dorkage: House 4x02 The Right Stuff
As per normal, plenty of squeeing and general dorking out to follow. Not to mention a House/Cuddy photo story, because, dude. I think I found another new favourite scene - even though House and Cuddy rock too hard for words in every scene they share.
Onwards to the awesomeness of 4x02. I'm so loving this season!!!
- Oh GAH. I didn't think I could love this show more, but along comes this episode, which is 43 minutes of pure perfection. Okay, not pure perfection - the last minute or so was complete shit. (More on this later.) But seriously: I freakin' love House Survivor. It's funny, complex, throws House up against a ton of other characters and is simply fascinating to watch.
- What's so amazing? How they managed to develop SO MANY new characters in the space of 43 minutes, and yet bring Wilson, Cuddy, and yes, even the original 3 Cottages back for cameo spots. I'm already getting attached to some of them, which surely is not good. Not good at all. I LOVE how the new ducklets (I shall call them this until the final three are chosen and the rest voted out of PPTH) wear number tags and no one really knows ANY of their names yet. Bloody brilliant.
- First things first, since this show is called House after all: I adored the insight we got into his character in this episode. I'm more than ever convinced that, for all his gruffness and sarcasm and angry bitterness (and he has that in spades), House remains a romantic, deep deep down. And here he proves it, first in how much he sticks his neck out for the POTW (though that's partly for the thrill of it all being illicit, I suspect, and also because he respects her right to choose and manage her own life), but especially in his interaction with #26. I loved how they developed that, from having #26 pipe up in class, to him letting #13 do a surgical op, to finally admitting to House that he doesn't have a medical degree but has audited classes for years and just wants to learn from House. I REALLY hope #26 stays as House's assistant, after all. That would be awesome, and so much room to develop new characters!!
- Got a bit distracted by #26. What I meant to say was that House had a perfectly legit reason to let this dude go, unlike some of the others he summarily dismissed (firing Row C instead of D because of the hot girl? Not arbitrary my arse!). But, well, he realised that this guy had a dream, and that's what the theme of the episode was.
- Which I DIDN'T NEED Cameron to ram down my throat, for crying out loud. I was going to post about the other ducklets first, but I had better get my Cameron rage out of the way. I had really warmed to her in Season 3 - from hatred to neutrality counts as warming, right? - but her brief appearance in this episode, at the very end, was enough to remind me why I've hated her character from the start. Not only was she at her absolute smuggest, she was so in House's face, in a completely annoying way. 'Oh I know you, House, let me diagnose the big bad wolf who only pretends to be mean but is really all about helping people live their dreams, you sunshiny puppy you!" SHUT UP CAMERON. Exposition was needed to show that House didn't crush the dreams of POTW after all, but come on. Less with the Sanctimonious!Cameron, please? A whole lot less?
- And that brings me to the point that I really AM very concerned about how TPTB intend to write the Cottages back into the story. Seeing them back here now that House has a brand new bent to its plot is just - strange. It really is ridiculous to think that none of them can get or hold down jobs elsewhere - they stuck with House for three years, they should be able to walk through hellfire unscathed. So what the hell is this with Cameron working in the ER, and Chase coming back to surgery? (Presumably Foreman isn't really a ghost, though no explanation was made of his flitting appearance in the PPTH halls this time.) Come on. The show is changing. Organically? Deadwood has to go. (Plus, Chase and Cameron are engaged? Why didn't they just start a new life in Arizona, unless Cameron is still pining over House and Chase decided to let her come back to live her dream?? I mean, WTF is that!?)
- Trust me, I'm not just saying that because I think my TV-viewing life (and my ship!) would greatly benefit from Cameron (AND Foreman) being tossed out. I don't think Chase should be there either, even though my heart skipped a cheery beat when he sauntered down the hallway past House's office, all slow-mo-y and blonde and hot, and then when he appeared at the OR viewing window and TOTALLY NAILED the diagnosis. Freakin' hell. At that moment, I loved Chase intensely and wanted him backbackBACK. Still do, and because I am biased, I'd be totally thrilled for prettypretty Chase to stick around. But it Makes. No. Sense.
- Gah. Fingers crossed the writers won't bung this up royally. I shall trust them, as they have not let me down before.
- Now, back to the ducklets! Loving #39, plastic surgeon guy. I think there's so much potential for him to develop, and to demonstrate all the insights and stuff he'll have into human nature - it was fascinating how he approached the case and convinced the POTW to do the boob job. Also like Mormon boy so far (#18?), and Kumar/Kal Penn is hilarious as #6/#9. I love that he set the POTW on fire, ROFL! I detest blonde snippy girl (#24), though I suspect I'm supposed to, and rather liked the controversial, mysterious new-but-not-Cameron #13.
