|(S06E04) "I thought I had detected the sickly sweet smell of maple syrup and socialized medicine." - House
Early on in this episode, House exclaimed "It's three years ago!" when he realized that he was working with the old team - Foreman, Chase, and Cameron. It became apparent rather quickly, though, that things at Princeton-Plainsboro are still very far from normal. He may be back, but House isn't back. Right now, he's more like the little kid that your co-worker brought to the office and he just won't leave your cube. That and the little kid is way smarter than you are.
Since House doesn't get his license back for another month, that leaves Foreman in charge with House, per Cuddy's request, "advising." Of course, we all know that means belittling and undermining Foreman's choices and deductions every chance he gets. It didn't help that the first case with the old gang together again featured what's arguably one of the most polarizing patients they've ever dealt with on this show. African dictator President Dibala, wonderfully played by James Earl Jones, certainly didn't win anyone's sympathy here and it was amazing how his character continually caused shifts in the team - especially with Chase and Cameron.
With the potential of releasing someone with plans to start a genocide vs. just being a doctor and doing your job, the answer isn't all that easy to arrive at. Initially Cameron seemed in favor of letting Dibala die and then her stance softened. Chase was the exact opposite and his stance solidified after Dibala essentially told him he'd do whatever it takes to protect his country, even if it meant killing half the population.
Now here's where House's absence plays a role. With House around, Chase never would have considered fudging that blood-work and sealing Dibala's death. However, with Foreman in charge, it's an option. Foreman is a pushover and Chase and Cameron both see that. He has no faith in his own medical opinions and being in the presence of someone like House, whose deductions are right 99.9% of the time, doesn't help. It's doubly frustrating, as Foreman experienced here, when it turns out that this happened to be an instance of that 0.01%.
As for Foreman and Thirteen, things don't look so good. Yes, he was able to get her a job interview at Princeton General, but when she pressed him about his job and why he didn't risk his career to save their relationship, he buckled and laughed it off. Whether Foreman wants to admit it or not, his job is his priority. He should get used to working with Thirteen though, because with Jennifer Morrison's impending exit, there's going to be an opening on the team again and I'm guessing Remy will get it. As for Taub? Well, Peter Jacobsen's name wasn't in the credits and it was reaffirmed that he quit at the top of the ep, so who knows if he'll actually be back. I've yet to see any news though.
A few more thoughts on "The Tyrant" --
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House's little mystery romp as he dealt with Wilson's crotchety neighbor was fairly mundane. Bottom line - I just didn't care about Murphy, which is too bad, because I loved David Marciano as Billings on The Shield. Wilson made an excellent point - House doesn't know when to not get involved and in this case, it was to the viewer's detriment. The guy needs his job back ASAP.
- Two fun homages - Wilson doing his best Bill Compton (True Blood) impression and House pulling a Dexter when he injected Murphy with the syringe.
- It's not just the fact that House was still in charge the whole time, it's the way he does it. Rather than yell out answers like an underling, he still made the other three work for the solution. Then he took it one step further and mimed out his suggestions. Very funny stuff. Well... funny if you're not Foreman.
Two big things to look for as we go into next week. First off, is Foreman going to be able to deal with his House complex? He can't keep supporting wrong decisions just to prove his authority over his former, and soon to be again, boss.
More importantly, though, is Chase. This guy is not a killer and he just fudged a world leader's blood-work, knowingly watched him receive the wrong medication, and then half-heartedly tried to save his life as he choked on his own blood. The amount of guilt that's going to come with that is gonna be way above Chase's threshold. I don't know how he's going to handle it.
[Watch full episodes and clips of House, as well as other shows, over at SlashControl.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-06-2009 @ 8:14AM
tacoburrito said...
No one else notices the look on House's face when the neighbor exclaimed he's finally pain free after House did the 'treatment'? His condition mirrors House's with the leg and by being pain free after a placebo exercise, it also proves that House's leg pain is purely psychological.
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10-06-2009 @ 11:31AM
bruce said...
No we have not been given, nor will we be given, an adequate explanation for why House's chronic pain is suddenly manageable without painkillers. Keep in mind House had a legitimate, verifiable medical condition (infarction leading to muscle death) in his leg, so it's not like fibromyalgia or bad headaches some other painful condition that is hard if not impossible to medically verify.
