some honest-to-god episode meta
It brings out the tl;dr fanwank in me.
There were so many spoilers floating around before this episode that I thought (briefly) "do I even need to watch it?" but this episode was so. damn. good. that no amount of spoilage could have really ruined it.
BITCHING: I'm getting this out of the way first. The medicine was ALL OVER THE PLACE and really hard to follow. Like, I don't care what's accurate, I just want to know what's going on.
BUT...the patient (hey, Dave) and his father were both fairly likable so we could focus on that instead of "hey, get these blood tests for some reason!" Still the whole patient plotline was way overshadowed by House's "dying of brain cancer" schtick which led to a bunch of amazing scenes.
A++ POINTS: House's metaphor for the patient's brain re: himself and Cuddy; CHASE HUG; Foreman's "I don't like you lol"; HUG; "If you want a sperm sample..."; Cameron's fiendish little plan and House's response (something like "Now I know not to let Foreman and Chase near my lips"); "Call the make a wish foundation?", "You should be making out with Cameron" and Chase's subsequent expression, HUG, Wilson's pizza/movie proposition, DUCKLINGS DINING OUT TOGETHER
META
I was sure any "House is dying" scenes would make me wince, but it was handled beautifully--loved to see the character reactions.
Cameron: Made a show of fearing for her job. Thinking back to when Wilson said "Cameron loves you, Chase loves his job" to House...this don't ring so true anymore (if it ever did). Of course Cameron's letter-of-recommendation trick was for show, but she was curious (maybe concerned? hard to tell) enough to break into House's apartment when she thought he was seeking a job in Boston. That said, I don't think Cameron is selfless. I think Cameron does look out for her own interests--when she resigned in season one, for example, it was because she didn't want to subject herself to House's rejection, not for Foreman's benefit. I found this a lot more interesting than her poorly thought-out ploy to kiss House and steal his blood while he was distracted thought that DID get her the information she wanted, just in a slightly different way.
Chase: So there's a scene in "The Mistake" where Chase and House are standing on the balcony and I've always found that it sort of a paralells a similar scene from the West Wing (In the Shadow of Two Gunmen) where Bartlet and Josh discuss Josh's father's death in an airport. The latter is a very successful sort of "daddy replacement" scenario; initially Josh and Bartlet have sort of a Chase/House dynamic but after that scene, Bartlet softens up and they're a lot closer. Chase and House sort of had that chance and uh...blew it.
SO THAT'S WHY THAT HUG WAS SO PHENOMENAL. It was like, the sweetest man hug I've ever seen, probably because it barely qualified as a man hug (not enough crotch distance, there's a formula) and it was so much more than the hug Chase gave his father (who he didn't know was dying, to be fair). He must love House. Chase just looked so distraught through this whole episode, even moreso than Cameron. Man, how can you not LOVE Chase? He glommed onto House and just would not let go. Is Chase ever gonna finish his fellowship, or is he more or less glued to House?
Foreman: LOL Foreman. I love Foreman. I feel like the first "I like you" to House should have been an "I respect you" however redundant that would be. Foreman does like House, I'm convinced, but he definitely thinks he doesn't--why else would he pour so much effort into trying to beat his alleged cancer? All three ducklings looked completely frazzled in those scenes. Oh, and Foreman's reaction to House "faking cancer" was so spot on. Yeah, House isn't going to change. But I could see Foreman changing, if only a little.
Wilson: is beginning to seem a bit...pathetic. Poor guy. He's just terribly stuck on House. That last scene, and his pizza offer with the large sweeping hand motions almost killed me. "Or a movie...or something..." awww, Wilson. How many times has Wilson offered company to House and had House turn him down? I'm thinking MLC.