- See how much character development they managed to pack into 43 minutes? It was amazing! House had them washing his car (blonde snippy chick was pretty good at discouraging everyone else!), breaking into POTW's room, getting the Mormon sloshed - awesomeness.
- Finally, before I head into the House/Cuddy portion of the discussion (did you ever doubt there'd be one?), I have to say again that I am really starting to detest Psychoanalyst!Wilson. He spent the entire episode trying to convince House that he was seeing phantoms and feeling repressed guilt, and basically trying to make House be a better human being, in Wilson's mind. SHUT UP WILSON. Seriously - what kind of loser has someone's Arizona-code number on his phone so he can "prove" to House that Chase isn't anywhere near PPTH? Plus, he just keeps pegging House wrong. Sure, it's great if the House writers are intending to show us that no one gets House, not even his best friend. But sometimes, I just want Wilson to shut up and be the cute, non-judgemental self he was in episodes like Act Your Age.
- Okay. NOW I can fangirl. OMG. I still love House/Cuddy like there's no tomorrow. And I've found a brand new scene that I will love madlessly, forever and beyond etc. It's just such a WONDERFUL snapshot of their relationship, and I suspect I'm one of the few who read it that way (everyone is so down these days on Cuddy and her alleged lack of management skills). But I think it was brilliant, and proved to me more than ever that, if anyone, Cuddy is the one who gets House best. Not in every facet of his emotional tapestry, of course - he's too fucked-up and she's too well-adjusted for that (though that's arguable, we need more Cuddy backstory, dammit!). But she gets him, and he gets her right back. (See photo story in second cut. I'm SO SAD.)
- More on this scene (posted this on a forum so shall incorporate it here): One reason I really really liked this scene is that it so cleverly illustrates the give-and-take relationship these two have - much as a lot of people call Cuddy weak for always letting House walk all over her, that's just not how I've seen how they work together. Yes, she's a little less kickass and tough-love with him now than she was in Season 1, I grant that. But I suspect it's because they've come to a sort of unspoken understanding about their own boundaries and the professional respect they have for each other. He knows that, in the end, she will trust him, and she knows it too. IMO, if Cuddy weren't an administrator and just a doctor, she'd probably be doing the same crazy-assed shit House does to save her patients (she certainly proved it in Fetal Position), except she's too prone to getting emotionally involved. (And is possibly not quite as stunning a doctor as House!) So it's probably best she stays an administrator, and does the responsible thing of asking for paperwork and checking after him to make sure he's not getting into too much trouble. He needs someone to do that, sometimes, and he respects her for having to do it, even if he sets out to thwart her in every way. Even so, he still knows just how much she's sticking her neck out for him, and what that costs her. He also knows that she's the one who's allowing him the free rein he needs - which he appreciates (again, see photo story). And why does she do it? Because she knows she would make his choices in the end too, if she didn't have to account to the board etc. So she lets him make those calls, then defends him when she can. Because it's right, and because it's all the both of them can do.
- I FREAKIN' ADORE THIS SHIP, OKAY.
- SHE SNIFFED HIM, OMG. "Have you been drinking?" I know, I know, not romantic at all. But damn if these two don't just get into each other's personal space like they belong there. I certainly don't stand quite this closely to anyone I work with!! I LOVE IT.
- I love Kickass!Cuddy. Aside from the fact that she was flamin' gorgeous in purple? She totally terrified the ducklets into giving her an answer, hee. Love love LOVE House getting reprimanded and paperwork being demanded, and him whining after her, "Moooooom!" As I mentioned elsewhere, he's called her 'Mom' or 'Mommy' in the first two episodes now. Could she possibly be pregnant with his baby??? Hee. ;)
[Cuddy blazes into the OR. House has done something monumentally insane/illegal again.]
Cuddy: You bumped his spleenectomy for a boob job?
House: Would you condemn this woman to a life where people look at her face when they talk to her?
Cuddy: If you don't explain this, I'll cancel the surgery.
House: Can I explain why you're here?
Cuddy: I think I just told you why I...
House: I scheduled a diagnostic patient for a boob job. Which is ridiculous. So obviously you had to confront me.
Cuddy: With you so far.
House: You want me to give you a reason?
Cuddy: Not a good one...?
House: No, not even close to a good one. But here's the drag from your point of view. My explanation won't make sense, not to the board, not to a judge. But to you... so you'll let me do it...
[She listens - trust and frustration mixed in her face. He knows her, she realises. Knows that she'll let him do it in the end because it's the right thing to do.]
House: Then, you'll going to have to sit next to me at the administrative hearing. Don't you have better things to do?
[He has her there. She can't help wondering when he figured her out. When she figured him out. But it's how he said it was - he's right.]
[She sighs. Turns to leave.]
[But before she can get out the door, she turns, and looks at him at again.]
House: It's in the best interests of the patient.
