(no subject)
Er, it's probably best to note at the outset that this is an "It's possible to interpret the canon like this" theory rather than an "I've stumbled upon The True Meaning of the series omfg" theory. It's like a pairing; I can see it, it's possible other people might not, and that's A-Okay. But I think it's interesting.
Spoilers for House up through at least 3.08 Whac-a-Mole.
So, back in the first season, there were a couple interesting House expressions that I really had a hard time reading. One of the ones got made into my icon *points up*. Both were in connection with the whole Cameron-quits fiasco; one was when Cameron actually quits and goes to shake House's hand (and he looks away), the other was when House was trying to bring Cameron back and Cameron is negotiating.
House likes figuring people out. We see a lot of that. Between 1.04 Maternity and 1.07 Fidelity he feels like he has a few big parts of Cameron's character sorted; he devotes considerable time and energy to inciting Chase to reveal parts of his character in 1.13 Cursed, and he openly snoops around in Wilson's business in 1.10 Histories. And then there's the lovely bit in 3.06 Que Será Será when House actually has to ask Cameron about something:
House: Alright, I give up, who was it? Who in your family had the weight problem?
Cameron: You think I can only care about a patient if I know someone else who's been through the same thing?
House: You care for everybody. You only lie and stand up to Cuddy for a few.
Cameron: You lie for everybody and only care about a few.
House: You're avoiding the question.
Cameron: I like damaged people, remember? Explains everything I do.
House: Almost everything.
...really, I think if House does harbor some attraction to Cameron (aside from the obvious--hello, 2.17 All In and 2.24 No Reason, I'll talk at you in a different post), it comes from the fact that he hasn't got her figured yet. He could have had a relationship with her; he rebuffed it.
Basically, House has people down well enough that he can predict what they'll do. Look at 3.08 Whac-a-Mole; he predicts each of his ducklings' diagnoses and writes them down in an envelope, complete with tactics used. ("Cameron: Nice try; no seizure.") And he also uses this knowledge to hella manipulate them on occasion.
2.08 The Mistake. Chase is all ready to sacrifice his job to benefit a patient and his neice and nephew. House comes out with the news that he knew about Chase's father's terminal cancer--what got Chase into the mess in the first place. Now, Chase's instinct of professional self-preservation was eaten by his angst and hasn't made it out yet, but his rage against House is alive and well. And what does House say?
"Legally, it's better for me if you go down in flames."
...you've gotta admit the genious of that moment. House, student of character that he is, would have known that was exactly the way to get Chase to turn on him, saving his own career. And then, in 1.03 Informed Consent, he plays Cameron as well--which is almost more difficult, given that Cameron is being hella erratic as to what she's standing for.
Cameron: Why’d you have me look up that article?
House: Didn’t you find it interesting?
Cameron: He injected newborn babies with radioactive agents just to see if they’d urethral reflux.
House: He was curious.
Cameron: He didn’t even tell their parents he was doing an experiment.
House: He wasn’t doing anything his peers weren’t doing.
Cameron: His peers at Tuskegee and Willowbrook?!
House: He ignored the rights of the few to save many.
Cameron: So you’re okay with what he did.
House: Doesn’t matter what I think. It’s what you think that’s relevant.
Cameron: Because, if I think less of him, I’ll help you more? You’re wrong. The fact that a patient did bad things doesn’t change anything. He still deserves to have some control over his own body.
House: If he had control of his own body, he’d be dead.
Cameron: Some control. We can withhold treatment without killing him.
House: No you can’t! You either help him live, or you help him die; you can’t have it both ways.
And here we're getting toward the crux of the issue, because at the end of the episode, Cameron euthanizes Powell. She makes a choice, takes a stand, and the next day House finds her in the Chapel crying. And what does he do?
He puts a hand on her shoulder and tells her "I'm proud of you."
Which is an incredibly moving moment, because House never offers his unconditional support. He likes kicking people when they're down--or, if not kicking, poking and prodding. Back in 1.07 Fidelity he finds Cameron crying while she's recalibrating a centrifuge, and while he isn't a jerk about things he won't give any quarter. He's still digging at the truth of the matter. And look at 2.22 Forever, where he makes it his job to tear Foreman's happiness apart, subjecting him to a constant and more overt than usual stream of abuses and taking advantage of every weakness he can find. So, with that moment in the chapel, a lot of things clicked together in my mind.
