One of TV's best veteran series is about to offer one of the year's finest season premieres when House rejoins the Fox slate today at 8 p.m. It's a memorable return.
A two-hour movie-like start of the new season finds the angry, obnoxious and Vicodin-addicted doctor in a mental institution, beginning detox.
These two hours are sure to be Hugh Laurie's Emmy submission for next year: He's in almost every scene, and he's terrific.
At the end of last season, House had enjoyed a long-awaited sexual liaison with his boss, Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein). Except, in a rare TV reversal that actually earned its credibility, that turned out to be a hallucination.
House ended up checking himself into Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital, felled by his drug habit on top of traumatic losses (the death of his abusive father, the suicide of one of his proteges, the departure from the hospital of his best friend, Wilson).
In tonight's premiere, House is confronted by two tremendous characters. One is a talkative roommate, played by Lin-Manual Miranda (Tony-winning actor and playwright for In the Heights). The other is a tough but empathetic doctor who runs the psychiatric facility, played by Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Street). The interactions are sharp, the writing impeccable, the performances magical.
The two hours brilliantly chart House's torment, rebellion, sneaky gaming of the system and grudging submission to the rules at the loony bin. The premiere delivers an emotional wallop and a satisfying conclusion.
Those of us who felt that the series was sidetracked by the insertion of interns into the storyline the past few seasons eagerly anticipate a return to the original focus. The team of doctors -- Chase, Cameron and Foreman (Jesse Spencer, Jennifer Morrison and Omar Epps) -- will reunite, and the newly detoxed House will learn to deal with them, perhaps in new ways.
How "cured" can the famously cranky doctor become without derailing the show? The writers know better than to fundamentally alter his nature. The fun will be in watching him fight against his impulses as he pursues his newfound sobriety.
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