Pilot

The pilot of House, M. D. hasn't aged well in how it treats women. At the end of the episode, House tells Dr. Cameron he hired her because she's beautiful, implying her looks - not her skills - are her real value. He even suggests that being attractive should have opened easier doors than medicine, trivializing her professional achievements. What makes it worse is the power imbalance: a boss reducing his employee to her appearance. The show frames this as witty banter rather than harassment, reflecting a broader early-2000s TV pattern where male "genius" characters got away with sexist behavior. What once passed as edgy dialogue now reads as a stark reminder of how normalized workplace sexism was on screen.

I had watched many of the House episodes in their original airing and over the years. So much time has passed I wanted to take a look at them in their original sequence. This Pilot offers more than the usual ones. For one thing, we are immediately thrust into a complicated case. A kindergarten teacher has a seizure in front of her little students. As is usually the case with House episodes, the case in incredibly complicated, the diagnosis evasive. House, of course, is irreverent and full of anger. We find out about his addiction right away and that he has issues with authority. What works the best is that he is never lovable. He is harsh and honest, even if it hurts feelings. I will slowly make my way through the series.

I know it's not fair since I've just finished the Pitt, but all of this is mediocre at best. I cannot stress enough how none of this holds up to modern standards. The editing and shot choices are worse than modern YouTube movies, acting is so bad it could've been done by Germans, colour grading is horrifying, plot and pacing is just so predictable and bad, the medical stuff is absolutely laughable, the Sherlock Holmes of it all is the opposite of subtle and completely unearned even in the pilot, and the character of house is a one dimensional joke. Only thing that's remotely okay is that the rest of the characters when not talking about medical stuff seem like real people. Again, it's good for the mid 2000s but man has TV come a long way since then.

It's not that usual for a television series to be able to successfully establish all of its character dynamics and interactions so accurately in the very first episode, but House, M.D. manages to pull it off. This episode, commonly referred to as "Pilot", also known as "Everybody Lies", was extremely well written by the show's creator, David Shore, and expertly directed by Bryan Singer. It begins by introducing Rebecca Adler, a kindergarten school teacher who becomes the very first patient in the series, as she experiences the early symptoms of her mysterious condition while at work. The case eventually reaches the hands of Dr. Gregory House, the head of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine, who finds it boring and is initially reluctant to take it on, but is ultimately persuaded to do so by his best friend and colleague, Dr. James Wilson. As the storyline progresses, we get to witness House's unorthodox approach to both life and medicine, whether it's through his interactions with the members of his team, which is comprised of Dr. Eric Foreman, Dr. Allison Cameron and Dr. Robert Chase, his boss, Dr. Lisa Cuddy, who is the Dean of Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey, and his patients, whether they suffer from common or rare medical conditions. Think of Gregory House as Sherlock Holmes with a lab coat even though he hardly ever wears it. He is a doctor who is not interested in treating people, just diagnosing and treating the illness, with very little regard for his patients' fate. This makes him one of the best characters that has ever been written for television, as he is both awesome and flawed and we get to see that during every differential diagnosis, every conversation and every scene in which he is involved in. His swagger is defined by his demeanour and he is truly at his best when he is either being arrogant, dismissive and sarcastic to people or just popping pills and quoting Mick Jagger. One thing is for sure... well, maybe two things: I'm hooked and I'll keep watching.

Terrible with patients, Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) is excellent in determining what is wrong with them and then curing them.

He gets right to the heart of the matter, whether it is someone that is dying, or someone who is a hypochondriac, or a mother that thinks she knows more than her doctor does.

He doesn't mince words, and believes all people lie.

This episode introduces the characters we will grow to love and introduces the best medical show on television.

Directed by Brian Singer, who gave us X-Men and X2, this is one exciting show.