House of the Departed (TV Series) Characters and Background Information
A house is a form of dwelling. It may refer to a single family residence or a multi-family dwelling such as an apartment building. It may also be a mansion or other large structure. The term can also refer to a group of people: the House of Tudor, or a governing body such as the House of Representatives. It can even mean a collection of objects: a hoard, for example. House can also be a name for an organization or association: The House of the Departed.
Throughout the show, House and his team of diagnosticians work to identify the cause of a patient’s illness. The team employs a method of differential diagnosis, listing possible etiologies on a whiteboard and eliminating them until one is discovered. This process often causes the patient additional complications, which can lead to new evidence that aids in the final diagnosis. House is particularly prone to arriving at the correct diagnosis seemingly out of nowhere, often inspired by a passing remark made by another character.
In addition to their medical expertise, House and his team members have a variety of personal strengths. Cuddy is resourceful and shrewd; she is often the source of House’s sarcasm and dark humor, though she occasionally questions his methods. Chase is a skilled surgeon and athlete; he frequently takes on cases that are outside of his specialty, and is willing to challenge his colleagues when necessary. Thirteen is a medical student with an analytical mind and an affinity for mathematics; she is often skeptical of House’s methods but eventually becomes his closest confidant.
The cast of recurring characters also includes Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a brilliant but arrogant diagnostician; Dr. Remy “Thirteen” Hadley (Olivia Wilde), a internist; Dr. Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn), a plastic surgeon; and Dr. Chris Taub (Peter Jacobson), a specialist in rehabilitative and sports medicine. During Season 4, Cuddy orders House to recruit a new team. He considers 40 candidates and narrows them down through a series of early episodes that are structured like a reality television-style elimination contest (Shore has referred to the process as a “version of Survivor”). The last candidate eliminated is interventional radiologist Amber Volakis, who appears in later episodes as Wilson’s girlfriend and in Seasons 5 and 8 as a hallucination of House’s.
The show has received critical acclaim, and is one of the most watched dramas on American television. It has received six Golden Globe nominations and won two, and has been nominated for five Emmy awards. In addition, the show has been nominated for multiple Peabody awards. The cast and crew have been praised for their acting, and especially for the performances of House and Thirteen. The show has also been criticized for its erotic content, and for the fact that it frequently reveals details of private lives, including homosexual relationships, drug use, and the death of a character. In addition, critics have criticized the series’ tendency to rely on flashbacks.