Monday night’s House, M.D. episode “Locked In” left fans with several unanswered questions (so what else is new!). In what was a great opening episode in the season’s final quarter, Dr. Gregory House (the ever-amazing Hugh Laurie) treated a patient with “locked in syndrome.” Although the patient (played by Mos Def) was cured and sent home to his wife Molly and his two kids, things are far from settled for House and the entire team.
So, as we prepare for the last five episodes of the season, here are the questions left dangling after the events of “Locked In” and the other questions raised earlier in the season that might be addressed before the finale in May (which is, by the way, provocatively called “Both Sides Now”).
Note: I am deliberately staying away from the various rumors and spoilers swirling 'round the 'Net.
How did House manage to crash his motorcycle? The episode began with House already in the New York emergency room. He had a large abrasion on his left forearm and a bruise on the left side of his face. But why did he crash the bike? Is it significant to the ongoing story, or simply a setup for this week’s episode?
House is a very experienced biker, and he’s had that Honda since the beginning of season two. It is clear that he was the only one involved in the crash, although I suppose any police investigation might have occurred off camera. Is his pain getting worse, so that even riding his bike has become a problem for House? I don’t think it was drugs or that he was high, because I’m sure the attending (who had quite a distaste for our hero) would have made some sort of remark about it.
Is House having neurological symptoms related to long-term narcotics use? Or due to the deep brain stimulation procedure done on him in last season’s “Wilson’s Heart?” Or is the emotional strain getting to him finally? He’s had so many losses this year: first Wilson, then his (hated) father; the threat of losing Cuddy, I wonder if it’s all taken its toll. I don’t think House has completely processed Amber’s death and his (indirect) role in it. I’m curious as to how this will play out in the final act of the season. My guess? It will be one House plot device…er…mystery we’ll never hear about again.
Why was House admitted to Middletown General Hospital overnight? Anyone catch the fact that House was admitted to the hospital? He’d left the ER and had been admitted to a room (with a roommate who snores). With seemingly minor injuries from the motorcycle accident, why admit him? It doesn’t make much sense unless there’s something else going on. Were they concerned about head injuries? Did they see something on an X-ray or in another test? I’m tempted to think it was another plot device to further the story, but I’m equally tempted to believe there’s something more that is still to be revealed. What say you?
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Nate
Honestly Barbara, I think that the end of LOCKED IN with it becoming all blurred was a metaphor and a plot point. In the promo it seems to continue where he walks from the elevators. Off topic: How great is that promo?
I know the spoilers you speak of and will kindly leave any of them out of my comment. To get back to what I was saying... that is the great thing about HOUSE. The writers effortlessly peel more and more away from his character every episode. I think the ending blur represented the fact that the real person he wants to be can't break what people see him as. Like Lee, inside he wants people to see him for what he is. He wants to be able to walk without a limp, and converse without pushing people away. But, the fear of getting hurt again stops him time and time again.
Lee in this episode is mistaken as a cheater, and a liar. It doesn't matter what justifications he has, he can't explain them. House is to Lee like Wilson is to House. Wilson is House's best friend, but also his connection to the outside world. Would house be anybody without Wilson? Would he ever be able to even remotely fit in with the outside? I don't think so. Just like House was able to explain what Lee couldn't; Wilson does that for House. The patient didn't only resonate deeply, but I think you are meant to see Wilson as House's communication, like a translator for the countless people that can't pick up House's good side.
I wonder if he went to a psychiatrist because he is worried that Wilson will grow tired of being his outside line. Maybe House just wants a friend, not an outside communication. But, when Wilson goes snooping and finds that House is going to a psychiatrist, House sees it as futile, and so gives up the attempt. I think the blurry end meant that no matter what he tries, he'll always be trapped inside his wounded self. I wonder if House feels like his true self is stuck inside, and will do anything to break free, even if that means he dies trying...
2 - JL
Thanks for this great article, Barbara. After getting somewhat blown away and befuddled by the sheer volume of true/false spoilers and shrieking around the internet lately, I find it so refreshing to have someone able to restrict their focus on what has actually happened within the show.
Not having seen 'Locked in' yet, my thinking is restricted to what other people have said about it - not very reliable. So I'll restrict my comments to your final question about House and Cuddy.
Having just seen 'Hello Kitty', I'd read many comments noting the unusual camera angle used to film House answering his phone in bed. Lots of people said they expected him to put down the phone and then turn to reveal Cuddy next to him.
