Gregory House Follows In Sherlock Holmes’ Footsteps
I don’t think it’s a coincidence PBS aired the Sherlock series 2 finale a day before Fox aired the House series finale. Both shows used the same source material for their plots.
WARNING FOR BOTH SHERLOCK AND HOUSE SPOILERS! DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN EITHER EPISODE YET!
Dr. House faces a tough choice in the series finale. He is trapped in a burning building. If he lives, he faces a jail sentence for violating his parole terms. If he dies, he escapes years of pain, loneliness, and addiction. In both situations, the chances of not being there to comfort Wilson as he dies of cancer are very high. He debates for a long time whether to escape or to succumb to the smoke. Hallucinations of Amber, Kutner, Cameron, and Stacy argue with him over the choices he made and reflect on the past.
Sherlock Holmes in The Reichenbach Fall faces a tough choice too. Confronting his archenemy Jim Moriarty has led him to the brink of diaster. Moriarty is pointing a gun at him while both are standing on a rooftop. Either he dies and Moriarty is free to commit more crimes or he lives and Moriarty succeeds in convincing the world that Holmes is a fraud.
Both House and Holmes choose a third way out. House escapes through the back door but leaves a body behind for the police to declare him dead. He contacts Wilson so they can travel the country together. Holmes falls to his death by jumping off the roof, but the audience sees him alive a short time later.
House M.D. from the beginning of the series had obvious as well as subtle Sir Arthur Conan Doyle references. House and Wilson were clearly approaching medical mysteries in the same fashion Holmes and Watson solved crimes. It is very fitting that the end of House was based off of “The Final Problem”, where Holmes faked his death to escape Moriarty.
Even though both episodes were filled with sad moments for fans, take comfort that best friends House and Wilson as well as Holmes and Watson are off having great adventures together.
