The highly anticipated television series Glee will enter its fifth season this September, sadly without one of their main characters.
Heartthrob Corey Monteith, who played Finn Hudson on the show, unfortunately lost his battle with a alcohol and drug addiction on July 13.
Monteith was visiting friends in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada when he was found dead in his hotel room.
According to Huffingtonpost.com, the “Glee” star died of a lethal combination of heroin and alcohol.
On the show, Monteith played a high school jock who was the quarterback of his football team at William McKinley High School.
When he found himself forced to join the school’s glee club (a club specifically for singing), he ended up falling in love. Not just with the club, but also with the club’s lead vocal Rachel Berry, played by Lea Michele.
Buzzfeed.com stated that Monteith and Michele started officially dating off screen in mid-2012 when rumors of them dating started to swirl after the pair were seen spotted everywhere together.
The couple and the rest of the cast encountered archetypal high school problems such as teenage pregnancies, the hardships of coming into your own sexuality, family issues and death on the show.
Senior Teagan Bell started watching the show when it first aired in 2009 and said, “I love how Glee captures issues that everyone in high school faced at one point or another in their lifetime. The show is very realistic and that’s why I think people are able to connect with the show.”
In an interview with one of Parade magazine’s writers, Shawna Malcom in 2011, Monteith mentioned how his lead to drug and alcohol use began when he started feeling alienated and unworthy when he was a teenager.
“The underlying problem was that I wasn’t okay with myself. The drugs were symptomatic of me not being in a good place. Things got really bad, really ugly” he said.
Monteith’s first time in rehab was at the tender age of 19 and he had hit rock bottom when he was faced with the threat of jail for stealing to support his dire habit, Parade Magazine said.
In late March, Monteith voluntarily admitted himself into a rehab facility to kick his addiction.
The day before he entered he tweeted, “Such a beautiful day! Truly seeing the forest for the tree. #gratitude.” His adoring girlfriend who supported his decision to go to rehab had said, “I love and support Cory and will stand by him through this. I am grateful and proud he made his decision.”
Monteith had been in rehab for thirty days and was seen spotted happily and sober with girlfriend Michele in late April.
Adding to confusion was the presumption that Monteith will be killed off on the show the same way he actually died after Fox Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly said the episode (episode three) would “deal directly with the incidents involved with Cory’s passing and the drug abuse in particular.”
This made viewers believe that Finn Hudson would die from a drug overdose.
Bell said, “The show barely touched upon drugs so I was curious as to how they will tie a drug overdose with Finn, who never actually did drugs on the show.”
Glee creator Ryan Murphy then announced that Finn would not be killed off the show due to a drug overdose, though the writers did consider it.
As of now, the way Finn will die has not been released to the public, if not mentioned at all until the actual episode airs according to Murphy.
The cast was devastated and shocked upon hearing the news of the loss of their beloved cast member.
Especially his girlfriend Lea, who has been briefly spotted out wearing a “tribute” necklace to both Corey and his fictional character Finn.
Naya Rivera said in a statement to USMagazine, “The entire Glee family and I are deeply saddened by this tragedy. Cory was and always will be a part of my own family and a good friend. He was a special part of this world and will forever be missed. My heart goes out to Cory’s family and Lea.”
According to People.com, the Glee cast is currently on a two-week hiatus from filming as the writers restructure the rest of the season to take Monteith’s death into consideration.
Jane Lynch, who plays Sue Sylvester on the show, told People Magazine, “We grieved together, and it was so important for the crew to grieve as well, so we kind of all grieved as a big family.
It was really hard to do, but it was a really beautiful episode,” she said.
The fifth season started production in August, one month after Monteith’s death.
The show is dedicating one entire episode to tribute Monteith. The title of the episode will be named, “The Quarterback” and is set to air on October 10 on FOX.
While the depiction of Finn’s overdose is still up in the air to viewers, there is no doubt that Glee’s “regulars” will be sure to tune in to the first portion of the two-part season premiere on Thursday, Sept. 26.
As for Lea Michele, we can only hope the best for her — both personally and professionally.
The first episode belts out classics by the Beatles, one being “All You Need is Love.”
Producer’s could not have been any more spot-on.
Deanna Caruso can be contacted at dcaruso@keene-equinox.com