Many questions still dangle after this week's House episode, "Locked In." Will they be answered by season's end?
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.…
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26 - JL
(Oops, my error - I didn't mean 'Painless', I meant 'The Softer Side'. Not that it's relevant to the discussion, but just for the sake of accuracy.)
27 - Eve K
Blacktop, I agree with you on everything you wrote. Im starting to like that they "stop midproject" with many of the plots. (The desk, Wilsons brother, and now the bike crash)
Thats lifelike. Maybe we will learn more later, maybe not.
As for the Cuddy/House sex, in season three, I think they were in a different place than now.
Turning point for Cuddy might be the stunt House pulled with the "truth-telling patient". Maybe she tought -"Oh what the hell, lets try this, I havent had sex in years" (-:
28 - Robin
I have learned not to read too much importance into anything that happens on this show after the DBS turned out to have meant absolutely nothing. I still can not view Wilson the same after that and I doubt if House's wellbeing is as high on his list as before if he is willing to make him expendable for a girlfriend. So I was glad to hear Lee doubt their friendship by the elevator. And I believe Wilson would love to change House into appearing more normal even if its just a grotesque imitation of normal. Appearance is important to Wilson so he thinks House would be content to be a happy fake like him.
I doubt if House really knew about Wilson's girlfriend but it was an easy reach to assume Wilson was dating his brother's caretaker to throw him off. It appeared to me that the psychiatrist had called House a few times. I wonder if House was upset when he left is the reason he crashed. There may be a significance to the blurring at the end but I will wait and see. This show is good at creating big emotional dramas but the follow-up tends to fizzle out into much ado about nothing. I just don't want to be sucker punched again like I was after the DBS. I loved Lee's observation of Huddy. It seem so natural. One more speculation. Who gave House the methodone? Could it be Chase? I loved the scene of them over the chessboard in Human Error. They appeared very at ease with each other. I think the reason House fired him is because he knew him too well. Could there be a growing friendship with House/Chase that has not been seen yet?
29 - Debbie
#28 - Robin, what does DBS stand for?
30 - barbara barnett
Debbie--DBD=Deep Brain Stimulation: the procedure that House went through to recover his memory in "Wilson's Heart."
31 - Debbie
Thanks, Barbara. I thought it might've been an acronym for an epidose title and I was wracking my brain tryng to figure it out!
Thanks, again.
BTW, I am loving this discussion!
32 - Orange450
Just a thought -
Regarding House's blurred vision - has anyone discussed whether tears might have been welling up in his eyes? When 13 apologized to Lee that she sent his kids out because he was crying - didn't his vision blur up? So since House and Lee are parallels to a certain extent - except that Lee has his loving family - wouldn't it make sense that House would feel emotion and get teary when Wilson tells him that he's going end up alone?
33 - JoJo
Barbara are you going to do any more revisited posts?
34 - barbara barnett
Hi JoJo--I will probably do several of the "revisited" reviews over in the weeks after the finale. I'll probably focus on season one first, then seasons two and three.
35 - Donna
Hi Orange. I’ve just finished watching 'Locked In' again. House's eyes appeared dry to me in that scene.
Lee's vision also blurred when not crying. Didn't they need to apply drops to his eyes to keep them moist?
36 - Donna
Hi Barbara- As always yours is the most welcoming discussion forum for those of us so intrigued with House the show and character. I visit it regularly and was so happy and surprised to see this unexpected pre-show discussion before this Monday’s broadcast.
Regarding the final ‘Locked In’ scene and House’s reaction. I wonder if House even fully heard what Wilson said. Wilson’s voice became distorted almost simultaneously w/the visual blurring. His reaction of fear may have been to both senses operating atypically. And while we don’t know if his bike accident was just an accident, House knows. If that event and/ or others have been occurring that we haven’t been privy to, House has to be concerned about his well-being, neurologically and physically. I have to admit, it’s been a real rub for me this season, following ep. 1, that there has not been even a fleeting reference (that I can recall) to House’s neurological recovery or health since the double assaults he endured to his brain in HH and in WH last season. My hunch is that there’s a connection here to House’s current experiences.
37 - Orange450
Hi Donna. I haven't watched the episode a second time, so I have to go back and have a look, too. Yes, they did have to apply drops to Lee's eyes.
It was just a thought - I was thinking about similarities and differences between House and Lee. I was caught by surprise when 13 told Lee that he'd been crying, struck by the idea of someone crying, but not knowing that they're crying because they can't feel it. Feeling - but also not feeling, you know? So I thought that Lee's crying might have some significance over and above the poignant moment that it was.
38 - Stacey
I love your articles on House, Barbara!
Keep up the great work!
39 - Alex
I think House did really erase the shrink's number and his explanation was true - that it wasn't helping him. It makes perfect sense given House's childhood (as Wilson remarks in Birthmarks - a brilliant socially isolated teen) and the last 6 (?) years after his break up with Stacy that he figured out much of who he is and the shrink wasn't about his personality but more about his dependency on drugs.
