(S0309) While this show usually isn't "spun" too much in its promos for the next episodes -- something I'm grateful for -- I'm even more grateful that they don't put the titles of the particular episodes at the beginning of each, because this week's would probably have made some people feel a bit ill. "Finding Judas" is one of the more specific ones we've seen that weren't trying to be punny or something else, and as it turns out, it wasn't House that was looking for the "Judas" in question, it was more like we were, or that his team and colleagues were trying to find the Judas within. Or, even better, that Tritter knew that if he pushed enough buttons, that he would find the Judas in House's life.The case in question this week was quite interesting, as well. A little girl who seems to have an allergy to everything, or perhaps an infection that makes her look allergic to everything, or maybe a flesh-eating disease, or could it be something else? Who knows. All that was clear here was that with extra pressure being put on Chase, Foreman, Cuddy, Cameron, and Wilson, something would probably give - or would it?
Now, back to those promos we were talking about. We pretty much knew that someone was going to say something about House and his drug habit. The writers did a great job at framing Chase - even during the episode - to make us think that he'd be the one to drop the bombshell, but apparently even Detective Tritter saw him as the easy mark that would either sell himself out to the team and cause a rift, or make House mad. Turns out that it almost didn't matter what he did with regard to those guys, as Wilson was the straw that broke. Dr. Wilson, who had pretty much given up his oncology practice due to his inability to prescribe medication to cancer patients, is pretty much just serving time as a clinic doc, mixed in with serving himself peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the staff kitchen. As much as he gets agitated from week to week with what House is doing, it's got to be clear that he is a real friend to House, even as House steals half of his sandwich, drives away on his motorcycle as Wilson is sitting on a bench waiting for a bus, and so on. It's also pretty clear that having that friend in the first place is what's going to get House in trouble.
We also saw Cuddy in a completely different place. While she's obviously practiced medicine or been really involved in things from time to time in this show's 2 1/2 previous seasons worth of episodes, we got to see her not only take on a child as her guardian, but be involved in a surgical procedure and follow that up with trying to help the girl out by cooling her in a shower. To boot, we got to see her feelings hurt in a way that might as well have been as bad as the spear in Jesus' side, if we're going to use the biblical references this week and all.
While we're on that theme, I'd say that asking for "30 pieces of silver" has to be one of the more interesting comments to be uttered from a character on this show. I'd also say that House's knowledge that Chase wasn't the real reason that Tritter had let go of the bank accounts (or at least his allusion that it wasn't him, possibly, and that he just wanted to clear himself with his colleagues) means that he knows the drill, and he is obviously aware of the buttons being pushed. What he might not know, however, is that Wilson truly walked the walk once he saw what would happen if Chase did so. Sure, House is going to have "a decision to make" in the next episode (two weeks!), but he's also going to have to figure out how to deal with Wilson, if it turns out that he finds out who told Tritter the deal. At the end of the day, Wilson helps himself by "helping" a friend, but could it be that he saw the end of Chase's career if the young doc had sold out his boss, and knowing what he had already given up that he needed to just bite the bullet?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-29-2006 @ 9:27AM
buzmeg said...
This is my first season watching "HOUSE." So far I've learned that if anyone is sick, DON'T SEEK TREATMENT AT HOUSE'S HOSPITAL. Every episode depicts misdiagnoses, incorrect treatment(s), actions that border on malpractice, and general ineptitude well beyond the scope of believability.
Last night they were thisclose to making a small girl an amputee (two limbs) because our favorite junkie could not make the proper diagnosis.
House's "holier than thou" attitude is getting stale and is starting to grate on me. This entire episode was a potpourri of what should NOT happen in a hospital.
I'm wondering what kind of unbelievable twist will be portrayed in order to get Tritter off his back.
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11-29-2006 @ 9:38AM
Design said...
buzmeg...
This is one a the best shows on TV, Last week #13. Please watch something else, so we don't have to read your dribble about the show.
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12-02-2006 @ 11:45PM
Laurie said...
Wilson went to Tritter so that Tritter would not need anyone else. ie Chase.
Chase was going to go to Tritter, and Wilson knew it. He also knew that Chase was going to do it because of being hurt (litterally) and anger.
House will be able to take the "betrayl" of Wilson, but not of Chase. Nor could Chase handle it either.
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11-29-2006 @ 10:19AM
Nova said...
