5.20 - Simple Explanation

Someone close to me committed suicide and this show did pretty well showing the survivor experience. That whole House/Parents scene, shit I was sitting in and witnessing a scene almost exactly like that four years ago. People blame, or look to blame, in order to rationalize an irrational act and parents are always an easy target. Yes, parents get blamed. It's totally cruel yet it happens because people are grief stricken and angry and need to reconcile the death with a specific act...something along the lines of: Oh he killed himself because of this, or because you didn't do this, or did this, etc. etc. I also view that whole scene as rational House trying to come to terms with an irrational act in the only way he knows how: by diagnosing it. He spent this whole episode trying to diagnose Kutner's suicide, trying to find a rational reason for an irrational act. I actually thought his response to it was scary good. And, rarely, are there signs. If there were we wouldn't have as many suicides as we do because the people around them would help that person, or help that person get help. It's always afterwards that you're left looking for signs and explanations. Sadness or depression isn't an indicator because they're not readily noticeable or no more so than anyone else's mood swings. I completely agree with what you wrote. The same experience here. I was spoiler-free and I was even glad to see the cute colorfully-dressed litle girl as the patient at the beginning. I hadn't imagined that they'd kill Kutner, such a delightful character, and of all things by a suicide... Although I think the reactions of the people were compelling, I didn't like the music, I didn't like the scene of H/W (too much explanation), I didn't like TPOW was somehow faded in the background. (it may be because I was too struck by the suicide of Kutner...) I usually love the scene of House and Wilson, but all those talk about House solving the puzzle, rationalizing, etc. bugged me. Maybe because I was emotionally identifying myself with House. If I were asked by the parents if I had any idea about the reason for the suicide, I would have done the same thing as House, but of couse, just in my mind, as they should be the ones most suffering. I almost cried when I saw House sitting on the bed of Kutner, alone, holding the photo, and looked up for a second as if to ask Kutner, was it it? If the writers were thinking that it was it, that that was the answer, I'll get mad. I'm glad Hugh acted not as if House got the simple explanation there. You can never know the answer for the suicide.

I almost cried when I saw House sitting on the bed of Kutner, alone, holding the photo, and looked up for a second as if to ask Kutner, was it it? If the writers were thinking that it was it, that that was the answer, I'll get mad. I'm glad Hugh acted not as if House got the simple explanation there. You can never know the answer for the suicide. I'm still wondering, what was the "Simple Explanation" in this episode?

Just read that the previously reported creative decision was actually not the whole story. If Kal got a job at the White House, I can only be happy for him. Still not happy with the way they wrote him off, though, and not looking forward to the gloomy aftermath. But I must absolve TPTB of some of the stupidity of which I accused them.

panda222 I though it was called Simple Explanation because that's what everyone wanted to find, but couldn't. House wanted it to be something he missed or a murder or something else, anything he could figure out. But in the end (as far as we know) he couldn't figure it out. It's the devastating lack of a simple explanation that does him in when we see him staring at that picture of Kutner looking not so happy at the end of the show. House realizes he will never know why Kutner did it and for someone put together like House, that is a truly bitter pill.

I notice alot of people complaining that they could've done it better, that they just went for shock value instead of actually leading up to it. I think that was their intention, to have no lead up. Because that fact that House can't find a reason as to why Kutner did it is why its so troubling to him. I'm sure it would be anyway, but if they just wanted someone to commit suicide for angst it would've been Taub, because that has got precedent and was leading up to it. I thought this episode was well done. The potw got sidelined a little but that's just because naturally your interest is suddenly diverted. I think everyone was in shock, and behaving accordingly.

