Have You Seen House M.D.: Season 4 Episode 15 – House's Head?

Episode Synopsis:

A bus that House was riding crashes. House claims there’s a victim on the bus that’s dying, but not from the bus accident. He stops at nothing to figure out who the patient is and what is ailing them.

So what do you think of this episode?

If you missed it, you can watch it here.

SPOILER ALERT!

House è forse una delle poche serie TV attualmente in onda che, con il tempo, è riuscita a migliorare sempre di più, anzichè “jumping the sharks” come sta accadendo per altri popolari serial come Grey’s Anatomy. Analizziamo ora il finale della quarta stagione…

Telefilm: House
Episodio: “House’s Head”, “Wilson’s Heart” (4×15, 4×16)
Stagione: 4

Voto Episodio:
Dopo una lunga attesa, finalmente sono riuscito a godermi anche l’episodio finale della quarta stagione di House, serie cult che vede come protagonista il medico titular character ed i suoi modi di fare non troppo convenzionali che lo portano però, quasi inevitabilmente, alla “vittoria”, ma non dopo aver irritato i colleghi, il suo team e lo stesso paziente che cerca di curare. Personalmente, credo che House sia uno dei pochi telefilm che, nonostante siano passati quasi cinque anni dalla sua premiere, non sembra intenzionato a voler perdere colpi, e riesce ancora ad interessare un pubblico molto vasto senza ricorrere ad assurdi colpi di scena (anche se questi non mancano) o trame troppo articolate. Il Season finale di cui ora vi parlerò è la prova che questa serie sembra godere di ottima salute.

Questa stagione si è conclusa a 16 episodi, questo a causa dello sciopero degli sceneggiatori che ha colpito quasi tutti i telefilm della stagione 2007-2008. Il Season finale, quest’anno, è stato presentato in un doppio episodio. Il primo, House’s Head, riesce, già dalla prima scena, a far porre allo spettatore diversi interrogativi, catturandone inevitabilmente l’interesse a l’attenzione. La trama principale consiste in un disperato tentativo di House (il protagonista) di recuperare la memoria per riuscire a ricordare una persona in particolare che aveva bisogno di cure urgenti. Dopo diversi malintesi, il cinico medico scoprirà che si trattava di Amber (la “stronza tagliagole” -come era solita chiamarla). La seconda parte, Wilson’s Heart (titolo che richiama molto i sentimenti che lo stesso Wilson prova per Amber), vedrà House nuovamente alle prese con il recupero della memoria, per ricordare cosa sta effettivamente uccidendo la ragazza. Tutto questo porterà alla soluzione giusta, ma per Amber il destino era già segnato fin dall’episodio precedente: la donna muore tra le braccia di Wilson. E’ probabile che l’”eco” di questo evento si farà sentire molto nella prossima stagione (chi ha visto l’episodio sa cosa intendo). In questi due episodi il lavoro degli sceneggiatori si fa sentire molto e la recitazione degli attori protagonisti (e non) raggiunge nuovi livelli riuscendo a coinvolgere con successo il telespettatore nelle tristi vicende che costellano questo appagante finale di stagione.

Vaig trobar per internet, fa uns dies, comentaris referents a l’últim capítol de House, emès als EUA el 19 de maig. Es deia que era el millor de l’any pels crítics nord-americans, i que només el podia igualar el final de LOST, que s’emetia més tard, el 29 de maig.

Vistos els capítols, sí que semblen estar a l’alçada dels millors de l’any (tenint en compte que no he vist totes les sèries emeses). Els dos finals (dobles, tots dos) han representat la constatació final del boom televisiu: les sèries, cada cop més, estan per sobre les pel·lícules. Les cinquenes temporades de les respectives produccions es presenten ara més interessants que mai, aconseguint rejovenir l’interès de la seva audiència.

House

El gir que els guionistes havien previst per al final de la quarta temporada no se’ns havia anunciat de cap manera en tot el transcurs de l’any. House tenia nou equip, però seguien amb ell els clàssics, les proves del Lupus, el “tothom menteix” o “la gent no canvia”. Per seguir, encara continuen a prop d’ell els membres del seu anterior equip, del que Foreman (Omar Epps) és el vincle entre passat i present. El millor amic del doctor, Wilson, segueix aguantant-li les bromes de sempre, reforçades ara que té parella.

