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April 3, 2007: Fetal Position
It is often the scenario on House that there is no middle ground for doctors between complete objectivity and total emotionalism, though in real life I think such a place exists. When celebrity photographer Emma Sloan (Anne Ramsay), self-diagnoses a stroke and ends up in Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital under House's care, you immediately notice a spark between doctor and patient and just as quickly House finds himself struggling to stay unmoved by his patient and her unborn child.
Emma, 42 years old, is single, pregnant and suffering from Mirror syndrome. She would rather risk death than terminate the long-sought-after pregnancy that endangers her life. House falls back on reason, insisting that Emma abort "it" and that Cuddy support his stance on the fetus' fate, but Cuddy, seeing herself in Emma, leaps squarely into the other camp and throws herself headlong into the quest to save the baby and the mother's life. We end up with one doctor trying desperately not to care and the other caring too much.
Amidst the turmoil, Emma snaps shots of her doctors to keep a visual memory book of her journey and catches on film revelatory moments that say more about her medical team than any of them would willingly divulge. What we see in these pictures are people caring more than they probably should — people who are going to be hurt. We know this by the way Chase holds onto Cameron's portrait and by the way House snatches his 8-by-10 off the X-ray wall where Cameron stands mesmerized.
House's subtle flirtation with Emma is tempered by Cameron's obsession over his nonreaction to catching her and Chase in flagrante delicto. While Chase calls Cameron on wanting to be caught, House is busy planning a vacation — perhaps to the Galapagos Islands to visit his uncle the giant sea turtle, or maybe to Argentina where he can hitch a ride to Mount Aconcagua's peak on the back of a local Indians. Talk about trying to distance oneself.
But distance has its place in a hospital setting. Cuddy warns Cameron off workplace romances. When she reminds Cameron that Chase is not the one who will get hurt, we realize that Chase has been keeping his eyes open throughout his affair with Cameron. However, clearly seeing a situation is not a certain safeguard against emotional attachment. In the episode's most touching moment House cuts into Emma's uterus and a tiny hand reaches out and clasps his finger, stopping him cold. He can no longer deny the personhood of the fetus. Objectivity has disappeared and House momentarily loses his perspective as a doctor, forcing Cuddy to step up. In the end, Cuddy's emotional response to this case pushes her to House-like diagnostic lengths and she is able to save both mother and child, proving that there's space for both emotion and science on the whiteboard.
The good stuff from a pretty amazing episode:
— House to Foreman about Cameron: "Be patient, she's going through all of us. She'll get that jungle fever eventually."
— Chase smiling at Cameron's picture.
— House in the hyperbaric chamber.
— Wilson being "Cuddy's Cuddy."
— The great special effects throughout the episode.
— Lisa Edelstein's compelling performance.
— The framed photos of the doctors on Emma's wall.
— House alone at home with the Travel Channel on in the background, rubbing his fingers and remembering the touch of Emma's baby.
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Apr 4, 2007 1:07 AM
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Ok this was a very good episode. The scene with House and the tiny hand gasping onto his finger.....I almost lost it. I bet his heart grew 10x at that very moment.
Anyway, while I was watching this episode, I was thinking....did I miss an episode? Cause the last one I remember House lied about having cancer so he could get onto this drug. What happened after that?
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Apr 4, 2007 2:32 AM
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I really liked this episode for all the best reasons--the writing, the acting and just the entire cast. Here's one doctor who tries to keep it black and white--no emotion, scientific-- a medical Mr. Spock (with smart a## tendencies) and failing when the little arm reached out and touched him.
And then there's the other doctor basing everything on her emotions and doing everything to achieve what she wants for herself.
Great show--and why I watch every week--good, bad or in between!!
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Apr 4, 2007 2:34 AM
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This was pretty good. One of the few times that House wasn't the one who saved the patient. It was Cuddy. Kinda strange that the photographer thanked House afterwards. Nice role reversal for House and Cuddy. Cuddy was taking all the chances, while House was being more conservative.
Cameron clearly still has feelings for House. Chase it seems has fallen hard for Cameron. This might get messy. House seems to be enjoying all these shaningans. It does crack me up that House seems to comment on Cuddy's ass every week. It never seems to fail.
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Apr 4, 2007 4:42 AM
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OK, I may be in the minority here but if I ever got seriously ill, I would NOT want to go to Princeton Plainsboro.
Despite the fact that Cuddy would not give up on the patient, she reacted too emotionally and frankly I don't think rationally to the case. She actied impulsively, putting her patient at risk.
House is still excessively popping his pills. I would not want a doxtor like him treating me.
Can a fetus that isn't quite viable outside the womb be able to grasp a hand? That seems just so unbelieveble.
I did like Anne Ramsay and think she was one of the best guests they've had in a long time.
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Apr 4, 2007 7:21 AM
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What I found so successful about this episode is that the writers finally showed House establishing a bond with a patient without descending into tedious philosophical dialogue (think last season's finale or the rape victim or even the dwarf mom to a certain degree; think telling not showing). And while it was so House-like that when told that taking a vacation would be a good idea, he ended up alone in his apartment, it was very nice for the episode to end without him indulging in his self-destructive addictions. Finally, he's starting to pull back from the extremes this season has been driving him toward!
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Apr 4, 2007 7:24 AM
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Iliketowatchtv: I am not sure on this, but I think the grasp reflex develops very early in the womb. But perhaps others have better knowledge of this than I do. 
I very much liked this episode. I am curious to see how things will go with Chase and Cameron. Now that they are "out" I wonder if they will try to have a normal dating relationship as opposed to collegues with benefits. I do think that Cuddy was wrong. I think that Chase is the one that's going to end up hurt.
