House spoiler making the rounds

[tzikeh]

My reaction under the cut.



It's pretty well confirmed that one of the main cast dies before the end of this season. More and more, the word is that it's a suicide. We're told it's "not who you'd expect," and "you'll never see it coming," and "the actor/actress did not want to leave; it was a creative decision."

The "final two", as it were, in spoilertown, are Kutner or Wilson.

We know from interviews with Hugh Laurie that his character undergoes traumatic, life-changing events in the final episodes of the series, on the level of complete mental/emotional breakdown. And we know that he once again has a vision of Amber.

I love Kutner. I think he's a terrific, if underused, character. I'd be sad to see him go. But if Wilson offs himself, that TiVo season pass will be gone in a New York minute, and my personal canon stops at the end of last week's episode.

Comments

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Dude, my mom watches religiously and loves House, but she named one her cats after Wilson. She already lost Gil Grissom this year. She loses another favorite character and I don't look forward to the phone calls I'm going to get.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Did Gil Grissom die?

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Nah, he left the show. But if you talk to her about it, it sounds a lot like he died.

[klia.livejournal.com]

The writers turned him into a pod person, so he may as well have. :P

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Wilson is a really good bet. I hadn't heard this spoiler, however.

Contract-wise, it's been five years, everyone's up for renewal so it's possible they proposed to not renew RSL's contract; that could have been a surprise for him but a choice he chose to make.

Alternately, they could more easily lose Kal Penn, less of an established actor and someone who could go back to movies really easily. PLUS his is a newer contract, probably was a 2 yr, so again he'd be up for renewal and wouldn't get it.

But what if it's Cuddy? Either Cuddy or Wilson would WRECK HOUSE (the person... also perhaps the show) and send him into a self-destructive spiral that would be awesome to watch, no?

Anyway, I love RSL, but I'd rather see Wilson go than Kutner because of the effect it would have on HOUSE. I mean, if there's even going to be a season 6. I heard they were renewed, but if not, all bets are off and I would love, LOVE to see House himself eat a bullet.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Cuddy just adopted a baby. I don't think the writers would be that cruel.

Also we have other Cuddy spoilers. :)

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think it'll be Cuddy, I just meant that her absence or Wilson's will have a more profound effect on House. I'm putting easy 2/1 odds on Wilson.

I do not think Kutner will go. Taub, maybe.

And I DID read some other Cuddy spoilers, so. *g*

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Taub, maybe.

Doubt it, what with the "you'll never see it coming" "not the person you'd expect", etc. With all the angsting Taub's been doing, plus his encounter with Death!Cat, I think he's the safest of them all.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he's full of self-hate. But I still both predict and want Wilson to go, in some spectacular manner possibly in which House blames himself for it?

That would explain the Amber visions...

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

And I DID read some other Cuddy spoilers, so. *g*

Which... would kinda go with it being Wilson, in a way.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

The absolute single only reason it WON'T be Wilson is because we were already scared briefly that he was suicidal before he went to meet his brother.

Killing off Kal Penn is just a waste. THE AUDIENCE will miss him more than the characters will, and that be just DUMB.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

But Wilson seems the logical choice in light of all the other tidbits we've been fed--especially House's emotional/mental free-fall.

Not that I want him to go, unlike you. :D

[suaine.livejournal.com]

Dude, if it's a suicide then "you'll never see it coming" is kind of TOTALLY BAD CHARACTERIZATION.

How did we arrive at the final two anyway? Because I can see Cuddy offing herself over a life-changing event + stress related depression. Wilson is just too fucking functional and interested for someone who's depressed enough to kill himself. That level of functionality is usually only achieved again once the decision for suicide has been made and the suicidee is making specific plans and working to hide it from their environment.

Er. Also, Kutner is about as likely to off himself as anyone, but unless there's a cataclysmic event in his future, I just don't see it.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

if it's a suicide then "you'll never see it coming" is kind of TOTALLY BAD CHARACTERIZATION.