I actually liked the episode. I was spoiled about an upcoming death and what worried me more actually was that they were going to turn it into a sapfest, like every other TV show does. I actually thought it was good writing the fact we caught glimpses of how the characters reacted to it ... and to their own emotions. House dealing with his own feelings in a pragmatic way (if I find an explanation I can fit it in a box and deal with it) Taub pretty much in denial, 13 being the more emotional one and Foreman closing himself off. It's realistic. I know we 're conditioned to think everybody is supposed to break down and cry when there's a death but really that is not the case, most don't react that way. And generally, I guess it was a decent way to deal with the fact Kal wanted to leave the show, being so completely out of the blue and inexplicable does open up a lot of avenues for character growth for those left in the show. Was this the first time Cuddy actually "admitted" she's not so much managing House as taking care of him?

Well we can all rejoice over one thing: finally another clinic patient done solely for humour. We were all complaining about this a little while ago, weren't we? RE the "House being about House" thing -- I agree, but that's not to say I don't like seeing other characters react. I just like seeing House react more. I really liked Foreman's whole having-to-go-this-alone thing, but once again I think I'll always be the only person who likes his character.

You can find Ausiello's interview with Kal Penn and David Shore & Katie Jacobs here. The first part is spoiler free, but toward the end of the Kal Penn interview there's a typical Ausiello hint. For those who are wondering, I'm about a level 2 on the spoiler phobe list in that I avoid all the big stuff and most of the medium stuff, and this was fine for my comfort level. Here's a bit sans spoilers from the Shore and Jacobs interview: 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 want to move on and work in politics. He has been involved in a number of other things . 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 time 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, ... (cut just in case major spoilerphobes dislike). SHORE: The fact that it happened over a long period of time allowed him to pursue his goals as a human being, but also allowed us to make it work within the confines of the show. So why not just have Kutner take a new job at a different hospital? SHORE: The suicide was essential to . The lack of reason behind it -- the lack of answers -- was what I responded to and is what I got excited about. House, the man of answers, doesn't have an answer about this guy who he has worked with for two years. JACOBS: And he didn't see it coming. It gets under his skin. He is the man who can't rest until the puzzle is solved. So the idea that he worked in such close proximity to Kutner and didn’t see it coming ... (Cut again just in case of spoiler warning). So taking that into consideration ... number one: Major kudos to all of them for keeping a secret about Kal's plans. That would have spoiled absolutely everything, knowing that he was moving. Number two: Kudos to Kal for following his dream and doing something that's good for society, even though it's a major pay cut. We saw this summer that he was more than just a mouthpiece for things he believed in. Number Three: I love even more the decisions they made with Kutner's departure. Just going to another hospital wouldn't have the same punch to the rest of the core characters -- not just House -- and having him linger and die slowly, with they've already got a character with Huntington's, risks covering the same ground. I believe that the results of "Simple Explanation" has the potential for a lot of interesting stories to come for the rest of the season, and I also see Kutner as becoming that niggling mystery to House that Esther was for so long.

I just saw a press release from Fox that says Hugh wrote the music for the memorial video. Nice job.

I was surprised to discover that so many people didn't like it because I loved it. I thought it was a wonderful episode and found it utterly compelling from beginning to end. Shortly before it was due to air on the East Coast I came across a link to a live stream, so decided to stay up late to watch it (from 1am to 2am), which I've never done before. It was an unexpectedly thrilling experience to watch it in real time with the first (East Coast) American audience. For the first time I saw it as Americans do with the American commercials in the intended places. I loved how the writers had mini cliffhangers leading into each break (of course I never usually know where the breaks are because the versions I normally watch have no breaks). It made me think how cleverly the writers had structured it in the six acts that people have been talking about. However, I didn't like how it went into and out of each break with no separation from the drama. On UK channels a screen comes up for a few seconds with the channel or programme logo at the beginning and end of each ad break (except for Sky Three). I hope all the UK channels don't follow suit. When Season Five is finally shown on Channel Five in the UK, the ad breaks will all be in the wrong places because there will not be as many of them! At the end of the episode I found it rather a shock to be jolted straight into the preview of the next one before the credits had even aired. It gives the viewers no time to reflect on the final scene. As for the announcement at the end of the credits about the memorial site for Kutner, it just made me laugh and completely finished off any lingering mood created by the episode. Also, how come Amber didn't get one? That's not fair, is it?! As for the episode itself, I will definitely watch it again (and not just because the live broadcast froze twice - the first time while House was in the midst of blaming Kutner's parents). I thought the sombre atmosphere was really well done and the blue tint was a great effect to use. Unlike people who thought it was depressing and don't want to watch it again, I loved the depth of emotion in it. However, what I appreciated most of all was the complete lack of schmaltz. I cannot emphasise enough how much I appreciated it. I knew there would be a character death but didn't know which one, though I thought Kutner was the most likely. Nevertheless I thought the scene when he was discovered was really well acted and filmed, as was the fact that nobody had any clue at all that it might be going to happen. The way in which House was trying to make sense of it was brilliantly acted by Hugh; in fact I thought all the acting was excellent and feel this episode is a great addition to the season.

