House Double Review

Does the quality step up a notch as we race towards the finale?
It's strange to think that House will very soon reach its ultimate end in the show's finale Everybody Dies. All the same, that time is coming, and so I thought I'd provide my judgement on the two most recent episodes (#19 and #20 out of 22 total) that have aired...
BODY AND SOUL (4.5/5)- As often happens with the show, we get a bit of a curveball case here, as a girl is admitted of supposedly supernatural causes. Of course, soon enough the truth behind the fantastical elements of the episode are revealed, but in fact it's the final revelation that comes as the biggest shocker. After a gradual build-up of animosity between House and Wilson throughout the episode, we finally discover that the latter character has been afflicted with cancer. If the show's producers wanted to throw in a major crossroads for House in the final four episodes of the show, they've certainly managed it here. The reverance and respect with which the situation is handled in Body And Soul at first is magnificent, and while we could have done with perhaps a bit more emphasis on the twist, the next episode more than makes up for it...
THE C WORD (5/5)- What has always been interesting with House is seeing how it deals with modern dilemmas. From drugs to Huntington's to suicide, the programme has never been afraid to delve into the darker aspects of humanity and the world our race inhabits as the realms of science so frequently do. Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard bring us their best portrayals of House and Wilson yet when Wilson chooses to risks his own life in order to quickly determine the danger which his looming cancer poses to him. This is a totally believable move on the part of a man who has seen so many cancer patients die despite seemingly strong odds of survival, so that he survives it yet remains none the wiser is doubly effective. We'll have to see what becomes of Wilson (and indeed House) given the ominous title of the series' finale, but whatever happens, we can sleep safe in the knowledge that one of House's best ever episodes has come right near the end in the form of The C Word.