Which doctor is going to die??

[Pearl@32]

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/04/house-exclusive.html

It's all Obama's fault.

Saw a blurb on IMDb. Oh well. Be fruitful...and annoying.

Kal Penn was AWESOME in The Namesake.

[Pearl@32]

I got impatient and looked for spoilers, and read that it was gonna be Kutner. I didn't take it too seriously, but when Remy and Foreman weren't getting an answer from knocking on his door, I immediately said, they really are doing it (killing him off)!

I see it more as a "sometimes there is no answer/reason" episode. I haven't re-watched it, but you can usually link what's going on in the patient's story with a character's story.

I have borrowed from the IMDb user-contributed synopsis.

This story is all about guilt and love.
Guilt over Kutner's suicide; Charlotte's guilt over taking the fantasy trip to Rio without her husband; Eddie's guilt over not treating his wife better. Love between two people; love between parent(s) and child; love among friends.

* Taub thinks guilt is a waste of time, since Kutner is an idiot for killing himself.

* Kutner called his adoptive parents Mr. and Mrs. Kutner for years, until they gave him a chemistry set. Then they were mom and dad.

* 13 runs a test on Charlotte, who talks about the fact her husband never loved her as much as she loved him. But she wants to give her heart to her husband if she dies.

* Taub runs his test on Eddie, who talks about wanting more time with his wife, to treat her better. (Guilt)

* 13 shows up on Foreman's doorstep. He wants to work through things alone.

* Taub and 13 try to help Charlotte, who's seizing on the floor. She broke free from her bed and injected herself with anything she could grab. Taub knows she was trying to kill herself to save her husband. They stabilize her, but her liver is now shot. Taub thinks it was selfless.

* Eddie wants to give his liver to Charlotte. They want to tell her that her husband is giving a partial kidney donation and then "let" him die on the table so they can take the whole thing. However he has a fungal infection, not cancer. It's curable. He tells House to do the transplant. If not now, then he can do it when Eddie gets out and is hit by a car and shows up in his morgue.

* House thinks they were both ready to die for guilt, not love. But Taub thinks you can't have that much guilt without love.

* Foreman takes 13's hand.

* Alone at the hospital, Taub finally cries.

Who's lying?
* House confronts Charlotte for lying. She didn't go to Hawaii; she went to Rio, where they have sand fleas that could infect her. She confesses. She went last year, not with anyone Eddie knew.

* House wants to know what Kutner was hiding and why. There's a picture on the wall of Kutner with his adoptive parents and another of him with his dead parents. That means he wasn't hiding from the pain.

In the end
House tries to make sense of it all by rooting through Kutner's apartment one last time. He finds a moody picture of Kutner, inscrutable. As the episode's title suggests, is this picture the "simple explanation" for Kutner killing himself? No.

The problem is there is no simple explanation. Or worse, there is none.

[Pearl@32]

Next week:

[spoiler]Cuddy to Cameron: Are you in love with House? 

Duh![/spoiler]

[SerenityValley]

Apparently, Kal Penn took off without much notice, since he never actually appeared in this ep (just my speculation).

As much as I love House, I thought this ep sucked pretty bad.  Sad, considering they had MeatLoaf guest star.  It felt like it was poorly written, poorly developed and thrown together at the last minute.  Hope next week is back to the high standard I expect from this great show.

[Spooky]

Dying for White House gig
'House' actor killed off to take on new role
Lauren Beckham Falcone By Lauren Beckham Falcone
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 - Updated 20h ago
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Lauren Beckham Falcone covers pop culture, style and all things feature-y for Boston Herald.
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Fans of TV's "House" were stunned by Monday's mind-blowing episode in which Kal Penn's beloved character, Dr. Lawrence Kutner, inexplicably committed suicide.

Hours later a bigger shocker was revealed. Penn was leaving "House" for a job in President Obama's White House.

"(Politics) is something I've been passionate about," Penn said in a telephone press conference yesterday. "For the folks who know me, they know I have these dueling passions, the arts and public service. So they are not shocked at all."

Penn, who stumped for Obama during his campaign, will be an associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison, connecting the president with Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, as well as arts and entertainment groups, according to White House spokesman Shin Inouye.

Which is a leap for an actor who prior to "House" was best-known for his role as a famished stoner in "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" and its 2008 sequel, "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."

UCLA-grad Penn, 31, has been boning up on public policy since 2006, taking online courses in international studies at Stanford. He was also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, teaching a course in Images of Asian Americans in the Media and a seminar in Contemporary American Teen Films.

Penn's unexpected exit on "House" was a 24-hour mash up of real and fictional events that had many folks scratching their heads. At the conclusion of Monday's "House," fans of Penn's Kutner character were directed to an online memorial on Fox-TV's Web site, complete with a memorial video, mock obituary, handwritten notes from fellow characters and a Facebook page, about 12,000 members strong as of yesterday.

"When I heard (about) it, I just said, "Don't put any of my real family photos on the Web site," Penn said.

The New Jersey-born Penn obviously won't be returning to "House," but don't expect to see him in another "Harold and Kumar" movie anytime soon.

"I don't want to squash anyone's hopes or dreams, but I'm moving to Washington to take on this position and I'm not going to be acting while serving in the White House," Penn said. "Who is to say three, four, five years (from now), but it's not on the radar."

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view/2009_04_08_Dying_for_White_House_gig:_%E2%80%98House__actor_killed_off_to_take_on_new_role/srvc=home&position=1

[Pearl@32]

Apparently, Kal Penn took off without much notice, since he never actually appeared in this ep (just my speculation).

