Kal Pen... (Spoilers for "House")

[Squiggy]

 

[Sci]

So I'm wondering, how many people above him in the chain of succession does he have to covertly assassinate in order to become President?

Well, considering that employees of the Executive Office of the President are not part of the US line of succession, he'd really be no closer to becoming President than you or I.

 

[Ptrope]

But, really, they weren't doing much with Kutner to begin with. Hell, I hope they get rid of Taub next and "hire" another new docling (this one with a more relebvant specailty to diagnostic medicine) and have the team as the Forman, Thirteen, and new guy.

We must be watching different shows; I've thought Kutner was getting plenty of screen- and plot-time. He was my favorite of the new doclings, and I thought he did a great job acting the part; I'll miss him in the show. I also like Taub; 13 is easy on the eyes, but I think her relationship with Foreman doesn't work well, maybe because I've gotten tired of Foreman on the show, who seems to be, literally, a 5th wheel.

Maybe now they can bring back Carmen Argenziano ("Dobson," the older doc who hadn't actually been to medical school); I really liked his character. He could be an interesting interim character, at any rate, although the reasons why House fired him would probably prevent him from returning permanently.

I think it's pretty obvious that Penn wasn't around to film for that last episode. I think we needed to see Kutner--I think that's important for the audience.

From what I've read, he was around for the episode, and that was him playing his body, despite the fact we never saw his face; they probably wanted options available for how they depicted him, rather than being bound to not showing his face due to the fact they had to use a stand-in (imagine if they'd shown him on the autopsy table!)

 

[Top41]

Another article at Yahoo:

http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/house-the-truth-behind-the-shocking-surprise--229

I went to a Marc Scott Zicree panel at DragonCon back in 1998, and he remarked upon television character deaths. He said that the rule of thumb is that starring characters only die when the actor really, really pissed off people and the producers don't want to leave an outlet for him to come back to the show. Couple that nugget of wisdom with the interview above where Penn wasn't given any direction on how to act (as though the producers didn't care how he acted)...well, I would guess that Penn's sudden White House plans didn't go over well with the producers.

Is that really the case anymore, though, in the age of shows like 24 and Lost, that regularly kill off characters to advance the plot or sometimes for shock value? I could see these being true ten years ago or so, but now I think it's a different game.

That being said, I can't imagine that the EPs of the show were thrilled to find out that someone who had just been hired to be a reg wanted off. I have mixed feelings about his death--I do agree that it's shocking and realistic, but I think it's pretty obvious that Penn wasn't around to film for that last episode. I think we needed to see Kutner--I think that's important for the audience.

I've gotten behind on House, so I just saw this episode and not the preceding 7 or so before it. I liked Kutner, so I'm sorry to see him go, though I'm glad it's because Penn is moving on to something exciting and rewarding, as opposed to the writers just deciding to kill the character off because he wasn't working or something like that.

Maybe now they can bring back Carmen Argenziano ("Dobson," the older doc who hadn't actually been to medical school); I really liked his character. He could be an interesting interim character, at any rate, although the reasons why House fired him would probably prevent him from returning permanently.

That would be great! I'd love to see him return. I have to say, I thought Dobson and Amber were more interesting and dynamic than any of the three House ended up picking. Thirteen, Taub and Kutner have all grown on me since, but at the time, I was very sorry to see Amber and Dobson go.

 

[Trekker4747]

Maybe now they can bring back Carmen Argenziano ("Dobson," the older doc who hadn't actually been to medical school); I really liked his character. He could be an interesting interim character, at any rate, although the reasons why House fired him would probably prevent him from returning permanently.

I'd like to see "Big Love" return.