During the last 5 seasons House never tried to change his personality, and when it was changed it was only as a 'side-affect' to him feeling less pain (beginning of season 3, this season's 'The Softer Side'). If we combine House's actions at the end of 'The Itch' and how Cuddy behaved at the end of 'The Softer Side', and add to that his conversation with Wilson at the end of 'The Social Contract' we see that House's social status remained the same since his accident (not counting Stacy) in spite of his personality. We know that Wilson knew House prior to the accident, so he is 'safe', but Cuddy hired House after the accident after he was fired from every other job he took therefore Cuddy only know the 'miserable' House, and if he wants his relationship with her to move forward he needs to change something, and because he failed to change his drug abuse he needs to change his personality. Now back to my starting point.
Not comparing myself to a fictional-genius doctor, I went to a psychiatrist myself and knew about half way into the first meeting that it's not going to work, and because I'm less arrogant than House I went to a second meeting where I finalized my decision not to go anymore. House is more than twice my age and 'slightly' more arrogant which makes perfect sense that he could make up his mind after just one session.
Not to mention that Wilson did give House anti-depression meds late in season 3, and although they made him happier (all relative) he claimed they made him 'hazy', combine that with the motorcycle clash that occurred after his meeting and we see why House is reluctant to continue his treatment.
40 - JL
Alex - Thought I'd mention that Cuddy did know House before his infarction, and before he even met Wilson. They knew each other at college, at least well enough to have a one night stand at some point during that period. So it's reasonable to suggest that she has some idea of what House was like without leg pain.
41 - Elisa
JL - it's only implied that they had a one night stand (during the episode where Cameron and Cuddy are breaking into a patient's house). Cameron questions Cuddy about their relationship because (paraphrase) "How can you be so nasty without having been nasty?" Cuddy says he was a "legend" at college, and deflects most of Cameron's other questions. Lisa Edelstein has said in interviews that it is part of her own idea of the character that they had a one-night-stand. Which does make sense in any event. But whether or not it happened in the show's terms is open to question.
42 - barbara barnett
Elisa--nope. JL is right. In Top Secret, the innuendo became canon when they said it flat out. To each other.
43 - Orange450
Elisa, the following dialogue, from "Top Secret", also implies quite strongly that there was a one-night stand at some point in their history, although one can't pinpoint the precise timing from this exchange:
HOUSE: Don't make this about me, this is your humiliation. So how much for private room coverage?
CUDDY: [Still smiling.] Get over me. [Starts to walk away.]
HOUSE: Oh give me a break. You hired me...
CUDDY: Because you're a good doctor who couldn't get himself hired at a blood bank so I got you cheap.
HOUSE: You gave me everything I asked for because one night I gave you everything you...
CUDDY: Stop staring at my ass when you think I'm not looking, showing up at restaurants where I happen to be on a date and fantasising about me in the shower. That ship sailed long ago House. Get over it.
44 - Orange450
Barbara, you beat me to it by 3 minutes. I was typing while you were posting.
45 - barbara barnett
jinx?
46 - Orange450
Jinx!
47 - cj_housegirl
Well, hopefully, we'll start to learn the answer to some of these questions tomorrow night. One more night to House!
I wonder instead of SSRIs if House's problem is PTSD? Apparently, one can experience all kinds of neurological symptoms including hallucinations. It would also explain why he saw a psychiatrist. Considering everything House has gone through over the last two years...it's a possibility.
48 - barbara barnett
Orange--I was hoping you'd understand :)
CJ--absolutely possible that House has PTSD, I've thought so for several seasons, with its source going back to his childhood traumas
49 - cj_housegirl
Oh Barbara, I just noticed that you said you'll do revisits of S1 episodes after the finale. Oh, please, please do. Blog critics didn't start covering House until S2 so no S1 reviews at all. I love Three Stories, Babies & Bathwater, Control, DNR, Socratic Method, Honeymoon, Detox, Damned If You Do...*laughing* There are just so many good ones, aren't there.
50 - Alex
JL - I agree Cuddy knew House from before the infraction but she didn't know him like Wilson does. She heard of him because of his reputation and she did sleep with him once but that's it. Keep in mind the dialogue Cuddy was having with Wilson in 'Emancipation' where she listed all of House's not-suitable-for-relationship qualities, and one was (not a quote) 'you learn that the hostility is just hostility' which further implies that her knowledge of House is restricted to his public persona, not who he really is.
51 - Eve
Alex-- I think you mean the dialogue between Cuddy and Wilson in the canteen, that was in 'the Itch'
I think at that point she was just being defensive towards Wilson. She was summarizing every reason why she and House couldn't be toghether. Self-protection if you ask me.
IMO Cuddy knows damn well who House is and what his true feelings are. She might even know him better than Wilson..I dare to say..
