Byron Cohen/FOXWarning: If you haven't watched House's series finale yet, avert your eyes and leave this post immediately. Major spoilers ahead! We repeat, only continue reading if you have watched the series finale of House.
The retrospective special set us up, and the series finale knocked us down.
Last time we checked in with our favorite couple TV couple, Wilson had about five months to live and House was headed back to prison for six months. Heart, meet knife. And twist. It was hard to imagine last week that a happy ending would come from that situation, so needless to say we were holding our breath when the series finale started. So when the screen finally faded to black at the end, our first thought was:
Yes! Happy endings do exist for House!
David Shore pulled the ole bait and switch by leading us to believe that House (Hugh Laurie) had died in a building fire. There was a coroner confirming it was House and a funeral! We were wiping away tears, headed for certain sobbing during Wilson's (Robert Sean Leonard) pitch-perfect eulogy when a text message arrived. It was to Wilson, from House, telling him to shut up and calling him an idiot. House lives!
Yep, House faked his own death to avoid prison and spend time with his best friend before he died. Sure, most people think he's dead now (except Foreman, who got a little reminder in the form of House's Princeton badge), but what matters is that the last shot was House and Wilson, riding motorcycles down a tree lined road into the sunset.
Besides the ending, what moved us most during the finale was the fact that House realized he did want to change who he was, even after Wilson's death. While House hung out in the burning building, he got visits from Kutner (Kal Penn), Amber (Anne Dudek), Stacy (Sela Ward) and Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), who all convinced him that suicide was not an option and that he had plenty to live for. And House didn't let fate decide if he died or not in that building…he got up and started to walk out all by himself. Until he laid eyes on his best friend Wilson, who was waiting outside with Foreman (Omar Epps), and the building exploded. Thankfully, he was able to slip out the back and become legally dead.
It felt slightly odd that all these important people came to House in the fire and Cuddy wasn't one of them. Of course, we knew a while ago Lisa Edelstein wouldn't appear in the finale, but we did have a sliver of hope she'd surprise us all. Wishful thinking on our part. At least we got a look at what House's team was up to in present day: Chase (Jesse Spencer) took over the diagnostic department, Cameron had a husband and a baby, and Taub (Peter Jacobson) was happy with his family.
Shore promised us the finale would be introspective for House, and he was totally right. A fitting end to a wonderful series, don't you think?
House One-Liners:
"It's a tiny white lie. No offense. Especially since from what I hear nothing black is tiny. Except your penis, I guess."—to Foreman
"Wilson, I don't want to lose this time with you."
"How are things in hell? Is humidity the big issue?"—to Amber
What did you think of the final episode of House ever? Satisfied with the ending? Take our poll and then hit the comments for some much needed House discussion!