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House Goes to Extremes to See What Happens After We Die
House really embraced the scientific method by staging his own near-death experience. Hugh Laurie by Adam Taylor/Fox
Episode Recap: "97 Seconds"
Wow — despite House & co. losing not one but two Patients of the Week (plus a really sweet pooch), this was one memorable episode. And as usual, it's all because of House: this time, he was testing the boundaries of life itself, to see what — if anything — there is beyond death.
To diagnose POTW 1, the guy with incurable Spinal Muscular Atrophy (and to further reduce the number of intern candidates), House splits up the remaining contestants by gender: "If your sex organs dangle, you're the Confederates; if your sex organs are aesthetically pleasing, you're the Yanks." In other words, girls vs. boys. Well, with the exception of Number 24, aka "Cut-Throat Bitch" (Anne Dudek), who requests to be with the Confederates, though they want nothing to do with her. True to form, she seeks out both Chase and Cameron for diagnostic help and a bit of rule-bending. CTB lives up to her name — especially when she doesn't want to stop an experiment involving a jar of bugs biting the patient just because he was, oh, y'know, choking — but I find myself kind of liking her gumption.
POTW 2 is a House solo effort, a guy who endured a car crash and was "technically dead" for 97 seconds — the best 97 seconds of his life, he says. The intensity of his belief that there's something more gets under House's skin. When POTW 1 is told that he's dying and says that wants to be free, wants to see what else there is, House curtly declares that there's nothing — then decides to check it out for himself. Right after paging CTB, he repeats POTW 2's move of sticking a knife into a socket to sample a near-death jolt for himself. And he gets his wish: His heart stopped for nearly a minute. When he regains consciousness, Wilson calls him an idiot, asks him what he had experienced, then says, "Just looking at you hurts. I'm going to order up some extra pain meds." To which House responds, "I love you." Those two!
The other best friends — POTW 1 and his aide-dog — had the most touching moment of the episode; just before dying (unnecessarily, as it turns out), POTW 1 tells his dog, who is looking at him with big, sad puppy eyes, that it's OK, that he isn't afraid. Then the doggy dies too, because he ate the pills that would have saved the patient's life. Honestly, it was one of the more moving cases I can remember seeing on this show.
At a Bunsen Burner "tribal council," House first fires the Confederates (that would be the danglers) for breaking his silly rules, but in the end, thanks to CTB's insistence on drawing POTW 1's blood and finding it be Vulcan-ish green, the Confederates are called back in to help with the further diagnosis. In the end, he fired the Yanks (the aesthetic pleasers) — all except Number 13 (Olivia Wilde), even though she was the one who handed POTW 1 his ill-fated pills and didn't actually watch to make sure he took them them. House claims that she'll never make the same mistake again... I guess so, but other than having nice hair and big, lashy eyes, Number 13 has yet to make an impression on me. She's just sort of blandly antagonistic at the moment.
Meanwhile, in his own parallel case, Foreman played House at New York Mercy, where he saved his patient but was fired for following his gut. Seems like it's about time for him to return to the Princeton-Plainsboro fold.
For the first time this season, Cuddy's provocative attire actually distracted me — I'm not sure what she and House discussed at all, I was so preoccupied with the fact that she was showing that much cleavage. Though when she walked down the hall in that too-tight short skirt, it provided a subtly hilarious synchronized head-tilt from House and Wilson as they watched her go.
"97 Seconds" hit all the notes that make House House: I laughed out loud at some of the zingers (House to Number 18, Edi Gathegi: "A man of your integrity I feel I can trust, Big Love, and I don't call you that because you're a Mormon," followed by a big wink); I got a tear in my eye when POTW 1 died (well, to be precise, when he had that touching moment with his dog; I'm a sucker for moving animal moments); and I couldn't take my eyes off Hugh Laurie, as he was alternately sweet, irreverent and vulnerable. Add to that a good dose of Wilson-House moments, and I was one happy House fan tonight.
The baseball playoffs will be occupying our usual time next week, so enjoy the game; the episode coming up in two weeks looks like another doozy, again dealing with what happens after you die (in a Sixth Sense kind of way). Can't wait!
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Oct 9, 2007 11:15 PM
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I must say, I am really enjoying the House/Wilson interactions this season.
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Oct 9, 2007 11:50 PM
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What did House mean at the end when he said to the dead guy "I told you so"?
