The powerful Cory Monteith tribute episode of Glee has aired.

The Glee tribute episode gathered cast members to pay tribute to Monteith, who who was found dead in a Canadian hotel room in July due to an accidental alcohol and drug overdose.

The episode itself didn't mention addiction, which many news outlets have found striking. However, as credits rolled, cast members delivered a public service announcement to raise addiction awareness.

"Our friend Cory didn't look like an addict. He was happy, successful and seemingly had it all," said Jane Lynch, who plays the character of Sue Sylvester, the incoming principal at William McKinley High School, on the show.

The show also posted a link to the website for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

However, ironically, this webiste is non-operative thanks to the government shutdown. It reads, "The agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted."

The Monteith episode itself , "The Quarterback", was a tearful send-off to the 31-year-old actor.

After much discussion of how to handle Monteith's death, the show's producers decided that Finn would die.

However, his death and funeral weren't seen. Instead, the show chose to focus on the aftermath of deaths due to addiction and those who are affected: his friends.

The show picked up three weeks after Monteith's character's death; the cause of Finn's death was not disclosed.

Coach-turned-principal Sue Sylvester told students that the best way to Finn was to take care of the people he loved by "not making a self-serving spectacle of our own sadness".

Various covers throughout the episode included Seasons Of Love from the Broadway musical Rent, The Pretenders' I'll Stand By You, James Taylor's Fire & Rain, The Band Perry's If I Die Young and Bruce Springsteen's No Surrender.

The episode concluded with Lea Michele's character Rachel Berry appearing.

"I loved Finn," Rachel said tearfully as she stood before the glee club crowd. Then she belted out the episode's showstopper, Make You Feel My Love.

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