More House
Jan. 13th, 2008 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakHaving finished the second season of House because this show is certainly addictive, I have a few more thoughts:
Three Stories lived up to its announcements; great episode, and not just because I have a soft spot for tv going experimental with narration. I really hadn't figured out House was using his own operation as an example until just seconds before it was spelled out, wheras with the second season finale, I immediately deduced we were in House's head, not in reality. But then, many shows I've watched did an episode taking place in the head of one of the characters and exploring his psyche that way, with the three most outstanding examples being Farscape's Won't get fooled again, Babylon 5's The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari and BtVS's Restless (which takes place in four minds instead of one, admittedly, but is still an incredibly brilliant example of this particular subgenre). By contrast, the DS9 take on the concept, Distant Voices, is entertaining but quite clumsy by comparison and not especially deep. The House example is somewhere in between, imo; it amused me to no end that they called the shooter whom House's mind then turned into his equal/alter ego "Moriarty", and I found it fascinating that he imagines Cuddy both curing his leg and taking his intellectual brilliance away, which offers food for interpretation of how he sees Cuddy, the fact she performed the operation on his leg back then, the hold this gives him over her since and their working relationship. And the climax, House imagining himself killing a patient to prove he, House, is hallucinating, is incredibly disturbing and also fascinating re: House. But the episode as a whole never quite reaches the dazzling heights of first three examples I gave.
All in all, I liked the second season slightly better than the first (which I also liked); it developed the characters further, as it should, and threw some interesting curveballs. (Oh, and aside from "Moriarity", we also got the dead patient of House's with the surname of Doyle and of course his address, 221B. Elementary!) Details from the second half of s1 and from s2:
- it was bizarre to see Chi McBride as Vogler after having seen him as Emerson first; he doesn't quite have the ability to instantly imprint himself as a different character (imo as always) that some other actors have (for example, I never had trouble seeing Julie Benz as Rita not Darla on Dexter, or Michael C. Hall as Dexter not David, despite having loved both actors in those earlier roles before). Vogler himself, after a promising introduction, was a tad too obvious an antagonist for House, too much the boo-hiss embodiment of the pharmaceutical industry. Which doesn't mean I wasn't amused by scenes like House's dream where he tells a repentant Vogler his diagnosis and rubs his back (after having walked without a problem, a neat detail fitting for a dream), and didn't cheer during the scene where Cuddy at last goes up against him and wins, but - I wish they had kept him as someone genuinenly well-intentioned, instead of making him personally vengeful against House. That would have made him more interesting an opponent.
- otoh, other familiar faces instantly became whoever they were playing; Greg Grunberg in particular was awesome as the grieving husband of the dead woman whose liver House needed, and it was very amusing to see first Tom Lenk (Andrew on BTVS) and then Adam Busch (Warren) in two consecutive episodes as excentric patients. Thomas Dekker, aka Zach in Heroes, was good as the teenage faith healer; pity he seems to be so full of himself in rl, but then, acting is what he's paid for.
- Cameron, take II: no, still don't get the hate. I mean, it's not like her dead husband backstory takes more room than Foreman's juvenine delinquent and mother with Alzheimer backstory (which is far more often referred to) or Cash's daddy issues, dead alcoholic mother and seminar backstory, or any more a typical tv trope; and while her making House take her to dinner as a condition of coming back was out of line and inappropriate, it wasn't presented as a prelude to instant romance but as a mistake, and Cameron dealt with House's rejection during said dinner (and his analysis of her reason for crushing on him) with far more maturity afterwards than House dealt with the whole Stacy thing (more about that in a moment); we didn't see her pining for House ever after, she got over it, and her character wasn't defined as "the one who had a crush on House" . I appreciated we got some scenes with her and Cuddy in season 2 (female character interacting with other female character is, alas, still noteworthy on tv), and that they weren't about dating but about issues like how to deal with a colleague stealing your work, sort of. That she had a positive relationship with Chase and the one night stand wasn't treated by either of them as something other than it was, instead of resulting in either a romance or a destroyed working relationship and neither of them got brooding or drama queen over it was refreshing. The fallout with Foreman resulted in some terrific scenes, such as the one with Cuddy already mentioned and then later the one where Foreman, fearing for his life, deliberately contaminates her.
