Future entry into the Diary of a House Virgin (Or: Oops, I kinda watched the premiere last night)

If you’ve been following along with with the Virgin Diaries series that we’ve been running this season, you’ll know that I’ve never watched House, MD before, but that I have just recently given the first two seasons a try. I wasn’t able to knock out all five before the start of the fall season, so I was left with a bit of a crossroads: Do I watch now, and pretty much “spoil” the intermediate seasons, or do I hold off until I can finish?

If you know me at all, you’ll know that I have no intestinal fortitude when it comes to these things. I broke down and watched the premiere. Well, not only did I watch the premiere, but I also went back and watched the finale from last season. Both were great, and I was excited to see that, at least for these two episodes, they really focused on character and less on procedure.

I would disagree with the assessment, that I’ve seen in several places, that House didn’t have a patient to cure in the premiere. The patient of the week was House himself. While he may have not been at Princeton-Plainsboro, and he may have not had his team (either the original team or the next generation), there was a patient (actually several) who started the show in bad shape and was on the road to recovery by the time the credits rolled. He had to figure out what treatment would work, through unfortunate trial and error.

I liked Franka Potente, who looked positively stunning. Andre Braugher proved again that he is an amazing actor, and the character was such an interesting contrast to House that I hope he recurs throughout the season.

In her review linked above, Jen asked some great questions on how his experiences will change House going forward, and more importantly how those changes will affect how the show develops. I don’t think I’m as worried as she is. I think House can continue to be caustic without being mean. He clearly stepped across a line when he made his proclamation about his night with Cuddy (despite the fact it didn’t happen), a line well traveled by the good doctor. However, I don’t think that’s what defines him, nor is it what draws us to him. The sarcasm won’t go away … the biting humor won’t go away…. He’s still going to be the same guy. There’s a way to be a dick without being an asshole, and I suspect we’re about to see how.

Clacked by Ivey West
on Sep 23, 2009 @ 16:00 EST5EDT