I adored the series finale. It was great seeing so many faces from the past put in appearances, from Dr. Nolan (Andre Braugher) to Cameron (Jennifer Morrison, who took a break from filming her own hit show Once Upon a Time), to Stacy (Sela Ward), Amber (Anne Dudek), Kutner (Kal Penn), and even Nurse Jeffrey. I was disappointed not to see Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) drop by somewhere in House's heroin-addled subconscious, but I'm glad David Shore at least inserted a small clip from a happier time.
Placing House in purgatory to be visited by a series of guides to steer him through this last stretch was a brilliant way to structure the episode’s story. For all his sarcasm, House has always been one of the most introspective characters to ever have graced the small screen. The best House episodes have been those that allow us access into his chaotic inner life, whether through dreams, hallucinations or honest revelations.
House’s purgatory is to listen to his own voice channeled through those no longer in his life: Kutner, in whose suicidal shoes House now walks; Amber, whose voice has stalked him at other crisis points; Stacy, a woman with whom he shared a deep love, and Cameron, who had always believed in the best of him. And in the end, he has no choice, but to choose life as he so often has before. Remember: people don’t change!
A question for you all: Did House leave clues for Chase, Foreman, and Cameron that he's still alive and bikin'? Much more later this week! But for now, a poll:
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Pam
I saw the clue he left for Foreman, and I'm pretty sure the picture on Cameron's computer was a clue. But didn't see a clue for Chase-hoping I just missed it?
I didn't get that he gave up his life for Wilson until after.
Wish Cuddy could have appeared. That would have been the most interesting conversation I think. But glad everyone else went back-was hoping for Amber, and seeing Stacey again was a nice surprise.
I loved the finale-thought it was perfect. The more I think about it the better I like it. Looking forward to your full review.
2 - Tourmaline
Were those ouvert clues to House's continued existence, or reminders - a montage of what the show has been? Of where the original three fellows were when the show started and where they are now?
I agree it would've been good to see Cuddy (and Rachel) again, but I would've been surprised if Lisa Edelstein had agreed to return. Would've also been good to see Lin-Manuel Miranda reprise Alvie too.
After all the angsting over who might die in the finale, this was an excellent well-crafted story to tie everything up. Am now looking forward to the fanfic that will no doubt spring up in our various House fandom communities :)
3 - housemaniac
Hi Barbara! Thanks for the quick turn-around and throughtful commentary. I realize I'm known as something of a curmudgeon around here, but since "people don't change," why stop now? I wonder if you would respond to the following.
This morning I checked the on-line reviews of the episode and they were pretty mediocre, some downright hostile. Why do you think the critics and the fans here have such different views of the finale?
Here are just a few snippets: One reviewer pointed out that there was a dead body next to House when he was first shown in the warehouse. Did you notice that? I didn't. But if that was the case, then the fact that the firemen only pulled one body out of the burning building would have been a HUGE CLUE that House was probably stil alive. The reviewer thought this was too obvious.
Another complaint was that bringing back stars of yore is a common gimmick for series' finales. I don't know if this is true, but I do know that while I liked seeing all of those characters, I agree with the reviewer that it did not feel especially organic to the plot. To see one or two, maybe. But a whole litany of conversations with characters from House's past made for a kind of repetition that I did not particularly like and also served to highlight the absence of Cuddy, which made it harder (for me, at least) not to be distracted by her absence. Finally, the characters in the warehouse seemed more like ghosts than hallucinations, which was weird and a departure for the show--from the rational into the mystical.
Then there is my own personal peeve: Shore essentially copied the structure of the Reichenbach Falls story. A great story, to be sure, but ideally I would have preferred more originality.
Don't get me wrong: I liked the finale. I just didn't love it. I gave it four stars. I will treasure this show forever. But I don't think this will make it on my top 5 favorite episodes. I preferred the penultimate one where one of television's best if not the best male friendship was explored to the hilt. Endings are hard. Maybe they are impossible. I am left today with closure but not awe.
4 - rjw
Loved it!!! He definitely left that clue for Foreman,but didn't notice any for Chase or Cameron.
5 - Cyndi
Thanks for the quick notes...
I was very touched by House's ultimate act of selflessness.
I must say though, I was a little antsy during the first 45 minutes of the show. It was a little slow to get to the point. The ending made up for it. Thinking about the show overnight, I woke up smiling as House's decision to do what he did let all those around him take a step forward in their lives. It was time for everyone to move on.