The DEA has been writing letters to Fox complaining about House's "flagrant use and abuse of narcotics without consequence" for years now, and finally the network, writers, and producers all caved in to the government's demands... in the worst possible way. They decided to make the vicodin House had been taking for over a decade into a sudden hallucinogen, causing him to see dead people. They showed him going through the painful detox, and now he's just fine and dandy, no reference to his pain at all. And there won't be any further reference to his pain, other than "it's all manageable."
Idiots will consider this to be "character growth" but you can do your own Freedom of Information Act request and get the letters the DEA sent to Fox demanding that "House" no longer show a character using drugs and performing well (exceptionally well, in fact) at his job, without horrible consequences. You know, "for the children."
House's chronic pain and need for vicodin (in reality he should be on something much stronger and without the toxic acetaminophen that vicodin contains) were a central part of the show and the character of Dr. Gregory House. If they are going to destroy the character like this - at the request of the government, no less - then I won't be watching the show for much longer.
They gave the DEA final script approval over all episodes of House. Talk about big brother. Then again, "big brother" is the very essence of drug prohibition.
10-20-2009 @ 4:00PM
kelley said...
To Bruce: Vicodin (hydrocodone) doesn't have tylenol in it. Norco (hydrocodone and acetaminophen) does, which is not what House is taking.
Also, I happen to think that House's problem was not with Vicodin. House's problem, as Cuddy often says, is House. Vicodin doesn't make him a jerk. It doesn't make him interesting. It makes him an addict -- that's it. Take that element away, and he's still a jerk, he's still insanely interesting, but now he's able to interrelate in a way that the drug addiction just didn't allow. When you're high all the time, you can only really pay attention to you (and in House's case, the "puzzle"). Now his genius for figuring out puzzles is being used to point out other people's problems, not just his patients'. It adds great insight to the other characters because they were always portrayed as sane compared to House's insanity, or his impairment. Now, they're adding more colors to the psychological-health spectrum. I think it's a great eye-opener for the show.
Also, as someone who has taken Vicodin before, I happen to agree that someone who is on that much pain medication should not even be driving, let alone diagnosing medical mysteries. House may be a genius -- but he is not immune to reality.
10-20-2009 @ 4:00PM
kelley said...
To Bruce: Vicodin (hydrocodone) doesn't have tylenol in it. Norco (hydrocodone and acetaminophen) does, which is not what House is taking.
Also, I happen to think that House's problem was not with Vicodin. House's problem, as Cuddy often says, is House. Vicodin doesn't make him a jerk. It doesn't make him interesting. It makes him an addict -- that's it. Take that element away, and he's still a jerk, he's still insanely interesting, but now he's able to interrelate in a way that the drug addiction just didn't allow. When you're high all the time, you can only really pay attention to you (and in House's case, the "puzzle"). Now his genius for figuring out puzzles is being used to point out other people's problems, not just his patients'. It adds great insight to the other characters because they were always portrayed as sane compared to House's insanity, or his impairment. Now, they're adding more colors to the psychological-health spectrum. I think it's a great eye-opener for the show.
Also, as someone who has taken Vicodin before, I happen to agree that someone who is on that much pain medication should not even be driving, let alone diagnosing medical mysteries. House may be a genius -- but he is not immune to reality.
10-06-2009 @ 8:15AM
Le said...
Enough with the constant casting spoilers mid-review. It ruins it for those who try to avoid such spoilers.
And what does TV Squad have to gain from it? You're linking to your other stories in order to generate more traffic to your site. And it's good for Search Engine Optimisation, too.
So you're ruining the experience for some of your readers in a cynical attempt to increase your website's rep with Google. Please don't do this.
Otherwise, a good review on a site that, in every other way, I like!
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10-06-2009 @ 10:31AM
Jimmy_MO said...
All this whining about spoilers is getting old. Get over it and move on.
10-06-2009 @ 11:25AM
Jeff said...
Quit reading reviews of episodes you haven't watched.
10-06-2009 @ 2:39PM
Chris said...
To "Jeff," the guy wasn't complaining about spoilers for this episode he was talking about them spoiling upcoming episodes by announcing and linking to articles about future casting changes in reviews of current episodes.
10-09-2009 @ 4:22PM
Hashbrown Hunter (OneGiantCluster.blogspot.com) said...
