House - Season 3 (Hugh Laurie) [DVD]

House season 3 is by far the best, and riskiest, season of the impressive medical drama so far. Steadily increasing in popularity with each passing year, it is welcoming to see that the House writers didn't decide to 'rest on their laurels', but instead did unpredictable, surprising things to the main cast. On few popular dramas do we see the lead character jailed and facing prison, but then Dr. Gregory House is no ordinary, ten-a-penny drama character. This complex genius is made all the more engaging due to his fierce conflict with Tritter, a spiteful detective out to destroy House's life. Tritter, played superbly by David Morse, is a rare character on House: someone who is equal to the doctor, and who won't back down without a fight. This compelling vendetta, and House's uncertain future, dominates much of the first half of the season, and stands as one of the best sub-plots in the series history to date. As the season progresses, we see more screen time devoted to the relationships forming between the supporting characters. At least one of these relationships gives House much reason for consternation, and his antics during this period are amusing and at times juvenile. As for the season finale, it will be interesting to see if the writers have the courage to go ahead with the massive changes implemented in this episode. If they do, then this show will have earned its rightful recognition as the gutsiest show currently being made for television.

Extras on this 5-disc, 24 episode DVD package include:

Alternate Take From Cane and Able: The Angry Valley Girl Version
Half-Wit Commentary with Creator/Executive Producer David Shore and Executive Producer/Director Katie Jacobs
Blooper Reel
The Making of The Jerk: Anatomy of an Episode - An inside look at the making of Episode 23.
Soundtrack Session: Hugh Laurie and The Band From TV - Join Hugh Laurie and the rest of The Band From TV as they record the smokey song "Minnie the Moocher" for the show's soundtrack.
Open House: The Production Office - Executive Producer Katie Jacobs gives viewers a tour of the production office.
Blood, Needles, and Body Parts: The House Prop Department -- An inside look at the property department.

Season 1 got me hooked, Season 2 made me fall in love and Season 3 just made me giddy. If someone told me this show couldn't get better, I would be inclined to agree. At the end of Season 2, House was shot and he asked to be given Ketamine which would help fix his leg. Season 3 starts off with, what seems to be a completely new House, he's happy and he's walking without an aid and doing his job without Vicodin. This is cool, it shows us just how much the leg problems have affected House and his personality. It doesn't last, as within a few episodes he's back to using the Cane and popping pills every hour.

During mid season House also gains himself a Vogler-esque type enemy, only this time it's a cop, and it lands House in some serious trouble. He's constantly haunted by this cop who insists on making House's life a misery until he's behind bars. House just carries on as usual, so the cop known as Tritter starts on his friends, first off is Wilson. This is a big test for their friendship as Wilson's life is almost destroyed by Tritter, but he refuses to give him up. Can we say the same for the team? Even Chase? Watch it and find out, you wont be disappointed.

You know the greatest thing about this show across all seasons? It's not the witty one liners or the likable supporting cast or the complex Dr. House. It's that the show isn't cliché, it doesn't have a case and solve it every episode and then make out like everything's cool. It shows you that actually life isn't like that and not everybody pulls through the rare life threatening illness. Although House may solve most of the cases, a lot of the time it's too late or sacrifices have to be made by patient relatives in order to save the patients life. This makes the situation more realistic and makes it genuinely more intense as you're wondering every episode whether the patient will pull through.

Naturally Season 3 is bound to have the classic lines. Below are some of my favourites.

From Episode 1: The Meaning

Cameron: "You're lucky he didn't die."
House: "I'm lucky? He's the one who didn't die."

From Episode 8: Whac-A-Mole

House: "Okay, fine. I'll father your child. But first you gotta write me a Vicodin prescription. Just so I can get through the foreplay."

From Episode 14: Insensitive

House: "I was curious. Since I'm not a cat, that's not dangerous."

From Episode 22: Resignation

House: "Personally, I can't believe I had the same three employees for three years."

I agree that season 3 is the best series of House to date. The terminally obnoxious diagnostician ramps things up to 11 in his remorseless quest to alienate everyone in his life, while the cracks in his own inscrutable life begin to widen.
Hugh Laurie continues to astound and show hitherto unseen range in his portrayal, whilst the supporting cast complement his character perfectly. Hospital administrator the seriously gorgeous (Lisa) Cuddy struggles to contain House's gigantic ego, and he even makes a surprising new enemy, leading to a relentless vendetta that threatens to ruin his career as well as his life. As ever though the naive Wilson, ambitious Chase and lovestruck Cameron constantly shield House from himself, but as he gets evermore out of control, even these few steadfast supporters begin to show signs of fatigue.
Another excellent set of stories in a truly compelling series.