tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64625981122132404862024-03-13T22:05:22.639-07:00Diagnosing HouseThis blog is dedicated to the in-depth character study of those on the television show House, MD. Rather than review episodes, I analyze them in homage to the writing team. In this regard, I hope to uncover the heart of the episode and help the reader see the show through a different lens.Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-24080044162790022462013-05-27T05:24:00.000-07:002013-05-27T05:24:00.487-07:00And the Winner is........Well, we have finally reached the conclusion of the Huddy Madness Scene Tournament. I would like to thank all those who participated in the voting and to my friend Max for the suggestion. It was a fun ride and an enjoyable experience walking down memory lane with House and Cuddy. Without further adieu, here is your winner.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SZrLDINtAQM/UaNPzQwyuuI/AAAAAAAAABQ/nfEUb-QKIyg/s1600/House+and+Cuddy+Help+Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SZrLDINtAQM/UaNPzQwyuuI/AAAAAAAAABQ/nfEUb-QKIyg/s320/House+and+Cuddy+Help+Me.jpg" width="281" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Who can forget our dynamic duo finally coming together in the last moments of "Help Me?" Cuddy giving up a very conventional life for an unconventional one with House.<br />
<br />
"I love you. I wish I didn't, but I can't help it."<br />
<br />
Neither could we.<br />
<br />
Thanks to everyone out there and have a great summer!Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-41525470304890736822013-05-19T07:17:00.001-07:002013-05-19T07:17:39.315-07:00Huddy Madness Championship Has arrived!<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have finally made it to the Huddy Madness Championship! It was a very close race to see which two scenes would be battling it out for the title of "The Greatest Huddy Scene." Yet, we have come to the final battle as the final scene from "Help Me" will be facing off against House and Cuddy consummating their relationship for the first time on camera. Now is the time to cast your vote for the best an most memorable Huddy scene in seven seasons. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #000002; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Voting will be done after the comments section. If you are voting via a mobile or portable device, please change to full web version.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #000002; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #000002; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #000002; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Please let your House and Cuddy friends know about the tournament, since the more voters we have the more fun it gets. If you have Twitter, LJ or Facebook accounts, spread the word. It's a fun time for all.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #000002; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #000002; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #000002; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">NOTE: Be careful when voting. The Poll gadget has some glitches, so make sure that your vote is getting through and that the gadget is registering the right choice. Unfortunately, you may have to click the "change your vote"<i> <u>several </u></i>times to get it to work properly. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's beyond my control. </b></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #000002; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="color: #000002; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Let the games begin!!!!</span></span>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-51305570681909552542013-05-12T06:49:00.001-07:002013-05-12T06:49:42.057-07:00Final Four! Huddy Madness Tournament<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ladies and gentleman, we have now entered the final four in the Huddy Madness Scene Tournament. Now is the time to vote for the two scenes you want to advance to the championship. All of the top seeds are in the final four, so it's going to be a tough vote for everyone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;">Voting will be done after the comments section. If you are voting via a mobile or portable device, please change to full web version.</span><br style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;">Please let your House and Cuddy friends know about the tournament, since the more voters we have the more fun it gets. If you have Twitter, LJ or Facebook accounts, spread the word. It's a fun time for all.</span><br style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;" /><b style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;">NOTE: Be careful when voting. The Poll gadget has some glitches, so make sure that your vote is getting through and that the gadget is registering the right choice. Unfortunately, you may have to click the "change your vote"<i> <u>several</u> </i>times to get it to work properly. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's beyond my control. </b><br style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;">Now to the voting! Let the games continue as we wonder which two scenes will fight for the best of the House/Cuddy scenes in seven seasons!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000002; line-height: 19px;">Thanks to all who have been participating in the contest thus far! It's much appreciated! </span></span></span>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-28760374727558873082013-05-05T06:29:00.001-07:002013-05-06T13:19:41.774-07:00Welcome to the Elite Eight Huddy Madness Tournament Some very close races occurred in the last round as we make our way to the championship. We've reached the final eight scenes chosen by you. You're next choices will duke it out in the final four next week!<br />
<br />
Voting will be done after the comments section. If you are voting via a mobile or portable device, please change to full web version.<br />
<br />
Please let your House and Cuddy friends know about the tournament, since the more voters we have the more fun it gets. If you have Twitter, LJ or Facebook accounts, spread the word. It's a fun time for all.<br />
<br />
<b>NOTE: Be careful when voting. The Poll gadget has some glitches, so make sure that your vote is getting through and that the gadget is registering the right choice. Unfortunately, you may have to click the "change your vote" several times to get it to work properly. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's beyond my control. </b><br />
<br />
Now to the voting! Let the games continue as we wonder which two scenes will fight for the best of the House/Cuddy scenes in seven seasons!Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-53730963530209657482013-04-28T06:02:00.002-07:002013-04-28T06:27:22.086-07:00Welcome to the Huddy Madness Sweet Sixteen After some tight races in round two, we now have our quarter finals for the Huddy Madness tournament of scenes. If you thought round two was a challenge, keep in mind it will only get more difficult from here as we make our way to the final four.<br />
<br />
Voting will be done after the comments section, as you make your choice for the scene to advance to the final four. If you are voting via a mobile or portable device, please change to full web version.<br />
<br />
Please let your House and Cuddy friends know about the tournament, since the more voters we have the more fun it gets. If you have Twitter, LJ or Facebook accounts, spread the word. It's a fun time for all.<br />
<br />
<b>NOTE: Be careful when voting. The Poll gadget has some glitches, so make sure that your vote is getting through and that the gadget is registering the right choice. Unfortunately, you may have to click the "change your vote" several times to get it to work properly. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's beyond my control. </b><br />
<br />
Now to the voting! Let the games continue!Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-39715039278014089882013-04-21T09:30:00.001-07:002013-04-21T09:52:23.088-07:00Huddy Madness Bracket Round 2Okay folks round two of the Huddy Madness Bracket is now up. There were some close races in the first round, and round two is going to be just as hard. Remember, you're voting for the scene to move on to the next round. Let them games begin!<br />
<br />
Note: If you're viewing and voting on mobile devices please select "web view." (Thanks Maya!)Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-76808170699335937792013-04-08T03:50:00.001-07:002013-04-08T03:50:13.930-07:00Huddy Madness Championship BracketGreetings and salutations all! I know it has been awhile since last I blogged about House, but thanks to @allthingsdecent on Twitter, I was inspired again, blowing the dust off my blog. <br />
<br />
With the NCAA Championship coming up, my good friend suggested a Huddy Tournament (House and Cuddy for those who are wondering what the heck is "Huddy.") with the selection of sixty-four memorable Huddy scenes from seven seasons of the show. She was looking for takers for the task and, alas, I bit. <br />
<br />
So, what do I need from my readers? I need some scene suggestions, since finding sixty-four might be a bit of a challenge for one person to partake. <br />
<br />
To make life easy, in the comments section write your suggested scene and the season from which it comes. There is a method to my madness. (You may insert an evil laugh here.)<br />
<br />
Hey, if this is successful I may even try a full House bracket and not just a Huddy one. Go forth, start thinking and post your suggestions in the comments section. <br />
<br />
Thank You! Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-88219338254568265042012-03-15T15:16:00.001-07:002012-03-15T16:38:16.079-07:00Dear Mr. Shore<div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Mr. Shore,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For eight years of my life, I have succumbed to the hypnotic nature of your show, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i>. When I first began my journey, I was drawn to the mysterious nature of your title character, Dr. Gregory House. His personal mystique and determination to solve the Sherlockian medical mystery, captivated me to a point where I carefully wished to analyze his every move. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As the persona of this character unfolded, it wasn’t just his sarcasm, misanthropy and blunt honesty in his quest for truth and answers that pulled me into his orbit, but the very essence of his humanity, personal pain and loneliness. These are qualities to which many can relate and ones that garnered sympathy. In that regard, viewers of the show were compelled to root for House to succeed in his personal pursuits as well as in his professional ones. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One of the values the character House exemplified through the years was that of advocate for the powerless. House was never a hypocrite and made known his discontent for bullying individuals of power, as evidenced in his Vogler arc back in season one and the numerous patient of the week stories that showed him fighting to bring the “victim” into equilibrium and the path to justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In addition to his urge to “fight the power,” he also found stolen moments with his patients in which they revealed something about him and in which he made them reflect upon themselves. Yet, it wasn’t just in a room with the patient where House’s reflective nature had viewers transfixed, but in the moments spent in his office alone contemplating a case, or at home reflecting on what had transpired. Of course, these moments of reflection and turmoil couldn’t have been possible without the incredible acting talents of Mr. Hugh Laurie. Mr. Laurie brought and continues to bring a humanistic quality to the character, the result of which makes House not a complete and intolerable bastard in the eyes of many, but a friend. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Another quality, which I respected throughout the years, was House’s struggles with personal and emotional pain and the realities of addiction. For awhile, these aspects had a real feel to them which moved fans to anger, tears and empathy in regards to his pain. However, these aspects were sometimes amplified too much and at other times diluted and clouded to the point of confusing the real issue that in my opinion the pain was not handled with true care. If it had been, I feel there would have been many great dramatic moments in which Mr. Laurie would have given undeniable award-winning performances. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Relationships were always a wonderful core of the show as well. The friendship of House and Wilson is reminiscent of the days of Oscar and Felix from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Odd Couple.</i> Additionally, the dance between House and Cuddy served as both amusing and emotionally riveting. When all three characters were together on the show, there was a balance of sorts, as each brought something different to the relationship. Sadly, this is sorely missing for me this season. Looking back at old episodes and those from last year, I miss this trilogy of actors. Wilson as House’s conscience and Cuddy as his heart completed House the man, and therefore brought dimension and revelatory balance to the character. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Even House’s personal history of abuse seemed to serve as a sort of outline to his character, adding not only an additional layer of pain, but also another layer of humanity to explain some of his more noble responses. It was a seed planted early in the series that viewers felt would eventually lead to more layers being peeled. Unfortunately, after eight years, House’s backstory is still rooted in almost total mystery, complete with the question of “where and when did he finally get his graduate degree?” Plus, viewers of the show still wonder if House will ever tell anyone of the personal trauma he experienced during childhood or if he will continue to bottle those secrets deep within the very essence of his soul. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For me, House was at its best when it dealt with simplicity and deep character issues as opposed to crashes and overuse of special effects. To me what was important was the story and what could be revealed about House and maybe a few others in his orbit through those stories, which leads to the real reason I’m constructing this letter.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let me take you back to season four for a moment in a beautiful scene played out by Hugh Laurie and Anne Dudek and constructed so well by Lerner and Friend. House finds himself on a white bus with Amber, who has passed away, content to stay there because for him “it doesn’t hurt” there. Knowing that he was indirectly responsible for the death of his best friend’s girl, House confesses to Amber that he doesn’t want to be in pain or miserable and doesn’t want Wilson to hate him. Amber responds by telling him that he can’t always get what he wants. With that in mind, House leaves the white bus in what I thought was a turning point for the character. Fans were privy to his desires in life and hoped that he could achieve those desires mainly because, no matter what kind of person you are, you deserve to succeed. I call it having hope for those who seem hopeless. “House’s Head” and “Wilson’s Heart” have been considered by many to be the “favorites” of the series, and “House’s Head” won many awards for its brilliance. But it seems the creative team might have confused what really brought power to these episodes. The special effects were only a support to a powerful script and performance, not the primary element to success and popularity. The glimpse inside the tortured soul and the mind of the beloved character, as well as the insightful interactions with the ensemble cast, filled the audience with excitement for the character development that would certainly follow. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">House dealt with a lot in season five….his desire to repair his friendship with Wilson, Cuddy becoming a mom and House’s ever growing desire to be the man in Cuddy’s life, his father passing away, Kutner committing suicide and a downward spiral caused by a cocktail mix of Vicodin abuse and emotional distress. Although there were several missteps and moments that didn’t seem to fit the overall narrative, the season as a whole produced the desired affect of breaking House, tearing down the walls that were preventing him from any positive forward momentum. All of this led to Mayfield and what many fans had hoped was the beginning of his personal journey to self-improvement and personal happiness. House decided to battle his addiction and to release some of his emotional baggage through the guidance of Dr. Nolan. Even though it seemed quite superficial to only touch detoxification and his need to trust himself to connect with another, it was a starting point. Several times during season six, House struggled but kept forging ahead; he was hit emotionally, but never beyond the baby steps taken in Mayfield. The season trudged on at such a glacial pace it started to feel stagnant. The promise of real growth and development lost. Then, just when all hope seemed to be gone and House appeared back on the road to old habits, there was a glimmer of hope that at least one aspect of his goal could be achieved….a relationship with Cuddy. Then…it all went to hell in a poorly organized handbag. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Season seven, Mr. Shore, started well. Patients tied into House as a person and House’s relationship with Cuddy had viewers and critics excited over the obstacles and the heat they thought would come. Sadly, the exploration of this journey fell very flat very quickly in just a few episodes into the season. Moments where personal drama could have made for beautiful television ended up being replaced by unbelievable antics-a Monster truck, hookers and a Green Card wife. Dominika hasn’t been well received by an abundance of viewers of the show, but seems only to be accepted by the staff of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House, </i>who think she’s “cute” and fun. Also the writers, under your tutelage, seemed to have forgotten who all the characters were in regards to their personalities. Rather than sexy banter and fun with a thorough exploration of House and Cuddy’s relationship, we got the mundane and the out of character, which went against the essence of their characters. Here’s what I mean….since when was Cuddy ever a harping shrew who wanted House to change? Through the years the show has shown how Cuddy appreciated House’s “uncommon” nature and was captivated by his brilliance. This character idea, if properly handled, could’ve led to several instances of cerebral dialogue and moments of a valid partnership. Also, Cuddy knows House lies when it comes to the medicine…past history has displayed this several times. Since when does she become overly irritated and insulted for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">several </i>episodes by his lying behavior? In fact, the point was clearly made in season four’s “The Right Stuff,” after House had lied about his patient and was confronted with it, that Cuddy understood his lies were for the benefit of the patient and her protection, never as a statement of trust and care. Being in a relationship with him is not an excuse either. It was just a poorly constructed way to issue what you may have felt was a believable argument and an attempt to weaken the foundation of their relationship, but it was without warrant and made little sense given their history as seen onscreen. The “lie” was taken too far, in my opinion. You also missed some fabulous opportunities to: bring House’s mom and Cuddy’s mom together….drama and comedy all in one with some possible addition of backstory for both characters as well as a deeper connection between the pair as opposed to a superficial connection, to explore the House family dynamics in the framework of the fear and trepidation tied to a relationship with Rachel, to explore the reasons behind the damaged personality traits of both characters. These missed opportunities became more than disappointment, but a frustration for viewers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also wasn’t a fan of using Rachel as an excuse to end things between House and Cuddy (though that was only made clear in interviews since it wasn’t made clear within the episode itself where she was only mentioned as a means to reveal the “candy” connection). The break-up in general could have been handled with more care. If you followed canon, you’d understand that Cuddy would never end her relationship with House based on a slip regarding Vicodin. It actually would have served as a great opportunity for drama to deal with the real challenges of being involved with an addict and dealing with it together. Cuddy would have never given up for that reason nor because she couldn’t handle things or him. In fact, history has shown that she would have risked everything to hang on to him, and she certainly would have fought harder to simply not fail. It was a cop-out and yet another attempt to have Cuddy assume the role of bad guy, which appeared to be a common move that failed to be embraced by the audience. Instead, she was always viewed as positive force for House by a large portion of the audience. She was viewed as his equal and a key element to his emotional healing (as boldly suggested during season six) I always felt badly that Cuddy seemed to be written as the scapegoat for House’s personal pain when clearly the possibility was there for so much more. And why was a drug-free House able to be there for Wilson in “Wilson” (S6) when he gave up part of his liver and could have died, but when Cuddy had a health crisis, he couldn’t face it without being stoned? As Cuddy pointed out in the episode “Bombshells,” House never let her alone and was involved in all aspects of her life. And, he’d been there every step of the way during her mother’s health crisis and been a tremendous support. Suddenly, he’s forgotten to be there? Forgotten he is capable of being there? The attempt may have been to show House’s feelings were much deeper and the loss of Cuddy would have been more devastating, but it really didn’t coincide with what we’d seen of this character for years. It’s never been that he couldn’t be there as much as he could not provide the “traditional” support while he was there. If one day you can explain all this, it would be truly helpful as I am struggling with what I felt was an error in character continuity. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Even Wilson was out of character. In “Bombshells,” when Foreman came to Wilson looking for House, Wilson didn’t care and shrugged it off. When Wilson knows House is going through personal issues, he was always known to look out for and worry about his friend. House’s fears regarding Cuddy’s illness were a pretty big issue for Wilson to ignore. Why was Wilson all of a sudden not concerned about how House was doing in relation to Cuddy? It didn’t make sense to me at all. Any more than it made sense for Foreman to suddenly be playing the role of Wilson, or Masters believing House shouldn’t be with Cuddy, but should be with the patient. All of the characters seemed to have broken from years of canon and solid character development in order to force a break-up. It didn’t feel natural at all. Even the writers and actors interviews reflected an idea that just didn’t come across on the screen. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The second half of season seven for me was a creative mess from all aspects. I know I’m not alone in this, because some average viewers with whom I spoke were convinced that it was all a hallucination of sorts. Several people commented to me how “off” things mid season seven were right up until the car crash heard around the world. Hopefully, by now you realize what a mistake that car crash was for the character and the narrative. House was never known to be violent towards any person in the course of the show. Bitter and jealous? Yes. Violent? No. What you did in that moment was extinguish that broken, humanistic quality embraced by many fans. You removed the precarious balance of the character. It was at this very point that House was no longer viewed by many as an anti-hero, but a psychotic monster, who after weeks of intentionally seeking to emotionally hurt his ex-lover, now resorted to violence. You say the violence was against her home, but that never made sense in the editing, story or the basic concept even after the attempt to explain at the start of season eight. You basically went against the very thing you were determined not to do: ensured House would be viewed as a total bastard, removing the qualities that made fans loyal to him. Unfortunately, this very act forced many viewers to change the channel. What’s even more unfortunate is that the episode was good, tying in the patient of the week to House’s life, but it was eclipsed by one poorly thought-out action, an action for which it seems you continue to feel no remorse. If you do, then you haven’t let fans know that verbally. Furthermore, what was allegedly meant to be a cathartic moment (which is never really achieved through violence) wasn’t followed up with any revelation and/or growth resulting from a true purging of emotion. The problem was that you went for the “shock” factor without thinking about the overall narrative and consequences, especially in a year where contracts were being negotiated. I mean, if Lisa Edelstein had returned, what were you going to do with Cuddy? Even Peter Blake admitted he didn’t know the answer to that question. I wouldn’t have cared if House pulled a Carrie Underwood and took his cane to Cuddy’s car, but crashing it into her house was over the top and unnecessary in my opinion. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aside from the out of character car crash, you entered soap territory with Taub and his two babies. Of all the brilliantly started storylines, you chose yet another story that was not well received by fans. Sadly, this trend seemed to carry into the current season. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watching this current season, I feel the show has lost complete focus in regards to things that were essential and important elements to the show’s overall success. I have yet to see an example of your testimony that the show would be going “back to basics.” Instead, I’ve seen things that leave me befuddled, mentally exhausted (for bad reasons) and irritated. Rather than having stolen moments, like seasons past, where House would be reflecting on his actions, you have Wilson wiping them away with a punch in the course of a forty-minute episode. Yet, Wilson was pissed at House for several episodes after House inadvertently killed Amber. I guess House nearly killing him with his car and ruining the friendship trio wasn’t important to Wilson. Lord, even Wilson talked to Stacy long after House’s breakup with her. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In season eight, I also have been sorely missing those moments with House and his patients. Interactions are being utilized through the new characters, who are as flat as my chest. There’s no personality inherent in them. Odette Annable is being used as many of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> women have been…as eye candy and nothing more. Foreman is the new dean and somehow has forgotten that he’s running a hospital. Instead I keep finding him constantly in the DDX room. I think he’s gotten more airtime in one season as Dean of Medicine than Cuddy ever did in seven years to be honest, and yet his presence in his new current role has done nothing to bring us closer to House, to provide any new insights into House. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Currently, I feel the depth and emotional quality the show brought forth initially is being lost in silliness and shock factors just for the sake of having House doing it. Don’t get me wrong. I like the comedic aspects of the show but only as a break from the truth of an episode. The jokes, comedy and games were a way to release the emotional tension of an episode, giving viewers a bit of a break. Now, they seem to be there because the writers, under your guidance, have forgotten how to write real drama. Has every episode this season been bad? No, but the good ones seemed to not carry over in the overall narrative so far to me. That factor alone is disappointing. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As an analytical viewer, I have been able to see the tiny thread of fractional change that is being attempted, but it is falling short of the mark. The fact that viewers and critics are so rarely even noticing much less talking about this thread is a testament to the depth of subtlety and the loss of a key element. What would have been powerful in season six and seven now is almost of negligible interest in the debris that’s left of the House character. This fractional change is too little too late, and when intermixed with obvious attempts to “surprise” the audience with revelations that counteract what they think they know of House and his past, it fails to work as a denouement to this narrative. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Additionally, I feel cheated because there seems to be no real journey to look forward to anymore. You’ve said time and again that House won’t change and will never be happy. Therefore, I take your reiteration of this idea to mean that House will forever be miserable and any suggestion of growth and promise were just smoke and mirrors. This was never a journey to follow, never a sojourn into the soul of an interesting character with reason to root for the man on this pilgrimage. It would seem it’s always been a trial, with House the test subject placed in a series of random situations that result in hypothesis and theories. Each episode was just an episodic glimpse into House’s life and consistent barrage of failures that accompanied it. If that’s the case, then I feel I’ve wasted eight years of my life on a mere illusion and complete misdirection.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In a world where there is so much negativity and loss of hope, your idea of no hope for the hopeless is rather depressing. People watch television to be entertained and escape the trials of their everyday lives. Getting lost in fiction is usually a welcomed break. The entertainment industry has always capitalized on that escape mentality as early as WWII. The escape into film was more than a relief and a healing balm, but a challenge to traditional thought to move people into action, and yes even change. In the case of House, people were drawn to him as an emblem of hope for themselves. You see, people are looking not only for characters to which they can relate, but ones for which they can be motivated by their success in life. Real life is difficult enough. But when that stress transfers to one’s life of fiction, it proves to be a bit disconcerting. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If your idea in the end is to go against the normal conventions of television and have House be a personal failure, never to have at least one aspect of his life be a happy one, then so be it. You may be satisfied that you created that ideal, but I don’t know how many more will embrace it that easily. Creativity is a tricky thing and in it you must find compromise. Create what you wish to create in whatever way, but don’t forget your audience. A selfish, stubborn nature enveloped in a cloud of negativity will not allow you to go very far. Accept mistakes, acknowledge them and learn from them. Mistakes are a part of life, but to stubbornly dismiss them takes away from the creative process and casts one in an unfavorable light. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As the creator of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i>, I’ve seen you do some brilliant things and I’ve seen you do some things that go beyond incomprehensible. There have also been so many missed opportunities to capitalize on some of the story ideas you brought to the viewing public. Perhaps, if you took your time with exploring ideas they would have had a more natural progression and you may have gotten more years out of the show, which would have been great. Up until this point though, what’s done is done. But there are still some things for which you still have a little bit of a window of time left for redemption. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In these final hours, I urge you to take a moment of reflection. Remember the things that are important in regards to the show and the roots that made it a success. It’s unfortunate that you had no room to fit Cuddy into the series finale, because it’s still tough for fans to accept that the last visions of Cuddy were of a car going through her dining room. I do hope that the decision was just due to creative issues and not a grudge. Today could be any one of our last days on earth and any kind of anger or dismissiveness is not the last feeling anyone wants to experience. (Amber was right in “Wilson’s Heart.) I also encourage you to make a bold move in returning the humanity to House. The acts that destroyed the balance in this character were not subtle; the restoration shouldn’t be either. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Although I have been utterly disappointed with the show as of late, I still wish you the best of luck in the final stretch of this marathon. I cannot deny that Dr. Gregory House was a unique character to behold and that those who added the fine furnishings to this “house” were eclectic and added a certain kind of warmth to this struggling individual. I think there is truth that things, which are of a classic nature, seem to outlast the newly developed. Flashy styles last for only so long before they are replaced by simplicity and elegance. And that which is lost can be found again. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You’re right with the theme of “You Can’t Always Get What you Want.” Viewers are just hoping that in the end we at least get what we need…..whatever that may be. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sincerely yours,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Drdaignostic ( A fan of the cerebral, classic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-40938120243028978102012-03-11T09:58:00.000-07:002012-03-11T09:58:17.761-07:00Fandom Warfare: A Moment of Reflection<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On May 21, 2012, many will be tuning into FOX to bid farewell to the most talked about doctor on the planet and no it’s not Dr. Kevorkian. It is indeed Dr. Gregory House, MD. It’s been a rough ride for many….sometimes a bit too rough to the point where fan wars rear their ugly head. (Pay attention George Lucas….Darth Vader has nothing on the <i>House </i>fans.) </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have seen this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> fandom virus start in small communities, then spread into a vicious outbreak on forums and social networking sites. It’s a sad state of affairs when “fans” are calling each other by ridiculous titles such as “true fans,” Hugh Laurie or Lisa Edelstein “haters,” “bitter huddies,” the list is endless and the mockery is ridiculous! What’s even sadder is this fan war even had the professionals involved with such contributors as Executive Producer Greg Yaitanes fueling the fan animosity. Granted, he’s gotten some pretty nasty tweets, but throwing gasoline on the already growing fire does not help the cause. He took the word “Ka-boom” to a whole new extreme.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, how has this all happened and why is it happening at all? Yes, I do know the answer to that question. It’s the result of storylines that were not well-received,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>cast members leaving under mysterious circumstances, rumors about the lives of the people involved with the show….you name it, it’s considered a reason. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Personally, I think the whole thing is foolish. Rather than waste energies on fighting with people we don’t know, maybe we should channel those energies into something more valuable. There is so much hate in the world these days that we lose site of what’s important. People use social networking many times to escape real life issues plaguing them. Those people shouldn’t have to be subjected to stress in the virtual world too. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That being said….if there is anyone to blame for the venom among the fans in this case, I say the anger goes to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> creator David Shore, who has recently opened up his account on Twitter. Do I think we should send him hate tweets on Twitter? No. Do I think constructive criticism can be tweeted? Yes, I do. As a creator of a show, I would want to know how fans feel. In that regard, if I’ve made mistakes, then I can think about what to do for the next time. I’d want to know what went wrong and what went right. Personally, it’s about time Shore answered to fans, since his poor staff members on Twitter have been taking the heat for him for so long. I also think he should give them a really nice gift like a portion of his paycheck for taking the abuse for him for so long, when all is finished. (Dear <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> staff, start making your wish lists and give them to David Shore.) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What I don’t think fans should do is assume things they know nothing about in terms of what may or may not have happened behind the scenes. The reason why I think fans should avoid the rumor mill is that the only people who know the facts are those that are privy to them. The rest is just gossip and innuendo. When fans start engaging in gossip and innuendo, is when things tend to get <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">very</i> ugly. Just stick with the facts and embrace them. If the true stories emerge, then great! If not, then that’s fine too. I’ve got bigger problems in my own life than to worry about things with which I am not involved. Having issues with characters is fine, but bringing personal attacks against actors into the fandom is outright insane. Do you know the actors? Are you their best friend? Do you work with them? Are you related to them? Are you in a relationship with them? Are you their doctor? Are you their dog? You get my point. If you are not close to them, don’t know their personalities or are not the air they breathe, then please stop the personal attacks against them in the fan wars. Because you know what happens when you assume things? If you don’t know what happens, then feel free to ask someone, I’m sure they’ll be happy to tell you. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Another thing that astounds me in these fan wars is when fans are talking among themselves about something they don’t like about the show and someone randomly jumps in to tell them they aren’t a “fan.” Listen, if people have a grievance or grievances regarding the show, I call this normal. Why you wonder? Let me put it to you this way. I’m a Yankee fan. If their manager makes a call I don’t like, I’m going to complain, especially if it costs the team the game. I’m still a fan, but ticked at the moment over the move he made. I talk about the call with friends and someone decides to interrupt telling me that I’m not a fan, because I disagreed with the manager’s call. Aside from the fact that I’m wondering “who invited you to this conversation,” I might acknowledge that I disagreed with the call but I am still a fan. I also would accept that the person disagrees with me and that’s fine. Then, I might suggest that perhaps this conversation might not be for this person or ask why he/she would assume I’m not a fan just because I disagreed with something. I either will get some engaging conversation where we could rationally discuss pros and cons, a verbal argument or a headache. Fact is fans can agree to disagree without name-calling. I swear it’s true.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The same can be said about choosing not to watch an episode. Again here’s a sports example. If I’m watching the Yankees play and they are playing horribly and behind by ten runs, I’m going to change the channel, because I don’t want to watch the rest of the massacre. Does it make me less of a fan? I don’t think so. I’m choosing not to watch a disaster take place before my eyes, which will lower my stress and prevent me from yelling any more expletives at my television. Therefore, if a fan chooses not to watch an episode or two for whatever reason, please leave them alone. It’s their prerogative. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last example I’m giving involves those who write about the show. I’ve seen people take hits for their reviews of episodes. Some wonder why they continue to watch. Let’s think about it this way. I’m selected to write a review of a musical. I attend the musical only to discover that the lead is a great actor, but can’t sing a note. Now, I have to sit through this because I was asked to do it…no matter how much pain I’m in at the moment. I stick it out and write my review. Well, naturally, I’m going to tell you how badly the lead sang, but I’ll find some good things to say too. Some may agree with my review and others will disagree which is fine. One thing you have to remember is that I didn’t cast the show or write the script for it. It is what I think it is. If I’m getting paid to write a review, then I write it as I see it. If I’m an independent writer, then you have understand what I’m writing is subjective. I’m writing because I like writing and I want to do it. Bloggers and paid writers are doing the same thing. They write because they want to do it. That’s the first thing fans should respect. People are giving their time to write what they feel. For some, it might be an enjoyable distraction. However, that joy is taken away when “fans” start saying those people should just stop writing if they don’t like the show. Then, those writers are called “hypocrites”. I never knew having a differing opinion from someone else’s made someone a hypocrite. In that case, we are ALL hypocrites. (You learn something new everyday, I suppose) The fact is we’re all fans of something. Some of those people have to write about their favorite teams, shows, books…etc. These writers might agree or disagree with something, but they do indeed have the ability to compartmentalize. What they do is a hard job. If you disagree, start a blog of your own or see if you can write for a publication so your voice can be heard as well. Just understand that these individuals have a tough job…to write something that would interest you. If you read it, then you must still be interested in what they have to say. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading it and complaining, right? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finally, in the all famous fan wars, there is the ever repeated “if you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” Listen, people have various reasons for continuing to watch the show. For instance, I’m not happy with the decisions that were made regarding the show from a story telling perspective. Plus, I’m not afraid to admit that I enjoyed the character of Cuddy and the presence Lisa Edelstein had on the show. I miss those interactions Cuddy had with House in every capacity not just romantically. However, I’m still watching regardless, because I do enjoy Hugh Laurie’s performances and I want to finish the story. I’m an avid reader. And even if I don’t like what’s happening in the book for several chapters, I still want to finish the story because I invested the time in reading it. I may not be getting what I paid for, but I don’t want the money I spent on the book to go to waste either. This may be the case for many people. You don’t know. Therefore, I say let people be. If you’re happy, splendid! If you’re not, that stinks and I understand and feel your pain. If the happy people and the disgruntled people are fighting amongst each other, then what really is being accomplished here? That’s right….nothing. The fire just continues to grow, curses are thrown and more “labels” get added. Frankly, it’s exhausting. I don’t know how you all do it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The bottom line is that fan wars will always be present no matter what area you’re supporting from television to sports. We’ll never be able to stop them, but I think there is hope to limit the amount of hate that is tossed about. One of the great things about fans for me has been the colorful individuals that I’ve met along the way and with whom I converse on a daily basis. They enlighten my days on a fan level and a personal level and for this I am grateful. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We all may not be untied in our feelings, ideas and opinions. However, we do have the capability to be respectful towards each other and embrace our differences. We must agree to disagree, because this ideal is totally acceptable. What I find unacceptable is the amount of bullying I see everywhere. I think we can all formulate intelligent opinions without having to resort to name-calling. Frankly, I view that as grade school behavior. I deal with that in my real life on a daily basis. I don’t want it to weave its way into my virtual one too, thank you.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In conclusion, not everyone is happy with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> right now. Some are mourning its end. Some are mourning the loss of Lisa Edelstein. Many are even mourning the loss of what the character of House used to be to them and are disappointed in what he’s become. These are things we have to realize and accept. We may not understand, but we have to accept the feelings of others. What we have to remember is that the show is fiction. Yes, some people can relate to many of the things the show presents, which could be why we may be so cathartic towards it. But don’t let fiction ruin the joys real life can bring you. Passion is a beautiful thing to have, but I feel we must prioritize that passion and utilize it wisely. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Next time you are tempted to engage in a war of words online, think first then ask yourself why you are going to do it. Maybe the answer just might change your mind. After all, you’re fighting over fiction. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As always, please feel free to sound off in the comments section. How do you feel about the fan wars? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is Drdiagnostic sounding off. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-53575843834025678642012-02-09T18:07:00.000-08:002012-02-09T19:14:41.396-08:00Letting Go: Personal Thoughts on the Conclusion of House, MD-Part One<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Upon hearing of the news that America’s most famous diagnostician will be hanging up his cane and stethoscope come May, I must admit that, like House in the season seven finale, I initially felt nothing. For me too many issues seemed to have clouded what may have otherwise been complete sadness. Now, my sadness is of a different sort. A sadness that is engulfed by the fact that this once brilliant show is leaving our airwaves under a dark cloud of controversy rather than one that is finishing a well deserved marathon of acclaim.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Don’t get me wrong. I still have a place in my heart for this show, otherwise I still wouldn’t be watching it. Regardless of how many chapters of this book may not have been stellar or favorable, I still want to finish it and discover where the story ends. To me it’s akin to when your favorite team has a lousy season or changes players….you may hate your team for it, but they’re your team. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I would be a hypocrite though if I didn’t point out that the demise of this show was the doing of the show’s producer, David Shore et al. For years I supported his decisions, because I’m all for creative freedom and trusted that he would take us all on this amazing journey of perseverance and hope. Imagine how disheartened I was to find that this really wasn’t his intention. In a time where people look to hope and entertainment to escape life’s problems, it’s disappointing to find more misery with no redemption. Creativity and freedom are one thing, but throwing the anvil of pain and misery onto our screens is not something many are open to in the grand scheme of things. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Granted, things weren’t all bad. I even get a sense of nostalgia thinking of my marathon of watching the first season of House on DVD the summer after it aired. I polished the season off in one weekend and fell in love. I remember the good times and try to block out the bad. (I still haven’t gotten over Lisa Edelstein not being on the show. I’ve had many crying episodes over that, I admit openly.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But…in true House form, I’ll use a bit of a metaphor. I think of the show as a beloved relative. This relative made me laugh, cry and even angered me at times. Suddenly, this relative develops an illness that begins to take its toll. Slowly, this relative is dying. And as much as I/we would miss this relative and want to selfishly keep this relative alive, we know that it’s best for this relative’s suffering to end and be at peace. Family members would rather remember this relative for the spirited and joyful moments he/she brought to our lives rather than the sickly state he/she is seen in currently. And in spite of this relative’s other family members for whom we may not be fond, the fact is…it’s still a relative that we cannot ignore existed for he/she has impacted our lives in different ways. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hopefully in a few months before the series finale I will put together a tribute to the show that made me fall in love with television again. It’s only fair and only right, since I started this blog about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yours truly,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Drdiagnostic<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-44949216683824114212011-10-09T17:41:00.000-07:002011-10-09T17:41:42.913-07:0020 Vicodin: Does House’s Personal Solitary Confinement Suit Him?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well ladies and gentleman, welcome to season eight of <i>House</i> and to the new format for my blog. As I said in my introductory article, I will be exercising the same format in terms of character analysis but now I am solely focusing on House. There will be no reviews on my blog, just pure hypotheses on how Dr. Gregory House’s world defines his character. With that being said, let me take you into this year’s introductory blog article on the season premiere, “Twenty Vicodin.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When we last left House, his rage and frustration over his break-up with Cuddy caused the pent up anger to manifest itself in the form of House taking his car and using it as a bulldozer to Cuddy’s dining room. After the act, he took off to the islands, satisfied with himself and relieved to….well…..let it all out. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now, as the season opens, we find House turned himself in after three months and is up for parole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Question is….how has he been surviving? Does he really feel remorse for what he did even though it isn’t apparent at his parole hearing?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For a man as brilliant as House, incarceration has to be boring. But in his own way, House has found ways to exercise his mind both medically and in general. Medically, he allows himself to be accosted by prisoners for medical advice. He may not be leading the pack, but in his own way he is a somewhat prison celebrity due to his medical genius. Additionally, he find the time to wait in line for his meds while making sure inmates are getting the right dosage of theirs. It’s only when a patient falls ill that the thrill of the medical mystery weaves its way into House’s life again and returns him to familiar territory. I’ll get to that in a minute.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As for House exercising the non-medical part of his mind, he passes by an inmate friend to hear him playing chess and offers the next move for checkmate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>House’s clever survival skills come into play when inmates start taking advantage of House’s impending early release by taking his things right in front of him. Since House can’t fight them or tell on them, lest he get pummeled or branded with a “snitch jacket,” he has to be clever. House takes the stereo one inmate (Stomper) wanted and plants in the cell of an inmate who took food from him (Rollo). Then, House instigates a false war of words that pits Stomper and Rollo against each other. House’s ruse gets both inmates solitary confinement while House gets his things back.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Unfortunately, the amount of tricks House can implement on the lesser intelligence of inmates cannot compete with a scary gang of Nazis who rule the prison. When it’s discovered House is getting an early release, gang leader inmate Mendelssohn demands twenty Vicodin from House by his release. Otherwise House may face some dire consequences. It’s probably the first time we really see House’s bravado get knocked down several pegs, since death is not an appealing option. Therefore, House faces some true fear here, fear in which sarcasm and cleverness would be more of a curse than a blessing. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">His mind is easily soothed for the time being by the thrill of the medical mystery again as he tries to help diagnose a fellow inmate, In the case of Dr. Adams, House utilize his talent of manipulation easily with just his medial brilliance and displays to Adams his keen ability to “read” people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s falls under House’s spell and, like many of House’s fellows, this only leads to trouble for her. He most certainly grabs her attention when he’s able to conduct a chest exam by old school doctor techniques rather than technology. It’s actually a practice Lisa Sanders says in her book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Every Patient Tells a Story</i>, which falls by the wayside as most young doctors rely mostly on technology to help with a diagnosis. In essence, House adopts his former role as teacher explaining to her how it can be done. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In an odd sense, House also teachers Adams his famous mantra that “everybody lies,” especially when it comes to the specifics of his incarceration. I think in House’s own way, he was testing her to see just how far her trust runs. As for Adams, she wasn’t aware that House was a step ahead of her, as he usually is, every step of the way. But House knows her potential and how her job is boring her. He becomes impressed that she comes up with the idea of a clotting test to prove lung cancer in the patient. This is the point where House discovers she’s not an idiot as he suspected and thus earns his medical stamp of approval. But can she earn House’s ethics approval in doing everything she can to save a life even if it means her job? The answer is to that is “yes.” In the end, she trusts House’s judgment over that of her boss Sykes. House never discovers that he’s right about the patient diagnosis until the end of the episode. Then again, who really thought he’d be wrong? Incarceration hasn’t made him a total medical idiot and House made sure of that. He even went do far as to do everything he could to help treat his cellmate’s sick cricket. Of course, that was mostly so the cellmate wouldn’t kill him for not doing it. House deduced that the cricket had pesticide poisoning. In an ingenious use of both his medical and chemistry skills, House whips up a concoction of baking soda and water as cricket medicine. It’s one of the things I love to see House do and give credit to the writers for that piece of ingenuity. Making this character a genius must be a difficult task on a daily basis. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But it wasn’t just the medicine and the clever ways House tries to outsmart inmates that mattered in this episode. It was what House was going through underneath the surface all this time that caught people’s attention. Although ambiguity played a part in revealing House’s emotions, you got a sense of what he felt through conversations. For example, Dr. Adams questions why House would want to leave medicine. For House “divorcing” himself from humanity by studying Dark Matter seems a better fit. Although House doesn’t say it outright, isolating himself from the world will essentially lead him to engage in a mystery that appeals to him without having to deal with life and all its problems and issues. It’s a safer choice for a man who tends to cause so much pain and is indeed in pain on a constant basis both physically and emotionally. But nothing is more compelling and revealing than House’s speech to the ailing inmate, intent on being more focused on his girl. House says the following to him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“She’s not your girl, you idiot! She was the girlfriend of a loser drug dealer. Think she has the self-control to wait around three years? You think she should? There’s a reason we’re locked away from nice, normal people. Your life outside is over. Your friends, your girl, everyone you’ve worked with, they’ve moved on</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here I believe that House is trying to tell viewers that he views himself as a loser drug addict whose problems cause him to be almost a reject of society. No one should wait around for him or be associated with him. He believes his actions warrant everyone isolating themselves from him and moving on, because he is essentially nothing but trouble to them all. He’s forgotten as well he should be in his eyes. We discover that he hasn’t taken any phone calls or visitors while in jail. Then again, we don’t know yet if any came to see him. For House, he doesn’t deserve anyone and can only rely on himself at this point in his life. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yet, it’s not only in this conversation that House’s feelings are made known. Adams discovers that House never hired a lawyer and took the first deal he received when he turned himself in to authorities. He was essentially punishing himself for what he’d done because he felt he deserved it. It was reminiscent of season six’s “Baggage” when House gets into a bar fight, because he felt he needed to be punished for his personal actions. I imagine that any rough ups he received in jail were also justified in his eyes as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">House has another interesting line where he isn’t really lying to Dr. Adams. She assumes that forging prescriptions or stealing drugs was the cause of his incarceration. She feels he has a gift that he shouldn’t relinquish so fast. House says to her. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Well, if that gift is related to what brought me here, you’ll understand if I want to check the returns policy.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Essentially, he wasn’t lying to her. Cuddy was responsible for him getting his job at Princeton and he fell in love with her. When things took a turn that resulted in their breakup and House bulldozing her dining room with her car, he felt his life ended in that one act. It’s what got him in prison…his love of medicine and his love for his girl. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There’s a point in the episode where House seems as if he’s throwing the towel in all together on everything. He gives up on the inmate claiming he’s done with “medicine” and “fixing people.” He’s even ready to go into protective custody when he feels he cannot get the allotted Vicodin to Mendelssohn in time. After a night of writing a DDX on the underside of a bunk bed, House’s is ready to move on himself. The words from Sykes that House was “done just like every other place he’s set foot in his life” was not a morale booster either. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This feeling suddenly passes when the ailing inmate goes into anaphylactic shock and House is forced into a position to really be a doctor to save his life at that moment by performing an impromptu tracheotomy. It’s the first real time House stakes the claim that he is a doctor. I think this is the moment where House realizes what his calling is. His skills are far beyond that of a regular doctor and the rush cannot compete with anything else. This also seemed to boost House’s alpha attitude. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After being bullied and threatened by Mendelssohn, House engages in one final battle with him basically to end Mendelssohn’s false hierarchy. When House coms to Mendelssohn with the twenty Vicodin Mendelssohn requested, Mendelssohn’s arrogance that House learned his place by falling in line sparks the old House’s battle with authoritative figures. In his own last laugh, House throws the Vicodin up in the air in defiance, letting Mendelssohn know he won’t be owned by anyone no matter what the cost to him may be. Inmates go grabbing the Vicodin like candy from a pi<span style="color: black;">ñata<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Mendelssohn issues the order to take House out. What Mendelssohn didn’t count on was an ally for House in the form of his cellmate. House saved his cellmate’s crickets life, now his cellmate saves House’s. Naturally, House had other ulterior motives than to prove to Mendelssohn he can’t be owned. The punches House receives land him in the prison clinic where he solves the case, but at the risk of losing his parole. In that moment, House wanted to prove his medical prowess more than he wanted to be free. As he said repeated Adams words to him earlier he did it because he “has a gift.” In the process, he earns Adams’ true trust in his abilities to a point where she follows House orders rather than her boss’s. House is sacrificing his freedom for the answer and Adams sacrifices her job for the same reason. House ends up in solitary confinement and loses his parole but Adams sends him a note stating that he was right. In that moment, House gained his confidence I feel as was evidenced by the smile on his face.