In This Section
|
« House
March 6, 2007: Half-wit
I'm listening to Dave Matthews as I'm writing this commentary and I’m the teensiest bit disappointed that his role on House tonight was so limited. However, since he is a professional musician and not an actor, maybe it's best that he not stray too far afield. The only other acting I've seen him do was in Because of Winn-Dixie, a movie I recently viewed at the behest of fellow TV Guide blogger Jennifer Sankowski. Honestly, the role was similar, and Matthews was quite good in both.
How could you not be touched by the story of Patrick (Matthews), a musical savant whose hand suffers inexplicable muscle contractions while performing in concert? Patrick's incredible musical abilities manifested themselves after he survived a bus accident that killed his mother. Now, at 35, Patrick is a child-like adult cared for by a father (Kurtwood Smith) who sees Patrick's ability as a gift rather than the medical abnormality it is. But when you pair Patrick's condition with a depressed House who, this week, pretends to have cancer so he can get some really cool drugs injected directly into his brain, you have to ask, who is the real idiot?
Despite the melancholia underlying this episode, the show was hysterical. There's no such thing as a secret at P-P Hospital, so I don't even know why House thought he could get away with his scheme. When word that House was dying swept through the hospital, the staff reacted accordingly. Cameron overreacted then used her feminine wiles to try to cure him. Chase brought the comic relief with an awkward, "I’m sorry you're dying. I’m going to hug you now" moment. You would have thought that House would have fessed up right then and there, but no, he stayed in character. He even submitted to a serious moment with Foreman, who declared that he actually liked House, despite the personality flaws. And Cuddy, that little vixen, let House feel her up! "One small feel for man, one giant ass for mankind." The man is truly poetic.
Laughs aside, the show was bittersweet. We'd all like to brush aside The Issue that Tritter forced us to look at square in the face, but the sad fact is that House still hasn't solved his problem; he's only employing more sophisticated methods of getting drugs. For the first time since I started watching the show, I thought about the end of the series and recognized that it can't be a happy one. Ultimately, tragedy is the only way for this tale to end. Tonight, House made Patrick's father face the truth about his son's condition and his potential to lead a different life... a happier life. Wilson made House face the same truth about his life choices: stagnation vs fulfillment. Perhaps sharing a pizza with a friend is a much better way to deal with pain — emotional or physical — than pretending to be cancer-stricken. Though difficult, Patrick's father made the right choice for his son. Let's hope that for House, choosing to engage in life can supply the relief he needs.
|
TVGuide Links:
|
|
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 12:48 AM
|
I enjoyed this episode tonight on so many levels--from everyone trying to "save" House to the sadness of Patrick"s father on making the right choice for him.
I must be a little naive--I thought House wanted to inject the drug into his brain to see if his pain would stop not just to get high. The writers (as usual) did a great job. I don't agree with you on one thing Rhoda--I don't feel the writers would end House on a tragic end. He (like Sherlock Holmes) does his best work while under the influence--maybe if he no longer uses drugs he (like Patrick) will lose his "gift". (Bearing in mind, this is IMHP )
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 1:33 AM
|
Dave Matthews is 35? Please.
But I did enjoy him in this episode. Favorite moment: House and Dave Matthews' brief but sweet rendition of the Boomtown Rats' "I Don't like Mondays" with House doing the handclaps. Brilliant.
And that House-Cameron kiss was yucky. He's hot, she's weird.
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 1:45 AM
|
Dave Matthews is 40. Why is it such a strecth for him to play someone who is 35??
I liked this episode. And I liked DM's performance too.
I hope House does try to open up to friendship more. His team may hate him most of the time, but they do care about him.
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 2:03 AM
|
Generally, I found the episode entertaining. There were ,amy things, though, that I didn't like about it.
It was just too obvious - to me at least - that House did not have brain cancer and was just going through the process for other reasons, most likely for some sort of drug fix. It was obvious that Cameron - during her kiss with House - was doing it to distract. It was obvious that his staff would first rally around him, and then be equally angry with him once they found out what he was up to.
So what does it take for Cuddy to fire House? With all he's done in the past, and now faking medical records and tests so he can get drugs, why is he not a risk to the hospital and be fired? I think Cuddy is the biggest disappointment to me. She continues to act like someone with a desperate schoolgirl crush on someone, and I find it very unattractive and juvenile.
I am also on the fence about Dave Matthews. I thought he did well. I think my problem with the story is that it seemed just a plot device so we can see Hugh Laurie use his skill at playing the piano. I almost wish that Matthews would have played someone who DIDN'T play an instrument that House/Laurie could play. Then we could focus on the patient's story and not have it be about House. Yes yes, I know the show is called House and it IS about him, but still it gets old after a while.
PS - have the intro credit/music disappeared for more commercial time?
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 5:47 AM
|
Did I miss something, or was this the first indication that Chase and Cameron were (back) together? The only time I knew of them "together" was back in season 1 (or maybe 2- I watched them all on DVD not too long ago) and they had a one night stand. Since then I don't remember anything being said about that. It's been awhile since a new show, so I could just be forgetting something.
If this was the first time anything was mentioned, why did they pull a CSI? I would've liked to have seen that progression.
