Why Won't Cory Monteith Be Killed Off By Drugs Overdose On Glee?

Glee's Ryan Murphy has revealed his ideas for writing out Cory Monteith's character, Finn Hudson, including a fatal drugs overdose. However, the showrunner told Deadline how the musical show's producers decided against the controversial storyline that would mirror the actor's real-life death.

Cory Monteith Died After An Overdose But His Character Finn Will Not Suffer The Same Fate.

The show, that will return for a fifth season on 26th September, suddenly had to deal with Monteith's absence after the 31 year-old actor was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room last month after heroin and alcohol abuse.

Murphy explains the issues producers were confronted with aside from the grief at the loss of one of the key cast members: "There were a lot of things that we had to decide - how are we going to deal with his death? At one point, we were going to have his character die after an accidental drug overdose - that was something we had considered."

Cory Monteith With Co-Star & Girlfriend, Lea Michele.

Speaking recently at a Television Critics Association, Kevin Reilly, Fox's entertainment chairman, said that that Monteith's memorial episode "will deal directly with the incidents involved in Cory's passing and the drug abuse in particular," Reilly added, reported by BBC News.

The audience will be warned of the effects of drug abuse with the cast recording public service announcements that will air during the episode and will donate money from music sales for the tribute that will be given to a fund in Monteith's honour.

Monteith's Passing Has Been A Devastating Blow To The Show & Its Cast.

To mark Monteith's exit with a storyline that echoed his real-life passing would have been a bold move. However, in lieu of any poignancy of time for reflection, true Glee fans would have been confronted with a storyline that didn't match the context of the Finn Hudson character, after he swore in one episode to his mother that he wouldn't make the same mistakes as his father who died from a drugs overdose.

Although Monteith played his jock-turned-glee member character perfectly, it's important to remember that they weren't the same person and the Glee storyline needn't be a vehicle for social change when the actor's passing has been covered so extensively in the media.

It Is Not Known How Cory Will Be Written Out Of The Show.

Indeed, Murphy revealed that the people behind the hit show reached the same conclusion, having stated "we have decided that we're not going to have him pass from that," and adding "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."

Cory Monteith Won't Be Written Out Of Glee With A Drugs Storyline.

The writer also revealed the cast and crew's struggles with filming whilst Monteith's death is so raw "There's been tears on set. It's been hard for a lot of people. But the really difficult thing is coming. We start shooting the memorial episode this week."

Murphy indicated that he wanted to create an episode that was immersive for fans as well as the cast: "We're trying to craft an episode that's not just about us grieving but about a lot of the young fans grieving[...]But I think it turned out to be a lovely tribute, and it's a very heartfelt look at how young people grieve."