I hope I'm not that only one that is sick and tired of Tritter by now. This guy is annoying and if he gets the upper hand on house, I don't think I'll see the show the same way. Moriarty can't get the best of sherlock. It can come down to the wire, but House can't just lay down and take it from Tritter like he has been for the past 3 or 4 episodes.
We all know house has a drug problem, and maybe this is a way to resolve this. I still can't have the same level of respect for House if just completely plays the lame duck in his confrontations with Tritter. Also the actor that plays Tritter is just finger nails on chalk board every time he is in a scene. Why any of the doctors bother to talk to him, is beyond me. If he is conducting his investigation on his vacation time, there is absolutely no reason all the people can't just walk away from him every time he tries to talk to them. Personally I'm glad it seems like next episode is the last time we'll see him.
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11-29-2006 @ 10:21AM
buzmeg said...
Design...
dribble??? I suspect you were making a futile attempt to use the word drivel.
However I'd like to know why you believe you are the censor of this forum? Were you appointed or did you just take matters into your own hands? Last time I looked, we are still in America and like it or not, I'm entitled to my opinion.
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11-29-2006 @ 10:23AM
Mike Farrell said...
buzmeg: I think House becoming a problem for everyone, and the huge number of mistakes that he made this week is intentional as opposed to House being more House-like. The point is that his drug addiction has driven him over the edge and he's now becoming a liability, which is why Wilson is being Judas. I don't think he's afraid that Chase is going to ruin his career, but that House's career will be ruined (losing his medical license). After all this is the first time House has made a decision that is clearly wrong, and even when confronted with critical evidence to the contrary, was so preoccupied with himself, that not only did he ignore the information, but he knocked Chase down to get rid of him. I believe Wilson is really doing what he is doing, because he is seeing the self destructive spiral that he is finally in.
As for the misdiagnoses in the Hospital, that is pretty well life in any hospital. Typically they treat symptoms before they get a final diagnosis. Houses department does far more because they are constantly dealing with life and death situations with very rare conditions (which is why they land in House's lap week after week, he is suppose to be one of the best Diagnosticians in the world). George Carlin said that medicine is basically "guesswork in a white coat," which isn't far from the truth. Of course doctors are highly educated and have years of experience before they are allowed to work on their own, but it often comes down to the doctor making a diagnosis (which is an informed guess). The illnesses that House faces (which is the formula for the show) are ones that present themselves with symptoms from other illnesses, which would lead any doctor to, at least initially, misdiagnose.
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11-29-2006 @ 10:58AM
MrsEldubya said...
Every season we have some one who wants to take House down. I'm tired of Tritter and this whole story line actually. I hope they resolve it and move on so we can have more humor back into the episodes. I didn't like it when that big donor wanted House out (Chi McBride's character) and I don't like this now.
buzmeg, House handles very rare cases so yes, there will be some misdiagnosis along the way. You might want to try to catch the first season on the USA Network to really appreciate this show. The current story line is rather hard to understand without the background on all the characters. If I started watching this season, I'm not sure I would keep watching.
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11-29-2006 @ 11:04AM
La-di-dah said...
Buzzmeg: Ditto#5. It is because House cases are highly unusual and rare that make them look like they are fumbling, while they are actually doing what doctors do behind closed doors, which is make a differential diagnosis, make a best guess and treat based on that guess. There is no divine oracle that tells them what the patient has. E.g. while the "classic" sign for a heart attack is chest pain, the atypical signs are actually more typical - others, especially women, might come in with back pain and elbow pain, and the differential diagnosis is much wider and might be off the mark, at least at first. House is still the best (fiction).
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11-29-2006 @ 10:55AM
Linda said...
House is one of the best programs on tv, and finally they have a way to deal with his addiction even though he needs the meds. The acting is terrific. Wilson thinks he is helping House by what he does next week. Tritter is like House in a way that he thinks he can get away with everything. That is pretty scary.
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11-29-2006 @ 11:01AM
buzmeg said...
Mike Farrell...
Thanks for a very well informed explanation. I suspect you have some sort of a medical background. Do you?
To Nova...
Tritter is going well beyond the scope of detective work. he wants/needs to "get even" or worse with House for the manner in which he was treated during his exam.
I'm also not sure if he would have been able to perpetrate all the things he's doing to House's co-conspiritors. I know for a fact that freezing assets at a financial institution would take a Court Order to initiate.
