'Glee' Winter Finale Achieves Record Suicide-Prevention Org Traffic

That FOX's "Glee" laces its comedy and frivolity with social consciousness is hardly a revelation. That being said, the song-and-dance hit's winter finale took that identity to a new level.

Following Max Adler's reformed McKinley High bully Karofsky's arc climaxing with attempted suicide after facing relentless anti-gay harrassment himself, The Trevor Project - a national LGBT-suicide prevention support organization - experienced unprecedented traffic.

Openly and publicly supported by former "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe and "Glee" cast members Darren Criss, Kevin McHale and Adler, a PSA including the group's contact information was aired during the pivotal pre-hiatus episode. The Trevor Project co-founder Peggy Rajski told Entertainment Weekly that the organization's traffic increased an estimated 300 percent in the episode's wake. That traffic included a noticeable online-traffic boost, Rajski indicated.

"What was great about the show is that they worked in conjunction with us so we knew in advance that there was going to in all likelihood be an increase in volume," Rajski said. "On average, our site probably attracts about an average of 1,500 visits a day," she said. "Tuesday we got 10,000. There's the power of network TV."

The winter finale arc brings Karofsky 180 degrees, from being among openly gay Kurt Hummel's (Chris Colfer) most persistent tormenters throughout much of the first two seasons, to professing his open love for his victim during the Valentine's Day episode "Heart" and now having his life shaken by ghosts of what he visited upon others.

Though Adler told EW.com that he knew what awaited Karofsky, it seemed it was a while before this resolution sank in.

"It's always [in] the script," Adler explained following the episode. "The kiss. The prom. The suicide. I just get the scripts and am delighted to get that script. I remember last year there were a bunch of interviews I'd done where I said I could see this ending that way, like as a negative result. But I didn't think they would go there. I think because the fact that it's so prevalent in the news and it's such an epidemic, it needs to be shown and it needs to be talked about. I think all our hopes is that it saves a lot of lives and, to the bullies, I think it sheds a whole new perspective on what their words really do to people."

To learn more about The Trevor Project or to seek help for yourself or someone close to you, call the toll-free Trevor Lifeline at 866-488-7386 or visit http://www.thetrevorproject.org.