Around midnight on July 13, my Tumblr and Twitter started blowing up with rumors that “Glee” star Cory Monteith died. Everyone from Justin Bieber to Britney Spears has been rumored dead on the internet at some point, so these things aren’t taken all that seriously anymore.
However, around 1 am the Vancouver Police Department announced via livestream what thousands of “Glee” fans were hoping wasn’t true: Cory Monteith was found dead in a hotel room. The next days were filled with questions of why he died (heroin and alcohol), how on and off-screen girlfriend Lea Michele was handling the tragedy and what the fate of “Glee” would be.
There was brief speculation that the show would be cancelled. Maybe they would do a special to wrap up the loose ends before leaving. Then it was rumored that “Glee” would just take a huge hiatus, taking a winter or spring premiere. Then the shocking announcement was made: the fifth season premiere of “Glee” would be pushed back only one week to September 26.
Showrunner Ryan Murphy made one thing very clear: Michele was calling the shots. Michele’s Rachel Berry is the central character on the musical dramedy, even though it has a large ensemble cast. Rachel and Finn (Monteith’s character), known affectionately as Finchel, have been the main love story since the pilot. Murphy publicly acknowledged in various interviews that if Michele decided to call it quits, the show couldn’t really go on.
In an interview with E! Online, Murphy said, “Ultimately the person who made the decision was Lea, who felt that the best thing for the cast and crew was to be together and to get back to work and be together every day and talk about our memories of him…she’s also handled this in a way where she’s trying to look out for 500 other people affected by him and who have mortgages to pay and families to feed.”
“Glee” will return in two weeks to the FOX network, but the first two episodes won’t deal with Monteith’s death. The episodes are the two part Beatles tribute, which were written before the summer hiatus. The writers decided to keep these episodes, just making slight alterations to cut out parts where Monteith should have been. Monteith’s death will be dealt with in the third episode of the season, after which “Glee” will take an already scheduled hiatus for Major League Baseball playoffs.
I can understand not starting the season with Finn’s death. Last season ended with a couple of cliffhangers that would be super awkward to deal with in an episode like this. I do think it’s slightly ridiculous to push it back two episodes.
Do we need two Beatles tribute episodes? Their catalogue is extensive, but the show has already covered a fair number of songs (“Hello Goodbye,” “Blackbird,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “In My Life”). Also, we can wrap up the cliffhangers in one episode. Really, Kurt just has to answer Blaine’s proposal (well, Blaine has to get up the nerve to open that box he was holding behind his back first), and Rachel needs to find out if she got her role in “Funny Girl.”
So aside from that questionable decision, I think the writers will handle Finn’s death rather well in the tribute episode. Various things have been revealed by the writers and actors on Twitter.
[SPOILERS AHEAD] Finn’s cause of death won’t be named. The episode deals with the grieving process and celebrating his life. Rachel doesn’t appear until the final act, but her performance is rumored to be powerful. The only songs to be revealed thus far are “Seasons of Love” from the musical “Rent” and The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young.”
It actually sounds like a solid episode. “Glee” can do a solid episode really well. It’s the long term that “Glee” really hasn’t gotten a grip on. They love to do these hugely emotional PSA episodes, and they sometimes handle them really well. However, the event never gets mentioned again. What happened to Karofsky after he tried to commit suicide? Did Kurt’s pep talk really work that much magic? Is Marley recovering from bulimia? Remember that time they only referenced the school shooting once in the following episode? The list goes on.
“Glee” can’t treat this like every other time they want to teach a big lesson to kids. I understand that Murphy wants to explore how the grieving process works. That sounds great, but the grieving process doesn’t last 42 minutes. It’s continuous. Rachel lost the love of her life. Kurt lost a brother. Everyone lost a friend. This isn’t something they can talk about once and then ignore. It has to become a part of the overarching storyline on “Glee.”
Another concern is the revolving door of guest stars. Demi Lovato and Adam Lambert join the show this year, adding to an already huge cast. Lovato is being introduced in the second episode of the season, meaning she could be in the Finn tribute.
I can only hope that the writers are smart enough to take out superfluous characters. They already have Rachel, Santana, Kurt, Puck, Mercedes, Mike, Blaine, Artie, Tina, Marley, Unique, Rider, Joe, Sam, Kitty, Jake, Will, Emma, Sue, Burt and Carol to work with here (Heather Morris cannot appear as Brittany due to her pregnancy. Dianna Agron has stated she was not asked to return for the episode as Quinn, Finn’s former girlfriend). Focus on the characters closest to him. Avoid spending too much time on the kids who joined the cast last year.
The cast seem to all admire the episode, though. Jane Lynch tweeted, “Just read Cory Monteith memorial episode. Most beautiful thing.”
Naya Rivera and Darren Criss (Santana and Blaine) fielded many questions about the episode while at the Video Music Awards. Rivera said that filming has been difficult for the cast and crew. “It is the hardest thing to do. It’s been the worst week ever,” she told reporters.
Criss stated that this was something that needed to happen for fans. “We’re shooting it right now. It’s tough to shoot. It’s something that needs to happen for the fans. I don’t know; it’s going to be tough. But it will be very poignant and hopefully very moving, and just that: a tribute. Hopefully it will be a good tribute to Cory,” Criss said.
Amber Riley (Mercedes) found a sort of catharsis in the filming. In an interview with On Air with Ryan Seacrest,” Riley said, “I actually sing a song in it and I finished the day before my first rehearsal [for Dancing with the Stars]…It’s been of course hard, but it was kind of therapeutic to remember somebody that we loved so much.”
“Glee” premieres September 26 at 9 pm on FOX. “‘Glee’ Sings The Beatles,” the soundtrack containing all 14 songs from the first two episodes, will be released September 24.
PHOT TAKEN from cory-monteith.com
