My internet connection's all whacky, so I wound up watching this episode by myself. Maybe that was for the best.



When the writers have a clear vision, they nail it. Season 5 started off fine, then plummeted into crap, then had a string of meh episodes, and around "The Softer Side" began to pick up again. With "Simple Explanation," they show they know how to write deaths. Amber's death hurt so much - it was unfair and about so much lost potential (for the character, for her relationship with Wilson). Kutner's hurt, too - again, unfair, and the way it came out of no where and has no explanation and probably never will.

And I wish everyone would stop bitching. 2 of my 5 favorite characters on this show have been killed off, and yet I think this was the one of the stronger episodes of the season (lol, though that doesn't say much).

I read the spoilers. I assumed Kutner would be doomed. But when they showed his body, the gun, and the blood...I felt sick. And I also went into denial for a few minutes ("Dream sequence, dream sequence, dream sequence...") Some people want their fiction to be pure escapism; I like my fiction to make me feel and think. It's okay if it hurts, because at the end of the day it's still not real!

Though I refuse to take the stuff on Kutner's memorial site as canon. Didn't show it on the show, doesn't count =P (The notes were great, though; very in-character.)

Taub, man, I feel awful for him =( Kutner was one of the few good things in his life, and now he's dead. By suicide, of all things. He was very House-like in this episode, acting like a dick and pretending he doesn't care, saying Kutner was an idiot...and then mourning alone.

Yeah, I don't even know what to say about House. Him thinking it was murder, so in character, yet so ridiculous that I felt sorry for him. And the episode ending with him, alone, looking at Kutner's photo...ouch. (Hint, Fox - GIVE THE VIEWERS A FUCKING BREATHER AFTER THAT. Sheesh, almost ruined the scene.)

As a testament to how this episode didn't suck - Foreman and 13's scenes were perfect. Them, covered in Kutner's blood? Horrifying. 13 being forced to deal with this on her own - yes, I actually understood her loneliness there. I hate that they overuse 13, but in storylines that are relevent to her, I'm happy to watch. Because now I'm anticipating her to doing something crazy (marry Foreman?) - Amber's death made her get the Huntington's test, and being held at gunpoint made her realize she wants to live. Kutner's death has to have an effect.

Cuddy's scenes didn't suck, either. There's bitching about them, but she seemed to be behaving perfectly reasonable, except the one scene where she obviously wasn't meant to be: Wilson's smack-down =) I know, he already more-or-less said the same thing earlier in the season, but saying so explicitly to Cuddy that he knows she doesn't care about him made me feel good. Cuddy's a creepy parasite; now, if only Wilson would stop enabling her. (I'm hoping Wilson later gives her the lecture he gave Stacy and Cameron. It would make House/Cuddy sex more bearable.)

Whew, this episode gave me a lot to think about...

Interesting, Amber was like House, and died. Kutner's similarities to House were pointed out, and he's dead, too. Another layer in the story.

Something's up with Wilson. I'm not so sure the "this" he's dealing with was referring to Kutner's death.

Of all the ways Kutner could have killed himself, he used a gun, the same weapon that killed his birth parents.

Of course, everyone will now fanwank why Kutner killed himself. It's actually pretty easy to make the case Kutner was closeted...no. Really. His out-of-nowhere girlfriend mentioned only on the memorial site is pretty suspicious.

...so, Kutner/Amber ghost!sex? Y/N?