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We all know House will be back at Princeton Plainsboro soon, but in a new environment. There are questions that will remain. What happened between he and Wilson after House injured Wilson in his driving act of rage? Will House still be accepted as a medical genius or an unhinged outcast? What happened to House’s department in his absence? Who will House have to answer to now, since Cuddy is gone and where did she go? (That’s just a storyline question.) Will House be redeemed and will his actions be carried with him forever? Lord knows he obsesses about some of his past actions. Can House move on? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">House’s life seems to be growing even more complicated and he has to do a lot to win over the people in his life. Can he win over fans in the process as well? It’s hard to say right now, considering all that has happened, and how House’s character is perceived by many fans. It’s going to be up to the writers to restore this damaged character. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are many miles to go and will have to wait until Monday to see what the next turn has in store for House. Until then, we’ll see you back here for the next edition of Diagnosing House. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black;">As always, thanks for reading! </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-75957742053650782462011-10-03T16:02:00.000-07:002011-10-03T16:04:10.642-07:00Introduction to Season 8<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well tonight we embark on another new season of House. And after a poll and much debate, I decided to keep my House blog going for the many fans who are still intent on watching. However, I must say for me it will not be with the same enthusiasm that once made Monday evenings an absolute joy. Nevertheless, I forge on. With the changes to the show, come changes and adjustments to my blog. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The good news is that the concept will remain the same in that I still will be analyzing. Unfortunately, I will not be making the entire episode my focus anymore in an attempt to tie in title with suggested concept. This season my sole focus will be on the character of House alone. Since House is the main focus of the show and it's namesake, what better way to delve more in to the psyche of the character. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hopefully, this season more will be revealed about him. Additionally, it will be interesting to see just what kind of an impact, if any, his actions in the finale have affected him. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As always, I will remain as objective as I can, since this blog is not a review but one of pure analysis. Hopefully, my blog will be interesting to some of the fans who are moving along with the show.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I admit this will not be easy for me, as comments by producers in the press and on Twitter have tainted my feelings about the direction of the show and the idea of whether or not House can evolve and be redeemed. For me the reset button won't be enough. I need to see this character's pain, his struggles with the past and present and now what makes him not the psychotic, unhinged man he was portrayed as in the finale. We shall see if the writers and producers can draw us back to loving the character of Dr. Gregory House again. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime, stay tuned later this week for the first installment of my revamped blog. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drdiagnostic</span>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-12933186413846255932011-10-02T17:16:00.000-07:002011-10-02T17:16:05.555-07:00My Farewell to Dr. Cuddy: A Look Back Through Some Highlights<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomorrow evening begins the eighth season of the FOX medical drama <i>House, MD </i>without the versatile actress Lisa Edelstein and her alter ego Dr. Lisa Cuddy. Depending upon with whom you talk, this is either a blessing or a curse for FOX’s once top rated drama. After the break-up of Dr. Cuddy and Dr. House, many felt the series took an odd turn culminating in the much controversial season seven finale with House bulldozing Cuddy’s dining room with his car. Much to the chagrin of producers, the season seven finale was not well received by most critics and some fans. The storylines leading up to this finale, caused a considerable dip in the ratings for the show. However, the topper for many fans to change the channel for the new <i>House</i> season was the unexpected departure of series regular Lisa Edelstein. According to Edelstein, she still hasn’t seen a correct report in the press regarding the circumstances surrounding her departure, but for her it is no longer a topic she’s interested in discussing. Thus, she leaves House with her own mystery. In any case, I want to take the opportunity to pay homage to Miss Edelstein and the character to whom she breathed life, since the character will always be an inspiration to me on a personal level.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it all began, Dr. Lisa’s Cuddy’s backstory was in its infancy and fans weren’t privy to the past she had with Gregory House or how she was able to maintain his life-long passion for medicine. All we knew of her was that she was smart, sassy, sexy and could give as good as she got from the misanthropic genius Dr. House. It wasn’t until the end of season one that we discovered in the critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning episode “Three Stories” that she saved his life in more ways than one. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Cuddy was his presiding physician during the infarction that cost him the mobility in his leg, a Vicodin addiction and scars that appeared far deeper than the physical one he bares. In that same breath, out of House’s tragedy and Cuddy’s guilt was born the Department of Diagnostic medicine and a relationship that was more complex than what appeared on the surface in the early stages of the series. In this particular season, we also saw Cuddy lay her job on the line for her stubborn diagnostician when it came to the enemy Edward Vogler. Yes, Cuddy was reluctant at first to defend House for a million dollar hospital donation, but his passion for saving lives caused her to take a stand in the end saving both House and Wilson’s jobs while sacrificing the million dollars. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the second season came calling, Dr. Cuddy showed us her guilt complex when her handyman fell from her roof, causing him to lose his hand in “Humpty Dumpty.” Yet, it was also revealed that Dr. Cuddy was an under graduate student at Michigan where the legendary Dr. House was a graduate student at the time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, it’s revealed in this episode that Cuddy was the one who hired House after four other administrators fired him, leading the question of “why.” “Humpty Dumpty” also provided us with House’s famous “gaping chasm” speech in which Cuddy sees what others can’t, which was important in his case because she wouldn’t have hired him otherwise. The second season also saw House coming to Cuddy in desperation for morphine due to the pain in his leg after he sent old girlfriend Stacy back to her husband. Wilson felt House’s leg pain was psychological due to his emotional state. Cuddy secretly agreed with that assessment tricking House with a placebo rather than give him real morphine. What was poignant in “Skin Deep” wasn’t the fact that she was able to trick him, but the tie to their history when he drops his pants to show her his scar again. Later on that season, House discovers that Cuddy is trying to get pregnant. In another side of House, we see that when Cuddy asks for his help to give her IVF shots, he takes her secret seriously….well to some extent. He does comically swab her tush and parade her possible nerdy donor in front of her. Yet in “Who’s Your Daddy?” we discover that House thinks Cuddy doesn’t like him in terms of being a donor, but Cuddy does secretly want him to be her donor. She gets cold feet though, when she approaches him. Thus, to some interested viewers, their relationship takes on a new meaning. It’s at the end of season two where Cuddy honors House’s wishes to receive ketamine treatment after he is shot in his office. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cuddy found herself at guilt’s door again season three as she conspired with Wilson to teach House a lesson regarding his penchant for acting on diagnostic “hunches.” The lie that Cuddy cured House’s patient using an idea her provided her, caused her in the end to come clean after seeing him struggle with the reappearance of pain that had disappeared as a result of the ketamine treatment he received at the end of season two. That issue of the lie gets resolved, but the aftermath will find Cuddy in a difficult position with House again soon enough. In the meantime, House is still honoring Cuddy’s secret regarding her IVF treatments. Season three was the infamous Tritter arc in which Cuddy ended up saving House’s hide again, even though he told her she’d “suck as a mother” during Vicodin withdrawl. In “Finding Judas,” it was the first time fans saw Cuddy seriously breakdown but not in front of House. We learned of Cuddy’s struggles to become a mother when she confides to Wilson that at this particular point she had two fertilized eggs implanted that didn’t take and a third that she lost. House’s words to her hurt, since he knew of her struggles to become a mother and knew where to hit her hard when it counted. Regardless, it was Cuddy who got House to stop acting like a stubborn ass and apologize to Tritter to make his problems disappear. House at first is reluctant, but does heed her advice, which Tritter naturally didn’t take. House even went a step further to enter drug rehab. Seeing Tritter is a bigger ass than House his, Cuddy lays her job on the line again and lies on the witness stand at House’s trial, fabricating evidence to clear him of the charges against him. She’s successful and at that point “owns” House. “Words and Deeds” could be viewed as a turning point in the House/Cuddy relationship because, after that, fans found House intruding on Cuddy’s dates and taking a certain obsessive appeal to her. Also, when fans thought House was facing a cancer crisis, Lisa Edelstein portrayed that angsty look of worry and concern. Plus, “Half-Wit” treated fans to the famous ass grab scene and Edelstein’s historic “Call the Make-A-Wish Foundation” jab as House tries to follow her to the bedroom for some sympathy sex. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later, fans were then treated to a new secret in the House/Cuddy history when it was revealed that House and Cuddy had a one-night stand, when they attended the University of Michigan together. At this point, the plot thickened a bit more as the chemistry and heat increased. Season three showed fans too how Cuddy wasn’t as incapable a doctor as House made her appear to be. In fact, in “Fetal Position,” we discovered how similar House and Cuddy can be when it comes to risky procedures to save a life. Faced with her own maternal crisis, Cuddy can empathize with a mother whose pregnancy House feels should be terminated, because the baby is essentially killing her. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cuddy goes to great lengths to save Emma and her baby and succeeds, even though House warns her that her lack of objectivity gets in the way of her being a great doctor and that personality flaw really could have killed mother and baby. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, he does tell her in the episode that she indeed is not an idiot. Edelstein really gave a great performance in this episode, embodying the very essence of Gregory House in female form. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In “Airbourne,” fans get a glimpse of what it would be like for House if Cuddy fell ill. On a plane ride from Singapore, Cuddy and several other passengers fall ill of a mysterious illness that has the signs of meningitis. As House examines Cuddy, it’s a mixture of sexy playfulness and worry in a race against time. He even suggests that she be one of the people to take the scarce antibiotics he managed to collect on the plane. When mass hysteria is the diagnosis for her and several passengers, Cuddy and House work together to find what’s ailing another passenger and succeed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Towards season’s end we get a little glimpse of jealousy again when Wilson takes Cuddy on a date in “Act Your Age.” We also get the famous October-October balcony scene where House asks Cuddy to a play, which for him is code for sex. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Season four was a shortened season due to the writers’ strike but Cuddy and Lisa were still at the top of their game with House refusing to hire a new team and Cuddy ending up enabling House in the diagnostic game. The opener was yet another fun turn of House and Cuddy teaming up and playing games to win. Yes, Wilson stole House’s guitar to make him interview new team members. But it was Cuddy who, in the end, made House take a look at what a team does for him diagnostically. Taking her advice again, he interviews candidates….but not without driving her nuts with a “Survivor” like interview process. Some of the Cuddy highlights this season included Cuddy making House realize that his irresponsible actions in his interview game and his curiosity to temporarily kill himself, make him fully responsible for the death of one of his patients. (“97 Seconds”) To House that hits hard, because losing a patient due to a wrong diagnosis is one thing, but not in an irresponsible fashion as what occurred. From that point, we had the comical play of “Mirror, Mirror” where House proves his the Alpha dog in his power play with Cuddy. An interesting observation is also made in “Mirror, Mirror” by Wilson regarding House’s attempts to impress Cuddy as a doctor. In “Ugly” there is more teasing and foreplay between House and Cuddy with a real funny/sweet scene at the end in which Cuddy teases House about the editing of the film that was being shot about their patient which depicted House as almost saintly and caring. His false persona onscreen irritates and shocks him, causing him to leave the room. As Cuddy continues to watch alone and the patient praises House, the look she gives shows her pride in what House does regardless of what a pain he could be. On the flip side, House revealed things about Cuddy too in an evaluation he filled out on her, basically summing up her personality…what she wants she runs away from….what she needs she has no idea…what she’s accomplished makes her proud. What the finale brought at then end of season four was another push of the House/Cuddy relationship. House suffers a skull fracture in a bus crash that took the life of his best friend Wilson’s girlfriend Amber. Cuddy through the years has always showed a hidden concern for House’s overall well being. This episode was no exception. House’s actions during this episode drove Cuddy to the point where she stayed with him at his apartment to make sure he rested, but it was all done unsuccessfully. She engaged in giving House mouth to mouth to revive him after he took pills to boost his memory, causing a heart attack. Cuddy intervened when Wilson seemed to be guilting House into making wrong decisions in regards to Amber’s care. But it was her actions towards the end of the episode that had fans talking. As House lay in a coma, after zapping his brain to boost his memory regarding Amber’s condition, Cuddy sat by his side and stayed with him. The end had House potentially losing Wilson, but gaining something else as Cuddy lay sleeping holding his hand. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Season five I feel was a banner year for Lisa Edelstein and Cuddy. Aside from playing a couple’s counselor to House and Wilson regarding their broken friendship, Cuddy was back in the hunt for a child. At the end of “Lucky Thirteen,” House is shocked and I feel a bit saddened to discover that Cuddy was cleared to be an adoptive parent without his knowledge. This was a major blow to him, because Wilson knew when it was House who was the one helping her in her attempts to become a mom. As Cuddy eagerly awaits the arrival of her soon to be newborn via a young girl who has fallen on hard times, she has to deal with House’s interference and challenges at the problems she will face as a new mom. Throughout “Joy” House appears to be against her adoptive process. Regardless, Cuddy still turns to him for medical advice when the mother of her unborn child faces a crisis. Mother and baby live, but Cuddy’s hopes of motherhood are shattered when the biological mom decides to keep the baby. Broken, lost and hopeless, Lisa Edelstein gives a wonderful performance throughout the episode, leading to the historic first kiss between her character and Hugh Laurie’s. For as much as House hassled her and said she would “suck as a mother” in season three, he comes to her door to offer her comfort in her time of pain. He tries to encourage her and then tells her she’d make a “great mother.” To her frustration, she wonders why he “needs to negate everything.” He answers, “I don’t know” then kisses her passionately and leaves. The very act made fans wonder “what now?” Wilson tried to play matchmaker, encouraging Cuddy to see the good rather than the bad in a relationship with House, while telling House he needs to talk to Cuddy. In a moment so heart-wrenching, House finds himself at the end of “The Itch” leaping of the couch to ride to Cuddy’s to tell her how her feels about her only to stop short of the door to just watch her through the window unable to muster up the courage to make the move. “Last Resort” saw Cuddy facing the crisis of her hospital as members of her staff, House among them, are taken hostage. She becomes the go-between the hostage taker and the authorities all the while showing great concern for House’s safety. At the end of this episode, Cuddy asks House if he wants a relationship after he mocks her for her behavior in enabling him throughout the crisis. House’s joking brushes off the idea he wants a relationship. This leads to the also famous among House/Cuddy fans….”everyone knows this is going somewhere” in “Let Them Eat Cake” where Cuddy choses to use House’s office, since House caused destruction to hers during the hostage crisis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The episode leads to games being played between the two, but results in House getting Cuddy’s old desk from med school restored to be placed in her newly renovated office. Thinking things really are going somewhere, Cuddy goes to House’s office only to see him with a hooker resulting in some hurt feelings. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Christmas miracle happens and Cuddy gets her wish to be a mom, when a girl dies after having given birth to a baby girl. The family doesn’t want the child and Cuddy gets her lawyers in action. After dealing with what she believes are parental imperfections, a foster care official gives her the clearance to begin the adoption process letting her know that unlike some people he’s visited, she’s a good stable, parent. For as happy as she is, she doesn’t anticipate the trials and tribulations being faced as she struggles to become a good mom and bond with her new daughter in “Big Baby.” Lisa Edelstein is brilliant in this episode as she embodies what struggling new mothers face. Many moms I spoke with who saw the episode related to Cuddy completely. It was an episode that I thought could garner Edelstein an Emmy nomination. Cuddy struggles with the fact that she can’t bond with this baby. She feels she has no emotional connection to it. Naturally, House is no help making her feel that if she doesn’t want to be mother there’s no harm in taking the baby back. If she resents the baby and wants to work and not be a mom, it’s fine. Throughout, Cuddy thinks House may be right. But he doesn’t make things easy for her. While she’s supposed to be taking a bit of a maternity leave, leaving Cameron in charge, House is pushing everyone causing Cuddy to intervene. Cuddy does eventually bond with Rachel in moment where she finds herself shouting and crying at the baby to tell her what she needed. House even got to hold Rachel as she threw up on him. But all was not well by the end of the episode when Cameron tells Cuddy she quits as acting Dean because Cuddy is essentially the only one that can handle House. This led to an awkward episode where Cuddy was pretty much torturing House actually hurting him with trip wires and making him walk up stairs, because she was ticked at him for essentially forcing her to return to work. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">House was beginning a somewhat downward spiral secretly taking methadone, much to the dismay and concern of Cuddy. In an attempt to get him to stop out of concern for his health, she warns that she’ll fire him if he doesn’t stop. She doesn’t have to because he then quits. He choses being pain free over his job, When he returns for a letter of recommendation, Cuddy counters with an offer to allow him to keep using methadone under her watch. He agrees, but later decides that his pain-free happiness impacts his medical judgment. When Cuddy, urges him to take the methadone he questions why she’s so concerned about his happiness. He walks away when she doesn’t’ answer him. After Kutner’s suicide, the death of his father, the lingering impact of House’s indirect involvement in Amber’s death, and his buried feelings for Cuddy, House faces depression and an Vicodin induced collapse involving hallucinations of Amber. Realizing that Cuddy is the only one he trusts to help him, he comes to her. He insults her inquiring that all she cares about is the baby who makes her feel good about herself when she ignores his resignation. This leads him to tell the truth about what’s happening to him. Sensing his pain, Cuddy helps him through a gut-wrenching night of detox coupled with a tryst. However, we discover in the season five finale that all was a delusion. Cuddy was not his savior that night, they did not engage in intimacy and he is not well. When Cuddy realizes that House antics, such as shouting that he had sex with her on the hospital balcony, were the result of illness, she is there to comfort him. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After his stint at Mayfield psychiatric institution, Cuddy deals with House’s return and some guilt over House’s reluctance to return practicing medicine and heading his department. When House gives her absolution from guilt, things forge ahead. House is determined to win Cuddy’s affections and begin a relationship with her now that he is drug-free and getting psychological help. In “Know Unknowns,” fans were treated to another revelation regarding House and Cuddy’s one-night stand and how they met at Michigan. House worked in the University bookstore and “read” her personality just by her schedule. He figured her to be a party girl but one who was also out to prove herself. It was something that attracted him to her. House and Cuddy both discovered they tracked each other down at a hoedown, which led to a night that was thought to hold no expectations. After apologizing for his lack of contact with Cuddy after that night,, House confessed to Cuddy that the next day he wanted to track her down to find out where things would go from that night. Unfortunately, he got a call from the Dean that he was expelled and didn’t see the point in tracking her down. (since he would be gone from her life.) The revelation takes Cuddy by surprise and forces her to make a quick exit from the dance she and House were having. House continues to try with Cuddy offering to babysit for Rachel, but is hit with the secret that Cuddy has moved on from him and has been seeing his Private Investigator friend Lucas Douglass. Cuddy’s reasoning for not telling House was due to his mental state. As the season continued, Cuddy was doing her best to keep House at arms length while trying to live her life even to the point of making him travel two hours to her sister’s so he wouldn’t spoil her Thanksgiving plans. Playing the false drunk card, House comes to Lucas’s place that that Thanksgiving night to tell Lucas he loves her. But Cuddy is through playing games with House, telling him “There is no us. There never will be.” Taking the hint, House leaves her alone even though she lies about her breakup with Lucas and House knows it. Of course, Cuddy knows House too and knows he’s aware of her lie. However, this doesn’t stop House from being a total pest. He cuts up a picture of Cuddy and Lucas and one Cuddy has of her with a monkey, swaping the heads of Lucas and the monkey. In “Remorse” House discovers, through Cuddy, that the picture of her with the monkey was taken by Cuddy’s father who recently died. It was the last trip they went on together. Later House goes to apologize but stands with despair through her office door window as he sees she and Lucas together. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cuddy’s showcase episode came in the critically acclaimed “5 to 9.” It was yet another brilliant performance by Lisa Edelstein that I thought again would award her an Emmy nomination. We see Cuddy as she really is and understanding how she got her job and the struggles she faces balancing work and motherhood. It was yet another episode to which many working mothers could relate, as Cuddy battled an insurance company, a lunatic, blackmailing employee (that wasn’t House) and a sick daughter along with the juvenile behavior of her boyfriend, Lucas. Lisa Edelstein balanced the great act of showing fear, disdain, worry, poise, toughness and sassiness that fans of hers came to enjoy through the years. Cuddy showed that she wasn’t just a pretty face but a hard-nosed negotiator who had no initial fear of tangling with the big boys. Additionally, her tough attitude in dealing with a fight and her intelligence in dealing with her blackmailing employee, let fans know why Cuddy is an asset to Princeton Plainsboro. It also showed the friendship and understanding Cuddy and House shared. When Cuddy is ready to call it quits, because she’s failed at her tasks, House informs her otherwise in a conversation in her car. He tells her she’ll never quit because she needs the hospital and it needs her. During the episode, she’s also been getting advice from him, since manipulation is one of his strong points. It was a great episode with Cuddy prevailing in all aspects at the end to the tune “Shine On.” Shine on Lisa and Cuddy did.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In another great performance by Edelstein in “Lockdown,” a baby goes missing in the hospital locking down all employees in their respective areas. Brilliantly directed by Hugh Laurie, he took great care in showing viewers one of Lisa Edelstein’s greatest assets, her lovely acting face. Cuddy proves she’s a cool head in this crisis, playing House in investigating the whereabouts of the missing baby. Though trail and error, she realizes that the attending nurse has been having seizures and tries to retrace the nurse’s steps. In doing so, Cuddy finds the baby hidden in a laundry basket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cuddy triumphs again. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As House embarks on another road to crisis when Wilson starts dating ex-wife Sam, Cuddy comes again as a friend to be there for House. She ends up being the only one not paid to keep House company, inviting him to dinner. She comes on her own terms. At first House thinks the gesture is something more when Cuddy tells him Lucas is working. When Cuddy told House she just wanted to be friends, in an honest reply House told her “friends is the last thing I want us to be.” Again as in “Known Unknowns,” Cuddy is scared off by House’s blunt honesty and leaves. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In “Baggage,” through a therapy session with House’s psychiatrist Dr. Nolan, viewers found out that House ha been keeping an old medical textbook written by Cuddy’s great grandfather to give to her one day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the episode House had been hiding the real issue behind some of his behavior, such as getting beat up at a bar purposely. It wasn’t over the fact that Wilson has kicked House out of the loft they stole from Cuddy as retribution for causing House hurt feelings. House was hiding his feelings about Cuddy’s move in with Lucas and the feelings he had for her in general. The former was stated out loud, the latter was implied by House’s irritated state when Nolan touched on that nerve. House quits therapy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The season six finale “Help Me,” was the episode that ended up having everyone talking when it concluded. Throughout the episode House and Cuddy are dealing with a crane collapse in Trenton as well as a bevy of mixed emotions. In an attempt to make peace with Cudy, House hands her the medical text written by her great grandfather, inscribing it with best wishes for a happy future for she and Lucas in regards to their co-habitation. Little does House know that Cuddy and Lucas are not just moving in together but are in fact engaged. When House does find out, he isn’t happy and ends up making decisions for a young girl trapped underneath the ruble to spite her. The ghosts of the past and House’s infarction appear again as the situation is all too similar. Cuddy wants to amputate the trapped girl, Hannah’s leg, while House resists. House is the only one Hannah will trust and Cuddy is angry that House is jeopardizing Hannah’s life to get back at her. House on the other hand felt Cuddy was making things all about her. As had been customary for years in these situations, Cuddy threw reality back in House’s face by pointing out the fact that she and Wilson were moving on while he had nothing in his life. House’s anger and hurt feelings weren’t going to change what is. Cuddy’s reality check brings House to the truth about himself. In a moment he has with Hannah and Cuddy present, he convinces Hannah that the decisions he made in his life made him a “harder”, “worse” person and someone who is alone. It’s a moment where Cuddy sees an honesty of House that she’s never seen and one that touches her. Hannah agrees to amputation but it is too little too late as Hannah dies of an embolism. Angry, distraught and in a state of hopelessness, House returns to his apartment, rips the mirror off his wall, and takes a stash of Vicodin into his hands. He collapses to his floor trying to decide if he should give up his sobriety, since nothing good has happened in his life even though he’d tried. Just as he’s about to take the pills, Cuddy comes to essentially save him. The events of the night make her come to the decision to break off her engagement with Lucas and come to House, because she loves him and can’t move forward in her life until she sees if a relationship with House can work. After six years of the dance, House and Cuddy share a tender kiss in his bathroom and the season closes. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The summer leading up to season seven was filled with buzz concerning Cuddy’s new role in House’s life and the playful problems and circumstances it would cause as well as some much anticipated sexiness in the minds of many fans. You either loved the idea or hated it, but nevertheless it was happening. Critics loved the idea, because they felt it would breathe some fresh life into the show offering a different perspective. When the season began, Cuddy cleaned House’s wounds and ended up finally consummating their relationship in front of viewers. It was a tender moment of pure love and passion. “Now What?” also brought another famous phrase “I lobe you” in the fan vocabulary. Laurie and Edelstein had another brilliant performance in a lovely showcase just for them, conveying House and Cuddy’s passion, emotional state of being, friendship, playfulness, love for each other and even apprehension regarding their future. Fans knew out of the gate that the relationship was doomed to failure but little did we know how. I any case, fans did get to hear House utter those three little words to Cuddy with sincereity…”I love you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, the relationship wasn’t always smooth sailing as House lied to Cuddy to save patient and argued with her over medical decisions from a professional standpoint. From a personal standpoint, he wanted to keep a hooker a massage therapist and drug her mother to keep her quiet. Much to the chagrin of many fans, not too much sexy happened and the relationship was written rather flat and mundane. But there were some gems for Cuddy this particular season. We discovered that Cuddy’s mother did respect her somewhat as a doctor but felt Cuddy was a personal failure as she hopped from boyfriend to boyfriend and displayed some faulty parenting skills. Arlene Cuddy, played brilliantly by Candace Bergen, wasn’t afraid to tell her daughter like it was, insulting her at every pass. We did find out that this was something House didn’t appreciate. Hence, he drugged Cuddy’s mother as birthday present to Cuddy. House’s gestures towards Cuddy and his need to stick up for Cuddy made Arlene realize just how much in love House was with her daughter. Later this love would be tested when Arlene falls ill. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">House too tended to test Cuddy’s emotional state, sacrificing his well-being again by locking himself in with a potential smallpox patient. Faced with the prospect of losing House to illness and dealing with the crisis at hand, Cuddy is tested both professionally and personally. “A Pox On Our House” was also the episode after Cuddy finds out House lied to her and he unapologetic. House and Cuddy are still at a crossroads until the end of “Small Sacrifices.” In this episode, viewers are shocked to learn that Cuddy was married before, a lie House uncovered to get back at her to make them even. However, his plan backfires until the end of the episode where he apologizes to her for lying, which itself is a lie since fans discovered he didn’t mean it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For Cuddy, her relationship with House wasn’t always bad. House bonded somewhat with her daughter Rachel as ran around behind Cuddy’s back trying to get Rachel to pass a dime she’d swallowed no thanks to he and Wilson in “Unplanned Parenthood.” Yet, it was “Carrot or Stick” that tugged at the heart string of fans as House trained Rachel like a dog to help Cuddy get Rachel into a prestigious pre-school. House even became a bragging faux parent in telling the story of how Rachel easily lied to Cuddy under pressure about not getting help with the pre-school test House helped her cheat on. The Kodak moment came at the end when Rachel climbed into House’s lap and hugged him. Of course, we discover later that he exposed her to dirty cartoons too. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">House and Cuddy’s relationship went through I think two big tests. One came when Cuddy’s mother fell ill and she pretty much begged House to take the case. Arlene ended up throwing House off her case and the end result was House and Cuddy playing a dangerous game, which almost cost both their jobs. When push came to shove something unexpected happened…a role reversal. Cuddy is the one known for giving House a reality check but this particular time, he gave Cuddy one. He was tired of seeing Cuddy not stand up to her mother and lying to Arlene instead of confronting her. House knew if Arlene died, his relationship with Cuddy would never be the same. House and Cuddy together save Arlene and their relationship for the time being. However, it isn’t long before Cuddy has had enough. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cuddy started to get tired of the idea that House loved her but didn’t care about her. His selfishness pushed her to a breaking point in “Two Stories” to where she decided to call it quits with him. To House this wasn’t an option, because he confessed how much he needed her I his life. House spoke at a career day as a favor to board member Sanford Wells in attempt to win Cuddy back by getting Rachel in Cuddy’s second choice pre-school. Throughout this episode, viewers saw how exacerbated Cuddy was getting at the simply little things House just wouldn’t do or stop doing from using her toothbrush to not taking the garbage out. In a gesture at the end, Cuddy realizes what House volunteered to do at the school, acting as himself. House also let her know that he did care about her and Rachel. Cuddy makes peace with him and the get back together again. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cuddy still struggles to find out where she fits in in House’s life, especially after he fails to show up at an awards dinner in her honor. He told her he was going to be there and even hired a mariachi band, which he knew she loved. But when another patient dies in his care, he choses to get drunk in a bar instead questioning whether or not his happiness with Cuddy is worth the price his patients are paying. A very drunk House shows up on a very furious Cuddy’s doorstep. After making her sit down so he could speak to her, viewers think House is going to call the relationship quits when he says she makes him a “crappy doctor.” But to fans and Cuddy’s surprise House confesses that he will always choose being happy and in love with her over the medicine. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Bombshells” would be the last and final test of House and Cuddy’s relationship, as Cuddy faces a cancer scare. As had been the case in their relationship, House fails to be there for her initially, because he can’t handle the possibility of losing her. In order to be present for her in her time of need and take away his pain, House’s sobriety ends when he takes a Vicodin pill. It’s then that he shows up at her bedside. But his secret isn’t revealed until the end when, after a series of dreams in which Cuddy’s subconscious was telling her House would slip, Cuddy comes to his door telling him she knows. In her heart Cuddy thought she could handle House’s problems and deal with his selfish behavior, but this was the last straw. She doesn’t blame him for what he’s done, but knows in her heart that she needs someone in her life who she can depend on to be there for her and is willing to take on her pain as well as his own. House’s failure to do that, causes Cuddy to finally end the relationship, even though House pleads with her that he can do better and not to end things. Viewers come to see that the decision wasn’t an easy one for Cuddy as we see her crying her eyes out to her sister. Cuddy and House’s romance is over. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following the breakup House engages in risky behavior, more drug taking and outlandish acts such as marrying a girl as a business proposition so she could obtain citizenship and he a maid. His marriage is done front of Cuddy to break her, but Cuddy never gives him that satisfaction. She only confesses to Wilson of her hurt later on. She never ended the relationship because of House’s Vicodin addiction, she ended it because he was never there for her and was never going to be. Cuddy’s mother Arlene even went to extremes by suing the hospital to get Cuddy and House back together but failed, because as Arlene pointed out, Cuddy has unrealistic expectations. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After some questionable writing, “After Hours” brought House and Cuddy back to the characters of old. After discovering House’s drug experiment caused tumors in rats, he discovers he has then as well in his leg. He attempts self-surgery, but starts to go into shock and can’t continue. He calls everyone for help but the only one who answers is the last on his list….Cuddy. Horrified by House’s actions, she tries to shield Rachel from the gruesome scene and attempt to get House to the hospital, refusing to help him go any further with his surgery. She angry with him regarding his self-destructive action and that he introduced Rachel to a dirty cartoon. That anger turns to concern at the hospital when nurses are taking too long to get to him and Cuddy fears House might go into shock. In a final gesture of the good part of their relationship, House requests Cuddy be there for his surgery because she’s the only one he trusts to make sure they don’t do anything unnecessary to his leg. She honors his request. As he recovers, Rachel wonders if House will be okay and wants to write him a note. Cuddy helps her. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The season seven finale ended up being the car crash heard around the world as “Moving On” not only marked the end of the season but the very last episode in which we would ever see Cuddy again. Prior to the finale, actress Lisa Edelstein issued a statement saying that she was leaving the long-running Fox drama. In the finale, House is recovering from his leg surgery. Events in the episode find House wanting to move forward with his life, but then suddenly becoming frustrated with how easily everyone else seems to be moving on. He and Cuddy have a talk about everything that’s happened with House wanting to go back to being friends and the way things were before. But underneath, he’s still having a hard time letting go of her and the anger he’s kept buried. When they talk things through, Cuddy tells House truthfully that she’s not seeing anyone when he inquires. She confesses she hasn’t since the break-up. In the episode, Cuddy’s sister Julia fears Cuddy is stuck and wants to set her up with a banker friend, much to the protest of Cuddy. In a hallway scene, House keeps evading his feelings about the break-up until Cuddy keeps pleading with him to talk to her about how he feels. In a fit of anger, he pushes Cuddy against the wall and admits he feels “hurt.” Cuddy doesn’t blame him for how he feels and apologizes to him, but he tells her that it isn’t her fault. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">House has kept Cuddy’s hairbrush all this time until she requests it back. House, probably hopeful he and Cuddy can work things out, goes with Wilson to return the brush to her, only to find her having dinner with her sister, brother-in-law and another man. Incensed, House forces Wilson out of the car, drives up the street, revs the engine, hits the gas and barrels into Cuddy’s dinning room. Not only did this episode signal Lisa Edelstein’s departure as Cuddy, but it put a definite end to House and Cuddy’s entire relationship forever. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We now come upon season eight and, for some fans, it’s with a very heavy heart. No longer will we hear the humorous comments from House about Cuddy’s assests. No longer will we see the power play battles that became somewhat legendary. No longer will we hear complaints on how tight Cuddy’s clothes are. No longer will we see “Dr. Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine,” on the door that was once her office. Her office will no longer be hers but of another and that will take getting used to. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Ms. Edelstein, thank you for so many fond memories and for the inspiration you gave working professionals such as myself. It is through your portrayal of Dr. Lisa Cuddy, that I found the courage to work even harder to achieve my goals, look good doing it and be confident with who I am as person. Your talents will be greatly missed by this viewer, because your acting embodied many personalities. As your former colleague Mr. Laurie so graciously put it, you did the work of many actresses put together. This <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> in my eyes will not be a home without you, as I feel House will indeed be missing his heart. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This blogger wishes you the best of luck in your future pursuits. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On behalf of many fans, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House’s </i>Princeton Plainsboro will always be your building, your floor your people. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With great respect, Drdiagnostic<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-9933282135047831432011-07-18T17:50:00.001-07:002011-07-18T17:50:46.905-07:00Unwritten: Life Imitating Art in the Land of House<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">First, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to my new blog capitalizing on one of my favorite pastimes…..<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i>. Intrigued by the intricacies woven into each episode by the creative team of writers and a burning desire to write again, I decided to create a blog discussing some of the topics brought forth within each episode. I will attempt to diagnosis and dissect how these issues pertain to the character of Dr. Gregory House as well as discuss how they may have an impact on our lives. Consider it like my own personal diary of observations that I'm sharing with you. I will have you keep in mind that I am not a professional blogger….just a regular fan who has an affinity for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i>. Therefore, you may want to lower your expectations now. So, I'll give you a minute to do that. Okay, now that you've done that, enjoy my first entry. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This week's episode entitled "Unwritten" not only displayed some interesting parallels for me in terms of the character of House, but also made me wonder if House is indeed correct when he says that long-term relationships are based on compatibility. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To begin, I will take a look at the deeper parallels that I thought were inherent in this particular episode. As I watched, I wondered if it was coincidental that Alice's real name was Helen and that her housekeeper's name was Christina. Why you wonder? Well, here we have Alice Tanner (real name Helen) who is a woman plagued by pain both physically and mentally as the result of past accident. As we discover later in the episode, she blames herself for giving her son the keys to the car on a rainy night when he only had his learner's permit. Immediately, I wondered why this scenario sounded familiar. Then, I took a trip back in time. Like Alice/Helen, House metaphorically handed the keys by way of his cane to Wilson's girlfriend Amber at the end of season four. As a result, she got on the bus with him and dies as a result of her injuries while House survived. For this reason, House carried that guilt with him even though he wouldn't admit it to anyone. Alice carried her guilt with her as well, since she survived and her son perished. Just as House took to his Vicodin and drinking as an escape from the pain, Alice took to writing as an escape from hers. Both individuals carried their addictions with them to get them though their pain. Even though Alice's visions of her son were not of the hallucinatory nature, she was similar to House in that she envisioned her son and used him as the key to unlocking her literary mind. House used Amber as the key to unlocking his diagnostic mind. Yet, it's those very visions that caused self-destructive tendencies in both House and Alice. Alice wanted to take her life due to her building depressive state of mind in the eyes of tragedy, while House sacrificed the very essence of his livelihood when his mind lost site of reality as a result of distress over his inability to survive the deaths of Amber, his father and his fellow Lawrence Kutner. Both Helen and House were ticking time bombs ready to go off as they carried the weight of their worlds on their shoulders and with heavy hearts. I also questioned whether or not Alice's resentment over her ex-husband's betrayal mimics the hurt House may have felt when Cuddy failed to tell him about Lucas after he left Mayfield or even the hurt and resentment he experienced when he felt Stacy betrayed him after his infarction. I'll let you all ponder that one too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Then, we have Alice's housekeeper Christina. She is a woman who cares deeply for her boss whom she may even consider a friend. She was worried for Alice's well-being and noticed that something was going wrong with her. Out of concern, she helped House and Cuddy investigate Alice's problems by telling them about Alice's behavior. Once Alice discovered what Christina had done, she fired her and was incredibly bitter towards her for meddling. When thinking of House, which relationship does this remind you of? Isn't it ironic that Cuddy was in that room at that time during that exchange between Alice/Helen and Christina? Hum….Helen…Christina…..House…..Cuddy. A part of me is saying that I'm delusional but another part of me wonders if it really was just a coincidence or intentional. Cuddy has always worried about House's well-being and his emotional state of mind. Constantly, she reached out to him only to be pushed away or given very little information about what is distracting him. Although there had been times when he treated her badly as a result of great pain, she was persistent and still cared and worried about him. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the end, House really did indentify with Helen and became her savior, albeit in a false way by telling her that her son died of a brain aneurysm and not as the result of injuries suffered in the accident. As a result, House was able to ease her restless mind and allowed her to be able to move forward in her life while lifting her hardened personality in the process. House had been plagued by the tragedies in his life and suffered that same hardened persona as Alice. And just as Cuddy was there for him in the end, House was there for Alice. What's interesting to note as well is the fact that Alice and her housekeeper Christina also made amends with each other, allowing Christina to assume her role as care taker and friend. This seems to parallel House's relationship with Cuddy as she is now his lover and in a sense there to take care of him on a personal level as a partner. Regardless of whatever parallels there may have been, one thing was clear. Both House and Alice were given that option of hope and an opportunity to embark on new chapters in their lives. Their past was put to rest, burdens lifted and a door to a new adventure opened for them in the process.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Now onto House's issue of compatibility and it's factor in a long-term relationship.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">House's relationship with Cuddy has been a loving and essentially complicated one. In this episode, House questions the outward happiness that he and Cuddy are experiencing and is obsessively wondering when their "honeymoon" period will fade for it is then when House feels there will be problems. Because he feels that he and Cuddy have nothing in common other than work and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>their sexual escapades, he thinks that the relationship will eventually crumble. His reasoning is based on the idea that long-term relationships are based on compatibility. If you have something in common with your partner, your relationship is more likely to succeed. But is House right about this? Is it important to have something in common with your mate right out of the gate or perhaps can you discover something you have in common with your mate after spending more time with him or her? Or perhaps you don't need to have anything in common with your partner in order to have a long-term relationship. I can say from my own past experience that having something in common with someone is not the premiere aspect in relationship compatibility. I dated someone who had many similar interests as I. However, his personality was not as dynamic as mine and I was not happy. I was bored. What I found fascinating is that several sites I perused listed things in common as important but not as important as things such as communication and compromise. As a matter of fact, it seems that trying different things with your mate can lead to the discovery of things that couples can enjoy doing together. After reading a few things, it seems that House and Cuddy are on target in terms of their relationship with communication bring one of the important issues needing fixing at the moment. Cuddy seems to be fine with expressing what's going on in her mind in terms of their relationship, but House seems more hesitant or afraid to relate to her what's on his. The very fact that Cuddy eased his mind by urging him to talk to her about problems he may be processing with their relationship was an important step in building a dialog with him. It opened the door again for him, since he seems to be tripping over things and going to Wilson instead of Cuddy in the past two episodes. There are far more important factors to consider in terms of maintaining a long-term relationship. The question is whether or not both are committed to the task. The very fact that House has apologized to Cuddy for things that have happened in the past few episodes is huge on his part, because I really think he is determined to make things work. His problem is that he needs to get out of his own way and stop looking at statistics or what science says about relationships in terms of going the distance and just allow things to happen naturally. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Like Alice did with her last story, she left the ending to her audience with the thought being how many definitive answers does one achieve in life? Everyone is in charge of their story and their ending. Even then, the story doesn't end until the day we meet our demise. Everything depends on what ending House wants for himself. No matter what he believes, as Cuddy pointed out to him in the premiere, he cannot possibly predict the future. Each day he experiences with Cuddy is a new page, a new chapter and a new adventure. He holds the key to his story. The ending is unpredictable because, as Natasha Bedingfield says in her song, "the rest is still unwritten." </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I thank you all for taking the time to read. I hope this entry made you think about more questions and possibilities as it did for me. </span></div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-60038705622784487852011-07-18T17:49:00.001-07:002011-07-18T17:49:55.741-07:00Massage Therapy: Relaxing the Relationship Knots<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For me this episode was about the bigger hidden issues in relationships and the means by which people avoid them due to unforeseen ramifications. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Let me start with the patient of the week and her husband. Here we have Jenny aka Margaret. She is a woman who is hiding her underlying condition by piling lie upon lie in order to protect her husband from the truth…the fact that she is schizophrenic. She lies about her real name not only to her doctors but to her husband as well. She lies about past injuries citing that they were the result of injuries sustained in a biking accident. Then, to make excuses for those lies, she explains that she went to Trenton to a support group for abused victims. Additionally, the team thinks that she might be sick because she told them and her husband that her ex broke in and poisoned her dog. What’s the result? Her current husband tracks down who he believes to be her ex-husband and confronts him only to get beaten to a pulp. He tries to play the strong good guy. Yet in the end, thanks to a little push from House, Jenny tells her husband the truth which is that she is schizophrenic. All of the ailments that brought her to PPTH were adverse reactions from her psych meds. All of a sudden the husband’s bravado is reduced to a pile of fear, as he feels he doesn’t think he can handle this newfound information about his wife. He tells House that it’s too hard and that she isn’t the same woman he married. What was interesting was the way House essentially told him that she is the same woman. The only thing that has changed is that now he’s aware that she has a serious mental health problem. Other than that she is fundamentally the same person.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Why does something that she’s had for some time, but kept under control, suddenly change things for this husband? Jenny wanted to keep him in the dark. Would he have been better off not knowing? Suddenly, this husband’s view of his relationship has changed only because something new was added to his comfortable marital equation. Sure, it’s easy to live to through the small relationships issues and skirt around them. But dealing with the bigger issues, well then all of a sudden some people become cowards because they are afraid of confronting the issue in the first place. As a result, a person gives up and runs away from the bigger issues because it’s easier than facing them. Call it avoidance or holding back or whatever you wish. The fact remains that relationships take work and aren’t always a walk in the park. That’s what a partnership is meant to be….work. Interestingly enough, the husband’s reaction led to House’s own epiphany concerning his relationship with Cuddy. But I’ll get to that later.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Jenny and her husband aren’t the only ones holding back. We have our new playboy want to be, Chase, who hires a new female fellow, but avoids the fact that she is leagues below the team, with the reason being that he only wants to sleep with her. As Foreman puts it, Chase was seeing in her resume what he wanted to see. He was avoiding the fact that she didn’t meet the standards of the team, because then it would be easy to bed her. When it becomes clearer that she doesn’t have the smarts for the job, Chase lies too or at least makes her lie for the sake of keeping her on the team and for his pleasure. He helps her out to avoid the bigger issue which is the idea that she cannot pull her weight in this job. And that if he fires her, then he probably won’t be able to have a relationship with her. Instead, he tries to protect his dignity and hers as well. However, this is House’s world. Therefore, protecting either person’s dignity simply isn’t possible without some taunting and ridicule from the master House. What’s interesting is that Dr. Kelly Benedict already feels she doesn’t meet the standards of House’s team after being tested by House. She lets that fact be known to Chase. However, Chase is unwilling to give up. Why? Why can’t Chase just have come out and said he did make a mistake by hiring her. Is he holding back the fact that he was wrong in hiring her, because his personal interest got in the way or Is there a bigger issue here…one that he is holding back? Who knows? Maybe Chase’s issue lies in that he cannot balance his personal and professional life without mixing the two. Thus, he’s choosing the easy route by trying to hire someone that can fill both voids. Maybe there is even a shadow of fear left over from his break up with Cameron. Maybe he is using the job as an excuse to break things off with a woman to avoid delving into the territory of a real relationship again. Not having that card in his pocket, may make cutting ties harder. Who knows? But it seems Chase will be playing more than soul searching for awhile to avoid the bigger issues plaguing his life. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How does all of this tie into Dr. Gregory House? Well, House and Cuddy have their own issues. It starts out as a simply problem of House hiring a scantily clad hooker he used to sleep with to give him some massage therapy for his leg. As you can imagine, this doesn’t sit well with Cuddy and it shouldn’t. The woman isn’t a licensed professional in the area of therapy and House used to sleep with her. Should Cuddy trust House?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure. However, past experience may lead Cuddy to still question House’s juvenile actions. It’s a small issue that I think was hiding a much bigger issue. Cuddy still hasn’t been allowing House to stay over at her place or letting him interact with her daughter Rachel. I can’t completely blame Cuddy for this one. After being involved with Lucas for so long, introducing a new man into Rachel’s life has the potential to be confusing. In the same breath, introducing House as a friend to Rachel could easily justify his presence in Cuddy’s life as perhaps Wilson may have been introduced. How can Rachel ever be comfortable with House if Cuddy is keeping her hidden? And as House points out, how can they ever become a serious couple if Cuddy doesn’t let House stay over? Essentially, you’re damned if you and damned if you don’t. Even if something were to go wrong in House and Cuddy’s relationship, it might still be nice to have another male figure around for Rachel even as a friend.