OmarEpps-related stories
Posted Nov 17th 2009 2:06PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S06E07) "I'm living my life. For the first time, I'm not going to change that because of how it might affect him -- or you." -- Cuddy to Wilson, who asked her what she sees in Lucas
I just want to shove House and Cuddy into a room together and let them figure out their relationship. It's clear that even though she's trying to be happy in her current relationship, she just can't get House out of her head, no matter how much she declares that she has or is going to.
I feel for her, because once they end up getting together -- if they don't by the time the series ends, I'll be ticked -- she'll have a long road ahead of her. Or not. People change. There's a good heart beating inside House's damaged psyche. It could work.
Continue reading Review: House - Teamwork
Posted Apr 13th 2009 1:40PM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(S05E21)
"You manipulative little bitch ..." House to Wilson.
After last week, we could all use a little breather from epic drama, right? Most of this episode was a complicated and not-too-enlightening game of cat and mouse between various parties that ended up being more amusing than annoying, thankfully. There were a few moments when I felt like I was watching
Grey's Anatomy...and no, I'm not talking about the surprise ending.
Continue reading House: Saviors
Posted Mar 31st 2009 11:01AM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(S05E19) Before we jump into an excellent episode, can someone please tell me what happened in the last minute of this episode, right after House stepped into the elevator and his vision began to get all blurry? It looks like Fox ran
House a minute or two later than normal, once again, because my DVR cut off right in the middle of House talking to Wilson. Did anyone else have this problem? Or is it just time for me to get a new DVR?
Regardless of my minor technical glitches, this was an almost flawless episode that turned the focus back onto medicine and patients, while artfully weaving in the personal stories of the main characters.
Continue reading House: Locked In
Posted Feb 17th 2009 1:30PM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S5E15)
"You're a wuss. Part wimp, part puss." -House to Wilson We get yet another religious patient this week. Father Danny, who is running low on the big F, ends up in Cameron's ER after getting a late-night visit from Jesus. House initially grabs the case as a way to mess with Foreman and Thirteen, but it turns out that Father Danny might have a real problem.
We've explored religion before on
House, but this one of the times when it hasn't worked so well. Father Danny's lack of faith is a good opportunity for Taub and Kutner to engage in a philosophical debate, about God, faith and the nature of suffering, but this all feels like ground the show has covered before.
Continue reading House: Unfaithful
Posted Feb 2nd 2009 9:02PM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S5E13) "What's going on with everyone today?" -Kutner
"It involves House, Foreman and Thirteen which means it's either dumb, dangerous or tragic..."-Taub Is House actually becoming a nice guy? One of the most interesting things about this episode was the absence of his trademark jerkiness. Whether he was dealing with an upset Cuddy or trying his best to counsel a disbelieving Foreman, House not only seemed sympathetic, but empathetic as well. I was surprised by the genuine concern he showed for Thirteen and Foreman during the blindness scare and his willingness to be Cuddy's whipping boy.
Again, the patient of the week wasn't very memorable to me. I find myself not even really caring about them aside from how their illness will reflect the doctor's personal problems. That conceit has gotten so obvious it's hard too look past it and see the patient's as real people who are suffering. Is anyone else having this problem?
Continue reading House: The Greater Good
Posted Dec 3rd 2008 12:00PM by Jen Creer
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(
S05E12) Last spring, I went to hear Ira Glass give a talk about his popular NPR radio (and now TV) show
This American Life. He outlined the formula for the show's success, and he also talked about
House. Websites have documented the formula for every episode:
Every episode is essentially the same. So, why does it work every time? Last night, I was hooked by Emmy the trainer rolling down stairs, and I was then hooked by the discovery of her surgery. I know that every single diagnosis and test and treatment is going to be bunk until the big, strange reveal at the end. However, it's almost like I am the same as House with my need to know what that weird reveal is going to be.
Continue reading House: Let Them Eat Cake
Posted Nov 12th 2008 1:26PM by Jen Creer
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(S05E07) I always enjoy watching
House, but later, when I am thinking about it to write a review, comes the true test of whether or not I really liked the episode. Or, more accurately, then comes the true test of whether the episode can stand up to scrutiny. So, the answer in last night's case is that I didn't think it was a particularly strong episode. Sometimes shows seem to put in these place-holder episodes right before sweeps, and that's what this episode felt like to me. Strong hijinks, a little progress for more minor characters, but everybody else just sort of treads water.
Continue reading House: The Itch
Posted May 20th 2008 1:09AM by Jen Creer
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Episode Recaps

(
S04E16) "
Her heart won't stop racing. No idea what's causing it." Doctor in inferior hospital.
"Are you sure it wasn't the bus that landed on her?" House.The season finale of
House packed a wallop. I let my Tivo get ahead of my watching it so I wouldn't have to see the commercials, and I had barely begun the episode when my next-door neighbor burst into my living room exclaiming, "Have you seen
House???" We barely had time to hit the pause button while yelling at her to leave and leave quickly without saying anything. But that is the kind of impact this kind of episode has. The season finale, which started last week, covered a bus-load of big themes: fear, wish-fulfillment, anger, risk-taking, the nature of friendship, remorse, and love. The episode was written by four writers, including producer David Foster: that was one of my first clues that this episode was going to be significant. They called in the big guns.
Continue reading House: Wilson's Heart (season finale)
Posted May 6th 2008 12:52AM by Jen Creer
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

