Penn moves from one House to another

Attention all “House” fans: If you haven’t seen Monday’s episode, there are major spoilers in this article, so proceed at your own risk. However, if those who’ve seen the episode and are just as distraught as I am, please share this moment with me.

Because there were no new airings of “Gossip Girl” and “One Tree Hill,” my other favorite Monday night viewings of “CSI: Miami” and “House” had to be even better.

And although I wouldn’t necessarily say that “House” was a fantastic episode this week, I will definitely say that it left me speechless – and rather pissed off.

In the episode, the doctors went to Kutner’s (Kal Penn) house to see why he had not shown up for work, only to find that Kutner had committed suicide.

Without any rhyme or reason, Kutner was gone. Kaput.

I was completely dumbfounded. Penn’s character brought a lot of depth to the show, and I didn’t understand why the producers would want to kill him off. It wasn’t until the next day I found out the reason he left.

No, the actual actor isn’t dead and, contrary to some rumors, he wasn’t kicked off either. He asked to leave.

If some people didn’t know, Penn spent a lot of time during President Barack Obama’s campaign speaking on his behalf.

So when he was offered a position at the White House, it was something he couldn’t turn down, Penn said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Penn will be the Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Liaison, which, he said in the interview, is similar to his role during the campaign.

Although Penn admits he is going on hiatus from acting to pursue his other dream of politics, he doesn’t deny that more acting might be in his future.

So with Penn going from one “House” to another, what does this mean for the show?
I am not really sure. My initial reaction was anger. I mean, why not kill off Taub (Peter Jacobson)? He was nothing special.

But Penn is pursuing a dream, and who can deny anyone that? And the more I think about it for the story line of “House,” the unexpected is what the show is all about.

Why not have a gritty, emotional and unexplained death for the characters to grapple with?

Whatever the reason, viewers will miss Kutner. He was a great asset to “House,” and I can only assume he will do great things for the White House, too.