Oh, I strongly, strongly disagree. So many people talk about suicides of friends or co-workers or whatever that they never saw coming; that no one knew anything was wrong, or things were bad, or that the person had any *kind* of suicidal thoughts.

Nobody can really know why anyone commits suicide. We can guess, but we can never know.

[suaine.livejournal.com]

I was actually coming at it from a personal and a mental health professional point of view. Personally, I've had suicidal thoughts mixed in with my depression for years. I've considered it seriously at least a few times. Professionally, we've been taught a lot about the spectrum of suicides, the ones that are cries for help and the ones that are a person deciding to end their lives.

The former doesn't necessarily present with a history of depression, but can include anxiety and stress. This is most common in teenagers and should, of course, be taken seriously, because too often the cry for help isn't heard. The other end of the spectrum is more common with older people, most often there is a history of depression and medication.

That last part is why so often the layperson will think it so surprising. The suicide rate actually increases after the onset of anti-depressant medication because in the depth of a major depression, the patient often doesn't have the motivation and energy to go through with a suicide. That's why we're always urging people never to take anti-depressants without professional supervision. Now, as I said, the person who has decided on death and gets into the planning stage looks highly functional from the outside. They are often very meticulous in their deception, but it's not a long-term state of mind. They can present as more carefree, more outgoing, like a weight has been lifted from their shoulders.

People kill themselves because their brain chemistry is out of whack. I understand that it can appear to be out of nowhere from the outside, but it is never out of nowhere for the person killing themselves. I guarantee you they've been carrying it around for a long time. And in fictional characterization, that should show up. We get to see them often enough doing their staring into space thing, their little reaction shots, with the music overlay. We should get hints that one of them is battling depression.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I've been clinically depressed for my whole life and have had several bouts of suicidal ideation, with three major depressive episodes, and certainly have enough experience with the psychiatric profession to understand the brain chemistry imbalance often (not always) involved in suicides.

I am not a doctor, but I've been in both individual therapy and an intensive daily group therapy session that lasted eight months (with a variety of depressive and bi-polar co-patients) to know all about suicidal thoughts from the inside, and how those who do eventually commit suicide may present to those around them. I've had one co-worker commit suicide, and nobody saw it coming--not even those of us who had been suicidal at one point or another ourselves.

There have been plenty of hints from each major character (except *maybe* Foreman) that they could be significantly depressed over the past five seasons.

[suaine.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm arguing the wrong angle here.

I don't mean to say that the characters should see it coming, because as you said, it's often impossible to judge from the outside.

Also, possibly I mean bad writing more than bad characterization. The thing is, for the character in question it would be a long-standing issue. You know that, I know that, and the character knows that. Everyone else could be completely oblivious, because that's pretty much how human interaction works.

But I honestly think that jumping up and yelling "surprise suicide!" at the audience is shoddy character work.

Also, I'd like to apologize if I come off as stand-offish or combative. I get the feeling I've hit a nerve and I never meant to barge in here and lecture you, and I'm a little scared that that's what I've been doing. I think the subject of mental healthcare representation in the media might be a trigger for me.

[very-improbable.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't necessarily trust the House writers to do it well (especially since it's being teased in what looks like kind of a sensationalist way), but I have seen the sudden suicide of a major character presented in a dramatically effective and well-characterized way. It was on a cop show, and the pain and frustration of surviving characters--the inability to "solve" the motivation of the character's death--drove the story.

As I say, though, I'm not counting on House to make something like that work, especially when this development sounds like what you describe: "hey look! surprise suicide!"

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Why, would this be a reference to, um... Balmer? :D

(Need icon for that show)

[very-improbable.livejournal.com]

I was kind of going nuts trying to explain that plot without giant honking spoilers. :) And normally I'm sort of like, you know, if an ep aired like fifteen years ago, I'm not going to be skittish about spoilers, but some shows are special...

