HOUSE'S FINAL PUZZLE

I moved my head to look at the cabinet behind me. When I turned again, Sherlock Holmes was standing smiling at me across my study table. I rose to my feet, stared at him for some seconds in utter amazement, and then it appears that I must have fainted for the first and the last time in my life. Certainly a gray mist swirled before my eyes, and when it cleared I found my collar-ends undone and the tingling after-taste of brandy upon my lips. Holmes was bending over my chair, his flask in his hand.

- The Adventure of the Empty House -

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

As the very long House Hiatus comes to an end tonight, HouseDetectives have been thinking of what the future of our beloved antihero and show may be. House is back and we would like to share some thoughts we've had of late and hope YOU will add your voice to this discussion.

Thankfully, we were given the gift of the British second series of "Sherlock" to tide us over during the long wait for House to return. Over the hiatus, a fandom within a fandom was born with House fans all over the world discovering or re-discovering their love for this character, and becoming totally "Sherlocked" in the process.

Makes perfect sense really as we all know that House M.D.- the character, is based on Sherlock Holmes.

The similarities between Holmes and House were EVIDENT in nearly every frame of Sherlock. We found ourselves,(upon repeat viewings of "Sherlock") to be visually replacing Holmes/Watson with House/Wilson, which was remarkably easy to do.

With the last episode of this seasons "Sherlock"("The Reichenbach Falls") we were left thinking about House's endgame once more. 

Over the years, House fans have speculated on how this series would end. As we are midpoint in Season 8, and are still without word regarding a House renewal for Season 9, the possibility of a House finale weighs heavily on us. Whether this year will be the finale of House, or there will be another season, the question remains:

How will House end?

Fans comments regarding House's death appeared early on in the series and have continued up until today. One always imagines the worst happening to people and things we love. When you add David Shore's frequent comments about House as a character, a death scenario has never been out of the equation. Frequent reminders from its creator as to House-the character's darkness and how this wasn't going to end with a happy House,mowing a lawn behind a white picket fence..are guiding comments to consider.

In watching "Sherlock" though, it became apparent that if DS & Co. were to continue to parallel House's journey with that of Holmes - The Finale is set forth and there for us to see and to apply to House.

In speculating about House's fate, House fans have a distinct advantage over Holmes fans of their day. WE KNOW how the original ends. The world's only consulting detective FAKES HIS OWN DEATH, only to re-appear at a later date.

Sherlock Holmes jumps off the hospital roof, 60ft up...or does he?

The story of why Conan Doyle decided to have Holmes die, is interesting. As time went on, Conan Doyle found himself more and more closely identified with Sherlock Holmes to the exclusion of his other works. "I weary of his name", he told his mother. We can only speculate as to whether David Shore (House's creator) has twinges of "weariness", coupled with feelings of great good luck and fortune as Doyle expressed.

Some fans see signs of such wearinesss in Season 8-House M.D., while others are delighted with the direction of the episodes.

In Doyle's mind, he had come to a solution regarding his involvement with the fictional Holmes. Holmes must die. Some of us have thought that David Shore had written House's ending many years ago. We are told by other writers that this would make sense and that no writer develops a character without mapping out or at least thinking about how the story will end and how the character's story will be resolved. This may differ from Holmes to House, but we are left pondering:

"Will House die"? and if so.."How"?

Conan Doyle wanted a dramatic finish for the great Sherlock Holmes. Hugh Laurie wants to "go out with a bang", a comment which received much attention after Season 7's finale. Some thought that the end of Season 6, "Help Me", should have been the end of the series, while others thought "After Hours" should have been the conclusion. And there are still others who think "Moving On" moved the story in a very negative direction.

We all know that House cast, writers and producers DESIRE a fitting conclusion to House's journey as Doyle did with Holmes.However, the fans of the original Sherlock Holmes stories did NOT find Doyle's conclusion to be satisfactory.

The Adventure of the Final Problem was published in December of 1893 in The Strand magazine. People were so upset that more than twenty thousand of them cancelled their subscription to The Strand magazine.

It took a story of a ghostly hound to inspire Conan Doyle to bring the great detective back. In 1901 Sherlock Holmes reappeared in "The Hound of the Baskervilles". Conan Doyle needed a strong central character for his ghostly novel. Why invent one when he already had that in Holmes? However Conan Doyle made it clear that Holmes was not alive. This story took place before the incident at Reichenbach Falls.
The public's response was phenomenal. The Hound of the Baskervilles was also first published in The Strand. The magazine's circulation rose by thirty thousand overnight.
Later, Holmes was truly brought back to life in The Adventure of the Empty House. At the start of the story Watson is alone. His wife is dead and he believes Holmes to be dead as well. However Watson learns that Holmes's death was a ruse to hide from Moriarty's associates.