I don't know about that part, although I did see their point. It was more that, combined with the next thing -
House SINGING, "I'm just a girl who can't say no," on his way into the DDX afterwards - was so reminiscent of his time with Stacy, I couldn't quite discount its significance, especially as there didn't seem any particular relevance to the story at hand.
Is the affair with Stacy the only other time House has entered singing? Did I miss the relevance to the case or to his team? Because I can only see it as deliberately suspicious otherwise...
(If TPTB are going to reveal that House and Cuddy have been in a Relationship for awhile and don't show how that came about, I'll be most annoyed.)
3 - j.i.m.
What a nice surprise, Barbara, thank you.
The question of why House crashed his motorcycle and why he stayed overnight in the hospital may be connected. If his crash was precipitated by his body failing him, he would be desperate to know what caused that failure. He would want all the tests applicable to be performed, requiring an overnight stay. The outward appearance points toward a golden opportunity to acquire a b-load of vicodin.
Or the accident was a fluke, a coincidence that put him next to the patient of the week and he stayed overnight in the hospital to pursue his patient's case.
House was in New York to see his psychiatrist. For House, that is almost as out of his comfort zone as confessing to a priest. House would probably more readily risk death than put himself under a psychiatrist's care. Talk about doing something! Barbara asks what would motivate such an incredible, unprecedented action? My imagination comes up with various measures and degrees of love, fear, longing, despair, need, desire, ambition, and inspiration.
The ending elevator door sequence entered the realm of the surreal, perhaps originating from a recurring visual failure that also caused the motorcycle accident. The look of fright, without a trace of surprise, on House's face also points in this direction. The harsh comment by Wilson, "You'll end up alone", could have been provoked by Wilson's own guilt over outing House's psychiatry visit.
I wonder, do the last four episodes follow uninterrupted?
4 - Wnkybx
Very juicy questions, Barbara. I love that you address all the different points of view.
I agree that House's admission to the outside hospital is suspicious. As viewers we discover the mysteries of his life when the other characters do, so whatever caused him to be admitted will probably be addressed later ... I don't think we have heard the end of the bike accident. It's a subtle detail, but the show is riddled with subtleties. Less probable would be that House faked some test results to get himself admitted so that he could have more time to convince Lee to be transferred to PPTH. Whatever the reason House ended up staying at the hospital, it fits nicely into the recurrent theme of "is there a Master Plan?" ... because as stated in "Unfaithful" too many coincidences (House's ER visit, his admission, Lee's specific condition of being locked-in) may not actually end up being coincidences at all.
As for the blurry vision, using it as a continuation of the metaphor is a creative risk because it opens up the specific questions we all are asking, possibly misleading rather than conveying something about House's character. If it was truly just a creative point and not a plot point, the director quasi-failed in the confusion created and the message not clearly communicated. If it was a plot point, it's brilliant in the discussion it's generated. I am leaning more towards plot point because the patient's blurry vision had to do with ulcerative keratitis from his infection, not from being locked in. House may have another medical condition because camera work revealing a patient's blurry vision usually points toward a neurological problem (like in House vs. God, also when House was tripping to get rid of his rival's bogus migraine medication). The exception was at the end of "Lines in the Sand," when the autistic patient had been treated for his worms already and still saw House through a blurry lens. Maybe this episode is an echo of that.
JL, I also noticed House singing and was reminded of when he had come into the office after a romp in bed with Stacy. The lyrics though are more suggestive of House trying to court Cuddy optimistically and the fact that their new comfortable dynamic is bringing him happiness of some sort. I don't think the writers would dare to leave a good chunk of Huddy fans out of the process of watching House and Cuddy come together ... it would cause too much outrage and disappointment. Many fans would mutiny.
It's all very interesting. Very, very interesting.
5 - barbara barnett
Nate--thanks for the thoughtful remarks. House has recently gotten annoyed that neither Wilson nor Cuddy can see him for who he really is. He's buried himself so deeply inside the House persona that he is literally locked into it. And now that he's making an effort to climb out of it, no one's really letting him do that. He's trying to do it quietly -- no fanfare. But he can't even do that. No wonder he thinks it's futile.
It was interesting the way the promo seemed to organically flow from the episode and for a second I wasn't even sure we were in the promo yet. Wow. I can't wait for Monday night.
