The end of the sixth season is not only near, it’s kicking the door in with a cane. Just now, in the last episode of the season, the construction crane collapsed. And man, have we been through a lot.
Towards the end of the fifth season, things really heated up. First, we got to see “The Social Contract,” another very interesting episode, as I mentioned before. Then, with “Locked In” and “Simple Explanation,” things got intense, and before we knew it, the tone changed, and House found himself in the midst of a crisis.
Of course, we can’t overlook that this crisis had a trigger, a pretty intense one at that. One morning, Kutner didn’t show up for work. Many assumptions were made, and when Foreman and Thirteen went to his apartment, they discovered that Kutner had shot himself.
This was already the case before, but from here on, the series unabashedly plays with colors (Color Grading). The mood is often supported by a dark, blue tone or a light, soft, slightly orange tone, making it even more clear to the viewer. This happens right up until the sixth season and occurs again and again, depending on how intense the various moods are dictated by the story.
I also found it intense that Amber was brought back into play here. She had become an important link between House and Wilson, even though it looked different after her death. This also reminds me of a description of Amber that I should have mentioned much earlier, where she is described as being like House and how Wilson actually wants to be with House. It’s interesting because that’s exactly what happens in the sixth season when House and Wilson move into the new apartment. For a brief moment, they’re a couple, and it just fits incredibly well. It’s just a shame that the lovely Sasha Alexander has to suffer because of it. It’s fascinating how she has changed since the first two seasons of NCIS.
We wouldn’t be with House if everything were easy. So, House himself has to go through hell again before he is actually taken to a rehab center on a second attempt. Anything else wouldn’t fit, but I also felt a little sorry for him here because realizing that his dream was just a dream, where he didn’t end up with Cuddy, was pretty harsh.
The sixth season then starts with House’s stay in rehab or in a psychiatric hospital where he meets interesting personalities. This includes Franka Potente, who is mainly known from German productions, which pleased me at the time. She is also one of the few German actors who can dub themselves, which was very well done here. I really like this story arc because it shows the ups and downs of House and his realization that constant rebellion may not be the right path after all.
Of course, many important topics are addressed again in the sixth season, one of which is euthanasia. It has been shown or hinted at several times before, but here it appears several times. One time, it’s even not from the patient’s perspective but from the doctors’, which is incredibly unusual. The most impressive was also the instance where House was locked in with a dying patient and increased his morphine dose in the end.
The other major topic is, of course, Chase’s act. He caused the death of a patient who was a dictator. This episode has raised questions over and over again, and rightly so. Is that okay? Is that justified? Just as I write about it, I realize that I don’t want to delve into this topic as much because discussions about it are exhausting and not good for me right now. But everyone has to decide for themselves, especially in such a profession, what all of this means for them, ethically and morally.
I’ve skipped over some episodes and topics now, and that’s somewhat intentional. Because while the sixth season does focus on the patients’ respective illnesses, it focuses even more on the developments of the protagonists. Foreman and Thirteen and their relationship. Taub and his wife, how does their marriage progress? Wilson and his love life! Cuddy, Lucas, and Rachel? And of course, House and his attempt to be happy, which becomes more than clear in the last or penultimate episode with a session with Dr. Nolan. All of this is extensively dealt with in the sixth season and leads to some back and forth, which I don’t mean in a negative way. Because even though there were already developments before, those that occur in the sixth season provide a breath of fresh air and keep the series at a high level of entertainment.
However, to come back to the penultimate episode of the sixth season, I can really understand House. You do and try everything, work on yourself, do your best, listen to others and their expectations of you, but in the end, only others feel better, and you feel worse. It’s an absolutely terrible feeling, to put it bluntly, and no, it’s not just because he’s depressed or the pain is getting worse again. House is an overthinker, and he has already thought about a lot. No, it’s a realization of the fact, and this is then reinforced by what happened in the last episode (the leg amputation). I don’t condone what he does, but I can understand it.
The last episode is almost finished, and I’m not sure anymore how season seven starts; I’ll indulge in that in a moment. I still remember quite a bit, but as often happens, it’s a bit jumbled, so it’s even more exciting.
Bonus:
There’s one more thing I’d like to write about because it was an episode that personally moved me. “Locked In” was again an episode where I felt very understood. Because even though the Locked-in Syndrome actually exists, there’s another variant that is rarely talked about, sleep paralysis. A completely normal process where the body, once it falls asleep, becomes paralyzed so that we don’t use the body too much while sleeping and dreaming. But it can also happen that you wake up, can breathe normally, move your eyes, but otherwise, you’re practically paralyzed. Absolutely not a nice feeling, but again, kudos to the series for bringing attention to the fact that this exists and is something serious.
Oh yes, of course, I also noticed that Meat Loaf appeared in the fifth season. A great artist who heavily influenced my music taste in the 90s. Unfortunately, he has also left us, but I hope he rocks hard somewhere else.