Reviews

I saw that this one won an Emmy for "Best Writing for a Dramatic Series" in 2005 and rushed through four episodes to get to it. Should have taken my time.

There are times you get too hyped for an episode and then you go see it and you think, "Gosh, it wasn't THAT great." I had worried that the same effect would happen here. I would watch it and then at the end I would go, "I could have written something better." In addition I would have had lost all respect for the Emmy voters.

Good thing it didn't happen.

Proof that David Shore is a scribe worth looking out for is how he handles the events in the story. Going through it, one can see that it's very easy to confuse the watcher. Yet the director and the writer capably navigate the jumble and emerge triumphant.

The story paces like a brilliant novel, where the story is manipulated at whim by the story-teller. I saw it a couple more times to find things I wanted to clear up, but I'm slow.

You might not love it, but you'll go "Dude, that was awesome!" at the end.

Everybody can pick out the great episodes of House - "Three Stories", "Pilot", "No Reason" - so I am going to try and point out the "diamonds in the rough." It opens up rather interestingly, complete with a couple gems from Bryan Singer and a shocking change of pace in the episode. I, for one, sure fell for it hard.

I used to watch CSI a lot and I notice a lot of similarities between it and House - foremost an infallible lead character who exercises ample amounts of deductive reasoning power. In the case of House, the sin of plot repetition is forgiven because House gives their characters a lot more shading than in CSI.

Not only does this episode posit the mandatory philosophical dilemma (one that echoes the theme of a future episode, though I must say the future one perfects it), it deepens Dr. House himself. We start seeing a lot more of his outside activities (always a pleasure) and a little of his awkward side. I especially enjoyed the latter.

This episode is a classic that I again stress should not be rushed to but instead approached. Watch the previous 11 chapters before enjoying this one. The impact will be so much more the greater.

This episode is my favorite, having become so rather surprisingly.

Its simple set up - that of Sawyer setting out to slay a boar with a vendetta - seems grounded in ridiculousness. After all, how can a pig hold a grudge? This little task turns into a deeper journey, a pleasing respite from the Lost story arc. It certainly outperforms your expectations.

Sawyer's journey with Kate turns out comedy - as the script allows the two characters to alternatively bounce off and spark at each other - and development, as Sawyer's tragic past is further explored and his persona softened. It is hard not to build a lot of sympathy for what happens to him.

I highly recommend this episode for viewers and hope that they will anticipate it. However don't skip to it, or else you'll miss a little back story shading that is essential to the Sawyer character.