From the Games thread, but my response fits better here. Well, perhaps (and Saph, it's up to you to answer this) she feels the current episode and this season are not as well written as in the past. It doesn't negate interest in the past three seasons, which she may feel are of higher quality. See what I'm saying? If you've invested over three years in a show, are you going to give it up if you feel the current season is uneven? Probably not. Will you bitch about it? Sure. I agree with this statement very much. I've been disappointed with every episode this season, but I still watch based on the last three seasons which I enjoyed. Even the Tritter arc wasn't as tediously annoying and boring and frustrating as this arc. The Tritter arc at least let us learn more about the characters we already cared about instead of basically creating a new show by focusing on new characters that the audience didn't care about--and many of us still do not care about at all. Not caring about the new characters makes me not care about House either. I didn't even care last night about Wilson's little crisis. I watch for more than one character and the characters I found most interesting have all but disappeared, creating only more questions.

Foreman has redeemed himself in my eyes, he is not nearly as annoying as he was at the beginning of the season and is my favorite old Duckie again.

I LOVE House.

Some people think it was really brave to "shake up the show" this season. We've seen 9 episodes and I think it may be even more formulaic than before. With so many main characters (10 counting the patient), there are only a few minutes in an episode for each. Seems like all the interactions are always the same: Foreman rolls his eyes, Wilson lectures House, Cuddy tarts it up, one new guy sucks up, the other new guy looks scared, patient gets a monologue..... I'm going to keep watching because House is still interesting during his 5 minutes....and sexy....

Nine episodes down. The originally ordered 22 -- depending on when the strike ends, who knows how many we'll get. If they had a couple of scripts that just needed a final polishing when the strike started, they might be able to get back in production pretty quickly. One episode I really, really liked -- Ugly. It wasn't another Three Stories or House vs. God for me but, after watching it a few more times it might make my top 10. Great House/Wilson. The Cuddy I loved from the pilot was back. Some Chase... Overall: A One episode liked a lot, but not quite that much -- Alone. I actually cared about the patient and her family. Great House/Wilson. Overall A- One episode I really disliked -- Guardian Angels. C- And the other 6 were all B somethings for me B-, B or B+ Not too bad.

Some people think it was really brave to "shake up the show" this season. We've seen 9 episodes and I think it may be even more formulaic than before. With so many main characters (10 counting the patient), there are only a few minutes in an episode for each. Seems like all the interactions are always the same: Foreman rolls his eyes, Wilson lectures House, Cuddy tarts it up, one new guy sucks up, the other new guy looks scared, patient gets a monologue..... I think you're right . With so many cast members there's no room for the things that often varied like the patient's familiy or the clinic. IMHO that aspect has really suffered, and a lot of the Chase, Cam, and Wilson scenes seem off and a bit forced. Somebody over at the fox boards brought up a good point as well. Now that the game is over, how is House bouncing ideas off of these three going to be any different or more exciting than him bouncing ideas off of the others? Opinions, of course, will vary, but it seems to me that the final three were almost created to interact with CCf rather than act as team in their own right. Or at least, I can't picture these three having any type of dynamic between the three of them such as CCF did.

Somebody over at the fox boards brought up a good point as well. Now that the game is over, how is House bouncing ideas off of these three going to be any different or more exciting than him bouncing ideas off of the others? I'm one of the people who've said that I *like* the new blood and that the show had become too predictable. I don't mean predictable in terms of plot - it's formulaic, it'll always be formulaic. It was the character reactions and dialogue itself that had become predictable to the point of being painful. A ddx scene would be: House: I think A. Foreman: But you can't say that *much posturing* so I say B. Cameron: Oh noes! Blabla C. Chase: *chews D* House: Great! So it's E. I'll go do F. Foreman would disagree. Cameron would bitch. Chase either sit in the corner or have spurts of development (that, because I'm indifferent to the character, were mostly filler). It had become paint-by-numbers and I hadn't realised until the new cast arrived how bored I'd become. With a new cast, the overall plot will still be weekly whatdunit as an excuse for exploring House as a character, but it will be different from last year's supporting cast automatons. YMMV (and will) on this, but I'm thrilled that something has happened to shake things up.

A ddx scene would be: House: I think A. Foreman: But you can't say that *much posturing* so I say B. Cameron: Oh noes! Blabla C. Chase: *chews D* House: Great! So it's E. I'll go do F. LOL. Yeah, that is basically how it went. I'm not sure how else it really can go, however, since it would be really strange for House to throw out an idea and have everyone agree. To me the new guys seem to have been set up to serve the same functions ...Taub will disagree and butt heads with House, 13 will cry "but the patient blah blah blah", and Kutner will say "Cool. Let's do it!" That may prove to be totally inaccurate, of course. I was just curious as to how else people see the ddx scenes playing out. *edit* I should clarify what I'm asking a bit. Somebody earlier on made the observation that Kutner had the potential to be different because he was someone that House may have to reign in. I can see where that could definately put a new twist in ddx scenes. I'm curious if anybody else has seen potential of that sort wrt to the new team.