El plantejament del capítol doble és absolutament brillant. El cas inicial ens involucra el propi House, i en el primer capítol, House’s head naveguem per la ment del doctor, en una línia pseudoonírica similar a la que contemplàvem a Twin Peaks. Els somnis, al·lucinacions i regressions mentals que fa el protagonista per tal d’aclarir què va passar, i sobretot, què va veure que el fes preocupar-se. El que busca no són símptomes, sinó el portador d’uns símptomes que ell havia reconegut, i que ha oblidat arran d’un accident.

Tot el capítol es mou en aquest univers racional de Gregory House, en la recerca incessant de causes, conseqüències, símptomes i tractaments. La revelació final, arribar al “pacient” del doctor, només fa que obrir una via encara més inquietant per al segon capítol.

Si en el primer ens centràvem en la complicada ment del doctor, el segon, Wilson’s heart, explora la personalitat del seu íntim amic, diametralment oposat a ell a l’hora d’enfocar les relacions personals. El nivell del capítol puja minut a minut, aconseguint canviar el to habitual de la sèrie, arribant allà on els fans mai haguessin cregut que arribarien.

Les últimes escenes -si bé tenen un punt de tòpic- són estremidores, d’una excel·lència que gairebé mai (potser amb l’excepció del final de la primera temporada, Three Stories) havíem vist a la sèrie. i sobretot, arriben a la quota més alta d’implicació emocional usant unes armes que mai s’havien tractat a la sèrie, i que obren multitud de possibilitats en la continuació de les vides de House i tots aquells que el rodegen.

Si la temporada ja ens havia anat anunciant que tornava el millor de la sèrie, el final és el colofó definitiu, un exercici emocionalment brillant, que uneix l’espectador i el doctor més malcarat de la televisió.

Amber muore.
Ha la malaugurata idea di andare a recuperare House ubriaco perso in un bar. prendono  un’autobus  e poco prima che questo venga coinvolto in un incidente devastante House nota che le pillole contro l’influenza che prende Amber sono, alla luce del camion che sta venendo in contro all’autobus, potenzialmente mortali.

Il problema è che dopo l’incidente, House ci impiega un’intero episodio a ricordarsi il sintomo e, soprattutto la persona in questione, a causa di un vuoto di memoria generato dal trauma:tra un arresto cardiaco, un trauma cranico, ed un’elettroshock all’encefalo perde troppo tempo, e quando viene a capo della questione è ormai troppo tardi. A wilson non rimane che rianimare la poveretta, darle un ultimo bacio, e spegnere il bypass che la sta mantenendo in vita.

la morale di questa quarta serie??? se siete sbronzi, prendete un taxi, è meglio.

House and Wilson: Head and Heart

I am not particularly secretive about my love for the television show House (though contrary to what Steve Berman may tell you, I do not have a shrine to Hugh Laurie or Robert Sean Leonard in my apartment). It’s harder to pinpoint why I like it so much as compared to other shows, since those seem to mirror my taste in books: Doctor Who for the science fiction tropes, Coupling for the amazing writing, Firefly for the characters. Though I think this may be a case of a single character holding my interest enough to sustain the entire show. You can ask my Clarion classmates about the misanthropic limping knight with a penchant for prostitutes that showed up in one of my stories…

That said, my faith in the show waned drastically during Season 3 when I (along with everyone else, I think) grew completely bored and annoyed by the entire Tritter/jail/drugs storyline extremely quickly. The show needed some new life breathed into it, and starting it off with House’s reality show style job interview process was pitch perfect. This season brought me back to why I loved the first so much, and though I had a few issues with the melodrama, I think that the two-part season finale, “House’s Head” and “Wilson’s Heart” (anyone else start humming ‘if I only had a brain?’) was a fitting end to a great fourth season. Beware, spoilers abound below.

House is based on Sherlock Holmes, after all, so a good mystery is always welcome. I liked the narrative structure of “House’s Head” quite a bit, with the bits and pieces unfolding through House forcing himself to remember the events of the evening. I for one was on the edge of my seat by the end: who was with him on the bus? Who? Whooooo?

