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May. 9th, 2007 01:44 pmSam's Three Things About House MD
1. Oh, Wilson. Never ever change. Not even on antidepressants or amphetamine. The brilliance of the House-Wilson dynamic is that you think House is kicking his ass all over the hospital and then all of a sudden Wilson says like...a word, and you realise that not only is his ass not being kicked, he in fact kicked House's ass at some point when House wasn't paying attention. Not a lot, just the once, to remind House that he's human.
2. Chase is a wee!House. It's fun watching him fumble around trying to deduce things and still kiss ass at the same time. I am sad he gave up on reminding Cameron that it's Tuesday and he Likes Her, though.
3. The brilliance of James Wilson aside, I'm not sure what I think of the antidepressant subplot. I'm oddly unconcerned about the drugging of drinks and more concerned with the constant need that the writers have (possibly filling a constant cry by the fans, to be fair) to try and explain why House is such a dick, and then try to shoot down the explanation (as with the Asperger's Syndrome nondiagnosis). I will say, however, that the gradual revelation of House's character is pretty masterful -- over the course of three seasons it has unfolded from House just being a dick to House being a dick with way unresolved daddy and woman issues to House being a dick who was abused as a child and is now suffering from clinical depression.
3a. I worry about House, as a show. It's always been formulaic, and its fans accept that (sometimes with grumbling) but there's also a limited amount that can be done with a limited cast. There's a balance to be struck; too few castmembers and you end up with a procedural, because you can only get so much interpersonal drama out of six people (see Law & Order and all that pesky headline rippage), while with too many castmembers you end up with the potential for disjointment and constant rotation, as with ER. Grey's Anatomy strikes a nice balance, and is objectively a much stronger show in that regard than House, but even after the last few episodes I still like House more. I'm just not sure how long they can keep it up, because most TV viewers want something to talk about, not something to think about. I think if the writers push they can get one more really good season out of the show, but after that I don't hold out much hope.
Still, four good years is a pretty fine run. I'd still buy the DVDs, if I was the kind of person who, you know, ever bought DVDs.
1. Oh, Wilson. Never ever change. Not even on antidepressants or amphetamine. The brilliance of the House-Wilson dynamic is that you think House is kicking his ass all over the hospital and then all of a sudden Wilson says like...a word, and you realise that not only is his ass not being kicked, he in fact kicked House's ass at some point when House wasn't paying attention. Not a lot, just the once, to remind House that he's human.
2. Chase is a wee!House. It's fun watching him fumble around trying to deduce things and still kiss ass at the same time. I am sad he gave up on reminding Cameron that it's Tuesday and he Likes Her, though.
3. The brilliance of James Wilson aside, I'm not sure what I think of the antidepressant subplot. I'm oddly unconcerned about the drugging of drinks and more concerned with the constant need that the writers have (possibly filling a constant cry by the fans, to be fair) to try and explain why House is such a dick, and then try to shoot down the explanation (as with the Asperger's Syndrome nondiagnosis). I will say, however, that the gradual revelation of House's character is pretty masterful -- over the course of three seasons it has unfolded from House just being a dick to House being a dick with way unresolved daddy and woman issues to House being a dick who was abused as a child and is now suffering from clinical depression.
3a. I worry about House, as a show. It's always been formulaic, and its fans accept that (sometimes with grumbling) but there's also a limited amount that can be done with a limited cast. There's a balance to be struck; too few castmembers and you end up with a procedural, because you can only get so much interpersonal drama out of six people (see Law & Order and all that pesky headline rippage), while with too many castmembers you end up with the potential for disjointment and constant rotation, as with ER. Grey's Anatomy strikes a nice balance, and is objectively a much stronger show in that regard than House, but even after the last few episodes I still like House more. I'm just not sure how long they can keep it up, because most TV viewers want something to talk about, not something to think about. I think if the writers push they can get one more really good season out of the show, but after that I don't hold out much hope.
Still, four good years is a pretty fine run. I'd still buy the DVDs, if I was the kind of person who, you know, ever bought DVDs.