1.23 Three Stories was an exceptional episode for a lot of reasons, not the least of which because we got to see parts of House's character that we'd never seen before. And that's not just within the flashbacks, either. Note how the lecture hall is maybe a quarter full when he begins, and packed to the brim when he ends--House is a good teacher. He's not nice, and he's not reassuring, but he asks the questions that need to be asked, he challenges, he makes people think, and he makes people understand. For a lot of those students, you can tell that this is the first time the ramifications of their future careers have really hit them. ("It is in the nature of medicine that you are gonna screw up. You are gonna kill someone.") ("So... half of us just killed him and half of us saved his life?") ("Just because you didn't know the correct answer, or maybe there was no way you could have known, doesn't make your answer right, or even okay. It's much simpler than that. It's just plain wrong.")
The Ducklings are Fellows. They're supposed to be learning from House, and oh, they are. But even more to the point, House is teaching them. He's moulding them all into an image--maybe not his image, exactly, but a state where they'll be able to do what they need to, understand its implications, make the hard decisions, live with them. So when Cameron did her doctor-assisted suicide trick in 3.03 Informed Consent, House really was proud. She'd taken a definitive step down that path, and that's House's Reason for Being right there. ...though he wouldn't put it into such grandoise terms.
...this entire thing got started by an expression, remember? As it turns out, the explanation for the expression is an amusing side jaunt--a tangent off the hefty stuff. Because House keeps trying to manipulate everyone into positions where he can manipulate them into personal growth, but he tries to make a minor adjustment to Cameron and she goes totally off the other end, and that is just not the way things are supposed to go, damnit! He's putting all his ducklings through a hard time when Vogler wants him to get rid of one, and he's trying to get them to fight or pull things together or survive it one way or another but perform, in any case, and then Cameron goes and quits! And then he's trying to get Cameron back because he's not done remaking her in his image and the master painter wants his canvas back, and then the canvas decides it'd really rather be in love with him instead! I've adopted that expression as House's "Wh--no. No.. This is not part of the plan. What?" face. He's got a perfectly good Seldon Crisis worked out and then the Mule comes along and spoils everything.
So, er, that's my take on that.
I have a continuing rant on Gene Hunt in Life On Mars, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow.
Spoilers for House up through at least 3.08 Whac-a-Mole.
So, back in the first season, there were a couple interesting House expressions that I really had a hard time reading. One of the ones got made into my icon *points up*. Both were in connection with the whole Cameron-quits fiasco; one was when Cameron actually quits and goes to shake House's hand (and he looks away), the other was when House was trying to bring Cameron back and Cameron is negotiating.
House likes figuring people out. We see a lot of that. Between 1.04 Maternity and 1.07 Fidelity he feels like he has a few big parts of Cameron's character sorted; he devotes considerable time and energy to inciting Chase to reveal parts of his character in 1.13 Cursed, and he openly snoops around in Wilson's business in 1.10 Histories. And then there's the lovely bit in 3.06 Que Será Será when House actually has to ask Cameron about something:
House: Alright, I give up, who was it? Who in your family had the weight problem?
Cameron: You think I can only care about a patient if I know someone else who's been through the same thing?
House: You care for everybody. You only lie and stand up to Cuddy for a few.
Cameron: You lie for everybody and only care about a few.
House: You're avoiding the question.
Cameron: I like damaged people, remember? Explains everything I do.
House: Almost everything.
...really, I think if House does harbor some attraction to Cameron (aside from the obvious--hello, 2.17 All In and 2.24 No Reason, I'll talk at you in a different post), it comes from the fact that he hasn't got her figured yet. He could have had a relationship with her; he rebuffed it.
Basically, House has people down well enough that he can predict what they'll do. Look at 3.08 Whac-a-Mole; he predicts each of his ducklings' diagnoses and writes them down in an envelope, complete with tactics used. ("Cameron: Nice try; no seizure.") And he also uses this knowledge to hella manipulate them on occasion.
2.08 The Mistake. Chase is all ready to sacrifice his job to benefit a patient and his neice and nephew. House comes out with the news that he knew about Chase's father's terminal cancer--what got Chase into the mess in the first place. Now, Chase's instinct of professional self-preservation was eaten by his angst and hasn't made it out yet, but his rage against House is alive and well. And what does House say?
