"On My Way" | |
---|---|
Glee episode | |
Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 14 |
Directed by | Bradley Buecker |
Written by | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa |
Featured music | |
Production code | 3ARC14 |
Original air date | February 21, 2012 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"On My Way" is the fourteenth episode and winter finale of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the fifty-eighth overall. Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and directed by Bradley Buecker, the episode aired on Fox in the United States on February 21, 2012. It features New Directions competing against the Dalton Academy Warblers at the Regionals show choir competition, Rachel (Lea Michele) and Finn (Cory Monteith) moving up their wedding, the return of special guest stars Jeff Goldblum and Brian Stokes Mitchell as Rachel's fathers, and the attempted suicide of Dave Karofsky (Max Adler).
The episode received a strong and varied reaction from reviewers. Most heaped praise on the scenes featuring Karofsky, both the events leading up to his suicide attempt and when Kurt (Chris Colfer) visited him in the hospital. However, many felt the strength of this storyline unbalanced the episode, and the rest of the episode, particularly the Regionals competition and the Rachel and Finn wedding storyline, did not measure up. The final scene, which ended with Quinn (Dianna Agron) being in a potentially fatal car crash, was controversial.
The only song that was given a strongly enthusiastic reception was "Cough Syrup", which was sung by Blaine (Darren Criss) and used to soundtrack the Karofsky suicide sequence. The other songs, all performances for the Regionals competition, received a mixture of reviews. Five of the six singles released from this episode charted on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Canadian Hot 100; the mash-up of "Fly" and "I Believe I Can Fly" performed by New Directions charted the highest in the US, while "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)" performed by the Troubletones as part of the New Directions set charted the best of the five in Canada.
Upon its initial airing, this episode was viewed by 7.46 million American viewers and received a 3.0/8 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic. The total viewership was up from "Heart", which aired the previous week.