House's House of Whining

DOB1234 · Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 2:29 am Post subject:

I haven't read this whole thread, so I'm not sure if it was here or elsewhere on the forum where someone expressed their unhappiness with the 'scratching through the scalp' bit, thinking such a thing is completely impossible. Well, when I watched this episode my first thought was that the scratching through to the brain was so weird the writers must have picked up that idea from a real case. It wasn't hard to find examples. Here is one.

RachelSue · Resident Joined: 28 Oct 2008 Posts: 252

I totally knew the "scratching through the skull" was from Atul Gawande's article; read the article when it first came out.
Wow, the show's writers really do scour through medical commentary to get ideas.
Gawande's article said that the patient could have scraped through bone because she had an infection which weakened the bone at her temple. Not so for our POTW, so writers can play fast and loose with what they find too.

fffaw · Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 4:17 pm Post subject:

That article was super interesting - thanks for posting. It's amazing what the human body is capable of. There should be plenty to mine for House scripts for years to come.

Maryl · Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 5:22 pm Post subject:

I finally got a chance to watch the episode, and my initial reaction is that it is one of the weakest of the series.

When Foreman manipulated the trial schedule and lied to 13 about it to get her to go out on a date with him, and then found out she was on the placebo, I was hoping that this whole storyline would ultimately be worthwhile. If this episode was the payoff, it's a disappointment.

The only moment of the Foreman/Thirteen plot that was striking in the episode was 13's line about how they had only been dating two weeks. I hope the writers quickly move on to a Foreman epiphany that he doesn't really love her; he only got involved with 13 so that he could prove Chase and House were wrong about how boring and uninteresting he is. That way his relationship with 13 can be over sooner rather than later, and she hasn't had time to get too emotionally invested.

I don't think OW is a bad actress, but I think she has been miscast, and is not up to carrying the storyline. Perhaps another actress could have done more with the role, but as it is, I really don't care about 13's illness, childhood, or relationship. It's too bad, because TPTB are clearly fascinated with "the doctor with a terminal illness". I don't blame them, it opens up some interesting possibilities, but OW is not the right actress to play it.

The POTW's decision about her career reminded me of the soap opera actor in "Living the Dream." He had a superficial job, but it came with fame, adulation, and a good living. Things many people in society would want, but that he found unfulfilling. In contrast, Dana had the courage to give up a job that was meaningful to society, but personally unfulfilling.

RachelSue · Resident Joined: 28 Oct 2008 Posts: 252

I don't think OW is a bad actress either. I'd say it's tough for a novice actress -- or one without intense charisma -- to act against HL, because HL is just really, really good. It shows up her acting flaws, none of which are so heinous as to be sins for which we should cast stones at her, but the flaws are there nonetheless.

Back to the episode. I noticed this line of Cuddy's, and I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on it.

At the end of her "giving House the cane back" scene, House is in the elevator, and Cuddy acknowledges that his method of accepting her apology is to insult her and go back to saving lives.

Then she says something that I didn't quite catch the first time I watched the episode, something to the line of, "Or are you now going back to the role that you think you should play?" [the role of being a jerk]. And he snarks at her, then she gives him a knowing smile as the elevator doors close.

To me that sounds like Cuddy wants to know whether House truly is a jerk underneath all of the bluster. Maybe she's echoing a question that we, the audience, would like to know too. Is this a role? Is this a game? Why does he need to keep it up?

What do you think?

Boffle · Attending Joined: 16 Sep 2007 Posts: 1862

Rewatching this and just had the thought that, as annoyed as I was that Cuddy set a tripwire for a cripple, it was also interesting that everyone filed out of House's office without taking it down, leaving the cripple to hop over it or risk tripping again. Nice.