Tonight we said goodbye to Dr. House until the next season, but that wasn’t the only departure in store for us. After weeks of capitulating Dr. Forman finally made his exit but he didn’t leave alone. This year’s finale once again finds House going through some drastic changes, and while I’m perfectly OK with him starting a new team if his track record is any indication this September we’ll see the same old Gregory House. Which is fine, because no matter how much you enjoy the secondary characters on this show it really is all about Dr. House. The guy beat God tonight in his own way, that’s no small feat.
What makes the great episodes of ‘House’ aren’t the medical miracles the good doctor performs. It’s when they affect him and really challenge his abilities and sense of self when we see something great from the show. The snarky attitude works each week, but there’s a quality to Dr. House that comes to the surface very rarely. These snippets showcase that he does care. No, not about the patients. I agree with what he said to Cuddy about not caring about the woman or her husband. What he cares about is doing every single thing he can to fix each patient who comes to him. That is what makes him a great doctor. He never gives up until there is no choice. Foreman is wrong to think House is a heartless bastard. Someday he’ll understand that, but I doubt there’s much more House can teach him. It really is time for Dr. Foreman to move on.
Speaking of time to move on, House’s firing of Chase actually surprised me. The funny thing is his reasoning immediately put me at ease with the decision. I like the team, and if they don’t return next season I will miss the dynamic between them. However, at what point do you stop respecting them as doctors? We can’t take this team seriously for too long, because there’s a moment when you realize they are using House as a crutch. It’s a bit shocking for them all to head out at the same time, but sometimes a change is needed. When Dr. Wilson spoke with House about his non-changing ways it was clear a solution to a problem arose. Just like those typical epiphany moments at the end of each episode where House figures out the real problem, this week he discovered the problem in his team. They were done. I happen to agree with this very much, and hope we see this change carry on with an all new team next season. Too bad we’re giving up some great characters, but change isn’t easy.
The entire episode, especially the medical mystery of the week, seemed to be designed to prepare us for the change. A Cuban man and his wife get in a little raft and try to make it to the US so he can take her to see Dr. House. The man knows House will do everything possible to save her. When Dr. House does finally give up after thinking of everything possible as the woman sits on bypass, he is offered redemption. His patient miraculously returns from the dead, but never one to just let things slide House wants to solve the problem. In other words, he never gives up. Returning to her heart he discovers the root cause of her problems, birds sing, elves rejoice in the treetops, and Dr. House reaffirms his ability to diagnose and treat any problem. What he doesn’t need is a group of people bickering and fighting over diagnoses. Chase, Foreman, and Cameron are well on their way to becoming great doctors. But it’s just not good for them, or House, if they stick around under his rule. Not because he’s a bastard, which he admittedly is, but because they’ll become stagnant.
So, things have changed in the House regime. Maybe one or all of the team will return in the first few episodes of the next season. Unfortunately that would undermine what went on in this finale. Ultimately this is a show about Dr. Gregory House, and everyone else are just puppets on the stage of his life. The very nature of the man, and the job he’s in would seem to dictate the world we’ve seen the past few years must change. Will a new team be successful in the ratings? Yeah, I think it’s a problem ‘House’ will be able to solve.
