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| Michael Tritter | |
|---|---|
| House character | |
 David Morse, who portrayed Tritter, in Toronto, 2005 | |
| First appearance | "Fools for Love" |
| Last appearance | "Words and Deeds" |
| Created by | Peter Blake |
| Portrayed by | David Morse |
| In-universe information | |
| Title | Detective (Det.) |
| Occupation | Police detective |
Detective Michael Tritter is a recurring character in the medical drama series House, portrayed by David Morse. He is the main antagonist of the third season, which ran between 2006 and 2007. Tritter is a police detective, who tries to get Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) to apologize for leaving him in an examination room with a thermometer in his rectum. After House refuses to do so, Tritter researches House's background and discovers the doctor's Vicodin addiction. Tritter turns people close to House against him and forces House to go to rehab. When the case ultimately comes to court, the judge sentences House with one night in jail and finishing his rehabilitation, telling Tritter that she believes House is not the drug addict he tried to make him out to be.
The character was created as somebody who could go "toe-to-toe" with House. Morse, who had never seen the show before, was unsure if he would portray the character and was not impressed after familiarizing himself with the show. The excited reaction of his friends to the acting opportunity finally convinced him to take the role. Initial critical responses to the character were mostly positive, but critics later felt that the seven-episode Tritter story arc became "boring". However, Morse was praised for his portrayal, and gained an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Emmy Award nomination for his appearance in the episode "Finding Judas". Morse stated in a 2006 TV Guide interview that, although he had discussed it with writers of the show, bringing the character back on the show would be "practically impossible".
Storyline
Tritter first appears in the episode "Fools for Love". His character is a police detective who becomes a patient of the walk-in clinic who suffers from a severe irritation in the area of his groin, which he believes to be caused by a sexually transmitted disease. Although House diagnoses Tritter with dry skin, a common side effect of the nicotine gum that Tritter is chewing, Tritter requests that a sample be tested. House declines on the grounds that he has already met this month's quota for indulging "stubborn idiots". After Tritter causes House to trip, the doctor feigns acquiescence, but insists he has to take Tritter's temperature rectally. After inserting the thermometer, House leaves the room with no intention of returning. Tritter later complains about his treatment to House's boss, Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein), saying that he would rather "beat the crap out of" House than sue him, however, House refuses to apologize. Later that night, Tritter pulls House over for a traffic violation and arrests House after finding unprescribed Vicodin pills in his pocket.
In the next episode, "Que Será Será", Tritter searches House's apartment and finds a large quantity of Vicodin pills and two apparently forged prescriptions that bore the name of House's friend, James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard). During "Son of Coma Guy" and "Whac-A-Mole", Tritter pressures Wilson and members of House's diagnostic team to testify against him, but they all refuse. In "Finding Judas", Cuddy finds Tritter spending his day off looking through the hospital's log for evidence against House. She accuses him of not having a life and "personalizing every slight". Tritter responds that "nobody is innocent", as everyone allows House to treat patients despite knowing of his Vicodin addiction, and that it takes a police detective to uncover what the doctors are deliberately hiding. At the end of the episode, Wilson visits Tritter and indicates his willingness to testify.
In "Merry Little Christmas", Tritter and Wilson work out a deal to allow House to continue practicing medicine if he pleads guilty and spends two months in rehab. Meanwhile, House uses a dead patient's name to obtain Oxycodone pills as a Vicodin replacement drug. When he visits Tritter early the next morning to agree to the deal, Tritter says the deal is off, after going through the pharmacy's log and reading that House signed for a dead man's drugs.
In the final days leading up to House's court case, House realizes the severity of the situation and finally apologizes to Tritter (episode "Words and Deeds"). When Tritter refuses to accept the apology, House goes into rehab, putting on a show for Tritter and the judge, but Tritter cites his past experiences with addicts as evidence House has not changed. The judge tells Tritter that she does not believe House to be the drug dealer that Tritter tried to show him to be, and orders Tritter to move on. Just before the bailiff escorts House out of the courtroom, Tritter tells him, "Good luck. I hope I'm wrong about you."
Personality
Alan Sepinwall, The Star-Ledger"Tritter himself is essentially House without the sense of humor, but that doesn't make him any less right in his assessment of House as bully."