There are several aspects of the new team that I like a great deal and which serve to distinguish them from the old fellows: -- no one on the new team seems over-awed or in love with House. With CCF, I had the feeling that Cameron's infatuation and Chase's search for a father figure governed much of their medical decision-making. The newbies seem, in contrast, considerably more mature in outlook and experience. Perhaps just having had the opportunity to do research about House and survive the wierd competition has given them thicker skins and a healthier emotional distance from him. CCF, on the other hand, seemed to live in a perpetual state of stunned amazement at House's antics. -- each of the newbies has offered ddx suggestions and procedures which border on ingenious or outrageous. Taub suggested the artery-wrapped-around-the-aeorta theory in "Games" and the fake boob job exploratory surgery in "Right Stuff," Kutner suggested the whiskey as diagnostic test also in "Right Stuff," and Hadley got the worms diagnosis of the SMA patient right (then fatally botched it up in the treatment phase). She was also the one who doped House. This new team has the courage and the cunning to act on their ideas in a way that the old guys never seemed to have. -- the three new team members seem to get along reasonably well. This may change of course as new tensions emerge in the heat of the medical mysteries to come. But there seems to be little of the built-in tension that characterized the triangular relationships of CCF. Hadley doesn't seem romantically attracted to either of her colleagues (or House), Taub doesn't seem to automatically suspect the other two of being out to get him, and Kutner hasn't put up a cool wall of emotional distance between himself and the rest. The new trio seem quite distinct from the old crowd and I like the looks of this for the future.

House: I think A. Foreman: But you can't say that *much posturing* so I say B. Cameron: Oh noes! Blabla C. Chase: *chews D* House: Great! So it's E. I'll go do F. Foreman would disagree. Cameron would bitch. Chase either sit in the corner or have spurts of development (that, because I'm indifferent to the character, were mostly filler). It had become paint-by-numbers and I hadn't realised until the new cast arrived how bored I'd become. Word. That is all.

With CCF, I had the feeling that Cameron's infatuation and Chase's search for a father figure governed much of their medical decision-making. The newbies seem, in contrast, considerably more mature in outlook and experience. Well, I would certainly agree that many of the things that CCF pitched during a ddx had to do with either their specialies (Foreman: It's neurolgical! Cameron: Autoimmune!) or their personal experiences (Chase: drugs and alcohol!) I found this amusing and realistic to an extent, but I can certainly see where some found it predictable. the three new team members seem to get along reasonably well.... But there seems to be little of the built-in tension that characterized the triangular relationships of CCF. The three that are left have hardly interacted at all, but I agree that there seems little of the relationship that characterized the first team, triangular or otherwise. Please correct me if I'm misinterpreting, but are you saying that you're expectation is that the ddx scenes with the new team will be more focused on the medicine than the personal tensions? I can see where that would be different , but I don't want to assume that's what you meant. I really liked the personal angles, but

melly asked: Please correct me if I'm misinterpreting, but are you saying that you're expectation is that the ddx scenes with the new team will be more focused on the medicine than the personal tensions? I can see where that would be different , but I don't want to assume that's what you meant. I don't really have any strong expectations or understandings one way or the other about how the ddx scenes will go forward with the new team members, since we know so little about them. I was trying to offer some general observations about their interactions so far. But I am sure that my views will be considerably altered as the layers are peeled back as they learn from and react to House. I am pretty sure that the ddx scenes as well as all others will continue the pattern of contributing to deepening our understanding of all the characters rather than focussing on the medicine alone.

So, it looks like this show is now a soap opera about the new charaters who just happen to be in a hospital. The show also seems to be getting closer to comedy/farce than drama: closeups of Cuddy's butt, setting patients on fire, House goofing around, digging up coffins, and playing survivor games.