Actually, I take that back. Not by the end. I figured it out (and I’m sure most people with half a brain did) long before House. Which, if you ask me, is pretty unrealistic, even if he did have a concussion. House is supposed to be smarter than me. However:

“What’s my necklace made out of?”
“Resin.”

Oh, please. He is not that stupid. What was the clue supposed to be? “Jurassic Park?” Why didn’t they just have Vanna White run by spelling out “THE GIRL THAT WILSON IS ——-? I’d like to by a vowel. U, please.

Maybe House was too busy trying to figure out if Lisa Edelstein was using a body double in that stripping scene to be able to solve complex puzzles. I was having some issues with that one as well.

And of course, it was a two-parter, which left me on the edge of my seat until “Wilson’s Heart.” At which point, it wasn’t Wilson’s heart that had the problem, it was mine. Ripped out and stomped on, really. I don’t really consider this a bad thing in my television, but I admit, there were parts of the episode where I felt it was leaning a little to close to the Lifetime Movie side of the fence. Though honestly? It was so sad that I didn’t really care that I was being emotionally manipulated. I was still bawling. I even thought that Wilson was basically a jackass for most of the episode, and I still felt horrible for him at the end.

But seriously, the entire thing was worth it just for the conversation between Amber and House at the end:

“Lonely misanthropic drug addicts should die in bus crashes.”
“Self pity isn’t like you.”
“I’m branching out from self loathing and self destruction.”
“Why don’t you want to [live]?”
“It doesn’t hurt here. I don’t want to be in pain. I don’t want to be miserable.”

I am constantly floored by House’s self destructive tendencies and this was no exception. He risked his life to save Amber… and even if it didn’t work, I was still shocked that Wilson walked out on him in the end. Not to downplay his grief, but shouldn’t he have been happy that he didn’t lose his girlfriend and his best friend?

I feel awful for Thirteen. Not because she has Huntington’s, but because the revelation was so completely anti-climactic. I think I may have yawned.

On a final note? Thank you, writers. Thank you for not ending on a “will house wake up with brain damage?!” cliffhanger. Because you could have. So I really appreciate your taking the high road on that one. The only real cliffhanger we get is whether Wilson is going to be giving House the cold shoulder when the new season starts…

Speaking of which, is it time for that new season yet?

When we last we saw Dr. Gregory House at the end of “House’s Head” (part one the House season finale), he was barely alive, lying on the floor of a bus. The entire episode was a weird and emotionally powerful rollercoaster ride, as we follow House (played to perfection by Hugh Laurie), while he tries to reassemble bits and pieces of his memory after being involved in a bus accident.

Using flashbacks, hallucinatory visions, and dreams to make sense of his foggy and fractured memories, House risks his life to identify a possibly fatally ill fellow passenger, knowing that the clock may be running out. A final and extremely risky attempt to recreate the scene just prior to the crash, which House enhances by using a dangerous Alzheimer’s drug, causes his memories to flood back, but also sends him into cardiac arrest. Cuddy and Wilson revive him and, in a very tense moment, House manages to croak out the words. “It was Amber. Amber was on the bus with me.” Part two which airs this Monday evening on FOX is sure to leave us with more questions than answers — and a whole summer to discuss and analyze what it all means for House and his colleagues.

I had the opportunity to speak with two of the finale’s writers, Garrett Lerner and Russel Friend (who are also series executive producers), to get their thoughts on the season finale, the character of House, and the future for the series, which is heading into its fifth season this September.

The season finale originated with a story idea from the creative mind of Doris Egan. “House wakes up in a coffee shop and doesn’t know how he got there,” they explained. “He knows that something bad has happened: he’s seen a fatal symptom in somebody, but can’t access his brain.” 

Everyone on the staff, said Lerner, thought it was a great story idea, and plans were made to craft it into a blockbuster two-part story. Part one was intended to get the coveted post-Super Bowl slot, taking advantage of the huge audience (and justify the equally huge cost). “People would then tune in Tuesday (the series regular time slot)” and hopefully continue to tune in weekly.

But Egan was already working on episode 12 (“Don’t Ever Change”) and was too busy to work on the two-parter. So Lerner and Friend along with David Foster and Peter Blake sat in a room and thrashed out the script. But, with the WGA strike looming, it became clear that there would be no time to ready it for the Super Bowl, so “Frozen” was substituted.

