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

After a long day, we're back at Princeton-Plainsboro with Dr. House and his team. A lot has happened since then!

We've gone through the second attempt with Stacy and realized that House really isn't the person for a relationship. Or maybe just not the right one for Stacy, even though the series itself wants to tell us otherwise. But before it gets serious, House backs off and, if I remember correctly, loses her forever, because as far as I know, Stacy or Sela Ward doesn't appear again in the series.

We've also already dealt with House's white whale, Esther! What struck me about this episode right away, probably because it involved a little child, was that we rarely saw the patient. Here, it was clear that narratively, it wasn't about the patient, but really about House and how he handles this case, which affects him much more than the previous case with Esther!

Otherwise, we often encounter cases where House makes morally questionable decisions. Professionally, of course, absolutely top-notch, no question, and the results speak for themselves. However, there are always situations that seem questionable. For example, the second awakening of the boy with burns, even though he was stopped, or the viewing of Stacy and her husband's files. What I'm getting at is that there are increasing cases where he often has to be stopped by the team. But again, the question arises whether it's not legitimate, as it leads to the patient's recovery. I also think of the girl and the tick, if Foreman hadn't stopped him with his cane and held the elevator, the patient would surely be dead.

I know, during my last rewatch about 4 years ago, I reached a point where I found many things very questionable, especially regarding House's character. And no, it wasn't about the police officer, but I'll write about that too, because there are quite a few things that bother me about it!

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

The second season ends quite wildly, and afterward, you're not really sure what's reality and what's hallucination. That's why I find the beginning of the third season so interesting, because you actually learn the true resolution here, even though there were hints before.

A jogging Dr. House, who would have ever thought?! But we actually see him at the beginning of the third season. I'm currently at the beginning of the third episode, and I noticed that House could be an allegory for depression. How did I come up with that? I'm not 100% sure, but it was this constant low, something that's always there and never goes away, like a shadow. But then, right now in the first episode of the third season, this high, which is not uncommon with depression. But as high as you are, the fall can be just as deep, and that's what we're experiencing now. If I'm not mistaken, the thing with the police officer also happens in this season, since he stole a prescription from Wilson at the end of the second episode in the third season, and that's one of the issues.

I also noticed, not so much with the cases House handles himself, but with the treatments in the clinic service, that there are always situations that show how patients act when it's something harmless. Of course, you can't know if it's harmless, but I think of the boy with the red chest, which turned out to be just the color of the new sofa. It's as if the series wants to show on one hand that you don't have to accept everything from doctors, but on the other hand, it also shows that as a patient, you could make a bit more effort in many ways. It's both praise and criticism for both parties, which is rare nowadays. It's usually either for or against, but both sides are rarely brought into the picture.

It reminds me of Demolition Man, when at the end, they say that some should become a bit cleaner and others a bit dirtier. In other words, they should meet halfway, find a compromise. In a world that only knows extremes, that's incredibly important, and maybe a series like House is also so important, not just back then. And who knows, maybe there was some foreshadowing for today's times. But I'll leave that to others who know more about such things.

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

Okay, I didn't remember that the story with the cop (Tritter) was so close. Sorry if I keep calling him cop or policeman, I have a terrible memory for names.

I actually find this side story quite interesting because even though both of them, at first, didn't break any laws or acted within their rights, both abused their power. That's why I've always wondered who started it. It's a bit like with Han Solo, who shot first?

Because Tritter started with the provocation, complaining first that he had to wait for 2 hours (when I think about how long I've waited in doctors' offices or clinics, 2 hours is a joke). It's mostly just verbal after that, which would still be bearable. You shout into your pillow at night or punch a punching bag, and it's done. But here comes the crucial point; Tritter trips House when he tries to go to the door of the examination room. Let me be clear, he trips a person with a disability. He shouldn't be surprised if he's made to wait with a thermometer up his butt, sorry bro! Plus, House is the expert in this case, so what gives Tritter the right to tell him what to do and how his job works? Sorry, I just find it outrageous because he could have handled it differently. I also find it outrageous how Tritter interrogates the team and keeps meddling in medical matters he knows nothing about, forming judgments or opinions. Yes, House's medication is intense, but still, he should seek advice from someone who knows what they're talking about. And yeah, in case it hasn't leaked out yet, I absolutely, completely, and utterly dislike Tritter!!