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Apr 4, 2007 8:42 AM
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As a new mom, I was bawling for most of the episode. Especially when the baby's hand reached out and touched House. I believe it was this season on Scrubs when Turk was doing fetal surgery on Dr. Cox's wife's baby and the baby stuck his hand out and touched Turk's. Such an incredible moment.
I agree that Chase is the one that will get hurt in the Cameron/Chase "relationship."
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Apr 4, 2007 9:07 AM
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Really great episode! I think the thing that I find most shocking though, and I really didn't see it before, is that Foreman seems to care about Cameron. Judging by their relationship in the past, it always seemed that they tolerated each other. I'm sure this is one-sided at this point, but it's just interesting to see.
Loved the baby's hand reaching out to touch House's. It's not often you get to see him actually stop in awe of anything, but this was a wonderful moment. It shows that there is a caring person in there after all.
I totally missed the conversation in the decompression chamber between House and Cameron, so I'm not sure what was said. I hope it was something to the effect of "leave Chase alone if you're not serious about this"? For someone who's supposed to be so caring and emotional, she seems to be missing what's going on with Chase or she's just so messed up that she doesn't care that she's hurting him. I know that he knows that he's being used, but he's so enamoured with her now that he can't stop himself. This isn't likely to end well at all. I was also wondering if Cuddy's comments to her about the affair came from past experience?
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Apr 4, 2007 9:13 AM
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This was an excellent episode. House always rocks because of the humanity of the characters peeking out sometimes when you least expect it. Yes, Cuddy was overly emotional and shouldn't have let that cloud her judgement . . . but that is who she is and it stayed true to her character. Also, the patient in this instance would have agreed with everything she did. She was willing to die rather than to sacrifice the baby and I think she would have whole-heartedly consented to anything Cuddy came up with.
As far as fetal development goes, at 21 weeks (the age in the show) the baby actually only weighs about 11 ounces, but is already sucking its thumb, using its hands/fingers to explore the face, performing acrobatics, etc. It is entirely plausible for the hand to reach out and hold on to a finger during surgery. At this point, the baby is just getting used to its range of motion and is very curiously moving everything possible.
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Apr 4, 2007 9:24 AM
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When will this episode air again?
I live in Texas and the weather was bad last night. The news was broadcasting throughout most of the eppy. Could someone please tell me where I can see this episode?
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Apr 4, 2007 10:20 AM
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Did anyone else notice how hostile Cameron seemed towards Cuddy in this epi? Asking House to tell Cuddy to stay away and let them do their job? I felt like Cameron was overreacting.
Even before Cuddy put on the radiation protector and opened up her mouth when Cameron and (Foreman?) creating the balloon in the patients chest, Cameron starts rolling her eyes!
LOVED House's comments tonight:
"Be patient, she's going through all of us, she'll get that Jungle fever eventually"
"Do you have one of those camera phones? Because I've got a Myspace account....oh come on let's gossip some more!"
"Someone has to protect Cuddy's rotund ass."
(Although Lisa Edelstein is like a size negative 4 and comments about her "cleavage" and butt always amaze me as I sit here with my 27 inch waist and 40 inch hips and wonder what they would say about me if they think SHE has a big butt!)
Loved the baby grasping House's hand even if this couldn't happen -- It's television! And I'll suspend belief to see a reaction that poignant.
Loved Cuddy being a DOCTOR for once and not an administrator. Loved that they finally let her be right and save someone's life.
For a minute I thought that the mom would die, and since she had no family, Cuddy would adopt the baby ...
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Apr 4, 2007 10:40 AM
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For anyone wondering about the fetus grasping House's finger...I believe that was actually a re-enactment of a photograph from an actual surgery. About this time last year (I think) it was splashed all over the various news organizations.
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Apr 4, 2007 10:47 AM
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HotMama: The episodes usually repeat on USA on Friday nights (at 11 on the East Coast, which I think would be 10 in TX) the week after they air on Fox, so this week's episode will probably show on USA on 4/13 (maybe 4/20).
I also was touched by House's reaction to the baby grabbing his finger during the surgery. I think I read somewhere that the grabbing reflex is one of the earliest to develop.
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Apr 4, 2007 11:08 AM
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Iliketowatch and Saphire-
This was a reenactment of a photo that was taken in 1999 during a spinal bifida surgery on a fetus in utero. This picture has been manipulated by pro-life/anti-choice groups as "proving" the humanity of a nonviable fetus in the womb. This propaganda is even supported by the photographer himself who would like the background story to be what he assumes took place: a fetal hand reached out and grabbed the surgeon's finger. HOWEVER what really happened during this surgery and photo-op is that the fetus' hand flopped out and the surgeon gingerly put it back into the woman's uterus. The fact that the fetus' fingers were bend in a clenching like formation is irrelevant given that fetal hands are always clenched in that way and this in no way assumes that the unborn child was flexing and clenching his fists. Anyway, if you want to see the photograph and the photographer's blurb on it you can go here: http://www.michaelclancy.com/ If you want to read the Snopes Urban Legend page on this photo which includes the doctor's comments, go here:http://www.snopes.com/photos/medical/thehand.asp
Or you could search Google images for "Samuel Armas", as this is the name of the child after he was born. He's a cute kiddo too! Though, be warned that if you do this it is going to link to a LOT of Christian/Right wing web sites.
Aside from using an urban legend that has no scientific backup in this episode, it was still poignant and well done. Of course I could watch Hugh Laurie read the phone book (I would prefer it though if he read the phone book in his native accent and maybe with some funny voices thrown in), but the expression on House's face when that happened was worth a thousand easily. Despite the writers using an urban legend that has been manipulated by the religious right to promote an agenda that is not even scientifically valid.
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Apr 4, 2007 11:18 AM
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