A funny thing happens on the season finale of “House” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14): An episode of “ER” breaks out. The kind where a hospital procedural becomes a combat zone. A high-cost production that screams “Sweeps,” where something really big just has to happen.
The absence of such stunts is one of the reason why many viewers have gravitated to “House” from “ER,” but I guess they just couldn’t help themselves.
This “House” departs from the series norms to take House and Cuddy to the scene of a horrific urban construction accident. Just before departing for the gruesome site, House learns that Cuddy has become engaged. Just how much her new status affects the dyspeptic doctor’s psyche is something Cuddy, House and the audience will have to figure out.
Once amongst first responders, House returns to normal, barking out diagnoses and making triage assessments with his usual bemused detachment. Surrounded by death and chaos, he gossips on the phone and vandalizes a soot-covered vending machine to steal a soda.
Then he begins to act strangely. Hearing a noise in the rubble, House crawls into a tight crevice to find a young woman pinned beneath the building. And as hard as he might try not to, he seems to bond with her pain and predicament. Some fans of the series may feel a tad uncomfortable seeing a patient get to House. And the rest of us have to figure out whether this change in attitude marks a dramatic breakthrough or a major setback.