Thursday, October 08, 2009
The Doctor is Out
TV in Japan...isn't good. I won't say it's awful because there's a lot of it I can watch, but it's lacking in a lot of ways that I would like. Someday I'll share with you my thoughts about Japanese TV at length, but today I'm going to segue into a discussion of one my favorite (American) shows and why I'm worried about its future.
I've been watching House for a number of years now. I wasn't sold on the series initially because I find medical dramas pretty dull. There's always a big group of doctors and nurses whose personal lives are the real star of the show while each week various strangers with quirky medical issues pop in, live or die, and the show moves on.
House proved to be different because of, well, House. The character. The star of the show. Yeah, there are other characters around and he talks to them all the time, but he is the show and there's no doubt about it. To paraphrase Homer Simpson, whenever House isn't on screen some member of the supporting cast invariably asks "Where's House?"
As a bonus, House is played by Hugh Laurie, a British actor who I admire. He was actually known primarily as a comedian prior to this role, although he also wrote a novel which I tracked down a few years ago and really enjoyed (hey, Wikipedia says he just finished another one. Cool). House definitely has plenty of humor woven into it, but the show is a drama first and foremost. When people die, nobody laughs. Indeed, it often has future ramifications and can haunt characters for weeks.
Such is how Season 5 ended in the Spring. House was having hallucinations of a deceased employee from Season 4 (whom he failed to save) which was creeping him out. Then a second employee killed himself (the actor left the show abruptly) which caused House to stop sleeping. By the end of the season he had huge fantasies that were not revealed as such until the finale. It wasn't on the level of The Sixth Sense but having House realize that he was completely out of his mind and checking himself into an institution was a hell of a strong way to go out for the summer.
Summer is over and House opened Season 6 with a double-sized episode that felt more like a TV movie. Focusing entirely on his rehab and mental recovery in the hospital, it featured virtually none of the regular actors aside from House. It got a little weird when House was spending time in a room next to people who were clearly insane rather than simply troubled by extreme circumstances, but I watched it in Tokyo with Richard (a fellow fan) and we got a kick out of it. House needed to work on a lot of problems and admit that he needed serious help, and he did. Compelling, given the nature of the character.
Things got a little weird with the second episode. Now out of the hospital, he actually quit his job because he felt he needed to break out of his old habits else he relapse. As it turns out, he ends up solving the Patient of the Week's medical mystery anyway, so he decides (with help from his therapist, the lone holdover from the season premiere) to go back to work after all.
Which brings us to this week's episode, a rather disturbing affair where House tried to be nice to people for a change but he had to deal with a lot of tension at work and at home. I won't go into all of it, because ultimately his scenes were still the strongest in the show.
What bothers me is the PotW was a (fictional) African dictator played by powerhouse senior citizen James Earl Jones. The story tried to paint him as a controversial figure, someone who is accused of genocide and has to fend off regular assassination attempts. Yet whenever Jones got to speak his character was relatively charming and well-spoken, and his rebuttal to accusations of ethnic cleansing were not unreasonable.
In the end he died and on House nobody dies unless (A) someone screws up terribly or (B) the patient kind of deserved it. Sometimes there's a noble sacrifice involved but usually a dead patient is one the audience won't lose any sleep over. Obviously the writers thought they had successfully painted Jones as a madman or a future Hitler, but in my opinion he came off as a politician and not one who needed to be stopped at all costs.
What exactly those "costs" are remains to be seen, because it turns out that a member of House's staff actually murdered the patient by falsifying some lab data and convincing the other doctors to treat the patient for a disease he didn't have. When confronted, the culprit made a half-assed defense on the basis of "he was going to execute the [fake ethnic group] so I killed him." No one accepted that argument but that didn't stop the whistleblower from burning the only piece of evidence to prove that the doctor intentionally misled the hospital staff and subsequently set the patient up to die. The episode ended ambiguously, not making it clear what fallout remains to be settled.
I'm not giving up on this show because I still dig House (the man) and the basic formula of treating the increasing dangerous condition that each PotW brings to the table. However, this latest development shows that everyone else on the show is now in serious trouble. Either this week's episode leads to a huge shake-up of the cast (which it still could) or somehow we as viewers have to pretend that none of this happened. Ultimately House is innocent of any wrongdoing because he never actually met the patient (which, while common, felt like a missed opportunity because Jones and Laurie could have had a great goddamn scene together) but nearly all of his staff and perhaps his boss could go down for this.