Of course, everything that happens afterward is absolutely not nice, and the misuse of the prescription pad comes to light. But somehow, I've always been on House's side because sure, both of them show absolutely no remorse for their behavior, but Tritter, because of his profession, somehow has even more power and fully exploits it, which I don't really find okay. Because actually, House could go and charge him with assault for tripping him, but nobody really thinks of that. And yeah, I don't want to exclude the possibility that my argumentation is somewhat clouded by my sympathy for House, but still, I stand by it!

Anyway, it's bedtime for me now because I know there will also be a rift between House and Wilson. Although, I'll still watch the episode with the coma patient because the coma patient behaves absolutely not how you would expect, I like that.

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

So, we're now at episode 10/11 in the third season, and while House gets a visit from Tritter in rehab, Tritter shows his true colors, or rather, House reveals them.

I find it good that the judge clarifies again that Tritter acted completely out of line, and she can't quite understand why he was after House so much. But as described before, and also shown by Cuddy's reprimand, zero attention is paid to the fact that Tritter started it all. Yes, we're at a stage where all involved have made mistakes, serious ones even, Cuddy just a few moments ago. But as House pointed out so nicely, if Tritter doesn't get his butt kissed by everyone, he loses it! Plus, what really gets me mad is he's still chewing those gums even though he was told he'll lose his manhood if he keeps at it.

And yes, the judge said House provoked Tritter, and I won't argue against that, but the fact that House rarely does anything without a reason and no one asks about the real reason, namely that Tritter was the worst patient until then, is not questioned. Here I see a missed opportunity to delve deeper into House's character, even though it's been done many times before, but here they could have explored his motives a bit more, and I think that would have done the character quite good!

Fortunately, this storyline is over, even though I like it, it really raises my blood pressure!

Fun Fact: The prosecutor from episode 11 has the voice of Rüdiger Schulzki in German, who probably won't ring a bell to anyone, which is okay, but he's known for voicing the intro of the Galaxy Rangers and has voiced many characters in series in the 80s and 90s. Unfortunately, he passed away on August 5, 2022, in Hamburg! We don't talk enough about voice actors, which should change because every time something comes to us that wasn't produced here, it's the voice actors who are responsible for making the medium enjoyable in our language. And yes, sometimes dubs aren't really great, but believe me, that's rarely if ever the fault of the voices, but rather the dubbing directors who regularly dump one in the brain! So, enough rant for today!!

TV Show - Dr. House | House M.D. VI + 1

I totally forgot, in episode 12 of the third season, we get to see the irresistible Katheryn Winnick!

Please don't get me wrong, she's a woman with incredible charisma, perfect for the role and the theme she represents. Additionally, it's important that not only extraordinary cases are dealt with or addressed but also cases like the one portrayed by the character (Eve) she portrays.

For this reason as well, it's a very important series because it addresses issues and makes them available to a wide audience so that these topics don't take a back seat in the collective consciousness and remain present!

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

Unstoppably we are approaching the end of the third season (currently at S3E20, House Training), and I'm wondering, as my memory refuses to reveal, what major event occurs that causes House to reform his team or leads to drastic changes. Yes, I admit, I'm really looking forward to seeing Thirteen (Olivia Wilde) and also Martha M. Masters (Amber Tamblyn), although I think Masters might take a little longer to appear.

It's quite exciting when you've seen everything already, can remember a lot, but a rewatch helps to put all the puzzle pieces back in the right order. Yes, one could think about it, but I enjoy the suspense.

One of the scenes that made me laugh a lot back then has already come up, namely when House compares a patient's body to the German railway system. Back then, the comparison might have been somewhat accurate, and yes, even in the original, he makes the same comparison with the same cities (Berlin & Düsseldorf), but unfortunately, the German trains, whether regional or long-distance, are nowhere near as good and punctual anymore. I've been wondering the whole time if it was like that back then, but no, today it's definitely worse. Just thinking about how many times I got stranded at a train station last year, BIG UFF!

