A sneak preview of Monday night's House, M.D., and a new poll!
And so we come to the end of this season's House, M.D., airing Monday night at 8:00 (ET) on FOX. (The network has warned that the episode runs one minute long, so make sure to set your DVR or DVD recorder to record that extra minute!) If you are not a spoiler-phobe, enjoy the two clips and be sure to participate in a new poll on the last page.…
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26 - bluehue
One thing that I have noticed in the last 3 promos are 2 quick x-ray images of
"a skull." While I voted "psychotic break,"
it is perhaps less due to the pills and more as a result of serious brain trauma. Considering House suffered a major fracture to his noggin at the close of S4, then further zapped the grey matter for Wilson. The recent m-cycle mishap is probably more significant now. He basically "detoxed" the night away with Huddy, explored his scrawled envelope list with Wilson...and still the ctb comes-a-haunting. Those x-rays must belong to dear House...and hold a clue. I just hope Cuddy doesn't leave us too cold with her administrative-like reproach to House.
For the Final ep - a tissue AND a shoe
must be in hand.
27 - sandra
My guess would be the psychotic break - there's big evidence speaking for that theory: hallucinations. A healthy mind doesn't hallucinate, no doubt about that. And the House team shooting at an old psychiatric hospital adds up to that. I doubt it has anything to do with Cuddy though. If anything him being stupid enough to sleep with her (his boss for heaven's sake!) is a symptom of his break-down. Anyway can't wait to see what's going to happen tonight!
28 - Eve
Thank you for keeping us entertained while we wait with increasing impatience for tonights finale!
I think I stared at your poll for 5 minutes before clicking an option.
I really have no clue whatsoever. You can sum up fitting arguments for every scenario.
One option that was not included but that is in my mind is the following:
What if Cuddy will be fired or leave the hospital?
Maybe she will be reprimanded for sleeping with an employee even if that would make it difficult for her to be re-instated again.
She needs to come back to the hospital in Season 6 so a door needs to be left open for her to return.
House will suffer some kind of psychotic break, who knows even kill a patient.
He will be hospitalized.
Whatever will happen, I know I'm going to love it..
This finale is going to leave me staring at the rolling credits with my mouth open in awe !
29 - nc
Barbara, I voted for psychotic break, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder whether it'll be House quitting Princeton-Plainsboro, a la various other "I quits" at seasons' end--and then something major happening after/because of that. Maybe he'll wander, shell shocked, into a bar with a piano and start playing, reminiscent of that wonderful scene in the movie Shine, but with bad things happening afterward instead of good. [No, I'm not equating House's mental state with David Helfgott's, but if he starts playing the Rach 3, I'll know we're in trouble! :-)]
I feel pretty sure that with both House and Cuddy in a state of emotional fragility, we're in for some large-scale acting out with potentially painful consequences.When it comes to love, I think House is about as mature as the average teenaged boy, and Cuddy has real approach/avoidance issues. Yikes. Part of me's not looking forward to tonight.
My two questions for Doris Egan: The issue of House's paternity fascinates me WRT its repercussions. Are we likely to find out who his real father is--and will we see more of his family? Likewise, will we ever get a glimpse of Cuddy's family, and the way her familial relationships have shaped her character? We've learned a lot about most other main characters' families.
Thank you as always for your insights, your strong sense of these characters, and your encyclopedic House scholarship!
30 - nc
Oh, and one other thing: TPTB at Blogcritics seem to have changed the comment display format again, with ads in medias res and large chunks of white space before the comments begin. This change now totally crashes my usual browser and looks like poo in the others. Waah! Bring back the old format! And the preview button!
31 - AreKay
Barbara,
Thanks so much for your always interesting reviews. I simply have no idea what's going to happen with House. The writer's are brilliant; I wouldn't even try to speculate.
I agree with the person who said they've noticed little bits from other films; books; TV shows. I've seen a few that could have been consciously or subconsciously taken from M*A*S*H (Hawkeye/House moments).
I,too, am on pins and needles waiting for tonight's finale. But it's going to be a long wait for Season Six.
32 - Kim
I don't know what to expect for tonight, but the best.
About DE questions. I trust you Barbara and I know you will do a great interview. I'm curious as sdemar of why she had to re-write some scripts of the season finale.
Waiting for the last piece of season five puzzle to be delivered.
33 - Chrisden
The options have disappeared so i couldn't vote on the actual poll.
