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Episode Recap: "Whatever It Takes"
The CIA requested a House call. Hugh Laurie and Chad Willet by Paul Drinkwater/NBC/Fox
It took a little while to warm up, but once this episode got going, it had some of the juiciest stuff we've seen so far this season — hilariously bawdy dialogue, bizarre ailments and intense personal drama.
The primary POTW was a drag-racer who, after winning a race, passes out in front of her personal pit crew, aka her dad, and a reporter. As House and the Wannabes start talking through what might be wrong with her, a veritable man in black comes looking for House.
As he walks away with the doc, I loved the smug look on "Big Love" (Edi Gathegi), and Number 13 (Olivia Wilde) totally checking out the government man. House himself doesn't quite believe the CIA credentials and is convinced that wherever he's headed, there's going to be a lap-dance involved. House doesn't believe that he's actually been courted by the CIA until he sees the cushy black helicopter waiting for them on the roof. During the flight, House's cell phone rings — and it's Salt-N-Pepa's "Whatta Man" (hilarious!).
House has been brought in to treat an agent who seems to be the victim of an assasination attempt. He's initially unimpressed with the CIA facility. "Looks a lot better on 24," he says, then sees Dr. Samira Terzi (Michael Michelle). "I take that back." He just can't stop coming on to her throughout the entire episode. "You know, I happen to have a position available on my penis," says House. "Wait a second, I think I screwed up that joke." But Dr. Terzi is an able sparring partner: "As tempting as a position on your staff is, I like it here." Another favorite line of the evening (what's with all the genitalia talk?) is House's comment to a dumb-struck Wilson, once he realizes House is actually at the CIA: "You've got to get down here; they've got a satellite aimed directly into Cuddy's vagina. I told them the chances of invasion are slim to none, but...."
Back at Princeton-Plainsboro, Foreman dismisses the POTW's condition as nothing more than heat stroke, but then begins to believe that she has MS, while "Cut-Throat Bitch" (Anne Dudek) and Plastic Surgeon Guy (Peter Jacobson), go behind his back and start treating her for lupus simultaneously. Grumpy (Andy Comeau) leads the charge to continue testing, standing up to Foreman and getting himself kicked out in the process. Regardless, Grumpy tests her for polio, and the result comes back positive, to everyone's shock.
Cameron and Chase's first dramatic scene together this season (since Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer broke up) was full of sparks — and not of the romantic variety. The spat between them was riveting in its honesty. Guess sometimes an on-set breakup can actually do wonders for the actors' performances. Although Cameron's later scene with Foreman, in which she tried to get across that he's not always right, and that that's actually OK, was just so-so.
Meanwhile, in parallel, Grumpy and House are both trying alternative treatments: Vitamin C to treat the POTW's supposed polio, and Chinese herbal tea to treat the CIA POTW's supposed poisoning. The irony is that the CIA POTW was really only the victim of too many Brazil nuts (moral of the story, kids: Watch that nut bowl at the holidays), and the POTW was actually the victim of poisoning, at the hand of Grumpy, who faked her polio to bring attention to the disease, which primarily affects people in the third-world countries he's passionate about.
The scene where he was revealed was pretty amazing. It seemed like he had finally come out of his shell, until we discovered that he was in fact completely bonkers!
In the end, Michael Michele surprised House by taking him up on his offer — not that offer; the one to, ahem, take a position on his staff. We'll see how that plays out. Also, the next episode, with the deformed kid and the documentary crew looks like a doozy. I think things are starting to heat up on House, and not a moment too soon!
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Nov 6, 2007 11:16 PM
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I thought this was a fantastic episode! I loved the banter between House and Michael Michelle's character. Very hot! She would be a great addition, IMHO. I can't believe Grumpy poisoned the patient. That was crazy, as is he apparently. This season has been so great, kudos to the writers of this show! Hopefully the strike will be resolved soon so we can enjoy more of House 
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Nov 7, 2007 1:15 AM
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I loved this episode--it was highly entertaining, witty and a bit bizarre (poisoning your own patient? Yikes!!) I am glad House came up against a female doctor who gave as good as she got. She would really be an excellent addition to the staff. Applause all around for tonight's show.
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Nov 7, 2007 2:40 AM
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I really loved this episode. Who knew Grumpy was so crazy?
I wonder if Cameron and Forman will eventually form their own diagnostics team? Their last conversation made me think that this may be where the show is going.
