Many viewers of “Glee” are overcome by a bittersweet feeling when they think about the upcoming season.

It still seems unreal that Cory Monteith will be absent from the show due to his shocking and untimely death. The death of a major character seems like a strong reason not to continue, but in spite of the misfortunes at hand, the tuneful cast is returning for its fifth season on FOX this Thursday.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, “Glee” is a comedy about a band of high school kids who are all extremely different from one another and quirky in their own ways. They’ve been grouped together by their Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”) to form a glee club called the New Directions. The series touches on many issues and experiences such as relationships, bullying and achieving goals that any high school student can relate to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZKwH-2tz0U

In the season four finale, the New Directions be-bopped and shoo-whopped their way to winning regionals. The group will begin season five by preparing for nationals. The Beatles are the first musical theme of the year, and their music will get the “Glee” treatment for the first two episodes.

However, the storylines as well as the lives of the “Glee” cast have be majorly altered due to the sudden death of one of the show’s most popular stars. Monteith, who played the role of high school heartthrob quarterback Finn Hudson, passed away in his Vancouver hotel room on June 13 at the age of 31 from an overdose of heroin and alcohol.

It was no secret that Monteith struggled with drugs in the past and had already completed two cycles of rehab: the first when he was 19, and the second only a few months prior to his death, making the news all the more shocking. Two years ago, in an interview with Parade Weekly, Monteith said his drug addiction was so bad that he would take “anything and everything, as much as possible.” He also said he was “lucky to be alive.” Tragically, Monteith’s luck faded.

The death of this beloved star was massively upsetting to Gleeks everywhere, not to mention Monteith’s cast mates, family and especially to his onscreen love interest and real-life girlfriend Lea Michele. Michele and Monteith had been dating for a little more than a year at the time of his death. She gave only a statement from a confidant saying she wanted to be left alone. A few weeks later, Michele posted a tweet with a picture of Monteith and herself, thanking everybody for supporting her through this tough time and saying Cory would forever be in her heart.

https://twitter.com/msleamichele/status/361895025073856512

After this loss, fans raised the obvious question to the show’s creator and co-writer Ryan Murphy about whether “Glee” would be returning in the fall to begin its fifth season only two months after Monteith’s death. Murphy did confirm Glee would indeed be returning in fall 2013 but would be postponed by a week from its original premiere date.

It remains unclear as to how Hudson’s abrupt disappearance will be handled in the series. It is known, however, that the third episode of the season will be a tribute to Monteith, followed by a “brief hiatus” for Murphy and his co-workers to decide where the show will go from there.

The fifth season of “Glee” premieres Thursday at 8 p.m. Due to all of these changes and unanswered questions, this will likely be a particularly interesting season premiere.