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I hear you re: some shows are special. I AM NOT MONTEL WILLIAMS.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

the inability to "solve" the motivation of the character's death--drove the story

Heh - I just posted that--certainly that would drive House to the brink.

[very-improbable.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the thing, I can imagine an INCREDIBLE story stemming from House losing Wilson that way, I just...don't expect a story that handles it that well to happen in canon. (I will let the internet tell me whether to watch, I think.)

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I can imagine an INCREDIBLE story stemming from House losing Wilson that way

Which I would probably find fascinating, *in fanfiction*. Not so much wanting it on my screen.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

You're not coming off as stand-offish or combative. And I think the subject of mental health representation in the media is a big trigger for *both* of us. But no, I don't see our discussion as an argument.

I don't know that it will or won't work; it will depend on how they handle it. Do I think they will handle it well? Probably not, but it's not impossible. In fact, what might lead to House's "emotional/mental breakdown" is the idea that he never saw it coming, and that would make him crazy, as the person who knows everything all the time, and that he'll never find/understand the "reason", or "cause", which negates his entire raison d'etre.

I *do* trust that it won't be a *Surprise suicide!* without significant after-effects, which may shed more light on it.

[suaine.livejournal.com]

That's the thing with online communication, so hard to judge emotional reactions.

And yes, I do think that for House "not seeing it coming" will be devastating. He's the guy who watches people all the time, who tries to figure everyone out, and quite frankly thinks he has figured all his close acquaintances out long ago, with a little allowance for deviation through life events. But this? Would destroy him.

Okay, saying that, I know if it happens I'll just take my toys and go home. I once skipped half a season (I think it was late season two, early three) because I couldn't handle House being all fucked up. I think I identify with him rather strongly.

I *do* trust that it won't be a *Surprise suicide!* without significant after-effects, which may shed more light on it.

Let's hope so. I think that line about how we'll never see it coming that kind of set me off there. It felt kind of gleeful.

[cereta.livejournal.com]

Huh. I wonder if that's what wulfgyr was referring to the other night. He mentioned there's rumors about a suicide on some major show.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Probably, yeah.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Interesting that no one is speculating that it might be Foreman.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Considering how we've already seen his will to live via his brush with legionellosis, it seems a little improbable... then again, stranger things have happened.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Oh, *everyone* has been discussed as an option at one point or another, but too many "sources" have said either Kutner or Wilson, so it seems to be a two-man race.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I think Foreman is simply the least likely in terms of his characterization over the series. No weight-of-the-world complex (didn't marry anyone dying of brain cancer); no desperate childhood angst (father left, mother drank herself to death); no killed parents followed by being adopted by people of another culture; no oncoming guaranteed death-by-Huntington's; no disastrous monetary loss during a marriage crisis; etc.

The top three are House (impossible), Cuddy (possible, but with a new baby, highly unlikely), and Wilson (most emotional impact on House, on anti-depressants, dead girlfriend, entirely unable to maintain any romantic relationship for real, anyhow, etc....).

[mayhap]

But, but ... Wilson = Watson, and Watson can't die. He simply can't.

Maybe House commits suicide, and then he turns out to have been faking.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

:D And Wilson wakes up and House is in the shower....

[very-improbable.livejournal.com]

"I dreamed I saw the strangest episode of Family Guy!"

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

AHAHHAHAHAHAAA

"Gimme back my sock, you goat bastard!"

[falzalot.livejournal.com]

They can't kill Wilson! It's wrong!! And I don't even watch the show!!

Though for true TV-related angst, you should see my mom now that they are ending Guiding Light. It's like the end of the world.

[serrico.livejournal.com]

Yeaaaaah, I heard those spoilers a week or so ago and immediately completed the emotional-detaching process I've been going through with this show throughout this whole season. If it *does* turn out to be Wilson, I'll probably still watch ('cause I wanna see if my own personal theory about Chase being heir to Wilson's relationship with House turns out to be *at all* true *g*), but I won't be doing too much in the way of caring.