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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LightPhoenix" data-source="post: 4744587" data-attributes="member: 115">Forked from: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showpost.php?postid=4744345" target="_blank"> Heroes #22:Turn And Face The Strange/Season 3/2009 </a>I wanted to fork this thread off from the Heroes thread so as not to bog it down with discussion of another show.(SPACE TO FOOL THE MOUSEOVER)First off, I just learned today that it was Penn's decision to leave the show, since he got the job at the White House.  So that ameliorates my feelings towards the episode a little bit.I don't particularly believe that there are no warning signs for people with suicidal tendencies.  However, I also believe that the tendency is for people to hide depression or otherwise trivialize it.  Furthermore, I can fully believe that the House team are too self-centered to perceive that Kutner had a problem.  So in that aspect, I can agree with the message that suicide can be sudden and unexpected and it can be people you know.The premise of the episode, and something many characters seem to accept, is that anyone can suddenly and randomly kill themselves.  Shrug, it happens.  Personally, I find that reflective of society's endemic desire to treat mental health as something extremely dirty, something you don't talk about.  If I thought that the purpose of the episode was to bring that to light, to a discussion, I might be a little more forgiving.However, it's hard to see Kutner's suicide as little more than a cheap ratings grab for shock value.  The memorial website hammered this point home for me.  It was never about trying to get people to be aware of suicidal ideation, and all about ratings.  So I found this whole episode entirely hypocritical.I think I may have liked the episode better if the whole thing was Kutner imagining him killing himself, and leaving the end ambiguous.  That would be more informative, I think.Now, I won't pretend that Kutner wasn't one of my favorite characters.  He was, precisely because he wasn't all emo like the rest of the main cast.  He was easily my favorite of the Numbers.All of that aside...I've generally been unhappy with the show this season.  I thought the Numbers were a clever move that brought some fresh ideas to a show that was starting to turn stagnant.  Amber's death at the end of last season was great, and spawned some great stories in the aftermath early in the season (the detective, the Wilson/House road trip).  However, the rest of it was generally blah.  It doesn't particularly feel like it's going anywhere.I can't stand Thirteen.  I think she's a horribly written character who is unfortunately dominating the show's writing.  I don't think Ms. Wilde is a terribly great actress.  So when the show uses Kutner's death, and especially his funeral, to advance the Thirteen/Foreman relationship, that makes me seethe more than a little.Now, Taub on the other hand I generally enjoy, although part of that was his banter with Kutner.  I thought Peter Jacobson did a terrific job in this episode.  I think something that he brought to the table was that perhaps Taub did suspect something was up, and didn't say anything to Kutner or to anyone else.I completely buy House thinking of Kutner as a patient and wanting to know the answer.Wilson's solution to cheering House up was the best line in the whole episode.My hope is that this paves the way for Chase and Cameron to be back on the show more.  I've never liked their characters more than now, perhaps in part because they don't seem as stale.  Of course, given the preview for next week's episode, that hope may be a bit premature ([spoiler]Oh look, the Cameron loves House thing... again[/spoiler]).</blockquote>

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