JL--thanks. One of the things that fueled my writing this piece was the swirl of rumors and spoilers and speculation. It's hard to tell what's what, so (the process-oriented analyst that I am) I needed to boil things down for myself to what we actually know--not what I've hear might (or might not) happen (and when or when not). Sheesh.
I don't think House and Cuddy are as yet sleeping together. House has come in singing a few other times (Deception, for example--"ain't he sweet?") So I'm not sure that's evidence one way or the other. I loved the way she fussed over him (like Stacy did in Hunting, right?) and his tease about the "late Victorian corset"
"love, fear, longing, despair, need, desire, ambition, and inspiration." of these emotions, j.i.m I think the most likely are fear, longing, desire -- and most importantly despair. House is desperate (why else go to a shrink, which, as you said would be the last thing House would do oridinarly). I think he has long ago (like weeks ago) realized that he has a very, very bleak future of loneliness and unremitting pain and misery. Cuddy telling him (honestly) that she didn't really want him at Rachel's simchat bat I think really hit him very, very hard--much harder than he might have thought it would have. Staring from the final scenes of that episode we almost have a continuum of House's state of mind.
I wonder if he was returning home from seeing the psychiatrist when he crashed the motorbike? If she told him some truths that were difficult to hear--or more likely that he revealed things to her that he's revealed to no one else--ever, he would have been pretty upset on the road. Could he have been so distracted by his raging thoughts that he crashed the bike? Or was he on the way there and the numerous phone calls to his cell phone was his worried shrink that he never made it to the appointment?
6 - Meena
Again, thank you Barbara for not one, but two reviews/analyses this week!
When I was watching Locked In, I also quietly noticed the 'throwaway' line where House talks about the merits of MRIs vs. hand-holding, for the first time articulating out loud that science perhaps does not automatically trump non-science (for lack of a better term). Science may fix a problem - but it can't explain it fully. I thought it was a huge moment, and the look in HL's eyes was fantastic. He is an absolutely incredible actor (and though I am significantly younger than he is, those reading glasses get me every time as well;)).
The blurry eyes thing at the end - I thought it was metaphorically blurry, not literally so, but either could be very interesting for the future. I find this show is strongest when it doesn't try and enforce a set of moral consequences on its characters' actions - I thought the Tritter arc was a little too "Reefer Madness" for me, while Amber dying, though sad and unfair, was more honest and reflected the realities of life more. But at the same time, House shouldn't be treated as indefatigible or indestructible, given all he has been through, physically and mentally.
In terms of the underlying theme of coincidences this season, I found it particularly interesting that House is discovering that, while coincidences might not be God necessarily remaining anonymous (for he is an athiest), they can still inform your life and have a profound effect in how you evolve as a human being. It's not just one day, one room, but all the other days and rooms and people that come before it that determine who you are, how you tackle each day, and the rooms you might move to next. I am really wondering where they are going with this (if they are at all).
I am so glad someone else noticed the singing "I'm just a girl who can't say no." Other than the Stacy moment, I do remember House singing "Ain't she sweet" in Deception, from Season 2, but it tied right into the POTW's diagnosis in the end...in this case it didn't make any sense, and I have to wonder if I am onto something or rather I need to find something better to do with my days:)
As an aside, I will say that I think I am the only person not excited by the promo for next week - as with all of Fox's House promos, I find them utterly overdone and frankly ridiculous, especially for a show that is usually undercooked and more subtle. I imagine the reddened voice-over guy in his booth, embarrassed over the hyperbole he must conjur for each episode:) The first full episode of House that I ever watched was "House's Head", which still remains one of my favorites - as do many of the towards-the-end-of-the-season episodes (Three Stories, No Reason, etc.) - so I am still hopeful that the writers will come up with something mindful and unique for the remainder of the season.
7 - Reine
I wanna believe House and Cuddy aren't together yet 'cause I really wanna see the whole thing xDDD.
OMG about eing admitted in the hospital!!! I noticed it too!! 'cause he was like there normal and suddenly he's wearing a robe an everything, even my mom who doesn't really pay attention to the show asked me: why is he wearing that? he was ok in the previous part!! But I hope he isn't sick or something :(.
Thanks for your articles :D. They're awesome :D.
8 - Meena
One quick thought I forgot - does anyone else see this sort of carpe diem theme running through House this season? (And it wasn't RSL that led me to that conclusion!). After almost dying in the bus crash, he had a wake-up call of sorts to change his life in order to be "not miserable" anymore, and he keeps trying out new things (though not sticking with any of them). Even kissing Cuddy was perhaps a mangled attempt to seize the day (though he only got so far as her breast). As the season ends, will his reluctance to stick to change come to bite him in the a**? In my experience, this is one way that I found that the universe DOES settle the score.
