Conversion & the New Season of "House" with Hugh Laurie

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There aren't really any TV shows that I watch with much regularity. Our family tends to enjoy Monk and Psych on Friday nights, but that's about as far as it goes. Anything else I watch is completely random.

For some reason Julie recorded the season premier of House Tuesday. We watched it last night. I've seen House a few times and generally think it's interesting. The character of Dr. Greg House, played by British actor Hugh Laurie, reeks of brilliance and arrogance. He's not easy to like.

The 2-hour season opener titled "Broken" was one of the best TV shows I've seen. Yes, it exceeded the WKRP "Turkeys Can't Fly" episode--though a different genre, no doubt. Perhaps not quite as good as the finale of MASH. Certainly WAY better than the last episode of Seinfeld--what a waste.

This episode was real, authentic, biting. There was a brief moment of naive sentimentality, but the overwhelming trajectory of the show was one that did not sugarcoat the harsh realities of human brokenness. House is chief among broken people. He knows it, but he doesn't want to deal with it. His brilliance helps him deflect the probing questions of others, creates a shield around him. But his own humanity finally defeated him. Only a profound awakening could rouse him from the slumber of his soul.

There's nothing in this episode about Christianity, spirituality or God. But I couldn't have sketched out a more amazing picture of conversion than that envisioned by the writer of "Broken" or lived out by the cast (Hugh Laurie along with guest stars Andre Braugher and the terrific German actor Franka Potente). Without a full experience of conversion, we are like sleepwalkers, broken and disconnected vessels with slumbering souls, awaiting a magical and mystical awakening of the senses. Sometimes this arousal is as painful as it is exhilarating. Yet the life of something new can only begin with the death of something old.

I appreciate that this was not a jump-the-shark episode with space aliens or bubonic plague outbreaks. Maybe that will come this season. Perhaps the depth of Dr. House's character will not get anywhere close to the complexity of this season premier. Of course, I may not notice since I may or may not be watching. But I am grateful for the story of brokenness and healing House shared with me last night.

Comments

Karamel with a K said…
HOW can you not keep watching HOUSE???
The show is WONDERFUL and HUGH LAURIE is AMAZING each and every week!
September 26, 2009 at 9:32 PM
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