re just as upset as you are.)

Rachel Belts Out ‘Let It Go’ – Watch Video

Side note: Finn (Cory Monteith) is sweetly mentioned in a conversation between Rachel and Mr. Schue before the close of the first hour.

New & Old Faces Emerge For ‘Homecoming’

The second hour of Glee‘s season premiere focused on the new and old faces we’ll be seeing over the course of the final season.

Puck (Mark Salling), Quinn (Dianna Agron), Brittany (Heather Morris), Santana (Naya Rivera), Mercedes (Amber Riley), Artie (Kevin McHale) all returned to McKinley High for homecoming, but they also helped Rachel and Kurt recruit the newest members of New Directions.

Thus far, New Directions consists of Jane (Samantha Ware), who initially auditioned for the Warblers, where she also would have been the first female at Dalton Academy, twin cheerleaders Mason (Billy Lewis Jr.) and Madison (Laura Dreyfuss), and Roger (Noah Guthrie), who has a voice that kept Rachel captivated through most of the hour.

We’re not sure how many episodes Puck, Quinn, Brittany, Santana, Mercedes or Artie will appear in, but we hope a lot! Their performances were wild, especially Naya’s awkward rendition of Ariana Grande‘s “Problem.” (In case you didn’t know, Ariana is now dating Naya’s ex fiance, Big Sean.)

And the new gay football player, Spencer (Marshall Williams), who Kurt was trying to recruit for New Directions is super hot. We’d like to see more of him as well — a lot more.

Also, we were shocked to find out Kitty (Becca Tobin) wasn’t transferred with the rest of the newbies because Sue saw her as a “star player.” She’s currently a cheerleader and seems to have a vendetta against Artie and the rest of New Directions.  (Uh oh!) Expect her to be Sue’s newest minion.

We totally loved the season six premiere and feel that Glee’s going to go out with a bang.

‘Glee’ Season 6 Premiere Track List

“Uninvited” (Alanis Morrissette) – Rachel

“Suddenly Seymour” (from Little Shop of Horrors) – Blaine & Rachel

“Sing” (Ed Sheeran) – The Warblers & Blaine

“Dance The Night Away” (Van Halen) – Vocal Adrenaline

“Let It Go” (from Frozen) – Rachel

“Take On Me” (Ah Ha) – Old New Directions

“Tightrope” (Janelle Monae) – Jane & The Warblers

“Mustang Sally” (Wilson Picket) – Roger

“Home” (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros) – Madison & Mason

“Problem” (Ariana Grande) – Santana, Quinn & Brittany

What do YOU think, HollywoodLifers? Did you love the season premiere of Glee? Tell us how you feel!

— Chris Rogers

Follow @ChrisRogers86