This past season of House has been anything but pleasant for our infamous diagnostician. Starting out the year in a mental hospital, House was forced to come to grips with his pain killer addiction. If that’s not bad enough, he has to continuously see a psychiatrist while moving in with Wilson. Although, that all came to an end when Wilson reunited with his ex-wife and forced House to move back into his newly painted apartment.

Even though House had his issues, his fellow compatriots at Princeton‑Plainsboro also had their fair share. Aside from Wilson getting back with his ex, Chase killed an African dictator, Cameron broke up with Chase as Jennifer Morrison left the series, Taub begins cheating on his wife again – but then stops, Foreman fires Thirteen and she takes a trip to Thailand before returning and Cuddy’s relationship with Lucas becomes even more serious.

Despite all their personal and professional problems, the team was still able to save patients from over 40 diseases, including Fabry disease, Vibrio vulnificus, haemochromatosis, Arnold-Chiari Malformation, Henoch–Schönlein purpura and a woman having an allergic reaction to tattoo ink - yeah, I don't know what most of those are either, but I'm glad they're curable.

If that doesn’t make for a fulfilling season, I don’t know what does.

So, pop a couple Vicodin (kidding!), hire your favorite investigator to spy on your friend’s ex-wife and make sure you’ve got Interferon on tap, because it’s the House season finale.

Preview

Cuddy, House and members of the team join forces with a search-and-rescue team to provide much-needed medical attention at the scene of an emergency in the "Help Me" season finale episode of HOUSE.

Review

For the past couple of seasons House, in my opinion, has somewhat waned in terms of storylines compared to the first few seasons. Sure, the underlying House story-line with his addiction, love for Cuddy and what not were still present, but so were the in-depth storylines of his team – his ever, ever, expanding team.

By no means am I implying that the subsequent seasons were bad. House has continuously been one of the best written, most entertaining shows on television. But having to include so many story-lines in an episode means that others may suffer – in screen-time, if not quality.

Tonight’s season finale of House however, was not only beautiful masterpiece in both acting and writing, but also a refreshing return to basics. It included so many jaw-dropping, heart stopping moments that this episode could easily be considered one of the best episodes of House to date because it not only gave fans what they’ve always wanted (House and Cuddy – together), but it also provides an amazing platform to start of the seventh season.

Simply speaking, Hugh Laurie has sealed his Emmy nomination and win with his performance in this episode. Laurie, easily one of the best actors on television, continuously shows his range and talent as a performer with his portrayal of House and this episode, above all others, shows just how beautiful of a performance he can deliver when given an episode focused solely on him.

I cannot tell you how many times I sat still frozen in my seat while watching the events of this episode unfold. While the scene of a horrific collapse would easily make anyone take pause, it was what occurred after that really took hold of your attention. The scenes between Hannah and House, while underneath all that rubble, were eloquently written and performed. Through their interactions House was forced to reveal the humanity and compassion that everyone knew he had, but was often hesitant to reveal.

Throughout the episode, House not only became closer to Hannah, but also closer to Cuddy. Something that was the initiated by him gifting Cuddy her great-grandfather’s book – the one that was stolen back in the previous episode. While initially watching the episode, one would have thought that the climax of the finale would have been the heart-breaking ambulance ride, but as fans continued to watch through the final moments, a series climax occurred.

As we watched House contemplate giving in to his addiction to help relieve some of that pain that Hannah’s death caused, you would be lying if you said that you saw that ending coming. Out of nowhere, Cuddy steps in and every wish that fans have had since the beginning come true.

Where do we go from here? Will House and Cuddy be able to maintain a real relationship? I guess we’ll have to wait until the fall to find out that answer. Until then, I’m happy to revel in the satisfaction of the great characters finally getting together – maybe Bones producers should take note.

Final Thoughts

The sixth season of House was not only a beautiful episode in which Hugh Laurie shined as the troubled doctor, but also a monumental one by taking the series in a new refreshing direction.

What did you think of the season finale of House? Will House and Cuddy be able to stay together? What will happen next season? What happened to Thirteen?

Don't miss the seventh season of House, this fall, on Fox

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