Everybody lies, and everybody dies—even House. That was never truer than in the House series finale, appropriately titled, "Everybody Dies." On a show where there's not always a happy ending for an episode, a patient, or even an arc, it looked like everyone had what they wanted when the finale ended.
The series finale night kicked off with "Swan Song," the one-hour retrospective special that introduced everyone responsible for making the show each week with a behind-the-scenes look at the set and clips from over the years. It ended perfectly—with Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard stalking one another with paintball guns around the hospital set in tuxedos before sitting down in front of the elevators. That was how the special ended, and the finale ended with their characters spending Wilson's last months together, driving off on motorcycles.
It wouldn't be a House episode without an interesting case, which was part of some of House's lying in the episode. "Everybody Dies" had that, but the focus was the case of House's subconscious as he lay in the burning building. While it was of course good to see House diagnosing a patient (for the final time!), the focus was on those he was telling the case to—Kutner, Amber, Stacy, and Cameron. Since it had been revealed that a number of former cast members would be returning, you had to wonder how they would be bringing back the dead. This was the only way to do it, and while it was obviously done because it was a series finale, it did work.
House's funeral was a highlight of the episode, as everyone came to pay their respects to the doctor. However, it was Wilson's words that took home all the prizes. Yes, he was his friend. Yes, he saved lives. But "in the end, House was an ass." Just because he died didn't change the fact that he was selfish—even in death—and mocked everyone. That continued with the text message Wilson got in the middle of his eulogy: "Shut up you idiot."
So everyone basically got their happily ever after. Chase got his own office and team, Taub's family life was uncomplicated, and Cameron had a family of her own. But more importantly, House and Wilson got those five months together. House (shockingly, considering he was injured and in a burning building) lived (could it have really ended with him dead?) thanks to a back door and switched dental records. House was technically dead, meaning he could spend Wilson's last months with him. Could it have ended any more perfectly for those two?
It may not have been the most perfect series finale, but it was for House. Yes, his days of treating patients are over, but he's only ever had one friend consistently over the years, and that's Wilson. It wasn't surprising to see just how far he would go to both stay out of prison and make sure he wasn't behind bars for his best friend's last days. It was a bittersweet ending for them, since their time is so limited. After all, Wilson only had five months. But instead of showing what happened then—or even talking about ("Cancer's boring," House said when Wilson began talking about when it would get bad)—they just rode off on motorcycles. That was why the ending worked. Yes, House killed himself off to spend time with his best friend, but that didn't mean he changed.
While it did end in a way where they could, if they so chose to, revisit House in a few years (after all, he's still alive), it was also the kind of finale where you wouldn't want them to go back to these characters and ruin them. Instead, the House series finale left them in places in their lives where you're not desperate to see what happens next. That is something a series finale should do, and this one did that well.
What did you think of the House series finale "Everybody Dies"?
Photo Credit: Ray Mickshaw/FOX
© Meredith Jacobs 2012
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