Repetitive Medical Theatre (In One Place): "House" Seasons 1-4 Multipack!
Written: Oct 23 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Interesting characters, Good acting
Cons: If you've seen one episode, you've seen most of them, Special effects, Repetitive plots
The Bottom Line: Given that "House,M.D." continues to air new episodes that are largely repetitive in plot, this multipack will lose what little value it has once a complete series pack is released!
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| wlswarts's Full Review: House - Seasons 1 - 4 Collection |
It is a rare chance that I get to review a series' multipacks and pan it for the reasons I usually pan multipacks while the series is still on the air. At some point, Fox DVD will release a "House, M.D. - The Complete Series" boxed set. American consumers have proven that they will purchase complete series sets, especially around the holidays; it simply makes sense for the DVD manufacturers to continue producing them. If done properly, "House, M.D. - The Complete Series" will come in a fairly slim package and will include all of the original discs released from seasons one through whatever they get up to (season five begins next weeks, so it will have at least a season more than this multipack). I vote for a DVD case that looks like a medical bag; that would be cool.
What isn't terribly cool is the "House, M.D." Seasons 1 - 4 multipack. Released right before the fifth season, this is a simple bundle pack. It includes all of the original boxed sets from seasons one through four with no additional materials, no space saving benefits . . . nothing but an extra cellophane wrapper around the four boxed sets of DVDs that had been previously released.
For those who are unfamiliar with the series, "House, M.D." follows the exploits of the cynical Dr. House. Dr. Gregory House is a diagnostic doctor, charged with finding out what is truly wrong with the patients who cross his path. He lives by the motto "Everyone lies" and tries to interact as little with patients as possible. He is a curmudgeon leading his team of diagnostic doctors who execute his treatments, often imperiling the life of the patient until they manage to get the diagnosis right. Because he is such a pain in the butt, House is also serving an extended sentence in the hospital's clinic to please the Chief of Staff, Dr. Cuddy. Dr. Cuddy finds herself alternately fighting and defending House from patients, doctors and a businessman willing to grant the hospital $100,000,000 . . . for a price.
The thing is, for a serialized show - the characters develop over the course of the episodes - this show is remarkably repetitive. The average episode in the first season goes like this: Patient A is doing something, their vision gets blurry and they collapse to the ground (ROLL CREDITS). House and his team convene to evaluate what the problem with the patient is. House sits back and lets his three apprentices flounder for an answer while he waits, then declares what the proper course of action is or what test ought to be run. Tests are run. House moves on to Patient B in the clinic, who is usually suffering from something mundane, he blows Patient B off and returns to Patient A. Patient A is now suffering something more extreme and the staff returns to the whiteboard to re-evaluate. Usually there is a test here that can be run to make a definitive diagnosis, but it cannot be run for some specific reason (i.e. a metal plate in the jaw that is preventing x-rays, the location of a tumor, pregnancy, etc.) and House sends the staff out to look in a different way. This usually involves Dr. Foreman breaking and entering into the residence of the patient to gain information. A new course of action is prescribed and the patient takes a turn for the worse that will (usually) have them killed by the end of the day. House, resigned to this, returns to the clinic, to encounter Patient B with a new problem or a worsening of their earlier problem, which he solves easily and in doing so has an epiphany about how to better treat Patient A. Rushing back to Patient A, House exposes whatever lie they told (knowingly or unknowingly) that put them in a bad place, a proper diagnosis is given and the patient is cured.
In the second season, the sarcastic and angry Dr. Gregory House continues to limp around as chief diagnostic doctor of a New Jersey hospital., doing his best to cure those who arrive in pain, even though he believes all of them are lying for the most part. Accompanied by his team of diagnostic doctors - Foreman, Chase and Cameron - House finds himself wrestling with feelings for his ex-wife, Stacy. While Dr. Wilson's marriage falls apart, hospital administrator Dr. Cuddy begins to explore her own future.