No matter what happens, my faith in the show is a little shaken. House has often dabbled in science fiction as far as the medicine is concerned but the motivations of House and the other doctors was always grounded in some kind of reality. To have this episode swing so wildly into crazytown disturbed me, and the idea that we might still end up with the usual bunch and formula-as-usual is completely unacceptable.
House is in its sixth season, so some wear is to be expected after 113 episodes. If it collapses this season, I'll still respect it for lasting as long as it did. I actually predicted it had jumped the shark way back in episode sixty-four when House solved a crisis on an international flight that he happened to be on with his boss (who also got sick). I laughingly called it "House on a Plane" and anticipated the show would gradually descend into irrelevancy. Major cast changes in Season 4 proved me wrong, as the show found a new way to handle itself.
This time, I don't know what can save it from the hole it has dug. That shark is still out there and the stink of blood is heavy...James Earl Jones is not petite.
I've been watching House for a number of years now. I wasn't sold on the series initially because I find medical dramas pretty dull. There's always a big group of doctors and nurses whose personal lives are the real star of the show while each week various strangers with quirky medical issues pop in, live or die, and the show moves on.
House proved to be different because of, well, House. The character. The star of the show. Yeah, there are other characters around and he talks to them all the time, but he is the show and there's no doubt about it. To paraphrase Homer Simpson, whenever House isn't on screen some member of the supporting cast invariably asks "Where's House?"
As a bonus, House is played by Hugh Laurie, a British actor who I admire. He was actually known primarily as a comedian prior to this role, although he also wrote a novel which I tracked down a few years ago and really enjoyed (hey, Wikipedia says he just finished another one. Cool). House definitely has plenty of humor woven into it, but the show is a drama first and foremost. When people die, nobody laughs. Indeed, it often has future ramifications and can haunt characters for weeks.
Such is how Season 5 ended in the Spring. House was having hallucinations of a deceased employee from Season 4 (whom he failed to save) which was creeping him out. Then a second employee killed himself (the actor left the show abruptly) which caused House to stop sleeping. By the end of the season he had huge fantasies that were not revealed as such until the finale. It wasn't on the level of The Sixth Sense but having House realize that he was completely out of his mind and checking himself into an institution was a hell of a strong way to go out for the summer.
Summer is over and House opened Season 6 with a double-sized episode that felt more like a TV movie. Focusing entirely on his rehab and mental recovery in the hospital, it featured virtually none of the regular actors aside from House. It got a little weird when House was spending time in a room next to people who were clearly insane rather than simply troubled by extreme circumstances, but I watched it in Tokyo with Richard (a fellow fan) and we got a kick out of it. House needed to work on a lot of problems and admit that he needed serious help, and he did. Compelling, given the nature of the character.
Things got a little weird with the second episode. Now out of the hospital, he actually quit his job because he felt he needed to break out of his old habits else he relapse. As it turns out, he ends up solving the Patient of the Week's medical mystery anyway, so he decides (with help from his therapist, the lone holdover from the season premiere) to go back to work after all.
Which brings us to this week's episode, a rather disturbing affair where House tried to be nice to people for a change but he had to deal with a lot of tension at work and at home. I won't go into all of it, because ultimately his scenes were still the strongest in the show.
What bothers me is the PotW was a (fictional) African dictator played by powerhouse senior citizen James Earl Jones. The story tried to paint him as a controversial figure, someone who is accused of genocide and has to fend off regular assassination attempts. Yet whenever Jones got to speak his character was relatively charming and well-spoken, and his rebuttal to accusations of ethnic cleansing were not unreasonable.
In the end he died and on House nobody dies unless (A) someone screws up terribly or (B) the patient kind of deserved it. Sometimes there's a noble sacrifice involved but usually a dead patient is one the audience won't lose any sleep over. Obviously the writers thought they had successfully painted Jones as a madman or a future Hitler, but in my opinion he came off as a politician and not one who needed to be stopped at all costs.
What exactly those "costs" are remains to be seen, because it turns out that a member of House's staff actually murdered the patient by falsifying some lab data and convincing the other doctors to treat the patient for a disease he didn't have. When confronted, the culprit made a half-assed defense on the basis of "he was going to execute the [fake ethnic group] so I killed him." No one accepted that argument but that didn't stop the whistleblower from burning the only piece of evidence to prove that the doctor intentionally misled the hospital staff and subsequently set the patient up to die. The episode ended ambiguously, not making it clear what fallout remains to be settled.
