House: A Bitter-Sweet Pill

House MD is one of my favorite shows, I sit curled up in front of the television waiting to see what the writers have come up with hoping that it will top the previous week's episode. There is no mistaking that Hugh Laurie's character is a medical genius and by the end of each show, no matter what has happened to the patient, House has always found the answer. But, there are quite a few things in this show that make it hard for me to digest what I am watching.

For starters, House is a drug addict doctor who always seems to get away with everything in the hospital until the fated season when the FBI actually steps in and does something about his addiction. I understand that this plot twist adds comedy and also a more competitive edge to the series. Since we watch Hugh Laurie's character struggle through pain and agony with his leg and having issues from his past that he still struggles with, it makes him seem more than one sided. But I don't see how someone can be a drug addict and a professional and be as out there as House and not get into trouble. To me this seems unrealistic because there are other doctors in the hospital who would have said something about his problem way before then.

Then there is the constant abuse House subjects his team to on a week to week basis, I mean, what normal person would stand for that? I get that House is brilliant and that it is an honor to work with him, but people have their dignity and even if it is a show, this is supposed to emulate real life, and no one in real life is going to let someone constantly demean them in that fashion.

House has one relationship on the show that seems to last through all the proverbial crap, and that is his relationship with Wilson. Though their friendship has almost ended quite a few times because of all the shenanigans that House loves to pull, it's like Wilson can't get enough. I know that friends are supposed to stick by you through thick and thin, but the character of Wilson takes it to a whole new level. There has to be a line drawn somewhere, and if so, then where will that line be drawn?

Matt Roush of TV Guide said that House MD is the “uncommon cure for the medical drama”, and Tom Shales of The Washington Post said that House is "the most electrifying new main character to hit television in years". I would have to agree with both of these statements. Each week I watch House abuse his team, form unhealthy relationships with almost everyone he meets. But, I find that a lot of the themes are unrealistic in my eyes. Even so, there is just something about this show that leaves me coming back for more.