Otherwise, after the Tritter thing, things are moving rather slowly, and I don't think that's a bad thing at all. The highlight, of course, is the romance between Chase and Cameron, although it's almost over by now. I vaguely remember a wedding in the future and maybe even a divorce? No, I'm sure about the wedding, but I don't think there was a divorce. Oh, I also remember the big bus accident involving Wilson's girlfriend. There's a lot more to come!

Speaking of which, I think the dynamic between Wilson and House has changed a lot since the incident with the prescription pad. At first, it seemed like everything was over and they had no future, but now the connection seems stronger than ever. We also saw that in the story with Cuddy, when they both tested each other to see how far they would go. And then just saying "Night House!" "Night Wilson!" to each other, that's a true bromance, ladies and gentlemen! (I know, I'm late to that party!)

But now there's a very heavy episode on, as once again, an important topic is being addressed, one that often unfortunately gets overlooked in every society, Alzheimer's & dementia. Foreman's mother suffers from Alzheimer's, and I know, it really affected me back then because my grandmother died of Alzheimer's, and my mother is showing the first signs of it now. This disease steals the mind first, then the body, and we should talk about it much more and do much more against it. I know what it's like to watch a person lose themselves in the darkness of this disease, and believe me, you wouldn't wish it on anyone. Once again, a topic highlighted by the series and one that should continue to be addressed. I'm currently wondering if House is airing anywhere on regular TV in Germany, but I don't think so at the moment. That should change because yes, it can be fun and enjoyable for about 45 minutes, but it's also a topic of conversation that might find resonance in the workplace or similar institutions, and suddenly a disease is lifted from its obscurity and brought into the real world. THAT'S IMPORTANT! However, there is another important aspect in this episode that must not be overlooked. Doctors make mistakes, and these mistakes can end up being deadly! Of course, nobody wants to talk about it in the real world, and doctors usually don't admit to such things. It's another issue that's hushed up, but the series brings it back to light, brilliantly! Also, the fact that House performs an autopsy afterward for research purposes may seem strange and odd at first, but it's also about finding out where things went wrong. Yes, it's also to stroke one's own ego, but it's also to prevent such things from happening again.

I won't manage to finish the end of the third season today, but there was another remarkable appearance. In the last episode (S3E19, Act your Age), part of the supporting cast of Bones made an appearance. We saw Joel David Moore and Carla Gallo. And in the episode before that (S3E18, Airborne), Pej Vahdat was one of the passengers or Foreman's substitute.

A little thank you to everyone who diligently reads and shares my Dr. House posts. I'm just doing this for fun, but it's cool that it's well-received and my little analyses are being shared. Thank you very much!

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

We're diving in. Ladies and gentlemen, we are DIVING IN!

The first episode of the fourth season is still a bit of a soft start with a little rock, but the second episode goes full throttle!

So many memories are flooding through the nerve pathways of my brain right now, and it's spinning. Doctors who aren't doctors! Doctors who would rather not be doctors anymore! Doctors who commit suicide! Doctors who fall in love with the best friends of other doctors! (That's the discord between House and Wilson that I mentioned before!) Doctors with children! You'd think we're watching a medical drama!

What I like best here is the fact that they're actually completely revamping the series but somehow not changing anything. So, on one hand, they stay true to the familiar, but on the other hand, they bring in a lot of fresh energy. Plus, the old team isn't entirely gone—Cameron and Chase are still working in the clinic, and Foreman will also be coming back. It won't be long before the two teams mix.

Unfortunately, Amber has a big problem for me in German because she has the same voice as Kes from Star Trek: Voyager. Nothing against the voice, but I find Kes simply dreadful, and unfortunately, because of the voice, it transfers to all the other characters with that voice. But in general, Amber isn't a really likable person either; I don't like her in How I Met Your Mother at all, even though she only appears in one episode there. There's another series I'm currently watching her in, where she was okay, but I can't remember the name of the series right now (maybe it'll come to me later, depending on how well my brain manages it).

