With season five of 'Glee' set for our screens in September, the screenwriters have revealed details of Cory Monteith's tribute episode. It has been confirmed Finn will not die of an overdose, as was expected. But instead the creators are going to leave the ending open to interpretation.
'At one point, we were going to have his character die after an accidental drug overdose,' screenwriter Ryan Murphy said. 'That was something we had considered. But we have decided that we're not going to have him pass from that'. The episode is said to deal with drug addiction but the writers wanted the episode to be a celebration of Cory rather then exploit his death.
'Basically, what we're doing in the episode is we are not telling you yet, or maybe not at all, how that character died. The idea being, how somebody died is interesting and maybe morbid, but we say very early on in the episode, 'This episode is about a celebration of that character's life'. That might be weird for some people, but it felt really exploitative to do it any other way,' he added.
The Glee cast have since returned to work but Murphy confirmed that the stars have found it difficult since Monteith's death. The screenwriter said the cast have been very supportive to each other through this tough time and while they have found solace in each others company there have 'been tears on set'. The memorial episode is to be the third episode in the new season, and is due to be shot this week. 'It's been hard for a lot of people,' he said. 'But the really difficult thing is coming. We start shooting the memorial episode this week. We're just now finishing it, and at the end of the week we'll send it to [the studio] to get their approvals. But I think it turned out to be a lovely tribute, and it's a very heartfelt look at how young people grieve.'
Once the episode has been filmed the cast are said to be taking a much needed break. Murphy went onto praise Montieth saying, 'We loved Cory and we loved Finn and it feels like a huge loss and a huge heartache not to have either of them around. We're trying to craft an episode that's not just about us grieving but about a lot of the young fans grieving.'
The cast were at the Teen Choice Awards recently where Monteith's girlfriend Lea Michelle dedicated the award to the actor.