House - Season 6 [Blu-ray][Region Free]

I've just bought the Blu-Ray series of this having watched the series on TV.

This series explores a different side to the inimitable Dr House. I'm sure you are already familiar with him if you're looking at Season 6, so I'll be brief and only say that we now see him attempting to confront his drug addiction and its aftermath.

As an ambiance, this gives season 6 a lot more depth in character development than previously, and something which may feel odd is that the medical cases actually take a back-seat in some of the episodes which has rarely happened up until now. Having said that, I did not find this jarring as I've been totally sucked into the love-hate relationship most viewers have with House. He's still rude and obnoxious to most people but his relationship with Wilson gives him an element of humanity we just can't let go of - in this vein, season 6 is a lighter and brighter affair than the crushingly dark (but still brilliant) Season 5, more akin to the earlier series. Something many fans will love is that the original team are reunited for a big part of this series playing far more pivotal roles than in the last few seasons, and the private detective Lucas returns as a semi-regular character - in a very surprising way!

From the opening episodes, 'Broken', to the suspense packed finale, 'Help Me', I was hooked and couldn't wait to watch the next. New characters like the manic Alvie, and level-headed Dr. Nolan crop up too, and worm their way silently into your heart in unusual ways - something only House is this good at as in any other show, the balance wouldn't work and they'd just be irritating distractions. This series is a must.

Blu-Ray features:

You get a lot of extras on the Blu-Rays which were great, including a behind the scenes with Hugh Laurie which was especially interesting and commentaries on important episodes.

If you own an iPhone or smart phone, there is also a great feature called 'pocket BLU'. This enables you to use your wifi phone as a remote for internet connected Blu-Ray players, and you can scan episodes and scenes on your device, rather than through the player menus which are far less visual or intuitive. This little add-on is fantastic and was worth the extra few pounds on its own in my opinion. Why all Blu-Rays aren't using this beats me as it's very useful indeed.

In addition to this, you get the usual deleted scenes, trailers and other bumpf, but for me, pocket BLU and the HD quality made this a very worth while purchase.

This is the first season of house to be released on blu ray. Im not reviewing much here other than picture quality. Its... great. I mean, of course its great, 1080 always looks great.
Does it blow me away like the clarity and visual impact of say Lost or movies like I am Legend... no. But how can it? Its a medical drama, arguably one of the best ever medical dramas but still only what it is.
The point is, House is about compelling characters, engaging plots and believable, empathic characters. It achieves all of these flawlessly, and so should be savoured.
I own series 1-5 on DVD- and the picture quality has always been great. Better than most dvd's I have, house has always been a very clear picture. However, that little edge that blu ray gives it, the few extra veins in Hugh's head, the beautiful colour in all the scenes and the occasional stunning visual all deserve to be presented in the best way possible, the show is worth it.
Is the pic on Blu better? Yes. Does it improve enjoyment? marginally, but yes. Is it worth it? its like £6 more. Dont be cheap. Is it mind blowing- as a show, yes, as a visual, its beautiful and definately better than dvd, but its not going to win any awards.

The Season:
After the epic finale of Season 5, where House finally hits rock bottom and commits himself, I really wasn't sure where Season 6 could go. The fifth year had a promising start, a reasonably enjoyable middle and a jaw dropping ending. However, the middle always makes me think of an otherwise uneventful Season 3. I rarely return to that Season.
Although I enjoyed Season 6 up to a point on the TV I actually ended up putting off buying this season for an entire year on Blu-Ray simply because, side from the finale, it didn't live up to Season 4 (still my favourite).
However, I recently purchased this Blu-Ray and have been additively (pun intended) chomping through each episode on a nightly basis.

My conclusion is that House is not really a TV series. It is impossible to get the full force of the stories and sub-plots when you have to wait an entire week for the next chapter. On DVD/Blu-Ray you can get your fill and sink into the world and relish the detailed sub-plots.

Season 6 has some amazing moments; notably the feature-length season opener 'Broken' in which House is a patient himself for several months. 'Epic Fail' is an impressive difficult-second-album (how would YOU follow 'Broken'?) and 'The Tyrant' shows that this season will pull no punches and gives Chase his most powerful story line to date.
The season finale 'Help Me' is brilliant and the build up to this episode in terms of character's back stories is brilliantly handled. Every character has their moment to shine and after Season 5, we are reminded just why these characters are in the first place.

My personal forgotten episodes that are worthy of mention (but ignored the first time round) are:
'Teamwork' in which Chase faces his worst-case scenario, 'Remorse' where the team come face-to-face with an actual psychopath, 'Wilson' and '5 to 9' both cover a day-in-the-life (almost) of Wilson and Cuddy respectively which have more appeal when viewed back-to-back with medical mystery episodes. 'Private Lives' which holds some of the season's more amusing moments including a speed dating sequence. Finally, Hugh Laurie's directorial début, 'Lockdown' is by far the season's finest hour (bar the opening and closing episodes).

All in all this season is the best we have seen for a while and it would be difficult to find fault with any episode.

The Blu-Rays:

Picture:
I have never seen House look so good. The detail is crisp, sharp and the contrast is spot on. For anyone looking for hours and HOURS of near perfect quality to show off your new full HD TV, then you cannot go wrong with this. 'Broken' (which is like a movie anyway) look spectacular, but scenes from 'Moving The Chains' and 'Black Hole' were very impressive on my TV.

Audio:
It was the audio that prompted me to write this review in the first place. If you have a Blu-Ray player but are not sure whether or not to spend the extra on the BD version of this season - think again! The 5.1 mix on the previous DVDs has always been OK, but the DTS 5.1 mix on this Blu-Ray is awesome! Music segments fill the room, background noise really is background noise. I cannot tell you how crisp and clear you can hear monitor beeps and corridor noise behind you! It is a great use of the 5.1 mix I have ever known for a TV series.

I realise that I am probably not saying anything new about this box set than previous review, or as coherently, but I wanted to add my feelings on viewing the Blu-Ray edition as it really does the show and this season justice.
I highly recommend it on both a technical level and for being such an incredibly great season.

I certainly am not going to wait a year to purchase Season 7!