Housemay have revolved around a character who didn’t believe people changed, but the series certainly evolved over the eight-season run.Housebegan airing back in 2004 on Fox. The show revolved around the skeptical, brilliant, and deeply egotistical doctor Gregory House, a man whose ability to diagnose and assess illness was unparalleled.
House also made use of a team of young talented doctorsto round out his team, and often provide a sounding board to bounce his theories off. However, while the show started with this procedural medical drama format, the show did change a lot from start to finish. Between the literal cast changes, to the ways in which House interacts with those around him, the show explored how life changed for characters like House, and the people closest to him.
10House’s Diagnostic Team Lineup
First up, the most obvious change in the show was the people involved. At the start ofHouse, the diagnostic team was led by House himself, with three young, and exceptionally talented, doctors joining the respected doctor’s pioneering diagnostics team.Doctors Robert Chase, Eric Foreman, and Allison Cameron all brought different skills and expertise to the table. They also learned a lot from their mentor, both good and bad.
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House’s intro remained the same for the most part across eight seasons, but the show had different intro songs depending on how you watched it.
However, gradually, House’s team moved on to different roles, and House needed to replace them in order to keep the diagnostics department going. He put on large competitive interview processes, and hand selected other doctors down the line, but after his first team, there was always some fluctuation in the department. And by the end of the series, it’s an almost entirely different team.
9House & Cuddy’s Relationship
House and Cuddy, the Dean of Medicine at Princeton Plainsboro, had a complex relationship from the beginning. Initially, they appeared to be close colleagues, with some shared history. However, there is also tension due to House’s unorthodox approaches to medicine, and the challenges that frequently causes Cuddy. However, there is also a deeper connection that is waiting to be explored.
Over the course of the show,House and Cuddy eventually get into a romantic relationship, but this ends catastrophically. Despite this, the connection with Cuddy, and House acknowledging his own emotions and reliance on someone else, is a significant development for him. They may not have brought out the best in each other, but there was a genuine emotion and passion that they shared, and this is only explored fully later in the show.
8Eric Foreman Stepped Up
House’s leadership style is also unorthodox. He pushed his colleagues to commit illegal acts, lie to patients, administer drugs without a definitive idea of the illness, and much more. During this period, Foreman was someone who struggled the most to connect with House and follow his instructions. Despite this, there were many ways that the pair were also the most similar to one another out of everyone on House’s team.
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However, Foreman knew that House’s methods were not the best, or safest, and he made real strides to get away from the influence and negativity that he and House shared. Instead, he stepped up and became House’s boss, taking over from Cuddy as the Dean of Medicine, and leading the hospital towards a brighter future. But Foreman could have had a very different future if he hadn’t come out from under the pressure and leadership of House.
7Robert Chase Became A New Leader
Another member of the original team,Chase was in many ways House’s favorite fellow on the diagnostic team. Despite the similarities between House and Foreman, Chase possessed some of the best qualities of House, and he eschewed the worst. Chase has his entire world rocked by House, finding a wife in the diagnostics team, and eventually divorcing from her again due to the influence of House. However, his passion for diagnostics and solving puzzles made him a worthy replacement for House.
Eventually, when House is forced to serve time in prison and loses his medical license, Chase is the one who steps up to take over the highly acclaimed diagnostics department. Considering the world renowned status of this team, it was a huge undertaking, but Chase learned all he needed to from House, became an incredible leader and teacher, and became the new head of the department.
6House Put His Friends First
House was never the best at maintaining friendships and relationships with the people around him. Instead, he would often use these people for his own personal needs, or occasionally just for his own amusement. While some friends were willing to let this go for extended periods of time, it was enough to drive a permanent wedge between House and the people closest to him on several occasions. This was also seen very clearly when people from House’s past would return, and the strained relationships that existed.
Which supporting character from House would you like to see lead a spin-off?
Even though House creator David Shore’s comments about a possible spin-off make it seem unlikely, it’s not impossible either. I personally think that Chase would be the best to head up a House spin-off, especially considering how his story ended in the finale. He had some harsh experiences throughout the show, like the whole Cameron fiasco, so if anyone deserves their own show, it’s him.
