They always play a bit fast and loose with the medicine. Sometimes more than a bit. Most of the time I can suspend my disbelief. Sometimes I can't. (For example, when the baby was missing in Lockdown, no patient on any floor was allowed to receive any care or treatment until the baby was found.) In Broken, I was able to use the incredible acting to get be past everything except the way they used isolation. My favorite was putting a guy going through detox and vomitting in 4-point restraints on his back in a locked room. But a close runner up was when they put House in isolation every time he said "boo" but then they left him to share a room with a guy he had just beaten up. But the acting by HL, Andre Braugher and Lin-Manuel Miranda was so good in that episode that I would have accepted it if Freedom Master had jumped off the garage and actually flow away.

While I don't think they'll ever return to the awesomeness that was Season 3, I thought Season 6 was far and above Seasons 4 and 5. The whole survivor arc was, IMO, a cheap gimmick that didn't even yield satisfactory results and Season 5 was the season of 13 getting as much or more airtime than House himself in certain episodes. Season 5 had far too much 13 and Foreman and Boreteen. I haven't rewatched a single episode from seasons 4 or 5 and I imagine the only time I'll ever give those episodes a second viewing is somewhere in the hopefully distant future when I'm in a retirement home with nothing else to do but watch syndicated TV. At least Season 6 saw Chase return to the fold and had less shoving 13 down our throats as Ms. It on a Stick. Seeing House at least try to change was a far better way to freshen things up than getting rid of half the cast and bringing in sorrier replacements. I'm not a fan of "Huddy," but it could be worse. Could be Ham. At least I can believe House could have feelings for Cuddy, something I never could buy with naive, annoying, smug Cameron. Season 6 had some strong and interesting POTW stories. It doesn't get any better than James Earl Jones, an icon who is still a strong enough actor that you can watch him and see a character rather than see JEJ playing a character. And I can't fault a season too much when it gave us karaoke and speed dating.

Every episode of Season 6, no matter how lame, has moments or even entire scenes of brilliance--"House" is just that good. In Broken, I was able to use the incredible acting to get be past everything except the way they used isolation. My favorite was putting a guy going through detox and vomitting in 4-point restraints on his back in a locked room. But a close runner up was when they put House in isolation every time he said "boo" but then they left him to share a room with a guy he had just beaten up. My favorite was House being able to waltz in and out of a locked ward and there conveniently being no one on duty when he and Lydia find a miraculously unlocked office to have sex in. A gorgeously acted scene, but total WTF? I saw Season 4 in one go on DVD (I saw Season 5 and then went back and watched them in order). I didn't have a problem with the Survivor arc except that Amber was SOOO much more interesting than 13 (but then, until recently a potted plant was more interesting than 13). I agree, Season 5 had way too much Boreteen, but it also had more medicine. And the exploration of House/Cuddy's angst worked for me, as did his slide into madness. The look he has on his face when Cuddy brings him into Wilson's office for the last time is still with me.

