All The Cool Kids Were Totally Laughing With Us

Spoilers...

House – “Everybody Dies” (B)

And so we’ve reached the end...

It took me a while to digest this one. I spent a good chunk of the week kicking it around in my head, dissecting it from every angle. I even watched it a second time to try and clarify my thoughts. And to be honest, I’m still not totally sure where I stand on the episode. Take this as a preliminary grade, subject to change until it can be properly viewed in the context of the series as a whole. I think time is the only way to truly know where this episode rates in the grand scheme of things.

From a plot standpoint, I’m not at all disappointed with what happened. The writer’s gave us pretty much the type of ending I was hoping for – bittersweet with a glimmer of hope. How we got there though is where I’m most conflicted about “Everybody Dies.”

House’s ideological musings were poignant at some points, confusing at others, and sadly, a little flighty. The string of guest stars was a nice way to look back through the history of the show, but at the same time it seemed to take us in circles, with House flip flopping back and forth between choosing life and choosing death far too often. A more focused approach to those discussions probably would have played much more insightful. As it stands I don’t think it had the emotional resonance it needed.

The burning building probably wasn’t the best choice of settings either. There was no suspense or sense of urgency in House’s decision over whether to save himself. The fire burned on for so long he never really seemed to be in danger and his lack of action was not only irritating but surprisingly out of character. And considering so much of the episode was about examining his character, you don’t like to see that.

But I imagine the decision to put House in a burning building was born more out of where the story was going than it was about his decision to live or die. The writers needed a way for House to plausibly fake his death and that meant a body that would be difficult to identify. That’s where my view of the episode gets complicated.

On one hand, I didn’t like the way his supposed death was executed, starting from how Foreman and Wilson refused to help him which led them to the burning building (and House into his crisis in the first place), to the seemingly inescapable explosion that capped things off. But I did like the idea of him faking his death. It seemed like a vintage House move and really accentuated that powerful moment earlier in the building where he decided he could finally change. He literally threw his old life away and I like that metaphor... perhaps it would have been more devious if it had looked like it was his plan all along to get out of going to jail, but it was true to the character while also giving the audience that glimmer of hope we needed to properly gain closure.

For whatever reason it felt to me like something straight out of Sherlock Holmes novel, a nice ode to one of the show’s obvious influences. Of course nothing like that ever happened in a Sherlock Holmes novel, so all the literature fans out there please don’t bite my head off (he was presumed dead after one of the books, though I don’t think he was purposefully faking it). But only that type of mischievously intelligent character could ever get away with faking their own death in a satisfying way. That’s part of the reason I think I can forgive some of the weaker moments of that story.

Plus the final act was quite heartening for any long time fan of the series. Chase takes over for House.  Cameron is married with a kid. Taub connects with his children. It’s schmaltzy, but there’s nothing wrong with a good happily ever after. I think the image that will stick with me for a while is Foreman smiling after finding House’s hospital badge and realizing what he’d done.

And it’s also hard to beat House and Wilson riding off into the sunset in the final shot. Maybe not the most original ending, but thematically it summed things up nicely. You get the sense that he’s finally unburdened now and maybe, for once, happy.

So there you have it... why I’m conflicted. “Everybody Dies” is not the best episode the series has ever done, but it ties up the characters and the story in a satisfying enough way that I feel I can leave the show with some happy memories. I guess at the end of the day all I can say is House... it’s been a pleasure.

Modern Family – “Baby on Board” (A-)

Modern Family has been a little uneven this season, but I’m glad the cast and the writers can still put together a great episode when they need to. “Baby on Board” went for a little more than the series traditionally has in its finales, at least in terms of cliffhangers, but what really made the episode great was just how sharp it was comedically. It’s feels like a long time since Modern Family has made me laugh this hard.

Personally, I’ve enjoyed watching Cam and Mitchell a lot more over these last few episodes. Their antics had been wearing a little thin on me this season, but for whatever reason they’ve been getting better material lately... or something. To be honest, I can’t explain it. But their adoption storyline in this one was solid. I thought the Spanish soap opera bit was quite funny while still allowing the writers room to explore the very frustrating and heartbreaking experience they were going through. The scene at the gas station was an especially sweet moment.

Likewise Manny and Jay had a pretty great week matched up with Lilly. Watching the two of them squabble over how to deal with her led to some very funny moments, culminating in a hilarious (and cute) scene between Jay and Lilly at the end of the episode. I laughed out loud when Jay offered her $50 so he wouldn’t have to dance on stage with her.

The Dunphy family were the real all-stars of “Baby on Board” though. It didn’t matter if it was Phil teaching Alex how to dance, Haley conferring onto her parents that a gap year meant working at the Gap, or Phil and Claire running through the horrendous scenarios Haley would encounter living with Dylan, everything the writers tried seemed to work. And they didn’t try to sidestep Haley going to college either. It always bugs me when a show intentionally hinders a character’s development for the sake of keeping up the status quo.

Of course Gloria’s pregnancy announcement was the big surprise of the episode and I thought the writers did a good job of sneaking it in without giving it away. I know I was legitimately surprised when she made the announcement. I’m a little wary of how that storyline will play out next season, but I’ll reserve my judgement until I actually see it.

Modern Family may not be as consistent as it once was, but it can still be very, very funny when it wants to be. There’s a lot of life left in these characters and despite my reservations about the big reveal in this episode, it’s nice to see that the writers aren’t afraid to challenge themselves in new and interesting ways. I’m not sure if Modern Family’s best days are ahead or behind us, but I do think the series is going to be worth watching for the foreseeable future.

I’ll be looking forward to next season.

Line of the night:

PHIL: Guess what, suddenly you’re sixty years old wandering toothless and alone in a post apocalyptic wasteland.
HALEY: Wait a second, how did Dylan get the nuclear codes again?
PHIL: During the robot wars!