However, by the end of the series, House learns to put his ego to one side, at least partially, and put his friends first. The finale has House and his dear friend James Wilson riding off on motorbikes, leaving their work and lives behind them, simply so they can enjoy Wilson’s remaining time before his diagnosis takes him. House also puts his faith in friends like Chase and Foreman, stepping away from diagnostics and Princeton-Plainsboro, knowing it’s in good hands.
5House Goes From Insubordinate To Reckless
However, not every change that House underwent was positive. From the beginning, House was egotistical, and frequently broke protocol. He would use dirty tactics to get the truth from patients, and do anything to solve the puzzles. He also had a vicodin addiction which occasionally improved, but often got much worse over the run ofHouse.
However, the behavior that House exhibits in the latter half of the show is significantly worse. House gets increasingly reckless, with his actions endangering others. He pushes friends and loved ones away in their darkest moments, like when Amber died, and he failed to be there for his friend Wilson, or driving a car into the living room of Cuddy after their breakup. House became more dangerous, and it affected everyone around him.
4James Wilson Stopped Defending House
With this development of House’s spiraling mental and physical health, House needed his friends more than ever. While James Wilson had been House’s dearest friend for a long time, House did not value and respect that relationship often. Instead,House left Wilson to struggle with his messes, and he continued to do whatever he saw as important. However, because Wilson felt his friend did have genuine care for him, he put up with House’s eccentricities, and defended him, even when that could cost him his career.
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But, House took advantage of that relationship one too many times, and when Wilson lost his girlfriend, Amber, in an accident where House was also present, Wilson was forever changed. He gave up on House, and the idea that he could change, or show any sort of genuine emotion. Evidently, House does eventually show Wilson that he cares, but Wilson does not continue to be a door mat to a friend who doesn’t treat him with respect.
3House Proved His Own Point
One of House’s mantras from the start was the stark declaration that “people don’t change.” House had a bleak outlook on life, and often saw the worst in others. While people like Wilson, Cameron, and Cuddy looked for the best in the people around them, including House, House’s cynical approach caused him to distrust and disregard almost everyone. This ultimately led to House falling out with a lot of people who were deeply important to him.
However, while House changed in some ways, there are deep-rooted issues that the character held on to until the very end. Where others grew, advanced in their careers, shifted their priorities, and lived life, House stagnated. He fell deeper into his addiction, struggled to repair relationships, and stubbornly continued to put himself above others. Yes, House did change and make some better choices at the very end, but as a whole, he remained the same complicated figure from beginning to end.
2House Gets Rocked By Death
House is a doctor who deals with people who suffer from the rarest and most intense illnesses in existence. So, he is no stranger to death. However, like many other doctors, House has a resilience to this, but unlike many doctors, he seems almost entirely without any emotion around death. More often, House takes it harder when he fails to get a diagnosis, than when he loses a patient.
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However, as the show advances, and people close to House begin to pass away or receive a terminal diagnosis, House’s emotions start to come out. When a talented doctor, Kutner, who appears jovial and full of potential, decides to take his life, it rocks House’s worldview, and he struggles to understand and reconcile what happened. When Amber dies, House sees the ripple effects in his life, and he struggles. Then, whenThirteen and Wilson get a terminal diagnosis, House’s perspective changes. He is the one that encourages them to leave work behind, and pursue passions.
1The Show Spends A Lot More Time Outside Princeton-Plainsboro
Like many medical procedural shows,Houseis primarily focused on exploring things that happen in the hospital. The show did briefly leae the bounds of the hospital to search patient’s homes and other small details, but as the show progressed, the world of the series expanded. More time is spent in House’s apartment, or on the road with House and Wilson taking roadtrips. This development adds depth to the characters, and shifts the focus away from the medical drama, and onto the individual characters' stories.
By the end of the show, House spends more time out of the hospital than in it, with him being incarcerated. There is also a greater emphasis given to House and Cuddy’s relationship, with more time spent in their private spaces. This development helps to takeHousefrom a show which simply has interesting characters in a medical setting, to one that really took time and effort to dig into their stories, and it resulted in a deeper and more intriguing show all around.
House
Cast
House is a medical mystery drama in which the villain is typically a difficult-to-diagnose medical malady. It follows Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a world-renowned disabled diagnostician with a notorious substance abuse issue. With his team of world-class doctors, House has built a reputation as one of the most brilliant doctors in the world - an especially impressive feat when taking into account that he rarely actually sees his patients.
