I can add viewing new episodes of House, M.D. to my list of things I can’t look forward to anymore. The last episode of the quirky, critically acclaimed FOX series aired last night. And all in all I thought the fat lady sang pretty well.
For eight seasons, the House series has been, if not always a pleasure, at least a thing to look forward to. Many fans say the series slumped after the first couple seasons, and they may be right. Personally, I didn’t notice. I didn’t mind when the cop (offended that House was rude to him and used an anal thermometer on him) threatened him with prison. I didn’t mind when House had to go to an institution to be weaned from his pain killer habit. I was fascinated by House, but I never liked him much, and I rather enjoyed watching him forced to confront his personal irresponsibility.
The final episode, “Everybody Dies,” (a word play on House’s motto, “Everybody lies”) had him facing the prospect of being sent back to prison for six months, for violating the terms of his parole (in typical irresponsible fashion, he calls his crime “just a prank”) just when his friend Wilson has cancer and only about five months to live. In between trying to get his friends to take the fall for him, he tries to treat a drug addict who appears to be dying. All this is in flashback. In the “present,” he’s lying in a burning building next to a dead man’s body, arguing with various ghosts from his past whether his life is worth living or not. Continue reading No more “House” calls