The TV Zone

Now: I don't pose this question to get anyone's hopes up, or to state definitively that it will happen.

But I ask this as a simple, declarative, could-it-possibly-happen type of question.

Could Kal Penn's Kutner return for the finale? I think it needs to happen, and should happen. But will it...? Obviously, if he does, he'll be back as an Anne Dudek/Volakis-type hallucination, but as her storyline has demonstrated, there is life after death inside that cluttered cranium of House's, and sometimes it's more vivid in death than real life....

Here's my rationale for one last Kutner farewell visit, as stated in my Monday preview of the finale for Newsday. See if you agree...

"'House' hasn't been a barrel full of giggles since Kutner's shocking suicide in late March - an act that opened not only a new and unusually morbid window on House's psyche, but deeply polarized fans. Go ahead and ask one - was Kutner's exit the worst and most shocking in 'House' history? 'House' needs to heal, and to a certain extent so do these fans. In a wonderful scene a few weeks ago, Wilson - as usual - got to the core of House's desperation. 'After Amber died, I withdrew and hoped to find some deeper truth. I was wrong. I should have gotten back to the here and now.' But House, down to his stubble, NEEDS answers. That's how he's engineered. 'Sometimes there isn't any reason,' said Wilson. 'You should be losing it." For our hero or a primetime entertainment, that’s hardly satisfactory. He needs a reason. We need one too. This is why I think Kutner (also as hallucination?) is back one last time. The fifth season is screaming for closure."

Realistically, could Kutner return? Realistically, could Amber?

And here's another question you need to be asking: Why did Kutner kill himself in late March? I know, I know, Kal Penn had to get to work for the Obama administration, but you're telling me the president wouldn't have understood if he said, "Mister President, can I join a few weeks late? I need to wrap the fifth season?"

Of course he could have. But the producers wanted him gone early to set up this final arc, which has pried open a whole new dimension to House.

But we need closure. We need answers. Honestly, I think there's only one person who can give us those. We'll see if he does.

If she can come back for a little while . . . why can't he? (Fox Photo)