Glee Season 5 Tribute to Cory Monteith (Episode 3): The Hardest Word to Say is 'Goodbye'

Sep 27, 2013 11:33 PM EDT


(Photo :FOX )

Glee kicks off its fifth season last night with the first two episodes focusing on Beatles music, though the majority of fans is eager to learn how the upcoming third episode will handle the death of Cory Monteith and his character Finn Hudson in the show. The tribute episode to Monteith is planned to air on Oct. 10, titled "The Quarterback" after his character's high school football role. 

Prior to the premiere, creator Ryan Murphy released a first look of the episode set to air in three weeks via Twitter on Thursday, Sept. 26.

The promo that Murphy revealed is a simple black and white photo of the late actor with the caption, "The hardest word to say is 'goodbye.'"

Monteith, 31, died on July 13 in a hotel room in Vancouver, Canada after accidentally overdosing on heroin and alcohol. 

FOX's official synopsis of "The Quarterback": 

"In the wake of Finn's sudden death, former members of New Directions return to McKinley to remember their fallen friend. While a stoic Mr. Schue encourages all the gleeks to "memorialize him the way we do everything - by singing about it," some of the kids find the exercise more cathartic than others. At the Hudson-Hummel home, Kurt, Burt and Carole sort through Finn's belongings and what begins as a somber occasion blossoms into a poignant and much needed family moment.

Meanwhile, Emma grows concerned when she believes Will is so busy taking care of others that he's not allowing himself time to grieve; Santana struggles with using her "bitch" mask to hide her fond feelings for Finn, and has a run in with Bree, McKinley's "New Santana"; and following a heart-to-heart with Coach Beiste, Puck honors Finn's memory by making a life-changing decision about his future."