Doc, Heal Thyself
A medical mystery hits home on House
"Did you call Jack Bauer?" Dr. House snarks to his agitated boss when told the hospital's crisis this week has escalated to a Biosafety Level 3.
Funny line, as usual. But also telling. Because House (Tuesdays at 9 pm/ET on Fox) often feels like the 24 of medical dramas. It's that extreme, and that suspensefully entertaining. Besides, given the acidic way House treats patients and staff, his behavior isn't that far removed from Jack's methods of casual torture.
The desperation to solve the latest deadly puzzle is absolutely excruciating in this week's remarkable two-part thriller (Part 2 airs on Wednesday at 8 pm/ET). It's a tour de force, not just for the delightfully curmudgeonly Hugh Laurie as House, but for Omar Epps as long-suffering protégé Dr. Foreman.
This time Foreman's the patient, contracting the same mysterious and fast-acting symptoms (including blindness and unbearable pain) that put a wounded policeman in toxic quarantine. Epps gives a wrenching performance, sweating anguish and terror as his body succumbs while his colleagues scramble against time for answers.
Foreman's conflicts with colleague Dr. Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) and his estranged father (Charles S. Dutton) add to the tension. But it's House's fretfulness and guilt over Foreman that set these episodes apart and above.
"The reason you don't see patients is because if you know them, you'll give a crap about them," House's pal Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) tells him. Bottom line: There's no way not to care how this one turns out.
This House is on fire.
The Mild West
No one said it would be easy, but I figured it might be a little exciting. In a tepid eight-hour docu-reality series of sweat, hunger and ennui, a suburban California family and young cowboy wannabes try living life as if it were 1867, rounding up cattle in Texas Ranch House (May 1-4, PBS; check listings). Maybe you had to be there.
A Shining Star
Turner Classic Movies launches a monthlong salute to one of Hollywood's most outspoken, uncompromising and brilliant personalities with the frank, gossipy bio Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (May 3 at 8 pm/ET). Peter Jones' film attempts to deconstruct and deflate the myths around this studio rebel while celebrating her cultural status as a pioneering feminist and gay icon. In a searing gallery of movie clips and candid interviews, Davis is seductive, appalling, fascinating. A true star.
