TV Show - Dr. House | House M.D. XI

TV Show - Dr. House | House M.D. XI

The end of the sixth season is not only near, it's kicking the door in with a cane. Just now, in the last episode of the season, the construction crane collapsed. And man, have we been through a lot.

Towards the end of the fifth season, things really heated up. First, we got to see "The Social Contract," another very interesting episode, as I mentioned before. Then, with "Locked In" and "Simple Explanation," things got intense, and before we knew it, the tone changed, and House found himself in the midst of a crisis.

Of course, we can't overlook that this crisis had a trigger, a pretty intense one at that. One morning, Kutner didn't show up for work. Many assumptions were made, and when Foreman and Thirteen went to his apartment, they discovered that Kutner had shot himself.

This was already the case before, but from here on, the series unabashedly plays with colors (Color Grading). The mood is often supported by a dark, blue tone or a light, soft, slightly orange tone, making it even more clear to the viewer. This happens right up until the sixth season and occurs again and again, depending on how intense the various moods are dictated by the story.

I also found it intense that Amber was brought back into play here. She had become an important link between House and Wilson, even though it looked different after her death. This also reminds me of a description of Amber that I should have mentioned much earlier, where she is described as being like House and how Wilson actually wants to be with House. It's interesting because that's exactly what happens in the sixth season when House and Wilson move into the new apartment. For a brief moment, they're a couple, and it just fits incredibly well. It's just a shame that the lovely Sasha Alexander has to suffer because of it. It's fascinating how she has changed since the first two seasons of NCIS.

We wouldn't be with House if everything were easy. So, House himself has to go through hell again before he is actually taken to a rehab center on a second attempt. Anything else wouldn't fit, but I also felt a little sorry for him here because realizing that his dream was just a dream, where he didn't end up with Cuddy, was pretty harsh.

The sixth season then starts with House's stay in rehab or in a psychiatric hospital where he meets interesting personalities. This includes Franka Potente, who is mainly known from German productions, which pleased me at the time. She is also one of the few German actors who can dub themselves, which was very well done here. I really like this story arc because it shows the ups and downs of House and his realization that constant rebellion may not be the right path after all.

Of course, many important topics are addressed again in the sixth season, one of which is euthanasia. It has been shown or hinted at several times before, but here it appears several times. One time, it's even not from the patient's perspective but from the doctors', which is incredibly unusual. The most impressive was also the instance where House was locked in with a dying patient and increased his morphine dose in the end.

The other major topic is, of course, Chase's act. He caused the death of a patient who was a dictator. This episode has raised questions over and over again, and rightly so. Is that okay? Is that justified? Just as I write about it, I realize that I don't want to delve into this topic as much because discussions about it are exhausting and not good for me right now. But everyone has to decide for themselves, especially in such a profession, what all of this means for them, ethically and morally.

I've skipped over some episodes and topics now, and that's somewhat intentional. Because while the sixth season does focus on the patients' respective illnesses, it focuses even more on the developments of the protagonists. Foreman and Thirteen and their relationship. Taub and his wife, how does their marriage progress? Wilson and his love life! Cuddy, Lucas, and Rachel? And of course, House and his attempt to be happy, which becomes more than clear in the last or penultimate episode with a session with Dr. Nolan. All of this is extensively dealt with in the sixth season and leads to some back and forth, which I don't mean in a negative way. Because even though there were already developments before, those that occur in the sixth season provide a breath of fresh air and keep the series at a high level of entertainment.

However, to come back to the penultimate episode of the sixth season, I can really understand House. You do and try everything, work on yourself, do your best, listen to others and their expectations of you, but in the end, only others feel better, and you feel worse. It's an absolutely terrible feeling, to put it bluntly, and no, it's not just because he's depressed or the pain is getting worse again. House is an overthinker, and he has already thought about a lot. No, it's a realization of the fact, and this is then reinforced by what happened in the last episode (the leg amputation). I don't condone what he does, but I can understand it.

The last episode is almost finished, and I'm not sure anymore how season seven starts; I'll indulge in that in a moment. I still remember quite a bit, but as often happens, it's a bit jumbled, so it's even more exciting.

Bonus: There's one more thing I'd like to write about because it was an episode that personally moved me. "Locked In" was again an episode where I felt very understood. Because even though the Locked-in Syndrome actually exists, there's another variant that is rarely talked about, sleep paralysis. A completely normal process where the body, once it falls asleep, becomes paralyzed so that we don't use the body too much while sleeping and dreaming. But it can also happen that you wake up, can breathe normally, move your eyes, but otherwise, you're practically paralyzed. Absolutely not a nice feeling, but again, kudos to the series for bringing attention to the fact that this exists and is something serious.

