HOUSE 6.01 -- BROKEN
First, a little note about the season finale.
You know what I love about medical shows? I've watched a few of them, by the way. My favourite show when I was about four or five was "A Country Practice", a really cheesy Australian doctor show. I've never been a huge tv-watcher but since then I've probably been watching one medical show or another with something approaching regularity. I watched "All Saints", another Australian show, and "ER", and of course "House". My mum watches "Grey's Anatomy".
What I love about medical shows (and every one of them does this, even the most "realistic" ones) is that whenever someone wants something, they call for it. Loudly. A perfect example of this is when the wandering-hand patient vomits up blood, and Thirteen yells "WE NEED A BAG OF B-NEGATIVE IN HERE", while at the same time doing nothing constructive. Oh, hahaha. I wish doctors did that in real life. Seriously. Wilson also does it when House injects himself with insulin, too. But how cool would it be, though? I NEED A PATIENT IN HERE!!! SOMEONE GET ME A SCALPEL, WE NEED AN OPERATION IN HERE!!!
This is what the first scene was like for me:
*House writhes in pain*
Me: WOW! I TOTALLY DIDN'T EXPECT THIS TO BE THIS COOL!
*House detoxes*
Me: THIS IS AWESOME!!!
If I had laid bets, unspoiled, on how the first ep would unfold, I would have assumed some House-antics revolving around House and his detox, or lack thereof. But let me tell you what I love about this. House detoxes within the first minute of the show, basically. "Aha," I hear you say, "Look at all those lost opportunities! They could have made so much of that!"
That's the brilliance of it! There's no boring fiddly crap about detoxing, no angst about hallucinations and will they go away or not. Because, really, that'd be a recap of last season. House is screwed up, fact. What's he going to do about it?
A few of the comments I read revolved around the realism of the nuthouse. Barring the usual poetic license, I thought it was good. Would any psychiatrist in his right mind let House go without attempting some sort of therapy? The Magical Music Box did annoy me a little bit, but I'll let that slide because the scene with the cello was really really cool.
When I started writing Doesn't mean that much to me/to mean that much to you I considered that at the start of the ep there would be a scene showing House in a Mayfield room, in the depths of despair. So I'm happy that the fic still kind of meshes with canon in that way.
Someone should write a bad-fic where House breaks down and cries Bitter Tears of Dejection because he was forced to go in that damn talent show. Ugh! Also, someone should write a cracky "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" crossover. You know, House sweeps in, breaks the rules, and then Beazley (Beasley? I keep thinking of Kim) gets him lobotomised and then Alvie the Manic Hispanic (best stage name ever) would have to smother him with a pillow. Which is a bit dark for crack, but anyway.
And now, my actual reactions:
-- I love everything about the first scene. The flickery, stuttery lighting and camera work, works. And, man, House detoxing and writhing in pain, and the repetitive mind-numbing monotony of it. I love that scene!
-- I love Dr. Nolan's first smile. This isn't the usual nasal-voiced Freudian (haha, is there even such a thing? You see the high regard I have for Freudians) or the just-as-stereotypical humourless therapist.
-- My mum doesn't like House's new hair, apparently. I do.
-- Oh. Issues.
-- Beasley, the psychiatrist in the ward, is nauseating. So is the psych reg who does House's meds, by the way. Nolan pwns all.
-- The paranoid guy in the green jumper, I've seen somewhere before. I think he's a character actor - unfortunately burdened with a paranoid, ferrety, mad sort of face.
-- "Suicide taboo" - I AM REMINDED OF THE WARNING!FAIL.
-- See? That's so McMurphy, inciting the inmates into a riot over ping-pong paddles. Nolan totally has House figured out, too. I like Nolan. It interests me that Nolan is definitely treating House differently here - the start of what later on becomes a friendship, perhaps?
-- "Just do it already" -- I love how overly staged and tentative the fight is even when House has Alvie down on the ground. Hee hee hee.
-- Aaaand here is Wilson's obligatory thirty seconds. Hi, Wilson. Bye, Wilson! At this point I was also thinking about how daring it was for the writers to do a longer-than-usual season premiere and not only leave all the other main characters out of it, but create a new love interest for House in the process. Pretty cool. The slipped a lot into this scene -- explanations for House's lack of pain (some *handwavy* non-narcotic, haha) and Wilson's angst/sad resignation. Very nice.
