We’ve Shared A Variety Of Situations

I figured since I have it I’d give you my thoughts on House early rather than grouping it in with a bunch of other shows. Enjoy!

Spoilers...

House – “Post Mortem” (B+)

Well I have to admit, last week when I talked about Chase taking over House’s job and how that may somehow play into the end of the series I didn’t think it would happen this quickly. But I was happy to see Chase “step out of the shadow” as he put it. It took a little goading from an overzealous mortician but I think it’s the ending I wanted for his character.

The timing of that ending I take a little more issue with. On one hand, I don’t at all know what the writers have planned for the finale and assuming the next two episodes are going to be very densely plotted it may have been a good idea to give Chase his send off now rather than trying to jam it in later. With that said, by doing it the way they did it made his exit feel a tad rushed. He didn’t get a gestation period to struggle over the decision, which could have made his eventual choice to leave that much more satisfying.

But without knowing what’s in store for the next couple of episodes it’s impossible to say whether the writers made the right call or not. I can tell you that for the first time in a long time I thought the case in this episode was equal to House’s story, and that was thanks in part to what the writers did with Chase. I quite liked the cold open in this one, following what happens to a dead patient from when the doctors call it to the morgue. It’s a perspective you don’t see in a lot of medical dramas and it was interesting to watch. And that gave us our introduction to the mortician, who I thought was a pretty good character. His back and forth with Chase was really well scripted and he was a smart choice to give Chase the push he needed. I only wish his he hadn’t disappeared from the episode the second he fulfilled his purpose in Chase’s story (although I don’t say that about many patients – I guess I can’t have it both ways).

I do hope Chase is back for the finale. It might be tough because we got some fairly good closure for his character in this episode, but considering he’s part of the original cast it only seems right that he would have a small part. Especially considering the list of actors they’re bringing back for the last show. Once again though, I’ll have to wait and see what they do with the finale first.

Of course the big story continues to be Wilson’s cancer. He and House had another great week with each other, though probably not as profound as the previous. I don’t think anyone really doubted that Wilson would regain his senses in the end, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t get something out of the experience. I think the most heartwarming part of the episode was when House said he could live without Kyle because Kyle probably would have ditched him. It was a thinly veiled acknowledgement of their friendship, and for a character like House thinly veiled is just about the only way that’s going to happen, so it was a very gratifying moment.

Sadly, by the expression on his face at the end of the episode the news on Wilson isn’t good, meaning the finale is going to be very bittersweet. That is of course unless House comes up with some kind of 11^th hour miracle cure, but I have my doubts about that. Regardless, I’ve spent most of this recap advocating a wait and see mentality and so I’m not going to change my tone here. But this late in the game it’s hard not to start speculating how things are going to turn out. I just hope whatever happens it’s satisfying.