9 - Elisa
Well, Hugh Laurie has said repeatedly in interviews that the major characters in television are not allowed to change, only the characters around them. Because that is the nature of television. How would you figure that into the equasion, Barbara? I saw a recent interview of HL of him saying the same thing.
10 - blacktop
Barbara, nice way to sum up the quandries raised by this excellent episode. I am in the camp which believes that House's motorcycle accident was a McGuff, a seemingly large plot point which in reality leads no where and means nothing. I don't think we will ever hear of this accident again. I do think that House's visit to the therapist are important in signalling his growing desperation in trying to find a way out of the constrictions of his personal situation. House wants to be pain-free and to find a way to get a chance at a "normal" life, the life exemplified by Lee and his beautiful family.
Likewise, I believe that the strange camerawork at the closing shot was meant as a metaphor for House's narrowing life options. He was absolutely pole-axed by Wilson's blunt statement that he seems locked into his destiny and will end his life alone. The contrast of House's bleak personal prospects with the loving and supportive family which sustained Lee through his ordeal was the central imagery of this episode.
On the House/Cuddy front, I don't know whether they have launched their affair or not, but I would not be at all surprised to find out later that they are indeed getting it on and have kept their enhanced relationship a secret from hospital colleagues and from the audience. I too was struck by the import of House singing "I'm just a girl who can't say no." The lyrics are too saucy, sexy, and exhuberant for this to be a random gesture.
Keeping their affair a secret seems like a particularly Housian thing to do given his fierce privacy issues and Cuddy's presumed concerns about her professional position. (It also strikes me as a perfectly David Shore-like stunt to pull off.) If this is the case, the reveal to all of us would be a priceless and stunning way to end the season, no?
11 - byzantine
Dear Barbara,
Thank you for providing us with more food for thought.
At first I did think that House’s blurred vision was a metaphor, but afterwards I realized--it is too simple of a metaphor, the connection too obvious. The creators of this show do not usually resort to such obviousness. And this is how they get us involved in these fascinating discussions.
I am sure that most people have experienced physical reaction when ‘hit’ with the truth, the one we do not wish to know (or hear about) and fiercely, or rather fearfully, avoid. For some people it manifests in belabored breathing, chest pain, loss of appetite. Did you notice that House's vision got blurred only after Wilson ‘hit’ him with what House must be especially fearful about--the truth about his loneliness. Is it possible that this is the character's ‘signature’ reaction to the one truth he wished to remain unspoken, but of which he is so well aware. Perhaps this is what he heard from the psychiatrist in NYC and that is why he crashed his motorcycle. Just a thought.
12 - KS
I didn't get a chance to look through all of the preceeding posts, which I will hopefully do sometime today. But, in the meantime, I had to comment on this:
"And here I thought Hugh could not look sexier, those reading glasses just do something to me..."
Amen! :D
13 - Orange450
"How did House manage to crash his motorcycle?"
As Georgette Heyer said, "the best of us take a toss sometimes." Even an expert rider can wipe out over some unexpected gravel or too tight a turn at too slow a speed. So I'm not concerned over why it happened - I think House had to be put in that ER next to Lee somehow, and that was the how. I'm actually more interested in why he had a head abrasion, and it took me a while to figure it out.
We know that House rides with a helmet - a black half-face. Every helmet has a chin strap - even a half-face. I remember noticing that when Cameron put on the helmet in Deception, she didn't fasten it - she just plunked the helmet on her head. When House was pulled over by Tritter in Fools for Love, he was also wearing it without the chin strap. I guess *nobody* looks cool fumbling with the little buckle under the chin - not even House. But it would explain why he had the scrape, because the helmet would have rolled right off at the first impact.
As to why he was admitted overnight - unfortunately that precaution is probably front and center with most of us these days. How sadly prescient of the show!
Why was he in New York?
(Visiting me, of course :-)). Well, ever since Birthmarks, S5 has been all about House taking "baby steps" towards growth, self-awareness, personal progress. As the season progressed, I think his motivations - perhaps originally precipitated by his father's death, and what he learned about himself then - have only increased. So no more baby steps. I agreed with you, Barbara, a few weeks ago that the methadone may have been an attempt to get into a frame of mind/body that might mesh better with Cuddy's current state. Unfortunately, House couldn't continue with it. Well, therapy is a much bigger step in that direction than methadone. So yes, I think Cuddy is a significant part of it. But not the only part - I think he's been working on himself all season.