Sorry Le, but nearly all of the TV sites have articles openly talking about Jennifer Morrison leaving the show.
10-06-2009 @ 8:15AM
miles said...
Please keep bringing on the spoilers. I've always hated seeing a character disappear and it never getting explained.
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10-06-2009 @ 8:15AM
Jason said...
James Earl Jones FTW! That guy could walk into a room and say, "Ramen noodles" and win an Emmy. I feel this performance was more Admiral Greer than Darth Vader...
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10-06-2009 @ 10:31AM
John said...
The show looked like it had two different directors with some scenes typical drama pacing and lighting and the other "dramatic action" scenes using hand held cameras and post production tinting or some other in camera shenanigans. I realize that after so many years it might be time to spice up the look and what-not, but some of the extreme close-ups were unsettling, especially the shot of the president head with that big ol' hair growing out his eyelid!
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10-06-2009 @ 10:42AM
Parl said...
I really really really wish they would get rid of Foreman. He's the exact same character he was at the start of this series and considering he was never an interesting character, that's bad news since they've decided to focus on him so much.
I'm assuming Chase's decision has something to do the 'spoiler' posted in the review (which I won't repeat lest I incur the wrath of TVSquad commentators).
Overall, this was a pretty decent "monster of the week" type episode with some curveballs thrown in. The problem is that they really set up the series to kind of move away from that with the first two episodes...yet here was House acting pretty much the exact same way as always, except now he gives lip service to the fact that he's 'changed.' I suspect as the season goes on we'll move more and more away from even mentioning the fact that we were forced to watch 2 hours of House ostensibly addressing his problems.
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10-06-2009 @ 11:25AM
Kristi said...
I just want to address the first poster. . .the amputee doesn't mirror House's leg pain. The amputee's arm isn't there, hence the pain is psychological. . .whereas House's leg IS THERE, hence REAL pain (which he's tolerating now without medicine, mind you.)
I liked that the show tackled such a polarizing topic and I think they showed several varying opinions and were able to provide some unexpected depth in under an hour.
http://www.orble.com/teevee-house-105/
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10-06-2009 @ 11:58AM
bruce said...
Foreman did the right thing by burning that piece of paper at the end, but to the extent Foreman was chewing out Chase for killing someone, he sure seemed like a huge hypocrite to me. It was only a few seasons ago that Foreman committed attempted murder on Cameron when he injected her with his infected blood when he was sick and dying - so she'd have to save him to save herself. That is blatant, intentional, willful attempted murder. And there were no consequences for him. So why should there be for Chase? Surely the attempted murder of a good person equates (at the very least) with actual murder of a genocidal tyrant who says he plans to kill many more people.
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10-06-2009 @ 12:24PM
scott said...
didn't like foreman much before that, haven't been able to stand him since. very good point.
10-06-2009 @ 11:58AM
alk02g said...
another vote to keep the spoilers coming! I think that if you don't want to know what happened in the episode, don't read the review. Taub's absence is nothing new, and was addressed last week. Readers need to stop complaining about the wealth of knowledge that's given on this site, and learn to either appreciate it or stop reading.
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10-06-2009 @ 5:12PM
jffm said...
The complaint about the spoiler had nothing to do with the review of this episode. It was about spoiler information for future plot lines being included. Doing so without warning has been considered bad form for a long time. I'd say it's a perfectly valid complaint.
10-06-2009 @ 5:46PM
alk02g said...
If you're referring to Cameron leaving, this is REALLY OLD NEWS by now. I've seen it in two magazines and half a dozen websites, easy. Not to mention twitter. And yeah, it did fit the episode review, since it looked at Foreman's character needing to evolve if he'll ahve to work with 13 more exclusively in the future.
If you're referring to Taub, the fact that his name wasn't in the credits is info I didn't think of looking at, and it fits a review of what was seen/learned in the episode.
10-06-2009 @ 1:54PM
adarkwaterfae said...
I'm in school while this show is on and I don't have any sort of recording system... so I read TV Squad's review of the show to help fill me in. I EXPECT spoilers so I know what happens in the show. People that read the this thinking that there will be no spoilers IN A REVIEW, need to get over themselves. If you don't want any spoilers, don't read the review. It's that simple.
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