Someone I'm very happy to see again is Carmen Argenziano. Of course, I know he's done an incredible amount, but my fondness comes from his appearances in Stargate SG-1. As Sam Carter's father and later as a mediator between humans and the Tok'ra.

Ah, of course, we also need to talk about House's new cane. I don't know who came up with the idea in the series, but it's genius. Flames on a cane, it doesn't get much more '80s/'90s than that. All that's missing on the cane now is a turbocharger and a spoiler!

Since the fourth season is a bit of a fresh start, there isn't much to write about yet, and I'll space out the posts a bit. By now, I have two episodes of Halo to catch up on, and Bullet Train (2022) is now on Netflix, so I definitely need to check that out too.

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

Over the weekend, I finished watching the fourth season, what a wild ride!

The team breaks up and only House remains. Of course, one could say that he also needs a team because he is the top diagnostician, but that would be short-sighted. Without the constant brainstorming and influences of the others, the diagnoses would never come together. Unless he's at Wilson's and has a brainstorm again. Still, he needs the team or a team to go down this path, a lesson House doesn't really need to learn, but it seems Foreman does. He briefly has a team and behaves like House, but it's a completely different dynamic.

What's really interesting, though, is that the old team never really goes away. While the new team is very different, because it's familiar, you still get to see the old faces here and there, namely Chase and Cameron. Foreman is always around anyway. It's a bit like changing your diet, where you're eating completely different foods but still occasionally have a cheat day, so your head, not just your body, is on board with the whole thing.

I especially like that they've thought about the nerds with the new team. Kutner often waves this flag by bringing in pop culture topics, asking about Star Wars stuff, or just being a bit childishly naive. I don't mean that derogatorily; in such a serious series, I think it's pretty good and necessary.

Since the production of the fourth season falls during the writers' strike of that time (2007-2008), we have a very short season with only 16 episodes. This gives us relatively little time to process everything that's happening. First, there's the selection process for the new team, then Wilson's new relationship with Amber, and before we know it, we're first in "House's head" and then in "Wilson's heart". The impactful double feature at the end of the fourth season really throws the world around House out of whack, not to mention Wilson's world. This is also where the rift between the two begins, which lasts until House's father's funeral. I particularly like the reconciliation between them, or rather House's welcome back to Wilson. First a prank, then a donut and a carton of milk; that's true friendship and yes, also a bromance, for sure.

As I write, I always pause the current episode I'm watching. Right now, I see that I've already reached the tenth episode of the fifth season. The episodes themselves, I don't want to say are standard, but they don't have major implications for the overall House world, except for dealing with Amber's death (important topic!!!).

However, two important new story arcs are starting. First, we meet Lucas, the private detective hired by House to shadow Wilson. We'll see more of him in a prominent role later, but it's still quiet around him for now. But an even bigger impact is Cuddy's increasingly strong desire to have a child, which has been around for a while but is becoming more concrete until the episode where she's almost there but then gets disappointed by the mother of the child she was going to adopt. Kudos to Lisa Edelstein, because the pain she experienced in that scene, or rather her role, came across very convincingly, and she manages to carry that pain subtly through several episodes. And yes, I noticed the kiss between her and House, don't worry. But I also count that as part of this pain.

But the moment that impressed me the most was at the end of the fourth season when House is sitting on the white bus with Amber (what an incredibly good metaphor). Perhaps this is indeed the only scene where we get to know a House who is happy, and not just a part, a small piece, or a fragment, but 100%. His words that he wants to stay there because he has no pain hit me to the core because I also suffer from chronic pain. I don't mean to say that they are as severe as House's, but they are there, and I can relate to that so well. This has nothing to do with suicide or anything like that, please don't get me wrong. It's just the desire for a certain form of normalcy. To wake up in the morning and have no pain, not to worry about whether you'll make it through the day or have to take a step back somehow. I felt incredibly understood in that scene, and I think that, in turn, is an important point of the series. Showing people that they are not alone with their problems, that they are seen, and giving them a pleasant form of representation so that other people also notice that they exist. Especially because in my case, except for a slight limp, you can't tell, just like with House, for example.