Can't wait to watch the last 15 minutes again.
6 - barbara barnett
Rewatched and obviously Foreman knows, and that picture popped up on Cameron's laptop. She looked mildly surprised. It's ambiguous. Nothing for Chase, who needs to know that he's independent (better for him not to know that House is still around)
The body was the patient. No one else knew that the man was in there with House, so one body had to be House. I don't understand the confusion about that! The beams fell in front of House and there was a many second delay before the entire thing exploded. House could have escaped through the back or a side door.
7 - Igor
I guess it's because Buddhism is so disregarded and misperceived in Anglo-American society that House's story is not seen for what it is: the American telling of the story of Buddha.
8 - dvbfan
I liked this finale a lot. It was surprising,shocking,emotional and full of twists and turns. For me this episode was one the best episodes of this show.
I mentioned to Barbara that maybe Wilson was hallucinating at the end and House has died,but now I think House has faked his death and has done something great for his best friend .It was the best self-sacrificing gesture that someone can do for his friend and House did it gracefully for Wilson.
In my opinion at the end House has changed because he did something truly valuable and precious for Wilson and it was a true sign of "unconditional love";in contrast, at first, he did not believe in "unconditional love" and he mentioned everything is conditional .
And the last thing,Barbara I will miss your great articles about this magnificent show.
Something is funny here, I have an exam tomorrow and I have studied nothing and I have decided to write about House because I spent my whole day watching House and following House fans opinions !
9 - housemaniac
But Barbara WE the viewers knew the body was in there. That is all I meant--Shore left us a pretty big clue that House may still have been alive. Have seen some more positive reviews now, by the way, though I just read one that said House has always been more about fantasy than most shows. Huh? Anyway, I share your smile, Cyndi.
10 - Jacksam4eva
Loved it. Loved it, loved it, LOVED IT. Plain and simple. I've only watched the episode once so far but it was just so satisfying as fan, a regular viewer, anything. I'd made a huge effort to stay spoiler free until I saw the episode this morning and I'm just so glad I did, because I really didn't expect Sela Ward and Anne Dudeck to show up and Oh my God how great they were! But maybe this is just me remembering all the reasons why I loved Stacy so much. And everything else was just perfect. The dialogue, the acting, the end, everything. For some reason, I believe what I loved the most is the fact that as we'll probably see in the discussions, anyone can see pretty much anything they want to see in this finale, which will inevitably lead to endless discussions but anyway. I mean, so far, just on the people-don't-change topic, I've read in some reviews that it confirmed that people don't change, in some others that it proved that House could change, and finally some who said the episode hadn't really touched the subject at all. Sure, some opinions might be better argued than others but the point is, the episode just has so much depth that it made me proud to be fan and to have watched this show for so long. But yeah, I'm also sad it's over.
P.S.: I loved how the ceiling in the house collapsed in the exact same way it did with the MRI in Holding On but this time because of fire, not because of water, which could have extinguished that fire. I don't know if that hapenned on purpose but hope it did.
11 - MusicandHouse
@Pam
I thought maybe the ball was left as a clue for Chase, but I wasn't sure. I also wasn't sure if that picture was sent to Cameron as a clue or if she was just reminicing, a visual juxtoposition of her old life and her new one. I guess its open for interpritation .Foreman was the only one who visibaly figured it out, as he should because he was the only one of those three who knew about Wilson AND House going back to jail.
@HouseManiac
Was that negaitve review by EW's Ken Tucker? I skimmed through it but didn't read the whole thing because Ken is usually really negative about House, I honestly don't know why he has the job of reviewing it for all these years.
As for the other body, I don't think that is strange at all. The building was abandoned and the firemen only knew about House being inside, so they wouldn't look for more. As for the viewers knowing there were two, thats eliminated when Foreman comes out and says that they have confirmed the body it Houses (based on what we now know were false records).
I thought this finale was brilliant. It was a perfect ending to the series and it was one of the most meaningful episodes of the series and the most meaningful series finales I have ever seen. It gave the perfect amount of colsure without devistating us over the death of House.
12 - Koji Attwood
I liked the Dead Poets Society mention as a nice nod in Robert Sean Leonard's direction.