-- I wonder what sort of timeframe is working here. Part of me wants to go "months", as in the whole summer, but then again it could only be a couple of weeks.
-- You know, if you'd told me I was going to see House doing something nice, I would have told this episode to GTFO. But this thing with the superhero guy... Wow. I don't think he wanted to take a swing at Nolan, I think he also felt sorry for the dude. Of course it horribly backfired. You've got House trying to put this guy right, and then BAM. Oh, House. This ep didn't beat the "How wonderful it is to be Different" horse too badly, but I liked that House seemed to feel for Superhero Guy and some of the other inmates. You didn't need to draw laborious comparisons there.
-- And when he tells Nolan that he needs help? Wow.
-- I was half expecting a revelation in these scenes - like the revelation House gave to the girl in One Day, One Room, or the Coma Guy. I like this, though, because seeing House crying (!) while making love (and the fact that that scene was brilliant, not reminiscent of a bad Mary-Sue fic), and the fundamental shifts you saw (even if they were only temporary) in the way House relates to people... I don't know, it was like they were showing us House's past in his actions, you know? Maybe I'm reading too much into this.
-- I like the scene from The West Wing where Stanley talks about how "they" (ie, his father issues) keep moving the goal on Bartlet, but this scene (where Nolan talks about not cutting off ears, etc) is a close second. Because here we have just had concrete proof of the fact that House can not fix the mess he is in. And those failures are weighing on him.
-- I love the playfulness of the party scene with Lydia. Hee hee hee. I mean, this woman is hanging around with a complete lunatic, a certifiable crazy person. But it's fun.
-- I am interested in Nolan's life. House is right, of course -- he's lonely, sort of on the sidelines. Very interesting. Again I was expecting that perhaps there'd be some sort of epiphany, and I guess there was in the form of his dad, and his admission to House.
-- That scene in Nolan's dad's hospital room is just amazing. House playing games, and Nolan crying and knowing what House would do. I mean, why did he call House? He must have been desperate. And then House sits down - there's a little bit of a connection there.
-- House really changes from this point -- you've got the scene with Lydia.
-- I noticed earlier in the episode that House was sitting in the corridor waiting for Nolan, almost completely still. That interested me, that passivity.
-- And BAM, romance with Lydia. This is amazing. Your mind immediately goes to the last sex scene we saw House involved in, and this one is a lot sadder (House is a lot less... ravenous, too). It's more depressed, I guess. OH GOD HOUSE IS CRYING. GOD THIS SCENE IS SO GENTLE AND ANGSTY, BUT IN A GOOD WAY.
-- Glasses-wearing woman (the one who dances the Macarena) reminds me of the girl that Blind Melon used in their video for No Rain (she was on the sleeve, too). And I decided watching this that if I never see or hear or God forbid have to dance the bloody Macarena again, I'd be okay with that.
-- I actually like Kim Beasley for dancing with glasses-wearing girl. This scene was funny to me the first time but flipped my pathos-switch the second, go figure. House's hip-hop (and Alvie's sudden mental blank) = cringeful.
-- I love Hand Guy's act! That guy is a GREAT physical actor. He's been so present in everyone of his scenes, and I don't remember him having a line. Ace.
-- AHA! THE MAGIC MUSIC BOX! Of course I'm reminded of this scene. The magic music box thing I'm a little eeeh on, but that scene with the cello totally redeems it.
-- A few issues with timing - it seemed to me that the earlier scenes dragged on a bit (I got restless about halfway through), and that this stuff (the visit to Lydia, the carpark conversation with Nolan) is a little bit rushed. But here we have House, somewhat changed, leaving (*gasp* - No lift with Wilson), and Alvie deciding that he needs to stop failing, too. Hee, the ad on the side of the bus.
-- What a great ep! I can't fault it for excitement and drama, a different sort of drama (I mean, you've got the usual psychoanalysis, but spun around, with House in a much less assertive position, more passive, less movement, etc etc). Now I can't wait to see the next ep! Downloading it now.
