House, season finale

It's been awhile, but I wanted to write a quick post about last night's season finale of House.

I'll skip plot overview, and just get to my thoughts.  If you haven't seen the episode it will be available on Fox's webiste in a week.

Until the very end, the episode played out in a predictable way.  The truly captivating part was House having the courage to show genuine humanity toward Hannah, the trapped woman.  At first you are inclined to think it's a put-on, a last ditch effort to woo Cuddy.  (Who has revealed not only is she going to move-in with Lucas, but also, that they are engaged.)  But House's sincerity lasts beyond Cuddy leaving, and throughout the horror of Hannah's amputation. 

The episode from here out plays as expected... Hannah dies, he's lost Cuddy, and he casts aside Foreman's attempt to help him.  At the end, we see House dangle on the edge, bathroom mirror smashed into the tub, revealing a hole in the wall containing two long-hidden bottles of Vicodin.  Defeated, empty, heartbroken, House sits on the floor... two pills in his hand, his eyes lined with tears.  Would he throw away a television season's worth of deep and difficult character development, to go back to being the House of old?  (This Old House??) 

I found myself saying out loud; "Wilson, Cuddy, Foreman help him!"  It seemed so obvious that the writers would put him back where he was, trying to milk every last drop from this series.  I was literally on the edge of the couch, hoping against the obvious.  Andt to my surprise... Cuddy came! And in doing so, the writers have taken another bold move in moving these characters forward.

The beauty of this scene was made possible by not only the writers' move away from the predictable, but fine acting from Hugh Laurie and Lisa Edelstein.  Instead of being the emotive heroine and rushing to House's side, Cuddy hangs back, and allows House to decide his own fate.  She also quietly reveals that she has left Lucas, and confessing, despite her best efforts, that she loves House.  House, instead of using the Vicodin like a gun to his head, is defeated, and almost childlike, asking Cuddy if she was there to yell at him. 

House did the impossible twice in one day.  Always afraid to be vulnerable and sincere, he opened himself up, and failed, he stood on the edge, and came back.  With Cuddy's helping hand, House rises to his feet, and they kiss.  He pauses to wonder if he is hallucinating.  (Something I wondered out loud, as well.) To which Cuddy responds; "Did you take the Vicodin?"  Looking into his hand, House replies "No," casts them aside and continues to kiss Cuddy.

 It's exactly the ending I (and House?) hoped for, and exactly the ending I didn't expect.  Bravo!

I hope next season is the last.  Let's not spoil a good thing.

Conan...

I'm certainly not breaking any news here... but NBC is considering moving Jay Leno's "No Brains Required," or whatever the show is called, to 11:35pm (The Tonight Show's timeslot), pushing Conan and The Tonight Show back to 12:05, and moving Jimmy Fallon to sunrise or something like that.  

NBC's problem, as far as I see it, is that they've expected Leno's audience to tune in to Conan.  They haven't changed how they promote the Tonight Show other than saying Conan's name rather than Leno's.  Conan's audience is made up of the people who were watching him as the Late Nite host.  They're getting older, but their sense of humor hasn't changed.  NBC has failed to transpose the attitude, and intellect of Conan O'Brien's show into a new time slot.  Conan isn't failing the network.  The network is failing the network.

Image by Mike Mitchell

If anyone who happens upon this feels like being ornery toward NBC, the Consumerist has listed relevant NBC email addresses in an effort to mail bomb them.

God Save Conan O'Brien!

Dean's Lament

I managed to catch the last episode of Venture Bros. season 4.1 as it aired.  However, I'm embarassed to admit that I missed the previous episode; "The Better Man."  Keeping it brief, I managed to catch it online tonight and all I can say is... poor Dean.  I know he's getting chicks on his own now, blah, blah, blah, but still... Triana!  And her conversation with "the Master" hinted that she's not coming back, if not to the show, then at least she'll never be with Dean.  I was rooting for Dean.  I wanted him to get with Triana.  Alas, it's not to be.  But now that this loose end seems to be tied up, I'm left to to wonder about Triana's friend Kim from the season Two episode "Victor. Echo. November."  Bailey and I often thought she'd become a sort of "Jr. Villian" and would torment Hank and Dean.  So far no such luck.

Hang in there Dean-o!

*While doing a google image search for pictures of Triana Orpheus I found some AMAZING fan pictures.  Kudos to those artists who remembered that Dean is uncircumsized.  Also, Triana with Kimpossible?  Your tastes are varied, sir.

The Office ("Scott's Tot's 12/3/09")

Jesus!  What's happened to the Office?  That's two crap new episodes in a row.  Nothing has been resolved from Dunder Mifflin's financial problems, and every new episode has the secondary plotline of someone (Dwight, usually) trying to plot against Jim.  Make something happen all ready!  Phooey! :(

GLEE- a toe in the water.

Tonight I will be watching Glee for the first time.  Expect a review in the comments section, and perhaps a counter-point from Bailey.

I have a pre-conceived notion of what Glee will be like.  I hope to be surprised and walk away liking the show.  But, more than likely, I will be proven right in my prejudice.

What do I think it will be like?  Well, seeing the facebook contacts who rave about the show, I get the impression that its fanbase is the following:  chorus and theatre girls, and gay kids.  Add to the that the already contemptible Grey's Anatomy audience (you'd be surprised how much the two titles come up TOGETHER) and I'm sure the show will be an insufferable mish-mash of isms and glitter that leaves me annoyed and changing the channel.

But, as I said, I hope it's good... I just don't expect it will be.

Check the comments.

*picture hotlinked like a motherfucker.

House ("Wilson", 11/30/2009)

This is one of the episodes I've been waiting for since the beginning of the season.  This episode center's around the yang to House's yin, Dr. James Wilson.  Aptly titled "Wilson", we follow Princeton Plainsboro's head of oncology as he treats a former patient and friend.  House, meanwhile, "does his thing" off camera, only coming into the story to advise (or antagonize) Wilson as we watch him tackle a House-style mystery.  Rather than viewing this story as a novelty, I see it as another stepping stone toward balancing the medical mystery aspect with the much-needed character development.

Make a homemade TV Guide Channel in your kitchen.

It may come as a shock to find out that someone who blogs about TV still has basic cable.  It's true.  I have a big ass HD TV and watch my favorite shows in the crappiest quality imaginable.  As a consequence of living in the boob-tube dark ages I must rely on the TV Guide Channel to find out what's on.  Unlike the straight forward and navigable (and often yellow) 'GUIDE' button, the TV Guide Channel serves to imprison you with the following craptastic gimmicks;

The Office ("Shareholders Meeting", 11/19/2009)

Last week we discovered that Dunder Mifflin is on the brink of bankruptcy. Michael, always one to avoid a tough situation, decided to shore up morale by hosting a murder mystery at the office. While Jim was dubious of Michael's tactic, the murder mystery proved to be a shot in the arm for the Scranton branch.