Wow, Thanks For Ruining Cage Night

What I watched last night...

Spoilers:

House – “The C Word” (A-)

“The C Word” was exactly the kind of episode you want to see from a series before it goes off the air for good. I was worried that perhaps the writing staff would try to string out Wilson’s cancer storyline by giving us a reaction episode where House denies the problem or something very delay inducing like that, but luckily they moved straight to the punch.

And it was executed marvellously. I can’t remember the last time Robert Sean Leonard was given material this solid, but it just goes to show how good he can be when given the chance. Throughout the entire episode I can’t think of a scene between House and Wilson that wasn’t anything short of fantastic. Like Wilson going through his shelf of mementos from patients who had the odds in their favour and still didn’t make it. Or watching House’s promise not to take him to the hospital to die. Even just House’s final slide show was an oddly sweet (and hilarious) tribute to their friendship.

It was heavy stuff, but it was also a very revealing exploration of these two characters and the bond they share. For their part the writing staff was quite smart in their approach. I’m glad they didn’t have House simultaneously dealing with a case as they so often do when he’s away from the team for whatever reason. And mostly, I liked the growth House showed in this episode. He was the friend Wilson needed, listening to him, sharing his pain meds, and even putting up with his insults. He respected his friend’s wishes despite disagreeing with him and that’s not something the House from 8 years ago would have done.

The case this week may not have been at the forefront but with House gone I found myself enjoying that aspect of the episode more than I normally do. It seemed to add some extra drama to the proceedings, with the team struggling to assert themselves in the absence of their leader. Chase in particular had a good week taking over the reins for House. That may be something to watch for in these last few episodes if for some reason House decides to leave. If House (the character) has a legacy it’s in the doctors he’s trained around him, and on that team no one’s been with him longer than Chase.

How I Met Your Mother – “Good Crazy” (B)

It’s hard to believe this is the last episode before the two part season finale in a couple weeks time. It feels like the schedule for this show has been a little sporadic lately and I kind of assumed we’d get a decent run of episodes in a row before the show finished the season. Alas I was wrong.

Judging by the way this one ended the big storyline of the finale will be Marshall and Lilly’s baby. That’s an obvious bookend to the season but I can’t help but lamenting the fact that once again they aren’t taking us to Barney’s wedding. I guess that’s one for the series finale what with the mother supposedly being there, but I just want to point out that the writers have been teasing us with that for two seasons now and it looks like they’re going to continue into a third. That’s a bit disappointing. With any luck though, they may still reveal to us this season who Barney’s bride will be, which is something at least. I’d put my money on Quinn or Robin.

Speaking of Barney, he really was the saving grace of this episode. He had a lot going on this week and pretty much anywhere the writers inserted him he made the storyline better. It’s a testament to the writing staff how they’ve managed to keep him funny while allowing his character to grow to a place where he’s actually open to a long-term relationship. There have been some growing pains for sure, but Barney has a hilarious intensity to his character and the writers seemed to have realized that that works for more than just tricking girls into sleeping with him.

His impassioned speech to Lilly’s grandmother about the dignity of stripping at the start of the episode was fantastic, as was his quick entrance into Ted’s apartment after tricking him into responding to his fake online dating profile. And Lilly and Marshall’s storyline this week was a train wreck before he stepped in and took Marshall to Atlantic City. Even the condolence high five bit, which seemed a bit forced at the start of the episode, had me on board by show’s end.

Ted’s storyline was also good this week. In real life what happened between Ted and Robin would probably be the type of circumstance that would kill a relationship, but again I admired what the writers tried to do with it. Ted’s conversations with imaginary Robin were well written and made a decent case for why these two should remain friends. Plus they were quite funny, especially the increasingly obscure ways Ted went about reminding himself of her. Overall it was pretty clever way to visualize to the audience what was essentially a completely internal decision made by Ted.

Like I said before, the only real weak link in this episode was Lilly and Marshall, which is unfortunate considering the cliffhanger was Lilly going into labour. Marshall’s early exuberance in this episode just felt way too cartoonish for my liking (and we already have a cartoon character on this show in Barney) and came relatively out of nowhere. It was the kind of reinvention of character sitcoms love to do for a single episode to serve one particular storyline or another, and it rarely does more than reek of desperation.

Alright, line of the night:

TED’S DATE: My ex-fiancé Wayne, he had no manners.
TED: (thinking) Wayne had no manners... Wayne manners... Wayne Manor... home of Bruce Wayne, better known as Batman... mentor to Dick Grayson his orphan ward, who at night would done the colourful vestments of the boy wonder aka Robin!