Following weeks of anticipation (and jitters over how we as viewers would react), Glee‘s Cory Monteith tribute just wrapped its east coast airing.
The episode kicked off with a group performance of Rent’s “Seasons of Love.” The entire cast wore black with women in dresses and the men (save for Puck) were in suits and ties. The plot kicked off three weeks to the day since Finn’s funeral, according to Kurt. Everyone is heading back to Lima to go to a memorial being planned by Mr. Schuester. “Everyone wants to talk about how he died too, but who cares? I only care about how he lived,” said Kurt.
Unsurprisingly there was lots of reminiscing. Old photos, items like Finn’s football, the dumpster Kurt was dumped into, and the football jacket brought back memories of episodes past. A particularly cry-worthy scene arrived when Finn’s step dad, mother, and step brother Kurt were in his bedroom and grieving over the idea of losing a son.
Santana had a strong moment of her own. Frustrated with Sue pulling Finn’s memorial sitting in the hallway, she calls the principal a “cold-hearted bitch” and shoved her into filing cabinets in the office. Later, when performing “If I Die Young” she couldn’t get through the entire song. Santana and Sue make up later, with the latter shedding a tear.
Finn’s girlfriend Rachel – played by Cory Monteith’s real life girlfriend Lea Michele – didn’t come into the episode until the final act. Her performance in the choir room had all of the students in tears.
One running plot in the episode was who had stolen Finn’s jacket. At the end of the episode we found out it was Will, who’s in tears and he embraces it.
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Six songs were performed by the Glee season 5 cast in tribute to Monteith. You can re-listen to all of them below:
Rachel – “Make You Feel My Love”
Artie & Sam – “Fire and Rain”
Santana – “If I Die Young”
Mercedes – “I’ll Stand by You”
Puck – “No Surrender”
Mercedes, Santana, Kurt, Puck, Tina & Mike – “Seasons of Love”
Which song was your favorite?
Monteith died of a drug overdose in July within a Canadian hotel room where he was by himself at the time of his passing. In the weeks that followed there was much speculation over how Fox and Glee should handle his death on the dramedy that made him famous.
As with all times television handles the death of an actor, this episode will be debated and analyzed for years to come. Do you think it lived up to expectations and handled Finn’s/Cory’s death appropriately?
Glee is heading on a hiatus and will return on November 7 with a Lady Gaga VS Katy Perry-themed episode. You can read more about the episode in our previous story.
Our full recap of “The Quarterback” and analysis on our podcast Glee Chat will arrive in the next couple days. For now, hit the comments to discuss away with your fellow Gleeks.