The problem with season two is that all of the weaknesses of season one are present and because they persist, the problems are getting worse. In short, "House, M.D." is a very predictable set of medical mysteries that forms a rather solid patterns. Dr. House angrily snipes at everyone he works with and maintains an affect of indifference while becoming engaged in a medical mystery. The medical mysteries force him to engage with patients, a practice he hates, and his colleagues seem shocked every week when he meets with a new patient, despite the fact that he continues to do that.
The third season begins moments after the second season ended, with Dr. Gregory House recovering from being shot, House returns to work apparently cured of his crippled leg. He resumes barking orders at his three diagnostic assistants and treating ailments both macabre and grotesque. As he goes through his daily routine, it soon becomes evident that he is not cured and he is once more addicted to pain medication. While House continues to isolate himself, his staff begins to strain, though Drs. Cameron and Chase begin to hook up. While House is investigated by police Detective Tritter, the loyalties of House's staff members are put to the test.
Picking up where the third season of "House, M.D." ended, the fourth season has Dr. Gregory House without a staff. After discovering that the janitor at the hospital might not be the best diagnostician, Wilson assembles a pool of doctors from which House must choose a new staff of diagnostic specialists. These include Thirteen, whose mother died of a rare hereditary disease that she might have and Dr. Kutner, an ambitious doctor who seems able to put up with House's personal and ethnic insults.
House's patients include: a fighter pilot, a wheelchair-bound man with his service dog, a woman who talks to the dead, a personality chameleon, and a CIA agent with no medical history. As well, there is a memorable teenager who has heart attacks and a bus crash that House himself is involved in. Almost all of these patients come to House and his team desperate and go through the formulaic plot of getting far worse through the trial-and-error methods of the medical staff before the right diagnosis is reached. Then, they usually have a miraculous and almost instantaneous recovery.
Most follow of the plots that basic format. Sprinkled throughout, of course, are character moments where House is called a curmudgeon, insults someone, does something ethically problematic or otherwise interesting and the viewer is encouraged to stick around. Watching the show on DVD, though, it becomes clear that the strength of "House, M.D." is in the fact that there is usually a week between episodes. Without that buffer, the episodes become quickly tiresome.
Part of the reason for this is one of the most esoteric uses of special effects ever for a television show. Bryan Singer, director of "The Usual Suspects" (reviewed at: http://www.epinions.com/content_341069172356 ) and the very popular "X-Men" (reviewed at: http://www.epinions.com/content_349029895812), is an executive producer of "House" and the general special effect repeated throughout the series is a rapid pan into an orifice or blood vessel to reveal what is going on within a patient at a microscopic - or close to it - level. We see a number of blood clots rushed into and obstructed blood vessels. We see nerves firing and by the third time it happens, the viewer realizes that the reason it seems so familiar is that this is essentially the same special effect that was used during the opening credits to "X-Men." The problem with it in the first season (it gets better in subsequent seasons) is that it is essentially the same visual sequence used over and over again with minor tweaks. In short, it's anything but special.
What keeps the show from being completely tedious are the characters and the acting. The characters in "House, M.D." are interesting and when their extra-patient storylines offer opportunities to develop them, the shows have a nice sense of flow and easily hook the viewer. When the show develops plotlines that arc over several episodes - never the medical cases - the show is rather interesting. For example, billionaire Edward Vogler comes to the hospital with a $100,000,000 grant and begins making administrative changes and shoving House and his staff around. For five episodes, House is plagued by the need to fire one of his team and Dr. Chase seizes on the opportunity to ally himself with Vogler. It's an interesting set of episodes.
