Glee’s final tribute to Cory Monteith was beautiful

We are so sad to say goodbye to song-and-dance show Glee that has brought us so much joy (and SO MANY great covers) over the past six years, but we so glad that they ended the series on such a perfect note by honoring Finn Hudson AKA Cory Monteith, who tragically passed in 2013.

In the series finale, Sue Sylvester, who, over the course of the series has gone from being a cheer coach to principal of McKinley High to Vice President of the United States, returns to Lima, Ohio to rename the high school auditorium in Finn Hudson’s honor. She was is then joined onstage by the entirety of New Directions.

The experience shooting this final episode was an emotional experience for all involved.

“It was waterworks,” Jane Lynch, who plays Sue Sylvester, told People . “There are some takes I’m sure they can’t use because we were all weeping. It was hard to get through.”

Meanwhile, Lea Michele AKA Rachel Berry told the LA Times, “It was obviously a very emotional, you know, last day. There were a lot of lasts. It was like ‘the last solo,’ ‘the last dance rehearsal,’ ‘the last recording session.’ By the time that last day came, I think we were all emotionally exhausted.”

Meanwhile, Ryan Murphy explained how the series finale differed so radically from what he had envisioned prior to Monteith’s passing:

“It used to, of course, end with Cory and Lea [Michele],” Murphy explained to ET Online. “It was a much more micro relationship ending, but I think that we’ve taken the heart of what we were going to do and expanded it so it feels sort of more macro and universal.”

Thank you Glee, for ending your series on such a gorgeous and meaningful note.