Dr. House returns for season five, still cranky

Tonight marks the return of one of TV’s most sarcastic and rude characters created to date… Tonight marks the return of one of TV’s most sarcastic and rude characters created to date ‘mdash; the one who’s apparently never fired from his job because, as his boss puts it, ‘The son-of-a-bitch is the best doctor we have.’ Dr. Greg House (Hugh Laurie) returns for his fifth season on FOX, and missing the premiere is not recommended. ‘ ‘House’ is a medical show that combines the best of the best. In each episode, a patient is wheeled into the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital with an array of symptoms that could belong to multiple diseases. A group of young doctors, under supervision of a man who happens to be a prescription painkiller addict, must combat the disease with an arsenal of tests and treatments. The patient is almost always cured in the end ‘mdash; but don’t worry, the plotline is exciting, albeit predictable. The writers deliberately make up for this repetition by creating character conflicts relevant to controversial social debates. The new season of ‘House’ is complete with both old and new characters and will pick up two months after last season’s shocking finale. Previously, one of the hospital’s doctors was killed by an unlucky series of events, leaving the people who knew her to deal with her death. House’s best friend and doctor sidekick James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) in particular suffers, as the deceased was his girlfriend. He struggles not only with dealing with her death, but coming to terms with the role that House played. His method to deal with her passing leaves House, top boss Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) and most of Wilson’s associates stunned. Of course, as the doctors continue to deal with relationship drama, a hardworking feminist is wheeled into the hospital with hallucinations. What was thought to be a B12 deficiency turns into the typical string of symptoms and health problems stemming from one unknown cause. While waiting for a diagnosis, viewers can witness a controversial gender focus ‘mdash; just where does a hard-working woman fit into society? Can she truly be anything, or can she merely aspire? Even the language turns controversial in parts (thanks, House). House’s previous apprentices all remain in the hospital, playing their roles in each episode as more mature doctors who have learned from the sarcastic House. One of them finds that her reactions to patients are constantly altered by the fact that she has Huntington’s disease and will, in fact, die herself within 12 years. Despite that, the newcomers are stepping up to take over the small roles that House’s original team left empty. This season should show if they are able to grow into their fields as much as the other doctors.