The TV Zone

"Dream on." (Fox)

...Fixer-upper!

Thank heaven the dear boy has the summer to recover from everything.

Insanity...Cuddy sex that never happened...Vicodin...anger...illusions, illusions, illusions.

Are you OK, Cuddy asks him? No, he is not OK.

To recap:

Yes, as predicted, Kutner - Kal Penn - came back last night, as an hallucination inside that poor, besotted, cluttered head of House, but the question, "why," remains stubbornly without answer.

"So, this is the story you made up about who you are," whispers Amber into his ear.

Cut to Kutner: "To bad it isn't true."

As "House" fans are now aware, it ended this way - a one-way ticket to the insanity ward for their hero, while Cameron and Chase finally married. (These, by the way, were not illusions.)

House and Cuddy are not to be, now, or forever more.

But I remain resolute in this opinion: "House" and House need to resolve two major stories. The death of Amber, and - especially - the death of Kutner. In some sense, this season's closer was exactly about House's inability to tie those loose ends. Imagine, now, how fans feel? They must wait a summer, too, wondering about Kutner and the question - why - which still has no answer.

And may never have one.

Now: I don't pose this question to get anyone's hopes up, or to state definitively that it will happen.

But I ask this as a simple, declarative, could-it-possibly-happen type of question.

Could Kal Penn's Kutner return for the finale? I think it needs to happen, and should happen. But will it...? Obviously, if he does, he'll be back as an Anne Dudek/Volakis-type hallucination, but as her storyline has demonstrated, there is life after death inside that cluttered cranium of House's, and sometimes it's more vivid in death than real life....

Here's my rationale for one last Kutner farewell visit, as stated in my Monday preview of the finale for Newsday. See if you agree...

"'House' hasn't been a barrel full of giggles since Kutner's shocking suicide in late March - an act that opened not only a new and unusually morbid window on House's psyche, but deeply polarized fans. Go ahead and ask one - was Kutner's exit the worst and most shocking in 'House' history? 'House' needs to heal, and to a certain extent so do these fans. In a wonderful scene a few weeks ago, Wilson - as usual - got to the core of House's desperation. 'After Amber died, I withdrew and hoped to find some deeper truth. I was wrong. I should have gotten back to the here and now.' But House, down to his stubble, NEEDS answers. That's how he's engineered. 'Sometimes there isn't any reason,' said Wilson. 'You should be losing it." For our hero or a primetime entertainment, that’s hardly satisfactory. He needs a reason. We need one too. This is why I think Kutner (also as hallucination?) is back one last time. The fifth season is screaming for closure."

Realistically, could Kutner return? Realistically, could Amber?

And here's another question you need to be asking: Why did Kutner kill himself in late March? I know, I know, Kal Penn had to get to work for the Obama administration, but you're telling me the president wouldn't have understood if he said, "Mister President, can I join a few weeks late? I need to wrap the fifth season?"

Of course he could have. But the producers wanted him gone early to set up this final arc, which has pried open a whole new dimension to House.

But we need closure. We need answers. Honestly, I think there's only one person who can give us those. We'll see if he does.

If she can come back for a little while . . . why can't he? (Fox Photo)

Here's a little more from Kal Penn on his departure last night, via a conference call:

"I loved playing Kutner, so [it was] more than a little bit of a shock and loss when I found out....I was probably as shocked as the audience was...

But..."I liked the way it happened.; the thing I enjoy about being an actor and the arts in general is the ability to make the audience feel an emotion they weren't intending to feel when they went in. They did feel the type of loss and anger and confusion they did about this fictional character, and I do think part of the loss the team on 'House' feels from what he did is transitioned over to what the audience feels because there is no explanation. I'm kind of glad we didn't have a big dramatic Kutner scene" in the final episode for his character last night...

(Pix: Getty)

Here's the official word on Kal Penn and his new gig...AP just moved this:

"The White House has hired actor Kal Penn as a liaison between President Barack Obama's administration and arts groups.

White House spokesman Shin Inouye said Tuesday that the actor who had a recurring role on Fox's TV show "House" and has starred in several movies would join the staff as an associate director in the Office of Public Liaison. His role will be to connect Obama with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, as well as arts and entertainment groups.

Penn starred as Kumar in the movie, "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay." His "House" character committed suicide in Monday's episode.

Penn backed Obama during the campaign. The White House says a start date for Penn hasn't been set."

(Pix: Matt Sayles, AP)

Let's get one thing straight right upfront: Kal Penn is fine. Nothing to worry about. He's OK - just leaving a show for politics, or so he says.

Meanwhile, what was that all about?

Out of the blue - a death on one of TV's biggest shows. A shot to the head. Never saw it coming. Neither did House. Nor did anyone else.

Now the valid question: Did Fox, or "House," set up this departure responsibly, or was it so shocking, so unexpected, that even viewers need help to deal with it right now? Hard do say, but Fox has actually set up a "mourning" site that viewers can access this morning. I've never seen anything quite like this - it lets viewers mourn the dearly departed while perpetuating the curious myth that Kal Penn's character is "real," and MUST be mourned.

Again, this question: In a world where suicide is so horrifyingly real, did Fox set this up responsibly, or was this a simple trick to resolve an actor's departure, or pop the numbers? And to this point: How can viewers "mourn" anyone, even a popular character like Kutner, if they have no idea why this happened, or if it was used to (as mentioned) let Penn get off the show quickly so he could get to his new job?

To rephrase: You're supposed to mourn because Penn's going to work for Obama?

I'm getting all tangled up in blue here, so for clarity, head out to the Web, where Kutner/Penn fans can mourn a little more. I'd direct you to a couple places. First off, Maureen Ryan at the Chicago Tribune has posted a thoughtful outtake on this; and second, Michael Ausiello of "EW," has an extended interview with Kutner - who tells the mag about his desire to work for the Obama administration - and offers this:

"One of the things I love about our show is you never know what's going to happen. So that news struck me in the same way we hope it strikes the audience: there was a little bit of anger and some depression. You really go through those emotions, especially when somebody dies in that fashion. Ultimately, it was a really interesting choice for them to make. We don't really know why he did it..."

No we don't.

And now, friends, let's poll this out...

Did Fox and "House" handle this....

• as a way to goose ratings?
• as a dignfied way to say goodbye?
• Sensitively?
• as a horrifying way to say goodbye?
• poorly?

Created on Apr 7, 2009

View Results

poll by twiigs.com

(Getty Images Photo)

>> Photos: "House: For the Greater Good" episode.

Photos: "House: Unfaithful" episode.

Photos: "House: The Softer Side"