Entertainment

Adam Lambert's 'Glee' Days Are Numbered

by Christine DiStasio

The show must go on, I suppose. The two-part 100th episode extravaganza of Glee is halfway through and now we must look towards the horizon — or rather, NYC. Following Tuesday night's episode, the FOX musical dramedy will move to New York full time which made us really excited to see more of NYC's shining star, Adam Lambert. But guess what, Gleeks, we're not actually getting more of the former American Idol star. According to recent spoilers for Season 5, "New New York" might be Adam Lambert's final episode this season.

So why are we losing Lambert's Elliot "Starchild" Gilbert so soon when the series is set to spend the remainder of Season 5 and all of Season 6 in NYC? The singer recently announced that he'll be touring with legendary group Queen as their frontman this summer, which is really awesome. But it means that he'll be way too busy for Glee, which really sucks.

Lambert's character has been one to watch since he debuted on Glee earlier this season and he's quickly become a fan-favorite. His performances have been top-notch (almost putting Lea Michele to shame — not a hater, just honest) and just ahead of "100," Lambert became a big part of the NYC storyline. Rachel and Santana — in the midst of their girl-fight — fought over his friendship, which led to an epic performance of "Gloria". Also, how will Kurt's new band, One Three Hill, survive without it's greatest member (sorry, Kurt and Demi Lovato)? And how will we survive without his great chemistry with Kurt and the other Lima-NYC transplants to watch? There' still so much possibility for Elliot "Starchild" to save Glee from being its repetitive self — it's really in their best interest to not let him go.

We can't deny that there isn't a strong case for his exit, though. (Other than the obvious fact that he'll be on tour with a wildly successful, multi-generational, legendary rock band.) Glee's NYC is going to see a major influx of characters now that the Lima storyline is kaput — Artie, Blaine, Sam, and Mercedes are all making the move to the Big Apple and with their storylines will come more new characters. So sure, it's going to be a little crowded, but we can totally see Lambert and Criss' Blaine hitting it off (if not clashing a little over Kurt and being wildly talented) and Mercedes would absolutely be all over collaborating with him on her new album. There's more than enough room for Lambert to seamlessly be a part of all of their storylines and maybe even have a little of his own.

As far as what we know about Lambert's alleged final episode, "New New York," there's going to be a lot of adjustments going on. There will also be a significant time-jump, as Ryan Murphy skips summer vacation yet again on the series and we start at the beginning of a new school year. According to the synopsis, Blaine and Sam are moving into the Bushwick loft with Kurt and Rachel (not sure where Santana went) and it's not going to be as easy as everyone thought. Cohabitation is going to create some tension between our favorite lovebirds Kurt and Blaine and Blaine's going to confront Elliot about spending so much time with his fiancé. So will Blaine be the one to drive him away — I guess there might be only enough room for one big fish in the NYC pond. But imagine how great their duets would be if Lambert did get to stick around? It'd be pure Glee magic like we haven't seen since Season 1.

If "New New York" ends up being Lambert's final episode for Season 5 (we can't realistically petition for him to quit his rock tour), there's still hope for him to return during Glee's final season. Well, if they explain his absence well enough — which they really should take into consideration because they NEED him back. You can only have so many Kurt-Blaine relationship predicaments and watch Sam be confused about life before it gets boring as hell. By the time Season 5 ends and everyone's gotten comfortable with the NYC lifestyle, Glee's going to need a boost.

And that's where Lambert's "Starchild" would come in, like he did at the start of Season 5. Elliot was a welcome change to the previous Season 4 NYC storylines about Rachel's call-boy boyfriend Brody and Kate Hudson's tough-loving dance teacher, Cassandra July. Lambert will sweep in with his epic vocal skills and perfect stage presence and knock a popular 80s cover out the park and breathe some life into the series. He's proved that he's a bright light and that's what Glee needs if it's going to go out on a high note.

In reality, we've got nothing to worry about — Glee fans love Adam Lambert and if there's one thing they're good at, it's making sure that their favorite characters stay on the series. Whether Ryan Murphy likes it or not.

Images: FOX