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The final episode of "Glee" will jump ahead five years to show what happened to all the major characters. While we don't have any exclusive insights, after all our years of watching, we do have a few ideas of what might happen to the New New Directions. Here are our predictions.
Kurt and Blaine moved to New York where Kurt finished his studies at NYADA while Blaine attended NYU's Steinhardt school and worked with John Simpkins to create a new musical that ran for two weekends at the Loewe Theater and bought him plenty of industry attention. After graduation, Kurt landed a few Off-Off Broadway roles but finally found his niche combining his love of fashion and his training in theatre to become the most in-demand costume designer in the business, creating costumes that not only look fierce, but are actually comfortable for the performers to wear. (Having been on both sides of the footlights helped.) He won his first Tony Award for costume design at age 30. Blaine, meanwhile, built a network of young singers and began writing original musicals and song cycles that they (and he) could perform. While he's never had a long-running hit, his songs are frequently heard in cabarets and piano bars, and both men are highly regarded in their fields.
Mercedes Jones never found mainstream success as a singer, but her faith and talent lead her to lead the choir at the First Baptist church of Los Angeles, which traveled the country and got her the national exposure she always wanted as a gospel star. Taking the next step, Mercedes became a minister in her own right and is now very happy dividing her time between preaching and leading the choir. She makes sure they sing show tunes.
Artie Abrams interned with Quentin Tarantino and has had several short films in competitions. Thanks to his Tarantino connections and several grants for artists with disabilities, his full-length documentary "I Still Have the Use of My Penis," is set to be screened at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Quinn Fabray and Noah "Puck" Puckerman married young (as per McKinley tradition), but gradually grew apart as Puck's responsibilities with the Air Force became more demanding and Quinn did not find the military spouse lifestyle fulfilling. They separated amicably and remain good friends. Puck shot up through the ranks in the Air Force, and thanks to his musical training, is now conductor of the Air Force Band. Quinn is now a freelance writer whose essays on teen pregnancy, lying to your boyfriend about your teen pregnancy, one-night lesbian encounters, texting while driving and trying to steal a baby back after you've given her up for adoption have appeared in the New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly and Buzzfeed.
While fiddling around on one of the MIT computers, Brittany S. Pierce-Lopez accidentally developed a hot new social media site that has made her a millionaire. She isn't entirely sure where the money is coming from, but suspects that it has something to do with Lord Tubbington and his sound investment advice. MIT now keeps her in a secure part of campus and lists her work as "classified." Santana Lopez-Pierce attended court-mandated anger management classes and now works with at-risk youth, teaching them how bullying and betraying your friends repeatedly will ultimately lead to love and acceptance with absolutely no consequences for all the pain you cause.
With Brittany ensconced at MIT, Lord and Lady Tubbington became the hosts of Queso por Dos, formerly known as Fondue for Two. The show was largely credited with solving the immigration conflict, because while people may never be able to agree on political issues, everyone could agree that cats are cute. With one mutual agreement, world peace became one step closer.
At Brown University, Tina Cohen-Chang discovered a long-hidden passion for the law and wound up staying on at the school to get her JD. She was hired by a Manhattan law firm but found the lifestyle unfulfilling, so she put her two interests to good use and became the legal advisor for both "Law & Order: SVU" and "The Good Wife" (and helped Rachel, Kurt and Blaine get a few guest spots). She, Rachel and Jesse St. James still hang out, and occasionally sing Duncan Sheik songs together. They aren't quite sure why.
During a genealogy project, Kitty Wilde discovered that she is descended from legendary playwright Oscar Wilde and found moderate success adapting his plays for a new generation before the general public realized that Oscar Wilde's plays don't need adapting. She is now a successful travel agent who specializes in theatre-based trips to New York and London.
Wade "Unique" Adams starred in the national tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch before taking over "Drag Race" from RuPaul. Mike Chang is the top dancer with the Joffrey Ballet and regularly choreographs Blaine's musicals.
Becky Jackson is a state senator. She dumped Darrell for being more of a Marilyn than a Jackie.
Coach Sheldon Beiste lead the McKinley football team to its largest number of championships in the region's history. He married again and adopted two kids with his new husband. He eventually accepted an offer to coach at Ohio State University and passed his McKinley responsibilities on to Sam, who stayed on for a few years.
Visiting Mercedes in Los Angeles, Sam was spotted by a scout and signed on for several fashion shows, and finally achieved his dream of being a (somewhat successful) male model. With Mercedes' encouragement, he released an album, "Confessions of a Trouty Mouth," that became moderately popular as a novelty gift.
Burt Hummel and Carole Hudson regularly visit McKinley and support both the New New New Directions and the football team, whose anthem has become "Don't Stop Believing."
Sue is serving 15-30 years for all the times she hit her students at McKinley High, and another 20 years for only remembering that she has an infant special-needs child when it's convenient for the story line.
Will still teaches music at McKinley and campaigns for increased arts funding in America's public schools. He also hosts support groups for families of people with OCD and other anxiety disorders, and for former McKinley students and teachers still struggling with PTSD from Sue's years of abuse. He and Emma like to act out scenes from The Rocky Horror Show together when (they think) no one is watching.
Principal Figgins became Superintendent after Superintendent Harris was caught walking the McKinley hallways in the middle of the night without any pants. The school district's arts funding increased by 75 percent under his watch, and he makes sure that the students keep the floors perfectly clean. After graduating from NYADA, Rachel began pounding the pavement and did a few workshops, though her reputation (dropping out of Funny Girl, passing up the Russell Simmons musical) prevented her from getting top roles. After a few years she noticed that she was having trouble hitting the higher notes in her register, but kept on belting through her auditions and performances. When the problem became too much to handle, she went to a doctor and learned that she had developed polyps on her vocal cords, would require surgery and would probably never sing again. Following the surgery, she attempted some dramatic roles but was unable to project enough. Finally, after hearing that Carmen Tibideaux was planning to leave NYADA, Rachel took her place and traveled the country auditioning aspiring performers for the school and warning them to learn from her mistakes: Never leave a hit Broadway show just after it opens, study technique before you ruin your voice and go to a doctor immediately if your voice gives you any trouble. Seriously.
Carmen Tibideaux became the first female African-American President of the United States.
