(S03E18) Hello, everyone. Tom Biro had a flight conflict tonight, so I am covering House for him. (Yo, Tom, it's probably a good thing you'll be watching this episode after your flight, rather than before). I was delighted to fill in tonight, because I love House. It's one of my favorite shows; however, I may be the only person on the planet who didn't like last week's episode. I thought it was clunky. There are pro-life images that have been circling the net for years now with that exact shot of the fetus clutching the surgeon's finger. I thought House's use of it was obvious and kind of sloppy. And it wasn't the politics, it was the fact that I that particular scene has been done before. I wanted something a little more original. This was a great episode, though. Do you ever go back and look at the title of the episode and thunk yourself on the forehead and say, "D'oh!" Or is it just me?
I read through last week's comments and I was amused that so many people think that House will father Cuddy's child but that he won't get her pregnant the old-fashioned way. I think the recent rash (haha) of episodes thrusting Cuddy and House into each other's faces is building toward their eventual get together. I don't think they will ever have a relationship: I think they will have sex to give Cuddy a child. I just hope they are realistic about how long it may take her to conceive.
Back to the episode at hand! Sorry, I am just so giddy at having the chance to talk about this show! Even though I have been delighted to watch Cameron and Chase get to explore their real-life romance onscreen, I think it was a big mistake for them to start sleeping together regularly. Foreman was absolutely right: It was affecting their work. And to whomever said that they think that Chase is the one at risk of getting hurt here, I think that is dead on too. Cuddy was wrong last week.
But at least since they had sex in Fran's bedroom with the cat watching, they were able to solve the case! Oh, are there cases on this show?
Was I the only one wondering why Wilson was treating Fran right after her initial collapse? He is an oncologist-- why is he treating an ER patient? I know House has clinic hours, but this is the first I have noticed Wilson having them, unless he was filling in for House. Minor detail, but I thought it was interesting.
Did you catch when Wilson said, "I thought it was zebras," as he raced out of the room to see if Fran had breast cancer? I am a medical editor, and I remember the first time I heard this phrase. It is used with medical students, residents and interns. When you hear hoofprints, don't assume it's a zebra. Don't assume with every symptom that you are going to come up with something exotic. Hoofprints sound like horses, and they usually are horses. Unless you are watching House. In that case, everything is going to look like lupus and end up being a zebra.
Did you love the parallels in the cases, both at the hospital and on the plane? As always, I am surprised they can pack so much dialogue into one episode. House finding the three people to stand in as Chase, Cameron, and Foreman was hilarious. I loved that. The woman who got to fill in for Cameron was outstanding. Her timing was perfect. I also loved how the scenes cut back and forth between the hospital and the flight: the needles being prepped for the lumbar punctures (you did WHAT on an airplane?!?!), the blades unsheathed for surgery the smooth bald heads. Kudos to actress Jenny O'Hara if she actually did shave her head for his episode.
I have to admit that I thought at first, because Fran had been out of the country, that she had the same thing the guy on the plane had. And then I thought Cuddy was right about meningitis on the plane. Well, she was right last week! Why not this week? Then we can change the name of the show to Cuddy! Er... I guess that will teach me. But I kind of enjoy how the episodes, while not dependent on one another for continuity, are interrelated. And that something I see in one show informs my opinion of the next. I think (hope) we'll see Robin (Meta Golding) again. Wilson may not be smooth, but he is actually pretty lucky with the ladies. I'd love for Meta Golding, who was great on ABC's short-lived Daybreak, to find a "home" on House.
So, do you think Cameron and Chase will stay broken up? I don't think they will. I think they'll get back together. This is just tension! And drama! I don't know that Cameron is only trying to make House jealous. I think House and Cuddy are the new dynamo there. And remember, even though Cameron walked away from Chase, I don't think she is serious about not wanting a relationship. I think she is dying for a relationship. This is the woman who married a guy who was dying of brain cancer, remember? I think she is just scared. But maybe we'll get to see her layers unfold like an onion. Too bad the end of the season is coming up. They are going to have to resolve things-- and fast! Wouldn't it be a hoot if Cameron got pregnant instead of Cuddy?
We rate the episodes now, and on a scale of 1 to 7 (worst to best), I give this episode a 5.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-11-2007 @ 12:25AM
bauerknight said...
Rating of 1 to 7? weird.
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4-11-2007 @ 1:25AM
David said...
Yeah the rating system is a joke, but so is the site redesign.
Anywas I thought the ground storyline was much better than the airplane one. The airplane one was just too crazy. At least it had a different feel to the episode whihc is good for House.
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4-11-2007 @ 1:55AM
Sam said...
House picking stand-ins for Cameron, Chase (can you say "Crikey?" You'll do), and Foreman was so funny I cracked up at it again, three hours later, pretty much apropos of nothing.
Also, tonight was not a good first episode of House to show my mom.
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4-11-2007 @ 2:10AM
BigTed said...
If I had been a passenger on that plane, and didn't know House was the World's Greatest Doctor, I would actually have thought he was the world's worst doctor after seeing him go through his usual method of getting the diagnosis wrong four times before getting it right.
And while it was possible for him to assume that no one on the plane had meningitis once he had determined that the bald guy didn't, the trick he pulled to show everyone that their symptoms were all in their heads didn't make sense. It's possible to have hypochondriacal symptoms AND to have a real disease, both at the same time. So the fact that their hands twitched when House suggested they would wasn't any kind of proof that they weren't really sick.
While I liked the gorgeous hooker with a heart of gold, such a character can only exist in TV. (It would have been more realistic for her to have robbed the house rather than calling 911.) I'm guessing Wilson will end up sleeping with her, and House will guess she's a prostitute and make fun of him, but also caution that things can only end badly, which they will.
