Review: 8x13 Caveman of the House

[cuddyclothes]

Here's my belated take on this week's ep.

Much like the doctors vying for the title of team leader, the writers of “House” are striving to see who can write the worst script before the series’ end. Sarah Hess and Liz Friedman have a strong lead with “Man Of The House.”

Comments

[stenveny]

Once again, while it wasn't a masterpiece, I don't think it sucked all that badly.

It seems to be a new feature: in every script, House takes an enormous risk, despite the potential (cue organ music) DIRE CONSEQUENCES!!!! of said risk, because he's a risk taker, an addict, and apparently fourteen years old, and he needs someone to control him and protect him from himself. That's always worked out so well. This week's DIRE CONSEQUENCES!!! (should that or should that not be a name for a game show? I ask you) plotline was that if he got caught lying he'd go back to jail. Then when he did get caught lying, the DIRE CONSEQUENCES!!! in play, as explained by Wilson, became that if he didn't throw Dominika to the deportation wolves, he'd go back to jail.

I did wonder aloud why the writers bothered to take off House's ankle monitor, only to tell him that he has to spend the next 6 months living with a perky person or go back to jail. The House I love would choose jail, hands down. There are no perky people there; just Nazis.

[cuddyclothes]

Do you think they have time to make DIRE CONSEQUENCES!!! the title of an episode?

Maybe House will snap and strangle Dominika with her own hair.

[damigella_314]

Maybe House will snap and strangle Dominika with her own hair.
This.

[barefootpuddles]

“Kicked in the nuts is kicked in the nuts.” I rewound the scene to see what that had to do with anything. I still don’t know. Enlighten me in the comments, won’t you?

What they meant by that was that the illness had nothing to do with his personality changes, that came from being kicked in the nuts. So basically the personality thing was different, he had two separate things going on.

What I object to with this patient is the insinuation that a) not having enough testosterone makes you a woman somehow, and by extension b) women are indecisive creatures who hardly ever want to have sex. Which made no sense since his wife clearly wanted both sex and decision making.

Nate doesn't find it strange that a beautiful young woman is married to her creepy uncle. That occurred to me too. If I were an immigration agent and came across House and Dominika, my first thought wouldn't be "green card wife", it would be "mail order bride/sex slavery". Their ages, his criminal conviction for a violent offense, previous drug arrests, House's money

[menolly_au]

Totally agree that the immigration officer would have been massively suspicious of the 'marriage'.

What I found hard to swallow was that after he finally figured out that they'd been faking the whole thing and Dominika admitted to it he decided to let her stay as long as they could fake it for another six months? Because Dominika said they'd had a good time faking it? Somehow I can't see that happening...

[cuddyclothes]

But--but Dominika was adorable! You can't fight that much adorable with logic! Are you crazy?

[damigella_314]

What I object to with this patient is the insinuation that a) not having enough testosterone makes you a woman somehow, and by extension b) women are indecisive creatures who hardly ever want to have sex. Which made no sense since his wife clearly wanted both sex and decision making.

The whole show has played the "men and women are different" record again and again, I'm so fed up. I suspect one of the writers is Larry Summers.

[menolly_au]

I was hoping for deportation, but that would have been so season two.

*This*, so much. If they'd had this storyline in season 2 (which they wouldn't have) it would have ended with Dominika being taken away and House looking sad. Maybe going home to his empty apartment, sitting down at the piano, playing a few notes and taking his Vicodin.

I have this vague sense that 'Biff's' storyline was fairly offensive but after I got over 'oh, that's the guy from Medium - he was called Joe on that show too' I totally glazed over during the POTW segments.

Wilson faking the british accent was cute...

[stenveny]

Oh, but immediate deportation doesn't have the dramatic power of having House eventually warm up to her (like he did with Hector the dog, in "House Training"), get used to having her around, and THEN be abandoned by her 4 episodes from now. He'll look so much sadder, this way.

Or, hopefully, relieved, with the realization that he's satisfied with his life and prefers being alone.

But I bet they'll go for sad. Hrumph.

[menolly_au]

Or, hopefully, relieved, with the realization that he's satisfied with his life and prefers being alone.

That would be awesome!

I think after two days of having Dominika dance around my house I'd be moving out and leaving her to it...

[stenveny]

I also see Dominika as a morning person. That would be hell.

[damigella_314]

Amy Grant blasts on the soundtrack
Does House even like the same music as she does? I never even heard of Amy Grant before (I'm musicophobic) but wouldn't living with this soundtrack drive him nuts?

He might, however, like the food. Eastern pastries versus Macadamia pancakes... do those pastries go well with bacon? (I personally don't like bacon but your 'better with bacon' viewpoint has influenced how I view Americans).

[cuddyclothes]

Amy Grant is a soft-pop singer who usually sings about God, and she's as cute as a button.

As for Eastern patries and bacon...I don't know. My first impulse is "yuck!" But I could be wrong.

[karaokegal]

She's also married to a pretty good country singer named Vince Gill, who she dumped her husband to get together with (and he dumped his wife, very Christian that.)

Back when I was doing the drabbles, I did an RPF about her and another gospel singer named Sheila Walsh.

[damigella_314]

Oh that one's Amy Grant! LOL!!! I remember that drabble, but the name went lumped together with all generic anglosaxon names.

[karaokegal]

We are in total agreement this week over both the hideousness of the script and the adorability of Dominika.

Are you saying that Foreman was actually the Team Leader? Was this ever a canon fact? Because I remember nothing along those lines. During the FCC years, there was no difference in status EXCEPT during the post-Mistake, Napolean Blackapart period, but that was Foreman supervising House, not being "Team Leader."

Or am I missing something?

[alternatealto]

Tch, tch, tch. You're forgetting a Very Important Rule: If the writers say it's so, then it's so. Even if you don't remember having seen it before. Especially if you remember not having seen it before. Even more especially if you remember having seen the exact opposite before.

These aren't the droids you're looking for.

Move along.

[karaokegal]

So this is like a reverse Ret-con? I drink the Kool Aid and believe something happened that never did. I didn't realize Adam was now running the writer's room at Fox, but honestly I'm not all THAT surprised.

[cuddyclothes]

Don't think too hard about it...esp. when it contradicts itself in the SAME EPISODE! The Voice of TV critic pointed out that she has "four days" but she makes a speech to the judge that they spent "weeks" together building this facade. Semantic that upside down and sideways, it still doesn't work.