In next week's House, MD, House is confronted with the death of his father. How will he react to the news?
The FOX Network press release for next Tuesday’s House, MD tells us that House’s father dies. On most television shows, we would know what to expect. Funeral, family, tears and hugs, reconciliations and regrets. But seriously, guys, this is House, MD we’re talking about, right? Nothing is ever conventional about House or House. Throw Wilson into the mix (we know he’s there from the episode previews) and who knows what we’ll get?…
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26 - Ali
Oh, that is exciting! Good luck with the interview, I imagine it will be quite enlightening and a lot of fun.
27 - sassydew
I have been enjoying reading everyone's comments about the upcoming episode and I agree with those who've said that it's wonderful to have such a place (thanks, Barbara!) to have mature and thought-provoking discussion. :-)
That said, I respectfully disagree with those who have expressed the notion that making House a victim of physical abuse would somehow be cliche and/or make him a less interesting character. I don't understand why, since, as Ali says above, "House has nearly all of the classical signs that indicate a history of physical or sexual abuse", it would be "WAY too easy" to make that the root of his issues. I think it would be unrealistic, given the background information we've been given and everything we know about House, for there NOT to be a history of abuse - but it doesn't mean abuse is the sole determinant for who House is. I believe that we become who we are from all of the experiences and relationships we have in our lives, including our relationships with our parents, whatever those relationships may be like.
Eve, I don't think that anyone would suggest that House having been abused would be the sole reason for his brutal honesty or intriguing personality, nor do I think the writers would ever suggest that is so, since they seem to understand that people are incredibly complex. I think this is a nature vs. nurture debate that we're having, and I think House is the way he is partly because it's just who he is and partly due to his experiences and relationships.
Also, some have mentioned that maybe House was a victim of an extremely strict military parent who believed he was doling out fair punishments rather than abuse. I am one of the people who believes that this was likely the case - but it's still abuse even if his father didn't view it as such.
As for whether House has Asperger's Syndrome, I thought one reason TPTB brought it into the "Lines in the Sand" storyline was to make it clear that House does not. In any case, one thing I'm trying to understand is this: how/why would it be a bad idea to attribute some of how House is to having been abused, but *not* a bad idea to attribute some of his issues to Asperger's? I'm not trying to be argumentative for the sake of doing so; I'm really curious, and I'm enjoying reading these varying viewpoints. :-)
Barbara, congratulations on scoring an interview with Foster and Egan! Will you be posting the interview before the episode airs?
28 - Barbara Barnett
Loving this discussion, everyone. Sassydew, I agree with what you're saying.
I will probably write the interview in two parts, part one as a sort of teaser (with NO spoilers at all). I really don't want to spoil the episode for anyone (not even myself, if I can avoid it).
Part two will run after the episode airs, probably on Wednesday evening along with my review.
but depending on the nature of the interview, I may wait until after the episode airs to post in one shot.
If anyone has questions they'd like me to pose, feel free to post them here, and I will try to incorporate them into the interview.
29 - Robin
This may be a bit off topic of Birthmark but I saw in the casting that the show is looking for 2 people as autistic patients for a future episode. This might be a revisiting of the AS issue.
30 - Barbara Barnett
I read about that too, Robin. doesn't necessarily mean revisiting AS, but you never know. Off topic is fine here. Just keep it House-related (more or less)
31 - Eve
Hi again, and thank you for bringing the gifted child into the thought process, Barbara. Its so true.
Its fantastic that you have such close contact with the writers and producers of the show.
OK - this is a bit off-topic, so straight House-blog fans - skip this one.
Sassydew, thanks for your input, I was wondering if anyone would pic up on my thoughts - here it comes -
Im not sure that House has AS, probably not, but it has become an issue, and some people will think he does. And now its becoming established that he is the victim of some sort of abuse.
Being a show that reaches millions of people, I think the abuse thing is an important issue. Healthworkers who are working with children or adults whith problems also watch the show.
In my country there are two different directions when working with children with problems. One is that there must be something wrong with the parents, and the other is that the child has some sort of disorder. Often its by chance what the solution/diagnosis will be.
If the result is that the child has been abused, then you must take steps to prevent this from happening again.
The worst thing you could do with a child with Asperger is to remove him or her from their home or estrange them from their parents or familiar environment in any way, they do not cope very well with change. UNLESS there is physical or sexual abuse, then you should.
So you can see here why its so important that signs of regular Asperger is NOT mistaken for abuse. As the child itself in many cases have difficulty expressing him/herself at this early age.
Now, these vulnerable children are in danger of being misunderstood and also been treated wrongly by frustrated parents, but it can get soooo much worse if you remove them from their home because of suspicion of abuse. (it can lead to psychosis, other mental illnesses, and then they are completely lost) So the important part here is to help the parents helping their child, not accuse them. ( And in my mind if there is abuse, you have no choice but to remove the child.)
So I hope the writers work this angle with extreme care and do not overdo it.
32 - JL
Hey there - comments on several different issues, here:
I really like sassydew's comment that the abuse House suffered may have been viewed very differently by his military father. While I'll acknowledge that abusers may frequently be unable to recognise their behaviour as such, I do see some distinction between behaviour that is clearly abusive and behaviour that someone might see as 'toughening the kid up' -type stuff.
I am intrigued more by House's motto 'Everybody lies' juxtaposed against his description of his dad as someone who won't lie at all. Especially because House seems to both describe himself as someone who lies but who is simultaneously preoccupied with the issue of telling the truth regardless of the resulting effects people's feelings (an issue which has been explored in several episodes).
Regarding AS (and since people have been sharing) - I'm gifted, sensitive and on the spectrum but not extreme enough to qualify as a true Aspy.
My point here is that it's very much a continuum, not an 'On/Off' diagnosis.
While I agree House doesn't qualify as a true Aspy, the traits he does have place him more in that direction than the average Joes he's frustrated by every day.
I actually feel that 'Lines in the sand' made this point reasonably well - although Wilson and Cuddy agreed that House doesn't have Asperger's, they also noted the traits he does have and acknowledged that he might experience actual difficulties with change (rather than demanding his old carpet back simply to cause trouble).
Finally, I'll express general affirmation with everybody's congratulations to Barbara on a fine blog and discussion. It is nice to get to engage my brain without fear of recrimination...
33 - JL
I think I'd better qualify my comments on abuse. I'd been noting that several people have commented above that they don't want the writers to go down the physical abuse story path.
I intended to say that I hope the writers portray the abuse as House's dad 'toughening him up' or as 'punishment' for his not doing well enough.
To my mind, that would fit better than abuse such as striking out from rage, for example, which might feel a bit out-of-whack with what's gone before...
(Hope that makes things clear. I wouldn't want anyone to think I was suggesting that any sort of abuse was okay, whether acknowleged as such or not.)
34 - Barbara Barnett
I would agree that John House would have thought his actions with House "appropriate," but weren't--even in terms of late 1960s/early 1970 social norms. But "normal" punishment can easily turn into rage and grow completely irrational and out of control very, very easily--especialy if the victim fights back. Which might have been the case if it continued when House was a teenager.
This went on in my house with a father who, while "normal," and genuinely kind in some aspects, could horrifically violent with my older brother. My brother moved out of the house as soon as he graduated high school and has led a very, very screwed up life.
35 - Ali
To those of you who have been sharing about your personal experiences too, thank you for opening up. It's intriguing to see how our personal experiences with these issues color our opinions about them on the show.
Sassydew -- my point in saying that it was too easy for writers to go the abuse route was two-fold: A) since he displays so many of the classical signs, childhood physical abuse is the obvious conclusion for their explanation. Especially on a show that's usually all about situations where the first, obvious diagnosis ISN'T the right one, it just seems lazy to give House all these characteristics and then say it's due to physical abuse -- like the writers just lifted the symptoms directly from a textbook without any regard to possible variations in how they might show up in a real life (i.e. non-textbook) person. B) So many TV shows, movies, books, etc. have focused on characters with these symptoms who turn out to have suffered physical abuse, to the point where (in my opinion) it's become almost a cliche. I am by no means saying it isn't a story deserving of being told, but I do think it's been told many other times and the House writers have many other, less frequently exposed issues they could tell the world about here. Which leads into my reasoning for wanting it to be AS, and I'll be honest, it is mostly personal preference. I want it because I have so few AS characters I can identify with in popular culture (the only one I know of is Bones, and I was never able to get into that show for a few reasons), but I also want it because AS would be a more creative explanation -- since it isn't used as often -- and because it would expose more of the public to what the term means and what it's like to live with it. (Most people I meet give me a blank look when I tell them I have it.) Also, just to clarify, I do agree that it was pretty much established as canon that he DOESN'T have it, but I wish he did.
Robin -- I hadn't read about that, thanks for letting us know! I'll be curious to see how that episode turns out.
Eve -- I agree with you completely about the AS vs. abuse thing. Another reason I feel so passionately anti-physical abuse in this case is because, as an adult, I've been to many therapists/psychiatrists/etc. who've assumed that all my mental 'problems' were caused by my parents. They insist that I must have been beaten and I've just blocked it out of my memory, or that my mother must have been overly demanding and emotionally unavailable, or whatever else. The truth is that, even though I did and still do have problems with my dad sometimes, I had a fairly happy home life. Many of the troubles we did have were due to my AS-related temper tantrums or conflicts with my dad because we were both too stubborn to give in about anything. I would have been MUCH worse off had I been removed from that environment over false concerns of physical abuse. (In fact I remember being really scared every time I bruised myself -- which was often, since I was so clumsy -- because I thought an adult would call child protective services and they'd take me away from my parents.)
JL -- I also agree with you, re: abuse vs. 'normal' punishment. While neither is okay, I do think that House's father fully believed his actions were entirely appropriate and had no idea they might have been considered abusive. I don't see him as the 'beat his son black and blue' type (particularly if it was a regular occurrence and not a one-time thing where he got too worked up and accidentally flew off the handle), so I hope that the physical abuse issue isn't handled that way. It wouldn't fit into my concepts of either character, although obviously I'm not the writers so my conceptions aren't the ones that count! As to the AS thing, I definitely agree that it's a spectrum (along with autism in) and not an on/off diagnosis, but for me that's part of why I think he does -- or should -- have it. I wasn't diagnosed with AS until adulthood because I largely internalized my symptoms and tried my best to fit into societal norms as a child, and even once I discovered the term as an adult I put off getting checked out for it because I dismissed my symptoms as too mild. But a counselor finally brought the subject up to me, referred me to a specialist, and I was diagnosed. There are degrees of AS, and even people with very mild symptoms can still have it. Just as autistic kids with less extreme symptoms still have autism and not Asperger's, people with milder AS symptoms can still have AS. Of course, you're definitely right that not everyone on the spectrum would qualify for the diagnosis. But even if they don't perfectly fit the exact clinical diagnostic standards, sometimes the professional making the diagnosis can use his or her own discretion to flex the 'rules' a bit. Also, IMO even people who don't get a diagnosis but are on the spectrum still have the right to identify as Aspies and to receive support/treatment for it (if they want it). Granted, House's desire to identify that way isn't because he wants help with it, it's because he wants to use AS as an excuse to behave the way he does without repercussion -- but that's a whole different issue to discuss. I'll be kind and stop here for now, since I'm taking up so much space here already!
36 - Barbara Barnett
Ali--Have you ever watched the British series Wire in the Blood? (Or read the Val McDermid novels upon which the series is based?) The main character is a brilliant, loner, intuitive psychologist and criminal profiler. Socially awkward and a genius. In the second season of the series when he had a (benign) brain tumor, the neurologist who examined him also confirmed that he has Aspergers syndrome.
37 - Ali
No, I haven't seen the series or read the books, either. Thanks for letting me know about them! I'm actually just about to leave for Barnes & Noble as we speak, so now I've got something to look for while I'm there. I'll have to Netflix the show, too -- it sounds like I'd love both of them.
38 - Robin
I don't think the abuse from John House is blatant, but more emotional and demanding. But I bet House never followed anyone's lead and went his own way, which would be intolerable for a military father who worshipped rules. I also believe he has a mild AS. But getting diagnosed is no guarantee for a better life or more understanding from people around you if they knew. It could be used as a weapon against you, and House has pissed off enough people through the years that if they knew his true weak spot they would have a field day. Cuddy had no trouble finding someone to cut his cable. Ever since Line in the Sand I was curious enough about AS to read about it. Donna Williams has said that getting labeled with a disability can cause ALL ability to disappear in people's mindset. I don't think House wants to be seen as being handicapped anymore than he already is. If people see him just as a jerk then they won't probe any deeper, which can be a strange kind of protection. I think the AS is partly why House didn't deal well with Tritter. He didn't pick up on how angry or menacing Tritter truly was and treated him as he did bulllies before, by ignoring him. Or defended himself better by at least telling someone about Tritter tripping him in the clinic, at least to his lawyer. He is not good about understanding emotional behavior between people which was proven in ALONE. What he learns about people is by observation as if people were a different animal species. That is why he experiments with his staff to see how they react or how much they will put up with, IMO. BTW, I have read some autobiographies of ASPYS and find it fascinating to see the world in an entirely different POV. EMBRACE THE DIVERSITY! (a holdover from old Star Trek)
39 - Anna
I have been following this discussion with attention:it is a real pleasure to read such intelligent and perspicacious remarks from people who show deep understanding of how an excellent show works on various levels.And your comments are of great help to me in the improvement of the English language (I am Italian). Well,after watching one of the trailers of the next episode, suddenly this evening a crazy idea has come to my mind: apart from the physical abuse, which, in my opinion, was real, House's father might have ruined his son's childhood by suggesting, even if only once, that he was not his real son, that he was a bastard.They are different in everything. The stiff officer might have never had the courage to accuse his wife, perhaps he was rationally aware of how absurd his assumption was , but he might have blamed his child.
Has House been struggling with this doubt all these years?Isn't one of House's episodes called "Who's your daddy" and finally, have I drunk too much wine this evening?
40 - Barbara Barnett
Thanks Anna, Robin--and all.
Interesting idea, Anna--that John might have made that suggestion about his son. If House was at an impressionable age...
I suppose we may never know--even after Birthmarks.
41 - Orange450
"If anyone has questions they'd like me to pose, feel free to post them here, and I will try to incorporate them into the interview."
Hi Barbara, you *do* know that you write the coolest blog in the world, right? :-)
I have a question - not spoilery at all. I really would like to know whether the writers consciously borrow plot devices from other works. For example, back in S3, Chase's "gentle, polite reminders" to Cameron on Tuesdays were so reminiscent of Lord Peter Wimsey's gentle, polite proposals to Harriet Vane on various specific days of the calendar, that I was convinced that the writers had borrowed the idea from Dorothy Sayers.
Above, I mentioned the father refusing to speak to his son (also an extremely gifted individual) in The Chosen, and as I posted on your "Adverse Events" review - I was struck by how very similar Amber's deathbed scene was to the deathbed scene in the movie "Love Story". So - conscious, unconscious, or am I imagining the whole thing?
Speaking of your "Adverse Event" review - when you have a chance, I'm very interested in your opinion on the question I asked there about Lucas' take on Cuddy's reaction to the cheerleader picture. That given that Cuddy has known House since she was an undergrad (and House wasn't much older) - so she knows what House was like pretty close to the time the picture was taken - why would Lucas come to the conclusion that it's impossible for her to believe that the picture could have been genuine?
42 - Barbara Barnett
Ah, Orange...I'm blushing. Thanks. Great questions, and I will ask about literary references other than Holmes of course. I love the Lord Peter novels. I've always thought that HL would make a great Lord Peter Wimsey (but he's too tall!).
I also know that the three students in 3 stories is a reference to three of the four sons in the Passover Hagadda (the fourth son, who didn't know what to ask would never make it to med school, I guess).
Regarding your questions, I think that Lucas would come to that conclusion based on his own bias. He can't see beneath what House wants to show him. Yes, he sees that House is pining for Wilson, but doesn't know why really. And he probably doesn't know House's history, how much he's changed.
maybe that's refreshing for House in a way, but it also gives Lucas imperfect information about House. After all, he's being paid to snoop FOR House, not about him :)
43 - Orange450
"I've always thought that HL would make a great Lord Peter Wimsey"
Height aside - it's because HL wouldn't be acting :-) He's just as charming, brilliant, urbane, clever, talented, kind, perceptive, self-deprecating and driven. And he had a stern upbringing, as well. Isn't the following quote of Peter Wimsey's something you could imagine HL (or House, for that matter) saying in an unguarded moment?
“I must have a streak of my father in me. He was one of the old school - you either faced a fence of your own accord or were walloped over and no nonsense. It worked - after a fashion. One learnt to pretend one wasn’t a coward, and take out the change in bad dreams.”
Very, very cool about the three students/three sons!
44 - Eve
This is amazing - I've always loved the Lord Peter Wimsey series and now this blog reminds me of it, and i am going to reread it.
and I love P.G. Wodehouse and because of House I got to find out about HLs brilliant work in the "Jeeves and Wooster" series who I didn't catch when it aired in my country in the 90'.
Usually when I like an actor I do not enjoy all of his work, but HL has done a lot of interesting stuff. And I think there a lot of roles he would have been perfect in. The socially awkward Mr Higgins in My fair lady is one of them. (With Mr. Steven Fry as his companion?) I hear they are going to do a remake, but but but - with Keira Knightley? Can she even sing? Im in fact not to thrilled about a new version. I dont know if its the musical or "Pygmalion" version but Hugh could certainly master both.
OK, that was a distraction, but again. I love this blog, and I am now going to cuddle up with a lord peter wimsey-
story on a sunday morning (In my country).
I am very much looking forward to the interview with the writers!
45 - Sue
Barbara, Happy and Healthy New Year! May you be written in the book of life!
I do not believe House has AS. House is the opposite of AS. People with AS have no choice in how they react to social situations, other than learned responses. They have a problem in their brain that prevents them from understanding social mores and accepted social behavior. Some people with AS have trouble reading and interpreting facial expressions. They are also not physically well-coordinated and usually do not partake in sports. They can have problems with mood swings, inappropriate behavior, and temper tantrums at inappropriate times. None of this is by choice. Most AS patients figure out how to overcome these deficiencies with learned behavioral therapy and medication.
House, on the other hand, is very familiar with the inane social niceties that are expected of people; he just CHOOSES not to participate in them. House can read the body language, facial expression, voice inflection, etc., of anyone he meets, and he can figure out what is really going on with them. One of the reasons he is such a great diagnostician is that he looks for the social and emotional factors that influence a diagnosis. He considers family and mating relationships, job-related situations, alcohol and drugs, psychological factors, social history of the patient-all of the things an AS patient would not even think to consider. In Need to Know, House asks what they know about Margo, the person. She is a mother, attends PTA, has a high-powered job, and still has time to make her husband really, really feel like a man (after she has fried the bacon in the pan). He figured out the father in Skin Deep was doing his daughter. The team doesn't even consider a lot of these things. House is the keenest observer, something lacking in AS patients. It takes someone keenly aware of what he is supposed to do to be socially successful in getting away with not adhering to these social mores.
The reason House chooses not to participate in the social niceties expected of people has to do with his control over how people perceive him. That desire for control developed from his childhood with an emotionally and physically abusive father. A parent who makes their child sleep outside is physically abusive. There is more to physical abuse than beating someone.
If we can extrapolate the few things we know about House's childhood with his father, we can predict why House acts the way he does. His father was a control freak who was determined to strip away House's individuality. He wanted House to conform to his way or it was the highway. House had no siblings, so he had no perspective from the point of view of another child at the time. His father controlled his behavior, and he was successful at it. House did what his father wanted him to do. Internally, he likely felt unworthy and unloved; these feelings carry through your lifetime. It is difficult for a child to understand that the father has emotional problems and that is why he is acting that way. Children think they are the problem. The child has a lowered self-esteem, and they will find a way to compensate for that if they want to be successful in life.
House does not blame his mother, because he knew there was nothing she could do to stop his father. She shied away from confrontation because it was emotionally difficult for her as well. The father probably convinced her it was for Greg's own good. It was interesting that when he called her in Merry Little Christmas, he called her at home, not at Aunt Sarah's, where he knew she would be. He didn’t want to speak to his father.
House was raised that only perfection was acceptable. Perfection in his physical body. Perfection in his career. Yet House could not be emotionally perfect. He chose to keep people at a distance unless he felt he could totally trust them. He kept the ducklings at a distance so they would respect him and not doubt his expertise. He feels he can be his imperfect self and be totally accepted by Wilson, somewhat less by Cuddy. He wants to have control of how people perceive him, and he has more control if he limits the expectations people have. He can lie when he wants to and tell the brutal, honest truth when he wants to, without having to explain himself to anyone. He doesn't bask in glory because he doesn't let others define him. This is a self-protective mechanism. He spent his whole childhood being defined by his father. Now, he lets no one define him.
I don’t understand why you all say House doesn't like to be touched. House got a massage. Cuddy held his hand in Wilson's Heart. Cameron kissed him in Half Wit. He didn't want Crandall to hug him because it was embarrassing. He had no problem with Stacy touching him.
AS for what will happen in the next episode:
Wilson gave House a tongue-lashing about his erratic behavior and how that contributed to and set-up the circumstances of Amber's death. Wilson will not discuss anything with House at this point. House needs to get Wilson to understand why he acts like he does. He thinks this is his only chance to get through to him. I don’t think House could bring himself to say anything nice about his father, if there was anything nice to say. Even though Wilson told House to make his mother feel like she had a happy life, that is not as important to House as Wilson is at this point. House's comments about his father will be directed at Wilson. House would never reveal to Wilson what he will reveal in this episode if Amber had not died and Wilson had not blamed House's prior behavior as the cause.
Kudos to Hugh Laurie, who with his incredible talent, gives us a gift of a fascinating character that defies definition. We use every talent we identify in House to analyze House himself; because House seems like a real person with a multi-faceted personality, we can no more pin this character down than we can pin down our friends or acquaintances. Every time Hugh raises his eyebrows, he gives us food for thought.
Robert Sean Leonard says that Hugh inhabits House, and I totally agree with him. To me, House exists just as much as Hugh does, maybe more. Hugh doesn't "act" House, he "is" House.
46 - Ali
Sue: I have to politely disagree about people with AS lacking the ability to observe well; we may or may not be born with it, but many of us develop it out of necessity. We spend most of our lives observing the rest of the world, trying desperately to understand how others behave, interact, respond, etc. Plus House is naturally a brilliant observer in general, so it wouldn't be hard for him to extend that talent to studying people, gradually becoming better at it over the years. I think Robin brought up a great point in saying that House experiments with his staff as though they were a different species, because he truly DOESN'T understand them. Knowledge (figuring things out) is supreme to him, and this is one area in which he lacks expertise by nature. That's an incredibly frustrating position to be in, so it's no wonder he's obsessed with trying to conquer it.
Although it takes a lot of effort -- and usually professional help rather than human lab rats -- many Aspies manage to teach themselves intellectually most of the rules & skills that others know inherently. (I'd also just like to mention that not everyone with AS has ZERO intuition about this stuff; mild-degree Aspies may have enough to function relatively normally without therapy or even diagnosis. Some are also quite in tune with their own emotions and those of others, especially as adults, although that's not the usual case.) Aspies can become very successful at acting the part of a 'normal' person -- or, in House's case, use his self-developed skills to manipulate people and get what he wants out of them -- we still have AS. There's also the fact that he probably studied/trained in psychiatry during med school, internship, residency, and so on. That gives him a definite edge. The rest of us have to rely on undergrad psych classes and the internet!
Even if House isn't on the spectrum, I would bet money that he was a socially awkward child, unpopular (not by his own choice at that point), teased, easily hurt. Adults with AS tend to have much more control over their deficiencies than they did as child. I know I, for one, have improved my social skills a lot since childhood but I choose to remain a mostly solitary person for many reasons. Not every Aspie WANTS to become like everyone else and have a normal life and never make waves again. Obviously House has found that life alone is safe and comfortable -- although his realization that he needs Wilson is a great step forward -- and that his Aspie traits (as they are now) work for him, so why would he want to change?
As to the part about people with AS being physically uncoordinated -- that is true for some, but not all, patients. It's not a required characteristic for diagnosis, and I've known several Aspies whose motor skills are & have always been just fine. Even those with impairments (like myself) can improve with help and practice. For example, I was a very klutzy kid, but through ROTC involvement -- drill team, track/field, rifle marksmanship -- in my teenage years, I gained much more control over my gross & fine motor skills. I think it's also been noted in studies of AS that childhood coordination problems sometimes seem to 'naturally' diminish or even go away by adulthood. Like I said earlier, I don't want House to be a textbook case of anything, so I actually like that he has a few realistic variants in his symptoms. This is how AS could easily present in a three-dimensional human with his own specific personality and life experiences complicating the situation. And here's where I really have to commend the writers for giving us such a deeply compelling character, one that lends itself to endless discussion, speculation, and analysis.
On a final note, totally agree about RSL's quote. When Hugh gets in front of that camera, he IS House from head to toe, skin and blood and bone. (Of course, I'd say the same thing about RSL as Wilson -- I relish every opportunity I get to see him on screen, however brief it may be. Put the two of them together, and the results are just incredible.)
47 - Kizmet
I don't think they're going to go the route of over the top physical and/or sexual abuse the way all too many fanfic writers do. In "One Day, One Room" when House is first telling the story, he also makes the comment "Maybe she was right. I hardly ever screwed up when she was around, too scared..."
I got the impression that whatever happened, was probably physical displine which either came close to or crossed over into abuse, and even House isn't a 100% sure which it was.
48 - Barbara Barnett
Good point, Kizmet. It may not have been overt, but certainly seems like it may have crossed the line. Perhaps we'll never know for sure--as House is often an unreliable narrator.