Designed to be a big-budget project and very expensive for series television, they were not certain that the network would be willing to pay the incredibly expensive production costs when the episode was moved from the post-Super Bowl slot. “We thought the episode would never see the light of day,” admitted the Lerner and Friend. “But to their credit,” Friend acknowledged, the network approved the expenses and it became a two-part season finale.     Continued at Blogcritics…..

As promised:

Q:                                So, as the season began, knowing that there was a whole group of new doctors coming in, did you have concerns as to how Cuddy was going to fit in with the sort of remixed version of the show?

L. Edelstein                 I felt the least affected.  I think both Wilson and I felt the least affected by that.  Certainly you wonder how they’re going to manage to give any of us anything to do with so many characters on a show, but they seem to have managed.  It’s really the same structure where you have the inner workings of the case and then the B and C stories of what’s happening amongst the personalities of the main characters, and it’s been great.  It’s a wonderful new group of people, and they have shown up with lots of excitement and eagerness, and they have great attitudes.   So it’s been a wonderful experience.

Q:                                Do you sense movement in Cuddy’s character in recent seasons?  Do you sort of see a place that she’s going from here?

L. Edelstein                 I do.  I really think that her character has been filled out and that her relationship with House has become a beautiful, complicated, adult relationship filled with all kinds of subliminal messages.  And it’s fun to play, and even when they don’t write it, I put it in.

Q”                               I was going to say, how much of that subliminal stuff is you and how much is the writers? 

L. Edelstein                 I think it goes both ways.  I think writers like to see how people bring their words to life, and it’s always surprising.  Always, no matter what, whether it’s good or bad, it’s always surprising because a whole human being is coming to that piece of writing.  And certainly there’s inspiration that comes out of that, but it’s also David Shore and what’s going on in his mind and where he would like to see things going.

Q                                 Hello, Lisa.  I just wanted to quickly ask you, given your time on this show with all the lingo you’ve picked up, the demeanor you’ve picked up, if we were to dress you up as a doctor and disguise you, but drop you into a hospital, how long do you think it would be before you would be found out?

L. Edelstein                 I think I could go half a day.  You know what, I’ve always been a smarty-pants, and the only thing that goes wrong now is that people know that I play a doctor on TV and so they quickly call me out on the fact that I really think I am a doctor.  But before, I used to get away with it much longer.

Q                                 And what would trip you up finally?  What would be the thing that would make somebody say, “Are you sure you’re a doctor?”

L. Edelstein                 If somebody had a heart attack. It would be bad because even though I say, “Clear!” really well, I don’t really know what else to do.

Q                                 Now we know Cuddy, in the finale, is in House’s head.  What is Cuddy doing in his head, and what will it mean for the future of their relationship?

L. Edelstein                 Well, it is very interesting what happens in the first half of the finale in terms of learning about how House sees people and kind of getting the world from his point of view directly.  And he’s suffering from a brain injury, so he’s trying to remember what he saw before this accident, and in doing so, he’s using the people around him in his imagination to kind of help him dig through his memory and bring things up.  And so when Cuddy enters into that fantasy, he decides he might as well have her strip, so we’ll see what happens.

Q                                 Now we know there’s a cliffhanger coming … House’s relationships.  Is it Cuddy or is it someone else?

L. Edelstein                 Oh, I can’t tell you that.  It’s a cliffhanger.

Q                                 Well, okay … but will there be any kind of change in their complicated, beautiful, adult relationship?

L. Edelstein                 I think so.  You know, I don’t know when, but I think it definitely has a life of its own and more will be revealed.

Q                                 Anyway, since it’s been awhile since the first season of House, what do you think of the fact that you’ve finally been able to play the same role for several years and it may keep going for several more?  Is it freeing, is it challenging, is it weird?  Is it all those things?

L. Edelstein                 I love it.  I’m loving the experience because it only gets more interesting.  You know, it’s scary when you sign onto a pilot of a series because, as much as you want the series to go, you also want it to be a character that you’d be interested in playing for a long time.  What ends up happening, well, on a show like this that’s so well-written, what ends up happening is that it just becomes more interesting because the layers and layers and layers that are added on and the complex relationships that start to reveal themselves.  It’s great to play.  I’m having such a good time.

Q                                 And being on a show where you can see all the different ways that a human being can get sick, does it ever mess with your mind?