With writers this brilliant it's too hard to predict so i'm not going to delve into what i think is going to happen during the episode. I'm only going to predict a possible ending.
Taking a small quote from one of Hugh Laurie's most recent interviews and using the words as a clue. "We are going out on a limb here".
I think House decides to/take/s the drastic decision to have his bad leg amputated and either Wilson and or Cuddy find him before it happens and may have him admitted into a psychiatric hospital or their going to leave it on a cliffhanger until season 6 as to whether he has or hasn't. This may sound utterly ridiculous and i'm most probably completely wrong but you just never know.
Happy watching everyone. I probably won't get to see the episode but am really looking forward to reading your review Barbara and all the feedback:))
34 - magz
Hi, Barbara,
Like the majority of respondents, I voted for 'psychotic break', as the writing seems to have been pointing in this direction over the last few episodes. However, I think they have run the gamut of self-destructive acts, so I think House will instead lash out at someone else this time, really hurting someone, and making this the 'most shocking' episode yet. And I think that someone will be Wilson or someone on his team.
Just my speculation. I can't wait to see what happens tonight - the sneak peeks are pretty funny.
35 - Celaeno
I can't imagine Cuddy outrightly rejecting House. She might tell him that they can't have a conventional relationship, but I don't think that would count as rejection. I think they both realize that a conventional relationship would fail. What I'm trying to say is that I think he knows that there is a difference between Cuddy loving him and Cuddy wanting a full-blown relationship at this point.
That might have sounded like a whole lot of nonsense.
And - hey - Chrisden! I would like to say that the "going out on a limb" idea is probably my favorite piece of speculation ever. That would be just like Hugh, wouldn't it?
36 - Flamingo
I believe House is truly in love with Cuddy and has been troubled by her lack of response. e.g. "Why do you care if I'm happy?" and so many more, especially in S5. Wanting her has been in the back of his mind for a long time and made the recent tragic events even harded to cope with. Wilson telling him he'll end up alone was a further reminder of his need for her.
37 - Maryangela
Hi, Barbara!
I think I'd pick a big fat nervous breakdown - mostly because I believe it's the one option that would give us the best material for the next season.
(I love how reading your articles really help me to understand my own feelings and thoughts on House episodes. thanks for writing!)
38 - nc
It just ended.
Now I know why the detox was "over" in one night.
Clever. Yet part of me feels really cheated. We were manipulated the same way House was. I suppose that was just the setup for the premise, and a necessary ruse.
A brilliantly written episode, but talk about going from light to dark in seconds. Everything flipflopped: Chase and Cameron from off to on, Eugene Schwartz from acid reflux to pancreatic cancer, the POTW from deathly ill to not, and House from clean to committed.
I guess that leaves one great big question for Doris Egan: how much of what we just saw was supposed to be the reality which has been eluding House, and how much was supposed to be the delusion which got him committed?
39 - wackjob
(Picking up fallen jaw from floor)
That was a brilliantly written episode, and yes, I'm glad to know why the one-day-wonder-detox was in there. The ending was incredible.
As someone else wrote (paraphrasing): you want sweetness and light? Then you ain't watching House!
40 - Flamingo
It was a beautifully crafted and acted episode. But, right now, I'm very disappointed. It was the easy way out and this extremely talented group of writers and producers didn't need to take this very dark path to keep the show going. I felt sure they had the talent and desire which could overcome the Moonlighting downfall. Perhaps they are tired and ready to move on.
41 - barbara barnett
I think they almost had to do this at some point. House couldn't stand on the ledge forever, so he jumped off it. And down the rabbit hole. However they handle it next year (and I'm thinking it's somethign called brief psychotic disorder. It's a short duration, stress-induced or trauma induced schizophrenia-like mental illness from which there is recovery in several weeks' time
42 - magz
Wow, what an episode. While I did not see that reality-shift coming, I admit to being disappointed that last week's sometimes-moving/sometimes-hot scenes between House and Cuddy were not what they seemed - I wanted them to get together, even though I knew it would not last. One moment he tells her they should move in together (and she smiles at him!), the next he's moving somewhere really quite different and lonely.
It will be interesting to see how Season 6 begins.
I will miss my HL fix over the summer, sniff, sniff.