What happened in the last moments?
Is it possible that Wilson finally made - in that very moment - the connection that so many of us have made already? That House *is* motivated to change, and Cuddy is a part of that motivation? Could he have been warning House that if he doesn't continue, he'll never get what he wants - or if he does, for a while - it won't last? (Despite my comment that House doesn't like processes that take a long time to show results, I think that if his best friends left him alone sometimes, and didn't always feel compelled to mix in his private concerns, House would be more inclined to try them.)
If House and Cuddy are already involved - I think it would be a stroke of pure genius on the part of TPTB! That never occured to me until I read all the posts speculating on the possiblity. House could definitely be trying therapy *because* he wants to give the relationship his best shot. And IF Wilson knows about the relationship, he could be warning House not to stop therapy so as not to ruin it....
14 - barbara barnett
Elisa--Yup. HL has said that several times, and he is right. I don't think that precludes wanting to change. We see new angles and layers to House because they've always been there, but are revealed in a slow tease: House the romantic; House the contemplative; House the compassionate; House the kind, etc. But his character can want to change, even try to change, and because, like in real life, change rarely happens (or happens only very slowly), it's the journey that's so interesting. It is the two steps forwards, on back...or three back that's so compelling in watching his story unfold like a novel.
I agree Blacktop that it would not be a total surprise that they were already together. I thought so at the end of season three, although I was wrong :)
Oh, Byantine. Me likey. That's a more satisfying answer knowing the way the series is shot. House was hit by Wilson's unvarnished warning. It was a shock, maybe. maybe it made him dizzy or nauseous...elicited a visceral physical reaction, hence the blurry vision. Cool.
KS--I couldn't resist.
good stuff, Orange. I hadn't given much thought to the why of the bike accident till I'd heard it discussed at length here and elsewhere. It was probably a plot device. A coincidence.
15 - hlw40
Has anyone noticed that House is not taking Vicodin? Signifiance?
16 - Sue
Wilson assumed House was seeing a psychiatrist because he had a shrink's phone number on his cell phone, and House would not take the calls in front of him. I wonder if this is true or a misdirection? I find it too much of a coincidence that House was seeing a shrink in the same city where Wilson's brother is a patient. How did House find out Wilson was dating a nurse if he wasn't somehow involved in what is happening with his brother. House would do anything to help Wilson, so helping Wilson's brother is a real reason for House to be calling a shrink in New York. House did not want Wilson to know that he was intervening in Wilson's brother's care in case nothing came of it. Remember the discussion in The Social Contract, where Wilson did not want to hear from a friend that his relationship with his brother would not work out. If House couldn't help, he would not even want Wilson to know he even tried. Was House's reference to Foreman's brother a clue to why he was really in New York?
If House was seeing a shrink in New York, it would be hard for him to hide why he was out of town on a regular basis. If this town was an hour away, and he was there for an hour, he would not be available to get back to the hospital in a hurry. We have seen House have to come to the hospital at all hours due the the urgent nature of the patient's condition.
If House was seeing a shrink, would he direct Wilson to talk to him about it afterward? "Prioritize Wilson!" The last thing House would do would be to encourage Wilson to question him.
I don't think there is anything physically wrong with House. They have gone that route many times. I think the journey for House this year is psychological, not medical. House could talk his way into staying overnight in the hospital to help Lee.
If you watch the last scene in Locked In.
When House came in singing, "I'm just a girl who can't say no," he was directly referring to 13. She was sitting in the room by herself. If you watch her reaction, she knew he was referring to her.
The House and Cuddy "get together" will not happen before we see it. There is too much they can do with their first encounter together to let it happen before we know about it.
No one has mentioned what is happening with House and Taub. I think this is going to be a significant part of the show in upcoming episodes. Taub is going through a mid-life crisis, where everything in his life is falling apart. House recorded everything Taub said to the patient. House has been more cruel to Taub than he has ever been to any other fellow. House has witnessed Taub's downfall, and while he might believe he is helping him "get over it," not everyone will react the way House expects they will. How far down will Taub go, and how much responsibility will House believe he has for what ultimately happens with him? Do you think that after all Taub said to the patient, House will let his harassment of Taub go? Was Taub taking credit for the diagnosis enough for House to lay off of him?