L. Edelstein                 It does.  When anybody I know has any symptoms at all, I have a thousand things that run through my head.  A friend of mine has a rash that won’t go away, and I’m asking her if she had her immune system tested to make sure it’s not an auto-immune problem.  It definitely gives you more information than you definitely want most of the time, but most of it goes in and out of our heads because we have to compile so much stuff per episode.  We have to let it go.

S. Lanoue                    I just wanted to know, if you could write the show or you could direct where the show’s going to go, do you think Cuddy would have a romantic relationship with House or Wilson, or would you prefer she find someone new?

L. Edelstein                 I still think there’s more to explore with House.  I don’t think her and Wilson are attracted to each other, but I think they have a common bond in terms of their weird relationships with House.  But I do think there’s more to explore in regards to her relationship with House.

Q                                 Just talking more about the relationship with House, I’ve always had a theory that she loves House and all of the games she has to play to keep him in line.  What do you think of that theory?

L. Edelstein                 I think that theory is right on the money.  I think that she very much loves House and also lives vicariously through him because she’s a very smart woman who is very successful as a doctor and has a great job and a wonderful position, but also has had less and less to do with the actual practicing of medicine as the years have gone by, so I think she’s excited by what he does and how he does it and deeply frustrated by him at the same time.  But as all intense people are, they’re incredibly interesting and compelling, and she definitely falls victim to that.

Q                                 And I read that, in the two-parter, in the fantasy sequences, you actually have to work a stripper pole.  How did you prepare for that?

L. Edelstein                 I called Sheila Kelley, who has a company called S Factor.  She’s actually the wife of Richard Schiff, who I’ve worked with a bunch of times on The West Wing and on Relativity, and she did a movie a long time ago about strippers and realized that stripping was a great way to stay in shape and also a great way for women to kind of explore their sexual power.  And so I went to her, and she helped me choreograph this routine.  It was a very interesting experience. 

Q                                 My question was regarding the rumors about a potential spin-off, and I was wondering if you had heard about any of that—

L. Edelstein                 Only in rumor.  I’ve heard the same rumors, but I haven’t heard anything directly.

Q                                 And are you guys working on the next season already?

L. Edelstein                 Yes.  We just started.

Q                                 And there’s mention of a potential, another private investigator character being introduced.  Have you come into contact with that at all?

L. Edelstein                 No, no.  I’ve only read it, just like you, on the Internet. 

Q                                 Now, you already probably know the answer to this because you said you worked on the first new episode.  We have a section, the week after your finale, we have something called “Burning Questions,” and I was going to ask you what burning question would you like to ask the producer after you did the finale.  Was there anything hanging that you would love to say, or something that happened, “Why did you do this?” or “What’s going to happen?”

L. Edelstein                 No, it doesn’t apply this year because we had to go right into season five, but usually we know nothing until we return.  It’s a very exciting day when you finally get the first episode’s script.  But this year, there is no surprise.  I have no burning questions.  We started, like, the minute we were done with season four, we were on season five.

Q                                 Well, then, can you just tell us, do you think we will have some burning questions like, “Oh my God, what’s going to happen?”

L. Edelstein                 What will your questions be?  I think your main question will be, “What will become of House and Wilson’s friendship?”

Q                                 What do you think that House thinks of Cuddy?  Do you think he loves her like she loves him?

L. Edelstein                 I think he’s attracted to her.  I think he likes her smarts.  I’m not sure House is capable of love the way other people are.  I think he’s so disconnected to himself in that way that it would be impossible for him to truly be able to connect to somebody else.  I mean, I think he loves Cuddy and I think he loves Wilson, but I don’t know that it would be in the same way they love him.

Q                                 Yes, I’ve asked this question of David Shore before too, what do you think drives House?  Because I’ve always thought he can’t truly be as disconnected and unempathetic as he plays, although Shore sort of says, yes, actually he is, but what do you think?

L. Edelstein                 Well, I’d have to agree with David.  I think that he has become so disconnected through his pain and his treatment of his pain and his anger at the world that he finds the connection in the puzzle more than in the people.  And he’s so smart that he sees past everyone’s bull… to such a degree that people become uninteresting to him. 

