TV Review: House 8.16, "Gut Check"
Overall the episode was just sort of “there”, like many of them have been lately.
rating: 3.5
(WARNING: Significant spoilers follow) So last week, my DVR effed up and I didnt get to see House. Now Ive seen last weeks episode, and Im reviewing it today. Look for this weeks episode to be reviewed tomorrow. Ill say this for Gut Check: at least now I know why Andrew Sullivan spent so much time last week discussing fighting in hockey. Im a fan of hockey (go, Coyotes!), and enjoy a good game, but I really, really hate the fighting and I wish it would go away. Fans of fighting, you have boxing, wrestling, ultimate fighting and a slew of other things. Let the rest of us have hockey. I mention this because this episode centers on a minor league hockey player who is an enforcer. Its his job to go out and beat the crap out of other players so that the smaller players can do what they do and score goals. We see him get into a little fight with someone and then start coughing up blood. This leads to the usual series of mixed, inaccurate diagnoses before we get to the final correct one. As usual the medical stuff mostly passed me be, because no medical degree. But I did enjoy the fact that there was some discussion about fighting in hockey and whether its a good idea or not (it isnt). I also really enjoyed the way that the player and Taub (Peter Jacobson) bonded a bit, though it caused him to lose his objectivity. The other major soap opera plotline centered on Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) expressing his desire to have a child. Foolishly, he makes this desire known in front of House (Hugh Laurie), and before you know it, House is spinning a tale about how Wilson actually has a child, an eleven-year-old, with an ex-girlfriend. Wilson takes to this news with great eagerness and the next thing you know, him and the boy, Duncan, are hanging out with each other. They soon bond, and then the boy tells Wilson that his mother wants to move them to Costa Rica. Then he begs Wilson to allow him to move into Wilsons house, even going so far as to say, Please dont send me to the jungle! Its at that point that the alarm bells started ringing loudly in my head, and sure enough, it turns out that in one of his creepier moves, House hired a young boy actor to play the part of Wilsons long-lost son. Wilson seems relieved by this. I think were I him, Id be inclined to deck House at this point. The final plot featured Park (Charlyne Yi) moving in with Chase (Jesse Spencer). This is ostensibly to get away from her grandmother and to stop sleeping in her car. But soon her grandmother is hanging out and, as in the previous two stories, we now have another bonding relationship, only this time between Chase and an elderly woman. I liked most of this episode, and the bits discussing hockey were really interesting to me. However the fact that House hired an actor to play Wilsons son seemed a: really stretching it storywise, and b: a bit beyond the pale even for House. Thankfully the main story was good enough to compensate, at least somewhat. Of the Chase/Park story I have no real opinion. Overall the episode was just sort of there, like many of them have been lately. I know theres only a few episodes left and Id like to see the series go out on a high note instead of a meh note. One last thing about this episode: wow, that was some blatant product placement. Yes, Ford paid you guys to put their car in the episode. We get it. We know theyre sponsors. We dont need to see a close-up of the Taurus logo, a close-up of the dashboard and a final close-up of the Ford logo. GET SOME SUBTLETY!