Very sad and tragic. I wonder what happened.
Not to belittle his death, but I’m wondering if that might do it for Glee too, in the long run.
Probably a drug overdose. He was just in rehab.
What a shame.
Damn. RIP, Cory. The wife and really enjoy that show. 
We always have to wait for the DVDs though, so we’ve not seen any of the latest season. Wasn’t he off the show after last season, when his character graduated from high school?
EDIT: Ah, never mind. I just read they found a way to put him on this season after all.
So young.
Sad news.
What a shame. He had missed the last few episodes of the past season of Glee because he was in rehab, but the last I’d heard (months ago) was that he’d been released and was reportedly doing well.
I don’t watch *Glee *anymore, but Finn was probably my favorite character when I did–sometimes a little dim but always big-hearted. The character was really likable because of Cory. He and Lea Michele (Rachel on Glee) have been a couple in real life for quite a while now. She must be devastated.
So how far did they get in filming the new season, and how will they write out the character? We haven’t seen the character of his mother in a long while. I assume that she’ll return for the funeral episode.
No chance they’ll hire a substitute?
Another actor to play Finn Hudson? I very much doubt it, although anything is possible. I think it will anger audience and the cast, particularly Lea Michele. (Hijack: How often has a major character been recast, since Bewitched in the 1960s?)
Laurie Foreman on That 70s Show is the first one to spring to mind. I’m sure there are a few others, but you’re right, it’s incredibly rare today.
You’re right about That 70s Show, and also the older daughter in Roseanne was recast, but I don’t think it will happen in this case.
No, it just wouldn’t be the same.
A quick Google indicates that season five was set to begin shooting later this month.
The way things stood at the end of season four it doesn’t seem plausible that the Finn character would just suddenly go off somewhere else, so I assume the character will be killed in some kind of accident. I’m trying really hard to restrain myself from complaining about the show in a thread about the unfortunate death of a likable young actor, but I will say I’ll bet the writers are really regretting their idiotic decision to end season four without resolving anything. They chose to leave everything hanging, and now they’ll have to find a way to deal with it all without one of their major characters.
It was announced just a couple of weeks ago that Mark Salling (Puck) would not be returning as a regular character in season five, but he seems the obvious one to take over Finn’s role as assistant coach of the glee club. He was Finn’s best friend, has been trying to get his act together and had encouraged Finn to do the same, and his younger half-brother is currently a member of the club. I could believe that Finn’s death would make Puck seriously reevaluate his life choices and also want to do something to honor Finn’s memory. I don’t think the show really needs an alum hanging around as assistant coach, and if I had a teenage daughter I sure wouldn’t want Puck in any position of authority at the high school, but it would be a way to show that Puck had really become more responsible.
Romy Rosemont as Finn’s mom was actually in the second-to-last episode of the past season.
Such an infuriating waste.
Also Will’s aunt (Carlton’s mother) in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But I agree that there won’t be another actor as Finn.
Keep in mind that Finn was in college getting his teaching credential, so he wouldn’t have really been a major factor in next season anyway, unless they were going to have a separate Lima University storyline (which would explain why they brought Puck back).
As for “the decision not to resolve anything,” wasn’t that done to have one more season with the original cast before they have to start coming up with contrived ways to bring them back?
I don’t know if it has been fully determined it was drug related, although that seems the most likely cause…he admitted to having a drug problem as early as 13, so it looks like it might have been at least somewhat related. Sorry to hear this - he came across on screen as a pretty nice kid.
I see they have hired Adam Lambert this season - maybe they will make his role more relevant or create a character that could somewhat replace Finn’s duties as teacher?
I just hope they don’t turn this into a “very special episode” and go into drug abuse.
I am sure the writers are scrambling now to adapt current scripts, and the audience will be wondering how they handle this tragic real life situation within the confines of the scripted story.
One extreme case was The Adventures of Superboy where John Haymes Newton played Superboy/Clark Kent and Scott James Wells played Lex Luthor for the first season. Then both roles were recast in the second season.
Everything indicated that Finn was going to continue as a major character in season five. In Monteith’s final episode on the show, Finn returned as assistant coach of the glee club. He was absent from the last few episodes due to Monteith being in rehab, but there was no in-universe reason given for this – Finn was still assistant coach and presumably was going to be around helping the club as they prepared for Nationals early next season. Finn and Rachel also had an ongoing storyline, and I assume that if Monteith had lived they would have gotten back together at some point during season five.
Finn’s death will certainly be a major blow to Rachel. I hope the writers find a way to handle this sensitively, if only for Lea Michele’s sake. The loss of her real-life boyfriend and longtime co-star must be very difficult and painful for her, and having to go back to work and play a character in a similar situation probably doesn’t make that any easier.
No, because that had already happened. Most of the original cast graduated at the end of season three and season four had already been spent coming up with contrived reasons to keep bringing them back.