Because so much hinges on the characters, it's important to know who the primary characters of "House, M.D." are:
Dr. Gregory House - The leader of the diagnostic staff, he walks with a cane and a severe limp from a medical condition (it's a surprise revealed late in the season) and is asocial and almost always irritable. House has little in the way of people skills and often what comes out of his mouth is either racist, sexist or just plain mean. He cares about solving medical mysteries and he does it especially well,
Dr. Lisa Cuddy - Chief administrator of the hospital, she is responsible for keeping House employed. While she recognizes his genius, she also controls whether he stays employed or is fired and much of the season, she and House are at odds with one another,
Dr. Eric Foreman - One of three fellows working under House, Foreman was hired by House for his street skills and he often bears the brunt of House's acerbic remarks. Less eager than the other fellows to impress House, he is a competent doctor and perhaps the most emotionally balanced of the ensemble,
Dr. Robert Chase - An Australian fellow working under Dr. House, he resents House's style and seeks to learn in a more comfortable and nurturing environment. Chase is not particularly liked by anyone for his constant "I told you so" attitude when he is actually right. He suffers some from allying with a political enemy of House,
Dr. Allison Cameron - The final fellow under Dr. House, she harbors an attraction to the doctor that goes well beyond mentor/pupil. Cameron is smart, articulate and efficient, working at least as hard to prove herself on the team as any. As the season goes on, she gets her chance to impress House, despite her difficulties with delivering bad news,
and Dr. James Wilson - House's one true friend in the world and a surgeon outside the diagnostic team. Wilson's specialty is oncology and he humanizes House as much as he can, often offering a counterbalance to House's drug-addled rants.
"House, M.D." is definitely intended for adults. House is, as a result of the pain in his leg, addicted to vicodin and between that and the clinic level of medical gore, this is clearly a show intended for adults. If it weren't so repetitive, it might ultimately satisfy them!
What does satisfy the viewer is the acting. Robert Sean Leonard (Dr. Wilson), Jesse Spencer (Chase), and Jennifer Morrison (Dr. Cameron) establish a fine base of actors to create the ensemble. All three overcome their Hollywood good looks to embody reasonable facsimiles of medical personnel. There's not a moment of watching them that the viewer is not convinced that these actors are not truly medical professionals.
Lisa Edelstein, who plays Dr. Cuddy, is wonderful in the role. Edelstein was instantly recognizable to me as a fan of "The West Wing," where she played a call girl in the first season (reviewed at: http://www.epinions.com/content_341603487364 ). Unlike her other roles, she plays a distinctly different character here. Cuddy is in control and Edelstein embodies her with a sense of education and presence that is uncanny, but completely necessary to sell the viewer on the role. Edelstein illustrates that she can hold her own completely in the role, often going head to head Hugh Laurie (who plays House) and realistically expressing and enforcing her character's will.
Omar Epps is wonderful as Dr. Foreman. Foreman is scripted as a cool, collected character working in an environment that is often insulting and/or challenging. Epps embodies the character perfectly with a body language that connotes tension perfectly when in the presence of Hugh Laurie, but ease when dealing with patience. Epps has wonderful body language and control and he makes the viewer believe and trust his character.
But no one rocks "House, M.D." more than Hugh Laurie, with his perfect American accent and consistent limp. I first saw Laurie on the British comedy "Black Adder," (reviewed at: http://www.epinions.com/content_128903188100 ) where he was absolutely brilliant as a comedy actor. There is no trace of humor in Laurie's performance as the sarcastic and angry Dr. House. Laurie makes even the most outrageous and offensive lines seem natural and easy. He dominates every scene he is in with his casual command of the screen and easy delivery of even the most complicated of medical jargon.
The bonus features are all featurettes that have little real insight (there are no commentaries on any of the episodes) into the episodes and merely repeat the better moments of the season for the fans to see again, out of context. This is the general trend throughout the entire series on DVD so far. DVD extras are not being relied upon to sell this.
Sadly, there's not much making the argument for owning this series, certainly not in this form. It's hard to justify the purchase, even to fans of medical dramas. This one is terribly formulaic and given its relative quality, that's a disappointment. But we know there will be more sets and even money says there will be a space-saving complete series set coming out, even if the fifth season ends up being the final one for this series. If one is going to buy into a repetitive series, the least they can do is save shelf space while watching the same episodes over and over again.
This is a simple bundle pack of:
"House" Season One - http://www.epinions.com/content_349470101124
"House" Season Two - http://www.epinions.com/content_355477327492
"House" Season Three - http://www.epinions.com/content_404769640068
'House" Season Four - http://www.epinions.com/content_442266783364
Recommended:
No
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wlswarts
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Member: W.L. Swarts
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