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November 14, 2006: Son of Coma Guy
Stunt casting. Vegetative-state man awakes and wants a steak. Ah, yes, it must be sweeps. I'm a little bit disappointed that it wasn't Coma Guy whom House roused from sleep. But given the way the show ended — John Larroquette's character dying to save his son's life — I was relieved that our long-standing friend is still with us.
Wilson summed up the show best: "Caustic Guy was waking up Coma Guy." To be more specific, House injected Gabe (Larroquette), against Cuddy's wishes, with experimental drugs that would temporarily release him from his vegetative state in the hopes of getting a detailed medical history for Kyle (Zeb Newman), the dying patient who, it turns out, is Gabe's son. Guilt is a heavy load to bear for 10 years. Imagine doing so while unconscious. Gabe's guilt over not being able to save his family resulted in a road trip for House and Wilson, who struggled with their own issues — namely Wilson's lying to the police to protect House for forging prescriptions.
In the continuing saga of House-vs.-Tritter, the determined detective questioned hospital staff, including Cameron, Chase and Foreman. All three stood by their boss but were less forgiving among themselves. Interestingly enough, Tritter and House share the same belief that, "Everybody lies." The difference is that House uses this adage to help his patients, whereas Tritter's usage is less noble.
The other theme running through the show — everything is conditional — forced Wilson and House to acknowledge their commitment to their friendship and address the question of whether or not House wants to destroy their relationship by pushing Wilson too far. "I don’t want to push it till it breaks," was as much of an admission of love as we'll ever hear from House. He is a man whose actions speak almost as loudly as his comebacks. His steps to protect Wilson from implication in Gabe's suicide prove this.
Gabe forced a not-so-surprising revelation from House about his reason for being a doctor. "If you're right, nothing else matters." That explains a lot, since every patient is an excuse for House to prove just that. But if House needs to be right, the people around him have just as much need to let him be so. Wilson cannot say no to House, and Cuddy pays considerable lip service to the word but always let's House have his way. Tritter, on the other hand, holds his stop sign high, and House may finally have to realize that some things in life really do matter.
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Nov 15, 2006 12:40 AM
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To me, this was the best episode so far. It was nice to see House bring down his wall and tell Wilson their friendship does mean something. I thought Hugh Laurie's performance was excellent, well it always is, emmy be damned. I was rooted to my chair hearing him tell the reason he became a docter.
Intresting side note, we now know House lived in Egypt and Japan. He meet Stacy paint balling, little touches that I really liked. He didn't answer the question about how many times he's been in love, there's gotta be another lost love out there for House.
Two hysterical scenes to me where the look on Forman's face when Tritter said, everybody lies, priceless. The second was Wilson faking trying to pic up a woman and asking her if she was into swinging and paying a guy to be House, that was hysterical to me.
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Nov 15, 2006 12:58 AM
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Well, I cannot say I loved the episode. I liked it a *lot* though. I think my problem was that the whole getting answers thing from House was a little too contrived. Too *written* to seem real.
But it was great to see (along with Wilson) more deeply into him. But I agree with lady: that scene in the casino was priceless.
I used to like Chase the least among the young Docs. But now he's my favorite. I would like more stuff with him.
I disagree that Tritter uses the "everybody lies" maxim for purposes that are "less noble" than House. Tritter is a cop. He's protecting the public in a different way than House, but he is serving the public good.
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Nov 15, 2006 2:29 AM
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While this isn't among my favorite episodes, it did contain some wonderful tidbits of info that made it worth seeing. I thought the plot line of waking a guy up from a coma had already been done. Oh well, John Larroquette was awesome anyway! I loved the I-pod scene! Can you just imagine waking up after 10 years and having to learn about all of this new stuff?!
I agree that the look on Foreman's face after the "everybody lies" comment was priceless. I still feel really bad for Wilson and for a while there I was wondering if House had a clue as to the danger that he had placed his friend in. It was a relief that he does actually care and isn't willing to lose that friendship.
While I know House does have a serious problem and needs to get help, I wish he could have done it on his own or via some kind of intervention from everyone else. It's sad that it ended up in the hands of Tritter. But maybe there will be no other way of forcing House to address his addiction and in the end it may be what saves him (I don't know how much of that stuff he'd have to take to overdose, but I'm sure there is a limit).
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Nov 15, 2006 8:33 AM
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But the thing is, House is exactly who Tritter thinks he is. He's a lying, manipulative drug-addict who uses people. And Wilson is guilty of covering up for him and supplying drugs to him. We know more about House (like how he's almost always right), but no decent detective could come across a drug addicted doctor who's forging prescriptions and not want to investigate it. Tritter's police department is a lot like House's hospital, you don't seem to have to go through any real official channels. You can issue warrants right and left, question whoever you feel like (or perform expensive tests or experimental procedures) I like David Morse as House's Moriarty.
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Nov 15, 2006 9:27 AM
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While I like John Larroquette, the character gave me a problem. Ten years in a vegetative state and he pops up and asks for a steak? No vocal problems? No atrophied muscles? Come on, now. As for House, I've been a big fan but lately he seems to just be cruel with his actions and comments. The whole insensitivity to Wilson and others around him is starting to get grating. He seems tyo be turning into a charachet with no heart and no conscience and will soon have no redeeming value. Gruff and curmudgeonly is one thing. Heartless and cruel is quite another.
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Nov 15, 2006 11:14 AM
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It is easy to see Tritter as evil but he is actually bringing up issues that have been simmering underneath the surface. A doctor, at a major hospital who treats patients is heavily addicted to painkillers and is forging prescriptions and other doctors are covering for him. Pretty serious charges that would in real life get serious jail time.
I think it is good to raise these questions. Does the fact that House is a good doctor and saves lives excuse his behavior which really has crossed the line into criminal territory? Does Tritter's less than noble motives mean that he shouldn't pursue an obvious crime and cover up? Will House let Wilson take the fall for him?
I think the best part of the episode was watching Wilson try to create an alibi for House by asking the woman at the bar if she liked to swing with him and his friend House so she would remember them.
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Nov 15, 2006 12:44 PM
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I'm wondering what Wilson would have done if the lady had agreed to swing with him.  That was absolutely hilarious!
I agree that House seems to be getting more and more cruel, and I don't like it. I love the sarcasm and snarkiness, but I think that he really does have a heart underneath all of that, and I wish they would let it show a little more often.
At least it was touching that he obviously doesn't want to totally ruin his friendship with Wilson. He's the only "true" friend House has. I wish I knew how they became friends in the first place (I missed the whole first season, so maybe it was revealed then).
I don't know what I want to happen with the whole cop/legal/drug situation. Of course, I don't want to see either House or Wilson put in prison, but House clearly needs some help with his addiction.
I think that the writers are trying to portray Tritter as very "House-like" in his doggedness and determination to get to the bottom of things, solve the mystery, etc. But, he has neither the charm or wit of House, and he comes across as menacing and "vicious", which is not a term I would apply to House, self-centered though he may be.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
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Nov 15, 2006 1:22 PM
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I don't see House as being any more cruel now than he ever was. And I hope he doesn't change! I really don't want him to be free of his addiction unless a medical procedure is able to cure him from his pain like earlier in the season.
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Nov 15, 2006 1:41 PM
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It's taken me a while to process this episode, and in the end, my feeling about it now is the same as it was when the show ended - I hated it.
Absolutely ludicrous was the guy in the coma waking up and being able to sit up and speak immediately, much less stand and walk out of the hospital. Now I'm no doctor but I don't think anyone can do that after being in a coma or vegetative state for even a short while.
The Hippocratic oath includes a commitment which say essentially to do no harm. House's continued violation of his oath, and his colleagues acceptance of his behavior, is actually getting sickening. Wilson knew full well that House planned to encourace and give ideas to the patient to help him kill himself. But like the wimp he is, he leaves AND creates an alibi for House.
The whole Q&A segments between House and the patient was just a silly plot device to get the writers to give us more a "peek" into House's psyche. Are we supposed to feel sorry for him? Sorry, not me. And I am am starting to think that Tritter needs to nail House AND his wimpy colleagues with all he's got.
And what's the deal with a patient signing himself out of the hospital - I assume against medical advice - and two doctors from that same hospital tag along just for a joyride? I assume they were officially off the clock? And who just gives a coma man the keys to their car to drive? I am convinced that Wilson is the crazy one who needs his head examined.
Too many things on this show that seemed to suspend belief.
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Nov 15, 2006 1:49 PM
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I agree that this was an above average episode. However, with all of the comments about House's addiction it appears that the reason for taking the narcotics is his pain. Granted he is addicted, but the normal worry about addiction for drugs to reduce pain is the addiction that may cause a person to take them after the pain is gone. What will house do after his addiction has been conquered, but he still has the pain. He attempted once already to stop taking the pills and the pain seemed to be more a dominant issue than the addiction. The ketamine while recovering from surgery didn't help either. What will they do if he conquers his addiction, stops taking the drugs that caused it yet stll has the pain? Interesting, no?
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Nov 15, 2006 1:54 PM
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iliketowatchtv:
Wilson is not a wimp so much as he knows that when House sets his mind on something, it is almost impossible to stop him. He wanted to try and save the life of the boy, so he was willing to let the man drive his car. He is not all that materialistic even though he enjoys his wealth.
You can sign yourself out of a hospital. They cannot force you to stay unless you are a danger to yourself or others. This guy wasn't.
And House cannot get punished for his actions. If he did, he'd lose his medical license and there would be no show!
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Nov 15, 2006 2:50 PM
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iliketowatchtv: you're right. a coma patient would not have awakened that easily in the first place, let alone sat up and asked for a steak, then drove a car. also, the first line of the hippocratic oath (which i will take myself in the spring) is "first, do no harm". i like this show, but i have a hard time with the way house is portrayed.
that said, the only other comment i have is to phrick: yes, house is addicted to vicodin, that's obvious. however, the first thing to be addressed is why the medication does not take away or ease his pain, not whether or not he is addicted. (he takes so many pills because his pain is not being relieved) after the pain is dealt with, then his addiction should be addressed. house cannot "come off" the medication cold turkey, because it may kill him. and since we like to watch this show, for whatever reason, we definitely don't want house to die!
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Nov 15, 2006 3:39 PM
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They established early on, before House woke him, that Gabe had no muscle atrophy.
Is that realistic? I dunno. But within context of the show, it's a covered plot point.
Does Tritter not have any actual crimes to solve? Most detectives have a number of cases they're trying to clear at any given moment, yet this guy is just focusing on a vengeance campaign. I'd like to see some of House's former patients take care of him..any from the Vogler days would work...whether it be the super ceo, the Senator, or the mafiasos.
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Nov 15, 2006 4:13 PM
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I think if House did not have the pain, he would not take the pills. Simple as that. He didn't take vicodin when his leg was feeling good in the first few episodes. He only went back to that when the pain returned. So I wouldn't categorize him as a typical addict. An addict would probably keep on taking the pills even if there wasn't pain.
I think I would have liked the Tritter storyline better if he was going after House under normal circumstances instead of going after him for revenge. It would have worked better for me. I believe there is something not right with Tritter. He is a lot worse than House IMO.
Like videobeagle said, they did say something about the patient not having muscle atrophy. Do I think it is possible for the guy to talk and walk normally after 10 years in bed? No. I really don't see how that is possible. I won't kill them over it. I do think the House writers do do a lot of research and they may have come across a guy who could do exactly that though. Who knows.
It was good seeing John Larroquette again on TV. He was great on Night Court.
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Nov 15, 2006 6:02 PM
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