13 - housemaniac
MusicandHouse,
I totally agree with you! Not strange at all. I guess I have not been communicating well today--still recovering from last night. All I mean about the second body is that it could have served as hope for all of us viewers as we freaked out when the ceiling collapsed on House. I had forgotten about the dead patient and so I did not know where to find hope that House was still alive, even though I sensed--especially with Barabara's observation that there was so much time left--that something was afoot and House might still be alive. So, again, I'm just saying that the dead patient was a clue for us, the viewers, that all may not be as it seemed.
I think the negative review might have been by Tucker, yes. I saw two.
14 - housemaniac
Sorry. To clarify: not when the ceiling collapsed but when the firemen brought out a body.
15 - George
Pretty good episode overall, and one of the better series finales going.
Clues, I didn't see any other than the card left on Foremans floor but in my opinion I agree with what others have said, they seemed more reminders than anything else.
@ Housemaniac -- I can certainly see the point but the fact it followed the Reichenbach Falls idea in my opinion is a good thing, throughout House he's always been a Sherlock Holmes of Medicine the last episode wasn't just a tribute to House's character but his "role model".
Originality is a great thing, but I think if you are going to design the show around a preexisting idea, you should recognise it, House MDs writers chose to do this in a last episode (although it remained classic house style).
Overall I'm glad they ended it the way they did, I didn't think I'd be satisfied as a fan with anything other than House's suicide/running away from the cops, but they ended the show and him much more gracefully, I wanted House to actually do something for Wilson and he did, a sacrifice I'm wondering he hadn't planned all along. (The idea he left clues in the hospital a la Foreman, kinda suggests that he planned some of this out).
16 - today
I thought it was a fantastic ending and a great way to end the serie.
We the fan, can now believe whatever we want about the future of House and at the same time, it left the serie wide open. Maybe for a future episode (I can dream)
The conversation in the burning building with each guest was priceless, that is the reason why I wath House.
As far as this episode is concerned I do have to questions:
1.- When Wilson says to House you have only one person you can rely on, House answers I thought I have two? Who is he refering to?
2.- When Stacy asks House to hold his child, is she saying this is Houses's child?
I have never seen an episode where they say Stacy is having a child with House.
Also want to add, that I really enjoyed Swan Song, WELL DONE
17 - Elisabeth
The funny thing about House's hospital name tag that he left under Foreman's table is that House almost NEVER wore his name tag just as he almost never wore his lab coat. I'm amused that he could find it!
18 - HLismyBabyDaddy
I've seen it & agree that although bringing back so many past cast members...even the dead ones; it only amplified the BIG absence of Cuddy, which just HURT. Seriously, Dominica was @ his funeral but not Cuddy?! WTF!!! I hate FOX/NBCUniversal!!! I'm one of those that came back for the finale so I hope the ratings went up for HL's sake.
Anyhows, although I was able to watch w/out tuning out, I felt that this finale exemplified why many fans turned away from the show over the last few seasons. With the exception of the cast surprises/gifts, it seemed to drag on with the last 10 or so minutes being the best part, plot point, arc/story.
IMHO, the last few seasons seemed to drag on as well being repetitive & just unnecessary fillers until the last few episodes @ the end of each season. Then, at the end, TPTB tried to cram in a bunch of open-ended things or "Kaboom" or shocking moments. I just don't get why TPTB didn't give us more of those INTROSPECTIVE House moments? It's what HL did soooo awesomely, dammit! I think that there are still so many ?s regarding HL's amazingly portrayed character. It's like all they did was plan out episodes 1 + the last 2-3 of each season and the rest were fillers where they just filled films with nonsense.
Again, I think DS did an ok job w/ the finale & it looks like he tried to make all the fans happy with the end (by not killing House...Thank you very much!). OTOH, DS or maybe it's the whole gang of writers that just don't impress me with the 'Middles' (B-M-E) in the stories. I don't & didn't expect to have all the answers but the cast was just so talented & I ache for the potential(s) lost.
19 - Zayd
At first I got the impression that Wilson was hallucinating the final scene with House, either way, a fitting ending for what has been a fantastic show. My only issue is that, as one reviewer said, the scene with Stacy may well have been originally planned for Cuddy. Otherwise loved it.
20 - MusicandHouse
@Today
1. I though that "I thought there were two" comment was a little strange at first but Wilson is basically telling House he can only count on himself (you can only count on one person) and House says he thought there were two meaning himself and Wilson. Thats what I thought it meant anyway.