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Both House and Cuddy are holding back their bigger issues from each other. House is having a hard time compromising some quirks of his old lifestyle in favor of this blossoming relationship with Cuddy and Cuddy is having a hard time giving in to her protection of Rachel’s innocence. Could both fear the relationship crumbling to a point where each cannot get their life back? It’s possible. Could some of Cuddy’s fears be the result of letting Lucas into Rachel’s life too quickly before realizing things were not truly going to work? I think Cuddy is being more cautious this time, perhaps because she doesn’t know what the future holds with House. For Cuddy giving into her fears of losing House and having to explain House’s absence in her life to Rachel might be a very big burden to bear. The fact that House got her to admit those fears is essential and opened up yet another communication window. For House, I believe his fear is that of the concept of fatherhood. Given his lousy childhood, he may have reservations as to whether or not he can become a good role model for Rachel. The fact that he is open to trying is huge in regards to his relationship with Cuddy. Whether or not he succeeds is another story. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the end, all three examples had some movement in the relationship. Jenny’s husband put his fears aside and decided to stay with his wife in spite of the difficult task he and his wife have ahead of them. He chose to take the difficult road. Dr. Kelly Benedict decides to quit, because she realizes that she is not the right fit for the team. It actually turns out better for Chase, because Kelly is not keen on dating co-workers anyway. Although Kelly took the initiative, it appears that Chase’s issues may still not be solved. As for House and Cuddy, they reached an understanding. House decided to compromise. He decided to stop using Brandi and start using a real Physical Therapist that Cuddy suggested. In return, Cuddy invited House to stay at her place that night with the idea that he can interact and spend time with Rachel. House and Cuddy were willing to put their fears aside for the sake of their relationship. House and Cuddy too decided to take the difficult road.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Here we come to the thought of the week and the idea that relationships take work and compromise if we wish them to succeed. The question is whether or not we are willing to take that step. If we don’t, then do we go for the easy way out? If one is invested in the relationship, then the answer is easy even if the means to getting there is difficult. What exactly drives us to continue the journey? Is it love and love alone or is it the concept of the challenge itself? We won’t get to see the end to Jenny and her husband’s story. Like last week, we are encouraged to imagine our own end. However, we will continue to see how Chase’s and House and Cuddy’s story continues. Until then we are left to wonder, will Chase be able to balance his personal relationships and work? Will Cuddy continue to put her fear aside and allow Rachel and House to bond? Will House be able to accept his new role in Rachel’s life and be a positive influence in it? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Even though we may not know the complete answers to these questions as of yet, one thing is certain. Each is willing to massage the knots of their relationships in order to smooth out the core of the tension. That is…..until the next knot appears. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Thanks for reading! Stay tuned next week for another installment of Diagnosing House. </span></div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-60269443260505853572011-07-18T17:48:00.001-07:002011-07-18T17:48:55.182-07:00Unplanned Parenthood: Personal Lessons from the Unexpected<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">All right I have to admit, like many out there it seemed like this week’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> episode was missing something. In my case, a theme to tie the episode together was the missing link. At first I wondered what I could discuss with you all besides the House and Wilson babysitting debacle, which by the way my father said was just as comical as watching the Yankees bat last night. It was a funny situation to behold, but there had to be something there. So, I took a second look. Growing disappointed at first, I suddenly began to see some cracks forming as the episode continued. Then, I finally had my ‘eureka’ moment. Plus, I did find some small parallels to past episodes. Tell me if any of the following makes sense to you as I embark on my third installment of, Diagnosing House. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Usually titles hold a clue to a House episode. I don’t believe that this one was any different. We had instances of situations that simply weren’t planned as the title suggested, and yes in some way they were all related to the idea of parenting and the nature of true personalities revealing themselves. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How the heck does the team dynamic fit into the idea of unplanned parenthood? Consider House in this case as the father of the team with a goal of teaching each member valuable lessons in regards to their personalities. House’s first move was to give Chase the responsibility of finding a new female team member, while going over Foreman’s head. (Which had me laughing at the fact that it was suggested Cuddy made House apologize for this or no sex.) Anyway, Chase picks the hot, less than intelligent girl because he wants to bed her. What did House teach him? He basically taught him to stop thinking down below and start thinking with his head. Mainly because nothing good ever comes from it. Unlike House and his relationship with Cuddy, Chase just isn’t mentally ready to balance his hormones and his intelligence. Next, we have Foreman’s lesson. Basking in his ego over the fact that House now asks him to select a new female fellow, Foreman points out to House that he’s already been searching and narrows down his candidates to two. House then fires his choice right out of the gate to teach him the lesson that he has to earn his bravado, because contrary to popular belief House can still say “no.” Also, it’s not nice to go behind the boss’s back without his direction first. Finally, Taub is handed the task of selecting a female fellow. Taub’s problem is that he over thinks the situation. He finds a candidate who is actually worthy of the position for all the right reasons. However, he thinks House has ulterior motives like he did with the others. The point I think Taub missed is that his choice of fellow was going to be the most logical. Why you wonder? Well, a hot chick would only result in House mocking him for another affair choice, so Taub would have to be careful there. He also needed to find someone that House couldn’t mock or make fun of, because that would be asking for immediate danger. Logistically, Taub would find the most qualified choice for the right reasons if one does the math. Yet, when House gives him the final say, Taub plays games with Dr. Chang. He doesn’t decide to hire her until the last possible minute. What he didn’t count on is that Dr. Chang is a processor like House. As Dr. Chang points out to Taub, “House is an ass but at least he owns it.” Taub couldn’t be a man and make an adult decision on his own. He acts like a child. Not surprisingly, he seems to be like that in his marriage. He can’t be a man and own up to his infidelities and is an ass when everyone else around him his happy. Thus, he acts like a child. What lesson did House teach him as a result of this exercise? Be a man. Parenting by means of House is such a beautiful thing. Isn’t it? It seems each outcome was unplanned by each team member. Chase didn’t’ count on his candidate being a terrible fit for the team. Foreman didn’t plan on House firing his choice immediately to deflate his ego. And Taub didn’t think his candidate would decline the job because of him and not the team. Lessons learned indeed. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Let’s take a look now at the patient of the week, who is a mom both old and new that unexpectedly experiences her newborn suffering from an unexplained illness. Why else would she be on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i>? But we also meet her older daughter who is jealous of the attention her mom is giving to this newborn. According to the daughter, her mom was never as loving and attentive as she is with this newborn baby girl. It seems to be suggested that the mom was a working mom who never put family first and was now seeking some sort of redemption or a ‘do over’ as it were. Why else would she want to be a “special mom?” what caught my attention about the attitude of the mom and daughter was how much it seemed to suggest House and Cuddy. Even the small story hints in the mom’s telling of her life seem to give me that impression. From the idea of hiring a private investigator to search for suitable sperm donors to the suggested idea of the patient being a single mom. Add to that the jealousy of the daughter and the fact that there were difficult choices that the mom had to make and you have a combination of “Who’s Your Daddy?” (S2) and “Joy” (S5). There we had House acting like a PI searching for sperm donors for Cuddy and the jealousy when Cuddy finally became a mom. Oh, and I did I mention that the daughter at one point suggested her mom wasn’t a good mother. Then, she recanted by saying she was the best mother. Sound familiar? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In any case, in the end the daughter faced something completely unexpected. Due to her mom’s refusal to have surgery right away, the mother suffered a pulmonary embolism and died. Now, the daughter is placed in the role of parent to her sister. And as much as she was reluctant to accept her new sister, she seemed to have had a change of heart in her newfound role. In times of tragedy or distress, people seem to find a part of themselves that maybe they never thought was there or were capable of displaying. The daughter appears to be a working woman who may have had selfish tendencies, but may now garner an appreciation for how hard things were for her mom. Come to think of it, this is kind of how Cuddy gained her daughter…..through the tragic death of Rachel’s biological mom. I guess we have another parallel there too. Although she wasn’t prepared to be her sister’s caregiver, she is taking the role out love for the sacrifice her mom made in order to keep her alive. In the same regard, we got to see something a little different in House’s personality when something unplanned happens to Rachel. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">House is asked by Cuddy to babysit Rachel. Thanks to Cuddy, House was under the impression that Rachel would be sleeping all while she was out. He didn’t plan on her waking up and he definitely didn’t plan on her swallowing a dime. It’s interesting to read how some didn’t think House really bonded with Rachel. What the viewer may not have planned on was the Housian way he might have actually bonded with her. Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Doc, what the heck are you smoking? He wasn’t bonding with her. He was trying to avoid her. My answer to you is that it depends on how you define bonding in House’s world. When we first see him, he’s sitting on the couch with his popcorn. But he does have the monitor on, so he’s not irresponsible in that regard. Funny that he was watching cartoons too. I loved that. Anyway, when Rachel gets up later (don’t know how she escaped the crib by the way), he’s parental with her. He refuses her request for juice and sternly tells her to go back to bed. I have nieces and nephews and from my experience, kids do like to test those close to them. In this case, this was House’s first time babysitting. I believe Rachel was testing his limits to see just how much she could get away with. Yes folks, kids are smarter than you think. As a friend of mine said, House could easily have given in if he didn’t care but he did care. Cuddy apparently gave him instructions and he enforced them. For Rachel, that’s a bond because she has to now consider him a type of parental figure. Then, we have House on the couch with her. He could have put her back in that crib. But he didn’t do that. Instead, he did keep her up until Wilson got there. While he waited, he talked with his team in a child-like voice to appease Rachel. Again, did he have to do that? Nope. He could have talked to them normally. In his own way, he bonded with her by indirectly sharing his world with her by doing a differential like a story. Let me say that kids love stories, especially when you use voices like House did. He also bonded with her by being his doctor self and taking care of her when she swallowed the dime. For as much as he believed he didn’t have a conscience, he does. He couldn’t leave her alone knowing that she might have swallowed that dime. Yes, it was so Cuddy wouldn’t find out. But he also could have completely assumed it was nothing and let it go. He cared. You have to have some sort of care inside you to be that concerned. And if he didn’t bond with Rachel, would she really have told on him at the end? As much as one might<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>answer <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>that she didn’t bond with him, the very mention of his name tells me that she did. Plus, how the heck did House know she didn’t like the moose outside her window?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">House was thrown into an unplanned situation, but he really did have responsible parent-like qualities in their own Houseian way. I can tell you from observations of my own family that House is your typical dad-figure. Not immediately concerned when a kid does something completely ridiculous and not wanting to be bothered when he’s engaged in other things. For House it was watching <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>TV and not wanting to get up. For a dad…..well let me just say football on Sundays. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This episode does bode well for the Huddy relationship as House now does seem to be more willing to take on parenting responsibilities and help Cuddy as a good partner would. It’s a long way from where he was years ago. Like the daughter of the POTW, he seems to have put his jealousy aside and wants to take a role in Rachel’s life even if this wasn’t how he envisioned it. He is more accepting and less juvenile when push comes to shove…even if it does mean bargaining for sex with Cuddy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Unplanned, unexpected and a lesson on people’s personalities and what circumstances bring <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>out those personalities. Plus, we got a glimpse at how Wilson would make a good neurotic parent. He was definitely a mom. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh…..and one last lesson…..don’t leave coins on the table or in a bag of Chinese food for a toddler to eat. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hope you enjoyed this week’s installment. Share your thoughts in the comment section. I would love to read them. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-91108475962478674552011-07-18T17:47:00.001-07:002011-07-18T17:47:51.597-07:00Diagnosing with the Stars: House Season 7 At Its Finest!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">While millions of Americans are turning their heads towards the celebrity dancing competition, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dancing with the Stars</i>, they are truly missing out on some compelling television in the form of FOX’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i>. It’s a shame really that society has conformed to cheap tactics to pull viewership into their orbit, as I feel many reality programs do. As a result, quality writing and true exhibitions of talent are being overlooked. Why are we watching “cheap” celebrities like Bristol Pailin and The Situation dancing horribly when we could be watching five-time Emmy nominee, Golden Globe and SAG award winner and disgustingly talented Laurie giving his all week after week? Granted, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">DWTS</i> is <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>probably good for a laugh or two and some artificial drama. However, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> is having one of its best seasons in awhile and too many viewers are missing it. In all honesty, if I want to see “celebrities” with cheap backgrounds, I’ll pick up the latest tabloid. But enough about low quality programming, since this blog is intended to turn the viewership eyes towards some seriously compelling television. Let me take a look at House and what I feel is its return to the glory days…..basically why the heck you should be watching it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As has been the case for six seasons, House has been a character study into the journey of the complicated life of its main character, Dr. Gregory House. We’ve seen his story unfold before our eyes and witnessed how he became a cripple, the driving forces behind his genius medical mind, his dysfunctional family life, his loves, his losses, his addictions, and his dissent into depression and serious Vicodin addiction which culminated into his committal into a mental health facility. As we ended season six, we began to see all the work that House invested in himself to become a better, sober person, after his stint in Mayfield, almost come crumbling down when he lost a patient who resembled his own personality. He also began to come to terms with losing the woman he loved, Dr. Lisa Cuddy, that night as she revealed she was set to marry another and announced that she was “done” with him. At one of his lowest points, we found him on his bathroom floor clutching a bottle of drugs ready to give up on what he felt were failed attempts at doing the right things in his life and at the accident scene. What really did he have left? He was alone, since his best friend Wilson moved on as well. Just then in a simple twist of fate, when House had pretty much thrown in the towel, he received the most unexpected glimmer of hope as his lady-love Cuddy cut ties with her fiancée to be with him. This is how our sixth season opened….with House and Cuddy exploring this newfound relationship journey and discussing all the complications that go with it….and there was a lot of lovin’ going on too. Yes, the opener turned many of the general fans off, while the “Huddy” community was rejoicing. However, it was something that needed to be done. Hell, five years of sexual tension. What would you do? This lead to a great first full team second episode and one in which House and Cuddy had to deal with their first major issue…..how in God’s name do we have a relationship and function at work? What I thought was nice was the balance found in this episode. The patient of the week and her family faced a very tense medical dilemma in which a decision had to be made to take the lung of her sick brother and some marrow in order to save her life. Yes, the brother’s life-span would probably be cut down to half, but it would ultimately save the life of the daughter since her body rejected a donor lung. This dilemma made for an incredibly tense moment between House and Cuddy at the end and went to the classic House story of tackling an ethical dilemma. Plus, in this episode we had a return of clinic patients, which were always a pleasant diversion from the seriousness. They were a father and son elderly pair who wanted House to lie, so they wouldn’t have to live with each other anymore. In the end, after taking money from both the father and son, House really solves the father’s simple health issue, hands both of them back their money and suggests counseling. As for House and Cuddy’s work issue, it was resolved for the moment. But again this part of their relationship needed to be addressed early on because it is a major issue with Cuddy being his boss. But I don’t think it will be the last serious work issue we’ll see this season. It basically continued the question brought up in the premiere between them. Therefore, it made sense to address it in the second episode. However, it didn’t overwhelm it which I think made all fans content. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The third installment of the series introduced us to Alice Tanner, a writer of a teen novel series about a boy named Jack Cannon. There was some fine acting in this one as Amy Irving played the patient of the week. She was plagued by a past that mirrored House’s in many ways. Her distress overwhelmed her to a point where she just wanted to die. What was classic about this wasn’t the illness of Alice, but how much her struggles were a parallel to House’s own personal struggles. This is a tactic the writers use well even if it isn’t intentional. It’s always something that gets the fans talking and discussing. We find out that House’s personality hasn’t changed. He’s still an ass who takes pleasure in mocking his team, patients and performs the usual breaking and entering. Yet, he has an unlikely companion in his illegal pursuit in the form of Cuddy. Okay, she didn’t know what he was up to at the time, but she went along nonetheless. And as obsessive as House is at solving puzzles, we discover that he is just as obsessive about his relationship, citing that he thinks Cuddy will get bored with him since they have nothing in common but sex. It’s both funny and I admit cute to see House so nervous about the future of his love-life. But it also showed how House doesn’t just live in the moment. He’s always thinking a thousand steps ahead. Alas, that is the nature of our star diagnostician, the man who always has to analyze everything and see the negative right out of the gate. After probably one of the most entertaining scenes in the form of a double date go-cart race, we do find out at the end that Cuddy is happy with House and enjoys their relationship because it is uncommon. We also find that in some ways each makes the other better. For example, at the end of this particular episode, House loses the nerve to take back his lie about Alice’s son (He told Alice her son died of an aneurysm and not because she let him drive in the rain.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Alice had been feeling responsible for the incident which found her still alive and her son dead. The truth was that Alice’s actions did cause her son’s death, but House was trying to give her hope. In a moment where House was going to recant his story as a result of Alice telling him she was going to leave her story open-ended, he happened to see Cuddy there and decided against it. Cuddy did make him a better person in that moment as much as he didn’t want to admit it. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The fourth installment didn’t have the most compelling patient of the week story, I admit. But through the POTW story, the issue of relationships in general came into play and how hard they are or can be. This was one of those episodes where the POTW served as a vehicle to give House something to think about in terms of his own life, which is usually what the POTW stories are tailor made to do. It’s part of the fabric that the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House </i>writers like to weave in regards to the stories they tell from time to time. As much as we think House may be reluctant to spend time with Cuddy’s daughter Rachel, we find that this is an underlying issue for him. For Cuddy House possibly wanting to keep her at arm’s length in an effort to avoid the next serious step by wanting to keep his hooker massage therapist is an issue for her. We also have Chase playing a playboy bachelor after his breakup from Cameron. He’s out to have some fun and is given the task of hiring a new female team member. However, he seems to find that business and pleasure don’t make us the keenest of observers when it comes to job qualifications. As usual, House takes the utmost pleasure in stepping over Foreman’s toes in the process by selecting Chase to do the interviewing. Again, House messing with his team and mocking them in the process is another classic House quality that has returned. Why would anyone want to miss that? The results of this House episode had Chase’s pretty hire quitting but hooking up with him and House and Cuddy resolving their issues. House took the number of the Physical therapist Cuddy suggested and Cuddy let House stay over at her place to familiarize Rachel with him and signal that they were indeed a couple. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The last installment before the two week hiatus had House facing his biggest challenge…..babysitting Rachel. Anyone who loves the brotherhood of House and Wilson, took pleasure in this gem of a hilarious episode. Not only did it provide the best laughs of the season so far but it also provided the viewer with clever ideas in the area of parenthood in its many forms. Thanks to House’s “parenting”, Foreman and Taub learned valuable lessons about their personalities in the most Housian ways. Foreman learned through House how his ego could be deflated in the course of a second and Taub learned how his paranoia and child-like attitude does not appeal to those who are smarter than he is. House and Wilson also learned a few valuable lessons….never leave coins out for a kid to swallow and make sure a kid doesn’t know your name so she doesn’t tell on you when you hide things from mommy. Okay, well maybe those weren’t the most important things House learned. House did learn what it takes to be a responsible parent and even showed that he could handle the job. It was one of his fears that might have been put just s little more at ease. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So what does the future hold for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i>? Well, word on the information highway says that the next few episodes are intense and brilliant. Plus, we are introduced to temporary new fellow Martha Masters, played by Amber Tamblyn from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joan of Arcadia</i> fame. The cases are said to bring up several issues at hand that cause all sorts of legal and ethical issues. Plus, I hear the acting is superb. It’s definitely something I wouldn’t want to miss if I were you. Additionally, sometime in January we finally get to met Cuddy’s elusive mom played by five-time Emmy winner Candice Bergen of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Murphy Brown </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boston Legal </i>fame. Ms. Bergen is an ace at balancing the comedy and drama in her acting, and I can only imagine some terrific moments between her and House. Plus, I’m sure Lisa Edelstein will get some stellar opportunities to spar with her TV mom as well. As for the Thirteen fans out there, she is set to return but I believe it won’t be until a little later in 2011. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What’s happening on House right now is nothing short of refreshing. So many doors have opened in which the writers can really play this year and play they have. As much as I am a House/Cuddy fan, I must say that I am enjoying ALL areas of the writing this year not just the proverbial “shipper” moments. The balance of romance and medical has been excellent and well handled. The stories are back to being interesting, intense and dealing with the facets of life and the issues surrounding all aspects of it. I’ve read many a fan who claimed that House has simply become a “soap opera”. Unfortunately, they aren’t looking at what’s happening this season, because a soap opera <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> is not. There is no melodrama here, just true to life issues and medical cases that have left viewers pondering….what exactly would I do in that situation? Can I ever get past a tragedy for which I may be responsible? Can I handle a situation for which I was not prepared? These are not soap issues but issues people face every day. Again, the show is a character study. Therefore, new layers of Gregory House are in line to be revealed as he trips in his relationship with Cuddy but makes great strides as well. The questions for him this season are can he succeed in continuing to battle his demons? Can he maintain what he worked on with Dr. Nolan in regards to other people’s feelings? Can he sustain that little bit of hope he has in love? Will he fail and succumb to Vicodin again? Will he continue to hide all that ails him from those around him? Will he survive a visit from someone who could be his toughest opponent yet…..Mrs. Cuddy? Basically, where do we see House going this season and will there be hints to his end? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Seven years this show has held its own, dared to be different by going against the natural flow of most shows, challenged itself each season, and has managed to stay fresh with new ideas. David Shore knows how to steer this ship so it doesn’t crash into an ice berg and sink, although it has and still may hit a few rocky storms along the way. That’s just my opinion though. Don’t hit me. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Even a bad <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House </i>episode is still damn good thanks to some incredible acting by an amazing cast. I will take a bad episode of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> over some bad dancing on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dancing with the Stars</i> any day. Hugh Laurie is the master of his craft and if you really want to know something true about the arts, just take one look at him and you will see all you need to see. He knows how to quarterback his team and works hard at making each show and each moment a memorable experience for the viewer. It’s a shame that some people cannot appreciate the art of this amazing show. It is still different than anything on television thanks to a complicated character and talented cast and crew who put their blood, sweat and tears into something that is extraordinary. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In conclusion, take your remote on Monday night November, 8<sup>th</sup> turn it to FOX and instead of watching a badly executed tango, check out what TV Guide has deemed the Princeton Plainsboro Tango and catch <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> at 8PM EST, because the glory days have returned. </span></div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-44967074680709078492011-07-18T17:46:00.001-07:002011-07-18T17:46:45.528-07:00Office Politics: A Dangerous Game We Play<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Ah office politics….no matter where you work it is a game that is constantly played. However, sometimes the results aren’t always going to please everyone. Someone eventually has to pay some kind of price. In this week’s House episode, viewers found out just how costly a decision could be when House lied to Cuddy to save a patient and when a campaign manager was let go by a seedy politician. In these instances, one person didn’t mind the rejection while the other did. Can you guess which one? In case you were living under a rock, you discovered that Cuddy was the one taking the rejection the hardest. This leads to my House question and blog of the week. Should a professional lie be taken personally? Is a professional lie a direct representation of how one feels towards another on a personal level? What a conundrum, right? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Let’s first take a look at the patient of the week who came up with a controversial ad attacking his boss’s candidate. At first the senator wasn’t happy with the ad, since it was offensive to one of his core constituencies. Yet, when his campaign manager ended up in House’s care, suddenly his feelings changed and he leaked the ad on the internet, causing a bit of an uproar. The campaign manager never blinked an eye and considered it a great political move. He wasn’t offended in the least. He didn’t even care when the senator fired him in a press conference after the senator endured a backlash as a result of the ad campaign. To him, that’s the way the political ball rolls. He’s probably right. After the senator fired his campaign manager in a press conference, his popularity gained again and he won the election. In the world of office politics, it’s the results that matter, a sentiment expressed by the campaign manager early on in the episode. To him if someone has to take the fall for the greater good then so be it, even if he happened to be the scapegoat in this case. So, what happens to the campaign manager? Well, he moves on to help the next potential candidate, maybe even becoming the campaign manager for the senator’s next opponent. Why? Well, because that’s how the political game is played. Can the same be said for medicine? According to the patient of the week, yes it can. Again, the results become the important element. In House’s world, the sentiment is all too true. When House is engaged in his puzzles, he cares about the results in an effort to save a patient’s life. Like a politician, even if he has to lie and cheat to save a life, he will. Unfortunately, this time it may come at a cost to him personally.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">In an attempt to cure his patient, House and new genius member Martha Masters confront Cuddy to request and experimental treatment. They want to inject the patient with hepatitis A, because it has proven effective in 15% of the patients. Yes, that leaves an 85% chance that the patient could die, but again the risk is all they have at that point. If they don’t try, the campaign manager definitely dies. If they try, then there is a chance he survives albeit a small one. Yet, this is a chance House and his team must take, because there are no other options. However, due to circumstances out of House’s control, he cannot prove that his patient has hepatitis C. But in order to treat his patient experimentally, Cuddy insists he prove that his patient is infected with hepatitis C. It is then that she will risk a lawsuit and give him permission to administer this experimental treatment. She has confidence that House and his team can come up with something. Well, she was sort of right. House did come up with an alternative thanks I think to an offhanded comment by Chase, but one that will probably cost House Cuddy’s trust. Struggling with a decision to fake a blood test using the senator’s hepatitis C infected blood, since he was using the same straw as House’s patient to do lines of cocaine, House turns to Wilson for advice. It’s not an easy decision for him to make. It’s either lie to Cuddy and save the patient or tell the truth and risk the medical consequences. In the end, House chooses to lie to Cuddy but not after a long night of lying on his floor struggling with the decision. He presents the false evidence to Cuddy who feels that he respects her now, since in the past he wouldn’t have bothered to even give her proof. He would have just gone ahead and ignored her request. Cuddy is oblivious to the lie and House is a craftsman at presenting his ruse to her. What’s interesting to note is how he doesn’t even look her in the eye as he’s handing her the senator’s blood test as opposed to his patient’s. It’s obvious that he’s feeling guilty about deceiving her, but should he? I mean….House is House and he isn’t going to relinquish his devious personality when it comes to patient care. This is something he made known to Cuddy in “Now What?” and she understood that. The question becomes then…what’s the big deal then that he lied to her? It’s rather complicated. When Cuddy discovers that House deceived her, she’s appears very hurt. In my opinion, she wasn’t hurt as a result of his actions. She was hurt because he wasn’t brutally honest with her and led her to believe that he was being truthful. This wouldn’t make a difference except that House did have an opportunity to tell her the truth in the privacy of his office after all was said and done, but he kept the truth from her instead. This is in contrast to “Selfish” where he went against Cuddy’s wishes and told the family of his patient their options for the treatment of their daughter. When Cuddy gave him her blessing after the fact, he confessed his lie and apologized for it. In that regard, she wasn’t angry with him because he was honest in the end with her and apologized to her. That didn’t happen this time around. No honesty and no apology and that’s why Cuddy was hurt. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">It’s been argued that Cuddy had unrealistic expectations and that she thought she had changed him. As a result, that’s why his lie hurt. I don’t agree with that assessment. I believe that Cuddy was sincere when she said she didn’t want House to change. She understands who he is and House even warned her that he isn’t going to change. Cuddy knew what she was getting herself into. The hurt I think came from the fact that he didn’t tell her the truth, when he had the opportunity to do so after the fact. House created for her this false vision of sincerity. She had to find out for herself instead of being told by him. One can argue that House was doing what he always has done for her…..protecting her from the truth. If she was unaware of his actions, then she wouldn’t have to face any consequences that may present themselves. He would take that blame alone. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Do I think Cuddy should take what House did personally? I don’t know. Looking at it from Cuddy’s point of view, if House could easily lie to her about this, could he lie to her on a personal level when a big issue arises? I’m not talking about swallowed dimes here or situations that can be controlled without her presence at the hospital. I’m talking about House’s feelings on issues, because as Cuddy pointed out, if he has a problem with their relationship then he needs to talk to her. What if he tries to create this illusion of himself for her? That’s not going to help anyone and then there will be regret and animosity. What about House? Should he feel guilty about lying to her? Yes and no. He shouldn’t feel guilty about doing what he did to save his patient’s life and lying about that. He should feel guilty that he didn’t confess to her what he did, why he did it and how hard of a decision it was for him to make. If he explained like an adult, that he knew this would have an impact on their relationship personally and that’s why he struggled with the decision, then maybe Cuddy would have given him some credit. He needed to tell her that he does love and respect her and understood her position, but that she needed to understand his. In turn, Cuddy could have then discussed how his decision hurt her and why. Plus, she could have then reiterated her position on the situation and how it impacts her as his boss. I think they need to sit down, talk through what happened and create boundaries about what constitutes a personal lie and a professional lie and how they should deal with it. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">What I appreciated in this episode is that House is still House but now he does feel remorse for his actions. He knows they have consequences and is aware of what those consequences could be. Yet, he doesn’t compromise his principles for them. On a personal level, the display of guilt on House’s face after Cuddy leaves his office and the hours he spent agonizing over his decision told me two things. One of those things is that our boy has indeed come along way and two…that he really does love Cuddy. Why else would he feel remorse and why else would he hurt too? And even though it was fabricated, why would he present her with what she requested…..proof? Why didn’t he just do what was customary to him and ignore her request? The answer is simple…..he does respect her. He lied because it mattered and not because he didn’t respect her ethical code. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">In this episode, Masters served as House’s Cuddy I think. Masters understands the moral and ethical obligations that doctors have towards their patients. But was she completely right in saying that respect, honesty and integrity matter? Were these the values that the writers wanted to illustrate in that scene where House lies to Cuddy? Are these the values Cuddy holds dear both professionally and personally? I think so. Why else would she be hurt over House’s deception? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Office politics, what a dangerous game we play indeed. Now, we are left to wonder what the outcome is next week when House and Cuddy face each other. Can they get over this hiccup or will this begin the crumbling of their relationship? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Until next week, this has been another edition of Diagnosing House. Please feel free to leave a comment as I ask you…Do you think professional lies should be held personally? Do you think it’s okay to lie when it matters? What are your thoughts on House and Cuddy’s situation? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Comment away as I look forward to reading your thoughts. </span></div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-30935549249544414732011-07-18T17:45:00.001-07:002011-07-18T17:45:51.686-07:00A Pox on Our House: Can the Scar of Lies Fade?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Relationships are hard enough. But when the pair in question happen to be co-workers, it seems difficult to differentiate between the working relationship and the personal one. Although, I think the better question is….should we? How is a work related lie to a co-worker, with whom you are having a relationship, any different than the lie being a personal one? I mean, you are still lying to the same person regardless. This is the very question that arises between House and Cuddy in this week’s episode of “A Pox on Our House.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Let’s begin by summarizing the situation, shall we?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">House begins to realize that Cuddy has uncovered his lie, based on his intuitive nature regarding their relationship. He comes to this realization when Cuddy relieves him of clinic duty to work on his case. Based on their relationship, this is puzzling to him since she’s always making him do clinic duty no matter what is going on with a case. Bothered by the curious shift in their relationship, House feels that Cuddy may know about his lie. Thus, he turns to Wilson who pretty much thinks he’s just being paranoid and stupid for even lying to her in the first place. What Wilson doesn’t realize is that House and Cuddy know each other all too well and that House is not imagining things. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">When House goes to Cuddy, he wonders why she never said anything to him if she knew of his deception. To her, she shouldn’t have had to go to him. He should have come to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">her</i> to apologize for what he did. House argues that his lie wasn’t personal, because he would never lie to her on a personal level. He argued that it was “business” and just a lie to save a patient. Yet to Cuddy, the lie was just that…a lie…to her…and that’s not okay. When House suggests that she should practice “compartmentalizing” their work and personal relationship, Cuddy is clearly irritated and suggests he leaves. From the look on House’s face, he knew that he just said something insensitive. (Love how Hugh Laurie can capture a feeling or thought with just a look. He is a master at that.) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Later on House, not surprisingly, breaks the rules and rushes in to the give the patient of the week an injection because he thinks that the man does not have smallpox. The act itself was a dangerous and risky move, but that’s how House operates. When House ends up quarantined, Cuddy chastises him for his lack of respect for authority and for lack of respect in general. House feels she is still mad about the lie, but at this point Cuddy could care less about that and more about him staying alive. On that idea, House wonders that if he survives does he then win both arguments. In a scene later on, when House could be on his way to contracting smallpox, he makes her think about how silly it will be to remain mad at him if he is basically on death’s door. She does smile and tell him to “shut up.” At this point to Cuddy, last week’s situation is not as important as the possibility that House could contract smallpox and meet his demise. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">At the end of the episode, the disease isn’t smallpox and House is going to live another day of driving people insane. When he stops by Cuddy’s office, he thinks all is well with them and begins to lighten the mood. However, he is taken aback when Cuddy clearly remains angry with him and pretty much brushes him off very coldly. He doesn’t understand why, since clearly when he was “dying” his lie meant nothing. Cuddy agrees that this is true, but that was when he was dying. The previous argument still exists and she has separated his smallpox incident from the lie. She exits the office leaving a very confused and dumbfounded House in her wake…not unlike he indirectly did to her last week. In other words, House won the argument regarding his rebel nature when he went into the isolation room without protective gear, undermining Broda’s wishes to keep away from the patients. However, that incident is over and last week’s still looms heavy. So, I guess House didn’t win both arguments as he may have suspected he would. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Now that the situation has been set for this week’s blog, it’s time to get down to business. Who’s right in this situation? Are they both right or are they just plain wrong? According to House, there is always a right and a wrong. What’s interesting is that the theme of the episode I think didn’t come from the POTW, but from a cancer girl Wilson was treating and the way Wilson’s girlfriend/ex-wife Sam dealt with her. Due to the smallpox lockdown, the young cancer girl’s mother gets locked out of the building and the girl is without her mom and her precious “Lamby.” The girl refuses her treatment without either of them. Sam is a bit insensitive to the situation and tells the girl rather abruptly that sometimes people have to do things they don’t want to do. Sam then becomes a terrible liar after she picks up another lamb by telling the girl they gave the false one a bath. The girl becomes angry and loses trust in Wilson and Sam. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Previously, Sam told Wilson she was taking House’s side in his conflict with Cuddy, citing that if Cuddy is expecting House not to lie and using the relationship as a rationale then she’s wrong. This makes Wilson wonder if Sam thinks it’s okay for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">them</i> to lie to each other. She tells him no because their relationship is different and better than House and Cuddy’s, whose relationship to her is based on lies. I thought that assessment was a bit harsh, but I had to agree that it did hold some truth. As season five’s “Both Sides Now” proved, House’s failure to disclose his mental state to Cuddy caused her to be blind-sided when he basically collapsed in front of her. He never told her what was happening to him which may have been personal but it also had an impact on him professionally. In a sense, he lied to her by hiding his state of being from her. However, I disagree with Sam that all of House and Cuddy’s relationship is based on lies. The truth usually presents itself. And when it does, House and Cuddy are both there for one another. By the way, did Sam completely forget that this is her second go around with Wilson? At least this is House and Cuddy’s first official time around. I’d say they were already ahead of Sam and Wilson, because at least they are addressing their issues. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Sam and Wilson hide theirs the first time around? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Now, let’s get back to how the cancer girl/Sam’s situation ties into the House and Cuddy situation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">When the little girl refuses to talk to Sam because she and Wilson lied, Sam understands and notes that the girl has every right to be angry. Sam’s reasoning for the lie to the girl was that they were trying to get her to do the right thing by engaging in the wrong one. In retrospect, this is what happened with House and Cuddy. House had to lie to Cuddy to get her to do the right thing and give his patient a fighting chance, but it came at a cost and Cuddy got angry. Of course, the same thing can be said of Cuddy at the end of this episode. As much as she may have been pained to be so cold to House after his smallpox scare, it’s her method of getting him to do the right thing and apologize to her and get him to understand that truth and respect are important elements to her in their relationship…so much so that she is not going to allow him to be flippant about it. It may not mean anything to him, but she wants him to recognize that it means something to her. Keep in mind that I don’t believe it was the very act of the lie that bothered Cuddy. I think she completely understands why he did it and that part was fine with her. I think she is looking for him to apologize for keeping it from her after the fact. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Basically I think this is how the House/Cuddy conversation should go. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>House: “.I’m sorry that I had to lie to you to save my patient, but it was necessary under the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>circumstances. I’m not sorry for what I did, but how I failed to acknowledge the position in which this would put our relationship. Understand that I gave it a lot of thought before I did it, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">because</b> of that reason and it wasn’t an easy decision. I understand why you would take this personally because boss or not, it’s still you I am dealing with. However, I warned you that I was going to hurt you again, because I haven’t changed.”</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Cuddy: “I appreciate your apology and I do understand that this is how you operate in terms of your job. I don’t expect you to change how you do things, because that would be unrealistic. However, I wish you would respect me personally enough to come to me if you are having trouble with something. If I can’t help and you do end up lying, then I would hope to not be blind-sided later, making me look like a total idiot. I want you to own up to it and give me a heads up. Maybe then I can handle what lawsuits may arise later as a result, because it is still my job to be responsible for your insanity. If something bothers me and I think it’s important, then I would hope you would talk it out with me rather than brush it off as nothing. I would want you to do the same with me. I’m sorry I had to be so cold about this, but it was the only way I knew how to get you to do the right thing for me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">As you all know, House has his way of manipulating himself out of a situation. I have to say that I understand Cuddy’s position. I know I may be in the minority here, but I don’t think I could ever compartmentalize a lie. House thought it was okay to have a massage therapist, who was a hooker he used to sleep with, continue as his therapist after Cuddy thought the idea was insane. He tried to brush it off by hiring a male hooker massage therapist for her. Then, she felt that he was maybe trying to sabotage the relationship. She may feel that he’s doing the same thing again by not feeling this is an important issue. To me, House’s isn’t exactly sending her the right signals. He’s frustrating her. Plus, add the fact that he was covering up Rachel swallowing the dime and where does that leave Cuddy? Not to mention, it seems that House is putting his patients always first. That’s fine when it comes to not risking his life. But now he has Cuddy to consider as well. I think that even weighs in on her thoughts. When does she become important to him? House risked his life in this episode and Cuddy was left looking through the glass watching the drama unfold. When does she take precedence over a patient on a personal level? This is definitely something hard to balance considering how much she means to him. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I’m not saying that House is wrong either. He holds the argument that lying is part of the way he operates, but he only does it when it is absolutely necessary. In this case it was necessary to him in order to save his patient. He loves Cuddy and tells her that he would never lie to her about something personal. I really believe that he’s speaking the truth there. Maybe he would have lied to her on a personal level in the past, but the situation is different now. He feels that she shouldn’t take it personally, because he didn’t intend it to be. Is Cuddy overreacting? Maybe, but we don’t know about Cuddy’s past. Since she feels very strongly about being lied to on all accounts, it makes me wonder if something in her past has contributed to her sense of insecurity on this issue. Perhaps we’ll find that out this year. In House’s mind he was just disrespecting her as boss and not as a person. Of course….is there really a difference?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Does House feel strongly about trying not to screw up the relationship so much so that he’s making bigger messes for himself? It’s definitely possible. Is he finding it difficult to own up to his mistakes when it comes to Cuddy? I think so. I don’t think it has anything to do with House trying to change but trying to grow into the relationship like a pair of new shoes. Once they give a little, things will be more comfortable. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Do I think both are being stubborn? Absolutely! But this is House and Cuddy….stubborn is why their relationship is so fun to watch and why fans love them! It’ll be interesting to see who wins this battle. My money is on Cuddy. You have to love <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> playing the Mars vs. Venus game in these episodes. Guess we’ll see next week if this argument finally comes to a resolution. Until then, I guess both beds will continue to feel chilly. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I would love to hear what you all think, since this situation has been hotly debated. Who do you think is right or are they both wrong? Who do you think will win the argument and why? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Also, is Sam right that her relationship with Wilson is better than House and Cuddy’s? And is House and Cuddy’s relationship based on lies? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Please leave your diagnosis in the comment section. As always, I will make it a point to respond to them. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Thanks for reading! See you next week!</span></div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-64052906306533804652011-07-18T17:44:00.001-07:002011-07-18T17:44:48.512-07:00Small Sacrifices: Are Faith, Hope, and Love Part of the Foundation<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Small sacrifices…the little things we engage in on a daily basis. Depending upon the sacrifice we make, the result can either be favorable or a disaster. For example, you've been offered tickets to a concert you've been dying to see only to realize that this is your parents 25<sup>th</sup> Anniversary dinner and your entire family will be there. For some the sacrifice is simple…you turn down the concert tickets since your parents have only one 25<sup>th</sup> Anniversary. Yet, you may get those who chose the concert over the dinner. I assure you, the latter choice will not yield very good results. How about the in-law you can't stand, but sacrifice any confrontations because your sibling is happy with that person? Yes, sacrifices…they happen everyday and cannot be avoided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In House's eighth offering of the season, it wasn't just about the act of small sacrifices, but the very ideals of faith, hope and love. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>These very examples were displayed through the POTW, Taub and his wife Rachel, Wilson and Sam and House and Cuddy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I find it incredibly interesting just how much religion played a part in this episode from the POTW to the wedding the staff attended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me give you a few quick verses of the bible from the Corinthians, Chapter 13, verses 2, 4,5,6,7, 11, and 13. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"If I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love]is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek it's own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child: when I became a man, I put aside childish things. So faith, hope and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love."</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So, how does this all tie into the episode? Let's explore by situation, shall we?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the situation involving Taub and his wife, you have a case of emotional infidelity. Although Rachel is truthful about seeking solace from a man she met via an online support group for philandering spouses, she refuses to make the small sacrifice of ending the online chats. This is much to the surprising dismay of Taub who understands he's done terrible things to her but finds her actions hurtful. According to his assessment on the situation, he apparently took for granted the fact that she forgave him for everything, when apparently all the hurt feelings never dissipated. Rachel's reluctance to make that small sacrifice for Taub not only increases the tension between them now, but also illustrates how the trust they may have once shared is fading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It exemplifies how they've lost faith in each other, since neither seems to trust the other again. As a result, the hope that once may have been apparent when Taub ceased his philandering ways is all but lost due to Rachel's lack of faith in communicating her feelings to Taub. She seems to pour her heart to a man online in a different state. Therefore, love cannot sustain if Rachel and Taub have lost all faith and hope in each other. Makes the sentiment from the Corinthians about love not seeking its own interests and enduring everything interesting, doesn't it? Right now Taub and his wife need to take stock in the relationship and quit being selfish. Either they need to finally end things, go into counseling or agree to make some sacrifices, because sometimes offering the superficial just isn't enough. Contrary to popular belief, two wrongs don't make a right. It just makes for a bigger mess. In my opinion, an affair is an affair whether it is a physical one or an emotional one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love is not based on revenge but communication and work. These aspect are seriously lacking in the Taub marriage. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Sam and Wilson have a different kind of situation that in a sense also involves trust issues. Sam enlists Wilson help to look over some files of hers for her boss who's doing a clinical review on her. When both Wilson and House discover that Sam's facts don't seem to be adding up, they question each other about her motives. Wilson tells House that Sam told him nothing was wrong about what she put down in her files after he questioned her. Wilson and House think that she just made a moral decision and exceeded dosing protocols as a last ditch effort to save five of her terminal patients. As House said, it would be something Wilson himself would do. This angelic ideal Wilson has of Sam now fuels his ambition even more to propose to Sam at the wedding the staff is attending, since he is now taken with her sense of morality. At the wedding, Wilson proposes to Sam saying he came to realize what made him love her even more. Puzzled by this, Sam wonders what exactly it is that made him suddenly realize he loved her even more. Rather than just making some romantic thing up, Wilson brings up her sense of morality and the five cases. (That's pretty much when I slapped my forehead, going Wilson you babbling idiot.) The good part about it was that Wilson was being truthful to himself. He believed that she didn't really do anything wrong morally. And in a sense, Sam is being truthful by believing that her facts were not altered in any way. (Okay, so I admit….either Sam is really a horrible doctor and an idiot, modest, has lied so long about fudging the facts that even she believes it or is just a plain liar. Not all of these things can be true. If she wasn't lying to do a moral thing, then she's a horrible doctor.) How did sacrifice come into play here? Wilson sacrificed the art of lying to Sam in favor of what he believed to be the truth. Yet, had he not extended it to a point that made it look as if he didn't trust her, perhaps the outcome would have been better. Sam sacrificed the relationship in the end. It may have seemed bigger than a small sacrifice but not to Sam. Rather than sacrifice her beliefs that she isn't a liar or cheat, she put her principles first before the relationship. For Wilson and Sam faith in each other was lost when Wilson didn't quite believe Sam and when Sam felt she lost Wilson's trust. Since both had been down this road previously, the idea of hope in a second chance at love was diminished. However, Sam gave up too easily. Her action is in contrast to the biblical theory that love endures all, is patient and rejoices with truth, since none of these happened <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>in the end. Sam wasn't patient and did not rejoice in the beauty of Wilson's truth of her moral character. The only thing she saw was the negative. With that love can never survive. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Before I get to House and Cuddy, I think it's important to mention the POTW first as I think he ties into House and Cuddy's situation and its resolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a bargain to God, the POTW sacrificed himself via crucifixion for each year his daughter remained cancer free. Unlike House's belief that faith is "communicable" and has "killed a lot of people," the patient views faith not as a disease but as something inherent and essential to the way in which he lives his life. By not accepting treatment for his condition, the patient feels that he wouldn't be insulting God. To the POTW, his act of being crucified has nothing to do with showing God his physical pain, but just how deeply his faith runs and how much he is willing to go through for his daughter even if it means sacrificing his life for her. The atheistic House knows that the patient is refusing treatment, because a cure means costing the patient his faith. As a result, House argues that the patient will be like the rest of us "alone and afraid." To the patient, this is not a valid argument because hope isn't something one can prescribe. Therefore, the POTW was staying true to his beliefs disregarding the consequences. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In that very conversation, we secretly get a view of House's life. House has faith in science and medicine. As a result of these beliefs and his conviction to save lives, he is willing to face the consequences of his actions no matter what they may be. Any diversion of his belief he may view as an insult to his profession and possibly his character. In a way, House's convictions aren't for show, but a display of what he is willing to go through for his patients. For House, giving up this part of himself leads to a fear that maybe he will be alone and afraid because he will be stripped of his perceived identity. Before Cuddy came into his life on a personal level, the one belief he could always count on was his success at the art of medicine. He stayed true to his one sure thing by lying to Cuddy in order to save the patient. He stood by his convictions, because the only hope he could count on was the survival of his patient. On a personal level, House may still be uncertain about his own future with Cuddy, because hope was never tangible to him on a personal level previously. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Yet, this is only part of what I felt contributed to House's decision regarding his situation with Cuddy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Later on, Masters brings in the patient's daughter in an effort to bring forth honesty in his relationship with her. Masters wants him to tell her why he's dying…because he doesn't want to take the medicine they want to prescribe him. The patient tells her a lie in that he is not afraid to die for her when he really is. His reasoning to Masters about lying to his daughter is that our beliefs define who we are and that dying and going to heaven are part of his beliefs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>He tells her that beliefs help us to see the right thing to do when we're "blinded by doubt and fear." If those beliefs are lost, then we question who we are. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This is in parallel to House I think in that House is blinded by doubt and fear as to whether his relationship with Cuddy can last. Thus, he defaults to his medical beliefs because they are what define him. House still hasn't found what has defined him personally, because those things which did are no longer present in his life such as the Vicodin, booze, his father, his misanthropic nature, his lack of remorse… House's fear may be the personal layers that Cuddy can reveal about him through their relationship and House's fear that he may not live up to what he believes her expectations of him could be. Perhaps there is a fear of disappointing her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe who he really is won't be what she wants. This leads to what I think is the third phase of House possibly processing his situation through the POTW.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">House lies to the patient telling him he ran a PET scan on his daughter and that she still has cancer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adding basically that the patients sacrificial efforts were all for naught and God broke His part of the deal. Angry with House for his self-righteousness, the patient gives in to the treatment. Later, House confesses his lie which angers the patient as he feels that he will be punished for falling under House's temptation. Yet, House shows the patient that he's getting better and his daughter has no cancer. To House this only proves that there is no God. But to the patient, this only proves that there is a merciful and loving God. The very thought has House rolling his eyes, because how can there be punishment then no punishment. House jokes that it's an "ingenious argument" to justify the presence of God. However, House is made to think a minute when the patient informs him that faith isn't an argument. This leads to what I think was a very Housian apology. Yes, part of it was a lie but I also think it held more truth than we realize. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"I've been an idiot. I got this argument stuck in my head…if everybody lies, then trust is not only unfounded and pointless, it's fictional. But trust is not an argument that can be won or lost. Maybe I just have to suspend my cynicism and believe. Maybe it's time I took a leap of faith. I'm sorry. I won't lie to you again."</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I believe that House took Wilson's advice in that he still believes that he didn't lie to Cuddy on a personal level but a professional one. Therefore, he's not sorry for lying to her in that way. (Note how he doesn't look her in the eye when he says he's sorry.) But I do believe that he saw her position in this too, and decided that this was not a battle to be won but one in which he needed to make a small sacrifice. What led to this sacrifice? It's in House's own words and in the patient's actions. For House he did find faith, but not in the spiritual sense. His faith lies in Cuddy who in a sense has been both merciful and forgiving towards all he's done in his life. She's never completely lost her faith in him and has been as open and as honest with him as she can. Look at them in their situation. Instead of breaking up with House because he lied, she just got angry with him and made her feelings clear which eventually led him to do the right thing and apologize to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a different kind of faith and belief that got House to this point, I think. As far as trust goes, as was evidenced in "Under My Skin," Cuddy is the person whom House trusts the most in his life. She knows him well. When it comes to her lying to him, we know as viewers that she simply cannot lie to him personally. Even if she does, such was the case with Lucas and even this discovered marriage, there are reasons. Whether it's to prove a point or prevent him from getting hurt, she normally has his best interests in mind. I think he knows that. And given the skeletons in the closet of his past, I think he understands why she would keep a secret from him. Sometimes there are events in your life you simply don't want to acknowledge because of the distress they may have caused. Cuddy doesn't know about House's past either. But if there was anyone who he could trust with it, Cuddy would be it. The same I think goes for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the end of House and Cuddy's situation, House found and put his faith in Cuddy. He decided to put a possible fear of revealing his personality identity aside for the hope that Cuddy will continue to believe in him and really accepts his screwed up personality and whatever truth she reveals in the layers of it hidden beneath. As a result, love will endure. For in this case, love was patient since Cuddy didn't give up on House. Love rejoiced with the truth, since House did find his faith in Cuddy and possibly embraced the value that honesty can bring. As a result of House's love for Cuddy, he bared his belief that he shouldn't be so cynical about trusting other people. House suspended his nature of thinking and being right in favor of faith, hope and love. For these reasons and the small sacrifices that can be made, House and Cuddy's relationship has the potential to endure. House will lie to her again, but I think he'll apologize after the fact. I say this because when House told her he would never lie to her again, he looked her square in the eyes. The last thing he wants to do is hurt the person deeply for whom he has the most faith and for whom returns the faith. Maybe for House he realized that without love, he does essentially have nothing but his intellect and medical skills. Being with Cuddy, I think he realized just how valuable and rewarding love and trust in another human being can be. Maybe the Corinthians are right after all. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Yes, small sacrifices….the very tunnels through which we can find solitude and perhaps peace of mind. They also serve as the means to a relationship that can be balanced. Compromise is essential to the success of a relationship as well as trust. House is correct in that everybody does indeed lie. However, sometimes those lies are part of the sacrifices we make based upon our beliefs. Basically, to keep the peace as it were. Yet, House has also said that truth is based in lies. Makes his apology that much more interesting doesn't it? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Take a step back and ask yourself what's more important….making that small sacrifice out of love or maintaining you convictions which can lead to negative consequences? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">As always, thanks for reading and please share your thoughts on this episode in the comments section. What did you think of the situations of our three couples? Do you think House was completely lying in his apology to Cuddy or do you think there was some truth in it? How did you feel about the sacrifices of the POTW? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Over the holidays, I'm going to attempt to write about House and Cuddy's relationship and its history as well as any other fun goodies I think of to get us through the eight week hiatus. Until then, this has been another installment of Diagnosing House. Thanks for reading!</span></div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-31194099879617630902011-07-18T17:43:00.001-07:002011-07-18T17:43:21.502-07:00Larger Then Life: The Mask We Wear<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">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.”</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">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. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">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. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>On the other hand, the wife of the patient also seemed to illustrate Taub’s situation. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">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. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">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. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">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.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>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. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">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? </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">As always the House writers leave fans asking themselves interesting questions concerning life and our actions. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">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. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">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. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">See you next week for another edition of Diagnosing House. Thanks for reading!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-8536342309179623812011-07-18T17:42:00.000-07:002011-07-18T17:42:31.677-07:00Carrot or Stick: What You Give is What You Get<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">This week’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House </i>offered some valuable lessons in terms of how we handle certain situations that involve some sort of behavior modification. The question becomes, what is the best approach? Like our star diagnostician, we had three cases to dissect and diagnose. Let’s take a look at them. Shall we?</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Let’s start with our playboy Chase. Chase’s social networking site ends up displaying a very…detailed….picture of Chase that isn’t exactly an accurate representation of his assets, at least according to him. It seems someone has been scorned by him, hacked his social networking account, and even stole his credit card information using it pay for a very generous charity donation. It’s established that the culprit is someone who was at the wedding he attended for the board chairman. The problem is that he was an active little bunny with three women. As much as he thinks he has this narrowed down to these three women, he ends up being mistaken. Apparently he was having a lovely conversation with the sister of one of the women, with whom he had relations. They had several things in common but when she said she didn’t sleep with a man on a first meeting, Chase suddenly had to use the bathroom and left her high and dry. Basically, Chase was punishing her for having morals. Unfortunately, she ended up having the upper hand by using her smarts as the stick to punish him for his bad behavior. Of course the true bitter pill he swallowed was her rejection of a date with him after they had made amends. Did Chase learn his lesson on being a player? This time I think so. People do have feelings and the very act of dismissing them only opens the door to trouble. Chase did certainly get a slap in the hand. It reminds me of the show’s theme….”you can’t always get what you want.” Chase’s desire to have a good time clouded his eyes to the possibility of a stable relationship. There is no doubt that Chase is still having issues from his failed marriage to Cameron to the point where he may psychologically only view himself as a “pretty face.” He can’t recognize his value. Until he does, he may still continue to make mistakes in his love life. Regardless, I think he did learn a lesson from this stick of reality. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Our second case presents us with the patient of the week, a drill sergeant named Driscoll, whose son ends up in his military camp for juveniles who’ve gotten caught in the tangled web of crime. The twist here is that his son, Landon, has no idea that he’s Driscoll’s son. It seems our patient of the week is a deadbeat dad who left Landon’s mom when he was a young. Landon’s mom became ill and passed away, leaving Landon to endure a troubled life and one in which he found himself in the foster care system. There seems to be two metaphorical sticks in this case. Landon, who ends up in the hospital with Driscoll, is dealt the tough love approach by enduring both physically and mentally exhausting activities at the camp in order to adjust his bad behavior and attitude. Lacking love in his life, Landon still remains rebellious even to the point of stealing Masters’ car keys to escape. According to Masters, all that this boy needed was love and not the hard stick with which he was being dealt. Of course, that was until he stole her keys. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">For the patient of the week, Driscoll, his stick came in the fact that the son he abandoned had become a troubled teen. The lack of a father figure in Landon’s life may have contributed to his antics. There is no greater reality check than to have your mistakes amplified in front of your eyes. As Driscoll soon figured out, actions do have consequences. The point is learning from those mistakes in order to attain the most desirable result. What I thought was a great illustration of the carrot or stick approach happened when both Landon and Driscoll were in the room together. Driscoll breezes past a show Landon likes, Jersey Shore, much to his dismay. But after Landon changes his attitude and becomes polite with Masters, Driscoll turns on Jersey Shore and hands Landon the remote to the hospital room television. Landon got rewarded for displaying the proper behavior. Rather than the stick, Driscoll used the carrot approach. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">So, did anything work with these two in regards to the carrot or stick approach? Well, for Driscoll, I think facing the reality of what his abandonment did to Landon helped him learn his lesson. Although it took him until almost the end of the episode to admit to Landon that he was his father, he realized the importance of what that meant and how much Landon needed it in his life. As for Landon, for me it seems unclear because we don’t know what happened after he got out of Princeton. The hopeful aspect is that he now does have a father in his life from whom he can learn. He’s not alone in this world and had someone to help guide him the right direction. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Our last case is House and Rachel. Cuddy wants to get Rachel into the prestigious pre-school. However, House just doesn’t think she has the intelligence to be accepted into this pre-school. Rather than face a disappointed Cuddy, House takes it upon himself to coach Rachel. Even though he mocks by calling her a “paste sandwich,” “lump if clay” and a “moron,” we are soon to find out that the doctor develops a connection with her. Treating her like a dog, he does manage to train her to play the toys that the pre-school uses like a pro. Yes, House cheated but he wouldn’t be House if he didn’t. He even gave her doodles as treats. House took the carrot approach with Rachel and he succeeded. Funny thing is, Rachel without knowing it used the stick approach with House. She was defiant in not wanting to play with the toys he brought or name the color he wanted her to name. At this age, children are smarter than we think. This is based on experience of dealing with them. I think Rachel secretly just wanted House’s affections. He hasn’t exactly treated her with love and warmth. Yet, through her cooperation with him during her training, she was modifying his behavior. I don’t think either one of them was aware of that fact. You see….by House working with Rachel, he was in the stages of forming a connection with her on a much greater scale. He was giving her the attention she probably was seeking from him. As House was helping her, he began to see that she wasn’t as big a “lump of clay” that he thought she was. They were bonding. When Rachel lied about playing “See the Monkey” to Cuddy, House was proud of that. He admired her early ability to lie like a pro….as only House would. He was bragging to clinic patient about it and even the patient started to recognize House’s fondness for Rachel. Even more interesting was the very fact that House didn’t have to at Rachel’s play date, but he came anyway. Kind of like a dad going to their child’s big game after practicing with him/her. House even looked a little dejected when Rachel was turned down for the pre-school. However, Rachel getting into the pre-school wasn’t the true carrot here. After House tells Cuddy that Rachel’s a “smart kid” and that she’ll be all right, Rachel climbs into House’s lap to snuggle with him. Now, that was House’s true carrot…..a simple act of affection. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The idea of carrot or stick for me doesn’t necessarily deal with the literal idea of reward and punishment. Our own words can make a difference whether you’re praising someone or explaining the idea of right and wrong. Sometimes the journey to the desired behavior isn’t as clear cut as we think. Actions and words that seem meaningless at first may turn out to be the things that make the difference. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Which method is better? I guess it depends on the situation. In this day and age physical punishment is frowned upon. If it is then how did some of us survive the spankings we used to get as children? Is psychology the answer to behavior modification? Was Pavlov onto to something as he trained that dog? Which method yields the best results? To you get more with the stick than the carrot or vice versa? This is something that can be greatly debated at length. All I know is, Chase learned that not all women are going to fall for his playboy approach. The patient learned what happens when you abandon you obligations as a parent. House learned the value of parental pride and attention and what that means to a child. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The next episode on February 7<sup>th</sup> looks intense based on the promos. I loathe hiatuses. But alas, absence makes the heart grow fonder. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">In any case, that’s this week’s edition of Diagnosing House. As always thanks for reading and please feel free to leave a comment in the comment section. I’d love to read your thoughts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-74793211000871313022011-07-18T17:41:00.000-07:002011-07-18T17:41:17.507-07:00Family Practice: Confrontation Makes the Family Grow Stronger<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I must admit that the diagnosis for this week was a bit difficult for me. I had a hard time finding a clear theme to compliment the title. However, I did discover after a few viewings which players essentially came out on top. As much as I was not a fan of Masters in the episode, she was the one who gave me my epiphany. I’ll explain in a minute.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Lisa Cuddy is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to her job. Unfortunately, when<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>dealing with her mother Arlene that’s not the case. House is well aware from past experience that Cuddy does not do well balancing personal and professional feelings. As House has pointed out to her in the past, it doesn’t make her a very good doctor. Because of this reasoning, House doesn’t want to get involved when Arlene gets sick. As House says to Cuddy from the start, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“You know all that ethics stuff I don’t give a crap</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">about. It suddenly makes sense.”</i> Yet, for House, there are much bigger stakes here. If he treats Cuddy’s mother and something goes horribly wrong, he has this fear that she is never going to think of him in the same way again. Thus, it would result in a possible dissolution of their relationship. House’s issue is that he doesn’t seem to bring this up until it’s almost too late. He walks a tightrope with Cuddy, but this time he spoke up. I’m so proud of our boy. Confrontation was the key to this episode and not in a combative way, I thought. I thought it was more in a….reality check sort of way.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Let me summarize the situation and then explain what I mean. Cuddy wants House to treat her mother, not only because he’s her boyfriend but because he is the best doctor in the hospital. Now, House is House and when he thinks Arlene’s being a hypochondriac, he let her know by switching out her arthritis medication for sugar pills. Not happy with House’s dishonesty, Arlene fires House. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>At this point, House is relieved to be off her case. But not so fast…..Cuddy puts House back on the case with one catch….he has to do it behind the back of her mother and the physician to whom she assigned her mother’s case. So now we have House in an impossible position and what’s a man to do? Well, if you’re House you go all in. Unfortunately, when the diagnosis starts to get more dangerous and complicated, so does the situation. At one point there is a miscommunication, where Cuddy wants to be involved but doesn’t want to be involved when it comes to certain things. Sadly, she forgot to give House a decoder ring. Yet, I don’t blame Cuddy. She was becoming drained emotionally and completely stressed which is why she should have stayed out of the situation. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">But Cuddy isn’t the only one stressed out about the situation, so is House and his team. They are violating ethics codes left and right. There are a few instances where House lashes out, but then calms himself down again. Of course, he doesn’t stop telling his team to violate medical standards. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Then, we have Masters being tested and failing…at least we think she is. Thinking ahead, House gets Masters to commit an illegal act by drawing blood from a coma patient who has paperwork stating that no procedure is to be performed without the consent of a relative. House never gave her the order to do it. He just conned her into doing it by not saying a word and letting her think on her own….smart man. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Finally we have Taub, who is desperate for some extra income. As a result, his soon to be ex-wife calls her brother who offers Taub a job as a medical consultant for some legal cases he has. Taub’s brother-in-law gives him a trial case to look at but Taub is intrigued by a head scan on a table. He thinks the boy in question might have a brain bleed. Taub’s brother-in-law assures him that two people checked out the films and the boy is fine. He urges him to leave it alone because they were settling with the family in two days. Yeah, that suggestion went over really well. Taub ends up going to the house of the family and urging the mother to take the boy for a cerebral angiogram because he might die of a hemorrhage, </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Now that I’ve laid out the situations for you, I’ll tell you why confrontation was the key. Let me work backwards and start with Taub. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Yes, Taub was an idiot and probably should have just left well enough alone. He knew confronting the family could cost him his consulting job, but he went and did it anyway. However, if there was any question, he also could have saved a life if the boy did have a hemorrhage. Because he took initiative and was caring, he did what he believed to be right. Naturally, the brother-in-law got angry and smashed Taub’s nose into a toilet handle and Rachel thought Taub was a loser, but hey…who’s keeping score. Knwoing Taub’s situation, Foreman confronted Rachel with a phone call to explain what happened. Upon hearing the information from Foreman, Rachel came to tell Taub that he was a lousy husband but a good person. She didn’t agree with what her brother did after hearing the story. Taub’s life and dignity were somewhat redeemed even if he had to sacrifice his second source of income and his nose for it. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Now Martha M. Masters’s confrontation was interesting because it set off a chain reaction. Faced with the prospect of losing her medical career to House’s blackmail, she stood by her principles and confronted Arlene and Dr. Kaufman with the information that House and Cuddy were scheming behind their backs. As much as I didn’t like Masters at that point, I understood why her confession was so important. For her, if she hadn’t told on House and Cuddy things could have gotten much worse for Arlene. Arlene really could have died with the wrong mix of medicine and information. Basically to go back to an idea from Season three’s “Fetal Position,” Masters became Cuddy and House’s Cuddy. Someone had to stop the madness before it escalated any further. As House explained to Masters after re-hiring her, he needs her to prevent him from doing something Cuddy might regret. In other words, keep House and Cuddy grounded before the hospital pulls them apart for violating every ethical code in the medical handbook. Also, if Masters hadn’t confronted Arlene and Dr. Kaufman with the truth, then the next event in the chain reaction may not have occurred either. That event was House confronting Cuddy.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">When House confronts Cuddy, I saw two purposes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The first purpose was to save his relationship. If anything fatal happened to Arlene, House knew Cuddy could never love him in the same way again, because her mother’s death would be by his hand and hang over them like a black cloud. As a result, the relationship would eventually fall apart. House wasn’t going to let this series of events ruin that. When Cuddy questions if House is taking this personally, he tells her this, </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“She insults you, you complain to me. I drug her dinner, you never let her know. </i></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>We slip her medicine, it happens behind her back. You never confront her and it </span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>pisses me off. She leaves she dies. One day…maybe a week from now maybe a </span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>year from now, you’re going to decide that the person sleeping next to you killed </span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>your mother.”</span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Basically the burden falls on House’s shoulders, and to him it doesn’t seem fair that he’s the one on the receiving end of Cuddy’s frustrations. So, what exactly was the second purpose I saw to House’s confrontation with Cuddy? House knows that Cuddy is a strong woman. She shouldn’t have to take the insults, the put downs or the stubbornness of her mother. Cuddy should put her foot down and be honest with her mother, because it’s not like Cuddy to be a coward. To House, Cuddy is stronger than that. He respects Cuddy because of her honesty and tough love. Now, he may be figuring it’s time to take charge again. Cuddy’s the expert and her mother is not. In this situation, Cuddy needs to confront her mother and give it to her straight. Basically, House gives Cuddy the reality check she’s always given him. This becomes more obvious when House utters the command to Cuddy, “Get me my patient back.” This sets Cuddy back into focus where she runs off to catch the ambulance and confront her mother. Hence, the next link in the chain reaction.