The Most Awesome Thing We Saw Last Week: Farewell, Kuttner

The episode didn’t offer any easy answers. House, being who he is, treated Kuttner’s death like any other case. He tried to break down the potential causes on his famous white board, searching for the answer. While all of the characters had authentic and interesting reactions (Foreman completely shut down and withdrew, Wilson obsessed over making sure House could grieve properly, Chase was only vaguely aware of who this Kuttner guy is), House was especially heartbreaking. By treating the suicide of a close colleague as no different from the standard diagnosis that crosses his desk, House revealed himself either to be so damaged that he can’t process authentic emotions as anything other than a problem to be solved, or that despite his claims to the contrary, every last patient affects him emotionally and he puts all his energy into hiding it.