I find it rather hilarious that people in the House/Wilson camp (esp on TWoP) were so disappointed by this episode because of the kiss, the Cuddy ass-grabbage and whatnot. Someone CAPSLOCKED, "I CANNOT BELIEVE HE CHOSE THE FREAKING DUCKLINGS OVER WILSON!" and when TWoPers capslock you know they mean SERIOUS BUSINESS. Someone else in the H/W camp declared "Not that anybody does or should care, but I'm officially finished with this show. Finito. Sorry, just had to let it out, move along." Whoa. Are these people watching the same episode I am? It renewed my faith in the rest of the season. ETA: Just in case I sound like I'm ragging on H/W shippers (or TwoP, lol), I'm not. I was just surprised by such a vehement reaction to what I thought was a good show. There wasn't much Wilson, but he acted much the way he did in MLC (the asking House out part, not the ditching him) and so did House, so I don't see what's changed or why people are so upset. Plus House was a bit peeved at Wilson for telling Cameron (which he probably shouldn't have done before talking to House) so it's understandable he might not want to immediately go hang out with him. That's how I saw it anyway. In the interest of full disclosure: though I do like to see certain characters together more than others, I'm not really of a "shipper" mindest--I love the characters and the show. (/disclaimer)
Cuddy: She reacted very cooly when House burst in on her, but at the same time very sweet. This was a scene with people who'd known eachother a long time. She was initially so worried when she found out, so I like to think maybe she had a good cry then decided to suck it up. Love how protective she was of House ("Are you stealing him from me?"). If she hadn't been so emotional in that phone call with the Boston doctor, I might have thought she knew it was a ploy. I mean, I'm surprised at least that she didn't expect it. But Cuddy does have a lot more blind faith in House that she cares to admit--she always seems surprise when he does something ridiculous.
House's advanced on Cuddy were, I'm sorry, cute. He must have decided to milk the "I'm dying" ploy for all it was worth and I liked that he sought after Cuddy for physical "comfort"--or at least a hug (He did hug her back, right? I realize I can't remember). They had a prior physical relationship, right? So it makes sense. Additionally, in scenes we didn't see, he guilted Wilson out of all of his food and made Cameron run ridiculous errands.
OVERALL REACTION: AKL;S'DKLJGSHKGDJKSJL;JJDGF;S
I am excited for this show anew. Bring on March 27th already.
There were so many spoilers floating around before this episode that I thought (briefly) "do I even need to watch it?" but this episode was so. damn. good. that no amount of spoilage could have really ruined it.
BITCHING: I'm getting this out of the way first. The medicine was ALL OVER THE PLACE and really hard to follow. Like, I don't care what's accurate, I just want to know what's going on.
BUT...the patient (hey, Dave) and his father were both fairly likable so we could focus on that instead of "hey, get these blood tests for some reason!" Still the whole patient plotline was way overshadowed by House's "dying of brain cancer" schtick which led to a bunch of amazing scenes.
A++ POINTS: House's metaphor for the patient's brain re: himself and Cuddy; CHASE HUG; Foreman's "I don't like you lol"; HUG; "If you want a sperm sample..."; Cameron's fiendish little plan and House's response (something like "Now I know not to let Foreman and Chase near my lips"); "Call the make a wish foundation?", "You should be making out with Cameron" and Chase's subsequent expression, HUG, Wilson's pizza/movie proposition, DUCKLINGS DINING OUT TOGETHER
META
I was sure any "House is dying" scenes would make me wince, but it was handled beautifully--loved to see the character reactions.
Cameron: Made a show of fearing for her job. Thinking back to when Wilson said "Cameron loves you, Chase loves his job" to House...this don't ring so true anymore (if it ever did). Of course Cameron's letter-of-recommendation trick was for show, but she was curious (maybe concerned? hard to tell) enough to break into House's apartment when she thought he was seeking a job in Boston. That said, I don't think Cameron is selfless. I think Cameron does look out for her own interests--when she resigned in season one, for example, it was because she didn't want to subject herself to House's rejection, not for Foreman's benefit. I found this a lot more interesting than her poorly thought-out ploy to kiss House and steal his blood while he was distracted thought that DID get her the information she wanted, just in a slightly different way.
