‘Glee’ season 4, episode 5 preview: Where is Cory Monteith working now?

“Glee” season 4 made a risky move in breaking up Finn and Rachel after over a full year of them together, but based on the latest sneak peek for Thursday night’s new episode “The Role You Were Born to Play,” it feels almost as if it was (shockingly) the best decision that the writers could have made for the time being.

What was the issue with Finchel as of late? It was that Rachel’s desires and dreams were crystal clear, while Finn was more or less just following along trying to figure out what he wanted on the fly … and it oftentimes was a compromise to suit Rachel’s agenda. Now, Cory Monteith’s character is really going to be forced to fend for himself, and the first step on his gradual road to recovery appears to be him trying to get his mojo back.

In this sneak peek, Artie (Kevin McHale) pays Finn a visit at what is his new place of employment now: a tire shop. Why? It basically rips a hole in his stomach to see a guy with some talent in a field other than auto mechanics not living up to his potential; and therefore, he wants to help in any way that he can. Strangely, “help” comes here via a threat to come back to McKinley High to co-direct the “Grease” musical, or Artie is going to instead keep the rest of New Directions from participating in it, as well. Finn has a point in that he knows nothing about directing, but maybe this will help him find himself along the way. (We at least really hope so.)

Also not lost on us here: the fact that Ryan Murphy has Finn doing something in this scene that we see early and often during “Grease” itself in working on cars.