Michael Michelle had great chemistry with Hugh Laurie. I haven't heard anything about whether or not she's going to stick around.
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Nov 7, 2007 4:02 AM
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My favorite moment in the episode was the "Cutthroat Bitch" on House's Caller ID when she called.
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Nov 7, 2007 6:58 AM
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Great, great show yesterday!!! Congratulations to the writers (who hopefully will not strike too long, so we can keep on enjoying House... Even though I can understand why they're striking).
Oh my god, House really's got it going with the ladies! We have often seen him flirting with women on the show before, but - wow !!! - this episode really topped everything we saw so far. Great, great dialogue, not only in this regard, but throughout the entire show.
Let's see, if Michael Michele (Samira) really will be back next week to be on House's team, because he looked kind of dazzeled in the end. I think he didn't expect her to take his joke about the vacancy seriously... Looking forward to a possible Cuddy vs. Samira battle for House's attention/love....
And one last thing: I am glad that grumpy got kicked off the show, as he really is nuts and I didn't like him from the beginning.
Daniela
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Nov 7, 2007 8:07 AM
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I liked the verbal sparring with the CIA doctor (Michael Michelle) and House. When I saw her at the end of the episode, my first thought was:
does that mean Piper Perabo (young blonde nutritionist of a previous House clinic patient) will NOT be House's new love interest, as rumored previously?????
What do you think?? I'd prefer Ms. Michelle because I thought her more an equal to House that Piper.
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Nov 7, 2007 10:17 AM
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What you call bawdy, I call crass. One of House's best features is its stellar writing. Last night largely fell way short in that department. Sure there were some good lines (mostly from the medtestants...not House, a bad sign), but they were few and far between.
The POTWs were incredibly uninteresting and didn't evoke even a scant amount of sympathy. Foreman continues to show how big of a jerk he is. And the newbies continue to be a pale shadow of the original ducklings. The logic holes in the plot were obscenely bad.
I will agree with you on the Cameron/Chase scene. It was one of the best things about the episode. Why is Chase getting shoved to the wayside when Spencer is clearly the best actor of the three and Chase the most interesting of the originals?
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Nov 7, 2007 10:36 AM
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Did anyone notice Tom Wilson, aka Bif, as the dad of racer POTW? Nice to see him back in the game.
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Nov 7, 2007 10:59 AM
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The CIA lady-House sparring was fun, but the best was Cuddy-House at the end. My favorite part:
H: I know how to kill a man with my thumb.
C: Who doesn't?
Cuddy is my favorite. It'll be interesting to see the contrast between her and Michael Michele.
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Nov 7, 2007 11:23 AM
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Ah Michael Michelle, aka "The Human Void". What incredible powers she has: the ability to grind to a halt any scene she's in simply by not blinking and speaking in a monotone; the ability to continue getting work no matter how many shows she derails temporarily (ER) or permanently (Homicide). In case I was being too subtle, I'm not a fan of hers and I can only hope that she'll be out of the picture really soon.
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Nov 7, 2007 11:33 AM
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I liked the episode, but was confused at the end. Did Grumpy actually poison Speed Racer or just fake the test results to make it look like she had polio?
I loved seeing Bif (or is it Biff?) from Back to the Future as Speed Racer's dad. During his clashes with Foreman, I half expected him to grab Foreman around the neck and start giving him noogies while shouting "Hey, McFly!"
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Nov 7, 2007 11:43 AM
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I definitely didn't see the whole Grumpy thing coming. It was a cool twist. Foreman has got to get his head in the game. He seems to have lost his compass. I'm interested to see how they bring this club back together. Darn the writer's strike!
I agree with the comment on Michael Michelle. She has one speed and that is lame. I, too, hope she doesn't stay for long.
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Nov 7, 2007 11:51 AM
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Who knew that Dr. Tsunami was so crazy? No one, because it was completely out of character. Other than that forced surprise, it was a fun episode. Very Foreman-centric but that's OK.
I need more Jesse Spencer though. He must be going crazy with so little to do after being such an integral part of the show. Perhaps in time...
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Nov 7, 2007 11:52 AM
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Great episode! I did notice Tom Wilson and wondered if that was "Bif". And, then... I turned around and noticed him in the preview for next week's Boston Legal.
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Nov 7, 2007 11:56 AM
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