Nationals (Glee)

"Nationals" is the twenty-first episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the sixty-fifth overall. Written by Ali Adler and directed by Eric Stoltz, the episode is the second of two new episodes that aired back-to-back on Fox in the United States on May 15, 2012. It features New Directions facing off against Vocal Adrenaline at the Nationals show choir competition in Chicago, and several special guest stars: Whoopi Goldberg as NYADA dean Carmen Tibideaux, Jonathan Groff as Vocal Adrenaline director Jesse St. James, Lindsay Lohan as herself judging the competition and Rex Lee playing a Chicago alderman who is another of the judges.

The episode received mostly positive reviews, both in general and for the musical performances in particular. While reviewers were not impressed with the judging scene and highly critical of the inclusion of Emma and Will's having sex for the first time as part of the post-victory sequence, the overall quality was lauded by many. The musical numbers were widely praised, and although some critics felt that Vocal Adrenaline gave better performances than New Directions, the three main competition soloists—Rachel (Lea Michele), Finn (Cory Monteith) and Unique (Alex Newell)—were especially singled out for encomiums. However, none of the episode's seven songs charted on the Billboard Hot 100, though two of the New Directions competition songs, Rachel's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and the group number featuring Finn and her, "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", did chart on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.

Upon its initial airing, this episode was viewed by 6.03 million American viewers and received a 2.5/7 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic. The total viewership was down slightly from "Props" in the previous hour, and more significantly down from "Prom-asaurus" the week before.