‘Glee’ stealthily breaks the fourth wall to pay tribute to Cory Monteith, an unusual choice that paid beautiful dividends.

“Everyone wants to talk about how he died, too. But who cares? One moment in his whole life…” When Glee’s producers announced that they were preparing this week’s tribute episode, a great many of us had our doubts. Glee has had an uneven track record over the years, and while they’ve done their “very special episodes” quite well, producing an hour of television that wouldn’t be perceived as callous would be difficult. How can you ask these actors to portray their grief for America to see?

I didn’t doubt for a second that the decision to move forward with “The Quarterback” was one made by the entire cast and crew.

I didn’t doubt for a second that the decision to move forward with “The Quarterback” was one made by the entire cast and crew – especially Lea Michelle. As a fan of the show, I wouldn’t have askedto produce this episode, however I’m thankful that they did. While I’ve never interviewed Cory, I did meet several members of the cast at SDCC several years back. You could tell then that a sense of family had very quickly developed amongst the cast and crew (admittedly not every family member will like each other all the time). In that sense, “The Quarterback” provided an opportunity for most of that family to come together and honor their friend.

I think it is pretty obvious that it worked. While it must have been difficult for these actors to say lines about “Finn” that obviously carried the emotional weight of Cory, what they did was kind of beautiful. Kurt’s voiceover that followed the wonderful rendition of “Seasons of Love” set the ground rules: yes, the lines fit the context of the story, but only because they had to. Maybe on a different show, it wouldn’t have worked, but it did here. “The Quarterback” was filled with these moments: Burt talking about hugging more, Puck breaking down, Sue talking about the wasted potential … these were people talking about losing their friend.

And then, there was the music. From the opener, to Santana’s “If I Die Young” to Rachel’s “Make You Feel My Love” (which, boys and girls, is a Bob Dylan song that Adele covered after Garth Brooks made it a hit), each song choice was pitch perfect. I have no clue how they got through the performances or the recordings – especially Lea Michelle – but they did so. Proceeds of the iTunes downloads went to Project Limelight, a charity Cory Monteith supported that helped promote the arts with inner city youth in Montreal.

It was an episode about dealing with grief, and it didn’t miss anything for not addressing things like how the character died.

The question of how to handle the death of an actor on a television show is never easy. In recent years, we’ve seen shows likeanddo it well.’s approach was quite different, but I think it fit the personality of the show quite well. It likely won’t be popular with everyone – the Washington Post’s Hank Stuever has already chimed in – but it works for this show. Stuever talks about the show ignoring its history of “cold honesty,” but I think that’s missing the point. “The Quarterback” isn’t necessarily the final word on Finn Hudson. Very few – if any – of the ongoing storylines were addressed. It was an episode about dealing with grief, and it didn’t miss anything for not addressing things like how the character died.

The show’s producers have already said that Finn’s death will reverberate throughout the rest of the season. We may yet find out what caused it, but I hope that we don’t … unless it fits into the story, it doesn’t really matter that much. As Beiste and Puck mentioned in their conversation, one’s life is about the line in-between the numbers. Was “The Quarterback” any less impactful for leaving that detail out? Is it particularly relevant to the story going on? I doubt that anyone who watched this episode of Glee didn’t know Cory’s story. This episode was for the actors, and for the fans that have stuck with this show through these (very) rough last several years. I don’t think any of them had a problem with it in the least. If there was ever an hour of television where it was OK to play fan service, this was it.

Photo Credit: Fox