Q                                 Why do you think all of that, though, ends up not disconnecting Cuddy and Wilson to him, but also us as viewers?   I just think that’s always such an interesting dichotomy that you’re like, here’s this really non-empathetic person, but you feel connected to him—

L. Edelstein                 Because he’s so smart about telling the truth about where you’re at, even when you’re not willing to admit it yourself, and there’s something very addictive about being around a person like that because you know you’re going to hear the truth and because they’ll talk to you anyway.  It’s like being naked and still being spoken to.  It’s being naked with all your defects.  There’s something about it, even when it’s cruel, that’s comforting.

Q                                 And the last thing is, having said all that about House, when you’re playing all that with Hugh Laurie, I mean, I guess what I’m asking is what’s Hugh Laurie like as compared to House?  Because it seems to me like he’s so very different than all that.

L. Edelstein                 Oh, yes.  He is a much softer person and very sensitive and very empathetic and hilarious, an extremely hard worker.

Q                                 How  would you say you and Cuddy compare to each other, like yourself and your character?

L. Edelstein                 I’m much more playful than she is.  I behave younger and I have a different kind of energy, completely.  I’m usually ricocheting off the set walls until they say “action,” and then I’m this serious person.  She wears skirts that you can’t even take long strides in.  But it’s great.  It’s great playing that part of myself with her, but I think most people are surprised when they meet me that we’re so completely different.

Q                                 So you said you’re starting right back up again, you’re still aiming for a fall premiere for season five?

L. Edelstein                 Oh, yes.  We’re starting season five.  As soon as we finished season four, we started season five.  We’re working straight through until August.  Usually we have May and June off, so we work through to August, then we take a break for a few weeks, and then we come back and work through December.  So, barring an actor’s strike, that will be our schedule.

Q                                 I was just curious, how would Cuddy’s relationship have been different if the strike didn’t happen, with House?

L. Edelstein                 I think they were planning on exploring her relationship with House a little bit in season four and decided to put it off, but I don’t really know to what extent because they don’t tell me.

Q                                 How does House’s mental struggle affect Cuddy and the team?

L. Edelstein                 Oh.  That’s really interesting because he ends up risking his own life in order to access his own mind, and none of the other people can do what he does, so they’re all willing to kind of participate in that risk. 

Q                                 They’re all keeping their fingers crossed, I guess.

L. Edelstein                 Yes, holding their breath for a minute and waiting to see if it works.  I mean, I don’t, for a long time, nobody really knows to what extent he’s risking his own life, but even when it becomes apparent, it still goes on.

Q                                 Oh, great.  Thank you so much.  I guess I was curious, you mentioned earlier that, if something wasn’t happening in the plotline that you wanted to happen, you would make sure that it did.  How involved are you in the development of the narrative and of the plot?

L. Edelstein                 Oh, I don’t think I said that.  I have zero control over what happens in the plotline.  I think I said that, if it wasn’t written in terms of subliminal messages, that I— I just think there’s always room for humanity in acting, one can only hope, so when you bring in the whole life of a person that’s playing a character, then surprises happen and are allowed to happen, and so it makes it more interesting.

Q                                 Is there anyone that you would just die to work with that you’re sort of angling to—?

L. Edelstein                 I only wish that Clint Eastwood was playing Hugh’s dad, but they had already cast his dad in the very first season, but it should’ve been Clint.

Q                                 What else can we expect in the next season?

L. Edelstein                 The next season, you know, they just don’t tell us.  I’ve only seen one episode so, in terms of script, but we really don’t have any clue as to where the storylines are going.  I think there’s a nice House/Wilson storyline to kick off the season that is kind of, their friendship is on the line, so that’ll be interesting.

Q                                 I was just curious, there’s been rumors about this.  I don’t know if it’s true, but I’m wondering, can we expect the finale to set the stage for a House spin-off?

L. Edelstein                 I’ve read that online also.  No, not the finale.  I don’t have any idea what they’re talking about in those rumors.

Q                                 How is the prospect of another potential strike sort of affecting the atmosphere as you go into this quick turnaround into the fifth season?

L. Edelstein                 Well, I think the fact that we’re doing a quick turnaround to the fifth season is part of it, but you know, we’re all kind of holding our breath because nobody wants a strike, and hopefully a strike won’t be necessary, but it’s very scary, the kind of tactics that the AMPTP is pulling again.  And it’s very sad, so fingers are crossed.

