Tonight's episode of House does not disappoint. Of course, there were several twists and turns. First, 13 and Kutner were fired. Then, Amber and Taub. Then everyone. And finally House made his melodramatic decision, firing 13 and Amber. Yet, it was all a set-up.
In the end, it's only Amber, "cut-throat bitch" who is fired. And everyone learns that she does have feelings. I am surprised at the descision to fire Amber. Her character as a dedicated doctor willing to go to any length to win appears to fit perfectly in House's team. However, House revealed a part of his heart in tonight's episode by saying that members of his team must be willing to make mistakes, to "lose."
What does all this say about House's character? Does he care for his patients? Is everything a game for him? Is he emotionless? Does he fear living as Wilson suggests? There are no black and white answers to these questions. In a sweeping generality, the answer to all of these questions is "yes and no."
House does care for his patients and he won't have team members who don't (as he illustrated by firing Amber). House likes to keep everyone, especially Cuddy, guessing what his next move is (plus it's an ongoing theme in the series). House has shown emotion for both himself and others (throwing away 13's test results). As for his fear of living, I believe House finds his life most animated when his patient's are close to death. He walks a fine line of being able to solve life's mysteries for others, but denies that same insight for himself.
What will House's new team bring out of him? They are now the Fantastic Four as opposed to the traditional Three Musketeers. I believe they will continue to draw emotion out of House the remainder of this season. I also believe that Amber will be back in some capacity. House returns in January 2008. We'll see what happens then.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
House: Who's Fired Next
The character of Gregory House, MD (Hugh Laurie) made his debut on November 16, 2004 on FOX. Since the show's debut, House, has kept viewers coming back every season for thrilling and compelling medical cases being solved by a crotchety, sexually driven, sardonic doctor. House is now in its fourth season of success, with a new plot line and characters.
At the end of Season Three, the three diagnosticians on House's team--Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps), Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer), and Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) left House's team either by choice or through termination. This has left a void in Season Four, although all three doctors still work at the hospital including Foreman directly with House.
Season Four of House has turned into a medical version of Survivor with House attempting to find a new diagnostic team. Starting at the beginning of the season with about 30 candidates, the House finds himself down to his last elimination. The candidates include:
#24 - Amber Volakis - Specializing in Interventional Radiology, Dr. Volakis is an agressive, cut-throat competitor for one of the three coveted spots on House's team. She has proven throughout the course of the season she will do anything (including passing her underwear off as Dr. Cuddy's).
#6 - Lawrence Kutner - A rehabilitative and sports specialist, Dr. Kutner, is an optimistic fellow. He has much potential, but his enthusiasm rushes him to make bold choices. Like House, he is a radical thinker, always rushing to one extreme to another.
#13 - "Thirteen" - The mystery woman of the show, #13 practices Internal Medicine, she's quiet, beautiful, and shares no personal info with anyone.
#39 - Chris Taub - A plastic surgeon, Dr. Taub is one of the most insightful characters on the show, although his practice is the most shallow. Dr. Taub was forced out of his practice for cheating with a colleague on his wife, his last chance to practice medicine lies in a position on House's team.
So, who will be fired this Tuesday? It's a hard decision to make, however, I will place my bet on Kutner because his medical practices although risky, his personality doesn't show enough personality for the direction Season Four is heading. The trailer for next week's episode alludes to some gigantic mistake being made by one of the fellows and Kutner would be the one to commit it. #13 has learned from her mistakes. Volakis has a character to compelling to cut from the series. And Taub provides balance to the team.
Keeping Foreman, Cameron, and Chase on the show hasn't done too much. They are rather annoying influences on the program during the elimination process. Chase runs bets on who will be fired next, while Cameron is reluctant to confess her love for her former boss, and Foreman is House's watchdog for Cuddy.
Anyway, enough criticsm for now, let's see if I'm right...tune into Fox 5 this Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. EST to discover who makes House's team. And then log onto my blog to hear what I have to say about it.
At the end of Season Three, the three diagnosticians on House's team--Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps), Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer), and Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) left House's team either by choice or through termination. This has left a void in Season Four, although all three doctors still work at the hospital including Foreman directly with House.