*sigh* Always late to the party – partially because I tape the show, and don’t watch it till late in the week when I actually have the time to do so and the brain power to be able to absorb what is on screen. RANT WARNING: What follows is a synthesis of my feelings about season four (or rather reaction to what OTHERS seem to feel about season four) and my own response to Games. The following diatribe is brought to you by one too many comments about the overall “idiocy” of House this season, and the assertion by some (across boards) that fandom has reached the general consensus, “season four sucks.” Accompanying gnashing of teeth is inspired by the not so veiled insinuation by a few that people who *are* enjoying this season are obviously not as “discerning” or “intelligent” as the naysayers, because anyone who is interested in depth of characterization or thought provoking television can’t help but be disappointed with the total lack of merit this season. Thus, it stands to reason that anyone who *is* enjoying season four must be in it merely for the crass humor. And so on… Well, paint me a crass, unintelligent, idiotic, dullard, because I really don’t see such a downslide in quality this season. There have been high points and low point, just like every previous season, in my opinion. And frankly, all one need do is read a few posts from any season to find the very same sorts of whining and moaning and predictions of falling ratings and premature death - from Stacy, to Vogler to Tritter, I have been reading about the apparent downfall of House MD. I don’t mind people having an opinion that differs than mine. I even agree with many of the points that have been made, but the suggestion by some that those of us who just do not *see* the oh, SO obvious downward spiral of show quality (which is presented as FACT) are either blind or simple is beginning to wear on me. Take Games. Granted, it wasn’t exactly an Emmy winner – but I quite enjoyed it! And will watch it again in perfect contentment. I didn’t find Wilson’s argument with House to be horribly written or painfully awkward. It sounded like what happens when two people fight! They say stupid things! They don’t measure every word that comes out of their mouths. They don’t engage in Shakespearean dialogue. They sputter and snark and say the first thing that comes into their minds. “Dying is easy. Living is hard!” Stupid, pithy dialogue or an expression of Wilson’s general frustration with House’s recent near death experiences? I choose the latter. For House, choosing to nearly die DOES appear to be easier that making the effort to live. Whereas Wilson is finding his own life more and more difficult to navigate. Failure seems to dog his life. He is feeling the pressure. The man went on anti-depressants! He is trying to keep going, even though living is becoming harder for him as well. The way his voice breaks here just kills me. Silly line? Maybe, but RSL delivers it with such power I never felt it was anything but emotionally relevant for him. And House even recognizes both the importance of the line for Wilson and its overall cheesiness when he acknowledges it can’t be nearly as poignant as it sounded. Had Kutner not chosen that moment to walk in, I think we would have seen the tension melt with some healing laughter, and maybe some deeper introspection into why they play these games. I love this scene. The stern look Wilson gives House when he finally confronts him about telling his patient to sue and the downward guilty glance of House before turning off the record player. While many try to chastise, only Wilson manages to make House take on the expression of a puppy that has been caught peeing on the rug. He is the only person who appears able to make House experience genuine regret for his actions. (Just as he is one of the only people who can tell House what to do, and have House actually take his advice.) House bounces back almost immediately, but I prefer to believe those momentary “Uh oh. In trouble now” expressions reveal true regret. With anyone else House almost seems to relish getting caught being the bad boy. With Wilson, he looks like he might actually be sorry. This is House trying to protect Wilson from himself. This is House playing the bad boy and trying to write it off as selfishness, when it is really is love. This is House keeping Wilson close by letting Wilson think he is there to take care of House, which in turn, lets House look after Wilson. This is the game they play. Neither of them can really see how much they need each other, but we can. And I loved the ending scene with the game between House and Cuddy coming to a head. Just consider what kind of manipulation is going on here. Based upon last week’s episode, Cuddy wants House to fire Kutner and CTB. She figures House will actually do the exactly opposite of what she wants, because that is his way. However, she can’t ask him to hire Kutner and Amber because that would be too obvious. Those are the two she wanted fired, so why would she ask him to hire them? House will figure it out, so instead, she asks him to hire Taub and Kutner, thinking he will then hire the at least one of the women, and it will likely be her pick, 13, since House himself does not seem overly fond of CTB. However, House knows her too well. He KNOWS she wants him to hire one of the women, probably for quota reasons, so he hires the two men, knowing Cuddy will be unable to come back and have him fire anyone because SHE was the one who told him to hire Taub and Kutner anyway. So she will HAVE to give him an additional person, which will mean he can have either CTB or 13 as lagniappe. He is at the point where he would actually like to keep all four, and I think he felt sorry about having to fire any of them, even CTB. Notice he has trouble making eye contact with them when he has to fire them. For him, the game is over. This hurts. Despite Wilson’s prediction, House has come to care, even about CTB. However, he does manage to manipulate things so that he gets to keep three of the four, which is pretty darn good, considering. Games within games. As long as the series can deliver scenes like these, I will stick with it. Guess I am just stupid that way. :? My only question. Don’t most people in cancer treatment have compromised immune systems? Isn’t it possible some of Wilson’s cancer kids could now develop measles after getting up close and person with POTW?

Don’t most people in cancer treatment have compromised immune systems? Isn’t it possible some of Wilson’s cancer kids could now develop measles after getting up close and person with POTW? I would imagine that the kids had MMR shots, and haven't screwed up their immune systems by sharing drugs and needles. Though that's only a guess. I have no idea.