52 - blacktop
I agree with Eve: Cuddy's expression of reservations to Wilson in "The Itch" was a self-protective gesture. She was musing on how a possible affair with House might crash and burn and was convincing herself not to pursue the idea. I also think it is possible that Cuddy was giving a stylized but essentially accurate description of how their brief affair years ago really did turn out. She was remembering with regret, not just projecting a possible future disaster.
And yes to Eve's observation that Cuddy knows House quite well. Over the decades, she has been with him in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, rescued him from more than one death experience, and given him a professional berth and vital emotional support when everyone else abandoned him. In my opinion, the relationship between House and Wilson is tinged with tension and even anger at times, while House seems remarkably at ease with Cuddy despite her being the devil in administrative garb!
53 - barbara barnett
Agreeing with Blacktop. I think House's defacto reaction/public persona with Cuddy is in direct contradiction to how we've seen him with her when it really matters. His defenses always fold eventually with her, and his honest assessment of their relationship does often come out in little snippets: Humpty Dumpty (why she hired him--and what he really thinks about it); the fact that he lied to wilson about the kiss; Human Error, Cane and Able, etc. And Cuddy is House's protector--she sat with him in Wilson's Heart while he recovered from the DBS, she was the one he entrusted with the Ketamine; He was the one to go to her after she lost Joy---not Wilson--House. To comfort her (realizing that he'd been a bit of a selfish ass). I can't wait to see where this is going the rest of the season. EVeryone pumped for tonight?
54 - Eve
Thanks Blacktop, and I in return agree with everything you wrote.
Oh and interesting thought about Cuddy reflecting more on their brief affair years ago than about her possible future relationship with House.
I think you nailed that one!
Oh Barbara, pumped for tonight?
I would say enormously ecstatic excited, nervous, anxious and thrilled for tonight ! :)
55 - Kim
Yes, I totally agree with you blacktop. It seems that they have tried in the past but it didn't work out. I hope this time will be different.
I am so curious to know what is going to happen in the last few episodes. Especially, the one called Samsara because I'm hindu and I would like to see how they deal with the religion part.
I was checking on wikipedia the list of House episodes and Simple Explanation is directed by Greg Yaitanes, so this epi is going to be fantastic.
56 - carolyn
Just a note: being a New Yorker, Middleton is hours from NYC, where Wilson's brother is located. So I don't think House was visiting him, I think he was really going to a psychiatrist.
Oh, and definitely pumped for tonight!! Only 5 and 1/2 more hours!
57 - Kim
Many of you have commented that the blurred vision is a consequence of 1)because he is Locked In same as the patient or 2) because he has some injury.
Well, IMHO I think both are conected. It is obvious that he has been locked in for a long time in which concerns to personal relationship.
But also I think he is suffering headaches(and is said by KJ that he will suffer some mental illness)and that be connected with the blurred vision too (migraine is a example). And his travel to NYC could be related with some medical issues.
We have to wait till Simple Explanation to see if we are right or wrong in our theories.
58 - Donna
Barbara, Eve and everbody else:
Am I pumped for tonight's show???
OMG YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
59 - cj_housegirl
Okay had to post here while anxiously waiting for your review Barbara. It seems every freakin' board is up in arms about this episode and Kutner's suicide. Meanwhile, I found House's reaction to it believable and scary.
I love Kutner but this was a hard episode to watch because House is completely lost. His agreeing to or seemingly agreeing to trade a life for a liver, holy crap, wtf? That disturbed me more than the damn suicide. 13 had to remind him that it is murder, but during that whole scene I don't Know if he was even listening to her. House just looked completely out of it.
Plus, he almost killed the guy twice because he believed the original doctors diagnosis about his heart. That's not House. Everyone else is incompetent and cannot be trusted. He checks and double checks. And Cameron noticed something small and figured out the diagnosis before him? WHAT!
He's also wearing glasses again! I love House in glasses, but how many eps in the row is that now?
This better lead somewhere...
Okay, venting over. Can't wait for your article on this one. :)
60 - Barbara barnett
Cj will post tomorrow sometime. Lots to think about re house's emotional state right now. I'm terrified for him.
61 - Jonesy
"I'm terrified for him."
Me too. He looks completely thrown off balance and lost.And being who he is, he won't ask for help.
62 - Lisa Solod Warren
I am just completely undone by the suicide of my favorite character came here right away to hear what you had to say. Waiting.......
63 - barbara barnett
patience, I'm writing now (so much to say)... Kutner was my favorite of the fellows too, Lisa.
64 - Lisa Solod Warren
I am being patient, B. I just rely on YOU to put this all in perspective. It was such a shock. And I don't count myself as one of those who gives a damn about television characters. But I guess I do:)
65 - sally
"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."
I don't think the writers will be so stupid to let House and Cuddy actually come together. Keep dreaming. There are too many fans out there who don't want to see Huddy happen, and they are more than Huddy fans. They'd be more than dumb to risk even more people turning off than already have in season 5. That's why fulfilling shipper's dream is always a bad idea, no matter which ship we are talking about, and it's also why they should go back to the roots and stop concentrating on relationships.