You know what I love about medical shows? I've watched a few of them, by the way. My favourite show when I was about four or five was "A Country Practice", a really cheesy Australian doctor show. I've never been a huge tv-watcher but since then I've probably been watching one medical show or another with something approaching regularity. I watched "All Saints", another Australian show, and "ER", and of course "House". My mum watches "Grey's Anatomy".
What I love about medical shows (and every one of them does this, even the most "realistic" ones) is that whenever someone wants something, they call for it. Loudly. A perfect example of this is when the wandering-hand patient vomits up blood, and Thirteen yells "WE NEED A BAG OF B-NEGATIVE IN HERE", while at the same time doing nothing constructive. Oh, hahaha. I wish doctors did that in real life. Seriously. Wilson also does it when House injects himself with insulin, too. But how cool would it be, though? I NEED A PATIENT IN HERE!!! SOMEONE GET ME A SCALPEL, WE NEED AN OPERATION IN HERE!!!
This is what the first scene was like for me:
*House writhes in pain*
Me: WOW! I TOTALLY DIDN'T EXPECT THIS TO BE THIS COOL!
*House detoxes*
Me: THIS IS AWESOME!!!
If I had laid bets, unspoiled, on how the first ep would unfold, I would have assumed some House-antics revolving around House and his detox, or lack thereof. But let me tell you what I love about this. House detoxes within the first minute of the show, basically. "Aha," I hear you say, "Look at all those lost opportunities! They could have made so much of that!"
That's the brilliance of it! There's no boring fiddly crap about detoxing, no angst about hallucinations and will they go away or not. Because, really, that'd be a recap of last season. House is screwed up, fact. What's he going to do about it?
A few of the comments I read revolved around the realism of the nuthouse. Barring the usual poetic license, I thought it was good. Would any psychiatrist in his right mind let House go without attempting some sort of therapy? The Magical Music Box did annoy me a little bit, but I'll let that slide because the scene with the cello was really really cool.
When I started writing Doesn't mean that much to me/to mean that much to you I considered that at the start of the ep there would be a scene showing House in a Mayfield room, in the depths of despair. So I'm happy that the fic still kind of meshes with canon in that way.
Someone should write a bad-fic where House breaks down and cries Bitter Tears of Dejection because he was forced to go in that damn talent show. Ugh! Also, someone should write a cracky "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" crossover. You know, House sweeps in, breaks the rules, and then Beazley (Beasley? I keep thinking of Kim) gets him lobotomised and then Alvie the Manic Hispanic (best stage name ever) would have to smother him with a pillow. Which is a bit dark for crack, but anyway.
And now, my actual reactions:
-- I love everything about the first scene. The flickery, stuttery lighting and camera work, works. And, man, House detoxing and writhing in pain, and the repetitive mind-numbing monotony of it. I love that scene!
-- I love Dr. Nolan's first smile. This isn't the usual nasal-voiced Freudian (haha, is there even such a thing? You see the high regard I have for Freudians) or the just-as-stereotypical humourless therapist.
-- My mum doesn't like House's new hair, apparently. I do.
-- Oh. Issues.
-- Beasley, the psychiatrist in the ward, is nauseating. So is the psych reg who does House's meds, by the way. Nolan pwns all.
-- The paranoid guy in the green jumper, I've seen somewhere before. I think he's a character actor - unfortunately burdened with a paranoid, ferrety, mad sort of face.
-- "Suicide taboo" - I AM REMINDED OF THE WARNING!FAIL.
-- See? That's so McMurphy, inciting the inmates into a riot over ping-pong paddles. Nolan totally has House figured out, too. I like Nolan. It interests me that Nolan is definitely treating House differently here - the start of what later on becomes a friendship, perhaps?
-- "Just do it already" -- I love how overly staged and tentative the fight is even when House has Alvie down on the ground. Hee hee hee.
-- Aaaand here is Wilson's obligatory thirty seconds. Hi, Wilson. Bye, Wilson! At this point I was also thinking about how daring it was for the writers to do a longer-than-usual season premiere and not only leave all the other main characters out of it, but create a new love interest for House in the process. Pretty cool. The slipped a lot into this scene -- explanations for House's lack of pain (some *handwavy* non-narcotic, haha) and Wilson's angst/sad resignation. Very nice.