Season four had "House's Head/Wilson's Heart" for the finale, didn't it? And season five ended with the gorgeous combination of "Under My Skin" and "Both Sides Now." I watch episodes from those seasons over and over again. I believe those were excellent seasons simply because of those terrific endings and both seasons were much stronger than the seasons which preceeded them, IMO. At some future point, I will try to give a more comprehensive take on season six. But for now, I will just say that extra_cat's comment has reminded me that this really was a season in which guest stars took on added prominence. As noted above, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andre Braugher, and Franke Potente were truly outstanding in their roles in "Broken." Hugh Laurie is so dominating and spectacular in his range and depth of emotion that it is often hard to see the other performers around him. But in "Broken" these actors rose to give him brilliant support, in fully-rounded portraits of troubled individuals on their own journeys of discovery. James Earl Jones was superb in what could have been a hackneyed role. He made Diballa seem truly menacing and pathetic at the same time while lying flat on his back in a hospital bed. The eyes and the voice have it still. The utterly mesmerizing portrayal of that psychopathic patient in "Remorse" overshadowed the other guest star whose passive-aggressive old school chum of House was a strong portrait of a twisted and quietly vengeful man. I admired the way that the other Jones, Orlando, played off of both HL and Omar Epps in "Moving the Chains." Jones had to be sympathetic, regret-filled, untrustworthy, and imploring all while convincing us he and Foreman came from the same parents. It was a strong performance that brought out the best in OE too. David Strathairn was so moving and simple in those scenes with HL in "Lockdown." Was there anything else going on in that episode? The young actress who played the doomed Hannah in "Help Me" turned in a stunning performance in a role that pushed to the extremes both physically and emotionally. Her final piercing gaze in the ambulance as she lay dying was truly haunting for both House and the audience. If she hadn't been as effective and relatable as she was, the episode would not have worked for me emotionally, despite the splendid powerhouse performances from HL and LE. And finally, although I despised the character, I have to give credit to Michael Weston for making Lucas as weaselly and twitchy and unpalatable as possible. Somehow he was able to deliver a performance that made it plausible for Cuddy and even Rachel to like him, while letting us see the tendrils of dishonesty and smarmy rage that curled beneath the surface. This was an actor skillfully portraying a professional deceiver with at least two faces wafting around at all times. This was a great season in a number of ways, but certainly one of them was the wealth of stellar guest performances.

The fact that guest stars took added prominence does not mean added high quality. I thought James Earl Jones was brilliant, as was the young woman who played Hannah. Too bad there isn't an award category for incredible one-shot performances. Or is there? David Straitharn is always great, but those scenes! Good God, talking to your daughter for the first time to say "I love you" and then die in an unknown location? Way to ruin your kid's life, Dad! ETA: I'm wrong about that. They've had big name guests every season. I generally don't know who they are because I don't watch other television shows (Gregg Gunberg, for example). Sorry.

I'd define stunt casting as Oprah Winfrey or Bristol Palin. It's about casting someone with no need to be there for the role merely there to draw attention. Having respected actors who want to do your show is not stunt casting. It's an honor. (And considering that respected actors have willingly signed up for the show since at least Sela Ward in Season One, it's hardly a new phenomenon for Season Six.)

I'm surprised to read that some of you liked season 3 so much, I always got the impression that many felt the show started to go downhill in that season. And I agree that there were quite some WTF-moments, but I always loved season 3! Even though we saw lots of manipulative behaviour, I had sympathy for all the characters and liked all of them, unlike in season 6. I can't quite put my finger on why exactly that is, maybe because in season 6 their motives didn't ring true for me or because I felt that their behaviour was OOC? If I had to describe how I feel about seasons 1-3 I'd say they felt "cosy" and "introverted". Seasons 4-6 on the other hand were extroverted, which IMO is particularly true for House's character, and since I liked his former withdrawn self, I was very disappointed when that changed with the survivor arc. And finally, although I despised the character, I have to give credit to Michael Weston for making Lucas as weaselly and twitchy and unpalatable as possible. Somehow he was able to deliver a performance that made it plausible for Cuddy and even Rachel to like him, while letting us see the tendrils of dishonesty and smarmy rage that curled beneath the surface. This was an actor skillfully portraying a professional deceiver with at least two faces wafting around at all times. But I have been wondering the whole season, did they actually intend for his character to come across this way? Because I always thought he was simply meant to be quirky and slightly goofy yet adorable. And the creepy feeling some describe was partly to blame on MW's appearance/acting (and I mean unintentional) and partly something fans came up with, because they took offense at his blabbing in 6x07 and his pranks in 6x13 and attributed him a vindictive streak, although I suspect that as far as TPTB are concerned, both incidents were supposed to be appear innocent and light-hearted. I think so, because if they meant for his "darker persona" to be canon, wouldn't they have followed through with it? There should have been a conclusion to it, because there's no point to it if only we, the viewers, get a few hints, but there are no consequences from it on the show. (Unless, god forbid, Lucas returns in season 7 seeking vengeance, terrorising House/Cuddy).

