House’s Most Divisive Episode Aired 12 Years Ago & Continues To Be Debated About To This Day

Summary The House series finale remains divisive even after 12 years.

The season 8 finale sees House waking up next to a corpse in a burning building, blurring reality with the doctor's troubled mind.

Despite missteps, the finale focuses on House and Wilson's relationship, which is still refreshing even by today's standards.

Cheekily titled "Everybody Dies," the House series finale remains incredibly divisive even 12 years after it premiered. After eight uneven seasons, House wrapped up with an episode that pushed its titular character, Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), to examine his life choices — and potential future — one last time, all while treating a patient with substance-use disorder (SUD). The 2012 finale came just shy of a decade after House, M.D. premiered on Fox, capping off an impressive and hugely popular run for the misanthropic medical genius at the show's center.

The medical drama built a reputation on House's tried-and-true formula. Led by Dr. Gregory House, a team of Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital-based diagnosticians are tasked with diagnosing a patient with a dire-yet-obscure condition. Usually, the patient's previous attempts to be diagnosed have resulted in their condition worsening. In many ways, House is Sherlock Holmes with a medical degree, though he's more complicated than the average detective. With his dependence on pain medication, mountain of secrets, and penchant for making controversial statements, House is a singular — and truly unforgettable — TV character.

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House’s Series Finale Is One Of The Show’s Most Divisive Episodes

The Medical Drama Became Overly Sentimental & Melodramatic For Many Viewers

Over the course of its eight seasons and 177 episodes, House churned out some divisive entries, but the series finale might be the most controversial among viewers. Given the show's medical mystery premise, some of House's highest-rated episodes are the most tragic ones. The House season 8 finale definitely straddles the line between fitting and overly sentimental. For some, later installments of the beloved series strayed toward being more melodramatic, taking away from the darker, more realist tone of the show's earlier outings. However, some viewers found House's introspective finale to be a satisfying send-off for the character.

...later seasons of House had become so thoroughly drenched in misery and tragedy that sitting through heavy episodes felt like a slog.

For the most part, critics panned the House series finale. Instead of mining the darkness of life for thoughtful examination, later seasons of House had become so thoroughly drenched in misery and tragedy that sitting through heavy episodes felt like a slog. To that end, The A.V. Club dubbed "Everybody Dies" a "failure of ambition," suggesting that the once clever and gripping medical drama had fizzled out long ago. Even the character of Gregory House, the kind of unlikable but extremely watchable anti-hero who's navigating his vices, started to feel tired toward the end of the show's run.

Related The Oldest House Mystery Was Never Settled By The Show One old House, M.D. question was never settled by the show and is still argued about among fans almost 12 years after the medical drama ended.

What Happens In House's Season 8 Finale

House Fakes His Own Death In The Series Finale

In the House season 8 finale, the titular doctor wakes up next to a corpse in an abandoned building that's slowly burning to the ground. As was common on the program, House begins to hallucinate colleagues from his past and grapples with his subconscious. Flashbacks show that House, who is facing a felony charge, was working on a case involving Oliver, a patient navigating a heroin addiction. Knowing that House was facing jail time, Oliver offered to take the fall for his doctor's crimes, which House refused. In the present, that dead body lying in the burning building is Oliver's.

Dental records indicate that one of the bodies recovered from the destroyed building is House's...

Eventually, Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) and Foreman (Omar Epps) notice House's absence from the hospital and track him down to the scene of the fire. Before anyone can rescue House, the building explodes. Dental records indicate that one of the bodies recovered from the destroyed building is House's, so his former friends and colleagues organize a funeral for the late doctor. During the ceremony, Wilson receives a text from the still-alive House, who reveals that he faked his own death with Oliver's help. As a result, House is able to live out Wilson's terminal cancer diagnosis by his side.

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Everything House’s Series Finale Got Right

Putting Wilson & House's Relationship In The Spotlight Made Sense

Although it wasn't one of House's best episodes, the series finale did boast some redeeming qualities. Namely, the finale put House and Wilson's relationship front and center, which is an incredibly refreshing spin, even by today's television standards. From the show's pilot onward, the misanthropic Dr. House and the more compassionate Dr. Wilson, who heads up the Department of Oncology, are billed as an odd couple of sorts. Throughout the show's run, it becomes clear that Wilson is House's only tried-and-true friend. After Wilson is given six months to live in season 8, House is clearly shaken.

Even House's decision to give up his career (and life) to spend time with the terminally ill Wilson is somewhat selfishly motivated.

Gregory House has never been a selfless character. Even House's decision to give up his career (and life) to spend time with the terminally ill Wilson is somewhat selfishly motivated. After all, House was headed to jail again, so faking his death helps him escape that fate. Nonetheless, centering House and Wilson's relationship at the show's conclusion was a commendable move. Of course, it would have likely landed better with more viewers had House's story not strayed into fake-your-death melodrama, but the show's intentions were good.

Related Dark House Theory Reveals What Happened After The Series Finale What ultimately happened to House and his best friend after Wilson’s cancer diagnosis, House faking his death, and the ambiguous House season finale?

House Deserved A Better Finale Than What It Got

The House Series Finale Augmented The Show's Biggest Problems

The House season finale augmented some of the series' biggest problems and pitfalls, leading to an episode that felt more melodramatic than satisfying. The once-groundbreaking medical drama used to be dark-yet-clever, trading in challenging topics, but always offering thrilling medical insight. As House went on, it became bogged down by its own dark bend, supplementing sharp writing with tragedy after tragedy. Ultimately, not only did this angst become tiresome, but the constant tragedy took away from the show's stakes, pushing the writers into a corner by the time the House series finale happened.

All 8 seasons of House are now streaming on Hulu.

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buy Not available Not available Not available House is a medical mystery drama in which the villain is typically a difficult-to-diagnose medical malady. It follows Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a world-renowned disabled diagnostician with a notorious substance abuse issue. With his team of world-class doctors, House has built a reputation as one of the most brilliant doctors in the world - an especially impressive feat when taking into account that he rarely actually sees his patients. Cast Olivia Wilde , Jesse Spencer , Lisa Edelstein Release Date November 16, 2004 Seasons 8 Network FOX Streaming Service(s) Peacock , HBO Max Writers David Shore Directors Deran Sarafian Showrunner David Shore Expand

Source: The A.V. Club