House review and Sarah Connor Chronicles links
House season premiere: .
I was positively afraid they would end the episode with House and Wilson reconciled, which would have been the wrong storytelling choice on every level. Not just at the one where, good as the concluding two-parter last season was, I really loved Amber and her being killed for the sole reason of facilitating angst between Wilson and House still irritates me. But it looks like the writers chose this to bring up something that has been brewing for years, and getting worse. As this great meta pointed out, House's Head/Wilson's Heart was very careful in making it clear that there was no way House could have saved Amber medically. He didn't fail as a doctor. But he got her killed by being the screwed-up person he is, by acting on the combination of self-pity and petulance that he's been practicing for years and which Wilson enabled. (And Cuddy. And the ducklings. Etc. But Wilson was the prime enabler.) So if this is to be anything more than an easy soap opera plot in which there is angst and breakup and in the end tearful (or not) reconciliation, with everything reverting to status quo where House snarks and Wilson enables, if this is to lead to character growth, House needs to change.
("Have you met me?" Amber asked last season when Wilson tried his House-trained passive-aggressive behaviour on her re: the waterbed, and told him he should stand up for what he wants from a relationship. Seems he listened.)
So that last scene didn't make me suffer. I practically cheered and duffed my non-existant hat. Though I should say I am no House/Wilson 'shipper. I'm not a House/Anyone 'shipper. Frankly, both Wilson and Cuddy need something in their lives which isn't All About House, which most of their lives is already, and Wilson and Cuddy are the only ones vaguely resembling equals. The ducklings in either combination so don't need more of House in their lives, either. I still think the show should have made a clean cut after s3 and let Cameron, Chase and Foreman go, because they made the right decision to walk away, and it would have been a good note to say goodbye to their charactes.
(This being said, Cameron's scene with Wilson was good, and a better use of her dead husband backstory than some s1 and s2 scenes. I also liked Foreman's scene with Wilson, come to that.)
Especially since I like the new trio a lot. They're their own personalities, not replays of the former three, and I'm perfectly happy to watch Thirteen, Taub and Kuttner do the fellows subplots now.
Loved Cuddy pulling the tv plug on House, trying to get him and Wilson to talk, and loved Wilson calling her on it when she tried the "Amber wouldn't have wanted you to" approach. I've been missing Cuddy in s4, where she didn't get much to do, and hope for improvement in s5.
Fanfic recs:
House:
Break: House between seasons 4 and 5. Acerbic words above on G.H. notwithstanding, he's a fascinating character, and this is a short but terrific exploration.
Sarah Connor Chronicles:
A Jack-Knifed Juggernaut (I am born again) : wonderful Cameron portrait, spoilers for 2.01. but none beyond. Of particular interest for Battlestar Galactica fans, as Cameron watches, among other things, Flesh and Bone in this story, but even if you're unfamiliar with the new BSG, you'll be swept away by the quality of writing. It's that most difficult thing, a Cameron pov which never forgets she is not human, and pulled off so well.
Cataclysm: do we have an Agent Ellison fic? Yes, we do! No spoilers for season 2, but for all of season 1. An excellent take on Ellison, contemplating all he's learned during the first season.
I was positively afraid they would end the episode with House and Wilson reconciled, which would have been the wrong storytelling choice on every level. Not just at the one where, good as the concluding two-parter last season was, I really loved Amber and her being killed for the sole reason of facilitating angst between Wilson and House still irritates me. But it looks like the writers chose this to bring up something that has been brewing for years, and getting worse. As this great meta pointed out, House's Head/Wilson's Heart was very careful in making it clear that there was no way House could have saved Amber medically. He didn't fail as a doctor. But he got her killed by being the screwed-up person he is, by acting on the combination of self-pity and petulance that he's been practicing for years and which Wilson enabled. (And Cuddy. And the ducklings. Etc. But Wilson was the prime enabler.) So if this is to be anything more than an easy soap opera plot in which there is angst and breakup and in the end tearful (or not) reconciliation, with everything reverting to status quo where House snarks and Wilson enables, if this is to lead to character growth, House needs to change.
("Have you met me?" Amber asked last season when Wilson tried his House-trained passive-aggressive behaviour on her re: the waterbed, and told him he should stand up for what he wants from a relationship. Seems he listened.)
So that last scene didn't make me suffer. I practically cheered and duffed my non-existant hat. Though I should say I am no House/Wilson 'shipper. I'm not a House/Anyone 'shipper. Frankly, both Wilson and Cuddy need something in their lives which isn't All About House, which most of their lives is already, and Wilson and Cuddy are the only ones vaguely resembling equals. The ducklings in either combination so don't need more of House in their lives, either. I still think the show should have made a clean cut after s3 and let Cameron, Chase and Foreman go, because they made the right decision to walk away, and it would have been a good note to say goodbye to their charactes.
(This being said, Cameron's scene with Wilson was good, and a better use of her dead husband backstory than some s1 and s2 scenes. I also liked Foreman's scene with Wilson, come to that.)
Especially since I like the new trio a lot. They're their own personalities, not replays of the former three, and I'm perfectly happy to watch Thirteen, Taub and Kuttner do the fellows subplots now.
Loved Cuddy pulling the tv plug on House, trying to get him and Wilson to talk, and loved Wilson calling her on it when she tried the "Amber wouldn't have wanted you to" approach. I've been missing Cuddy in s4, where she didn't get much to do, and hope for improvement in s5.
Fanfic recs:
House:
Break: House between seasons 4 and 5. Acerbic words above on G.H. notwithstanding, he's a fascinating character, and this is a short but terrific exploration.
Sarah Connor Chronicles:
A Jack-Knifed Juggernaut (I am born again) : wonderful Cameron portrait, spoilers for 2.01. but none beyond. Of particular interest for Battlestar Galactica fans, as Cameron watches, among other things, Flesh and Bone in this story, but even if you're unfamiliar with the new BSG, you'll be swept away by the quality of writing. It's that most difficult thing, a Cameron pov which never forgets she is not human, and pulled off so well.
Cataclysm: do we have an Agent Ellison fic? Yes, we do! No spoilers for season 2, but for all of season 1. An excellent take on Ellison, contemplating all he's learned during the first season.