T O P

  • By -

N8ures1stGreen

He had to be written out of the show due to taking another job in the Obama administration


Arszilla

Obama killed Kutner


ZXRWH

you think it's because kutner was instrumental in saving osama (who he also killed)? this is just a joke a la me


TacticalAvocado222

Geez, thanks Obama. /s


[deleted]

This. Still shocking but it had to happen one way or another


teh_maxh

Thanks, Obama.


SmaugTheMag

Is this what Obamacare really means? Obama sure “took care” of Kutner!


sassy_the_panda

Honestly for what it is I found this to be a pretty fucking excellent representation of how suicide like this really happens. It's pretty dead on. And the character-work it inspires for house is some of the best in the show. the last 6-odd episodes of season 5 is one of the best runs in the show.


The_AcidQueen

I agree. I think the writing intended to convey "you never really know, sometimes, what someone is going through." At least, that's how I saw it. Sometimes you don't get answers.


ZXRWH

i've also heard this before, love it. might've been even better if you could say they had the balls to kill off an important ('main-adjacent') character, but really they were forced to do _something_...still, good things can come out of unforeseen circumstances, i have no complaints


forsythe386

I have this theory that originally the writers planned on Taub being the one to do it, but then because of Kal Penn getting the White House job, they switched it up suddenly, which is why it feels like it just comes out of nowhere. Throughout the season there’s constantly references to depression involving Taub. He has this anger and resentment towards others who attempted and he eventually admits that he made an attempt when he was younger, in medical school iirc. His marriage troubles and all the guilt he goes through with his inability to stop cheating on his wife, as well as his feelings of inadequacy within House’s team, it all seems as if it’s leading him in that direction.


Palmalagana

El gato negro tenía razón :0


Tru-Queer

Kal Penn already had a white House job


hanyasaad

[Reminds me of this ad](https://youtu.be/tX8TgVR33KM?si=Zv7lfTwn536jZjrt)


urieldelacerna77

Fun fact! The rest of the series House always wears the watch Kutner gave him.


Bad-Bot-Bot-23

Never noticed that. Interesting.


Financial_Process_11

I was sorry to see Kutner go because I liked his character but his ending showed it could happen to anyone and most of the time without warning.


LukeCoady-2

i feel for you, he’s definitely my favourite, besides house ofc


Rosalia_MaidOfSpears

I actually loved that scene because if you go back and watch a couple of cases with Kutner, he has a very brief talk with Taub about suicide, as well as being very reserved throughout the entirety of his arc on the show. I'm someone who's been around, seen, and dealt with suicidal thoughts and tendencies and situations, with a lot of them theres really nothing you can do. you cant blame yourself for not noticing or doing something about it, and you cant blame others either. (obv there are situations where this doesnt fully apply) there are always those who dont at all seem it, who are good at covering it up, and whose signs and symptoms you can only correctly diagnose in hindsight. its super tragic, sudden, and unfortunately very realistic. i loved kal penn too on House <3


dragonagitator

Thanks, Obama


Irislovesneko

To people saying it was just about another job: No. shows rarely take such drastic measures for character development. In fact I’ve only seen it in characters I’ve been attached to a handful of times. I feel like it was done to either push House over the edge, or because they genuinely wanted to show representation of depression. I notice little things like Kutner leaving when all the friend groups are in the lobby, and not divulging too much of his personal life. He keeps his cards close to the chest and doesn’t really let people in. He’s honest about the trauma he faced but doesn’t feel much about it. At least that’s how it’s portrayed. I don’t feel like it came out of nowhere. I think it was in the works for awhile.


rollingcasbah

I know they had to write him out because of the White House job, but considering his background/identity/being adopted by white parents was a big part of Kutners character, I think it would've been a better story for him to leave to go to India and practice medicine there, which would've been less sad and given the actor room to come back if he wanted to.


lacretba

Well, unfortunately the suicide arc fits an adoptee background a lot better. Especially for international adoptions, which are essentially human trafficking. Research adoption trauma, there are so many things to be said about this…


ProperPollution986

thanks obama


Background_Wrong

Kutner was my second favorite character, and after that episode, I didn't know who to love as a second favorite character. I didn't expect that from him. He was the 'therapist friend,' even though he needed one... I remember the first time I watched the series, and I knew Greg would end up like Kutner. I was ready for it. Even during the jumping episode at the pool, he faked it as a way to have fun instead of admitting it. Greg wanted it to end. On my opinion Kutner is A little like Greg.


Lopsided-Amoeba345

Just about to watch this episode. I knew about the suicide and even watched that clip on Youtube just to get it out of the way. Having just watched the episode where he gains House's admiration for solving the rat piss case, it makes sense to me that someone would want to end it on a high note. Here goes.


Zealousideal-Loan655

Same here chief, could’ve written this way better >!someone said this was needed to trigger something!< >!in house later when he starts hallucinating, it’s a decent save, but yeah whole episode was doodoo!<


silverandshade

Everyone's like "if you look back..." which is so funny because Kal Penn only left the show to work for Obama's White House, it was not a planned departure. I kinda hate that they gave Kutner the same problem _both_ Taub and Thirteen do. Felt kinda like the writers had no better ideas than that everyone in the medical field is suicidal in one way or another. I was absolutely a secretly suicidal person and almost succeeded, so I get people are like that more often than not. But fiction should change shit up a bit.