Glee was a polarizing show through all of its six seasons. Fans and ordinary viewers may find it hard to get a consensus on which episodes are the best, either overall or from a certain season. However, the website IMDb lets there be a somewhat objective answer. Using the website's ratings, certain episodes stand out from their respective seasons.
These episodes may shine due to their place in the story, the performances within them, or the characters learning and growing within the episode. They tend to be fan favorites, which no doubt have influenced their ratings.
Season 1 - "Journey To Regionals" (9.2)
Season finales often draw the highest ratings, and the finale of Glee season 1 is no exception. This episode packs a punch. The stakes are high as the main characters face their toughest competition yet: Vocal Adrenaline, who had been built up throughout the season.
While the New Directions don't advance past regionals, their performance is still amazing, and the fact that it includes the show's most iconic number (Journey's "Don't Stop Believing") makes the episode itself iconic. The episode also has another of the best, if most bewildering, performances, as Vocal Adrenaline perform Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" while dancing symbolically as Quinn simultaneously gives birth.
Season 2 - "Original Song" (9.0)
This episode pushed Glee to a new level, as this was the first time the show made its own original music. While Glee is mostly known for its amazing covers, hearing "Loser Like Me" is a showstopping experience, and the joy that the characters exude while singing it is infectious. The whole episode is filled with joy, as the New Directions make it past regionals and are now headed to nationals.
And while the New Direction's original song was great, the other teams all performed to fun tunes as well. It's always great to see Kurt and Blaine sing together. In fact, viewers may wonder what kind of songs would be performed in Glee today, a decade later.
Season 3 - "Nationals" (9.2)
While not the season's final episode, this one certainly felt climactic. The New Directions finally win nationals, and after three seasons it definitely feels like a triumph, so it's no wonder that this episode is the most highly rated. "Edge of Glory," "It's All Coming Back To Me Now," and "Paradise" are all performed outstandingly, and it's amazing to see the culmination of all the effort and time the New Directions have put into winning this competition.
Not only that, but the episode features a lot of stakes about where the characters are going to end up college-wise. It makes their performances all the more dramatic, as viewers can feel the actual emotions that the characters are going through both on and off the stage.
Season 4 - "The Break-Up" (8.9)
This episode is one of the show's saddest, as it showcased the breakup of many of Glee's best couples. Due to the stress of college, cheating, and just life in general, four couples break up, and it's heart-breaking to watch. The episode culminates in a group number of Coldplay's "The Scientist," where the best moments of each couple are highlighted. It brings back beloved clips of previous episodes, which would usually be great to see, but they make the number all the more emotionally painful to watch.
Another highlight of the episode is Santana's rendition of Taylor Swift's "Mine," which is much smaller in production, but just as heartbreaking, and it's a very intimate moment between arguably the most loved couple on the show.
Season 5 - "The Quarterback" (9.6)
This is arguably the best known and highest-rated episode of the entire show. The episode centers around Finn, the role played by actor Cory Monteith, who died before the fifth season began filming. Finn was an iconic character who had some of the best performances in the entire show, and thankfully the episode honors both him and Monteith right.
The episode has moments that are impossible not to cry to, such as Rachel's rendition of "Make You Feel My Love" and Santana's version of "If I Die Young," played by actor Naya Rivera, who also has since tragically died. Overall, the cast and crew put their all into this episode to honor a truly great character and actor, and they do so spectacularly.
Season 6 - "Dreams Come True" (9.1)
Glee's series finale episode sticks the landing. It brings back pretty much every recurring character from all six seasons, and while some of the episode's plot resolutions are wacky, this feels perfectly in line with Glee.
Getting to see where such beloved characters end up is lovely to watch, and of course, the final performance of One Republic's "I Lived" brings everyone together for a truly spectacular closing number. There was likely no better way to end the show than with what this episode did. While the show perhaps went downhill as it went on, it still managed to leave on a high note.