(S02E22) Gregory House is right up there on the list of people I want to be. There's something to be said about pulling off that whole "likable jackass" thing. That and the flawless even-length beard stubble. I'd say that I've found a new hero... but that would mean setting aside Jack Bauer and I think most people will agree with me that I'd be in for a good ol' butt kicking if I made Jack Bauer play second fiddle to House on my list of TV heroes.
Well, on to the episode. Well written and incredibly funny as usual. I always feel bad when I laugh as House makes a joke at the expense of a cancer patient or an elderly woman... but I suppose that's the beauty of it. Anyway, Foreman is back at work but the team is still one short since Chase requested some time away from House to work in the NICU for a few weeks. House doesn't seem to think it's because of him though. Naturally, he snoops around but that wasn't the only thing on his radar.
As I said, Foreman is back after his life-threatening battle from last week's two-parter. He seems to have developed quite the appreciation for life and along with that appreciation comes a newfound tolerance for House. Foreman does nothing but agree with the man. There's no argument, which has House completely PO'ed. This isn't the doctor he hired. House is more than willing to admit that his ideas need to be challenged. Fresh thought is often what saves a patient's life. We later find out that Foreman might not be agreeing with House so readily by choice. Following the brain biopsy that Cameron performed on him, he's a little foggy in the head. He has trouble performing simple tasks like making coffee and it seems that he's also resorted to medical term flash cards to try and prime his engine. I'm starting to wonder if Foreman is ever going to be the same doctor again.
Moving on to the case, a mother had a seizure while taking a bath with her four month old child. That can't be too good. The only problem is the doctors can't diagnose the seizure... so she faked it? That seemed to be the case because later on in the hospital, she suffocated her child to near death while screaming, "I have to kill him." The child later died on Chase's watch. So was she hallucinating? Hearing voices? Completely delirious? Part of it was Coeliac Disease, which is a digestive disorder where the affected individual can't eat anything with gluten or else they risk interfering with the absorption of nutrients. Her baby had it too and it's why Chase's treatments weren't working. The mother was also a recovering alcoholic and that coupled with the Coeliac Disease led to Pellagra, a vitamin deficiency that can eventually lead to dementia. Hence the voices in her head.
As I said earlier, House kept snooping regarding Chase's move to the NICU. Turns out Chase took some paid vacation time from diagnostics and was still collecting a paycheck at NICU. He's double dipping. We knew Chase's father had died (we met him last season) but I still thought Chase was pretty well off. Maybe not?
That wasn't the only thing that got House curious though. Cuddy and Wilson went on a date... what?!?! Naturally, House has to know why. So he pokes through Cuddy's trash and finds a box for some red clover supplements. Using his freaky knowledge of Cuddy's menstrual cycle, House deduces that Cuddy is looking to have a kid. So it wasn't a date with Wilson. It was an audition to be her unborn baby's daddy. And apparently he failed because Wilson doesn't seem to want kids. So House felt pretty vindicated but this is coming from the guy who TiVo's The L Word and watches it on mute.
Best Quotes of the Episode:
-"Think you can do a strep throat culture without ending up in the guy's poop chute?" [House to Foreman, regarding Foreman's inability to now perform simple tasks.]
-"Idiots are fun. No wonder every village wants one." [House to Foreman.]
-"I'm gonna drop the N-Bomb if I have to." [House to Foreman (I'm sensing a trend), in an effort to get to him to stop being so easy going.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-10-2006 @ 7:00AM
Cahlroisse said...
This episode left me so unsatisfied in the end. Even more so than the conclusion of last week's two-parter. They didn't say specifically, but I assume the woman died. This is two weeks in a row when the patient(s) has/have died. And the stuff about Chase was less than clear. I guess they're trying to build up tension for the season finale, but: Grrrrrr!
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5-10-2006 @ 8:35AM
amm said...
I really liked the show last night. I don't believe the woman died, they found out what was wrong, granted she refused treatment for the cancer at first but that shouldn't automatically mean she died. House did talk with the woman after she refused treatment so that lead me to believe she might reconsider treatment. House scored Big with me as usual. It is refreshing to see a doctor be politcally uncorrect to save his patients.
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5-10-2006 @ 9:19AM
Doc said...