The main antagonist of the third season, Tritter is a "stubborn", "vengeful", and extremely determined police detective. According to David Morse, the offensive thermometer incident in "Fools for Love" made it easy for Tritter to stand up to House; As House's equal, Tritter "gets who House is on all levels and can really shake his foundation". Tritter's past experiences with drug addicts color his view of House, and he becomes so morbidly obsessed with House that, according to executive producer Katie Jacobs, the story arc turns into "a battle of egos" between them. The character shows a manipulative streak when he forms a plan to coerce each member of House's team to testify separately in "Finding Judas". Robert Bianco of USA Today described Tritter as an initially "legitimately, if belligerently, aggrieved adversary" character who later morphs into "some kind of insane supercop, tearing his way through the hospital and the Constitution at will".
Creation and casting
The Tritter character was created as someone to go "toe-to-toe" with House. The producers envisioned a character with an inner strength, intelligence, and single-mindedness to match that of House. In 2006, House creator David Shore contacted actor David Morse, with whom he had previously worked on Hack, for a guest-starring episode arc on the show. According to Ellen Gray of the Philadelphia Daily News, Morse's earlier portrayals of "scary" cops (in 16 Blocks and Hack) helped him clinch the role.
Morse was unfamiliar with the show. After watching several House episodes, he was surprised that the show had a strong audience with " a total jerk" as the lead character. It was not until Morse told a few long-time friends about the job offer that their enthusiastic reaction convinced him to take the role. Katie Jacobs, executive producer of House, was impressed by Morse's performance. In a 2006 TV Guide interview, Morse said that although he discussed the possibility with House writers, it would be "practically impossible" to get the character to return in any later seasons.
Reception
Staci Krause, IGN"...However, after about the fourth episode and the many troubles he was causing the people in House's life, we were bored. This story seemed to drag on forever and, in the meantime, there weren't that many great medical cases to fill in the gap."
Initial responses to the character were mostly positive. Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune declared Tritter the best male villain of the fall of 2006. Lisa Edelstein, who portrays Lisa Cuddy on House, named David Morse as one of her favorite House guest stars, saying that he did a great job portraying the character. Barbara Barnett from Blog Critics Magazine and Charles McGrath of The New York Times compared Tritter to Inspector Javert of Les Misérables, and Alynda Wheat from Entertainment Weekly stated that Tritter annoyed House more than any other character, surpassing other antagonists such as Amber Volakis (Anne Dudek), Stacey Warner (Sela Ward) and Lucas Douglas (Michael Weston).
However, the continued character arc increasingly bored critics. Staci Krause of IGN found the first few episodes of Season 3, in which House recovers from being shot, more interesting. In a review of "Que Sera Sera", Entertainment Weekly's Michelle Kung noted that while David Morse is a fine actor, "his cop is so ridiculously one-note and revenge-bent that his scenes are often just excruciating to sit through." In a review for "Fools for Love", Sara Morrison of Television Without Pity doubted that Tritter's revenge on House was worth his time and aggravation, and later called the Tritter arc an "insane quest for ass thermometer justice". The Star-Ledger's Alan Sepinwall stated that "pitting House against a comedy-impaired cop was both dull and not a fair fight."
The show's fans had previously shown dislike of other antagonists with multi-episode guest-starring arcs, and critics suspected that Tritter's character would receive similar disdain. The conclusion of the storyline, and Tritter's departure from the show, were described by USA Today critic Robert Bianco as a Christmas gift for fans of the show. Morse jokingly stated after his departure that various fans had told him of their hate for Tritter after what the character had done to Dr. House.
Morse, however, gained mainly positive responses to his portrayal of Tritter. The Star-Ledger's Alan Sepinwall called Morse a "superb actor", and Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune stated that Morse's "understated performance" made Tritter all the more scarier. Zap2it's Daniel Fienberg regarded Morse as "one of our very best character actors". Cynthia Littleton of Variety, who already considered Morse's work in St. Elsewhere Emmy-worthy, was glad that Morse's submission of the episode "Finding Judas" for a 2007 Emmy Awards consideration was accepted in the category of "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series". The award eventually went to John Goodman for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
References
- ^ Murray, Noel (June 24, 2008). "Random Roles: David Morse". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 22, 2008.
