House Party

In last night's installment, House and his posse break themselves away from a party to tend to a sick child. There wasn't much sopa opera this week, as the central conflict (figuring out what the kid is suffering from in time to save him) was more than enough to sustain the show. Granted, the writers made it "personal" by introducing a bit of backstory wherein House tried to save a woman with similar symptoms years before but failed. And Dr. Chase, in a rare display of uppity-ness, reminds the rest of the cast that this failure haunts his boss to the point of obsession. There is a nice series of cut-scenes where House, Wilson and Cuddy play poker, where House can once again display his intellectual dominance over all in a more social setting. And, once again, poker provides answers to vexing medical questions. However, the show wisely focused on the medicine. Accordingly, I have little to comment on. For an analysis of the details, I refer you to Polite Dissent.

Before we settled in for House, my wife and I caught the last few minutes of American Idol. As a rule, I avoid the show. Last night I had a few, er, idle moments and took a peek. As it turns out, last night was Queen night and the contestants belted out glam rock. I must admit that several of the contestants showed remarkable talent; however, I am not as impressed with their ability to deliver. If nothing else, Queen music is all about drama, and one has to be willing to put it all out there for the songs to work. The contestants' versions lacked punch (or soul, if you will). I am not sure if this is due to a generational difference or nervousness or just a lack of understanding of the source material. But it confirmed my suspicion that watching the show is not the best use of my time.

On the other hand, we have been watching the second season of Scrubs as if our lives depended upon it!