Oh yes, of course, I also noticed that Meat Loaf appeared in the fifth season. A great artist who heavily influenced my music taste in the 90s. Unfortunately, he has also left us, but I hope he rocks hard somewhere else.

TV Show - CSI: Las Vegas V

Currently, I'm watching the episode "Fight Night" S3E7, quite far along considering when I started, but it's running, just like the other series, always in the background once I'm home. It would be terrible if it were also running in the office!

What have we been through? In "Stalker" S2E19, Nick gets quite a beating, and this is even though we know that the Tarantino double episode is still to come, where Nick will get more than just a beating. The two actors who played the medium and the killer are incredibly distinctive; you've seen them in many series, mostly in individual episodes. Doug Hutchison has also made it to the big screen and appeared in The Green Mile (1999) and Punisher: War Zone (2008). But Leland Orser is certainly not unknown; he has movies like Alien 4 (1997), Seven (1995), and The Bone Collector (1999) under his belt. Both actors belong to the second tier but play at the forefront, and I'm always excited to see either of them.

"Anatomy of a Lye" S2E21 was also quite interesting, as we see a very young Mr. Spock, also known as Zachary Quinto. And yes, don't worry, I know this is the Mr. Spock of the modern era. Leonard Nimoy, as far as I know, does not appear in CSI, but who knows, maybe the series will prove me wrong.

Otherwise, the end of the second season is relatively calm; there are no major cliffhanger episodes yet, and I sincerely hope it stays that way for a while longer. Even though I can watch everything back-to-back, I still find such episodes quite exhausting.

Fortunately, Catherine's attitude has eased up; it's not as frequent, but when it happens, it's more intense. People are just being chewed out without her even introducing herself, and nobody knows who she is or what she wants. If someone talked to me that way, I'd react the same. Unbelievable level of arrogance, but well, I guess it's something I have to live with. I didn't want to mention it anymore, but this strange behavior towards Horatio in the last episode of the second season just doesn't sit right. It's a different jurisdiction, for goodness' sake! And those who come at me with "Yes, but she's a strong woman, has to assert herself… BLA BLA BLA!" Yes, she's the strong woman in the series, but a strong woman also asserts herself through respect for others, regardless of their position, and doesn't belittle others to highlight herself.

Despite the calm towards the end of the second season, we also saw the backdoor pilot episode of CSI: Miami, as briefly mentioned earlier. I like Miami, even though I can't handle the overly candied stylishness for too long. It's an interesting bunch that, after watching several seasons of CSI: Las Vegas, is quite refreshing. Yes, I didn't last very long on my last rewatch, but I think if it were available to stream, it would be different (I only have the first half of the first season on DVD).

Now that I think about it, the last episode of the second season is quite interesting because it examines the madness of the beauty ideal. And back then, there was already MySpace, but nowhere near the level of social media we have today. How would such an episode look under today's circumstances? After all, we not only have the modeling industry but also everything else like social media and various services that I don't want to mention here.

TV Show - CSI: Las Vegas II

It feels good to be back in Las Vegas. I recently tried watching CSI: Miami, and even though it's a good series, I couldn't quite get through the first season. I think it was too stylish for me, with too much weird color grading and sometimes too much "look how stylish we are in Miami."

Now we're dealing with the night shift in Las Vegas, and just the neon lights and darkness at night give us a completely different vibe, even though most of the filming took place in and around Los Angeles.

We're currently on episode 16 of season 1, "Too Tough to Die." The characters have moved past their initial uncertainties and are settled. We've also seen recurring characters like Bobby (weapons specialist), Mindy (fingerprint expert), and Terry (bone specialist) several times already.

While watching, I noticed my brain often tried to draw parallels to Dr. House, but it's not that simple. Sure, there are definitely similarities, as difficult cases need to be solved by a team of specialists in their field. But the approach is entirely different because we're in forensics, not medicine.

What I like the most, which is often handled through allegorical storytelling in Dr. House, are the different philosophical approaches Grissom explores in a quiet moment. I mean the quotes he often inserts. I especially liked his explanation at the end of "Unfriendly Skies" when the team sits together discussing how they would have acted. No one even thought about the victim and just went along with what the witnesses/perpetrators said. It's something I always try to keep in mind—that when confronted with an absolute situation, it's rarely, if ever, actually absolute, and there's always another perspective. I think it's a very important message!