- ^ Krause, Staci (June 13, 2007). "House: Season 3 Review". Some great medical cases, one disappointing story arc and a shocker of a finale. IGN. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- ^ Cohn, Angel (October 31, 2006). "David Morse Prescribes Big Trouble for Dr. House". TV Guide.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Shore, David; Blake, Peter (October 31, 2006). "Fools for Love". House, M.D.. Season 3. Episode 5. FOX.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) Television Without Pity Recap - Shore, David; Moran, Thomas L. (November 7, 2006). "Que Sera Sera". House, M.D.. Season 3. Episode 6. FOX.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) Television Without Pity Recap - Shore, David; Egan, Doris (November 14, 2006). "Son of Coma Guy". House, M.D.. Season 3. Episode 7. FOX.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) Television Without Pity Recap - Shore, David; Davis, Pam (November 21, 2006). "Whac-A-Mole". House, M.D.. Season 3. Episode 8. FOX.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) Television Without Pity Recap - Shore, David; Hass, Sara (November 28, 2006). "Finding Judas". House, M.D.. Season 3. Episode 9. FOX.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) Television Without Pity Recap - Shore, David; Friedman, Liz (December 12, 2006). "Merry Little Christmas". House, M.D.. Season 3. Episode 10. FOX.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) Television Without Pity Recap - Shore, David; Dick, Leonard (January 1, 2007). "Words and Deeds". House, M.D.. Season 3. Episode 10. FOX.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) Television Without Pity Recap - Sepinwall, Alan (November 1, 2006). "This is why they don't have many friends". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Morrison, Sara (November 7, 2006). "Vogler II: Electric Vog-a-loo". Television Without Pity. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- ^ Wheat, Alynda (September 12, 2008). "Who Annoyed Dr. House Most?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Ryan, Maureen (November 2, 2006). "Sweeps ahoy! Highlights of November's TV schedule". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Bobbin, Jay (October 30, 2006). "A new enemy for Dr. House". Newsday. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Byrne, Bridget (November 8, 2006). "David Morse a 'House' Cop With a Problem". The Associated Press. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved August 15, 2008.
- Williams, Kate (August 24, 2007). "House, M.D. - Season Three". PopMatters. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Ausiello, Michael (August 7, 2006). "House Exclusive: David Morse Joins Cast!". TV Guide. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Krause, Staci (November 29, 2006). "House: "Finding Judas" Review". IGN. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
- ^ Bianco, Robert (November 12, 2006). "What to Watch Tuesday". USA Today. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Gray, Ellen (October 26, 2006). "David Morse makes a "House" call". Philadelphia Daily News.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Ryan, Maureen (October 19, 2006). "Fall TV's best new characters". The Watcher, Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Kubicek, John (October 2, 2007). "Exclusive Interview: 'House' Star Lisa Edelstein". BuddyTV. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
- Barnett, Barbara (April 10, 2008). "House, MD: Revisiting the "Tritter Arc"". Blog Critics. Retrieved September 22, 2008.
- McGrath, Charles (January 7, 2008). "Discovering Irishness, Recovering Niceness". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Kung, Michelle (November 8, 2006). "Heavy Hands". On "House", oppressive cop Tritter draws Wilson into his case against the doc, and the team struggles to diagnose 600 pounds of patient. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- Morrison, Sara (October 31, 2006). "Awkward". Television Without Pity. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- ^ Sepinwall, Alan (November 27, 2007). "Sepinwall on TV: 'House' gets a creative shot in the arm". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Fienberg, David (October 30, 2006). "The Tease: 'House' Returns with David Morse". Zap2it. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- Latifi, Sadia (June 12, 2007). "We Ask David Morse of 'The Seafarer' Who's Tougher: The Devil or House?". New York Magazine. Retrieved November 28, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Littleton, Cynthia (July 19, 2008). "Emmys: Oddities and observations". Variety. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - 'O Neill, Tom (July 30, 2007). "We've got the titles of episodes submitted by Emmy's guest actors!". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - "The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards and Creative Arts Emmy Awards Nominees are..." (PDF). Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - "Academy of Television Arts and Sciences 59th Primetime Emmy Awards" (PDF). Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. September 16, 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)
External links
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