Season Four of House has turned into a medical version of Survivor with House attempting to find a new diagnostic team. Starting at the beginning of the season with about 30 candidates, the House finds himself down to his last elimination. The candidates include:
#24 - Amber Volakis - Specializing in Interventional Radiology, Dr. Volakis is an agressive, cut-throat competitor for one of the three coveted spots on House's team. She has proven throughout the course of the season she will do anything (including passing her underwear off as Dr. Cuddy's).
#6 - Lawrence Kutner - A rehabilitative and sports specialist, Dr. Kutner, is an optimistic fellow. He has much potential, but his enthusiasm rushes him to make bold choices. Like House, he is a radical thinker, always rushing to one extreme to another.
#13 - "Thirteen" - The mystery woman of the show, #13 practices Internal Medicine, she's quiet, beautiful, and shares no personal info with anyone.
#39 - Chris Taub - A plastic surgeon, Dr. Taub is one of the most insightful characters on the show, although his practice is the most shallow. Dr. Taub was forced out of his practice for cheating with a colleague on his wife, his last chance to practice medicine lies in a position on House's team.
So, who will be fired this Tuesday? It's a hard decision to make, however, I will place my bet on Kutner because his medical practices although risky, his personality doesn't show enough personality for the direction Season Four is heading. The trailer for next week's episode alludes to some gigantic mistake being made by one of the fellows and Kutner would be the one to commit it. #13 has learned from her mistakes. Volakis has a character to compelling to cut from the series. And Taub provides balance to the team.
Keeping Foreman, Cameron, and Chase on the show hasn't done too much. They are rather annoying influences on the program during the elimination process. Chase runs bets on who will be fired next, while Cameron is reluctant to confess her love for her former boss, and Foreman is House's watchdog for Cuddy.
Anyway, enough criticsm for now, let's see if I'm right...tune into Fox 5 this Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. EST to discover who makes House's team. And then log onto my blog to hear what I have to say about it.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Where Have I Been?
It's been six months and three days since my last post! My apologies for not being around! There is so much I've meant to write, but little time to do it. I've had ideas brewing in the synapses of my brain over this long absence and would like to share them all, but I'll start with my latest obsession: Stephen Colbert.
Stephen Colbert is the epitome of America. He was born and raised in North Carolina as the youngest of eleven children. He lost his father, James Colbert, and two of his brothers, Peter and Paul, in a plane crash when he was 10-years-old in 1974. Raised as an Irish Catholic, Colbert still teaches Sunday school and is married with three kids. He's a family guy and prefers his kids not to watch his Comedy Central hit, The Colbert Report. His career, in many ways, is the polar opposite of his personal life.
Colbert plays an intriguing right-wing pundit on his nightly newscast. He crafted this character from his stint on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart when he played the role of a correspondent. Colbert also won two Emmys for his writing work on The Daily Show. Today, on The Colbert Report, Colbert colorfully criticizes American politics and media. The scripts to his show are pointed and sardonic, especially "The Word." And his interview segments are a true display of his rapid-fire wit and intellectual cunning, which brings me to why I believe he is one of America's most valuable voices.
Colbert tells it like it is in his new book, I Am American (And So Can You!), a daring display of his character's hutzpa in print. He also isn't afraid to tell it like it is to anyone else. Take the 2006 White House Correspondent Dinner as an example. Or, more recently his October 14 op-ed in The New York Times, where he wrote Maureen Dowd's column on an issued challenge. In all moments, outside of The Colbert Report, Colbert remains true to his character, seldom just being "Stephen."
His recent grab at a chance to be the "favorite son" of North Carolina, was both entertaining and culturally significant. Colbert announced his presidential candidacy on October 16, 2007. On October 15, he appeared on Larry King Live and alluded to his candidacy. He also skimmed the topic in his NYT op-ed on October 14. As the "favorite son" of North Carolina, Colbert proposed to be on both the Republican and Democratic ticket.
He campaigned in North Carolina the weekend of October 29, mixing with the locals, receiving a key to the North Carolina state capital, Columbia, and winning over the hearts and minds of his fellow Americans.
In order to process his applications for the ballot, Colbert forked over $2,500 of his own cash to the Democrats, but dropped off the Republican radar when he refused their $35,000 fee. In order to maintain his campaign and not be snagged by federal campaign laws, his entire campaign needed to be less than $5,000.