But of course, CSI: Las Vegas also offers the messages that a Dr. House series does, just, as mentioned, not quite as allegorical but on a much more direct path. It's not always focused on Las Vegas either; it can be applied generally, especially when it comes to theft or dealing with other people. Sometimes you might think that the murders are just used to convey these messages, and what happens around them contains the actual message.

Unfortunately, Catherine is still a bit exhausting, and I also don't really like the whole storyline with her husband or ex-husband. It's just not my thing! Sure, she's supposed to represent the strong, mature woman who made it out of the casino world in Las Vegas, and she does that pretty well, no question. But the attitude she displays toward Sara or Warrick in this case is just not okay.

Fortunately, the hostility between the police and CSI has also been set aside again. It's happening more and more often that the team addresses the officer or detective at the crime scene by name and sometimes even chat a bit. I find that very pleasant, and it gives you the feeling that you're watching a very large and well-coordinated team.

The truly tragic figure in all of this, even though you might not know it yet, is among all the Warrick and Grissom drama. Warrick because he also made it from the bottom to the top as a CSI and can continually assert himself with his insider knowledge of Las Vegas. He's an important part of the team. But his fate is already sealed, even though it will take about six more seasons.

Grissom, on the other hand, because his mind can increasingly understand or comprehend less and less of what's happening around him. He feels less and less at home in this world or can understand why people are capable of all these acts, even though he loves the world itself and everything that keeps it moving (humans are not really needed for this; the world does fine without them!).

Akira Toriyama has left us way to soon, and one of his works that impressed me the most was this one. I've also read DB and played Chrono Trigger, but this little book was something very special! RIP Toriyama-sensei! 鳥山先生、安らかにお眠りください。

TV Show - Dr. House | House M.D. X

So, we're still in the fifth season but we're already on episode 16. We just found out, after a shocking cardiac arrest with House, that he's on methadone and actually doesn't need Vicodin anymore since his leg doesn't hurt anymore.

Episode 9, "Last Resort," is now behind us, and I mention this episode on purpose because it's one of those that ranks relatively low for me. Yes, I can understand the dude with the gun quite well, but just shooting around isn't a solution, even if there are countries in this world where people live who have a different opinion. Besides, Thirteen suffers too much here. Yes, it bothers me because I simply like Olivia Wilde and her role, but it's also annoying because she already suffers enough due to her illness. Strangely, this is often observed in series, that there's always a character who gets a lot of suffering. In Star Trek: Voyager, for example, it's Harry Kim, or in CSI: New York, it's Danny Messer. If I think about it more closely, I'm sure I can come up with more examples. In House, it's only occasional and not spread throughout the entire series, since Thirteen isn't there for the whole series, but it's still noticeable.

Episode 12, "Painless," I also found interesting because we have a kind of mirror image of House. Only in the basics, but still interesting enough to see where House might end up if things continue like this for a few more years. Sure, both characters are fundamentally different in character, please don't get me wrong, but here you can deduce a lot of things that we will encounter in the following seasons. Maybe one could even go so far as to say that this episode is a key experience for much of what follows, which brings us back to the episode mentioned at the beginning. Because precisely because they are so different, and House maybe doesn't want to end up at this point, he does all the things that are still to come after this episode.

Let's come to the episode mentioned at the beginning, "The Softer Side." House has a cardiac arrest right in the office, while it seems like he's taking a nap. Everyone is worried, and the immediate assumption is that he's taking heroin. After dinner with Wilson and House's subsequent confession, it becomes clear that it's even worse because he's taking methadone. After throwing away his cane, he just walks away. What immediately strikes me here is the fact that although he's pain-free, as he says, he's still limping. Which makes sense, because the muscle in his leg is completely destroyed. But the strange thing is the limping, because a few seasons ago we had a similar case where House was pain-free and he could walk normally, even though nothing has actually changed about his leg between these two incidents.

Cuddy must then confront House with a cruel choice, but House chooses painlessness, even though it's much more risky.

What is also addressed in this episode should not be ignored! It's about a baby being born with both male and female genitalia and being forced by the parents to grow up as a boy. The episode is from 2009, so it's still quite early for such a topic, kudos for that! However, you shouldn't listen too closely to the parents of the baby because it's repeatedly shown here that the child itself has completely different wishes and needs than the parents dictate, hence my statement about coercion! I also think that Thirteen acted completely correctly here, not regarding the suicide story, but definitely regarding the "vitamins"! It's even the second time this topic comes up. We already had a "teenage supermodel" (female) who suffered from hermaphroditism, resulting in an unusual form of testicular cancer being detected too late.

