In our daily life we come across individuals whose personalities are “larger than life.” Oftentimes, these individuals hide behind this personality mask because they are hiding the flaws within. I thought this week’s House title illustrated this idea through the Patient of the Week, House, Taub and even Arlene Cuddy. It’s also interesting to note just how similar House was in personality to the Patient of the week. The writers never cease to amaze me in how they can parallel House to the situation at hand. This installment by Sara Hess was no exception. So, let me tell you my thoughts on this week’s episode and whether or not the characters in play were truly hiding behind personalities that were “larger than life.”
One day, an ordinary man in a band with a family saves the life of a woman on the subway tracks who was suffering a seizure. Suddenly, this ordinary man becomes a hero overnight. But it is not without consequence as he then becomes a victim of illness and is brought to House. Of course this man is headline news and draws the attention of hospital staff. His personality then becomes amplified and he is no longer ordinary. He becomes somewhat of a celebrity. However, his wife doesn’t see it that way immediately. She sees a man who risks his life without regard to the consequences or his family. Interestingly, that isn’t unlike someone else we know. How many times have we seen House risk his life to save another without regard to consequences or to the people who love him? We saw evidence of this action most recently in “A Pox on Our House.” Yet, the parallel doesn’t end there. It seems that the POTW has a passion and love for his band, much like House does for medicine. And like House, the POTW hides behind his passion for fear of screwing up his personal life. In that regard both House and the POTW, seem to hid behind their “larger than life” personalities to mask their fears of personal failures or the prospect of them. Just as the POTW is hiding behind his heroism, the patient is quick to point out that House hides behind his sick patients.
To me the wife also illustrated two parts of this story as well. She seemed in some ways to illustrate Cuddy. She conveyed how she let herself believe that her husband could change and be this other guy. Although she loves her husband, she mentions how there’s nothing worse than loving someone who’s “never going to stop disappointing you.” As much as I am a fan of the House and Cuddy relationship this season, I had to think of the reality that maybe this is foreshadowing. Is something going to happen in the relationship that will completely disappoint Cuddy to the point of ending things? I would be foolish not to bring up this possible point. On the other hand, the wife of the patient also seemed to illustrate Taub’s situation.
In a stroke of luck, Taub becomes the face of Princeton Plainsboro because marketing feels he has a “trustworthy” face. This is pretty ironic since he’s a philanderer. Trustworthy isn’t exactly in his vocabulary. Yet, this whole campaign has made his personality become “larger than life.” His professional face becomes the mask for his personal faults. The POTW’s wife seeks Taub’s expertise, since she believes the hospital picked him for the billboard because he’s a good doctor. This is something we all know is not true. But just as the POTW basked in the newfound attention, Taub does as well but at an interesting cost. It seems his wife Rachel is enjoying his celebrity so much that she is seeking him night and day for romps in the bedroom. However, we come to realize that her good mood in due to her conversations with her online “friend” Phil and not really because of Taub. Her overplayed actions with Taub seem to hide the fact that she is acting out her affair with Phil but with Taub. Confusing, I know. Yet, it’s her way of having an affair without having one. Just because she’s love to her husband doesn’t make her happy to be with him as we soon discover. When the masks come off and Taub and Rachel return to reality, Taub himself realizes that he’s never going to stop disappointing Rachel. Thus, the words of the POTW’s wife coming ringing in both their ears and they realize that divorce seems the best answer. In that regard both can stop disappointing the other. Rachel doesn’t have to worry about Taub’s cheating habits and he doesn’t have to wonder anymore about playing second fiddle to her online contact. As Masters pointed out, Taub was being selfish. His fear of not knowing how to love anyone else and his indecisiveness concerning whether or not he’d cheat again weren’t going to yield any happy outcomes for anyone. Sometimes in life you have to let go. As a result, Taub finally did and offered up the idea of divorce. Is he heroic for finally giving in and letting Rachel go? As hard as that was to do, in a sense he was. He couldn’t live the lies anymore and did the best thing he knew he could do. He offered Rachel the prospect of happiness.
Finally, we have Arlene Cuddy. Her overbearing, harsh personality is much to be desired. She is judgmental of her daughter Lisa to the point of insinuating Lisa is a slut. What is Arlene hiding? Why is her personality so “larger than life?” Is it the fact that she was a gentile who converted to Judaism? Therefore, she’s overdoing it? Maybe it’s something deeper. One wonders what she was like before her husband died. Is she hiding her failures as a mother or her grief? Well, we do have another episode with Candice Bergen coming. So, maybe we’ll find out what more she could be hiding behind her personality.
What was interesting to me was how House taught the patient a lesson in the end and how the patient taught House a lesson as well. Rather than dealing with Arlene right after the dinner incident, House hid in the patient’s room. In House’s world, this isn’t anything new. House hides from people all the time in patient rooms. Yet, this was different. House basically mocked his patient telling him that the next week he’ll go back to being the same guy he always had been. Basically, he’d be yesterday’s news. Then, the patient mocked House’s heroic nature by “hiding behind a sick guy.” This got House to stop being a coward and face Cuddy’s mom. In turn, House taught the patient a lesson too. After solving the case and saving his life, House cites that his actions in solving the case don’t make him a hero. Basically House I think was saying that he saves lives each day as part of his job. It’s his obligation to his profession.
Why does one act of saving a life trump that of someone who does it every day? It’s an interesting question. What really defines a hero? Was House more heroic for holding his tongue at dinner out of love for Cuddy? Was House heroic by sedating Cuddy’s mom to keep her from degrading her daughter anymore? Was Taub heroic for setting Rachel free? Is the POTW’s wife heroic for raising their daughter while he goes gigging?
As always the House writers leave fans asking themselves interesting questions concerning life and our actions.
Well, that’s it for this week. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. So, please feel free to make a comment in the comments section.
I apologize to my readers for being so late with this, but real life has been very hectic on my end. Hopefully, the next installment will be sooner….of course, better late than never.
See you next week for another edition of Diagnosing House. Thanks for reading!
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