As for House- my first thought was also that it was for pain relief, but the way everyone was acting and the way house was responding it quickly made me realize it was not about pain relief.
I liked everyone's responses to House being sick, though. They were all very in character and I was laughing at Chase's "I'm going to hug you", but then I started to feel bad because he looked like he was going to cry. He probably sees House as a father figure, especially with how things turned out with his real father, so his being upset about House dying was spot on.
I liked Dave Matthews in this role. I never saw Winn Dixie, so I didn't have anything to compare this too. The only thing I've seen him in is concert! I'm a huge, huge fan of his music and now I am a fan of his acting as well. Not saying he should give up his day job, but it was decent enough for a once in awhile thing.
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 7:48 AM
|
Well, I liked this episode, like I do the other ones (now that the Tritter story line is gone...)...
Line of the night... Cudy saying... "Call Make a Wish Foundation" when he was following her... Thought that was a classic comeback to his "One small feel for man, one giant ass for mankind"... I also enjoyed House calling out Cameron & Chase showering together and not denying it...
The case was interesting... I like seeing how far House will take his cases to solve them. That is why I watch the show...
You know, I don't agree with everyone that House is a junkie... I mean, from personal experience, I know what it is to deal with a constant pain to one of your extremidies (sp) and one that you have to constantly use... And for him to function on pain meds (which after taking them for a long period of time, it doesn't effect your thinking and abilities, you learn to adjust)... I think he should just be able to take his meds and the heck with everyone's opinion... He's done it for so long... And he is brilliant at what he does (or how the writers portray him for that matter)... So give him his drugs and be done with it...
Anyhow... No more gripping... Waiting till the end of March...
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 8:21 AM
|
I loved this episode of House. The fact that he is a very flawed man makes the show more realistic. Yes, Cuddy should probably be more harsh, but in any TV show, you have to suspend belief a bit for it to work.
Being a HUGE fan of Dead Poet's Society, I was thrilled to see a slight reunion, even though they shared no screen time. The man playing Dave Matthews' dad also played Robert Sean Leonard's (Wilson)dad in that movie.
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 8:36 AM
|
I really enjoyed the ivory tickling. I didn't know Hugh Laurie could play the piano.
genniel-
At the end of the Valentine's Day episode (2/13), Cameron propositioned Chase with a "relation"ship. She said something about them working together so it was convenient. I can't remember all she said, but I think something Foreman said to her about her not being able to commitment made her decide to try a relationship that didn't have a time limit. Remember she married a man with cancer with 6 months to live.
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 8:50 AM
|
|
Genniel, there was an episode, I don't remember exactly which one where Cameron basically asked Chase to engage in a no strings attached sexual relationship. It happened at the end of maybe the valentine episode.
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 9:10 AM
|
|
House is not a "junkie" any more than a diabetic who takes insulin every day is a "junkie" or an asthmatic who uses an inhaler every day is a "junkie." House has chronic pain and needs relief from it. I would think the doctors who surround him would be more interested in deploying their resources to relieve his pain than in moralizing or blocking him from his own creative efforts to find a way to live with his condition. The show's persistent insistence on equating his need for relief from his pain with a "junkie"'s need to "get high" is ridiculous and offensive. Sharing a pizza with a friend is not going to relieve the pain in his leg. The entire Tritter storyline was based on the fallacy that needing medication for a chronic condition is the same as needing a substance to "get high." For that matter, a "junkie"'s need for a drug is also a medical condition. An illness. Addiction is a brain disease, not a character failure that can be relieved by sharing a pizza with a friend.
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 9:24 AM
|
|
Come on, I can't be the only General Hospital addict that loved House giving his "patient's" blood sample the name Luke N. Laura! It's the little throw-away lines and things like this that make the show so enjoyable.
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 9:48 AM
|
|
Before everyone jumps all over the show again about how House is constantly in pain and in need of meds, let's remember that the meds he was trying to score from Boston were not for pain, they were designed to combat depression in terminally ill cancer patients. The big revelation was that House was willing to go to these great lengths not to help his leg, but simply to try and feel happy again. I believe the last time he was truly happy was the beginning of the season when he once again had full use of his leg, and when that was taken away, that may have brought him to an emotional low that he just doesn't know how to escape from. He doesn't know how to turn to his friend(s) and coworkers for emotional support, and because drugs have always been the answer for him for his leg, it makes sense that they would be his answer for his depression as well.
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 9:54 AM
|
|
The gist of what Cameron told Chase is that she's too busy for a meaningful relationship, so they should just use each other for physical urges. She stated very plainly to him that she was choosing him because out of all the men she works with, he would be the last one she would ever develop feelings for. That was the Vday episode, right at the very end. She commented also that they'd already had the one night stand and things hadn't gotten wierd at work.
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 9:58 AM
|
Nothing like faking terminal brain cancer to score with chicks. House got more action last night than he has the past two seasons. I always suspected Cuddy had a thang for House, and he for her. I'm surprised she stopped him from following her into the bedroom with that fabulous line: "call the Make a Wish Foundation."
Another great performance by Robert Sean Leonard as Wilson/House's conscience.
|
|
Mar 7, 2007 11:48 AM
|
|
|
