The post-Super Bowl episode of House (“Frozen”) garnered record-setting ratings for the series. Of course, many of those new viewers will stick around and become fans. Jumping into a series mid-fourth year isn't always easy. So, in honor of all of you House “newbies,” and because I'll use any excuse to drag out my (very nearly worn out) House DVD collection, I re-watched all 80 or so episodes and put together what I call the "Welcome to the End of the Thought Process” (Unofficial) House Episode Guide.
I don't watch House for the humor; or for House's outrageous behavior and rude comments. I watch House for House (the character, that is) — for the peeling away of his layers — the character study that the series and the always-brilliant Mr. Laurie do so well. My episode grades primarily reflect that. But I’ve also factored in things like atmosphere, humor, the patient mystery, use of the secondary characters, and (of course) music.
On the other hand, such frivolous things as the blueness of Hugh Laurie’s magnificent eyes (which seem to fluctuate from just plain blue to the varying shades of the Caribbean Sea, depending on the light) have not been factored in at all. (Yeah, I know.) Neither have the improbability of the medicine (I’m not a doctor, so I really don’t care), the inaccuracy of legal issues (I’m not a lawyer either), or seeming character inconsistencies (because over the course of the series, despite the different writing styles of the series scribes, the characters have been overall consistent).
But this is a subjective guide, and House is truly a series that can be viewed, interpreted, and enjoyed from a variety of angles. So, feel free to debate and argue with me as you wish in the comment area below. In fact, I’d love it.
Episodes marked with an asterisk (*) are those I consider to be “must-see” episodes. Links will lead you to lengthier reviews/commentaries I’ve written for Blogcritics or on posted on my LiveJournal. The guide will posted in several parts over the next few weeks. Plenty of time to go back, re-watch for yourself.
* Pilot (A) - “You can’t always get what you want” goes the Rolling Stones classic. “But you just might find, you get what you need.” All the elements that make this series great were there right from the beginning: Wilson manipulating House to take on a patient (and lying to do it!); House making a soul-to-soul connection with a patient; the sparkling bite that defines House and Cuddy’s relationship. The humor was perfect and it served as a balance to the story’s intensity. House’s motto, "everybody lies," is introduced in the series pilot, as is the idea that House’s real specialty is hunting medicine’s zebras, a medical metaphor for unusual medical cases that require out-of-the-box thinking (House’s gift.)
Article comments
1 - Mary
"Jumping into a series mid-fourth year isn't always easy."
I jumped into watching "House" in mid-third year, with my first episode being "One Day, One Room." I had heard the positive reviews of the show, and don't know what had been keeping me so busy that I'd never watched it until a year ago. But the quality of the writing and the acting were so compelling that I was well and truly hooked from that episode. (The following Tuesday evening was one of those two hour episodes of that silly reality show that precedes it, and I remember standing in my living room, waiting for my "House M.D." fix, and being angry that it wasn't available.)
Thanks to DVDs and DVD rentals, it's possible to catch up fast with storytelling as excellent as this. I'm happy that I've had the opportunity to do so, and to share in the appreciation of it that I have found online in forums such as this.
2 - Barbara Barnett
thanks for commenting, Mary. I remember after watching "Cursed," which my first episode, and then going nuts tyring to find the already-legendary episodes of Detox and the pilot (and some others) to download and watch. I always appreciate your comments here.
Barbara
3 - ann neimer uk
Dear Barbara, Thanks for treating " House" as seriously as it deserves and for your perceptive comments.
House is not your cliche curmudgeonly doctor with a heart of gold; he has a heart but it is a dark one.He really is what he appears to be but what he appears to be is only the tip of the iceberg.
I agree with your definition of him as a Romantic Hero, but might he not also be a Tragic Hero ? I think he is angry, not only at what has happened to him but at what he sees around him every day.
This,and his bleak childhood ,leads him to see life as random and meaningless, but,since he is no coward he picks the greatest enemy-death- and fights it tooth and nail.(like Lucifer defying God in Paradise Lost ). This is why he really can't understand other people's obsession with professional rules,conventional ethics or drug addiction, which seem to him irrelevant and trivial.House as a fallen angel ?!
4 - Barbara Barnett
Ann--Thank you for your kind words perceptive comments. I love your take on House. I have also thought about House as a fallen angel from time to time. He does fight death as his arch enemy. But his is not unwilling to let a patient go either, if the choice that lies before them is worse. He also has fought for patients to have a better outcome beyond the ailment for which they originally sought him out. Rather than band-aid a problem, he (when he can) has sought to heal rather than to "fix". A great example is in "Half-Wit."
5 - Phillip Winn
Fantastic write-up, Barbara. I love this show passionately, and I enjoy it even more through your eyes.
6 - Barbara Barnett
Thanks, Phillip! Part two is coming in the next day or two.
Barbara
7 - bliffle
It's pretty obvious that House is Holmes and Wilson is Watson, as the names suggest. Holmes plays violin, etc.
The great thing about these men is that they are great logicians and problem solvers. They are also capable of ego sacrifice (they don't hesitate to denounce their own hypotheses, as necessary, which is a rare quality, almost nonexitent, in either police or medical practice).
Police and medical are the two arenas of our experience where outsiders inject themselves into peoples lives at times of great stress and danger. Like gods. Gods with feet of clay because they make mistakes, mostly out of excessive ego involvement. Success will require getting beyond your own Press Notices, which is why House walks the tightrope of offensiveness and even illegality: he doesn't want anyone to overlook his own mistakes out of an exaggerated respect for his status and reputation for that will lead to their dishonesty and ultimately his own.
8 - Erika
I don't mean to be a kvetch, Barbara, cause I like your columns. But the use of "whole" to refer to the absence of disability is offensive to a lot of us...(able-bodied works without implying that any of us are partial people or anything like that.)
Thanks.
Happy viewing.
9 - Barbara Barnett
Hey Erica--not a kvetch...a valid issue. I meant "whole" in a non-physical sense. The "healthy" referred to his physical being, but I believe the piling on of his existence from his childhood through the present has left him feeling less than whole (and, that, from his POV). I absolutely did not mean that disabled people are less than whole. I have a disabled mother, so I mean no offense. Sorry for the confusion over my use of the term.
Barbara (delighted that you enjoy reading my columns!)
10 - Erika
Well, people do say that sometimes...I just thought I'd point it out...it used to be a more common usage than it is now, and as such, is...not preferred.(But maybe you already knew that.)
Yes, I'd agree that Greg House has...fragmented since his injury and that it activated unhealthy tendencies he probably always had.
Thanks for clearing that up.