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Cuddy explains to her mother why she thinks she’s been so hard on her all these years. Her mother saw an “ambition” and “brains” in Lisa Cuddy that she didn’t see in herself or Cuddy’s sister Julia. Because of that, Arlene has always trusted her daughter Lisa’s medical judgment. According to Cuddy, Arlene lights up when Cuddy talks about her job. For that reason and as a result of that trust, Cuddy confronts her mother and gives it to her straight. She tells her honestly that if she goes to Princeton General, she’ll get “treated well but she’ll die.” If Arlene stays at Cuddy’s hospital with House, she’ll be “treated badly but she’ll live.” Therefore, Cuddy puts her foot down and refuses to let her mother leave. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Even if it’s for a moment or two and while Arlene is starting to crash, she can sense the teamwork and medical expertise going on between her daughter and House. As Arlene begins to crash, naturally Cuddy’s stress and worry go into overdrive. But I felt in that moment House was trying to get her to focus by coaxing her into a DDX session with him. It worked and House discovered cobalt poisoning. In a very well acted moment without words, I saw House looking at Cuddy as if to say, “I’m sorry.” In Cuddy’s eyes, I saw the return of apology along with a “thank you.” What a moment where no words were needed. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">If House hadn’t confronted Cuddy, then his relationship with Cuddy may have failed and Arlene may have died. If Arlene died, Cuddy deep down may have regretted not having stopped her mother from leaving and would have carried the burden of a strained relationship with her until the day <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">she</i> died. If Cuddy hadn’t had her confrontation with Arlene, Arlene would have died at Princeton General and would have never found a resolution to her strained relationship with Cuddy.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">In the end, in another great moment without words, we see Arlene grab Cuddy’s hand with a look and expression that said, “I’m so proud of you.”</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Family members have a way of setting us straight even if we don’t want to hear the truth. Sometimes we accept it and sometimes we ignore it. Most importantly, we learn from it. Each family member taught the other a valuable lesson through the act of confrontation. Yes, I include Masters to be a family member in terms of House’s team. They all look out for one another and protect one another like family members should. Whether it’s protecting one’s pride, dignity or even jail, the very idea of family practice means working together. By learning from our family members, we tend to become better people. We learn from our mistakes and grow as individuals. In this episode, everyone learned, everyone grew and everyone protected each other in their own way. That’s what makes this family of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> a home. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">So what did you think? Did you think House should have told Cuddy he wasn’t going to participate anymore when things got complicated? Do you think Cuddy should have taken herself off the case? Do you think Masters was right in selling House and Cuddy out? What about Taub? Should he have stayed quiet? </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">On a side note I thought it was rather interesting how Cuddy told House that since her father died, Cuddy, Julia and Arlene told each other the truth when asked directly. Cuddy cited that it was important to them. I wondered why. I wondered if Cuddy’s father kept something from them. Illness maybe? Maybe this is why Cuddy holds the truth to be valuable and frowns upon lies. Wonder if that aside was also a clue to her past. What did you think about that comment?</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">As always, I’d love to read your comments and I love responding to them. Please spread the word if you like the blog. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Until next week, this is another edition of Diagnosing House. As always, thank you for reading!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-88718669394270069792011-07-18T17:40:00.000-07:002011-07-18T17:40:12.614-07:00You Must Remember This: Why Can't We Let Bad Memories Go By?<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each day that passes by us a memory is made; most are good ones, some aren’t significant enough to store in our data base of a mind, and some are bad enough that they stay with us for longer than we want them. Why do we tend to let the bad memories of the past cloud our minds? This is a question which seems to be woven into the fabric of this week’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House </i>episode. As the story is told the patient of the week, Nadia, is not the only one who seems to hold bad memories that shape her personality. Taub, Foreman, Wilson and House seem to still hold the skeletons in the closet of their pasts. Let me lead the way for you. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nadia is woman with a pristine memory, which we discover is a symptom of McCloud’s Syndrome. She tends to compulsively obsess over her life. But rather than obsess over the good, her mind stops at all the bad memories in her life. This becomes an issue when she gets very ill and her sister Elena comes around to her side. Apparently, Elena hit Nadia with a car when they were younger. This is something Nadia has never been able to let go of even when her sister donates a kidney to her. House felt that if Nadia truly outweighs the bad with the good then a new kidney would “trump” all of the bad Elena may have done. That incident with the car invades Nadia’s memories twice. Once in the beginning of the episode and again when Nadia goes to thank her sister for the kidney. Nadia has interesting perception of people and memories. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“She’s hurt me more than she’s helped me. Simple math. Most people edit their </i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>memories…add small little lies so they don’t have to face the truth. My memory </span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>stays the same because my truth <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is </b>the truth.”</span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chase feels that Nadia thinks her sister doesn’t deserve her affection, because Elena has done more bad things than good. Not surprisingly, House agrees with Nadia’s outlook.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Unlike everybody else in the world her memory seems to let her keep a pure and objective view of people and relationships. There’re no petty emotions or agendas fogging up the windshield. Why is that so wrong?”</span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because of this ability which Nadia deems “special,” she basically isolates herself from family and friends in order to avoid thinking of her past. For her being a waitress is fine, because she’s good at her job. Her life sounds all too familiar. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">House has the gift of his mind. Before Mayfield, he too had the tendency to isolate himself from the world. And like Nadia, the memories of his past still haunt him. Although House is no longer alone and is involved in a serious relationship with Cuddy, there is a part of him that still feels he doesn’t deserve what he’s experiencing now, especially since his best friend Wilson is now alone. In House’s mind, Wilson shouldn’t be alone. I think House is still dwelling on the past in his new relationship. He remembers the horrible things he’s done to Cuddy. As a result, just like Nadia feels Elena doesn’t deserve her affection, House might feel he is unworthy of Cuddy’s affection. I think House in his mind is still playing the game of weighing his behaviors both good and bad and feels bad may be tilting the scale. House cannot escape his insecurity to a point where he cannot enjoy this newfound reward in his life of happiness. Like Nadia, he cannot seem to let go of the past and only remembers the bad things that he’s done. Granted this is just my assessment, since nothing concrete came in the course of the episode. However, based on House’s expression at the very end of the episode and his comments throughout, I got that vibe.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was also interesting to note that the idea of loneliness came up twice in very different ways in the episode, but with the same intention. When Wilson gets a cat to curb his loneliness, House sarcastically notes that Wilson’s subconscious is probably afraid he’ll die alone. Then, House brings up loneliness to Nadia when he tells her everybody dies alone. For me this was typical House deflection. It wasn’t Nadia, his patient, that he was worried about. He’s worried about himself. Does he feel his past behavior will come back to haunt him and that this blissful feeling of happiness is fleeting? Does he feel that if things don’t work out with Cuddy that he will indeed die alone, because he feels no one else will tolerate him? It’s interesting how we get a glimpse of House’s thought process indirectly. I also wondered whether or not House fears that his desire for happiness will take away from the gift of his mind and diagnostic prowess. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How has the past had an impact on Wilson? As we all know, Wilson craves neediness. He’s found it in the form of his deceased neighbor’s diabetic cat. According to House, after Wilson’s second divorce, he got a three-legged Siamese cat and basically put himself in isolation. In House’s mind, he fears the same thing will happen now that Sam is out of his life. Two cats with problems in need of care and love, and Wilson receiving that love in return. In an odd way, I tended to think that House was one of Wilson’s cats. Wilson took him in and in turn continued to retain House’s friendship which is something he’ll always have. For Wilson time may be a healer. He had just better watch out for mysteriously open windows. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taub failed his pathology boards due to what he claimed was the flu and is in danger of losing his medical license as a result. He ends up selecting Foreman as his tutor. However, every time he’s supposed to be studying, he finds different excuses to postpone the activity. Later on we discover Taub lied. He never had the flu. He too was haunted by the past. You see, Taub received a perfect score on his first pathology boards. He explains to Foreman that now he keeps thinking whatever his score turns out to be will be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“a measure of the distance between me and the man I used to be.” </i>The last test he took was before he lost his wife and home, so now he feels that the results just won’t get any better. Taub fears more failure in his life and because of that has lost all confidence in himself. Foreman tries to motivate Taub and restore his confidence while also revealing <em>his</em> fear. He tells Taub that sometimes he can’t sleep at night thinking that he got the diagnosis wrong. Does that sound familiar to anyone out there? It seems Foreman hasn’t completely let go of his past either. The bad memory of losing his patient, Lupe, from Season Three’s “House Training” still haunts his mind even though he professes to Taub that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“these things work themselves out.”</i> But is Foreman really telling Taub the truth there? </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end, each individual received a gift probably without realizing it. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For Wilson, House gave him the gift of the cat and the gift of time. Ten days of time to be exact. Wilson accepted that gift, because I think he understood House’s concern based on his actions of the past. In that regard, Wilson may want to give House some peace of mind. In the meantime, Wilson will enjoy the affections of his cat. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Foreman gave Taub a gift by letting him pay for the answers to the pathology exam. At least then Taub will get a little confidence even if he does cheat. As for working on Taub’s confidence a bit more, well according to Foreman there’ll be another time to work on it. Additionally, Foreman gave Taub a place to stay until he could find a place of his own. Taub gave Foreman the gift of his TV. But most importantly, they gave each other the gift of friendship. In a strange way, Taub and Foreman appear to be similar in relationship to House and Wilson. Difference is….I don’t think Taub is self-destructive….yet. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nadia chose the gift of SSRI’s that Chase gave her to control her obsessive memories and to help her form more meaningful, close relationships in her life. To her being “special” wasn’t as important as the opportunity to toss exile and loneliness aside. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">House too received a gift to thwart his loneliness. He received the gift of Cuddy’s love and affection without sacrificing his mind. He still may seem unworthy of accepting it, but it is a comfort to him at the moment even if his past actions still lace fear within him. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, our bad memories do tend to saturate our minds. But what do we really do with them? Do we continue to obsess over them? Learn from them? Or Find a point in our lives where we say to hell with it? What do our past memories do to our relationships? Do they strengthen them or weaken them? What is the solution to leaving the past behind and moving forward? </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Personally, I have bad memories. However, I don’t seem to obsess over them. I found that I’ve learned from them and try to help others as a result of them. Then, there are times when I push the bad memories away and focus on the good things I have today and not take them for granted. I hope House finds a time to do the same and put his restless mind at ease, enjoying his journey right now. He’s come too far to let the demons of his past cloud his future, because, whether he believes it or not, everyone deserves a second chance. Everyone deserves to be happy. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Until next time….this is another edition of Diagnosing House. Hope you enjoyed it! As always, comments are welcome and I do respond. I would love to hear your thoughts. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for taking the time to read!</span></span></div></div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462598112213240486.post-36698571023721322572011-07-18T17:39:00.000-07:002011-07-18T17:39:01.515-07:00Two Stories: Seeing Life Through a New Lens<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How many times in our lives have we been given a “thank you” or words of appreciation for doing something for someone? How many of those things have been things of a grand nature? How many have been small? Which was more meaningful? From my own personal experience, I tend to appreciate the little things more than the big ones. For instance, my mom just had knee replacement surgery. Therefore, she was unable to do many of her daily tasks. In order to assist her, my dad and I split the tasks and worked together to get things accomplished. My mom wanted to buy me gifts as a thank you. However, her words of appreciation and gratitude meant more to me. It told me that she was grateful for doing the small things for her. She observed what I was doing and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>was appreciative of it. She knew I cared enough to forego my weekends and some nights to do the simple tasks of the day/week. Unfortunately in this week’s episode, House almost missed that point. But thanks to two young students, who observe the world in simple terms, House was able to see things through a new lens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As always, let me give you a brief overview of the situation. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because House seems to have been only thinking of himself, he gets Cuddy angry to a point where she wants to end their relationship and look for someone whom she feels actually cares about her and about what she thinks. In order to prevent this crisis in his life, House tries to find something big to make things up to her, because he needs her in his life. Thus, after breaking into her personal computer and reading her journal, he discovers that Brye Park was Cuddy’s first choice pre-school. House then approaches hospital board Chairman Sandford Wells to try and pull some strings to get Rachel into the pre-school. Wells agrees but only if House does him the favor of speaking at the school’s Career Day. The task seemed simple enough until, on his way to the school, House rear ends the car of another speaker and lies to him about his name to avoid paying for damages. At one point, House is caught in the lie and a fight between him and the other speaker, Dryden, ensures in the classroom of fifth graders to whom he’s supposed to be speaking. House finds himself in the principal’s office with two young students who were caught attempting to kiss behind the school. From there we find out each of their stories and how both stories relate to each other. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unlike most <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House</i> episodes, the patient of the week was not the focus. In my eyes, the patient of the week was nothing more than a giant House deflection of his real problem….making amends with Cuddy. This was his puzzle to solve this week and the two young students served as his team. As a result, he was the patient. The two young loves guided House to his epiphany and saved his relationship with Cuddy at least for the time being. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like House and Cuddy, this young boy and girl have their differences but they really like each other. So much so that the boy rigs a jump roping bet to get the girl to kiss him. Funny thing is….he made the bet because he knew she wanted to kiss him. In the boy’s mind by rigging the contest, her loss of the bet would justify the act rather than make her look like a tease to her friends. In essence, this gesture sounds like something our very own House would do. The boy thought ahead and did everything he could to make her feel comfortable kissing him. To him, this plan was proof that he knew her thought process and that he knew she didn’t hate him. The boy also tends to not treat her with kid gloves but more like an equal despite their gender difference. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At first the girl denies that the boy really knew her thought process. She felt she never thought she’d lose the bet. And although it seemed that she did hate him two days prior, she really didn’t. The girl tells House that the boy isn’t always a jerk, even though he did accidentally hit her with a hockey puck in the face. She knows he isn’t a jerk, because he apologized for hitting her in the face with a hockey puck and for tricking her in the bet. He also lets her know that he likes her and doesn’t want to play anymore games with her. When she’s ready to kiss him, he said then she can let him know. For this reason, the girl knows he’d never bolt when faced with a problem. All of this leads back to the beginning of the story, when the girl tells him she’s ready. He wonders why all of a sudden her mind is changed. She lets him know that he’s the one that changed it.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The story of these two young students is just a smaller version of the life of Cuddy and House. Even in the opening scene when the girl decides that she now wants to kiss the boy, I saw visions of “Help Me” and “Now What?” What changed Cuddy’s mind so much that she wanted to pursue a relationship with House? He did through his care and compassion of Hannah. Yet, it may also have been his refusal to play games with her anymore and his honesty in regards to how he felt about her. House has done innumerable things to make Cuddy angry, but he’s also done things to make her proud. When the girl points out to House that he only listens to Cuddy just to tell her how wrong she is, we see why House feels he needs to do it. He points out to the girl that Cuddy is the boss. Therefore, she’s faced with people who are either afraid of her, want to kiss up to her, or kiss her. (Of course his real insinuation was that they want to sleep with her.) House basically tells the girl that because he respects Cuddy, he doesn’t coddle her like everyone else. He deems all the others “morons” and even through his words suggests they are fakes. Fans know House is brutally honest, but it tends to be a quality Cuddy and others respect. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, there is a quality that seems to be House’s downfall and one that got him in trouble with Cuddy. By his own admission, House can be selfish, maybe not all of the time but most of the time. Additionally, his ability to always be right hides the caring side that he does have. His troubles in this episode began when Cuddy asked him to take her garbage out and he made an excuse that his leg tended to hurt worse in the morning. Forget the fact that two seconds before her request, he was suggesting that they take one more roll in the hay before he left. Then, Cuddy goes into her bathroom to find that House has used….well according to her gnawed….her toothbrush after she had warned him to not do that and to use the brush she bought him. The very fact that he ignored both requests, made her feel that he didn’t care about her or what she thought. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many people felt Cuddy blew the situation out of proportion. I, on the other hand, don’t think so. Even the boy suggested to House that there had to be more to it and I think there was. Notice in the scene when House is leaving Cuddy’s how he slams the door. Cuddy had a few minutes of peace to try and do her yoga before Rachel woke up. But House ignoring that fact, slams the door and Rachel wakes up. If you look at Cuddy’s face after he slams the door, you can see her discontent. As a mom, she knows that was not a smart thing for him to do. He didn’t care enough to give her that quiet time. She got angry with him. And through her words to him, she understands his viewpoint that she may be unreasonable in this situation and that he’s probably right. But that wasn’t the principle here. She asked him to do some simple things and he wasn’t listening. To her they were important, especially since he is technically still a guest in her house. These small things show her that he respects her wishes and cares enough to honor her requests. Plus, it also shows her that he listens to her and cares about what she thinks and how she feels. If these things bother her, then House needed to be mindful of that. It wasn’t about being right or wrong, which from Cuddy’s viewpoint is all the matters to him. It was about not doing whatever he wants, disregarding the feelings of others. Their relationship is a partnership. If House disregards Cuddy’s feelings, then there is no partnership. House may get what he wants out of the relationship, but there is that feeling of emptiness and insignificance for Cuddy. She doesn’t get anything meaningful reciprocated. To her that hurts because she does love House and tries her best to be mindful of his feelings and show she cares for and about him. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I actually love Cuddy’s speech to him, because it really is true. She says, “You need me House. And you may even love me. But you don’t care about me.” It’s a very Hous-ian statement. The show has shown through many facets how House feels he needs Cuddy, most vividly in his season five hallucination. The show has shown how he loves her in very subtle and big ways. But how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> we know he cares about her? Some might say…well by his big gifts like the desk, coffee maker, peace penguin, book, even trying to get Rachel into a pre-school Cuddy wants to get her into. But my question is…..why does he need to do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">big </i>things? Because if he did the little things, then the material/big gifts wouldn’t always be needed, would they? Cuddy isn’t looking for extravagance. She’s just looking for him to listen to her and respect her feelings. How do these grand gifts <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>serve <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">his</i> intentions? By doing the small things, Cuddy gets what she wants….House showing he cares….and House gets what he needs….Cuddy? Guess those Rolling Stones were right after all.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">House finally had his epiphany after talking to the kids and even in his conversation with the principal. He utters the most poignant statement about his relationship with Cuddy. He says, <em>“I</em> <em>need her in my life. Do you know what it’s actually like to need someone?”</em> Then, after listening to the words of the kids and the principal, House I think indeed realized that he needed to grow up and be a little more responsible and less selfish. How do I know? By his own words to Cuddy. He admits to being a moron. And, as I believe, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>he not only is sincere in telling her that he cares about her needs but he adds Rachel to that too. He lets her know that he does care about her and thinks about her. He knows he can do better for her and asks for another chance. There were no gifts exchanged; no sexual innuendos thrown about; just a raw moment of honesty and sincerity. House didn’t force her to make a decision right then and there. He just knew she was still upset, apologized to her, and proceeded to give her time alone. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In that moment of House being open, I think Cuddy was completely processing. I think she was even surprised when he said he was himself at the Career Day and not pretending to be someone else, as anyone might suspect he would do. Crazy thing is…if he didn’t get into that accident, he probably would have given the kids his name. He took himself out of his comfort zone, because he wanted to help Cuddy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I think Cuddy realized that too. That’s why in the end she invited him back into her life through a dinner invitation. He accepted. Then, he pulled a brand new toothbrush out of his pocket which made her smile. Maybe that was the gift. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, the little things mean a lot. For House, this episode was just another chapter in his growth process. House is essentially the same person, but he’s growing. He hasn’t fundamentally changed. He’s still a smartass. He’s just experiencing love which is making him see life through a different lens…a more multi-dimensional lens rather than a one-dimensional one. People don’t change. They grow. This is a fact of life. It is possible to maintain the same personality while developing the muscles of parts of your personality you haven’t used in awhile. Do we lose our faults? Of course not, because we are programmed to keep these faults as part of our original personalities. Can we be more mindful of them in terms of how they impact others? Absolutely! We do it every day without realizing it, especially when we have jobs that require us to do it. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is House’s journey, and we are finding out more about him on a personal level. This was just another layer of his character peeled away. We know he’s capable of great things professionally. Now, we get to see what he’s capable of when love from someone he respects comes his way. Someone who knows his personality and is trying to get him to show the better side of himself that she knows is there. Cuddy has always been good at giving House his reality check, much like he gives to her. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To me this wasn’t a superficial episode. This was a game-changer. House came to realize that the very act of showing someone you care through small gestures yields a much bigger return and reward personally. House is learning about keeping some of his bravado of being right second to the needs and feelings of others. He has to start paying as much attention to the needs of his personal contacts as he does his patients. Even though he may get his personal diagnosis wrong sometimes, he learns something new to get closer to what’s right to make himself better. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">House was wrong. Cuddy does love him unconditionally. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have taken him back. He just needs to remember to use his toothbrush, take out the garbage occasionally, and maybe put the toilet seat down every now and then. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really could go on about this episode, because for me there was so much to digest. I know many were turned off by the sexual innuendo with the kids in the episode and some thought the episode lacked the cerebral quality of others. My opinion on those ideas is that House is not a family show, even though it airs during the family hour. Their timeslot is not their choice. It was a decision by FOX. Why should House have to water down the content? That was pretty mild compared to many shows I’ve seen. I also thought the reactions by the teacher and House were handled very realistically. The teacher censored House and House didn’t tell the boy why he needed to brush his teeth before dinner. Also, as a teacher, trust me. Kids that age know <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a lot</i> more than one might <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">think</i> they do thanks to all the media that is available to them today. As for the cerebral quality, sometimes things don’t always have to be complex to make you think. This episode was a personal puzzle and offered some introspection on the part of the character of House. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kids have a clear view of the world, because they aren’t hampered with the complexities of adult life. They have a tendency to see what we cannot. Why not use them to help us take a look at ourselves? They might just open a personal door we’ve kept locked for too long. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, that’s all for now. Because I know people had mixed feelings, I’m interested to read what you thought. Have I changed anyone’s thoughts for the good? Leave your thoughts in the comments section. I would love to read them. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks again for reading! This has been another edition of Diagnosing House. See you all next week! </span></span></div>Drdiagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435905047932579088noreply@blogger.com0