On November 1, Colbert was crushed to learn--on his show--that he didn't make the Democratic ticket and was voted down 13-3. Colbert officially announced his drop out of the race on November 5.
An action packed 22 days! Colbert was really gaining some popularity in the race though I doubt his campaign would have truly succeeded. However, I do believe the campaign did its part in getting people to pay attention to what is going on for Election 2008. He had people talking.
The Comedy Central Message Board for The Colbert Report is largely a milieu of one-time-only posts. During his candidacy, there was one post in particular that caught my attention expressing that Colbert should drop out of the race. What this naive poster didn't understand was that Colbert's stunt was an effort to get folks talking about this race. There are far too many people out there who don't know enough about the candidates, their stances, and what they could do for America if elected. I believe Colbert took a step in the right direction by motivating them to learn more.
To wrap up this long-winded, rambling post, I'd just like to say that it is important that we inform ourselves about the candidates. Next November's Election Day will be here faster than we know and if the 24-hour news networks give you a headache, tune into Colbert. He'll give you the highlights and do it with the sarcasm that politics is all about.
Stephen Colbert is the epitome of America. He was born and raised in North Carolina as the youngest of eleven children. He lost his father, James Colbert, and two of his brothers, Peter and Paul, in a plane crash when he was 10-years-old in 1974. Raised as an Irish Catholic, Colbert still teaches Sunday school and is married with three kids. He's a family guy and prefers his kids not to watch his Comedy Central hit, The Colbert Report. His career, in many ways, is the polar opposite of his personal life.
Colbert plays an intriguing right-wing pundit on his nightly newscast. He crafted this character from his stint on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart when he played the role of a correspondent. Colbert also won two Emmys for his writing work on The Daily Show. Today, on The Colbert Report, Colbert colorfully criticizes American politics and media. The scripts to his show are pointed and sardonic, especially "The Word." And his interview segments are a true display of his rapid-fire wit and intellectual cunning, which brings me to why I believe he is one of America's most valuable voices.
Colbert tells it like it is in his new book, I Am American (And So Can You!), a daring display of his character's hutzpa in print. He also isn't afraid to tell it like it is to anyone else. Take the 2006 White House Correspondent Dinner as an example. Or, more recently his October 14 op-ed in The New York Times, where he wrote Maureen Dowd's column on an issued challenge. In all moments, outside of The Colbert Report, Colbert remains true to his character, seldom just being "Stephen."
His recent grab at a chance to be the "favorite son" of North Carolina, was both entertaining and culturally significant. Colbert announced his presidential candidacy on October 16, 2007. On October 15, he appeared on Larry King Live and alluded to his candidacy. He also skimmed the topic in his NYT op-ed on October 14. As the "favorite son" of North Carolina, Colbert proposed to be on both the Republican and Democratic ticket.
He campaigned in North Carolina the weekend of October 29, mixing with the locals, receiving a key to the North Carolina state capital, Columbia, and winning over the hearts and minds of his fellow Americans.
In order to process his applications for the ballot, Colbert forked over $2,500 of his own cash to the Democrats, but dropped off the Republican radar when he refused their $35,000 fee. In order to maintain his campaign and not be snagged by federal campaign laws, his entire campaign needed to be less than $5,000.
On November 1, Colbert was crushed to learn--on his show--that he didn't make the Democratic ticket and was voted down 13-3. Colbert officially announced his drop out of the race on November 5.
An action packed 22 days! Colbert was really gaining some popularity in the race though I doubt his campaign would have truly succeeded. However, I do believe the campaign did its part in getting people to pay attention to what is going on for Election 2008. He had people talking.
The Comedy Central Message Board for The Colbert Report is largely a milieu of one-time-only posts. During his candidacy, there was one post in particular that caught my attention expressing that Colbert should drop out of the race. What this naive poster didn't understand was that Colbert's stunt was an effort to get folks talking about this race. There are far too many people out there who don't know enough about the candidates, their stances, and what they could do for America if elected. I believe Colbert took a step in the right direction by motivating them to learn more.
To wrap up this long-winded, rambling post, I'd just like to say that it is important that we inform ourselves about the candidates. Next November's Election Day will be here faster than we know and if the 24-hour news networks give you a headache, tune into Colbert. He'll give you the highlights and do it with the sarcasm that politics is all about.
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