‘House’ series finale provokes fan tears
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After eight seasons and several hundred brilliant diagnoses, there’s no more ‘House.’
And though Dr. Gregory House was cantankerous and arrogant and made his own share of enemies, the end of the series brought out its fair share of tears both off-screen and on.
Around 8.7 million viewers tuned in for ‘House’s’ final hurrah, up from the season average, which means many former fans returned just to see how the series would wrap up. (Warning: finale spoilers ahead.)
And what they got was a funeral. Dr. House’s funeral, to be precise. House was trapped in a burning building and before he could get out, the thing exploded on him.
Cut to House’s funeral. Except, of course, it only appeared House had died. Just as with Sherlock Holmes, who appeared to have died in a fall from the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland, House’s demise was not what it seemed. Holmes survived the fall, and House survived the burning house.
With the world thinking he was dead, House decided to spend the next few months driving motorcycles with his terminally ill colleague, Wilson. And that’s how we left them, cruising off into the countryside together, House and Wilson.
According to Hugh Laurie, Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) wasted no time in getting out of there when the scene was shot. In his ‘House’ exit interview with The Times, he said, ‘Robert [Sean Leonard] was the only one who shot right to the end, so we had our last day together. And he took off like a scalded cat; I suppose he knew it would be emotional. And that we would see each other soon so ...’
Laurie and Leonard weren’t the only ones emotional about the show going off the air. Fans took to Twitter to express their emotions.
Amy wrote, ‘Getting emotional about the ‘House’ finale. That ENDING! Perfect.’
Mahsa Mace Mayahi wrote, ‘The finale of House brought a tear to my eye. Can’t believe its over. Unexpected ending for sure!’
Shafiqa Idris wrote, ‘The finale was wonderful and felt true to House. I also enjoyed the special. Thank you for an amazing, thought-provoking show!’
Stefan Petrucha certainly had mixed feelings when he wrote, ‘Just saw the finale of House - very morose, heavy handed, but in the end not disappointing. Farewell Gregory! Hope to see Hugh Laurie soon!’
Christina echoed that mismatched sentiment when she tweeted, ‘Watched series finale of #House! Man how awesome was that! Riding offinto the sunset! Perfect! Good Job up until the very end! Will miss it!’
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-- Patrick Kevin Day