2. No that is not actually House's baby. Stacey was showing him the life he could have with a wife and a family. The life he apparantly wants somewhere deep down or his subconsicence would not have mentioned it.
@HLismyBabyDaddy
I agree seeing all of these people come back made Cuddy's absence more obvious but I can accept that only because we know the back story. She was offered the chance to come back and she, for whatever reason, did not take it. Had the writers decided that they just didn't want her in the finale I would have been a little upset, but knowing she declined makes me significantly less sad. She did not want to be a part of this finale and that was her choice. I think seeing all of the old faces, especially Stacey and Nolan, who I was not expecting, more than made up for it for me.
I really loved this finale. It was the perfect ending to this series.
21 - Jacksam4eva
@musicandhouse
I totally agree with you on Lisa Edelstein not coming back. I don't really blame her for it since obviously, something terrible enough happened last year for her not to even want to come back for one second in the finale and I respect that choice, but I feel like this isn't something that we can blame the writers for, especially David Shore who's always made it extremely clear that he regretted her departure and would have wanted her to come back. The writers have been blamed for a lot of things lately but I feel blaming them for this without really knowing why Lisa left would be pretty unfair to everyone. As for Stacy replacing her, I want to think Stacy would have been there anyway because I love her so much but yeah people are probably right.
22 - Josie123
I really enjoyed yesterday's finale. I know that I'm in the minority, but I couldn't imagine Cuddy being in his subconscious as a positive force. Having Stacy tell him that it wasn't too late for him to be loved and possibly have a family seemed appropriate. Stacy loved House for himself. (So did Dominica.) Cuddy did not. She was infatuated with House, but not in love.
I didn't record yesterday's show so I only saw it once. In the end, did Wilson ever refer to him as Greg and not House? To me, House always had two personalities--House (the misanthrope) and Greg (the more compassionate soul). By leaving PPTH, he can now be "Greg" and not "House".
23 - HLismyBabyDaddy
@MusicandHouse
Where did LE say she declined/chose not return? I believe that all of the House cast/crew/PTB's that were or had been asked repeatedly by the press (ha-ha) about LE returning for any of S8 or the finale stated that "they would've loved for her to return...but, it just wasn't possible." They'd been speaking like the above for quite some time, ever since she left.
However, LE in an interview not so long ago responded to that same question with an "it's hard to go back when I haven't even been asked." Also, while SW & JM were still up in the air RSL and others were already remarking "what for?" kind of hints that she wouldn't be back.
I truly believe that something ugly (beyond $) happened to LE that impeeded her return. I believe it was the higher-ups at FOX/NBCUniversal that made her return "NOT POSSIBLE." Something was probably just too hurtful for her to return she just couldn't come back due to other unknown-unknowns.
TPTB have made it a point to state how great LE is & then turn around and make her sound like she's all about the $ by mentioning the contract time. I think that anybody that has followed her career(a true fan)and charitable heart knows that's not true or like her at all. She may have left on good terms with most/some cast members but I don't truly believe that she wouldn't want to have been a part of the finale; much less S8. It was quite apparent that she was forced out and not in a good way.
I hope that someday the truth will come out. The Stacy lines were written to make it look like Cuddy could've said those things as well on purpose, IMO.
Seriously, somebody send me the legit link/tweet w/ her declining their offer, please.
24 - Igor
@16-today: Buddha had a son with his wife, which he once tried to raise, but the boy denounced him.
In every country with a Buddhist tradition there is a telling of the life of Buddha (Sidhartha Ghautama), who was a real person. The easiest for us westerners is the Herman Hesse recounting in "Sidhartha", which the Indians made into an excellent film in the 70s.
Please ignore the PBS documentary of a few years ago which is determinedly Silly and boring.
Perhaps the writers of "House" intended this finale as an homage to Hesse's Sidhartha (which was very popular when they were young hippie-wannabes; a friend of mine described his elation at reading Hesse while riding 3rd class buses throughout India in the 60's) just as the writers of "Seinfeld" unmistakeably wrote the finale of Seinfeld as an Homage to "No Exit".
25 - MusicandHouse
@HLismyBabyDaddy
DS and others have said that they tried to "make it happen" and couldn't. Whatever happened between her and TPTB that made her decide not to return is their business but there were several places where I have read that the offered her the chance to come back. I don't remember exact places or quotes though. Either way, we can't blame the writers. I'm not saying we should blame LE either, we should simply respect her choice.