There are 3 times I can think of when they used that ghastly lighting:<*> in House's final "of course I've changed" speech in Detox (which was especially jarring because every time they cut to Wilson, he was fully lit); <*> the end of Birthmarks when House was leaving for the night so the lights were off which wasn't so bad (except that I don't see House as the type of person who carefully turns off all the lights when he goes home) and <*> the entire episode last night (which was ridiculous.)Finding out that leaving was Kal Penn's decision (getting asked to work in the White House is amazing. Congratulations to him!) has changed my perspective on last night's episode. All I knew in advance was that a regular character would die. I didn't know who or how. When I thought they chose Kutner solely as a creative decision, I felt it was a very cynical move on the part of TPTB. Now that I know the creative decision part was how to write him off, I'm a lot more interested in seeing how the suicide affects everyone in coming episodes. While I still think the lighting cast a pallor (literally and figuratively) on the entire episode, I'm going to have to watch it again to see how I now feel about the rest of it.

I'm thrilled to pieces that Kal is going to work at the White House and pursue his dream - he seems like a guy with alot of heart and passion - exactly the sort we need working in Washington now. I agree with Poeia - I'm so much happier knowing that this wasn't just a creative decision in terms of "Who can we kill off to create a bit of drama?"

From one perspective, I liked the episode quite a bit, i.e, I think suicide often comes out of the blue shocking everyone around the victim and the aftermath is a confusing struggle of emotions, anger, etc. So in that sense, I think the show did a very good job, especially in respect to House. But then again, Hugh Laurie is consistently always the strength of House and TPTB could have equally decided to strangle an entire box of puppies in the middle of the DDX room and watch Hugh/House fumble around in those emotions and come up with winning television as well. I like the idea that House would be systematically going through the clues and wondering what he missed, perhaps berating himself. That is entirely in character. However....where this show falls apart for me is the preceding two seasons worth of waste and non-development for this character. A flaw which, unfortunately, renders much of the drama last night kind of pointless. During the funeral montage I wasn't thinking, "Oh, poor Kutner, remember all those great times" I was thinking "Man, what a complete waste of Kal Penn's time on set and no wonder Kutner's colleagues look vaguely sad because they didn't know this guy at all and neither did the audience." A really bold move would have House struggle through missing the clues of someone he actually was much closer to killing themselves. To hide the storyline behind the cliche that "there were no clues" because the character was barely on screen long enough to give any smacks of some real laziness in the writing and organic storyline development process, regardless of whether or not Hugh Laurie can act the hell out of it. And yes...WTF with 13 the pallbearer. I know whenever I've gone to funerals and they need some heavy lifting done, it's always the 90-lb woman who gets the call. It was another one of those moments that had the blinking neon sign of "Contrived! Contrived!" flashing above it's head. Unfortunately, there's been way too much of that this season, the culmative effect was me actually laughing during the funeral montage when I suspect that's not the emotion TPTB were actually going for with that.

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