Friday, with a Sidedish of Speculation
Feb. 17th, 2012 01:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nightdog_barksOvercast and damp. The sun keeps trying to break through, although we're supposed to have rain later this afternoon. Green grass (and weeds) seizing the opportunity to sprout profusely in the backyard. No more owls, but lots of small birds -- juncos, wrens, goldfinches, yellow warblers and pine siskins. Also crane flies, which we normally don't see until a little later in the spring.
Reading Mischa Berlinski's Fieldwork, which so far is the best novel I've read this year.
So. About this House series finale ...
The bottom line has always been that House is based on the characters of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. For David Shore to remain true to this core, should not the series finale take its lead, at least in part, from Arthur Conan Doyle's The Final Problem?
So, Thirteen returns. I have nothing against Remy Hadley (or Olivia Wilde, for that matter), but personally I'm not terribly thrilled by this, if only because I think she already had a good send-off and we don't need to see her again. Obviously David Shore thinks we do (not gonna touch that one), so she's here for a reason. The most up-front reason is that her Huntington's has worsened, and she wants House to fulfill the promise he made to her in ... whatever episode that was. But if we're to hew more closely to The Final Problem, there has to be something else. So here it is.
Thirteen knows that if House kills her and gets caught, he'll go back to prison, and this time it'll most likely be for good. So she brings him an out -- a forged passport. House keeps his promise, fakes his own death, and flees the country. HEY! It's no less implausible than his escape after driving his car into Cuddy's house, is it? IS IT? Remember, this is David Shore. Hand-waving and Magick Improbabilities are all part of the act.
Aside: whatever happened to that car? What kind of car is House driving this season?
The penultimate scene: House's funeral. It's a simple graveside service, and at the end Wilson lingers. Maybe he knows, maybe he doesn't. Watson didn't, so most likely Wilson doesn't. He stares at the grave marker for a long moment, then crouches and sets a small stone on the marker. His expression is unreadable, and after a while he straightens and walks away.
Last scene: The cries of seagulls sound overhead. An ocean sparkles under a bright sun. We've been here before. The camera shows us a man, silhouetted against the sun, sitting in a beach chair. There's a small table beside him, a newspaper and some other papers on the table, held down by an ashtray. The camera floats, lingers over the papers, shows us the man's name -- J. BELL. We see the man's lap, his hands -- he's writing a letter, the pen momentarily still. The camera dips to ground-level and we see the man's feet, shod in well-worn Nikes, and a long, cylindrical object beside the chair, resting in the sand.
It is a cane.
Fade to black.
AND SO. Since I have never predicted anything on the show correctly, there is not the remotest possibility that any of this is going to happen. Nevertheless it was fun to think about.
Comments are entirely welcome, but please remember -- this isn't about Thirteen.
And now I must sweep the kitchen floor. Chango will help. :-D
ETA to please expect spoilers in comments. :-)
Reading Mischa Berlinski's Fieldwork, which so far is the best novel I've read this year.
So. About this House series finale ...
The bottom line has always been that House is based on the characters of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. For David Shore to remain true to this core, should not the series finale take its lead, at least in part, from Arthur Conan Doyle's The Final Problem?
So, Thirteen returns. I have nothing against Remy Hadley (or Olivia Wilde, for that matter), but personally I'm not terribly thrilled by this, if only because I think she already had a good send-off and we don't need to see her again. Obviously David Shore thinks we do (not gonna touch that one), so she's here for a reason. The most up-front reason is that her Huntington's has worsened, and she wants House to fulfill the promise he made to her in ... whatever episode that was. But if we're to hew more closely to The Final Problem, there has to be something else. So here it is.
Thirteen knows that if House kills her and gets caught, he'll go back to prison, and this time it'll most likely be for good. So she brings him an out -- a forged passport. House keeps his promise, fakes his own death, and flees the country. HEY! It's no less implausible than his escape after driving his car into Cuddy's house, is it? IS IT? Remember, this is David Shore. Hand-waving and Magick Improbabilities are all part of the act.
Aside: whatever happened to that car? What kind of car is House driving this season?
The penultimate scene: House's funeral. It's a simple graveside service, and at the end Wilson lingers. Maybe he knows, maybe he doesn't. Watson didn't, so most likely Wilson doesn't. He stares at the grave marker for a long moment, then crouches and sets a small stone on the marker. His expression is unreadable, and after a while he straightens and walks away.
Last scene: The cries of seagulls sound overhead. An ocean sparkles under a bright sun. We've been here before. The camera shows us a man, silhouetted against the sun, sitting in a beach chair. There's a small table beside him, a newspaper and some other papers on the table, held down by an ashtray. The camera floats, lingers over the papers, shows us the man's name -- J. BELL. We see the man's lap, his hands -- he's writing a letter, the pen momentarily still. The camera dips to ground-level and we see the man's feet, shod in well-worn Nikes, and a long, cylindrical object beside the chair, resting in the sand.
It is a cane.
Fade to black.
AND SO. Since I have never predicted anything on the show correctly, there is not the remotest possibility that any of this is going to happen. Nevertheless it was fun to think about.
Comments are entirely welcome, but please remember -- this isn't about Thirteen.
And now I must sweep the kitchen floor. Chango will help. :-D
ETA to please expect spoilers in comments. :-)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-17 08:13 pm (UTC)Another spoiler behind the white-out: And House's Bio-Dad is named Thomas Bell, according to what I've read about the upcoming episode where we finally meet him. So House will have found a disguise in his true identity.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-17 08:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-17 08:52 pm (UTC)I mean, it would make me very sad to see House not being a doctor anymore, and Wilson having to choose which life he wants. But it would beat one or the other of them being dead, you know?
no subject
Date: 2012-02-17 08:59 pm (UTC)I can see House landing on his feet at some out-of-the-way foreign clinic, and if Wilson joined him, hijinks would definitely ensue, especially if Wilson didn't speak the language and House did. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-17 11:47 pm (UTC)I've always had this theory that Wilson is narrating the series, like Watson was narrating the original Sherlock Holmes stories, so I'm curious to see if I'm right. I understand the latest Sherlock Holmes film ended that way, though, so it may be considered copying.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-18 12:09 am (UTC)I like your theory! Just so long as they don't end it with the whole thing being a bubble of thought inside a snow globe. Ye gods.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-18 12:51 am (UTC)Your imaginary ending and mine could work together... House is sitting on the beach reading Wilson's book about him.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-18 01:05 am (UTC)Oh, Taiga. That is an awesome idea! ♥ ♥ ♥
no subject
Date: 2012-02-18 03:12 am (UTC)I remember reading an article once about Sherlock and its many incarnations and at some point it said: If Conan Doyle had really wanted to be rid of Holmes he would have killed Watson. Since then I live in fear.....
no subject
Date: 2012-02-18 03:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 10:07 am (UTC)And this is an amazing idea. You should write it.
And my two cents: I always assumed House would die at the end of the series.