(Season Two, Episodes 1 – 3)
So, last week I lied to you. I told you I was done with taking a look back at the beginning of House. Then, I realized as much as I liked the show, there was no good reason I could come up with for not rushing out to Target to pick up the second season. Or, I could just say that Deb told me to. But, she’s a pretty smart lady, and I’m already thanking her. The first couple of episodes we see a period put to the end of the sentence that was the Cameron/House relationship, more good stuff with House and Wilson, and Cuddy truly begins to come into her own as a great character on the show.
“Acceptance”
Someone needs to cure Cameron of her problem. From marrying a terminal patient, to attaching to this week’s patient, to, oh yeah, chasing after House last season, she’s doing herself a great deal of emotional harm. She can be a Pollyanna without becoming so personally involved that she experiences the five stages of grief herself.
My excitement at the end of last season that Sela Ward would be around more was quickly tempered by her appearance here. I think she’s actually too good a foil for House, which will make their banter no fun. Its why the House/Cuddy dynamic works so well, because Cuddy loses the battle as much as she wins.
LL Cool J was well cast, and did a good job. I’ve always thought he’s been underrated as an actor, and look forward to what he brings to NCIS: LA this season. Unfortunately, I think having Foreman be the one that came around on Clarence in the end was cliched and cheap for this show.
Oh, and Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” is a beautiful cover, and a great ‘TV Soundtrack song (best used, in my opinion, in The West Wing‘s “20 Hours in America”).
“Autopsy”
You can’t have a good feeling going into an episode called “Autopsy” when the subject is a young child. There are few things in this world as upsetting as someone that young, who has experienced what she has, and has matured that much. It’s simply not fair.
I like how Wilson stood up to House’s recommendation of exploratory surgery, telling him that he has “got to do better than that.” The “best friend” relationship is one of my favorites to watch (or read) in any good drama. I hope that we eventually see more of this backstory, and how Wilson became the singular person that can get to House.
“Humpty Dumpty”
This is the kind of Cuddy/House fun I was talking about before. I can’t remember her being this worked up over anything. It added a different dynamic to their … uh … dynamic? In a lot of ways, the show has put a lot more focus on their relationship this season, and I think that’s a good thing.
Cuddy’s guilt for what happened to Alfredo was understandable. I imagine it’s difficult for doctors to balance their professional lives in their personal ones. Sure, we see on TV how it affects their close relationships, but here we saw how it changes even casual ones.
This season, I seem to want to talk about music as much as I talked about the guest stars. Damien Rice’s “Delicate” played over the end of the episode. “Delicate” had also been used on Lost and Alias, so I guess J.J. Abrams is a big fan, too. He’s got a great sound that does lend his music to fitting well into that soundtrack sound quite well.
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Jul 30, 2009 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
I’m glad you’re continuing with the second season – I started my Netflix account with House to give it a try at the same point you started your diary and we’ve been on the same pace disk for disk. And I was sad the other week when you said you were done blogging about it. It’s been really enjoyable to me (being a House virgin too) to be watching it with you. After the first season, I added the rest to my queue.