Keep me in your heart: Thoughts on the HOUSE series finale

Goes without saying: If you have not yet seen the final episode, or intend to, read no further. 

The whole point of a movie is to show the change in a character over time. However, when it comes to successful television series, change is not what we want to see (see: The Simpsons, Family Guy, or Spongebob for other examples).

House did not last eight years on television by changing. In fact, fans of the show love him just the way he is: a narcissistic, cane-wielding, pill-popping, pompous ass.

Hugh Laurie himself said that one of HOUSE's mantras has always been that people don't change; this is evident in eight-season run-time. Laurie also said that fans of the show should not expect a "last minute change" to the title character during its swan song.

Excuse me Mr. Laurie, but I do recall House himself say "I can change" somewhere in that final episode.

However, in the real world, people do change; it's just not easy to do and may indeed take a shocking, life-altering event (like having your best friend diagnosed with cancer and you realizing that you two only have five months left together) to do so. So in that aspect, the series finale was a good ending.

HOW I THINK HOUSE SHOULD HAVE ENDED:

House spends the majority of the last episode in a burning building after waking up next to a dead heroine addict. House sees no point in going on, that is until different parts of his conscientious comes to him in the form of some long-dead co-workers (reminiscent of A CHRISTMAS CAROL), and convince him to change.

After about the fourth co-worker spirit or so, House finally decides that he can change for the better; so he picks himself up off the floor and it is at that moment he sees Wilson running towards him. And what should happen next? A chunk of the floor above him comes flying down on House, shortly followed by a huge explosion.

Shortly afterwards, there is a funeral in House's honor. Everybody has something nice to say about House and how he impacted their world without realizing it (ain't that special?). This is how it should have ended (not any of this faking your death stuff). How perfect would that have been to the series? House spends the whole eight years being an ass and trying to prove to everybody that people don't change and when he finally decides to, it's too late.

Maybe it's too dark, but HOUSE hasn't always been about sunshine and daises.