These are weird times for television fans. With the writers’ strike in its umpteenth week and our favorite shows in repeat limbo, it has been a slow season. In my case, I know that I have not had that old familiar anticipation for my favorite night of television. I no longer feel frantic about getting dinner, homework, and chores done by 9:00 p.m. every Tuesday night just so I can have my weekly, uninterrupted dose of Dr. House. There has been no pressure to dissect an episode or to come up with the hook that would be the basis for what I hope would be a compelling analysis of the week’s offering.
In a virtual world seemingly filled with Hugh Laurie experts, “squee-ing” fans, devoted House lovers and disappointed House viewers, my need to get a word in edgewise about the show and its inhabitants has faded into the background. Sure, I could have dusted off a review from a past season to coincide with whatever episode the powers that be were killing time with, but instead of rehashing the past, I have simply been waiting for the strike to be over so I can resume my one-sided crush on my favorite curmudgeon and the man who plays him.
It’s not that I don’t watch the repeats. The television is on, but I no longer need to be glued to the couch. I have watched the DVDs from past seasons so many times that I can recite dialogue, tell you which characters are in the room, describe what each one is wearing, and even tell you just how blue Hugh Laurie’s eyes look in every scene. I know when to stop what I’m doing in order to attend to the screen at the right moment to see the genius of Hugh Laurie’s acting, whether it is in quiet conversation, an emotional outburst, a comical gesture or a nuanced glance.
Who can forget House telling Cuddy that she can’t always get what she wants or yelling at his patient that she cannot die with dignity, only live with it? How could I forget the way House looked on the roof of the hospital when he was contemplating his relationship with Stacy, or the way disappointment played on his face when she said that she was concerned about hurting Mark? Or how Hugh Laurie changed an “ewww” moment of waiting for a call girl to an “awww” moment through body language and the saddest expression of lonely resignation? Who can forget House’s determination to cure the little boy dying from the same disease as his old patient, Esther, or the relief he felt when the puzzle was solved?
Article comments
1 - Amanda
Cindy, I'm reading your article and it's ME saying all the things that you are saying!!
All except the part about being jealous of the kiss between House and Cameron. I don't see them together ever....or at least I hope not.
I see Stacey coming back to House in the finale episode (Many many years from now) and them both living happily ever after. The series CAN NOT end with HOUSE still being misrable.
2 - Susanne
I have been very dissappointed with this season. The newbies are boring, it was good for the first three ep but after the end of "97 seasonds" it just went all over the shop for me. Cuddy has become a walking doormat compare to the last two seasons what's going on there? Jealousy cringe is that a good thing or bad thing? Being a woman in my 50s I love the cameron/house relationship and I can see them together but not Stacey. For that relationship to work I think one or both people had to change because two people cannot be the alpha dogs in a relationship. I think that stacey was there to reveal more about House and let House finally have some closure in his life and that's all. So I do not see him with stacey at the end even though I have my preferred relationship I would have been fine with cuddy/house until saw how degraded she has become and the fact that House uses her whenever he pleases and treats her like crap and very little repect leaves me saying "How in Earth can she be in a relationship with him?"
I will watch the last three eps but I'm not really jumping for joy about it, I actually have some paperwork saved up. To me survivor arc was a waste of time and a waste of good characters. It wasn't a solution to their old/boring problem it was a distraction, they are just going to go back to the old formula. Wht happens if they get boring, put those three on the side and then hire another 40 people and go through it all over again? In my opinion they won't get very far until they open up the door and start exploring cuddy, wilson, cameron, chase and foreman individually. They can take a page from Grey's Antomy who is named after the lead but actully put emphasis on their supporting characters and use he talent and let their characters grow wheres with house the characters are stuck at one note, two note with hardly any growth, except for chase at the end. I watched the reruns and actually enjoyed them wheres with these new eps I find myself extremely dissapponted.
Great review by the way, I'm not looking foreward to these eps though but I am holding on I may be in denial. I hope the new ducklings go because so far they haven't really made an impact and don't expect them to especially when one is more likely to be seen on a sitcom and one is perfect Mary sue which is not interesting for a TV character.
3 - Tammy
I have enjoyed every House episode for the past three seasons. But this new season is a different story. I do not enjoy how House has been written completely differently to every other episode in previous seasons. It used to be clever and interesting, now it has become boring and crude.
The survivor arc was only interesting in the first couple of episodes but after that it became obvious that the actual NEW characters weren't going to be chosen. Instead they chose the three most boring and bland characters that bring nothing to the show. I mean where are Cameron and Chase? We keep hearing that they will be back in full force, but the question still remains, WHEN?
I will watch the next three episodes, but I'm up for watching repeats of the first three seasons because that's the House that I grew to love and enjoy.
4 - CindyC
Amanda - I don't like to speculate on how the series will end, but I don't forsee anything in the shape of House living a "happily ever after" with anyone. I think that would go against the premise of the original concept. I can envision House walking into the sunset with Wilson by his side (friends) in the same vein as the end of Casablanca -- or House sitting alone in his apartment, playing the piano, with a cigar burning in an astray and a glass of scotch -- and he's perfectly content to be that way. Of course, only time will tell.
Susanne -- I have to agree to disagree with you about Cameron -- as a woman approaching my 50's, I had major problems with the "I'll come back if you go on a date with me" story, and I never really liked her since. I thought it was totally inappropriate and immature. And because I have enough issues dealing with my middle years, I don't really like the idea of House and a younger woman. That is jealously speaking of course, because I'm still working through my issues that come with what I feel is the passage of youth. I'll get over it eventually. Like I said, I will agree to disagree, because I don't want this to turn into a forum for shippers debate.
Tammy -- I agree that this season does not live up to the promise of seasons past, but I am willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt as to the direction the season was heading. I think that the writers' strike has had a negative impact in that we will not get the chance to see where they were headed with the story, nor have we had the opportunity to explore the depths of the new characters. I like the choices made for the new team and I was hoping for the chance for Kal Penn to shine as Kutner. I have found respect for him as an actor after watching The Namesake.
I'm also wondering, given the abbreviated nature of the season, if the DVD release of Season 4 will have a lower price tag, and/or lots more special features. An in-depth interview with Hugh Laurie woud be great.