In all honesty, I blame the writers. Truly, this season has not been as good as the previous two. Of course things are going to seem strange & weird after the Tritter arc; they piled tension and tension and tension on the characters, most notably House & Wilson, and then dismissed it with an absurd foppish gesture & a puff of purple smoke. I'm STILL pissed about the way that storyline ended. It invalidated many of the developments that COULD have, er, developed, and left everyone floundering, the relationships all askew. I said back in September, any season that begins with House jogging eight miles despite missing a chunk of thigh muscle could not possibly bode well. Credibility is a slippery slope.
Now I don't want to come off as completely sandy here; I still love this show, and there are little flickering moments of glory (Village People, "Have you ever appeared in any pornos?", "We get it we're all idiots", THE ACTING, etc) that make it worthwhile to watch. A television series is never going to achieve the seamless beauty of a novel, or even a film; it's a collaborative effort that's often stretched too thin over too many episodes, writers, and influences (OMG WHAT WILL THE NETWORK THINK, WILL WE LOSE RATINGS OVER THIS, IF WE RESOLVE THIS NOW WHEN IT SEEMS ORGANIC TO RESOLVE IT HOW WILL WE FILL UP THE REST OF THE SEASON, ETC). The obvious downsides are plot contrivances, awkwardness, strained & confusing characterization; the upside is, the show becomes a constant companion, something to obsess over and think about; and I'm willing to bet everyone who takes the time to participate in this community NEEDS that kind of presence in their life. Hey, nothing wrong with a few abandonment issues, LOL AMIRITE?
Anyway, in times like these, I must always remember the case of Buffy. I was a gigantic Buffy fan for the entire run of the series, but let me tell you, it hit some LOW points. Oh boy did it hit some low points. There are episodes that are truly embarrassing & unbearable to watch. Luckily House has not yet achieved such moments (although they are always a possibility), even though in my opinion, it has come close. In that Rolling Stone interview, HL was asked "Are you afraid of the show becoming a parody of itself?". He responded with something along the lines of "Of course. Right now the show is in its late adolescence. And you always have to wonder about how it will die... will it go quietly in its sleep, or have a long drawn-out death?" I think his concerns are valid. I think Season 4 will be very telling, in terms of how the show will go. I'm extremely worried because I love this show, and don't want to see it die horribly. But there's no reason (LOL) that it CAN'T do well in years to come. There ARE good writers on staff, and I think they do realize some of the mistakes they've made. I saw the last episode as an attempt to START to repair some of the damage, INCLUDING the H/W dynamic (which DOES feel strained to me, but I at least get the sense they're finding their footing once more).
They're under a lot of pressure now. More eyes are on the show than at its outset, and a lot of expectations have taken hold. I hope the H/W dynamic doesn't fall prey to the adverse effects of the Heisenberg principle (now that writers & actors KNOW there is such a large H/W fanbase, that observation may effect how the relationship shows up on screen), but only time will tell. There's a lot of talent involved with this show, & I hope to sweet zombie Jesus that it's enough to collaboratively make things effing work.
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timeasmymeasure
WOW WAY TL;DR
Date: 2007-03-29 05:05 pm (UTC)Now I don't want to come off as completely sandy here; I still love this show, and there are little flickering moments of glory (Village People, "Have you ever appeared in any pornos?", "We get it we're all idiots", THE ACTING, etc) that make it worthwhile to watch. A television series is never going to achieve the seamless beauty of a novel, or even a film; it's a collaborative effort that's often stretched too thin over too many episodes, writers, and influences (OMG WHAT WILL THE NETWORK THINK, WILL WE LOSE RATINGS OVER THIS, IF WE RESOLVE THIS NOW WHEN IT SEEMS ORGANIC TO RESOLVE IT HOW WILL WE FILL UP THE REST OF THE SEASON, ETC). The obvious downsides are plot contrivances, awkwardness, strained & confusing characterization; the upside is, the show becomes a constant companion, something to obsess over and think about; and I'm willing to bet everyone who takes the time to participate in this community NEEDS that kind of presence in their life. Hey, nothing wrong with a few abandonment issues, LOL AMIRITE?
Anyway, in times like these, I must always remember the case of Buffy. I was a gigantic Buffy fan for the entire run of the series, but let me tell you, it hit some LOW points. Oh boy did it hit some low points. There are episodes that are truly embarrassing & unbearable to watch. Luckily House has not yet achieved such moments (although they are always a possibility), even though in my opinion, it has come close. In that Rolling Stone interview, HL was asked "Are you afraid of the show becoming a parody of itself?". He responded with something along the lines of "Of course. Right now the show is in its late adolescence. And you always have to wonder about how it will die... will it go quietly in its sleep, or have a long drawn-out death?" I think his concerns are valid. I think Season 4 will be very telling, in terms of how the show will go. I'm extremely worried because I love this show, and don't want to see it die horribly. But there's no reason (LOL) that it CAN'T do well in years to come. There ARE good writers on staff, and I think they do realize some of the mistakes they've made. I saw the last episode as an attempt to START to repair some of the damage, INCLUDING the H/W dynamic (which DOES feel strained to me, but I at least get the sense they're finding their footing once more).
They're under a lot of pressure now. More eyes are on the show than at its outset, and a lot of expectations have taken hold. I hope the H/W dynamic doesn't fall prey to the adverse effects of the Heisenberg principle (now that writers & actors KNOW there is such a large H/W fanbase, that observation may effect how the relationship shows up on screen), but only time will tell. There's a lot of talent involved with this show, & I hope to sweet zombie Jesus that it's enough to collaboratively make things effing work.