So much evidence that this series is incredibly good and that on so many levels. I don't watch many medical series anymore, except for the first season of The Good Doctor, but I can't remember much beyond the first scene with the little boy. And unfortunately, I feel like it's the same with many of these series because they just don't have the impact that House does. I don't want to badmouth the other series, absolutely not. They have their place, no question, but they just don't have the scope that House does; they're more for pure entertainment and have chosen medicine or a hospital as a setting.

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 - 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 - Dr. House | House M.D. XII

Even though I'm almost at the end of the seventh season, today's post will be relatively short compared to the others; I am incredibly tired! (Don't worry, it's not from watching Dr. House, it was just a very long day.)

(YES, I miss Thirteen a lot!)

Season seven is a bit like a prelude because it prepares us for a spectacular end to the season (and the whole show!). But the things House does in this season can no longer be summed up as "he's a great doctor, just unfortunately a jerk." Just the way he puts Masters through the wringer when it comes to Cuddy's mother is pretty intense, not to mention the fact that he tricked her with the coma patient. But that's just the tip of the iceberg; there are a lot of things on that "that's not okay at all" list.

Cuddy has now found out that he's back on Vicodin, broke up with him, and even though from a distance it looks like House is living it up, he's actually in free fall! Apparently, there are no limits anymore. Chase, Taub, and Masters are in his hotel room like Huey, Dewey, and Louie, waiting for him to look at X-rays while the prostitute is hiding under the covers next to him. You don't even want to imagine what drugs or Vicodin he's taken.

I want to highlight two things in particular:

I really like Masters' style of dressing! She's always smartly dressed, it rarely seems too overdone, yet she still stands out from the crowd. I don't know if this can be attributed to the actress or the team behind the camera, but they did a really good job here.

Episode 15 of season 7 is an absolutely wild ride! I love it when the team is just told to portray dreams about abandonment fears however they creatively feel like doing it. Then it turns out great and is really genius. Comedy, musical, zombies, and sitcom, a dream (pun not intended)!

Tomorrow (Sunday) I'll continue watching, I'll just finish the episode and then fall into bed. Then there's still the eighth season, and we've made it. This was a really smooth rewatch, and writing about it was really fun. But I also think that afterwards I'll watch a few episodes of other series for a bit instead of another 8-season behemoth like Dr. House; that really messes with your head!

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

THAT'S A WRAP!

We did it! Last night, the final episode of Dr. House flickered across the screen, and I must say, this rewatch was extremely enjoyable for me, partly because of writing about it. But from start to finish, there wasn't a single part that felt like a struggle, because the series is consistently good.

Cuddy is gone, Foreman is the new head of the hospital, and House is in jail. If that's not a spectacular start to a season, then I don't know what is.

But before that happens—since we still had a few episodes left from the seventh season—we see House completely out of control. First, injecting himself with experimental substances and then surgically removing the resulting tumors from his leg. After that, he tries, in his own way, to make things right with Cuddy, but it's increasingly failing. Even though I can understand some of his accusations toward her to a certain extent, what happens toward the end of the season is anything but justified.

In the eighth season, we see a very bizarre side of House, but one action hints at why he keeps resorting to such strange means. When he makes the immigration office document disappear, forcing Dominika to stay with him, he reveals something that has been subtly apparent all along—that he's incredibly lonely. Not everything can be attributed to this theme, but it does explain a lot! Especially what will happen with Wilson becomes increasingly clear.

Otherwise, Season 8 is another wild rollercoaster ride, not just in terms of the cases but also in terms of character development. During his time in prison, House meets the young doctor, Dr. Jessica Adams, whom he immediately adds to the team when he returns to Princeton-Plainsboro. There's also the suspended doctor, Dr. Chi Park, and after some initial difficulties, Taub and Chase make it back onto the team. From then on, everyone on the team faces some really tough challenges, and the worst one, towards the end of the season, comes to House himself. His best friend, what irony, is diagnosed with cancer. House has to confront many inner demons from then on and realizes that soon there will be no one left who truly understands his character and is also somewhat friendly towards him.

