Glee Season 5 SPOILERS: Cory Monteith Tribute Episode, Demi Lovato Guest Starring, New Relationships, Katy Perry Themed Episode

The Fox hit "Glee" returns for Season 5 on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. but discussion about the upcoming season has not slowed down all summer with the news of Cory Monteith's passing.

The show will pay tribute to Monteith and his character, Finn, on Oct. 11 and TVLine reports that Rachel (played by Monteith's real-life girlfriend Lea Michele), will not appear in the episode until the "final gut-wrenching act."

Kevin McHale (Artie) tells the site that the episode will be an exploration of "grief on every level" and that "you're going to see us dealing with his death in different ways."

But McKinley High School will soon continue its regular operations with some new blood in Season 5. Demi Lovato, for starters, will guest star as Santana's girlfriend in New York City.

The show will also feature some new character pairings, including Artie and Kitty.

"At the end of last season, Kitty was kind of helping Artie get into college and dealing with his mom and all that," McHale said. "When we were shooting that, I kind of felt like something was going to happen there."

TVLine also reports that Katy Perry's newest hit single, "Roar," will be the focus of a fall episode.