# Glee season five rumors, speculation, and possible spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135 "2013-07-21T20:59:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/1 "2013-07-21T20:59:18Z")
I felt it was best to start a new thread for speculation about the upcoming fifth season of _Glee_, as people reading the [thread about Cory Monteith’s death](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=696476) might not want to see potential spoilers. I also personally felt kind of bad about snarking about the show’s writers in a thread about the death of one of the stars. If the Mods think this should be merged with the other thread then I won’t object, but I feel that Monteith’s death and the question of how the show will deal with the loss of a major character and what else might be in store for the fifth season are really two different topics. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/2 "2013-07-21T21:03:03Z")
I read earlier that the third episode will be a tribute (as the first 2 are already written) then they will take a hiatus to decide what they are doing next. my speculation is Rachel will have Finn’s baby. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/3 "2013-07-21T21:11:01Z")
> [@adhemar](#): > > my speculation is Rachel will have Finn’s baby. As much as that seems in line with what these writers might do, that would be unbelievably cruel to Lea Michele. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/4 "2013-07-21T21:37:31Z")
There were initially rumors that the _Glee_ season five premier would be pushed back to late October or early November, but Fox has [announced](http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/07/19/glee-premiere-delayed-cory-monteith/) that although production has been delayed the premier is set to air on September 26, only a week later than originally planned. > [@adhemar](#): > > I read earlier that the third episode will be a tribute (as the first 2 are already written) then they will take a hiatus to decide what they are doing next. I can’t find the article I was reading before now, but I saw that Ryan Murphy had said they were going to go ahead and shoot two episodes that had been written before Monteith’s death. IIRC the show was going to take a break for a couple of weeks in October anyway to make room for baseball, so it sounds like other than the delayed premier they’re trying to stick to the schedule that was already planned. > [@](#): > > my speculation is Rachel will have Finn’s baby. I agree with **Red Stilettos** that this seems all too plausible but would be extremely insensitive to Lea Michele. The fact that she was Cory Monteith’s girlfriend in real life is one of the only things giving me hope that the writers/producers will exercise any taste or restraint in dealing with this sad situation. One of the callers on the [_Gleeful_ podcast episode](http://gleefulpodcast.com/) discussing Monteith’s death said she felt she could trust the show to do a properly moving funeral episode for the Finn character, but that she was afraid this would be it – he’d simply never be mentioned again. I don’t remember this being so much a problem in the first two seasons of the show, but in season three and definitely season four the writers had a tendency to have something terrible happen only to quickly take it all back and/or never mention it again. I don’t know how well they’ll deal with having to write in a tragedy that they _can’t_ take back. Finn is one of the only characters (if not _the_ only character) on the show with a personal connection to nearly every other significant character, so realistically his death would be something not easily shrugged off by the others. But at this point I’m not sure the writers are even capable of handling such a storyline. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/5 "2013-07-21T23:45:29Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > …I agree with **Red Stilettos** that this seems all too plausible but would be extremely insensitive to Lea Michele. The fact that she was Cory Monteith’s girlfriend in real life is one of the only things giving me hope that the writers/producers will exercise any taste or restraint in dealing with this sad situation… Also then Rachel would be stuck raising a baby for the rest of the show; I don’t think the writers want to deal with that complication. Though I suppose she could just give the kid to Carol to raise; then it’d only have to show up for the odd holiday episode. :rolleyes: There’s a myriad of reasons why the writers won’t resort to it; hopefully they won’t. I am really curious about just how they’ll have Finn die. Having it be an overdose would be beyond contrived. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/6 "2013-07-22T01:34:13Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I am really curious about just how they’ll have Finn die. Having it be an overdose would be beyond contrived. As I mentioned in the other thread, Finn having a hidden substance abuse problem seems at least as plausible as plenty of other things that have happened on _Glee_…but even so, I don’t think it’s a good idea. It seems insensitive to Monteith’s family, and I don’t trust that the writers would be able to give such a storyline the sort of time and attention it would take to do it in a respectful and at least semi-realistic manner. There’s a long list of characters who would have to be asking themselves why they didn’t recognize that Finn was in trouble. This would be particularly awful for Carole, as she’d have to deal with knowing that she’d been unable to prevent her only son from dying in the same manner as his father. Had this been almost any other character then the parents of the deceased could show up for an episode or two and then never be seen again, but Carole is still Kurt’s stepmother so it would be cheap to just push her offstage and forget about her. I don’t know that it’s the _best_ way to have Finn die as far as the plot goes, but death by motor vehicle accident has the advantages of being highly plausible (it’s the leading cause of death for people in his age group) and requiring no real setup or special explanation. The other characters could just suddenly get the news that Finn had been in an accident and had died. Or if the writers wanted to make things more complicated, there are lots of other twists they could throw in. Maybe the driver was drunk. Maybe _Finn_ was drunk. Maybe Finn was speeding because he was on his way to help another character. Maybe another character was in the car with him and had to watch him die. Maybe…heck, I’m going to spoiler box this last one just because it’s a tasteless joke, but you get the idea. Maybe Quinn totally failed to learn a Very Special lesson about the dangers of texting and driving and plowed into Finn on her way back to Lima for spring break! This is awful, but I can’t help imagining this happening just after Rachel announces to Kurt and Santana that she and Finn have patched things up over the phone and that she’s flying back to Ohio to marry him because life’s too short to wait.Anyway, because _Glee_ is _Glee_, it’s worth mentioning that there are plenty of [songs about car crashes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_car_crash_songs). Some of the most famous are also pretty terrible songs, but as far as causes of death that have been featured in numerous well-known and relatively clean pop songs then car accident seems the obvious choice. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/7 "2013-07-23T18:44:39Z")
