Season 4 General Discussion

ever since the show got into gear in early/mid season 1, it always had direction, everything served a purpose, was meaningful, often in several ways, and added to the build of the character(s) and the show as a whole. I think that depends on what you view as the direction of the show. To me, it's always been about a bastard genius doctor and the people around him. To me, that hasn't changed. We're just getting different views of the bastard genius from different people.

I feel what Jouse is saying, in that I agree this season feels more directionless than it has before. I felt like the show as a whole was more confident during late season two and the start of season three (into the Tritter arc). However, I don't think the writing or the overall quality of the show has declined significantly, or enough to even be concerned. It's still remarkably entertaining. And while I find some of the relationships to be less rich than they felt during seasons two and three, nothing I really loved about the show during those years has been lost. I'm excited to see where the new-fellows storyline takes the show and the mainstay characters. I trust the people who make "House". As much as the show means to me, I'm only a viewer; this is their livelihood. I definitely don't think "House" has jumped the shark completely this season (though a couple of the lines in "Whatever It Takes" felt off).

I think that depends on what you view as the direction of the show. To me, it's always been about a bastard genius doctor and the people around him. To me, that hasn't changed. We're just getting different views of the bastard genius from different people. But it isn't any old bastard genius doctor, it's specifically about this one. TPTB have been dexterously building Greg House's character for three seasons, every new piece of information constructed correspondingly with the already existing fabric. The season 4 eppies feel, to me, like cheating. Huge chunks of House's character as we got to know him practically disappeared into thin air, and I have to say it regrettably seems for rating purposes. Just my opinion, YMMV etc.

Well. It's a little early in the development of the season to be able to discern whether or not it's directionless, don't you think? We've only gotten six episodes so far, after all - they could be building to something that will seem obvious in retrospect, though I'm not sure now what that could be either. Jouse: ...and I have to say it regrettably seems for rating purposes. Hm, you know, at this point I don't think they *need* to do anything to up the ratings. They're the highest-rated scripted programming on their network, and one of the top five on television. That was true by the end of last season. So, I would imagine there wouldn't be much pressure to change the tone or characters, though I could be wrong as I admittedly know *very* little about the internal workings of the network. They probably make much less logical sense than that. *g* But this made me think of the impression I got reading the differing opinions about this season...it's less about what's happened in episodes so far than about perceptions of where the changes in House's character are leading to and what the producers' intentions are. Is that an accurate read? For my part, I think this season has been a little light and jokey, but that this was intended as a corrective to last season's over-darkness. I think they may've *over*corrected, at this point, but that they can get back to a more balanced tone with some relatively minor tweaking. And given that TPTB knew a strike was all but inevitable, so they wouldn't get a full season done...I think it's entirely possible they figured that, since they only had half a season and limited time to write even that, that they knew they couldn't set up any kind of longterm arc. So, given that, why not plan to move the pieces into place for next season's action and explore other sides of the characters a little? This is all supposition, of course, but it makes sense, at least to me.

We've only gotten six episodes so far, after all - they could be building to something that will seem obvious in retrospect, though I'm not sure now what that could be either. One quarter in. This is what I think too, that it's going somewhere and we don't know where yet and I like it. It's like S2 and S3. S2's first episode demonstrated again that Cameron couldn't deal with delivering bad news. Over the season she got better at it. By S3 she had a spine and everything. S3 started off emphasizing Chase's buttkissing side, and I wondered what was up with that. Then Chase had his first epiphany, which was rewarded with The Punch and Chase decided he didn't need House's approval anymore. Chase continued to get more diagnoses right and I kept wondering where they were going with that, it couldn't be random - it meant something. I didn't expect it to lead to Chase getting fired, but it did and in hindsight it makes perfect sense. With S4 we see House reacting strongly to the idea of suicide, saying "misery is better than nothing" and risking his life to prove that there is indeed nothing after death. In the next ep House again demonstrates a lack of belief in the afterlife. In an upcoming ep (TV Guide description spoiled here Wilson tells his patient that his terminal diagnosis was wrong and he's going to live, and the patient isn't happy to hear it. I'll be surprised if House isn't a part of that. Is it my imagination or is there a theme developing here? House considering death, being faced with death?