- which brings me to the boys; they're doing stuff that young sidekicks usually don't, like Chase selling House out to Vogler in season 1 (which made sense under the circumstances and given Chase's daddy issues), and Foreman going "colleague not friend" and later making the aforementioned selfish but entirely believable stabbing of Cameron in order to heighten his survival chances, but between Chase kissing cancer-ridden nine year olds and Foreman relearning, they also get the "soft" scenes as well
- my, if fans dislike Cameron, they must hate Stacy. I don't have any strong feelings about her one way or the other, but I wasn't quite sure whether House's behaviour during that entire arc as meant to come across as unsympathetic as it did. (Probably yes, though; House isn't a jerk against authorial intentions otherwise, either.) See, that's why I couldn't seriously 'ship House with anyone. Between aquiring Stacy's files transcribing her sessions with her psychiatrist, and going through Cuddy's underwear, his lack of a concept of personal space and privacy (except his own when he wants to have it, of course!) really is way too off-putting. (This applies to slashing him with Wilson, too, btw. I mean, they're lovely in their scenes together, and the whole living with each other was amusing as hell, but I don't think it's a coincidence Wilson eventually moved out again. Being friends with House is tough enough; I wouldn't want to burden the poor man with romancing him!)
- all this being said: the way they play with neither Cuddy or House ever giving a definite statement to whether or not they had had sex in the past is fun, as is their constant bickering, and then you get unexpectedly intimate and touching moments like House asking for morphine by showing (for the first time on screen) his crippled leg sans protective clothing, which is both blatantly manipulative and emotionally raw on his part, and the counterpoint scene later where Cuddy tells him she gave him a placebo injection is what makes the difference to his using Stacy's psychiatry sessions to manipulate her; and speaking of counterpoint, House later in the season giving Cuddy injections that are equally confidential made for some great (and admittedly hot) scenes as well
- I am inappropriately amused by the fact Wilson had three wives, because the number of Watson's wives is one of those things where Doyle goofed up and which hence has led to endless debates; also, Wilson's marital problems, flirtations and affairs prevent him from being a long suffering saint (which otherwise given his relationship with House he would be), which is good.
Three Stories lived up to its announcements; great episode, and not just because I have a soft spot for tv going experimental with narration. I really hadn't figured out House was using his own operation as an example until just seconds before it was spelled out, wheras with the second season finale, I immediately deduced we were in House's head, not in reality. But then, many shows I've watched did an episode taking place in the head of one of the characters and exploring his psyche that way, with the three most outstanding examples being Farscape's Won't get fooled again, Babylon 5's The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari and BtVS's Restless (which takes place in four minds instead of one, admittedly, but is still an incredibly brilliant example of this particular subgenre). By contrast, the DS9 take on the concept, Distant Voices, is entertaining but quite clumsy by comparison and not especially deep. The House example is somewhere in between, imo; it amused me to no end that they called the shooter whom House's mind then turned into his equal/alter ego "Moriarty", and I found it fascinating that he imagines Cuddy both curing his leg and taking his intellectual brilliance away, which offers food for interpretation of how he sees Cuddy, the fact she performed the operation on his leg back then, the hold this gives him over her since and their working relationship. And the climax, House imagining himself killing a patient to prove he, House, is hallucinating, is incredibly disturbing and also fascinating re: House. But the episode as a whole never quite reaches the dazzling heights of first three examples I gave.