[
S04E14]
"You don't deserve to be happy." House to Wilson.
"And yet I am. You?" Wilson to House
House treats the symptoms, but he doesn't treat the whole person. He doesn't even claim to. He often makes a clear point that he doesn't care. House likes medicine because he likes to solve puzzles, and what greater consequences can a puzzle have than a human life? But ultimately, even someone dying doesn't matter unless House can't figure out the puzzle.
So, if the above paragraph is true, then why does House go out of his way to kidnap a soap opera star he believes to be dying in order to save his life? Is it really because he can't stand the idea of not watching his soap? I don't think so; he even encourages angsty actor Evan Greer (
Sex and the City's Jason Lewis) to quit if he's not happy... well, sort of. But, back to the question: If House doesn't care, then why bother? Because it's a puzzle he can see daily, right in front of him, and he has to solve it. Apparently he has made multiple calls about it, because the actor knows who House is, so House simply takes matters into his own hands because that is what House does. House lives a life without consequences.
Continue reading House: Living the Dream
Posted Feb 4th 2008 7:08AM by Jen Creer
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews

(
S04E11) "
Never before has a profession been so decried by someone who needed it so badly," Wilson [about psychiatry] to House.
One of my favorite parts of this episode was the quote I have chosen to put at the beginning of the entry. Wilson accuses House of not liking Cate, the patient, because she is a psychiatrist. House counters that there are many reasons he does not like the patient, and Wilson comes back with that retort. The reason I like it so much isn't because I think it's meant to be about House. I like it so much because I think it's a sneaky little slam on Tom Cruise. Or at least, if that is too much of a stretch, then I like it because it certainly can be applied to Tom Cruise and his very public outcries against psychiatry.
Continue reading House: Frozen
Posted Jan 30th 2008 12:10AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews

(S04E10) "Who's that from?" -- Kutner
"Santa, of course. Don't you know that I worship him? Oh wait, that's Satan. Sorry, I get them confused." -- House
Well, maybe it was the fact that I haven't seen an episode of House in nearly two months, but dear ol' Greggie seemed more cynical than his normal cynical self. Most likely it was due to the holidays. You know, the holidays that came and went over a month ago. I know that FOX is trying to save as many episodes of its hit shows as possible, but it would have been nice if they aired the House Christmas episode around, you know, Christmas.
Continue reading House: It's a Wonderful Lie
Posted Nov 21st 2007 1:01AM by Jen Creer
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews

(
S04E08)
"Foreman, she's not wearing any underwear. You used to be more fun."-- HouseTonight's episode had parallel three plot lines running through it that investigated one theme: What is magic? And how much power can information give you? The three plot lines involved the case, of course; the game
House is playing with the fellows to see who gets fire, of course; and Thirteen and her mysteries. Of course.
Continue reading House: You Don't Want to Know
Posted Nov 7th 2007 12:08AM by Jen Creer
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews

(
S04E06)
"My malpractice insurance doesn't cover alien autopsies." --House
"That's fine. X-files are the next wing over."-- Dr. Samira TerziTonight was apparently the "stand-up" episode of
House. It had more one-liners than an episode of
Seinfeld. And everybody got into the game-- not just
House. I guess "Whatever it takes" referred not only to medicine but to extorting laughs. It's a good thing it had so many zingers in it, because that was one of the only likable things about the episode.
"
15 minutes for the lap dance, half hour to scrub the guilt off my soul... See you in 45!"-- House
Continue reading House: Whatever It Takes
Posted Oct 30th 2007 11:41PM by Jen Creer
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews

(
S04E05) "
She said her hoo-hoo burned." -- Kutner I will be reviewing
House for the next two weeks because
Richard Keller, my
House compadre, is otherwise tied up. I was going to follow the format for the review that Rich devised last week, because I think it's a great format. However, when I began writing the review, I realized that because the plot integrated with what was happening with the characters so intensely that it made sense simply to review the show. For even more
House, if you can't get enough, head on over to AOL.
I realized after I watched the episode that we never got to find out who the patient, Robert Elliot, really was. From the moment we saw him, he was mirroring the older brother mugger, and then the doctors, one by one.
Continue reading House: Mirror Mirror
Posted Oct 3rd 2007 1:04AM by Jen Creer
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews

(
S04E02) Hi, I'm Jen, and I am going to be sharing reviews of
House with Rich Keller, alternating weeks. Here's the way these reviews are going to work: We are going to include both reviews and recaps of each episode-- sort of reviewcaps, as our illustrious leader Keith McDuffee calls them. I will indicate in bold where the review begins and then, down below it, where the recap begins. So, if you don't want to have to read a recap, you can skip it.
I *know* tonight's post has a very long recap. I like the small details. Please give me a couple of times to find my groove. But this is one of the reasons I am putting the recap after the review, so if you haven't seen the show yet, please take that under advisement. And if you like recaps, or didn't get a chance to catch the episode, then you can find out about it there. I'm starting under the jump. Ready? Set? Go.
Continue reading House: The Right Stuff