House M.D.

House M.D. (2004) 

The best medical environment series yet. And mostly thanks to Hugh Laurie, of course. You see, House always the best snappy lines up his sleeve that manage to light up the evening and assure me that the world is a cruel swine ready to trip you up when you’re least expecting it. Season five of House probably deserves a bit of a synopsis. Not only is it the best yet, but it’s also almost astounding that the concept remains the same and the creators still keep on coming up with new ideas. There was no shortage of shocking moments this year and the ending of the season will take the breath away from most typical House viewers. But how’s it going to pan out from here? Will the concept change next time? Will the screenwriters look for other, new and novel trails? Broken: This double episode or perhaps TV movie definitely deserves praise. It changes the overall setting of the series and shows house in a formerly unimaginable situation. This episode never loses momentum and has several climactic moments. Apart from Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard, the cast has completely changed, but the new actors who we’ll probably never see again shined brightly here and I found several favorites among them. If only all “attempts at movies" were this good. 5* Season six changed House and in places changed the episode structure. A good example is the episode about Wilson where his best friend just plays second fiddle. But it’s much more important how House behaves and what’s happening to him. Which climaxes in the closing episodes with an end only expected by spoiler readers. And the creators sure did good work. Otherwise, Chase is back and he’s changed for the better. Thirteen is more beautiful than ever before (Olivia Wilde completely blew me over with her speech in the last episode) and Darth Vader’s voice gets a guest appearance. A darn good season. Season seven at last cut the knot between House and Cuddy and showed House in an undepressed mood just to make the final reckoning that much more crushing. I wasn’t very happy about the disappearance of Thirteen, but Masters proved to be an adept (although not so esthetic) replacement. I waited a good long time for the final shot. For good reason it is said that hell lies in other people. Season eight following Dr. House’s last cases again plays with the motif of return, a new beginning and friendship. The new female recruits to the team were a welcome surprise. Odette Annabelle is gorgeous and a more than satisfactory replacement for Thirteen. And the rise of Chase is also fine. The last episodes revolving around Wilson’s problem are again the best that a drama series can offer. A mixture of suffering, harsh cynical jokes and inevitability. The last episode that basically asks the question if there is any sense in living is a worthy conclusion to the series. (04/07/2008)