All in all, I liked the second season slightly better than the first (which I also liked); it developed the characters further, as it should, and threw some interesting curveballs. (Oh, and aside from "Moriarity", we also got the dead patient of House's with the surname of Doyle and of course his address, 221B. Elementary!) Details from the second half of s1 and from s2:
- it was bizarre to see Chi McBride as Vogler after having seen him as Emerson first; he doesn't quite have the ability to instantly imprint himself as a different character (imo as always) that some other actors have (for example, I never had trouble seeing Julie Benz as Rita not Darla on Dexter, or Michael C. Hall as Dexter not David, despite having loved both actors in those earlier roles before). Vogler himself, after a promising introduction, was a tad too obvious an antagonist for House, too much the boo-hiss embodiment of the pharmaceutical industry. Which doesn't mean I wasn't amused by scenes like House's dream where he tells a repentant Vogler his diagnosis and rubs his back (after having walked without a problem, a neat detail fitting for a dream), and didn't cheer during the scene where Cuddy at last goes up against him and wins, but - I wish they had kept him as someone genuinenly well-intentioned, instead of making him personally vengeful against House. That would have made him more interesting an opponent.
- otoh, other familiar faces instantly became whoever they were playing; Greg Grunberg in particular was awesome as the grieving husband of the dead woman whose liver House needed, and it was very amusing to see first Tom Lenk (Andrew on BTVS) and then Adam Busch (Warren) in two consecutive episodes as excentric patients. Thomas Dekker, aka Zach in Heroes, was good as the teenage faith healer; pity he seems to be so full of himself in rl, but then, acting is what he's paid for.
- Cameron, take II: no, still don't get the hate. I mean, it's not like her dead husband backstory takes more room than Foreman's juvenine delinquent and mother with Alzheimer backstory (which is far more often referred to) or Cash's daddy issues, dead alcoholic mother and seminar backstory, or any more a typical tv trope; and while her making House take her to dinner as a condition of coming back was out of line and inappropriate, it wasn't presented as a prelude to instant romance but as a mistake, and Cameron dealt with House's rejection during said dinner (and his analysis of her reason for crushing on him) with far more maturity afterwards than House dealt with the whole Stacy thing (more about that in a moment); we didn't see her pining for House ever after, she got over it, and her character wasn't defined as "the one who had a crush on House" . I appreciated we got some scenes with her and Cuddy in season 2 (female character interacting with other female character is, alas, still noteworthy on tv), and that they weren't about dating but about issues like how to deal with a colleague stealing your work, sort of. That she had a positive relationship with Chase and the one night stand wasn't treated by either of them as something other than it was, instead of resulting in either a romance or a destroyed working relationship and neither of them got brooding or drama queen over it was refreshing. The fallout with Foreman resulted in some terrific scenes, such as the one with Cuddy already mentioned and then later the one where Foreman, fearing for his life, deliberately contaminates her.
- which brings me to the boys; they're doing stuff that young sidekicks usually don't, like Chase selling House out to Vogler in season 1 (which made sense under the circumstances and given Chase's daddy issues), and Foreman going "colleague not friend" and later making the aforementioned selfish but entirely believable stabbing of Cameron in order to heighten his survival chances, but between Chase kissing cancer-ridden nine year olds and Foreman relearning, they also get the "soft" scenes as well
- my, if fans dislike Cameron, they must hate Stacy. I don't have any strong feelings about her one way or the other, but I wasn't quite sure whether House's behaviour during that entire arc as meant to come across as unsympathetic as it did. (Probably yes, though; House isn't a jerk against authorial intentions otherwise, either.) See, that's why I couldn't seriously 'ship House with anyone. Between aquiring Stacy's files transcribing her sessions with her psychiatrist, and going through Cuddy's underwear, his lack of a concept of personal space and privacy (except his own when he wants to have it, of course!) really is way too off-putting. (This applies to slashing him with Wilson, too, btw. I mean, they're lovely in their scenes together, and the whole living with each other was amusing as hell, but I don't think it's a coincidence Wilson eventually moved out again. Being friends with House is tough enough; I wouldn't want to burden the poor man with romancing him!)
- all this being said: the way they play with neither Cuddy or House ever giving a definite statement to whether or not they had had sex in the past is fun, as is their constant bickering, and then you get unexpectedly intimate and touching moments like House asking for morphine by showing (for the first time on screen) his crippled leg sans protective clothing, which is both blatantly manipulative and emotionally raw on his part, and the counterpoint scene later where Cuddy tells him she gave him a placebo injection is what makes the difference to his using Stacy's psychiatry sessions to manipulate her; and speaking of counterpoint, House later in the season giving Cuddy injections that are equally confidential made for some great (and admittedly hot) scenes as well
- I am inappropriately amused by the fact Wilson had three wives, because the number of Watson's wives is one of those things where Doyle goofed up and which hence has led to endless debates; also, Wilson's marital problems, flirtations and affairs prevent him from being a long suffering saint (which otherwise given his relationship with House he would be), which is good.
