House M.D.: Season One Review

The Players
Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House
Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron
Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman
Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase
Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Lisa Cuddy
Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson

Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital is the setting for the best...yes, the best medical drama I have personally ever seen. Dr. Gregory House, along with his crach diagnostics team, Foreman, Chase and Cameron, are presented, on a weekly basis, with an ultra rare set of symptoms and are forced to act against the clock to try and figure out exactly what they must do to save their patients. In the first season alone they are presented with such ailments as: neurocysticercosis, tuberculoma, anthrax, leprosy, acute intermitent porphyria, copper allergy and african trypanosomiasis, just to name a few. House takes great pleasure in trying to figure out the puzzles that surround the patients who are suffering, and only wants the cases that have a challenge to them.

On the other hand, you get to see House, working clinic duty. Almost the exact opposite of the ultra rare cases, this is where we get to see House diagnose the simple cases, such as this gem...

patient: "I'm having pain in my legs"
House: "Have you been doing any running lately?"
patient: "Well, I have been running for about two hours every morning. I'm training for the big marathon.
House "Hmmm...Odd, you're running two hours a day and getting pain in your legs??? I'm puzzled"

So who is Gregory House?

In a backstory (and in a much later episode) we hear that House has had a thigh muscle infarction in his right leg, basically disabling his leg and forcing him to walk with the use of a cane. Bitter, depressed and sarcastic are just a few words I'd use to describe Dr. House, who "loves nobody" and believes that "everybody lies". Constantly putting pressure on his trio of doc's to do better, come up with better answers and figure out the problems, House alienates himself from, not only his trio, but everyone else that comes around him. If it wasn't for his sheer brillance in the medical field, he'd have been fired from his position years ago.

Season One hits with a bang, delivering House at his finest, right from the get go. This is not one of those shows where you have to drag through two or three seasons, just to get to the good stuff. Here, some of the great episodes are laid out to you from the first disc and do not let up.

If you have any desire to see a Grade A show, with great acting, great plot and some twists, turns, excitement, suspense, tears and huge laughs, then do yourself a big favor and pick up the first season of House M.D. Trust me, you will not be disapointed.

"Candy canes?! Is this some sort of SICK joke??"

Andrew
6/17/2008