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Oct 10, 2007 1:09 AM
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nsgal: he meant that when he "died" he saw nothing, i.e. there was nothing after [partial] death [for him].
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Oct 10, 2007 1:26 AM
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Thanks plinstrot...yikes
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Oct 10, 2007 1:36 AM
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I am really enjoying this season. This was a great episode. Some posters complained every week last season that this show had gotten predictable. Can't say that for this season. They are throwing every twist and turn out there. I am liking it. And I still don't get why #13 doesn't get fired. She screws up royally, costing the guy and his dog their lives and she gets to stay?! What?
I have a feeling they are going to keep CTB around for a while. She is a character that you can love to hate. I just don't like her at all. She seems like a person who would gladly stab a friend in the back to get ahead in life.
I guess Foreman will be coming back soon. He didn't last long at that one hospital. You can't act like House until you have several years under your belt and a very understanding administrator.
The head tilt cracked me up. Cuddy always wears those low cut tops. She is a big cheese, so she can probably wear what she wants.
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Oct 10, 2007 1:39 AM
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Speedy 1383 - I totally agree about this season and #13. I am loving House this year!
This episode was so touching with the patient and his dog. Loved the beginning showing some of the things assist dogs do, and I was pretty much bawling at the end when it turned out the dog had died also.
I really don't like Cameron 2.0 (Number 13). I would rather have CTB added to the cast, she would be a nice contrast.
Spoiler alert
However, since we already have heard #13 is going to be a regular, I guess that's that. Boo
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Edited by SanDiegal at 10/10/2007 12:13 AM
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Oct 10, 2007 1:50 AM
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Be careful with the casting news SanDiegal. I have been purposely avoiding that news to be surprised by who is left.
I also wish TV Guide would be tad more careful putting Ausiello scoops and spoilers in these previews on the TV show blogs page. If I wanted to get scoops, I would go to his section of the site and not this section. Not cool.
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Oct 10, 2007 2:30 AM
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I both loved and didn't love this episode: Loved House/Wilson interaction (head tilt especially), tribal council moments and (of course) the dialogue between everyone! Didn't love: the loss of the patient with his poor dog following right behind (dog owner here), and House doing a Ben Franklin moment with a knife and electric socket (instead of key and storm). Having curiosity is one thing--but yee-ouch! I love this show.
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Oct 10, 2007 2:38 AM
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Poor doggie. I blame Cameron 2.0 (she of the massive forehead).
I am rooting for super-bitch, Harold/Kumar (whichever he is) and both of the old dudes. But I bet they choose the hot chick over the gutsy one.
Send more Chase!
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Oct 10, 2007 2:58 AM
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Sorry speedy. I went back and tried to fix that. My bad
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Oct 10, 2007 3:15 AM
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Did I miss House having a "life after death" discussion with the SMA patient. I thought that was only with the socket/car crash guy. Why would he say "I told you so" to the other patient. I really didn't pay that close of attention to this show.
I like this show, but I truly hope there are not hospitals that will allow Dr's who put knives in electric sockets to get right back up and get to work. That's insane.
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Oct 10, 2007 5:30 AM
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I'm loving this seson, it's like a whole new fresh start.
I wasn't to into the episode at first, but I soon came around. I loved the ending, I mean not the poor guy dying and his dog, I was in tears. At first I thought the dog died because he was depressed that his master died. I mean that's what happened to my pet after my mother passed. Next week looks like another good eppy. I'm not a fan of #13, but I don't miss the original ducklings at all, sad to say.
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Oct 10, 2007 5:42 AM
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I like number 13 because she's driving House crazy by not answering his questions. However, since the patient needed help doing virtually everything I would think she would have realized he would have needed some help taking his meds.
It also struck me that a dog trained for that kind of work probably would be trained not to eat anything that wasn't specifically given to it, but oh well. It worked for the storyline.
I can't stand CTB but I suppose the difference between her and #13 will be interesting to see. I also really like "Ridiculously Old Fraud" and #6/9. Very ironic that Foreman got canned for basically acting like House. And we got to see what a real hospital admin would act like!
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Oct 10, 2007 7:08 AM
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Man this show is great. I have been around from the beginning and I tell you last nights epi could not have gotten better. I think Kumar stays so that is at least two. Do you think they will have four ducklings? The new recruits are alot bolder than the old ducklings. I am really curious to see how this goes. I wish they could have strung out the interview the whole season. That would be interesting tv.
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Oct 10, 2007 7:41 AM
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