Chase: So there's a scene in "The Mistake" where Chase and House are standing on the balcony and I've always found that it sort of a paralells a similar scene from the West Wing (In the Shadow of Two Gunmen) where Bartlet and Josh discuss Josh's father's death in an airport. The latter is a very successful sort of "daddy replacement" scenario; initially Josh and Bartlet have sort of a Chase/House dynamic but after that scene, Bartlet softens up and they're a lot closer. Chase and House sort of had that chance and uh...blew it.
SO THAT'S WHY THAT HUG WAS SO PHENOMENAL. It was like, the sweetest man hug I've ever seen, probably because it barely qualified as a man hug (not enough crotch distance, there's a formula) and it was so much more than the hug Chase gave his father (who he didn't know was dying, to be fair). He must love House. Chase just looked so distraught through this whole episode, even moreso than Cameron. Man, how can you not LOVE Chase? He glommed onto House and just would not let go. Is Chase ever gonna finish his fellowship, or is he more or less glued to House?
Foreman: LOL Foreman. I love Foreman. I feel like the first "I like you" to House should have been an "I respect you" however redundant that would be. Foreman does like House, I'm convinced, but he definitely thinks he doesn't--why else would he pour so much effort into trying to beat his alleged cancer? All three ducklings looked completely frazzled in those scenes. Oh, and Foreman's reaction to House "faking cancer" was so spot on. Yeah, House isn't going to change. But I could see Foreman changing, if only a little.
Wilson: is beginning to seem a bit...pathetic. Poor guy. He's just terribly stuck on House. That last scene, and his pizza offer with the large sweeping hand motions almost killed me. "Or a movie...or something..." awww, Wilson. How many times has Wilson offered company to House and had House turn him down? I'm thinking MLC.
I find it rather hilarious that people in the House/Wilson camp (esp on TWoP) were so disappointed by this episode because of the kiss, the Cuddy ass-grabbage and whatnot. Someone CAPSLOCKED, "I CANNOT BELIEVE HE CHOSE THE FREAKING DUCKLINGS OVER WILSON!" and when TWoPers capslock you know they mean SERIOUS BUSINESS. Someone else in the H/W camp declared "Not that anybody does or should care, but I'm officially finished with this show. Finito. Sorry, just had to let it out, move along." Whoa. Are these people watching the same episode I am? It renewed my faith in the rest of the season. ETA: Just in case I sound like I'm ragging on H/W shippers (or TwoP, lol), I'm not. I was just surprised by such a vehement reaction to what I thought was a good show. There wasn't much Wilson, but he acted much the way he did in MLC (the asking House out part, not the ditching him) and so did House, so I don't see what's changed or why people are so upset. Plus House was a bit peeved at Wilson for telling Cameron (which he probably shouldn't have done before talking to House) so it's understandable he might not want to immediately go hang out with him. That's how I saw it anyway. In the interest of full disclosure: though I do like to see certain characters together more than others, I'm not really of a "shipper" mindest--I love the characters and the show. (/disclaimer)
Cuddy: She reacted very cooly when House burst in on her, but at the same time very sweet. This was a scene with people who'd known eachother a long time. She was initially so worried when she found out, so I like to think maybe she had a good cry then decided to suck it up. Love how protective she was of House ("Are you stealing him from me?"). If she hadn't been so emotional in that phone call with the Boston doctor, I might have thought she knew it was a ploy. I mean, I'm surprised at least that she didn't expect it. But Cuddy does have a lot more blind faith in House that she cares to admit--she always seems surprise when he does something ridiculous.
House's advanced on Cuddy were, I'm sorry, cute. He must have decided to milk the "I'm dying" ploy for all it was worth and I liked that he sought after Cuddy for physical "comfort"--or at least a hug (He did hug her back, right? I realize I can't remember). They had a prior physical relationship, right? So it makes sense. Additionally, in scenes we didn't see, he guilted Wilson out of all of his food and made Cameron run ridiculous errands.
OVERALL REACTION: AKL;S'DKLJGSHKGDJKSJL;JJDGF;S
I am excited for this show anew. Bring on March 27th already.