Q:                                on the side, the possibility of that?

L. Edelstein                 Yes and no.  It’s in the air, but we haven’t all gotten to that point just yet.  They haven’t sent out strike approval notices or anything like that, and it’s scary.  We were very behind the writers and the writers’ strike, and these are really legitimate issues that are being brought up, and some really terrible tactics are being used to work against the artists.  So I really, really hope it doesn’t have to go to that place.

Q                                 Hello, Lisa.  I’m just wondering, in House’s mind, Cuddy strips.  Do you think, if the situation was reversed and we were in Cuddy’s mind, House would strip?

L. Edelstein                 I don’t know.  I don’t think Cuddy’s like a Chippendale’s kind of gal.  I think women have a different idea of what’s sexy in terms of what they want to see their men doing than in terms of—Maybe it would be some kind of like laying there quietly, caressing her belly, like tickling her belly while doing a diagnostic. 

Wow, I haven’t reviewed any tv episodes in a looong time, but I figured with season finales coming up, I better at least write something about the final episodes of the season. Let’s start with House (WARNING: SPOILERS).

Monday’s episode (ach, I always forget it’s not on Tuesdays anymore), “House’s Head,” was the beginning of a two-part storyline arch that is frankly very intriguing. In short, House was in a severe bus accident and experienced a concussion; he believes the person who caused the accident is dying and that the answers lie within his bleeding brain. Throughout the episode he experiences retrograde amnesia (he can’t recall things leading up to the event), and although his condition is worsening (hallucinations, headaches, bleeding from the ears, etc.), he refuses to rest until he figures out why this case is so important to him.

The episode is slow-paced, serious/dramatic, and boring at times, but things really heat up near the end after House realizes he spent his time saving the wrong person. House takes memory recall to the next level (he previously tried hypnosis, smell, and other methods) by recreating the bus scene using hospital staff—including Cuddy, Wilson, Cameron, Chase, and his current team. Overdosing himself on Alzheimer’s medication in order to send his memory into overdrive, House finally remembers the person who really needs his help: Cut-throat Bitch and Wilson’s girlfriend, Amber.

The thing is, no one really cares if Amber dies, we just care about Wilson. In the previews for next week’s finale episode, House continues to suffer the effects of his concussion and Wilson begs him to risk himself to save Amber. The question of why Amber was on the bus with House that night is also raised.

Next up, Smallville.

Last week’s episode was actually pretty interesting, although Clark is still annoying me with his whining. Tomorrow is the season seven finale and also Michael Rosenbaum’s last episode (the jerk), poo. But fiiiinally, Lex finds out about Clark! Anyway, let’s hope that Lana stays in a coma, she’s annoying and Clana needs to end already. We want Clois!

On another note, if you haven’t heard, Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are leaving. The network reports they’re passing the torch on to “… executive producers Darren Swimmer, Todd Slavkin, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson [who] will helm the show next season. They have been writing for the show for the past six seasons, and as producers for the last four years, they have played an integral role in the ongoing creative evolution of the series.”

Brooding Black and Pulsating Purple are SO his colors.

And as Rosenbaum exits stage left, two new villains will surface in season eight:

Additionally, two new villains will join the cast of characters on “Smallville” this season: the legendary, unstoppable Doomsday, and a female antagonist who will challenge Clark in ways never before imagined. Casting is underway for both roles.

Doomsday: In season eight, Clark will face his ultimate challenge with the appearance of the legendary, unstoppable destroyer Doomsday, who appears on “Smallville” for the first time. As comic book fans know, Doomsday is notorious for being the only character in the DC Comics universe to have killed Superman.

Female villain: Doomsday won’t be Clark’s only nemesis in the upcoming season. The executive producers are tight-lipped about a new female villain they will be introducing, but they can say she will be familiar to many fans and will set her sights on Clark in ways Lex never could. Intelligent, brilliantly manipulative, and dangerously sinister, our gorgeous new villain has one more weapon in her arsenal: Her mutual attraction with Clark may prove to be as deadly as kryptonite for him.

Here’s the extended preview for tomorrow’s episode.

Okay, I have just one thing to say about last week’s Lost … Why do I watch this shit?!

We have to move the island? Are you freaking kidding me?!

