TV Review: House - "Skin Deep"
Published February 21, 2006
And the story is treated with the intelligence to question a society that sexualizes a teenager, treats her as an adult, then castigates those who look at her as a sexual being, without sympathizing with either side. As the show does in its best moments, it takes our expectations and twists them. When Alex admits to Cameron that she slept her way through photographers and tutors to get where she is before "seducing" her dad so he'd feel guilty enough to let her do anything she wanted, the show is compassionate enough never to let his status as the adult who should know better slip away, and clever enough not to partition her on the side of tarnished purity. She's a victim, but she's also a manipulative victimizer.
It's a creepy line to walk, and House initially gives the appearance of being far creepier than he actually is. When he spontaneously visits the patient - a miracle under less attractive circumstances - he lets Cameron believe that he failed to talk to her about anything medically relevant. He makes comments about Alex's beauty to her pretty face and to anyone else who will listen, but the creepiest speech he gives, the one that made me finally think he'd gone even further than his normal "too far", ends up being a quote from a magazine interview Dad gave about his own daughter, commenting on her perfect, perky breasts and heart-shaped ass. Creepy.
Cameron takes Foreman's place as the one to stand up for what she believes in and tell Cuddy about House's breach of ethics for not reporting the sexual abuse, but again House proves the consistency of his messed-up ethics by almost praising her - or at least not punishing her, which is pretty close for House - for doing what she thinks is right.
The final diagnosis is a weird one, and House delivers the news in the least empathetic way possible, of course. Alex suffers from male pseudohermaphroditism: according to her DNA, she's a he. (House: "The ultimate woman is a man. Nature's cruel, huh?"). The cancer on her undescended testicle is causing paraneoplastic syndrome (soon to replace vasculitis as the diagnosis of choice) and therefore her variety of wonky symptoms. It also provides some relief from the thought that though she and her father denied abuse to the social worker Cameron insisted on, Alex might not need protection from her father. In one of those lines that makes me a bad person for laughing, House says: "Good news is I don't think Dad's going to be sleeping with him-slash-her again. See, now it's gross."
Diane is a publications manager who's addicted to television, movies, and books and justifies her pop culture obsessions by writing about them for Blogcritics. She also runs the TV, Eh? website, a compilation of news and information about Canadian television series.
- TV Review: House - "Skin Deep"
- Published: February 21, 2006
- Type: Review
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Television, Review
- Part of a feature: House
- Writer: Diane Kristine
- Diane Kristine's BC Writer page
- Diane Kristine's personal site
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This episode was so morbidly funny that I was laughing so hard that I missed the follow ups sometimes.
Great review and article... as usual. Please don't skip a week. Eventually it'll go on hiatus....
There's an even bigger problem with this episode of House. Paraneoplastic syndrome is only VERY rarely associated with testicular cancer (in males or hermaphrodrytes), and it usually does not cause the kind of symptoms that "Alex" is experiencing. Additionally, the type of paraneoplastic syndrome that IS rarely associated with testicular cancer NEVER occurs in teenagers.
The writers really screwed this one up, which is very unfortunate, as paraneoplastic patients and their loved ones deserve better than to be associated with sexual deviancy, hermaphrodism and this terrible show.
Anyone who wishes to learn more about what paraneoplastic is really all about can go to the above website, the International Paraneoplastic Association.
I think the biggest problem is people looking to a fictional TV show for medical reality. Not sure if this is the site Carolyn was referring to, but since her link didn't work: International Paraneoplastic Association
Thanks Jeliel, I definitely don't need a vacation from House, but my vacation will get in the way of me watching it that week. I probably will eventually do the review anyway, just to avoid the hole in my season reviews!
As a contrarian, I'd like to one time see a show about a fashion model who's happy, healthy and drug-free. There must be one somewhere :->
Awesome write-up Diane. Gawd I love House. I love the show, and the character. He's such a prick most of the time, but so smart and funny.
Yeah, this show was creepy on several levels. You summed it all up quite well.
Fictional drama is not based on everyday reality but upon exceptional circumstances. Who wants to watch a TV show with diagnostic physicians diagnosing an acid reflux condition? And, as to whether or not any condition or circumstance has ever existed or occurred in real life must be proven before it can be used to create drama, did Shakespeare have proof that Cleopatra died from a snake's bite. Was Dr. Watson's medical information absolutely correct, and is anyone still interested in those things? Hugh Laurie's portrayal of House is the best acting on TV, and any script that allows him to exhibit the range of his great talent is quite welcome.
I believe this episode of House went too far. I am beginning to wonder if the writers have some problems being sexually attracted to children. This episode along with the episode where a little girl wants to be kissed before she dies and a comment on last weeks show asking the question "teenage sex isn't interesting?" Something is wrong here and someone needs to open their eyes. There is nothing "okay" about making sexual comments to or about an underage child. What a shame.
it was a good epsiode shut up
well to all you people that think the show is that bad then dont watch it and,kent hes a writer it makes it good in episodes like that to make viewers want to know whats next and its different beside haveing adults all the time in serious things like this its just a show it isnt real.
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