peter martin

I feel like making a list. So here we go:

• Mad Men - season 3 was incredible, building on what I thought was a quantum-leap from season 1 to 2. The Don Draper “reset” for season 4 will make this one of the most highly anticipated seasons in television history, at least creatively.
• Lost - another reset of sorts, though this one could go in any of a dozen ways (typical Lost). Whatever direction they take us, the final season promises to fascinate and confuse.
• House - I’m still unsure of the direction this season is taking. The character of Thirteen definitely brought something tangible to the show, and I’m a little uneasy that they’re just rehashing Cameron/Chase/Foreman storylines. Still, the writing remains excellent.
• Sons of Anarchy - good writing, superior cast. May not rise quite to the level of early Sopranos, but it’s a quality show that I look forward to.
• Bored to Death - my favorite new show of the year. Jason Schwartzmann, Zach Galafaniakos, and Ted Dansen (the sleeper star of the show) are a great trio. The writing has been consistently good, and hopefully HBO will let them continue to do their thing.
• Weeds/Dexter/Californication - I’m lumping them all together because they’re all enjoyable, they are all great at their peak, and all three seem to have run their course. Unfortunately for Showtime, I don’t think they have anything else worthwhile in the pipeline. I liked Brotherhood before they canned it.
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Funniest show on TV (sorry 30 Rock) and they’ve bounced back from a lackluster finish last season with a string of great episodes.
• Miscellaneous - shows I’ll watch but usually just to catch up (I don’t notice if I’m behind): 30 Rock (feels tired), Office, Parks & Rec (improving), Fringe, Heroes (continually frustrating but hey it’s SUPERHEROES), Defying Gravity (hooked right as it was cancelled, bummer), Curb Your Enthusiasm, Hung.

Wow. What an incredible piece of television that was. Two hours, a fully self-contained plot, some genuinely believable characters, and characteristically sharp writing. Oh, and a few cameos, including that guy from Revenge of the Nerds, Artemis from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia buried under that hair and glasses costume (that distinctive voice clicked for me), and one of my favorites: Franka Potente, of Lola Rennt/Run Lola Run fame.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Like every creative work, House often re-appropriates other work, but the writers are so good that they’re able to reference and build without imitating. It’s the ultimate tribute, and you certainly can’t say they don’t reference great source material. The entire character and premise is based on Sherlock Holmes, a re-imagining of the great detective’s analytical mind and self-destructive tendencies in the form of a brilliant differential diagnosis specialist.

From the closing moments of last season, with House entering a psychiatric facility, it seemed unavoidable that there would be parallels with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and the show creators didn’t shy away from it in the least. On the contrary, the manner in which they referenced the book/film early on (the nurse dispensing pills at the window, the silent woman in place of the Chief, House as the patients’ hero McMurphy, even the building itself) was brilliantly inverted as the episode wore on. Science, rational treatment, and faith in the mental healing process were the focus, not some diabolical Head Nurse or a system gone bad. It’s the ultimate validation of House’s philosophy: objectivity and scientific method as all-powerful. That House found himself resisting against his own philosophy from the other side of the looking glass made for a very self-aware and rewarding episode.

Final thoughts, bite-sized: the scene with Freedom Master leaping out of the parking garage may have been a bit over the top, but it was key that House failed in his attempt to overturn this system; Nolan, the psychiatrist, left a couple story threads open, I’d imagine he’s here to stay (for this season at least); and finally, is that really all the Franka Potente I’m going to get? Damnit!!!