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4-11-2007 @ 2:29AM
Sam said...
Actually, now that I think about the "Wilson is almost definately going to sleep with a gold-hearted hooker" plot, didn't Cuddy play that same part on the West Wing?
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4-11-2007 @ 2:43AM
Bozack said...
um, i don't watch house, so forgive this question, but is the fine a&$ woman in the picture a regular cast member? What is her name? She was on DayBreak also and I am in love with her. I may have to start watching House...
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4-11-2007 @ 5:34AM
Bash said...
She was the hooker and most likely she will return for a couple of episodes as a love interest for Wilson.
Too bad I already finished the GDI campaign of C&C 3 I would have loved to see more Cameron *drool* She's so cute but honestly women who are considered beautiful nowadays are so damn thin... Cameron looks fragile in the stuff she's wearing if you ask me *sigh*
I loved it when house looked down the aisle when Cuddy walked away back to first class. Now we have three possible relationships on house and I just remembered that Foreman is already in one with another co-worker so there's nobody left. Wow.
I bet 50 bucks house and Cuddy will have a baby together. They've been setting that up for about 30 episodes now ...
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4-11-2007 @ 6:26AM
Chris said...
Why is every woman on the show attracted to House. I'm going to let myself go a little bit, maybe I'll have all the ladies chasing me too. I wouldn't be surprised if House bags the hooker before Wilson once he's back in town, or breaks Wilson's heart by informing him that she's a working girl and really not into him that much...
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4-11-2007 @ 6:41AM
Bash said...
House is like a reality show. You know... Schadenfreude is what drives people to tune in to a show these days.
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4-11-2007 @ 7:28AM
Chris W said...
I think you meant hoofbeats, not hoofprints, when talking about the zebras remark.
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4-11-2007 @ 7:28AM
Bill said...
I kinda figure House will be the one to clue Wilson in about Robin's profession by revealing that he "employed her services" in the past.
And BigTed: "It's possible to have hypochondriacal symptoms AND to have a real disease, both at the same time."
Yes, but since everyone but the original patient all had the hypochondriacal symptoms immediately, it's a very safe assumption that they're fine. Plus, the way to test that assumption is to tell them they're fine, have them relax, and see if anyone remains sick.
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/
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4-11-2007 @ 8:58AM
Matt said...
What I thought was really interesting is Chase is the one who figured out the right diagnosis on land, and the boy who was "playing Chase" was the one who caused House to to figure out the right diagnosis. It was a nice touch to keep the parallels together.
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4-11-2007 @ 8:36AM
tricia said...
Okay, one of the main reasons I quit watching House, and after last night's episode, will not watch it again, is the fact that it is absolutely so preposterous to think that an oncologist would be taking up time with this woman, that they would be the ones doing a mammogram, that C and C would go to the woman's house during office hours, and I'm sorry, but I would NEVER go to a doctor like House, because of his personality! Unfortunately, we are dealing with an oncologist, and while he is a very nice man, you only have a very few minutes to see him. He damn sure isn't the one to run your CT scans and do blood work. If you have a mammogram, there is a mammography department, with skilled technicians to perform the test, and then a specialist to read the results. If you suspect a toxin in someone's home, you send biological hazmat people, not two doctors! I know it is a television show, but sometimes I just cannot suspend my disbelief that much!! As for Hugh Laurie, I enjoy him as Hugh Laurie, just not as House. My score for this show? A 3 out of 10 (7? Are we at a casino?)
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4-11-2007 @ 10:29AM
BobbyBuz said...
@Jen Creer "We rate the episodes now, and on a scale of 1 to 7 (worst to best), I give this episode a 5."
Ratings are generally on a scale of 1 to 10? Why does TVS use a 1 to 7 scale? Seems wierd to me, and anyone seeing a 5, 6, or 7 that doesn't know the standard will assume the show is just mediocre.
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4-11-2007 @ 9:09AM
Kyle Beasley said...
That would be an interesting twist if Cameron got pregnant instead of Cuddy.
I loved when House picked the stand-in doctors. That was hilarious.
http://kylebeabo.blogspot.com/
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4-11-2007 @ 9:47AM
doug said...
I think that it's pretty clear that Cameron is dying for an emotional relationship with House, actually.
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4-11-2007 @ 10:05AM
Elliott said...
No one has mentioned my two favorite parts yet.
I loved when House told the one woman she was pregnant and then later diagnosed a woman with herpes. Laughed out loud at both parts.
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4-11-2007 @ 1:53PM
Ian said...
Some minor strange things.
If the planer had left say Chicago they would have said OHare Airport. But leaving SIngapore they invented a name for a non existent airport. Why?
If someone falls ill on a plane it's the Captain's decision whether to make a detour to the nearest airport, not a passanger, even if he is a doctor. The airline is responsible. Yet we never saw the Captain only a sinle airhostest with Hose making every call. Doesn't happen that way. The plane for sure would have made a diversion for the quickest possible landing to get proper hospital treatment for the obviously very ill passenger. And when others have look alike systems. the plane would land ASAP.
Small points maybe, but they make the story far fetched.
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4-11-2007 @ 11:46AM
C C said...
I never cease to be amazed by House. This week, they took a classic tv and movie cliche, the "trapped on an airplane" plot device, and gave it a totally fresh spin. I liked the fact they used parallel medical mysteries: one in the air with House and Cuddy amidst chaos; one back at the hospital in a safe, controlled enviroment. But the essence remained the same in both places: they had to figure out what was wrong with the patients to save their lives.
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4-11-2007 @ 8:53PM
Jose said...
"You think he's a mule?"
"I think he's a jackass."
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