House tries everything to prevent Wilson's death because he doesn't want to lose this important person and also knows that his future would be uncertain without this support. But he's fighting windmills because Wilson has seen and experienced too much already to want to undergo treatment. He wants to enjoy the remaining time he has left.

I particularly liked Wilson's development because at the beginning, he's quite a thin, rather boring oncologist, and in the end, he's the tough, three-day-beard biker with a leather jacket. Especially when he's on the bike and puts on the glasses, he looks incredibly good, even though tragically plagued by cancer, just good!

What I find unfortunate, but can understand from an actress's perspective, is that we didn't see Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) again. In the end, when House gets another beating in the burning house, he hallucinates quite a few people, and even Kutner and Stacy are there. On the other hand, Cuddy might have simply taken up too much space, especially after what happened in the last episode of the seventh season. Maybe it's for the best that she didn't show up again because otherwise, it might have felt like the focus was only on their relationship. Instead, it felt more like it was about each person and House, as well as the processing of different periods in his life or his drug addiction.

Whether there's such a thing as a perfect ending for a series, I don't know, but the ending of House comes pretty close. Of course, you're initially a bit disappointed because even though eight seasons are long and an ending can be a good thing, you don't want to let go just like that, and the inner series junkie demands more. But objectively speaking, this ending is really good because we've seen so many facets of House that it might feel forced now if there were more. We see how Adams and Park are firmly established in a team, Chase has finally found his place (I think his development is very good and how much more stable he is compared to the early seasons), and Taub embraces his role as a father. Cameron is also happy, which makes us all happy. And we also get another wonderful look at a still relatively healthy Thirteen, wonderful. Plus, there's that little nod with Foreman finding House's ID under a side table. Judging by his expression, you might think he knows House is still alive but is content that he has found his peace.

As often, I only picked out the really prominent parts from the season! The eighth season is full of interesting cases, exciting interactions with patients and the team, and a lot of new things, compared to the old seasons.

The thing between Park and Chase.

Chase being attacked and seriously injured by a patient (which is used to give him the necessary distance and make his team takeover make more sense)

Taub, who has a pretty established presence but still hasn't quite found his place in life

Foreman, who doesn't know whether he should be like House, like Cuddy, or just like Foreman as the head

What happens next? I honestly don't know yet. Yesterday, I looked around a bit and then decided on Bullet Train (2022). I still have to continue with Halo, but maybe I'll wait until the season is finished and then binge-watch everything in one evening, we'll see. But one thing I know is that I feel like watching something in the crime genre again!

TV Shows - Bull VI

So, the fourth season of Bull comes to an end, and it's less spectacular than I thought. I'm not sure why, but somehow I was expecting a bigger bang. The second season ends with a severely battered Jason Bull lying in front of the courthouse because, due to his lifestyle, he suffered a heart attack. The end of the third season is a bit exciting but not quite as spectacular, so I thought there would be another big finale, but that wasn't the case.

I don't want to say that the episode was harmless because it absolutely wasn't. Taylor had to endure a lot, and that was already the second, if you count it, maybe even the third episode where a case puts her in the spotlight. No one else on the team has received so many cases and episodes. As always, not a complaint, just an observation.

However, I'm also torn here because one part of me would like to see more of Dr. Jason Bull and his team, while the other part is quite satisfied with these four seasons. Both sides are actually quite balanced, which rarely happens to me.

I'll leave out my usual points here; thanks to the other posts, they should be well known. A new addition is that sometimes I wish they would integrate Izzy and Little Bull (I can't remember the baby's name right now) more. A mix of Papa Bull and the Bull from season one, I'm starting again, would be something exciting.

But otherwise, I really enjoyed the series and liked watching it. A big point is that it's not so long. I don't know, CSI: Las Vegas was somehow intense with its 15 seasons, and since then, I've been a bit scared of such long series. At some point, it feels like a strange burden, and you "have to" keep watching. Of course, I'm only talking about myself, but I still find it strange. On the other hand, you don't have the long search in the streaming services when you want to watch something else or new. That's sometimes even more exhausting and stressful than the mentioned burden.