I find that there's more I dislike right after viewing an episode than there is a month or two later. By then I've begun to incorporate the stuff I didn't like into my big picture of the show and I don't mind it as much. There was a lot I hated (capital, bold, underlined, bright red, large font "hated") about the Tritter arc. They keep saying that the structure of the show is a "procedural" but there was so much wrong with the legal procedure that a 9-year-old who has seen 3 episodes of Law & Order would know better. But House's journey that year, going from being pain-free to where he ended up did interest me. In S4 I found the survivor arc ridiculous (despite some entertaining moments within it) and a great finale did not make up for a mediocre season. Perhaps if there hadn't been a strike it would have hung together better for me. S5 would have been great (there were 9 episodes I loved) if it weren't for the fact that I had no interest in watching "Thirteen, MD." I actually rather liked her this year but it was very difficult getting to that point after having her shoved at me with a "Look!!! Isn't she Interesting?" for a year. This year there were some episodes that I found totally forgettable and I still miss the clinic but, overall, House's journey was once again fascinating. Cuddyclothes, "Too bad there isn't an award category for incredible one-shot performances. Or is there? " There is -- guest appearance. No one was nominated for their performance in House. If an actor is a big name because of the quality of their work, I don't think it's stunt casting to hire them. I'd rather see Mira Sorvino or James Earl Jones than someone who is pretty good. In my eyes, the only time House truly indulged in stunt casting was when they hired Dave Matthews to play a musical savant. And I think he was fine so that was okay.

This might be one of those instances where a character might have had an unintended reaction. The vindictive pranks he pulled were no help. The bathtub fall was awful, and tripping House in the cafeteria and his reaction...I do wish House had whacked him with his cane. I didn't have a problem accepting that his blabbing in "Known Unknowns" was unintentional. And it seemed at first they were trying to write him as a sympathetic, caring person.

Was Lucas really supposed to be a "viable" rival to House? It seems to me that no man interested in House's love interest (Stacy or Cuddy) can be portrayed as anything that would really rival House. Mark was wimpy and not all that attractive. Lucas was wimpy and they even made him lousy in bed. It might be more interesting if House had some competition that was actually competition.

In Moving the Chains, Lucas: Hey. You ready? Cuddy: Almost. And… done. I heard House and Wilson are getting pranked by someone. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you? Lucas: No. Cuddy: Why should I believe you? Lucas: You said I had a trusting face. I still don't understand why you wouldn't let me retaliate, though. They stole your dream. Cuddy: Well, that's overstating it. It's just a condo. This was right after Lucas tripped House in the cafeteria and threatened to tell Cuddy that they'd bought the condo. So, Cuddy already knew and she'd told Lucas to let it drop. Despite that he'd retaliated 4 times. Two of those (the possum and the sprinklers) were financially expensive and two (the safety bar and the tripping) were physical attacks on a cripple with the first one having the potential to be fatal. He was cute and inoffensive in S5. In S6 he was a creepy weasel.

I removed the text of this post because I couldn't delete it. It was mean-spirited of me to have posted what I did.

Why should TWoP's take matter on this? I never liked Sara M and I gave up reading pretty much everything on there because it became less about the shows and more about stupid, non-funny jokes the recappers were making. And not just about "House." Calling Tim Gunn a drug pusher in a sad excuse for a joke in a "Project Runway" recap was the final straw for me. As to Lucas, my take on his arc was that he was supposed to seem -- from the outside -- like a guy who had some of House's characteristics in terms of curiosity and lifestyle, but was considered safe. However, beneath that, he wasn't necessarily a nice guy. This contrasts with House who has the prickly exterior, but beneath that intends to do good. So throughout the season, Cuddy learns more about Lucas (and my take on it is that she found out about Lucas' antics about the loft after it had started, and put the kibosh on it once she found out, as he said -- she told him to stop the retaliation) in "5-9," it's House that she finds more and more that she can rely on, and by "Help Me" she's in a position where House is stripped bare as he speaks to Hannah, and when she gets home that contrast between the interior and exterior House is presented to her against what she has come to learn about Lucas.