[She looks at him. That will be - it is - good enough for her. She leaves.]
Oh good god. BRING ON 4x03!
Onwards to the awesomeness of 4x02. I'm so loving this season!!!
- Oh GAH. I didn't think I could love this show more, but along comes this episode, which is 43 minutes of pure perfection. Okay, not pure perfection - the last minute or so was complete shit. (More on this later.) But seriously: I freakin' love House Survivor. It's funny, complex, throws House up against a ton of other characters and is simply fascinating to watch.
- What's so amazing? How they managed to develop SO MANY new characters in the space of 43 minutes, and yet bring Wilson, Cuddy, and yes, even the original 3 Cottages back for cameo spots. I'm already getting attached to some of them, which surely is not good. Not good at all. I LOVE how the new ducklets (I shall call them this until the final three are chosen and the rest voted out of PPTH) wear number tags and no one really knows ANY of their names yet. Bloody brilliant.
- First things first, since this show is called House after all: I adored the insight we got into his character in this episode. I'm more than ever convinced that, for all his gruffness and sarcasm and angry bitterness (and he has that in spades), House remains a romantic, deep deep down. And here he proves it, first in how much he sticks his neck out for the POTW (though that's partly for the thrill of it all being illicit, I suspect, and also because he respects her right to choose and manage her own life), but especially in his interaction with #26. I loved how they developed that, from having #26 pipe up in class, to him letting #13 do a surgical op, to finally admitting to House that he doesn't have a medical degree but has audited classes for years and just wants to learn from House. I REALLY hope #26 stays as House's assistant, after all. That would be awesome, and so much room to develop new characters!!
- Got a bit distracted by #26. What I meant to say was that House had a perfectly legit reason to let this dude go, unlike some of the others he summarily dismissed (firing Row C instead of D because of the hot girl? Not arbitrary my arse!). But, well, he realised that this guy had a dream, and that's what the theme of the episode was.
- Which I DIDN'T NEED Cameron to ram down my throat, for crying out loud. I was going to post about the other ducklets first, but I had better get my Cameron rage out of the way. I had really warmed to her in Season 3 - from hatred to neutrality counts as warming, right? - but her brief appearance in this episode, at the very end, was enough to remind me why I've hated her character from the start. Not only was she at her absolute smuggest, she was so in House's face, in a completely annoying way. 'Oh I know you, House, let me diagnose the big bad wolf who only pretends to be mean but is really all about helping people live their dreams, you sunshiny puppy you!" SHUT UP CAMERON. Exposition was needed to show that House didn't crush the dreams of POTW after all, but come on. Less with the Sanctimonious!Cameron, please? A whole lot less?
- And that brings me to the point that I really AM very concerned about how TPTB intend to write the Cottages back into the story. Seeing them back here now that House has a brand new bent to its plot is just - strange. It really is ridiculous to think that none of them can get or hold down jobs elsewhere - they stuck with House for three years, they should be able to walk through hellfire unscathed. So what the hell is this with Cameron working in the ER, and Chase coming back to surgery? (Presumably Foreman isn't really a ghost, though no explanation was made of his flitting appearance in the PPTH halls this time.) Come on. The show is changing. Organically? Deadwood has to go. (Plus, Chase and Cameron are engaged? Why didn't they just start a new life in Arizona, unless Cameron is still pining over House and Chase decided to let her come back to live her dream?? I mean, WTF is that!?)
- Trust me, I'm not just saying that because I think my TV-viewing life (and my ship!) would greatly benefit from Cameron (AND Foreman) being tossed out. I don't think Chase should be there either, even though my heart skipped a cheery beat when he sauntered down the hallway past House's office, all slow-mo-y and blonde and hot, and then when he appeared at the OR viewing window and TOTALLY NAILED the diagnosis. Freakin' hell. At that moment, I loved Chase intensely and wanted him backbackBACK. Still do, and because I am biased, I'd be totally thrilled for prettypretty Chase to stick around. But it Makes. No. Sense.
- Gah. Fingers crossed the writers won't bung this up royally. I shall trust them, as they have not let me down before.
- Now, back to the ducklets! Loving #39, plastic surgeon guy. I think there's so much potential for him to develop, and to demonstrate all the insights and stuff he'll have into human nature - it was fascinating how he approached the case and convinced the POTW to do the boob job. Also like Mormon boy so far (#18?), and Kumar/Kal Penn is hilarious as #6/#9. I love that he set the POTW on fire, ROFL! I detest blonde snippy girl (#24), though I suspect I'm supposed to, and rather liked the controversial, mysterious new-but-not-Cameron #13.
- See how much character development they managed to pack into 43 minutes? It was amazing! House had them washing his car (blonde snippy chick was pretty good at discouraging everyone else!), breaking into POTW's room, getting the Mormon sloshed - awesomeness.
