Two more season finales, this time for House and The Event. Be careful of the House review if you don’t want anything spoiled for next season, the sixth paragraph has some sensitive information. It’s all in the article though. Enjoy!
House – “Moving On” (B+)
Moving on may be a bit of an understatement. When House acknowledged something needed to change last week, I honestly didn’t think it would mean car through Cuddy’s dining room. That ending certainly is a game changer for the series, and I really don’t know what’s going to happen next season. I’m pretty sure House isn’t going to be allowed back in the hospital for a while. I’m also pretty certain that trying to do so will get him arrested.
Of course that wasn’t really the ending. “Moving On” actually started with the fallout from House’s actions, and that fallout framed the episode from there on out. It’s a pretty classic narrative technique, it’s just unfortunate that the writers thought it would be enough to carry what was otherwise a fairly bland episode through to its much more exciting conclusion.
I mean ending aside, this was a pretty standard episode of House. The patient may have had a few quirks, but for the most the part she was just the typical case of the week, and to me that just doesn’t cut it for a season finale. Last week’s episode may not have had the same shocking ending, but at least it tried to do something different. I would have liked to see a little more of the inspiration in this one (though to be fair House’s injury from the last episode is probably what kept us confined to hospital).
I do like that House left the country though. Actually, if he hadn’t done it because he was running from the authorities it would have been a nice way to conclude his character (and obviously the show). He looked so calm as he walked along the shoreline.
I really hope that the writers use this ending to shake up the show next season. Don’t just somehow explain his way back into the hospital. Break the mould a little. Keep him in the tropics, or throw him in a prison if you have to. Or back into the mental hospital, one of the all time great episodes of this series. Even getting him a job at a different hospital would at least be a change of pace. But whatever it is, use it to change the formula. There’s always going to have to be a medical aspect to House, but that doesn’t mean it has to be the same formula. House is an interesting character with or without the mind bending patients. Use that.
** Major spoilers for next season **
The one sad note of this ending is that it means House and Cuddy likely won’t see each other again. If you haven’t heard already Lisa Edelstein won’t be returning next season, so unless she decides to do a guest appearance to write her character off, Cuddy’s story will likely end with her finally giving up on House. It’s not as if she was super important to the show anymore – these days she barely even puts up a fight when it comes to House’s hijinks – but I still would have liked to see the two of them end on at least somewhat good terms.
But again, with change comes opportunity. This was a very up and down season of House, and it’s pretty clear to me that if they stick to the traditional format come September this show won’t last much longer. Hopefully this finale gives House the creative shot in the arm it so desperately needs.
The Event – “Arrival” (B)
So it all ends in a giant cliffhanger... how unfortunate. I’ll admit, I was pretty intrigued by the sight of a whole planet coming through the wormhole, especially the part where the First Lady called it home. (I knew she was an NTB!) I might have liked to see how next season played out.
Still, it’s easy to set up cliffhangers, it’s much harder to pay them off, and as interesting as the ending was, the episode was still plagued with many of the same problems evident throughout the series. The plot to stop Sophia’s rollout of the virus was a perfect example. The set up was way too convenient, explained mostly in expository dialogue, and for some reason Sophia herself was involved with the implementation of the virus. That last one makes absolutely no sense to me. There were plenty of other NTBs who could have done that job, why would they risk losing their leader for nothing?
The other thing that had me a little annoyed was Simon’s teaser to Sean about the true background of the NTBs. It’s always annoying when a character starts to reveal a secret and then gets interrupted, but this whole figure-out-how-to-read-the-scroll thing Simon threw into that mix was especially irritating. One because we’ll probably never get the answers, and two, because if he already knew what it said than why couldn’t he just tell him?
As for the rest of the episode it was fairly hit or miss. It was nice to see the President finally stick it to Jarvis. That was certainly a long time coming. I was a bit more wary about Leila being pregnant though. It didn’t come as a huge shock when the doctor told her they’d found something in her blood work, but is that even possible? I can’t really speak for the timeline of this series, but it feels like it’s been too long since those two saw each other for that to happen.
Either way, it’s been a tumultuous run for the series, and frankly I’m not entirely sad to see The Event go. There have been talks of Netflix potentially picking up the series ala the Friday Night Lights formula, but regardless I probably won’t be watching it, so this is it for me. Farewell, The Event... I wish I could say it’s been fun.
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