Personally I think they should buy out Chris Colfer/Naya Rivera/Lea Michelle’s contracts and focus exclusively on the current batch of students with only an occasional nod to graduates. But since that’s almost certainly not going to happen, I think Finn should die in a car accident during the interim- it’s believable and sudden- and the early episodes should focus as little as possible on the grieving. Deal with it later perhaps, but neither the actors nor the characters should be put through the mawkish 40 minutes to closure aspects. As written many times on the boards, Nick’s death on _Barney Miller_ was one of the classiest and most touching ways it was ever handled- actors out of character addressing the audience, then mention it again only in passing. Coach’s death on _Cheers_ was similarly low key- mentioned in passing and that was it. Does anybody know if the episodes where Finn was AWOL/incommunicado were at all related to Cory Monteith’s drug problem? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/8 "2013-07-23T20:47:37Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Anyway, because _Glee_ is _Glee_, it’s worth mentioning that there are plenty of [songs about car crashes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_car_crash_songs). Some of the most famous are also pretty terrible songs, but as far as causes of death that have been featured in numerous well-known and relatively clean pop songs then car accident seems the obvious choice. I can just see it now: Mr. Schue: “In honor of Finn Hudson, I want you all to perform songs about drug users and drug overdoses at a special assembly in front of all of the students.” How tasteless would that be? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/9 "2013-07-23T20:50:35Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] How tasteless would that be? [/QUOTE] OTOH, there’d be a hell of a lot to choose from. Throw in ‘songs by singers who died of heroin overdose’ and you’d have The Doors, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and others… could be epic. * * * Maybe Rachel’s gigolo boyfriend will finally take revenge for the hotel room beating. This would clear the way for a whole new love triangle. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/10 "2013-07-23T21:58:00Z")
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say they actually do it tastefully and respectfully. I know, I know, it’s _Glee_, right? But really, the early seasons were really well done for the most part. The writers have the chops when they pull them out. And considering that by all accounts the cast and crew are pretty close-knit, the onus is on them to knock this one out of the park. They’re writing about the death of a friend. It’s gotta be heartfelt, I’d think. (Now granted, I stopped watching midway through S3, and I’m only now mustering up the gumption to catch up, so maybe I don’t know how low the recent eps have sunk. Maybe there were changes to the writing staff, and they don’t have that kind of quality available anymore.) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/11 "2013-07-24T03:30:29Z")
The reality show _The Glee Project_, where winners earned a spot on _Glee_, [has been cancelled](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57594024/the-glee-project-canceled-by-oxygen/). So one thing we know about season four of the show is that there won’t be any new _Glee Project_ winners joining the cast. I think this is for the best. This show has a huge cast to begin with, and the two winners of _Glee Project_’s first season (Damian McGinty as Irish Guy and Samuel Larsen as Dreadlocks Guy) have basically been deadweight on the show. (I think the problem was that the reality show judged them on their singing and to some extent their dancing, but didn’t actually test their _acting_.) Blake Jenner as Ryder/Finn 2.0 has fared better, although it’s easy to imagine someone else in that role. The _Glee Project_ alum who’s impressed me most on _Glee_, Alex Newell as Wade/Unique, was a runner-up rather than a winner. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/12 "2013-07-24T03:31:46Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Personally I think they should buy out Chris Colfer/Naya Rivera/Lea Michelle’s contracts and focus exclusively on the current batch of students with only an occasional nod to graduates. While the idea of Rachel, Kurt, and Santana all living in an apartment together _seems_ like it would make for great television, the show really failed to make good use of this setup in season four. As little as I care about the new characters, I’m inclined to agree that the show would be better if it kept its focus on the current McKinley High glee club and didn’t attempt to follow the graduates too. > [@](#): > > Does anybody know if the episodes where Finn was AWOL/incommunicado were at all related to Cory Monteith’s drug problem? Finn’s unexplained absence from the last few episodes of season four was because Monteith was in rehab, but I’m not sure about the other episodes he missed. At some point he did shoot two movies that are due out later this year (_All the Wrong Reasons_ and _McCanick_), so they may have written him out of the first two episodes of season four and the “Guilty Pleasures” episode to allow him time to work on those. > [@gonzoron](#): > > (Now granted, I stopped watching midway through S3, and I’m only now mustering up the gumption to catch up, so maybe I don’t know how low the recent eps have sunk. Maybe there were changes to the writing staff, and they don’t have that kind of quality available anymore.) There have been some major changes to the writing staff over the years, although I suppose it’s anyone’s guess how much they can be credited or blamed for changes on the show. All of the episodes of the first two seasons were credited to the series co-creators, Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan. They brought on six new writers for season three. According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glee_%28TV_series%29#Writing), two of the new writers left after season three and three more new writers were brought on for season four. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glee-season-five-rumors-speculation-and-possible-spoilers/664135/13 "2013-08-10T14:53:34Z")
Bumping the thread to mention that Jayma Mays (Emma) [has confirmed that season five will be her last season with _Glee_](http://www.accesshollywood.com/jayma-mays-confirms-shes-leaving-glee_article_82472), although she’d be willing to return as a guest star. She has already joined the cast of upcoming CBS sitcom _The Millers_. I hope everything works out for her. IMHO Mays has often been better than her material on _Glee_, and it would be nice to see her succeed elsewhere…and in something better than the _Smurfs_ movies. Since she’ll still be around for season five I’m guessing that Emma will become pregnant in the upcoming season and then if the show really makes it to season six (it has already been renewed) she’ll be on maternity leave or decide to become a stay at home mom and won’t be seen much at McKinley. Although honestly at this point I wouldn’t mind if Will were written off entirely and took his new wife with him. Nothing against Matthew Morrison, but it seemed like season four went out of its way to prove how inessential Will was to the show and what a jerk he is when he is around.