Loved it! It's the only show I will make myself stay awake for.
Always interesting, I never can figure it out before the show lets you in on the illness. Great writing, excellent acting. Just a damn good show.
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5-10-2006 @ 9:54AM
judy williamson said...
HOUSE IS GREAT NEVER MISS A SHOW . I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY WHEN HE WAS IN LOVE WITH THE OTHER DOCTORS COOKING
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5-10-2006 @ 11:06AM
SusieQ said...
Love his polically incorrect attitude!!!! Great show, nice to have something to look forward to after Idol. I have been watching it from the beginning.
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5-10-2006 @ 11:18AM
Susanne Gleason said...
I just have a question to ask if anyone can answer for me. Is Katherine on American Idol a member of the Scientology ( church ? )
such as Tom Cruise, Anne Archer, Kirsti Alley etc. ?
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5-10-2006 @ 11:25AM
David Lederman said...
I loved House rght from the beginning. He is funny, and entertaining but if you've ever spent a significant amount of time in various hospitals like I have, with an unknown cause for a gran mal seizure you might understand why comedy in a hospital doesn't make it with me. Good-bye Doctor House...
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5-10-2006 @ 11:46AM
Cookie said...
yeah, but her husband came in and tried to get the woman to reconsider treatment, she wouldn't. So he told her to tell Mikey some things when she dies and sees her son again.
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5-10-2006 @ 11:49AM
Tricia said...
maybe last night was my "duh"night but I never did fully understand what the woman's true diagnois was, also the show was depressing and not one of the better House show's.I believe when her husband told her that when she saw their son to tell him he was sorry, meant she would not take the treatment.
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5-10-2006 @ 11:59AM
bluehmstr said...
Hey, nice write up... but I came to some different conclusions. See if you agree with this...
First, I thought Cuddy was looking for a sperm donor. Red Clover boosts fertility, and she was still menstruating so she wasn't pregnant. The "date" was an audition for a father, and Wilson tanked since he didn't want kids yet.
Also, I think Foreman will be just fine. From what I saw, it seemed like his "it's just a blessing to be alive" attitude was just an act, and he's still the angry sharp ambitious neurologist he always was. He just has gaps in his memory (the flash cards) and in spatial recognition (the coffee). At the end of the episode, Foreman smiles when he gets one of the flashcards right. I think he'll be okay.
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5-10-2006 @ 3:04PM
Liz said...
I think Foreman will make a full recovery later on (next season?) but I hope he'll keep some of his "it's good to be alive" attitude, if for no other reason than to piss off House.
I agree that Cuddy was auditioning for a sperm donor - didn't she say she wanted a donation, not a party (i.e. sex)? She thought that Wilson would be a good choice because he's single, healthy, smart, etc. I didn't get the idea that his not wanted kids had anything to do with not going ahead with the idea of broaching the subject with him. I thought she just got uncomfortable with it.
Finally, I thought we were left with the idea that the mom would eventually die because she was refusing treatment for her stomach (?) cancer but not that she was dead by the end of the ep. I thought it was kind of creepy that her husband didn't argue with her to have the treatment even after he said "I thought if you did, we could try again," but maybe he understood that she couldn't live with herself after killing their baby.
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5-10-2006 @ 5:45PM
Cahlroisse said...
Yes, I didn't mean that she'd died by the end of the episode, but I have to conclude that at some point in the next couple months she dies somewhere, which means that, even though they solved the mystery, it's another patient they didn't save.
I have to agree with bluehmstr that Foreman's smile probably does mean he'll recover to his normal take-control self sometime soon, but I too hope he's not all back for at least a few more episodes for the House annoyance factor.
But all of this still means that there's a ton of unresolved tension at the end of the episode and it's killing me. They need to air the next episode tonight instead of next week. I love this show.
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5-11-2006 @ 10:37AM
scott mclendon said...
I thought House ran pretty well w/o the cane.Hmmm...
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5-13-2006 @ 5:37AM
julie said...
hello hugh laurie i'm your best fan of the world
i love dr house i think that it's look like clint eastwood lol i really like
byebye kiss
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5-16-2006 @ 7:11AM
Ginny said...
House is the number 1 show in my eyes. I never miss it. I think House is good looking with those blue eyes. I hope they nevr take it off the air.
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