House - Season 5: "Birthmarks"

For fans of the sweet and sour

By Brittany Cofer

Dr. Gregory House is quite possibly one of the most condescending characters on television. But in season five’s fourth episode, “Birthmarks,” the in-your-face doctor shows a rarely seen softer side.

The acclaimed drama “House” uses the familiar medical show theme but adds a twist by usually coming close to killing patients in attempts to find out what is causing their illness. The show tries to bring in a human element by creating intricate plot lines between the cast of characters.

At the end of season four, Dr. James Wilson’s girlfriend Amber tragically died. Wilson has since quit his job and shut out everyone around him, including his long-time friend House. Ever since, House has been desperately trying to win back Wilson’s friendship, though not conventionally. When the rare glimmer of earnestness slips into House’s persona, it is unmistakable and no doubt carefully crafted by the writers.

In this episode, House’s father has died, and to no one’s surprise, he says he is not sorry about his father’s death and will not attend the funeral. His medical team begins their differential diagnosis on an Asian woman brought to the hospital from China, when House makes an all-too-predictable derogatory statement. Upon receiving the Chinese medical records, House says to an Indian staff member, “Kutner, you’re sort of Asian. You can read this right?”

The obligatory medical jargon makes its way into nearly every scene. But the cast conveys the lines with such ease and fluidity that the viewer can easily follow the action. The show can be heavy at times, but one of the best parts of House’s brash character is that he can say what other characters cannot, and it comes off as humorous. Sometimes he does not even have to say anything at all.

Wilson, who always seems to be drawn to House even when he doesn’t want to be, forces decides to trick House into going to his father’s funeral. On the way, House receives a phone call. The ring tone is unmistakably Hanson’s “MMMBop.” I laughed aloud when hearing the song and seeing the embarrassed look on House’s face as the phone began to ring. Moments like this one uplift viewers, reminding them the show is not all gloom and doom.

House explains to Wilson that he believes the man who died was not his biological father. He said that at the age of 12 he realized he resembled a family friend and not his father. Wilson does not believe the story and thinks it is a ploy to prevent them from attending the funeral. While giving the eulogy for his “father,” House begins to break down and says, “I am what I am because of him, for better or for worse.”

House shows a side that has never been seen before as he bends over his father’s body and kisses his forehead. We then see House holding a pair of nail clippers, with which he snips a bit of the man’s ear for a DNA test. For the House fan, this moment is bittersweet. We wish for him to show a more human side and inevitably, when he does, it is swiftly counteracted.

After the trip Wilson tells House he will be coming back to work at the hospital. “I’m coming back because you’re right,” he says. “That strange, annoying trip we just took was the most fun I’ve had since Amber died.” House, even after confirming the man who raised him was indeed not his biological father, shows a slightly sentimental side by saying, “Wilson, my Dad’s dead.”

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House Season 5 Trailer

Inside the Actor's Studio- Hugh Laurie