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What did you all think of last night’s episode?  Amazing?  Brilliant?  One of the best in the entire four years of the show?  Certainly worth waiting for–and what a stunning way to lead into part 2.  And so unfair to make us wait a week!

What did you all like best?  By the way, I think this has to be Hugh’s emmy submission!

I will have my review of the episode up later today, so be sure to check back here or on Blogcritics (where it will appear first).

Later today, I will be interviewing two of the guys who wrote last night’s episode:  Garrett Lerner and Russel Friend to get their persepctive on the episode, the season and maybe a hint or two about next week and next season.  Do not look for that article to appear until next Monday morning, however.  I may give a tease or two…but the article will have to wait.

Also, later today, I will post the transcript of last week’s Lisa Edelstein interview.  It will only appear here and not on Blogcritics.

See ya later….

BB

“House’s Head”

May 12th, 2008

When spoilers emerged regarding the setup for this season’s finale of House, I must admit to being somewhat skeptical – it sounded a lot like the House finale from two years previous, wherein we spent an entire episode unknowingly inside House’s head after he was shot. It was a mind-bending episode, to be certain, and was certainly an intriguing glimpse into how his mind works. Here, it seems a bit predictable: faced with a pending finale, we find ourselves delving back into his mind for an extra special House extravaganza.

This time, the subconscious is aware, so it’s a bit trippier, and that House is actively attempting to solve a mystery where the answers are in his own mind proves dramatically interesting. The problem is that the previous finale was a personal crisis for House, and eventually evoked ideas and concepts that would help to focus on his concerns with his leg. Here, we lack that personal connection: the episode tries to draw out feelings between House and Amber, which doesn’t seem as eventful for him as a character.

It’s also now far more detrimental to focus so heavily on only one character: with three new fellows, three old fellows, Wilson and Amber all floating around searching for a point of identity, to spend an episode so clearly wrapped up in House’s own mind. While it has some vague reflections on the other characters (And promises for further complications in the episode’s second part), his physical, emotional and psychological trial is really his own…and I don’t know if a show of this breadth is in a position to be so centered on its titular character at this point.

The episode has had most of its buzz for a rather odd scene, a fantasy sequence wherein Lisa Edlestein’s Dr. Cuddy performs an honestly really sexy striptease for House. It goes much further, with many more gyrations, than I would have figured; the end result is a small footnote, however, in the episode’s overall function. Said fantasy was only one of a number of techniques House used to attempt to solve the mystery of what symptom he saw before the bus crash.

For an episode chock full of hypnosis, hallucinations, drug-popping and one-liners, I just don’t know if it actually did anything for these characters. While it was intriguing to return to the idea of solving a mystery in House’s head, the end of episode revelation was not worth forty minutes that could have been spent elsewhere. That it was Amber who was hurt in the bus crash, and who House saw symptoms in ahead of time, was something that didn’t need all of this psychological drama to establish. It was a gimmick for the same of gimmickry, and not one that seems to particularly fit either House’s behaviour all season or where the finale seems to be heading.

In order to wrap up the season, we needed to spend more time with our characters other than House, but here they were either incidental players or (more dangerously) barely even present. Amber’s peril will certainly affect a lot of the staff on the show, but was an episode like this necessary to get us to that point? I liked its various gimmicks well enough to say I enjoyed it, but from a storytelling standpoint it felt unnecessary and indulgent to a fault.

It also didn’t make anything particularly clear: is Jane Doe 2 dead, or is she just unidentified since she was at a different hospital and her purse flew out of her hands on the bus? Outside of the ability to indulge in a little fantasy, and for Fred Durst to make a random guest appearance, did this episode actually accomplish anything even close to the finale two years ago?

I guess it just wasn’t my thing, so hopefully the second half proves redemptive.

Cultural Observations

• I noted it above, but to highlight away from the general negativity the final scene really was quite powerful. The show doesn’t usually do scenes like that one, so it was a strong scene.
• While it might not work as a culmination of the series’ strengths, this is a likely candidate for the series’ Emmy contention: between the final scene and the various hallucinations/elements, it is certainly the kind of gimmick that could catch a panel’s attention.
• And, just to clarify, everyone else was reminded of the Simpsons episode where Homer goes on a mystical journey in the water pod when House got into his fantasy bath, correct? Good.