House – Chase and Wilson long for family

“… I hate bullies.” – Taub
“You work for me.” – House
“You’re not a bully.” – Taub
“Pretty sure I am, Dickwad!” – House

I’m not one to speak badly of House, a show I have adored through all of its almost eight seasons. I just wasn’t feeling this episode, though, for a couple of reasons. Maybe it’s because I know we’re counting down to the end, but I felt like they were tossing in a bunch of character development for the supporting cast that didn’t necessarily fit in naturally. I suppose it’s not a far cry that Wilson would want to be a father, and it was entertaining enough the way House went about proving to Wilson that he wasn’t ready for it, but it all seemed so rushed.

To have that storyline in the same episode as Taub’s complete understanding of all things House (Taub knows House isn’t a bully, that he does what he does to desensitize his team and because ideas are bigger than feelings), as well as Chase being jealous of Park’s family, just felt too squished. It also didn’t seem authentic, which is what is bugging me more. I can buy that Chase wants to be close with his family; we saw him try to reconnect with his sister earlier in the season. But the weird part is that Adams was the catalyst for that, and she was just a talking medical head in this episode, so underused compared with the rapid-fire character revelations of everyone else in the cast.

Does it fit that Chase would suddenly be so jealous of Park and her close family that he would ask her to move in and play games with her grandmother every night? I’m not sure. Again, it felt rushed. He’s not been close with Park, though they did have a moment a few episodes ago when it seemed like he was going to be a type of mentor to her from now on. It’s still quite a leap, all that took place last night.

I’m torn. I want to see the characters get to a place where we can end the series and feel satisfied. But I want it to feel organic. I’d be much more satisfied to leave them exactly where they are with a great finale as opposed to weakly bringing the characters all to a new place that doesn’t feel right. What do you think?

This and that:

• I am absolutely convinced that just like the lupus inside joke of seasons past, coughing blood is season eight’s ongoing funny — I can just imagine the writer’s room planning a patient coughing blood in every episode, just to see if the viewers would notice. We notice!
• Sarcoidosis is a close second to lupus in the amount of times it comes up as a possible diagnosis; oh, those pesky autoimmune diseases. …

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Apr 10, 2012 @ 09:26 EST5EDT