Glee stars past and present pay tribute to Finn Hudson

Glee cast members gathered together to pay tribute to their co-star Cory Monteith in a special send-off.

The third episode of the fifth series, The Quarterback, was dedicated to the 31-year old actor who was found dead in a Canadian hotel room in July of an accidental alcohol and drug overdose.

The McKinley High School family of past and present joined together to remember and celebrate the life of his character Finn Hudson.

After much deliberation about how Monteith's death would be handled, the show's producers decided that Finn would also die.

Tears flowed, and tempers flared in the episode which was more a meditation on what death means to those left behind than on death itself. The cause of Finn's death was not disclosed.

The episode, titled The Quarterback, was "incredibly difficult" for all to work on because of people's feelings toward Monteith, who was "the most kind, the most generous" man, who "never had a bad word for anybody," executive producer Ryan Murphy says.

"I've never seen a crew that can't continue shooting because they've left the room sobbing. It was very hard," says Murphy, who wrote the episode with fellow executive producers Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan.

"I struggled even working on it, because what you're seeing is what they felt about not just Finn, but Cory. It's amazing performances across the board. Everybody went into it with a lot of love."

The episode opens with the cast singing Seasons of Love from Broadway's Rent. Among other musical highlights, already released online: The Pretenders' I'll Stand By You (performed by Mercedes); James Taylor's Fire & Rain (Sam and Artie); Bruce Springsteen's No Surrender (Puck); The Band Perry's If I Die Young (Santana); and Bob Dylan's Make You Feel My Love, sung by Rachel Berry (Lea Michele, Monteith's real-life love).

Proceeds from online music sales will benefit Project Limelight, a Canadian theater camp Monteith supported.

"It was beautiful, gorgeous," says Jane Lynch, who plays Sue Sylvester, of the tribute episode, though filming it "was a mess. Everybody was crying, but it was good. We grieved together."

While the storyline did not touch on the issue of drug addiction, a brief public service announcement delivered by cast members over the closing credits reminded the audience how Monteith had battled substance abuse and lost his battle.