If you watch the last scene, House's vision was blurry BEFORE Wilson said a word to House. There was a shot of House, then they switched to Wilson. We never saw Wilson in sharp focus, starting with the first glimpse of him in that scene. They switched back to House, and then back to Wilson, where he was blurry again. Can anti-depressants give someone blurry vision? In Resignation, House encouraged the patient's parents to give her these drugs. Might he be trying them now? House was very cheerful in Here Kitty.
17 - Sue
This is a quote from Hugh from Parade Magazine. It backs up my feelings that House's brutal treatment of Taub may be responsible for his possible death.
Q: But I need to know one thing, was it something House said?
A: I've even got to be careful how I answer that because that is possibly true. One of the pieces of self-examination that House has to go through is the part that he played in this...event. Let me put it that way. I can go no further. But you're right, there is something in that. I can tell you that it's quite something. The last six shows are very, very ambitious, and we are going out on a limb here. House has problems of his own. And they're big problems.
18 - NancyGail
The instant House dies, there goes the show. The lead is always the most critical. As for the glasses, wouldn't they make sense considering Hugh Laurie is old enough to have three kids? I won't be able to wear any readers, I need my glasses to SEE.
19 - cj_housegirl
All these questions and speculations are driving me crazy! I can't go anywhere without speculation after speculation after speculation...isn't it great? :)
It is driving me crazy though and I can't wait until Monday, although that preview was completely over blown. I've given up trying to figure out what the hell is going on and have decided to just enjoy the ride. TPTB certainly know how to do season enders.
One more thing about the House over night in the hospital: How come he has a room mate? House can't afford a private room? I figure that was a cover so Lee doesn't pick up on his over obsessiveness..too late.
20 - barbara barnett
hlw40--I think he has been taking it, not in-your-face taking it; he took four at once in Locked In.
Sue--thanks for sharing. Holding my breath already in anticipation. Interesting point about the psychiatrist.
cj--the previews are always overblown. So you have to mine them for the gems :)
NancyGail--of course House won't die. He can't as you said--no more show.
Even when Mulder left XF, the show died a slow death, and he wasn't even the only central character.
21 - Wnkybx
Sue: yes! I am glad someone else isn't entirely convinced House is undergoing psychotherapy. I find that the alternatives would be much more in character for him.
And yes, dry mouth, blurry vision, drowsiness ... all side effects of SSRI's. Interesting hypothesis, but then again SSRI's would support the idea that he's seeing a psychiatrist.
22 - barbara barnett
just watched the final scene again. His vision blurred before Wilson started talking as someone above noticed. The look of abject fear came first, followed closely by Wilson's stinging words. I think House must be experiencing some sort of weird symptoms that may or may not be drug-related or and it's seriously freaking him out. And being House, he tells no one.
23 - JL
With regard to the suggestion that House's symptoms might be explained by SSRI's:
I'll just remind people briefly that House was taking anti-depressants (albeit without realising it) for one episode in Season 3, 'Resignation'. He refused to keep taking them because he said they made him 'hazy' i.e. affected his judgement.
Given House's recent refusal in 'Painless' to compromise his judgement, even when it means rejecting a pain-free life, I'd think it highly unlikely that he'd return to anti-depressants at this point.
(Really enjoying this conversation!)
24 - barbara barnett
Hi JL--It is fun to speculate, isn't it? I agree that House is not taking anti-depressants. They messed with his judgment in Season three, and as you said, he stopped taking methadone for the same reason. He's not on SSRIs.
25 - j.i.m.
Sue, Thanks for the interview from Hugh where he said,"The last six shows are very, very ambitious, and we are going out on a limb here."
This quote would lead me to anticipate that the more extreme speculations may be on target.
Sue speculated, "The House and Cuddy "get together" will not happen before we see it. There is too much they can do with their first encounter together to let it happen before we know about it."
It would be a case of something lost, something gained if we find they have already started on an intimate affair. But if they go for the same tone as the kiss, if they do indeed show them finally and first "doing the deed", it might be too much raw need for me to want to see. Beginning in the middle of their short affair would allow a whole new set of complexities to enter the scene in mid-complex. Something lost, something gained. This mid-affair presentation might be a David Shore brain-child but I don't think he shared it with Hugh and Lisa before the revealing episode was first unveiled. House and Cuddy have not conveyed one collusive glance to suggest that they have a common secret.