Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Kutner Was Murdered


Okay, I'll admit it; I'm a fan of the Fox series House. I started watching it a couple seasons ago, mainly because it usually followed another favorite Fox series of mine, Prison Break.
At the start of the season prior to this one, House, a diagnostician, had lost all the members of his old team, and had held auditions for members of his new team. He started out with a large number of hopefuls, then whittled them away for various and sometimes spurious reasons. One of the most determined doctors was one Lawrence Kutner, played by the actor Kal Penn. I had recognized him from something, and it wasn't until a trip to the video store jogged my memory that I realized he was Kumar, the easy going stoner college student from the Harold and Kumar series of films. So because of that, or perhaps in spite of that, Dr. Kutner became one of my favorite characters on the show.
So it came as shock to me that on this past Monday's show, that Lawrence Kutner killed himself. I hadn't yet heard the story that the actor, Kal Penn, was leaving the show to go work in the Obama administration. I did know that the new team would be supplanted by the old team, as Chase and Cameron's screen time had been cut back when they were replaced. But still on the payroll 9and in the opening credits) they were do to come back according to a report I had read in Entertainment Weekly
I thought, as House did in that episode, that Kutner was murdered, and still feel that way, as the storyline concerning his death will continue until the end of the season. First clue: at the morning meeting, when House asked where Kutner was, Dr. Taub made a cover story about him having to take his dog to the vet. Was Taub covering for him, or did he know that Kutner wasn't coming in, so he made a lie up to cover up something?
Second clue:Kutner's funeral service was a Hindu service. All very fine, because Kutner was an adopted child of murdered Indian parents. Except Hinduism doesn't approve of suicide. I believe the suicide angle was put there to get a mental health message out to people due to the bad economy leading to a higher suicide rate.
In the episode previous this one, Dr. Kutner had diagnosed the patient's condition, in a very House-like way, and yet he let Dr. Taub take the credit. Taub had been having a crisis of faith due to his being unsure as to whether he wished to stay on House's team, and was about to be canned by House unless he proved to House that he was worthy of being on the team. House had discovered the ruse because he had bugged the patients bed and confronted Taub about it.
Following Kutner's suicide, Taub showed no sadness. He didn't attend Kutner's funeral, even though earlier in the season, they had started to develop a friendship. And when everybody else was mourning him, Taub was trying to distract them with their patient. He especially became impatient with House when House began investigating Kutner's death as a murder. In short, I believe that Dr. Taub killed Kutner and made it look like a suicide (Taub had attempted it earlier himself).
That is my theory, anyway, and only time will tell if I'm right , or just making shit up. But if I am (and I firmly believe I am) remember, you read it here first.

16 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't watch much series tv..so I am not familiar with House. I do remember Kumar and, I think, another series he was on..That 70's show.

But I could be wrong.. ;)

Anonymous said...

I agree that he was murdered.

Go back and watch episode 512 - Painless. You'll see that Kutner even admitted that he had no reason to commit suicide.

However, as for Taub not showing emotion, watch the end of the episode again. Taub is crying, and I'm fairly certain it's not because the lady is dying...

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Tom Harper said...

It's weird how those visual associations work. I've never seen House, so when I saw Kumar's face and the caption "Murdered," I was thinking "huh, the kid from that stoner movie was murdered?"

Same with ER, which I also never watched. I know some of their "doctors" included the guy who played that slacker musician wannabe brother on Roc, and one of the mass murderers in the remake of In Cold Blood.

Anonymous said...

Agreed, House is never wrong.
It's a pretty safe bet Kutner was murdered.

CogEvo said...

He was murdered (although I don't think it was by Taub).

House is never wrong.... and remember he's modeled after Sherlock Holmes. Now it's time to solve the murder mystery.

Kathy said...

Damn. I haven't had a chance to watch "House" for the past month or so and I missed this. Kutner was one of my favorite characters, although I will be happy to see Cameron and the others more often. I never understood why they were cut back.

That for the synopsis, Lew.

libhom said...

I refuse to watch anything on Fox, no matter how good it might be. I just can't stand the thought of doing anything that might help Rupert Murdoch's media empire in any way.

Kyle said...

i to think he was murdered, if the gun was legal couldn't they find a license? check out the gun shops in the area? House, M.D. meets CSI!!

Anonymous said...

Not mentioned: At the end of this season the reason House is losing his mind is his subconcious is telling him Taub killed Kutner, but he's not listening. That's way Amber, and finally Kutner, have returned as House's subconcious to haunt him.

Anonymous said...

also if you listen to a commentry on the dvd set for this season the writers say at the very end taub killed kutner i dont know if it was a joke or not

Anonymous said...

Kutner was found in his bedroom, face down, with the gun located on his left side. Foreman dailed 911 and reported a 28 year old with a gun shot wound to the right temple. Does anyone see the error in what I just typed? Why was the gun found on his LEFT side when the bullet went in from the RIGHT? Unless he held the gun in an akward position. Someone shot him and planted Kutners own gun.


Unless everyone believes Kutner moved the gun after he took a bullet to the head.

Anonymous said...

Kutner was NOT murdered!....you need to focus on the underlying message...you can't always see depression...as far as house and taub not going to the funeral...house would never go to anyones funeral and taub had patients to look after...after all that all cant go now can they...the picture you see of kutner at the very end says it all.

Unknown said...

I've just watched this episode, what's interesting is that Taub made an excuse for Kutner not appearing at when saying his dog was sick. Later on in the episode House calls Taub a liar and then starts making random excuses for him not turning up at work

Anonymous said...

interesting theory, but Taub did cry at the end of the episode. could be both guilt and mourning tho.

Unknown said...

Lmao are you this stupid?