House Broken

Over the past few years, the season arcs of House have gotten more extreme. Season six had him trying to clean up after checking into an asylum, and season seven was about the rise and fall of his relationship with Cuddy.  The show, having explored so much in it's first five years, felt it had to go to the outer limits of his character to find new storylines.  Unfortunately, in going so far, the show became less believable anad less interesting.  Last season ended (not too sensibly) with House crashing into Cuddy's home with his car.

So season eight picks up with him in prison.  As premiere House episodes often are, it's off series, featuring Hugh Laurie and no regulars. (Lisa Edelstein as Cuddy has left the show, but you couldn't yet tell.) It turned out "Twenty Vicodin," as it was titled, was pretty good--better than the House we've come to expect.

The main plot is he's got five days before he's paroled, but only if he keeps out of trouble.  So of course there's nothing but trouble.  The biggest threat is the head neo-nazi who demands a tax of 20 Vicodins from House or he might not make it out alive.  (Others in the prison also put the screws to him, knowing he'll soon be gone.)  Then there's his psychotic killer roomie, who wants House to fix his cricket.  The medical mystery comes from an inmate with weird symptoms whom House helps out in the infirmary.  Of course, he has to convince the prison doctors to go against the rules and listen to him. (One of the doctors is a cute woman who looks like she'll be a regular, since House always has at least one of them and I think Olivia Willde is leaving the show.)

The show ends with House saving the patient and his own life, but losing his parole.  So he's still locked up.  Will this season be Gregory House: Jail Doctor?  I have to assume they'll spring him somehow, though what sort of deal it will be I don't know.  I'm not sure if House will ever see its glory days again, but so far it looks like there's some life left in the series.