The game is "ON" or "AFOOT"!

We Proffer One Possible Series Finale for House M.D.

House will fake his own death.

This should be interesting to observe. WHO is involved in the "cover-up" and the aftermath of such an act should make for "Compelling TV", as Wilson would say.

Wilson

Scenario I

Wilson will think that House is dead. As in "Sherlock" and Doyle's original,we have no doubt that it will seem a very realistic death. RSL, brilliant actor that he is, will surely break every,single heart when he learns of House's death and we will all need more tissues than they sell at Price Club. Time will pass. Maybe we will see visuals of "life continuing" with Wilson going to work, thinking about House and reminiscing over some "good times" and everyone "readjusting" to life without House.

One day though, House will re-appear,just as in the original. House knows where to finds his "one true friend" and lets him know that just as Holmes had to "disappear"..he did as well.

He will apologize to Wilson for the deception and for all the pain and they will walk and discuss this as they are shown walking away together.

Wilson

Scenario II

We see (as in "Sherlock") that House is indeed alive and is watching his friend. We may not understand now, WHY this deception was necessary but it could involve an unselfish act on the part of House for a reason or reasons unknown to us at the current time.

Wilson

Scenario III

Our Current Favorite Theory

Note: This is difficult to take.

Wilson does indeed die. House will be totally devastated by this (as will we all) and he feels there is nothing left in life he truly values any longer. If we couple this together with his possibly losing his license for some reason- we can see a man adrift. A man who might easily fake his own death to begin again.A man who knows he must stand on his two feet,face the world and TRY to find some peace and even a little happiness along the way.

Or

Wilson could help House plan his demise. We offer this as a possibility but don't think this is what will occur.

We have always felt that the last scene of House should focus on House/Wilson. 

Whether this episode shows the true friends re-uniting,a House who "watches over" his friend or a man left alone to build a new life- we know that in the end- THIS was the central, defining relationship of the series.Wilson's "inspiring' death could teach House to live to the fullest for once.

Sherlock: "I have no friends. I only have ONE" 

Why does anyone think about faking their own death? Because it's advantageous to the character to do so. Because it allows the character TOTAL FREEDOM..an ESCAPE...a second chance at life.

Why would House want to "re-invent" himself?

One reason we can think of is that he no longer desires the life he is leading. He could have lost his medical license and that would take the joy and meaning from his life. Perhaps, he, like Holmes, will fake his own death to PROTECT someone.

Do you think House will give his life for a nobler cause? To save someone OTHER THAN HIMSELF? We've seen House put himself into mortal danger when someone he loves needs him to do so.

 

As Molly(in the BBC version) helps Sherlock to carry off his fake death, who would be likely to help House IF WILSON WAS NOT INVOLVED? Chase comes to mind. Chase has been there since Day 1 and is very capable of assisting House in this plan.It's interesting to think about who House will enlist. Unlike Sherlock, House has a plethora of doctors to call upon who have access to cadavers or coroners who can falsify death certificates.
An overdose seems so obvious here that we the writers may go another route.

It might be easier for House to convince those around him that he might take his own life, as compared with Sherlock.In "Sherlock" the main character admits to John that he was a fraud. He wanted John to believe that everything he had told him was based on a lie. In true Holmesian fashion, John doesn't believe a word "Sherlock" said. He knows the inner man too well. Maybe House will place Wilson in a similar situation for reason(s) that might be revealed in the future. 

It will be a bittersweet ending to be sure, but one which sees the shows mantra of "Everybody Lies" ring true until the last.

If Wilson were alive after House's death...would he try to solve the mystery he may see surrounding House's death?

  

We'd love to hear from you and hope you will write, comment here and answer our polls on the right of the page.

Until next time

We are HouseDetectives, taking a leap of faith and...

Thanking each and every House fan whose curiosity, interest and imagination motivate all of us to be better detectives.

(Gifs/Pics found on internet. Please contact us if you would like credit- happy to give)

The following people contributed to the writing of this article:

The USUAL HouseDetectives:

The New York City HouseDetective

&

@RedTulip_Ana

Special Thanks to:

@moodylonerphile

Many thanks to @hols14HL for her help with House M.D. pictures.

Many thanks to @AleTheHOUSEwife for her brilliant "Frozen Lake" Video.

"We're in this together"