Season 4 (Discontinued)

Episode 3, Act 6 - Sectionals

Thanksgiving Day had a special meaning for the New Directions that year. Not only was it the holiday of being thankful, but it was when Sectionals were to take place. With everyone back in town the New Directions could feel the pressure of the competition, no one more so than Marley who felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. All week she had been stressing out about the competition and now that the day was here, she didn't want to let her fellow New Directions down. Before the show the New Directions gathered around in a show circle which had been a ritual for them. "What's show circle?" Marley asked confused. "Come on," Santana said ushering Marley into the show circle. "It's a tradition before every competition," Tina said. "It's something Mr.Schue made up. And today I want to add to it. Joe, how about you lead us in prayer?" Finn smiled. "Whoa, dude, Old Testament. There's Hebrews here," Puck chuckled. "Yeah, okay. This is one of my favorite Bible verses from Isaiah. Considering that the Warblers are so good, and that it's the first competition for a lot of you, I think it's appropriate. "So do not fear because I am with you. Do not be dismayed. will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand..." Joe began. "And our righteous dance moves, amen," Artie grinned as the New Directions cheered. "All right! Ugh! Man, I-I remember our first sectionals like it was yesterday. We came together as a team because we had to. Because no one outside our circle knew how much we'd been through, and how much it meant to us to win it. This is our house. Look into the faces of these graduates. They've been to the mountaintop. This is just the first step in your climb to meet them there," Finn smiled. "On three?" Santana asked. "One, two, three! New Directions!" the New Directions cheered.

The alumni all sat in the audience watching the Warblers perform up first with Flo Rida's 'Whistle' and One Directions 'Live While We're Young'. The New Directions also watched surprised by the Warblers dancing and doing tricks which was something they hadn't anticipated making many of them more anxious including Marley who worried if her and Blaine's opening ballad would make the smash impact that it needed to for the New Directions to win. The crowd erupted into applause as Jake noticed the freaked out look on Marley's face and took her hand hoping to reassure her that it would all be okay but Marley wasn't so sure. The New Directions were up second and were started off with Marley and Blaine's duet of Rihanna's 'Stay'. All had gone well with this performance; however, when the New Directions performed their second song of LMFAO's 'Party Rock Anthem', the dancing seemed to be wearing on Marley who looked out of breath and tired throughout the performance. As the song ended and the New Directions held their poses except for Marley who passed out onstage as everyone in the audience looked stunned.

After Marley had passed out the New Directions rushed her backstage trying to give her some juice. "Marley? Marley, are you okay? What happened?" Will asked as he rushed to Marley's aid. "She hasn't been eating. She's been skipping lunch," Jake admitted as everyone looked stunned. "Is that because you've been telling her to? You trying to turn her into a damn rexy?" Santana said narrowing her eyes at Kitty. "What? No. Why would I why would I want that?" Kitty asked stunned. "'Cause you're a crazy, evil bitch," Santana shot at Kitty who looked like she felt incredibly bad. She had never intended for things to go this far. "Hey, Marley, you all right? The nurse is on the way, Mr. Schue," Finn said honestly. "Santana, Puck, you stay here with Marley. The rest of you guys, get back up there. Leaving the stage mid-competition, for any reason, is risking immediate disqualification," Mr. Schue said honestly. "What?! That-that's a rule?" Finn asked his eyes growing wide. "Yeah, it's a rule. One of the bylaws, actually," Sue said as the New Directions rushed back out onstage to complete what they started as Tina took the lead on 'Call Me Maybe' as the other New Directions, minus Marley backed her up.

Marley watched them perform solemnly knowing that she had truly messed up by starving herself. She had never been so down on herself in her entire life and knew even more than before that whether or not they won on lost was even mores on her shoulders than ever before. The crowd cheered for the New Directions as they finished but they knew deep in their hearts that it wasn't their strongest showing and they could only hope they would be rewarded for their hard work up to this point.

The show closed with the Rosedale Mennonites doing a mashup of 'She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain' and 'Over the River and Through the Woods'. As the show ended all of the show choirs were called up onstage in order to reveal the winner. "And now to present the results of tonight's Sectionals competition, give it up for local news star, Rod Remington," the announcer said as the crowd cheered for Rod as he took the stage. "Thank you, thank you," Rod smiled as the crowd took their seats. "First I want to thank everyone for spending their Thanksgiving here with us at Sectionals listening to these 3 show choirs compete. It is now time to reveal the results, good luck to all of you," Rod said as he pulled out the 3rd place envelope. "In 3rd place....." Rod said as the New Directions held their breath. "The Rosedale Metatones," Rod said as the Rosedale Metatones celebrated as the New Directions seemed relieved that they hadn't come in last. "And now the winner of the 2012 Show Choir Sectionals is...." Rod said as everyone held their breath "From Westerville, Ohio the Dalton Academy Warblers!" The Warblers celebrated hugging each other as the New Directions stood together onstage. They had lost for the first time ever and it was devastating, especially to the seniors who came of such a high the year prior winning Nationals, to only be defeated this year so early on. Everyone seemed to be at a loss for words not knowing what would come next for the New Directions.