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House Rundown: Episode Nine, "Last Resort"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:45:16 -0800

At some point or another in our lives, we've probably all been frustrated with the medical system. But frustrated enough to stick up a hospital clinic and take hostages, promising to kill them if you don't get answers? That's what happens in this week's episode of House, when a gunman (Emmy winner Zeljko Ivanek) bursts into PPH, counting Thirteen and House among his captives. To chat about how it all went down, just read more.

All in all, I'm not sure this episode worked for me; I didn't feel the kind of tension I think the writers wanted me to feel. All along, I thought that things were probably going to turn out OK for at least House and Thirteen, and that Jason would either get arrested or shoot himself (though the idea of watching poor Ivanek have to commit suicide on yet another show didn't thrill me). But there was still some interesting stuff, even if the hostage situation didn't seem that scary.

The writers keep trying to get me to care about Thirteen, and I have to admit, it's starting to work. Seeing her in a situation where her life is directly threatened is illuminating. She's going to die anyway, right? So who cares if it's by taking a bunch of drugs in combination, or by getting shot by a ruthless gunman, or by waiting eight to 10 years and letting her genes take over? Well, as it turns out, she does; that last injection could kill her, but she can't make herself do it. And later, getting treated for her failing kidneys, she tells Foreman she's in for his clinical trial on Huntington's drugs. Maybe she values her life more than we (or she) thought.

Meanwhile - House gets Jason's gun away from him for the MRI, then . . . gives it back? In what universe? I get that House wants to get the diagnosis right; I'm sure it was a blow to look at the brain scan and not see a tumor. But at that point, doesn't House just start trying other things? Why not run some other test? Why not just keep the gun? That was frustrating. I also was a little shocked at House's insistence that Jason must want to know what was wrong with him for a reason. For one thing, uh, yeah, he probably wants to feel better. And for another, isn't a basic tenet of House's personality that he wants to know for the sake of knowing? Is that why he gave the gun back - because Jason did a wildly dangerous and irrational thing to get a diagnosis, so House had to do the same?

A couple of other things:

So, did Cuddy act differently because House was in the room? Would she have let the SWAT team run things differently if it had been some junior doctor she's never flirted with?
Both Chase and Foreman walk out of the differential. The only problem with House having two teams now is that when a few of his fellows think he's being stupid, there are always more around to help him out.
Did any other fans of The Wire notice Avon Barksdale running the SWAT negotiations?
Once again, Taub's major character trait seems to be saying, "I have [insert problem here], but that doesn't make me do [insert bad thing here]." This week's is, "I got debt, too; you don't see me acting like a lunatic."
Did I see correctly that the whole reason House was in Cuddy's office in the first place was to turn her desk drawer upside down? Also, nice of him to leave her with blood on the walls. Don't they have a cleanup crew?

What did you think? Do you care about Thirteen? Did House's behavior baffle you, too?

Photos courtesy of Fox

TV Tonight: House

BuzzSugar — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:30:55 -0800

If last week's episode of House felt a little like a placeholder that might just be because tonight's episode is such a doozy. The reason: a gunman - played by Emmy winner Zeljko Ivanek - finds his way to PPH, demanding to know why he's ill. As House producer Katie Jacobs explained a while back, it's an episode all about the frustration and indignity of suffering with an undiagnosed disease.

It's such a big story, it will go on longer than normal: This episode is scheduled to run till 9:07 p.m., with Fringe airing immediately after (and also running long, till 10:07 p.m.). DVR users, take note.

House often does big episodes well (see also: the final two episodes of last season, especially the finale), so I'm curious to see the repercussions of "Last Resort." It seems like Thirteen will be a big part of things, as she offers to make a major sacrifice for the sake of the patient. To check out a promo for the episode, plus the suspenseful first three minutes, just read more.

Photo courtesy of Fox

Live From the Emmy Press Room: Jean Smart and Zeljko Ivanek

BuzzSugar — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:30:52 -0700

Two of tonight's Emmy winners, Jean Smart and Zeljko Ivanek, stopped by the press room a few minutes ago. Ivanek's stay was pretty short, but he said he was "incredibly pleased" that his win will get Damages out there. "It's a little tougher for a cable show to get the same traction and same attention," he said.

Meanwhile, Smart praised Christina Applegate for setting the tone on the Samantha Who? set that enabled her to win. "I've never seen an actress so beloved by cast and crew as Christina," she said. "She's just a pro. She's fun. She's not demanding. She never makes a big deal out of anything. I love her."

This is Smart's third Emmy (she won two for her guest role on Frasier several years back). Looking back on her career, she said she was glad to have gotten to play so many different roles. "I've never been pigeonholed," she said. "I've never been typecast." Smart also had some interesting things to say about women's roles in Hollywood, so to read about that, just read more.

Talking about being a woman in Hollywood, she said, "A lot of times you'll see a film and it might be about women and it might not do particularly well, and everyone will say, 'Oh, nobody wants to see those kinds of movies.' Nobody says, 'Well, maybe they didn't do it well. Maybe they didn't cast it well.' Obviously the bottom line is important, but anything that would make a film or a television show better is free. You write it better, you cast it better . . . it's free."

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