I'm curious when the last two seasons will become available. I calculated over the weekend that I pay 30€ for streaming services, and that's definitely too much for me. I'd like to cut something there, but I'm not sure what. This is making me wish for a service that has everything, but with all the chaos of licenses here in Europe and Germany, that dream will probably always remain just that, a dream.

At the moment, due to May 4th, Star Wars is still predominant. I've watched the movies and am considering which series I might still watch. I think I'm missing a season of The Mandalorian, and otherwise, I haven't seen anything from Ahsoka, Andor, The Bad Batch, Rebels, and Clone Wars, and I think there are still quite a few series missing, but those are the ones that come to mind right now.

For this reason, I'm not exactly sure what will come next here. I have to admit, Dr. House has been the most fun and has also generated the most resonance. Voyager was also good, but at the moment, I'm lacking a bit of the nerve for it. However, Deep Space Nine would also be due again because especially with all the Star Trek stuff that has come and is coming, I like to refer to DS9 again and again, but I haven't watched it in a long time.

Writing tip #1

As a reader, one of my biggest pet peeves is seeing a character introduced as "clever", their intelligence treated as some sort of super power that helped them out of impossible situations off-screen or even worse, they solved basic elementary problems that I remember getting as homework in middle school and everybody is in awe of such a wondrous mind. As a reader, few things irk me more than that kind of characterization.

But as writer, I get it! I understand the appeal of writing smart character, they can be so cool and challenge our traditional perception of strength and pose interesting questions etc... and as I'm not that bright myself either, I end up with the sensation of struggling to write a character much smarter than myself.

But that's okay! Luckily for me, I study developmental and cognitive psychology, which gives me tools to help me write smart characters without having the same skillset, so I thought I would share!

#1: research cognitive psychology, because there is so much more to say than what I know and can fit in a tumblr post, so go look it up- I promise it's worth it.

#2: your IQ number is practically a myth. Unless it helps diagnose and measure a global intellectual deficiency, that number alone is generally worthless as it's nothing but the average between scores of wildly different abilities which belong to the traditional model of intelligence (around which there is no consensus today, so keep in mind that it's incomplete at best.) From that it follows that it's a terrible way to describe a character, as it doesn't refer to any specific skill -and while there is partial correlation between these scores, I can guarantee you nobody is exactly as good in calculus as they are in English as they are in geometry etc. Describe what the character is smart in, what "kind" or smart they are if you wish; the separation between book smart, street smart and people smart is a good start, but still not enough: there are many flavours of booksmart alone, nevermind the others. Again, look it up: an easy background to use is the Wikipedia page for "Theory of Multiple Intelligences". I promise it will help!

#3. Sometimes less is more. Your character doesn't have to be the best student in the country or win every prize. Did you know that Einstein was considered a bad student? Or that the incredible mathematician Euler got second place in the 1727 Paris Academy Science Competition? It's fine for your character to be second place, it's fine not to win every time, even in their own domain of expertise. If you tell me someone got the bronze medal at the Olympics, I'm still gonna assume them a better athlete than the vaste majority of people, and few would disagree with that idea; it's the same with intelligence. Your character should be allowed to fail, and simply to not always be the best -if not because it makes them more humane, because we love to project on smart characters, it strokes our ego. Think of all the stressed out straight A students on the verge of burn-out projecting on your characters: let them know it's okay! A- is still very good! You're doing great!

Anyway I'll probably make more posts about this because there's so much to say but it's probably too long already so I'll stop here. You know how it works, this is just my opinion, I'm not the authority on writing, but I thought it could be helpful so if it doesn't work for you, don't follow this advice! Let me know what you think, and please be kind

house and wilson are two trans guys who aren't sure how two trans guys are supposed to have sex so they exist in a limbo

"every hilson moment" its easier to just watch house md at that point

when wilson says "you don't think you've changed these last few years?" when arguing with house about his addiction vs stacy saying house was "pretty much the same" before his leg. ok. inch rest ing.

thank GOD league of legends wasn't even released yet when House MD came out house could have been SO much worse of a person

it's a sherlock adaptation by the guy who made the good doctor and it's the best show you've ever watched

i think those Liver Lesbians were an elaborate hilson metaphor and i will NOT be explaining myself