As the last four episodes of season four start up, a look back at what we’ve seen so far seems timely. Looking at the bright side, the long gaps between episodes necessitated by the writers’ strike have at least offered the time to reflect on what the House writers were up to, as they audaciously set up a Survivor arc to shake up the cast and add new faces.
Though this season has had a more comedic bent with the emphasis on Survivor shenanigans, I think there has been a strong thematic thread framing the season, focusing on faith, hope, and wonder as ways to find or make meaning in our lives. This thread was woven into every episode and presented from multiple viewpoints, including through a camera lens. Ultimately, we saw how desperately House is still looking for meaning.
The strands of this exploration can be traced back through all of House’s seasons. Though House locates himself as believing only in facts, the rational, he chose to risk his own intellect to regain the joy of the physical in season two’s “No Reason.” House’s writers seldom allow the show to settle into one position and this season they again challenged House’s reverence for facts as they introduced the idea that reality is always constructed to some extent. In the season opener, “Alone,” the episode’s most powerful moment was watching the realities shift between two sets of grieving relatives as the identity of the patient shifted. That focus on how our perceptions influence our reality continued throughout the arc.
“Guardian Angels” patient of the week Irene was living in an alternate reality, but as it was one with her deceased mother, she felt a loss when she got better enough to realise she was hallucinating. Was the time spent in that alternate reality worthless? It didn't appear to be from the sadness of Irene’s goodbye. House has a difficult time with constructed reality — he wants to nail down knowledge, but "Ugly" specifically examined how the act of looking shapes as well as records reality — how do we step outside our own perceptions to find objective knowledge? The actors in the documentary all tried to use the power of the camera for their own purposes, and the director deliberately shaped the celluloid House of her "reality" TV show into something House didn't recognise — but Cuddy, to some degree, did. Is the truth in House's view of himself? Or is there also truth embedded in the fiction?
Article comments
1 - Orange450
I really enjoyed your article. Thank you! My perspective wrt this maddening, elusive show is completely inconsistent, and all over the map. I can never pin it down. Sometimes I think I can perceive grand unifying theories, and at other times I can't see the forest for the trees and wonder whether the writers ever talk to each other between episodes. I've been recognizing snippets of the development you cite all during the season, but haven't been able to put them together, so I definitely appreciate your analysis of S4's thematic framework. I like to superimpose this kind of structured thought on my aimless wanderings through the series, and am looking forward to reading more of your critiques. Thanks again!
2 - Gerry
Thank you! I also like that the House writers put this kind of thought into themes. I'm looking forward to seeing how all this plays out for House himself by season's end. I think we'll get that peek into him many viewers have been waiting for.