I never wanted to say that about the finale of House. For a good four seasons, that show was banging on the door of my All-Time Favorite's list. Hell, for a while there Greg House was St. Peter.
As I predicted from the moment I started watching it though, House went the way all great Fox shows go (X-Files, The OC, Malcolm in the Middle arguably, The Simpsons, Married with Children, and the list goes on). It kept going. Past "it's not as good as last season". Past "it used to be SO good. What happened?". Past "They've ruined it". Past "that's still on". Now, I'm actively happy it's ending, which is sad.
These last couple seasons haven't been all bad. The new team (Taub, Thirteen, and Kutner) had a good run for a while. I rather liked the brief stay of Masters. Park and Adams would've been great had they been introduced when the show still cared about quality.
But mostly, this has been a 5 season journey into the abyss. Later in the week, I will be writing about some of my favorite House episodes. Today, however, we will take a look at the 5 episodes that, more than anything, I think signify the turning points in the series, for the worse. Let me make it clear. These are not [necessarily] my least favorite episodes. They are just the five hindsight warning signs that things were going downhill.
You Don't Want to Know (4.8)
Yeah. This is the one that the guy has Lupis. How fucking stupid was that. Two things were sacred in the series: Everybody lies and it's not Lupis. Then, here we are, the prime of the series, not even at the halfway point, and they kill one of the two major pop culture contributions it has. Not a bad episode, but a horrible sign of things to come.
Simple Explanation (5.20)
Speaking of killing...I know this one had more to do with Kal Penn than the direction the show wanted to go, but damn, what a bad turn. They already have an expiration date on 13 and they kill off Kutner. That means, the "reward" for staying a loyal viewer is more Taub. Fuck!
Known Unknowns (6.7)
My least favorite episode of the series. I won't even rewatch this one to remember every little thing I hated about this. I just know that this is the episode that got me calling the show "House 90210". Somehow, it all became about Huddy and "will they/won't they". Such a disappointment. This was the second closest I ever got to quitting the series.
After Hours (7.22)
House does surgery on himself in his apartment. Season 1 House wouldn't do that. The fact that season 7 House would means that the direction of the show is deconstructing a great character, not growing him. Fucking ridiculous.
Moving On (7.23)
And then, a week later, House drives A GOD-DAMN A CAR INTO A GOD-DAMN HOUSE AND FLEES TO -WHAT- MEXICO OR SOMETHING?!?!?!? I swore I was done with it. Somehow, the promise of being the last season and the addition of one really hot new doctor and one new doctor who I liked from other things got me to stick around.
You may notice that I'm not including any episodes from the 8th seasons. Mostly, this is because they all kind of go together as an amoebous blob in my mind. On a philosophical level though, I see season 8 like the Roseanne season when they win the lottery, or when Coach took over a pro sports team, or that least season of Scrubs that was a different series entirely. The series as a whole is better without it.
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