Thursday , March 28 2024
House enters May sweeps with four new episodes, including the two part season finale, "House's Head."

News for House, MD Fans: The Season Finale and More

After what seems to have been a century (but was only, in fact, two months) we finally have solid information on the four remaining episodes of House’s fourth season. The series will be settling into its Monday night post-Bones time slot at 9:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. CT on April 21, with a re-airing of the season three episode “Son of Coma Guy,” a powerful and emotional episode guest-starring John Larroquette (Night Court). The highlight of that episode, worth a re-watch any time, is House (Hugh Laurie, in a brilliant performance) revealing why he became a doctor.

Then. (Insert fanfare-ta-da-da-da!) Then the new episodes begin April 28 with “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” featuring a “too nice” emergency room patient with a potentially much more serious problem than has been diagnosed. Of course, House thinks the guy’s “niceness” is a symptom.

courtesy FOX flashIn the meantime, as Amber and House continue their competition for Wilson’s attention, chaos is certain to ensue. Since most House episode titles convey a multitude of meanings, one can only guess who is no longer going to be playing “nice” (along with the patient, that is). Is it Wilson? Amber? Or is it House himself, who seemed to have given his blessing to Amber and Wilson’s relationship when last we saw them in February? Let the speculation begin!

In the May 5 episode, “Living the Dream,” House’s obsession with soap operas comes into play as he notices something is not quite right with an actor on his favorite show Prescription Passion. Neither House’s team, nor the actor himself, believe anything is awry, as they dismiss House’s assessment that the soap star (Jason Lewis) has a serious medical condition.

The fourth season finale, a two-parter called “House’s Head,” will air on consecutive Monday nights, May 12 and May 17. In part one (May 12), House is a passenger on a bus when it is involved in a serious accident. With a head injury causing him short-term memory loss, he begins to piece together recalled fragments about a fellow passenger who was exhibiting signs of a “deadly illness.” Unable to recall who the person was, or even how he came to be riding on the bus, House desperately tries to process the information from “fleeting flashes” to save the life of someone who may not even know he or she could be dying. As part two, "Wilson's Heart" (May 19) unfolds, and House continues to pieces together his murky memories of the accident and the night before, his friendship with Wilson is pushed to the limit.

I have not seen any of the episodes, so this is all I know from the latest FOX press release. Sorry. If you've seen the previews shown following recent reruns on FOX, you can see flashes of the accident, and House inside the bus as it happens.

One more bit of news for readers of this column. I will be interviewing House executive producers/writers Garrett Lerner and Russell Friend after part one of the season finale airs on May 12. I'm very excited to have the rare opportunity of a one-on-one (I guess it's technically one-on-two) converstation with Friend and Lerner, who are the writing team behind several particularly character-driven episodes, including "Skin Deep," "Meaning," "Cane and Able," and "97 Seconds." Oh, and I almost forgot to say — they are also two of the season finale writers. So stay tuned!

About Barbara Barnett

A Jewish mother and (young 🙃) grandmother, Barbara Barnett is an author and professional Hazzan (Cantor). A member of the Conservative Movement's Cantors Assembly and the Jewish Renewal movement's clergy association OHALAH, the clergy association of the Jewish Renewal movement. In her other life, she is a critically acclaimed fantasy/science fiction author as well as the author of a non-fiction exploration of the TV series House, M.D. and contributor to the book Spiritual Pregnancy. She Publisher/Executive Editor of Blogcritics, (blogcritics.org).

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