"Legally, it's better for me if you go down in flames."
...you've gotta admit the genious of that moment. House, student of character that he is, would have known that was exactly the way to get Chase to turn on him, saving his own career. And then, in 1.03 Informed Consent, he plays Cameron as well--which is almost more difficult, given that Cameron is being hella erratic as to what she's standing for.
Cameron: Why’d you have me look up that article?
House: Didn’t you find it interesting?
Cameron: He injected newborn babies with radioactive agents just to see if they’d urethral reflux.
House: He was curious.
Cameron: He didn’t even tell their parents he was doing an experiment.
House: He wasn’t doing anything his peers weren’t doing.
Cameron: His peers at Tuskegee and Willowbrook?!
House: He ignored the rights of the few to save many.
Cameron: So you’re okay with what he did.
House: Doesn’t matter what I think. It’s what you think that’s relevant.
Cameron: Because, if I think less of him, I’ll help you more? You’re wrong. The fact that a patient did bad things doesn’t change anything. He still deserves to have some control over his own body.
House: If he had control of his own body, he’d be dead.
Cameron: Some control. We can withhold treatment without killing him.
House: No you can’t! You either help him live, or you help him die; you can’t have it both ways.
And here we're getting toward the crux of the issue, because at the end of the episode, Cameron euthanizes Powell. She makes a choice, takes a stand, and the next day House finds her in the Chapel crying. And what does he do?
He puts a hand on her shoulder and tells her "I'm proud of you."
Which is an incredibly moving moment, because House never offers his unconditional support. He likes kicking people when they're down--or, if not kicking, poking and prodding. Back in 1.07 Fidelity he finds Cameron crying while she's recalibrating a centrifuge, and while he isn't a jerk about things he won't give any quarter. He's still digging at the truth of the matter. And look at 2.22 Forever, where he makes it his job to tear Foreman's happiness apart, subjecting him to a constant and more overt than usual stream of abuses and taking advantage of every weakness he can find. So, with that moment in the chapel, a lot of things clicked together in my mind.
1.23 Three Stories was an exceptional episode for a lot of reasons, not the least of which because we got to see parts of House's character that we'd never seen before. And that's not just within the flashbacks, either. Note how the lecture hall is maybe a quarter full when he begins, and packed to the brim when he ends--House is a good teacher. He's not nice, and he's not reassuring, but he asks the questions that need to be asked, he challenges, he makes people think, and he makes people understand. For a lot of those students, you can tell that this is the first time the ramifications of their future careers have really hit them. ("It is in the nature of medicine that you are gonna screw up. You are gonna kill someone.") ("So... half of us just killed him and half of us saved his life?") ("Just because you didn't know the correct answer, or maybe there was no way you could have known, doesn't make your answer right, or even okay. It's much simpler than that. It's just plain wrong.")
The Ducklings are Fellows. They're supposed to be learning from House, and oh, they are. But even more to the point, House is teaching them. He's moulding them all into an image--maybe not his image, exactly, but a state where they'll be able to do what they need to, understand its implications, make the hard decisions, live with them. So when Cameron did her doctor-assisted suicide trick in 3.03 Informed Consent, House really was proud. She'd taken a definitive step down that path, and that's House's Reason for Being right there. ...though he wouldn't put it into such grandoise terms.
...this entire thing got started by an expression, remember? As it turns out, the explanation for the expression is an amusing side jaunt--a tangent off the hefty stuff. Because House keeps trying to manipulate everyone into positions where he can manipulate them into personal growth, but he tries to make a minor adjustment to Cameron and she goes totally off the other end, and that is just not the way things are supposed to go, damnit! He's putting all his ducklings through a hard time when Vogler wants him to get rid of one, and he's trying to get them to fight or pull things together or survive it one way or another but perform, in any case, and then Cameron goes and quits! And then he's trying to get Cameron back because he's not done remaking her in his image and the master painter wants his canvas back, and then the canvas decides it'd really rather be in love with him instead! I've adopted that expression as House's "Wh--no. No.. This is not part of the plan. What?" face. He's got a perfectly good Seldon Crisis worked out and then the Mule comes along and spoils everything.
So, er, that's my take on that.
I have a continuing rant on Gene Hunt in Life On Mars, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow.