The fundamental question posed by the series House, M.D. since its first year concerns doing the “right” thing. In House’s (Hugh Laurie) world, doing the right thing doesn’t always mean doing the expedient or safe thing. It often requires stomping on the rules, ignoring protocol and taking risks both with the patient’s life and with the careers of all doctors involved in the case.
In the season two episode “Deception,” Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) frames House’s modus operandi as medical anarchy—an approach that will someday lead to someone getting killed. In this week’s episode “Nobody’s Fault,” House is investigated do determine the blame for a incident in which Chase (Jesse Spencer) is nearly killed, and from which his recovery will likely be slow and painful (emotionally as well as physically).
Pursuing Adams’ (Odette Annable) diagnosis—something with which House disagrees, Chase plans to grab a small sample of a rash on the patient’s body. Prepping the patient for the biopsy scalpel, Adams triggers a psychotic break caused by the medicine given him by House’s team. As Chase tries to handle the quickly escalating situation, the patient grabs a scalpel, stabbing him in the chest.
How could something like this happen, wonders the doctor assigned to investigate and assign blame. Foreman brings in his old mentor Dr. Walter Cofield (Jeffrey Wright), who interviews everyone involved to ascertain whether the chaotic atmosphere created within House’s department has inevitably led to tragedy.
Ultimately, it is not House’s sarcasm, his lack of patient contact, or even his Vicodin use that is the issue; it is the chaos that surrounds his diagnostic process.
There is a season four episode called “97 Seconds” in which the patient dies because of simple human error, but error made a thousand times more likely due to the chaos fed by House’s fellow-hiring games. House would argue that his methods do sometimes lead to bad things happening, but he does the math, and although he may lose an occasional patient, House’s track record for saving patients that other doctors have dismissed as lost causes is pretty astonishing. But does his success make it right? Should House be allowed to continue practicing medicine the way he does? Or does the risk outweigh the possible benefit? And that’s never been directly challenged in eight years of House episodes (except tangentially so in “The Mistake”).
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - marykir
For me, this only becomes a good episode *if* the emotional impact on *House* is shown in future episodes. We can imagine the lack of punishment is eating away at him all we want, but we'll never know if the writers think the same unless they show it in an episode. If all we ever see on camera is the same old quips & pranks, then the hearing didn't really mean much.
2 - Djesus
"But does his success make it right? Should House be allowed to continue practicing medicine the way he does?"
Well if the statistics are in his favor, I would say that yes House is right, even if in the future 2 or 10 patients die, the statistics will always be in his favor, so I don't really understand why they insist about this during this ep. I was a bit irritated, what happened to Chase could happen to any doctor, the risks of the job.
I was a little disappointed with this ep, I was expected something more intense, Chase and House "friendship" will be ok again, I'm not worried about that.
But why Grey Yaitanes and David Shore said that it will change the show forever? I don't understand, it's a classic ep.
3 - Ladybelle Fiske
Probably the other characters see HOUSE differently?
4 - Joan
I definitely think it was the best episode of the season. The confrontation between Cofield and House was excellent and yet I thought we'd see House open up to him a bit more about how he feels about his whole proces beyond, mostly good, sometimes bad. With Nolan, with Cuddy, even with certain patients House' usual is to deflect, deflect, be a jerk and change the discussion, but then give up a little vulnerability. I was waiting for that to happen here and the fact that it didn't with Cofield was disappointing. House's outburst at the end struck me as very much in character for him since we know he blames himself for things more than others may and is very concerned re what is the 'right' thing to do. In another good ep 'Dead and Buried' House was willing to go back to jail in order to save the mother's living child from a genetic disorder so his willingness to take the consequences of his actions has been somewhat shown. I loved the final scene with Chase, sad as it was, when House took responsibility and apologized. TPTB seem to be saying this is the first time ever he has apologized like this...again, I think it echoes his I'm sorry to Wilson after Amber's death -- another odd string of circumstances that House might have set in motion but were mostly out of his control. The one other key point that struck me was that it seemed odd that they did not take any precautions re a pyschotic fit. As Taub pointed out, that was one of the three diagnostic test outcomes, so why did they not have hiim strapped down or sedated first? When House and the fellows have done this sort of diagnostic test in the past they prepare for worst outcome -- if the patient's heart might stop, there is Kutner standing by with the crash cart, or such. This little loophole that was the immediate cause of Chase's injury seemed like a pretty glaring change from their SOP, meaning when they do a potentially dangerous/reckless test House always seems to have them ready to deal with the bad outcomes that may result. After all these years w/House I had trouble buying that Chase would just forget to be prepared for that.
5 - Barbara Barnett
Marykir--I agree with you. The episode has to be in context of the rest of the season, and I'm just speculating based on the episode and a couple of conversations with folks who know stuff (without elaborating further). That's why I mentioned Kutner's suicide. House was affected--at first subtly and then not subtly as the season went on. I would hope the impact of this will be shown and reverberate through the season. There's no one-year time lag like we had in 20 Vicodin, so we see no impact on House from the events of the s7 finale.
So I do hope things will unfold into the rest of the season (and I believe the will in a very concrete way).
Interestingly enough, my husband, who hasn't liked the series for a couple years now, stopped what he was doing to watch the episode, remarking at the end how much he liked it. the last time he did that was "Baggage."
6 - Amy
It was the best episode this season and one of the best of all time. The acting was involving, the script interesting from start to finish and the camera work great. Especially loved Chase's explanation of House way of checking to see if he was ok. For anyone who has never seen has this is the perfect episode to show because it really explains the man and his environment.
7 - 08joanna
I liked this episode (maybe not as much as I was hoping to), but I think the best thing about it was Chase not doubting that House cared, and knowing that House's OR DDX was his way of checking up on Chase without admitting to the others that he cared. Chase knows and understands him very well.
There were two major timeline inconsistencies in this ep which really bothered me, however. A year was supposed to have passed between Seasons 7 and 8, because House fled the country for 3 months after driving into Cuddy's house, and then spent 10 months in jail. It should therefore now be early 2013 in the House universe rather than early 2012, but Cofield said the investigation was taking place in Feb. of 2012, so where did the extra year go? I guess it has magically disappeared. Also, House told Cofield it's been "a decade" since he's been on Vicodin, but we know the infarction had to have been at least 13 or 14 years ago, since 8 years ago when the series started, he'd been broken up with Stacy for 5 years, and we know she didn't leave until after the infarction. Maybe he was using the word "decade" loosely, but if they were mentioning the time period at all, they could have been more consistent with canon and gotten it correct.
8 - Anonymous
The show has jumped the shark. Last season House was riding around in a monster truck and this season the writers have him going to a turtle race. The latest episode was a nice reprive from such ridiculousness but the story still felt contrived and a bit like a soap opera that it has recently become (evidenced by numerous stories but clearly evidenced by Taub has two daughters with different mothers). I wish the writers would focus on the new team members (more about their backstory, motivations, desires, weaknesses, etc.) and how they interact with the others and not create such a soap opera.
9 - barbara barnett
joanna--I had a problem with the decade since the surgery thing, too. I think the surgery had to have been very late '90s at the latest, probably 1998.
10 - dvbfan
First of all, I want to apologize because of my poor English.
I think it was one the best episodes of
House of all time . For me it had everything.As Barbara said , I want to see how next episodes will continue and can we see any kind of changes in House and other doctors or not .
I saw a video of Jesse Spencer which he said that he will love to see House death like what happened to Sherlock Holmes if this season is the last season of the series . I understand it is just an idea, but Barbara do you think can this scenario happen for House ? Does this episode can lead the show to that ending ?
11 - Koji Attwood
What a phenomenal episode, and wonderful vehicle to showcase Laurie and Spencer. I knew the second I saw Jeffrey Wright (who is always outstanding), this was going to be a special one.
12 - bigHousefan
I LOVED this episode, one of the series best! Brilliant!
Regarding the apology, I remember House apologizing to Wilson in Wilson's Heart, and struggling with the concept of value of an apology with Dr. Nolan.
I have always thought that House's aversion to apologies reflects back to Stacy's apology to House in Three Stories as he was being put into a medically induced coma. Stacy was apologizing for making the decision against his wishes for the surgery that crippled him, even though she thought she was doing what was necessary to save his life.
I loved the emphasis on House's manner of caring. I think apart from Wilson and Cuddy, House has always had a strong affection for Chase. Both had fathers they detested for their emotional neglect. Chase has always been so eager to please House and House so eager to mock Chase as his only means of demonstrating his affection for him, and Chase knows it just as Wilson does I think.
I'm excited to see how this plays out!
13 - Ladybelle Fiske
I liked it a lot. One of the best in a while. Probably will have changes ahead for Chase and others as they realize how dangerous the "Loose-Cannon" practice of House can be. I am eager to see what is ahead.
Holmes doesn't die, you know. He overcomes Moriarty and lives out an old age on the South Downs as a beekeeper. (Check out your Canon of Holmes.)
14 - Ladybelle Fiske
I'd like to know if House would be allowed to practice medicine while addicted to Vicodin as shown in the series. My husband, a doctor's son, thinks not. I wonder.
Thanks for any info,
Ladybelle
15 - Tammy
Thank you for this arena for us to voice our opinions. I love the comparison with "97 Seconds" and "Nobody's Fault." "PERFECT" As always your article is beautifully expressed and in my eyes it is what I saw last night. Thank you so much for taking your time to do this.
I have to say, this episode is a "Game Changer." It stands with episodes such as "Help Me", Broken, and "Both Sides Now." I have to say what I see from here is an unraveling, of both the team and House. I completely agree with you.
I can an opening for Cuddy if we get a season 9. Dr. Colfield was right,House is vital to the field of medicine but he needs boundaries. I recall House approaching Masters, after he dismissed her in "Family Practice" and telling her she wasn't fired because, she was helping keep the boundaries that Cuddy was having trouble keeping by being in a relationship with House. Even House is aware he needs boundaries.
Foreman or any member of the team could never really give House boundaries. They know the end results is almost always going to be House figuring it out. Cuddy could give him enough rope without letting him hang himself as long as there was no relationship. As boss and employee, sexually tensioned adults "House and Cuddy" were a perfect team. They played "medically" off each other perfect.
I do believe that the price of having that "one thing" has slowly chipped away at House's chance of being happy. When you are consumed with something no matter how much you may love other things, that "one thing" always takes presidency over anything else. Quoting House: I am cursed with the ability to do the math. He is driven by the fact that he almost always can find the answer and the scorched earth that he leaves behind is catching up with him.
I can see many end scenarios but I am hoping it will be put off for one more season.
16 - The Other Barnett
Last night I did something that I have not done in a while with a House episode....probably since the opening of season 6; I sat through the whole episode and did not take care of home chores off to the side during commercials. It was that good....until,
I felt that Wright was so well used for this episode until his conclusion. I was so relieved that House spoke up. If the writers had left it at Cofield's (by now trite) conclusion that House is expendable, the whole episode would have drooped like one of those thanksgiving balloons that rips on a traffic lift and falls into the street. But let be back up....
Since House has returned, he has been trying to re-connect with people in his life without being too vulnerable. He has tried to help people in his life without being too nice. And, he has succeeded. But, as has also been pointed out, House has also been acting in such a way that his team (half of whom do not have a real bhistory with him) has drifted away from him. At this point, House is fine with it....but this attack on Chase changes things. The one doctor who has been with him through everything and has evolved into (one may say) his pride and joy, has been seriously harmed by an environment that he has created.
If this season is the end, the revival of Chase could be an incredible way to end it. Chase' dead eyes looking at House at the end of the episode, after House has become vulnerable and apologized...chilling! If Chase becomes the soul that has to be saved and House is the one who fights his own asinine instincts to do it, what an incredible story-arc we could have!
I'm curious if the environment that House has created is not so much one of chaos. Imagine that you are Park. You have gone astray from House's orders before, and he rode in to save the day. Maybe House has created an environment where each member feels like they could (at some times) stray from House's judgement because they know that House could always come in and make everything right.
I agree with some who suggest that everyone is thinking of their back-up plan. I might agree with this observation if others could agree that they each seem to believe that there is nothing more viable or valuable that they will do in their professional lives than this. This is their highlight of the resume'.
And that was what I liked more than any other aspect of the show last night. While the team may be irritated or annoyed by House, they know how lucky they are and how good he is. Now, if Chase (as the previews suggest) does take the route of Cameron and go away....then its the death of the show.
This is Jesse Spencer's opportunity to be eligible for an Emmy. I know its kind of a cheap way (like Dr. Carter rehabbing from the attack on ER) to do this, but this could be what would constructively drive the show through the end of this season.
Chase is the moral center of this show.
I did not notice Wilson was not in the show, until I woke up today and thought about it. I've forgotten about Cuddy and Foreman could have easily been off the episode. "Where's Chase." was in my mind as soon as the first 10 seconds of the first scene elapsed.
17 - The Other Barnett
Barb #9
I caught that reference to the 10 years, thing, too. But, have any of us who are over a certain age, started rounding up or down in years? House probably knows exactly how much time (in days, I bet) its been since he had his leg mangled by surgery. But Cofield did not need to see this, House was trying to communicate to Cofield that "its been a while".
I do wish there was a more precise timeline from infarction to today, to give a bit more structure to the story for my mind....but that would then also constrict the story-telling opportunities for the show, too. If this is not the last season (which I am still hoping for a 9th), it would be better for Shore to keep things malleable.
18 - Tammy
I agree with the statement of Chase being the moral center of the show. His character has been more effected by his choices, albeit good or bad, than any character. His conscience nearly drove him bananas after killing the leader in "Tyrant." Being in the seminary for a year never really left Chase.
He has always believed in House and his process and in that I imagine he felt the good outweighed the bad. In earlier years you could tell he admired him. I guess it seems as if everyone will be taking a look at who they are and if this process is really worth the price that each one seems to pay at some point.
That was a great point made by "The Other Barnett"
19 - housefriend
This was one of the best House episodes DRAMATIC! Missed Wilson but he is vital to the character of House and hopefully we see some drama with him in future,This focus on House his team and his methods was great to watch,Unlike the episode Help Me which was just awful this really was good suspense and drama.
20 - Reality Check
@LadyBelle Fiske #14: The answer to your question is "No." Physicians who are caught using drugs (its called "diversion") have their licenses suspended for at least one year and are required to undergo rehab. When their license is reinstated, its conditional: AA or NA meetings and/or psychiatric counseling (or both), and always random drug screening for 3 to 5 years, depending on the state's requirements. However, in ALL of the states, a second strike means permanent revocation of their license. House's second strike was when he drove his car into Cuddy's home and assaulted Wilson. In the real world, his license to practice medicine is gone. Even his reciprocity with Michigan is null and void.
21 - Ladidah
I thought this was a great episode. I was on the edge of my seat from the moment I realised which team member was missing from differentials. This holds a lot of promise as far as character arc go I think - House's relationships with the other longstanding characters, Wilson, Foreman, Cuddy have been plumbed pretty thoroughly - but the House-Chase relationship has a lot to be explored, I think. Since this Season seems to have a parenthood theme (and possibly House will be exploring his parental issues later?) it will be an interesting counterpoint to see House explore his relationship with the team member who seems to see him as a father figure. Poor Chase though. This job has cost him his marriage, pushed him into killing someone, now he might be disabled for life - you couldn't really blame him if he did try to quit.
22 - DebbieJ
I know this was supposed to be an "intense" episode and the season's best. Well, with a mediocre season at best, that is not saying much.
My thoughts are is that we didn't learn anything new with this episode. It just reiterated everything we learned about House in the pilot. They even used the word "misanthropic" last night. It was like reading a synopsis for the pilot :/
Yes, it was dramatic, and I am devastated for what happened to Chase. And it's about time Jesse Spencer got something meaty to chew on; his character has been stagnant for some time and has started to become long in the tooth.
But I just can't seem to help feeling disappointed that we AGAIN learned nothing new of House and everything is rehashed. Misanthropic, pill popping, non conformist, blah blah blah. Boring!
23 - DebbieJ
I am also glad to hear that this is Greg Yaitanes' final episode of House.
He can now takes his kabooms elsewhere.
24 - RobF
Cofield's interviews with the old team members displayed how they have each found a way to cope without leaning on House. They had trusted House in the past, but then he went and did something unforgivable, which also happened to close the department and throw them out of work.
Taub plays things straight, doesn't go out on a limb ("I wouldn't have been in that room"). He likes to be a part of the exciting House show, but isn't willing to commit himself to it.
Chase is more assertive than he used to be, unwilling to defer to House. Also, as we are shown in this episode, Chase is aware of how much House cares about people. House doesn't avoid the patients because he doesn't care about them; he avoids them because he knows he would be drawn into taking their side and thus lose his objectivity. Sadly, Chase also knows that House is not to be trusted. When House finally puts aside his gruff, uncaring act, and has an honest moment with Chase, Chase closes the door firmly in House's face.
How will House react? Will he again take refuge behind the emotional wall that his offensive behaviour provides? Or will he start making honest connections with the people around him?
25 - Reality Check
Right on, DebbieJ! Kiss Ka-boom Ka-bye-bye.