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-14 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-14 04:38 am (UTC)And then there's Matt reconciling with his wife Janice in the first half of season 1 of Heroes via listening in to her thoughts and fantasies without telling her. Which was probably meant as sweet and romantic, but as much as I like Matt as a character in both seasons, especially the second, it grossed me out. See what I'm getting at here?
no subject
Date: 2008-01-14 02:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-14 02:44 am (UTC)Regarding Vogler and his Muahaha Villainy: http://hobsonphile.livejournal.com/233394.html
Unfortunately, this turns out not to be the last time the House writers attempt to insert a multi-episode antagonist and fail. When you finish with the first half of the third season, you'll see what I mean. Tritter didn't make me feel like giving up, which sets me apart from a large segment of fandom, but - yes, Shore's team is very obviously stacking the deck. I may cease to tolerate that in time, but it doesn't seem likely, as Hugh Laurie could read a phone book for an hour and be fascinating.
Regarding Stacy and House's childish stalking thereof: http://hobsonphile.livejournal.com/232936.html
I think I may be a little more sympathetic to House here than would be your inclination, but I hope it will be interesting reading nonetheless.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-14 05:50 am (UTC)However, his pursuit of Stacy in s2 really is stalking, the thing with the psychiatrist files hits one of my few squicks - it's such an invasion of privacy and personal trust that I couldn't help but resent the writers chose to make Stacy have her night with House afterwards - and the fact he's suddenly Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca in the last episode of the Stacy arc smacked of the same kind of writerly manipulativeness that made Vogler into a boo-hiss bad guy. Also, there is House playing mind games with Mark during the later's therapy session. Yes, eventually Mark realizes what House is doing there, but it's still miles below the belt, because not only is NOT everything fair in love and war but Mark at this point is a patient at his most vulnerable, as House knows only too well, and therapy is supposed to be his emotional safety net helping him to recover. It's just too much crossing the ethical line, even for House, to be dismissed by me as "well, he's in love, so..."
no subject
Date: 2008-01-14 06:31 pm (UTC)and the fact he's suddenly Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca in the last episode of the Stacy arc smacked of the same kind of writerly manipulativeness that made Vogler into a boo-hiss bad guy.
I'm not sure the writers, in this case, intend for us to read this scene in that way. House himself might imagine he's re-enacting Casablanca, but remember that we also had Wilson on hand to point out the other reason for his decision - he simply has no desire to change, to become a functional adult. As I wrote, House is selfless at this moment, but also undeniably selfish.
~*~
Unfortunately, House is built on a foundation of writerly manipulation. After all, there's no way in hell any real U.S. hospital would take the risk of even hiring such a man. Again, I may cease to tolerate this eventually, but as an escape, House is, as you say, incredibly addictive.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-15 09:07 am (UTC)Oh, absolutely. As my own essays of doom for
Good point about Wilson pointing out the other reason - and Wilson is Watson i.e. the authorial alter ego, in a way.
And yes, I frequently become irritated when his fandom forgives his dysfunctionality while holding all other characters responsible for their own.
Looking for episode reviews, I read a few on TWOP and backed away again. Both the Cameron and the Stacy bashing are on a spectacular level (and there is actress bashing as well), plus it's exactly that - as I said in my post, Cameron making a date as a condition for returning was out of line, but she handles the follow-up maturely, so how does this make her so much worse than House who tries to destroy Stacy's relationship with Mark and get her back by all means pretty much from the moment he sees her again?
no subject
Date: 2008-01-14 06:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-14 08:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-15 12:16 am (UTC)And the guest spots with the Buffy cast are hilarious. Espeically the cow loving ep. Can you tell the writers were Joss fans? LOL!
no subject
Date: 2008-01-15 09:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-15 09:20 pm (UTC)