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11-29-2006 @ 11:53AM
Walt said...
Um, I'm not a doctor, but if someone the misdiagnosis of the flesh eating bacteria pretty much tops my list of things that make the doctors look real stupid. The rash on the girl's back was also quite "developed" and they didn't even mention having to cut that off, too. If that bacteria was on her back (the trunk of her body) cutting off her arm and leg wouldn't have done much at all. The writers of the show have taken over from the doctors/creators who give the original medical premise, and so we now have a situation like what happened with the CSI shows where the writers are writing checks that medical reality can't cash...
Last year the ChiMcBride character wasn't rooted out by some medical twist of fate -- but with the cheapening of the writing for this show, I don't think Tritter will escape that fate. I predict Tritter goes down in a hail of fungal bullets.
Oh, and #5 Mike Farrell, love your work on M*A*S*H.
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11-29-2006 @ 12:55PM
Joel Keller said...
Walt, how do you know that's the MASH Mike Farrell? We certainly don't.
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11-29-2006 @ 1:20PM
Design said...
Buzmeg, NO I meant dribble as in "a small quantity of anything". Meaning your comments, your thoughts. People love nothing to talk bad about that is CLEARLY a good show.
If the show is beneath you just stop watching. Others posted here what I said, but just went into depth about their feelings on it.
I don't care about opinions, you put yours up and I put mine up. I didn't like yours you didn't like mine. Don't let your day be ruined over it.
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11-29-2006 @ 1:52PM
cress d said...
I just started watching HOUSE this season, after hearing nothing but good things about it. And...I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!!
Hugh Laurie is GREAT as House. This show hooked me after one viewing, and now I Tivo it every week(even the eps. Fox is airing on Mondays). Is it in syndication yet, and if so, what cable network has it(TNT, USA, etc.)?
I have a completely different take on House than nutmeg, and its my 1st season watching the show also. This show is good.
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11-29-2006 @ 1:57PM
cress d said...
#7 answered my question about what network has it in syndication... :)
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11-29-2006 @ 4:33PM
Nova said...
The Tritter story arc needed to end a couple episodes ago. He has long out stayed his welcome from my point of view. Though my view is biased as I think the actor playing Tritter is abrasive and have never enjoyed him in any of his other work either
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11-29-2006 @ 2:57PM
Walt said...
#11 Joel, my heart goes out to anyone who is named the same as a famous character, but not to anyone who posts with that famous name, so I get to make the assumption. If it's not the famous person, no harm. He could have put "Mike F" or "M Farrell" and done just fine, yes?
--Sincerely,
Steven Speilberg
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11-29-2006 @ 4:01PM
Lacey said...
I have to agree that I'm getting sick of Tritter. I understand the whole House meeting his match thing, I see the parallels between Tritter and House, and I get what the writers are trying to do.
But it's not working. I've watched House since the first season, and I've got the first 2 seasons on DVD, I absolutely love this show, and I don't even care about any of the unrealistic aspects of it, it's not supposed to be real, it's supposed to be TV, and I find it incredibly entertaining.
Tritter isn't just ruining lives, he's ruining the show. lol
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11-29-2006 @ 4:34PM
cress d said...
I want the Tritter storyline to come to a conclusion also(I know...Who the f@$# am I, all new to the HOUSE world w/ this season alone?). I like David Morse(a underrated actor IMO), but I want this "ball-squeezing" storyline to wrap up sometime soon. I'm new to HOUSE, and I love what I've seen so far..but the Tritter storyline is starting to irk me a little also. He needs his goddamn vicodin Tritter!! Ease up you bastard!
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11-29-2006 @ 10:46PM
Stevie said...
i'm digging the tritter arc, and i think david morse is as great an actor as everyone else on the show -- that is to say, amazing -- he totally gives me the creeps.
i'd like to point out that wilson isn't turning judas to help chase in some way, as was implied by someone up there (wtf?).
the girl had a genetic disease that caused her to react negatively to light. how could you have missed that?
another obvious point that's apparently getting missed: house is screwing up b/c he's in pain.
as for being house's patient, it's easy: go in w/ something weird, get a lumbar puncture, have your house broken into, go thru at least 3 horrible reactions and put into a coma or brought to the brink of death, maybe a few times, GET flesh-eating bacteria, wake up and find out if you take some pills you'll be right as rain and nothing will ever ever be wrong with you again.
House rules!
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