-- I wonder what sort of timeframe is working here. Part of me wants to go "months", as in the whole summer, but then again it could only be a couple of weeks.
-- You know, if you'd told me I was going to see House doing something nice, I would have told this episode to GTFO. But this thing with the superhero guy... Wow. I don't think he wanted to take a swing at Nolan, I think he also felt sorry for the dude. Of course it horribly backfired. You've got House trying to put this guy right, and then BAM. Oh, House. This ep didn't beat the "How wonderful it is to be Different" horse too badly, but I liked that House seemed to feel for Superhero Guy and some of the other inmates. You didn't need to draw laborious comparisons there.
-- And when he tells Nolan that he needs help? Wow.
-- I was half expecting a revelation in these scenes - like the revelation House gave to the girl in One Day, One Room, or the Coma Guy. I like this, though, because seeing House crying (!) while making love (and the fact that that scene was brilliant, not reminiscent of a bad Mary-Sue fic), and the fundamental shifts you saw (even if they were only temporary) in the way House relates to people... I don't know, it was like they were showing us House's past in his actions, you know? Maybe I'm reading too much into this.
-- I like the scene from The West Wing where Stanley talks about how "they" (ie, his father issues) keep moving the goal on Bartlet, but this scene (where Nolan talks about not cutting off ears, etc) is a close second. Because here we have just had concrete proof of the fact that House can not fix the mess he is in. And those failures are weighing on him.
-- I love the playfulness of the party scene with Lydia. Hee hee hee. I mean, this woman is hanging around with a complete lunatic, a certifiable crazy person. But it's fun.
-- I am interested in Nolan's life. House is right, of course -- he's lonely, sort of on the sidelines. Very interesting. Again I was expecting that perhaps there'd be some sort of epiphany, and I guess there was in the form of his dad, and his admission to House.
-- That scene in Nolan's dad's hospital room is just amazing. House playing games, and Nolan crying and knowing what House would do. I mean, why did he call House? He must have been desperate. And then House sits down - there's a little bit of a connection there.
-- House really changes from this point -- you've got the scene with Lydia.
-- I noticed earlier in the episode that House was sitting in the corridor waiting for Nolan, almost completely still. That interested me, that passivity.
-- And BAM, romance with Lydia. This is amazing. Your mind immediately goes to the last sex scene we saw House involved in, and this one is a lot sadder (House is a lot less... ravenous, too). It's more depressed, I guess. OH GOD HOUSE IS CRYING. GOD THIS SCENE IS SO GENTLE AND ANGSTY, BUT IN A GOOD WAY.
-- Glasses-wearing woman (the one who dances the Macarena) reminds me of the girl that Blind Melon used in their video for No Rain (she was on the sleeve, too). And I decided watching this that if I never see or hear or God forbid have to dance the bloody Macarena again, I'd be okay with that.
-- I actually like Kim Beasley for dancing with glasses-wearing girl. This scene was funny to me the first time but flipped my pathos-switch the second, go figure. House's hip-hop (and Alvie's sudden mental blank) = cringeful.
-- I love Hand Guy's act! That guy is a GREAT physical actor. He's been so present in everyone of his scenes, and I don't remember him having a line. Ace.
-- AHA! THE MAGIC MUSIC BOX! Of course I'm reminded of this scene. The magic music box thing I'm a little eeeh on, but that scene with the cello totally redeems it.
-- A few issues with timing - it seemed to me that the earlier scenes dragged on a bit (I got restless about halfway through), and that this stuff (the visit to Lydia, the carpark conversation with Nolan) is a little bit rushed. But here we have House, somewhat changed, leaving (*gasp* - No lift with Wilson), and Alvie deciding that he needs to stop failing, too. Hee, the ad on the side of the bus.
-- What a great ep! I can't fault it for excitement and drama, a different sort of drama (I mean, you've got the usual psychoanalysis, but spun around, with House in a much less assertive position, more passive, less movement, etc etc). Now I can't wait to see the next ep! Downloading it now.