Yes, there's also the relationship between Foreman and Thirteen, and you could talk about that for a lot of words, but I find the whole thing actually relatively uninteresting. Even when they wanted to outsmart House! Where did Foreman work in the past few years? Outsmarting House? On the way to not becoming like House, he becomes more and more like House, which can also be seen in altering the medication for Thirteen. What happened to the study actually?

We mustn't forget about Cuddy, of course, as she now has her daughter named Rachel. On one hand, I'm happy for her, but on the other hand, I can also understand the patients who have been driven nearly insane by the baby's crying. Yes, I understand why this was done here, to trigger symptoms and lead House onto the right track. Nonetheless, I find Cuddy's behavior simply unacceptable, because to call in the middle of an operation with a crying child in her arms and not hang up is outrageous. Yes, children often cry, and that's just part of it, but I find it simply unacceptable behavior, and I really took it against her that she didn't hang up after Rachel cried so intensely!

Since I'm watching on Prime, I can see directly which episode is coming next, and there we have the patient who always tells the truth due to a condition and practically has no filter between thoughts and speech. Also very interesting, because you often wonder what absolute honesty and openness could look like. Here we get a taste, and personally, I think it tastes quite bitter sometimes. Sure, you shouldn't lie or gossip and talk about others, but that's something completely different!

TV Show - CSI: Las Vegas

As mentioned in the last post about Dr. House, I felt like watching a crime series. The temptation was strong because Prime added the first three seasons of Rizzoli & Isles to its program. But I decided to go with CSI: Las Vegas because it's been longer since I last rewatched it compared to Rizzoli & Isles.

Right in the first two episodes, I notice a lot of details, and I might end up writing a lot about them. Let's see how long I can keep it up!

One thing that stands out right away is the age of the series. And by that, I don't mean a specific year but the aspect ratio, which is still in 4:3. 16:9 will come later, but I can't remember exactly when. I'm curious to find out.

Catherine Willows already shows character traits here that will later drive me crazy. I remember finding her very demanding in the later seasons. She always comes up with arguments to bend the rules so she can break them later. However, in the successor format CSI: Vegas, she becomes interesting again.

During the autopsy scene where Grissom and Nick help, you could see the eyes of the millionaire blinking. I always find such details interesting. Sometimes you can see the "corpses" moving their chests, the carotid artery pulsating, or a body part moving. If I remember correctly, some shots use a still image to avoid such mistakes.

We still miss important characters like Super Dave and Doc Robbins. But one person we see very early on is the firearms specialist Bobby!

I also noticed Grissom's mood during the dummy experiments, which reminded me why I find him so intriguing. He's a man of facts, and as the series progresses, he becomes less and less able to deal with society and its quirks.

Voices are another topic because we have two very distinctive voices right from the start, one of which stays with us. Holly Gribbs is voiced by Sandra Schwittau, who is the German voice of Bart Simpson, played by Nancy Cartwright. Nick Stokes (George Eads) is voiced by David Nathan, who is not only one of the most distinctive German voices but also the regular voice of Johnny Depp and Christian Bale.

I'm thrilled to be back in Vegas, to see how everything unfolds, what cases they work on, and what questions arise. Because I already have one question: Even though Warrick was overseeing Gribbs since she was new, no one asks what happened to the officer at the crime scene where Holly was shot. Sure, Brass was reassigned, but that's about it. I find it extremely strange. (Although I'm aware that this is used to show the tragedy surrounding Warrick's character!)

Otherwise, the first season is always the most interesting because this is where the series is still finding itself, and many things are still changing. There's a lot to discover and admire, especially when it comes to the development of the characters.

I'll also thoroughly enjoy all the special effects because many of them were created without CGI, and practical effects are still among the best because they are tangible and provide a sense of depth that CGI simply can't achieve. I know, it's a big debate, but it's like photography. Digital photography is great, no doubt, but that final step to achieve exactly what's possible in analog photography is still missing. It's not much, and I know both sides very well, but it's just that tiny bit that's still missing!

In the German version, when Nick talks to Sanders, it's briefly mentioned or asked if Sanders is already playing the "Football game on Dreamcast." Once again, it shows that someone involved in writing the dialogue didn't have a clue. That always annoys me. Either video games look terrible in movies/shows, or they mix up everything and leave out details.