As much as I love House, I thought this ep sucked pretty bad.  Sad, considering they had MeatLoaf guest star.  It felt like it was poorly written, poorly developed and thrown together at the last minute.  Hope next week is back to the high standard I expect from this great show.

Nope, not true.

When did you first learn Kal was thinking of leaving House?
DAVID SHORE: It was very early in the process that he told us that he might [at some point] want to move on and work in politics. He has been involved in a number of other things [while working on House]. He worked very extensively for the Obama campaign and he's been teaching at Penn. Kal is a man with broader ambitions than the entertainment industry. So he spoke to us and said, 'I love the show and I love working with these people, but there are things that I would like to do.' And you sort of think, 'That's admirable, but there's no way he's going to do it.' This is a good gig he's got here.

KATIE JACOBS: As thyme went on, it was still on his mind. And then we took a writers retreat right at the beginning of December and David sort of had this "A-ha" moment about how to both free Kal up to pursue other things and, most importantly, service where David wants to go at the end of the season with House's story.

SHORE: The fact that it happened over a long period of thyme allowed him to pursue his goals as a human being, but also allowed us to make it work within the confines of the show.

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/04/house-exclusive.html


I think this episode suffered from major disjointedness.  But looking back, this episode wasn't really much different than previous ones ~ the formula is going back and forth between patients/the case and the characters. Maybe the fact it was a character gone without warning.

The core House-ness was there ~ it was about hiding from yourself and others and ultimately being honest with yourself and others. Even if you do put a gun to your head.

Doesn't make it right. But supposedly it's a vehicle for a change in House. But honestly, how many vehicles does this guy need?! We'll just watch and see.

[Eric]

Someone over at HotAir pointed out that House's instincts are nearly almost-always right in the end.  So, I'd say there's still a chance of their taking it a step up.  Since deaths are traditionally done at season's end, there's a chance this could be a part of a multi-story arc culiminating with season finale.

I know a lot of people had quit watching House because it's too formulaic, but they miss the point. I've been saying this for years and years:  It doesn't matter if  you know at the end of the story that "the butler did it".  It doesn't.  It's the story that gets you to that point which matters.  House isn't as much about healing others as it is about healing himself; about understanding what it means to be a human being.  Well, and hearing his insults.

[SerenityValley]

Apparently, Kal Penn took off without much notice, since he never actually appeared in this ep (just my speculation).

As much as I love House, I thought this ep sucked pretty bad.  Sad, considering they had MeatLoaf guest star.  It felt like it was poorly written, poorly developed and thrown together at the last minute.  Hope next week is back to the high standard I expect from this great show.

Nope, not true.

When did you first learn Kal was thinking of leaving House?
DAVID SHORE: It was very early in the process that he told us that he might [at some point] want to move on and work in politics. He has been involved in a number of other things [while working on House]. He worked very extensively for the Obama campaign and he's been teaching at Penn. Kal is a man with broader ambitions than the entertainment industry. So he spoke to us and said, 'I love the show and I love working with these people, but there are things that I would like to do.' And you sort of think, 'That's admirable, but there's no way he's going to do it.' This is a good gig he's got here.

KATIE JACOBS: As thyme went on, it was still on his mind. And then we took a writers retreat right at the beginning of December and David sort of had this "A-ha" moment about how to both free Kal up to pursue other things and, most importantly, service where David wants to go at the end of the season with House's story.

SHORE: The fact that it happened over a long period of thyme allowed him to pursue his goals as a human being, but also allowed us to make it work within the confines of the show.

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/04/house-exclusive.html


I think this episode suffered from major disjointedness.  But looking back, this episode wasn't really much different than previous ones ~ the formula is going back and forth between patients/the case and the characters. Maybe the fact it was a character gone without warning.

The core House-ness was there ~ it was about hiding from yourself and others and ultimately being honest with yourself and others. Even if you do put a gun to your head.

Doesn't make it right. But supposedly it's a vehicle for a change in House. But honestly, how many vehicles does this guy need?! We'll just watch and see.

"It was very early in the process that he told us that he might [at some point] want to move on and work in politics. He has been involved in a number of other things [while working on House]. He worked very extensively for the Obama campaign and he's been teaching at Penn. Kal is a man with broader ambitions than the entertainment industry. So he spoke to us and said, 'I love the show and I love working with these people, but there are things that I would like to do.' And you sort of think, 'That's admirable, but there's no way he's going to do it.' This is a good gig he's got here."

So, they knew it was a possiblility, doesn't mean he didn't come in one day, recently, and say "Oh, btw, this is my last episode".  It still feels to me like it was sudden.  (It is not out of the realm of possibility that I am way off, but still).   I keep going back to the fact that he was not in this ep at all.  Even when they found his "body", it was just his feet and legs in the shot.

Ah, well, anyway, here's hoping the next ep is not as disappointing to me as this one was.

[Eric]

So, they knew it was a possiblility, doesn't mean he didn't come in one day, recently, and say "Oh, btw, this is my last episode".  It still feels to me like it was sudden.  (It is not out of the realm of possibility that I am way off, but still).   

Some people have said that the episode was an analogy for his career as an actor.   

Seriously, though, I can't begrudge him for wanting to serve a president in-which he believes, nor for wanting to put himself into a much lower tax bracket. 

[Pearl@32]

Just bring on the Hameron!!