I'm not giving up on this show because I still dig House (the man) and the basic formula of treating the increasing dangerous condition that each PotW brings to the table. However, this latest development shows that everyone else on the show is now in serious trouble. Either this week's episode leads to a huge shake-up of the cast (which it still could) or somehow we as viewers have to pretend that none of this happened. Ultimately House is innocent of any wrongdoing because he never actually met the patient (which, while common, felt like a missed opportunity because Jones and Laurie could have had a great goddamn scene together) but nearly all of his staff and perhaps his boss could go down for this.
No matter what happens, my faith in the show is a little shaken. House has often dabbled in science fiction as far as the medicine is concerned but the motivations of House and the other doctors was always grounded in some kind of reality. To have this episode swing so wildly into crazytown disturbed me, and the idea that we might still end up with the usual bunch and formula-as-usual is completely unacceptable.
House is in its sixth season, so some wear is to be expected after 113 episodes. If it collapses this season, I'll still respect it for lasting as long as it did. I actually predicted it had jumped the shark way back in episode sixty-four when House solved a crisis on an international flight that he happened to be on with his boss (who also got sick). I laughingly called it "House on a Plane" and anticipated the show would gradually descend into irrelevancy. Major cast changes in Season 4 proved me wrong, as the show found a new way to handle itself.
This time, I don't know what can save it from the hole it has dug. That shark is still out there and the stink of blood is heavy...James Earl Jones is not petite.
Labels: House, television
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Nah, I disagree. I'm a House junkie too, and personally I kind of dig the fact that after six seasons they're at least trying something less formulaic.
I mean, with House and Wilson moving firmly into the post-Reichenbach era [via the well known Holmes analogy] and the fact that by this point we know it's NEVER gonna be lupus, and instead something all of us that aren't medical professionals have never heard of... what's left is the acting, the characters and whatever new they can bring to it.
I don't know, maybe we watched different episodes, but it's far more disturbing that you think "in my opinion he came off as a politician and not one who needed to be stopped at all costs" rather than a guy who openly and directly admitted he's willing, able and pretty much going keep keep on committing genocide as long as it's viable political option for him.
I mean, I know James Earl Jones has gravitas and earned his "wise old black man" cliche stripes, but they don't go that far...
I mean, it's classic "needs of the many" - "would you go back and kill Hitler?" trope - sure... but that doesn't make it less valid. Personally, yeah, I'd shoot Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Joseph Kony and... well, we'll leave it at that, lest you write me off as a complete socio/psycopath. And my wife's trying to get a government job and I'm sure I'm already a liability :)
Actually, the part of the episode that annoyed me the most was the end where they clearly are going to make Chase a 'tortured soul' over his actions. I'd have much preferred he'd said "Yeah, I did it. He was a murderer and dictator who intended on continuing genocide. I did the right thing and if you disagree, prove it without my confession."
I mean, with House and Wilson moving firmly into the post-Reichenbach era [via the well known Holmes analogy] and the fact that by this point we know it's NEVER gonna be lupus, and instead something all of us that aren't medical professionals have never heard of... what's left is the acting, the characters and whatever new they can bring to it.
I don't know, maybe we watched different episodes, but it's far more disturbing that you think "in my opinion he came off as a politician and not one who needed to be stopped at all costs" rather than a guy who openly and directly admitted he's willing, able and pretty much going keep keep on committing genocide as long as it's viable political option for him.
I mean, I know James Earl Jones has gravitas and earned his "wise old black man" cliche stripes, but they don't go that far...
I mean, it's classic "needs of the many" - "would you go back and kill Hitler?" trope - sure... but that doesn't make it less valid. Personally, yeah, I'd shoot Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Joseph Kony and... well, we'll leave it at that, lest you write me off as a complete socio/psycopath. And my wife's trying to get a government job and I'm sure I'm already a liability :)
Actually, the part of the episode that annoyed me the most was the end where they clearly are going to make Chase a 'tortured soul' over his actions. I'd have much preferred he'd said "Yeah, I did it. He was a murderer and dictator who intended on continuing genocide. I did the right thing and if you disagree, prove it without my confession."
Hehe, he said "trope". He also said "another one, bartender" a couple more times than he said " "" ".
コメントがあるちゃう？ Type something, please. It's less work for me.# posted by 
: 12 October, 2009 17:02
: 12 October, 2009 17:02When leaving comments, please don't remain Anonymous. Click on "Other" and pick a name!
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