- Finally, before I head into the House/Cuddy portion of the discussion (did you ever doubt there'd be one?), I have to say again that I am really starting to detest Psychoanalyst!Wilson. He spent the entire episode trying to convince House that he was seeing phantoms and feeling repressed guilt, and basically trying to make House be a better human being, in Wilson's mind. SHUT UP WILSON. Seriously - what kind of loser has someone's Arizona-code number on his phone so he can "prove" to House that Chase isn't anywhere near PPTH? Plus, he just keeps pegging House wrong. Sure, it's great if the House writers are intending to show us that no one gets House, not even his best friend. But sometimes, I just want Wilson to shut up and be the cute, non-judgemental self he was in episodes like Act Your Age.
- Okay. NOW I can fangirl. OMG. I still love House/Cuddy like there's no tomorrow. And I've found a brand new scene that I will love madlessly, forever and beyond etc. It's just such a WONDERFUL snapshot of their relationship, and I suspect I'm one of the few who read it that way (everyone is so down these days on Cuddy and her alleged lack of management skills). But I think it was brilliant, and proved to me more than ever that, if anyone, Cuddy is the one who gets House best. Not in every facet of his emotional tapestry, of course - he's too fucked-up and she's too well-adjusted for that (though that's arguable, we need more Cuddy backstory, dammit!). But she gets him, and he gets her right back. (See photo story in second cut. I'm SO SAD.)
- More on this scene (posted this on a forum so shall incorporate it here): One reason I really really liked this scene is that it so cleverly illustrates the give-and-take relationship these two have - much as a lot of people call Cuddy weak for always letting House walk all over her, that's just not how I've seen how they work together. Yes, she's a little less kickass and tough-love with him now than she was in Season 1, I grant that. But I suspect it's because they've come to a sort of unspoken understanding about their own boundaries and the professional respect they have for each other. He knows that, in the end, she will trust him, and she knows it too. IMO, if Cuddy weren't an administrator and just a doctor, she'd probably be doing the same crazy-assed shit House does to save her patients (she certainly proved it in Fetal Position), except she's too prone to getting emotionally involved. (And is possibly not quite as stunning a doctor as House!) So it's probably best she stays an administrator, and does the responsible thing of asking for paperwork and checking after him to make sure he's not getting into too much trouble. He needs someone to do that, sometimes, and he respects her for having to do it, even if he sets out to thwart her in every way. Even so, he still knows just how much she's sticking her neck out for him, and what that costs her. He also knows that she's the one who's allowing him the free rein he needs - which he appreciates (again, see photo story). And why does she do it? Because she knows she would make his choices in the end too, if she didn't have to account to the board etc. So she lets him make those calls, then defends him when she can. Because it's right, and because it's all the both of them can do.
- I FREAKIN' ADORE THIS SHIP, OKAY.
- SHE SNIFFED HIM, OMG. "Have you been drinking?" I know, I know, not romantic at all. But damn if these two don't just get into each other's personal space like they belong there. I certainly don't stand quite this closely to anyone I work with!! I LOVE IT.
- I love Kickass!Cuddy. Aside from the fact that she was flamin' gorgeous in purple? She totally terrified the ducklets into giving her an answer, hee. Love love LOVE House getting reprimanded and paperwork being demanded, and him whining after her, "Moooooom!" As I mentioned elsewhere, he's called her 'Mom' or 'Mommy' in the first two episodes now. Could she possibly be pregnant with his baby??? Hee. ;)
[Cuddy blazes into the OR. House has done something monumentally insane/illegal again.]
Cuddy: You bumped his spleenectomy for a boob job?
House: Would you condemn this woman to a life where people look at her face when they talk to her?
Cuddy: If you don't explain this, I'll cancel the surgery.
House: Can I explain why you're here?
Cuddy: I think I just told you why I...
House: I scheduled a diagnostic patient for a boob job. Which is ridiculous. So obviously you had to confront me.
Cuddy: With you so far.
House: You want me to give you a reason?
Cuddy: Not a good one...?
House: No, not even close to a good one. But here's the drag from your point of view. My explanation won't make sense, not to the board, not to a judge. But to you... so you'll let me do it...
[She listens - trust and frustration mixed in her face. He knows her, she realises. Knows that she'll let him do it in the end because it's the right thing to do.]
House: Then, you'll going to have to sit next to me at the administrative hearing. Don't you have better things to do?
[He has her there. She can't help wondering when he figured her out. When she figured him out. But it's how he said it was - he's right.]
[She sighs. Turns to leave.]
[But before she can get out the door, she turns, and looks at him at again.]
House: It's in the best interests of the patient.
[She looks at him. That will be - it is - good enough for her. She leaves.]
Oh good god. BRING ON 4x03!