I wouldn't deny that the season will have a trajectory to it. But, unlike the trajectories in previous seasons, I never felt like we were losing House in the process while those storylines established themselves. I feel very disconnected with House these days because as of yet, he doesn't have much of a relationship with all of the newbies. One could argue that he's going out of his way not to. He's not truly interested in them and, beyond getting a job, they're not interested in him either. So I'm missing that traditional prism in which to view House. At this point in the game, Wilson and Cuddy don't really offer a new vantage on that score. Another thing the new kids are really not interested in is the patient. Virtually every moment of patient care has been undermined by the fact that they're in this grand game together. As far as character development goes, I find it a huge, huge turnoff. I've re-watched the CIA episode and I still didn't loathe it but I'm hard pressed to understand the logic of the doctor who quits her job to work with House after he's spent the entire episode coming up with mis-diagnosises and vulgar come-ons. It would have made way more sense if she took him up on his offer for a roll in the hay. I hope they can reconcile that on the next episode because it does leave me wondering WTF? And it leaves me with the sinking feeling that they're sort of randomly manufacturing scenes of "conflict" whether or not they are logical or organic in nature. I find it kind of laughable that they're spending more time weeding people out than they did in the entire exploration of House getting shot, wanting ketamine and normality, and then losing that brief return to functionality. That was the storyline they chose to rush. This one, the one that is wholly uninteresting, is being dragged out to a gasping death. I'm very much looking forward to it ending.

But this made me think of the impression I got reading the differing opinions about this season...it's less about what's happened in episodes so far than about perceptions of where the changes in House's character are leading to and what the producers' intentions are. Is that an accurate read? I'm afraid not, for me anyway. We're only a quarter of a season in, true, but that quarter has been hardly tolerable for me. I'm no way near enjoying the show as I used to, and television's main agenda is to involve the viewer, somehow. I'll be thrilled if and when a master plan will reveal itself, but it won't change my opinion that it's construction could have been done better. The last episode just weren't up to snuff, IMO. Of course, I'll forget all about it in case of canon H/W :P Re: ratings, I have some family members and other acquaintances who work in media and broadcasting, and heared from them that the higher the numbers go, the worse the pressure gets. So House is certainly not immune.

I find it kind of laughable that they're spending more time weeding people out than they did in the entire exploration of House getting shot, wanting ketamine and normality, and then losing that brief return to functionality. That was the storyline they chose to rush. This one, the one that is wholly uninteresting, is being dragged out to a gasping death. I'm very much looking forward to it ending. I thought House's shooting would have been a marvelous opportunity to learn more about what House meant to the five other main characters, (that didn't involve fake brain cancer) or to explore Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome with the ducklings, who watched in horror as their boss was gunned down in front of their eyes. *That* would have made more sense to me than some of the other pointless and absurd storylines TPTB chose to go with instead. At the time of the shooting, we had 2 years invested in those six characters and I would have liked to know more about them. As Bailey pointed out, this Survivor arc is still going on, we've still got people hanging around who will *not* be with us much longer, so why should I care about them? I don't want to know more about these guys until I'm sure who is sticking around. There has not been a story arc yet that I haven't been sick and tired of long before it concludes. While I admit that I'm enjoying this season much more than I originally thought I would, I'm ready for the Survivor game to end. On another topic, I noticed that the ratings went down 1.1 million from "Whatever it Takes" to "Ugly." I can't help but wonder how many casual or new viewers were completely turned off by House's vulgarity in the CIA episode and didn't return. If that had been my first time to see House, I would have probably lasted until "I have a position open on my p*n*s" before turning the darn thing off and wondering *what* people saw in that revolting character! (DWTS was up .5 million, so that doesn't account for all the lost viewers.)

Question: Do we think House is still on the anti-depressants or not? Just trying to make sense of the end of last season and this season thus far.

Question: Do we think House is still on the anti-depressants or not? Just trying to make sense of the end of last season and this season thus far. If he is, they must be doing wonders for his leg. :? I think he must be, and they're turning his brain to slush. Although "Ugly" had a good, fast-paced script, and was more recognizable as "House", and I liked the layers of our perception of the characters' perceptions of other characters, and we finally are getting some character interaction - House having to consult Forman as to the validity of Tenzi's differential was a WTF moment for me. And the same House who stopped an elevator enroute to ICU to search for a tick he knew must be there, never thought that the characteristic rash might be hidden on this POTW? We're just getting different views of the bastard genius from different people. Therein lies the problem for some - he's still a bastard, but his genius is slipping. If that's intentional, and it's going somewhere - fair dues, could be very interesting. If making him unintelligent is just for fun, I'm offended.

Something bothered me about CTB. She once said that if they wanted to do what House did then they would need to pop a pill and make fun of themselve(parphrasing here) but I can't recall an instance where House has taken a pill in front of teh Numbers,so what gives? Troops, I've been trying to make sense of that as well. The only explanation that I can come up with is that House's reputation clearly precedes him. And surely there must've been gossip around the hospital when Tritter set up camp there.

Something bothered me about CTB. She once said that if they wanted to do what House did then they would need to pop a pill and make fun of themselve(parphrasing here) but I can't recall an instance where House has taken a pill in front of teh Numbers,so what gives? Discretion on House's part would have made more sense after the Tritter arc, but I've been thinking that the blatant pill-popping has been toned down this season due perhaps to pressure from network/parent's groups/whatever? Even after Tritter, he never showed concern about taking pills in front of staff, clinic patients, etc.

Therein lies the problem for some - he's still a bastard, but his genius is slipping. If that's intentional, and it's going somewhere - fair dues, could be very interesting. If making him unintelligent is just for fun, I'm offended. Well put. Troops, I've been trying to make sense of that as well. The only explanation that I can come up with is that House's reputation clearly precedes him. And surely there must've been gossip around the hospital when Tritter set up camp there. I think it's more likely that the characters are suffering from the primetime equivalent of Rapid Aging Syndrome usually seen in child soap opera characters. In order to not see the same reactions happen all over again with a new set of fellows, these numbers are magically endowed with all of House's quirks and eccentricities to the point that they're all utterly unfazed by everything he does. Even the knife in the electrical socket didn't seem to throw them for much of a loop. Contrast that to the original ducklings who in season 3 were still dumbfounded that House could fake cancer. TPTB kind of wrote themselves into a corner by bringing on so many new people all at once. They couldn't tread over familiar ground by starting the interactions with House from scratch but they also had to figure out someway to bring out something new from these characters. In that sense, hiding these developments in gimmick after gimmick was pretty much their only option. Hence the mind-reader patient and the documentary film reveals. Unfortunately, the narrative devices they're using feel blatantly like a gimmick and I think that's why so many episodes are ringing false. I did like Ugly far better than anything I've seen in quite some time, but I can't help feeling that some of these storylines would have succeeded far more if they were used with the old crew aboard to plumb deeper insights instead of just getting surface level revelations from the newbies.

Unfortunately, the narrative devices they're using feel blatantly like a gimmick and I think that's why so many episodes are ringing false. Just so, bailey! The wonder of a puppet show or a magic trick is lost if you see the workings. Seeing an actor "act" or a writer "write", makes them appear self-conscious and strained. They are making it very difficult to ignore the "man behind the curtain". Most viewers are pretty elastic, especially for this show. They can take me on a totally wild ride, but please don't let me hear the engine whine, and do try not to throw me out of the vehicle at 60 miles an hour, only to scrape me up and toss me into a van stuffed with an omniscient Boy Scout troop. :(

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