43 - Flamingo
I believe those of us who enjoy House and Cuddy won't be disappointed next season. TPTB will know how to keep us coming back each week. But, right now, I will enjoy my summer because, truth be told, I'm not going to be spending time thinking about House and the darkness that is to come. Unfortunately, as a new viewer this season, who purchased the S1-S4 videos to catch up after getting hooked by the USA re-runs, I was kind of looking forward to going through the anticipation of S6. I am so disappointed.
44 - christine
when is season 6 starting???
45 - Sera G
Hello!
Wow!
Christine: Not soon enough! Usually at the end of September.
I was worried that the "shocker" would be that the last episode was an hallucination. I was also worried that House would do something stupid and cruel to hurt Cuddy. I guess I am glad it was the former, rather than the latter.
For those of us who love Huddy and thought the love scene was beautiful and passionate, perhaps TPTB will use some of Season 6 to really develop their feelings and give the relationship a chance. I can dream, can't I!
House having to deal with all the emotional and physical trauma that he has experienced is a long time coming. I said on a previous post that he really hasn't dealt with being shot, having the ketamine fail, as well as the brain trauma from House's Head/Wilson's Heart. It will be interesting to see where the writers go with his experience at the hospital.
I know House (the show) is dark and they don't do easy or happy, but would it really be so bad to have him confront some of his demons and be able to find some sense of contentment? I loved seeing him at peace after the 'detox' and more relaxed at home with Cuddy. The 'story' that he tells himself could happen. I would love to see the writers give it a shot. House is complicated and nothing he does will be ordinary or conventional. It would be interesting to see what they would concoct for a House who is pain or Vicodin free and retains his brilliance.
Although we never saw him pre-infarction, the things that Stacy, Cuddy and Wilson said about him shows that his sarcasm, wit, incredible mind and puzzle solving mania were there before the pain. What would it be like to see a detoxed (for real) House interact with the people who only know him as he is now?
Okay, I'm rambling. Blame it on unfulfilled hopes and sadness that once again, we send House off in pain and misery.
46 - Lindsay
I just recently finished watching the last two weeks in a two hour setting, and what a complete shock and roller coaster ride. After the end of the season finale, I honestly didn't know what to think and after reading all of your blogs, I REALLY DON'T know what to say. I'm so in shock. I'm not sure what I had hoped for. I'm such a "happily ever after" person, and I guess I jumped on the band wagon and had hoped Cuddy and House would finally get a chance. I was all about him keeping her lipstick in his pocket, like a middle school love potion we all go under. HIGHLY disappointed when I found out it was all the pills talking - that none of that happiness was real. Just once, why can't he be happy?
Definitely a little anxious and afraid for Season 6. I've known too many shows to get great, and then the writers make a big change, and everything screws up. I know change is needed, but please take in consideration of screwing with a good thing. House wouldn't be House without Hugh Laurie, so I pray the writers and producers aren't even considering such an impossible change to come. If so, they need to end the show now. It'll never work without House.
47 - Sam
SPOILER ALERT:
I have to say, these last few episodes have gotten progressively darker...darker than usual...and the season finale only continued this downward spiral. House and Cuddy finally sleeping together seemed too good to be true when it happened, but during my first viewing of the finale, it seemed plausible. The lipstick on his face and in his hand, Cuddy's first interaction with him, and the like. I tried to ignore the clues that were there...the lack of lipstick on the cup, the lack of reaction of the team of him twirling the lipstick in the conference room, Cuddy's overwhelming coldness towards him throughout the episode, etc. I first thought Cuddy was avoiding the elephant in the room, but there was no elephant. It was all a ruse to get the audience sucked into the happy possibility that House and Cuddy will finally become Huddy, and that House will finally stop using vicodin, only to dash us with a cruel 6 minute examination of House's hallucinations and his visit to the pyschotic hospital.
Thoughts:
1. HL's and RSL's acting, especially in the final scenes, was absolutely brilliant. The look on their faces as HL walked towards the hospital was absolutely heartwrenching, especially with the background music.
2. Cameron and Chase finally tie the knot. Finally. There whole story line was driving me crazy. I believe they both took a step back in their importance to the show...their story arc seemed forced and was tiresome. Honestly, you could've cut them both out of the show this season and I wouldn't really care. I hope they actually have a story arc that interacts with the rest of the show, rather than completely independent of it.
3. The reappearance of Kutner was pretty fitting because his only relevance to the series arc has seemed to come since his death. But, beyond that, I found it a bit superfluous.
4. Amber is creeping me out. The look on House's face when she reappeared, which wasn't a look of horror but rather a look of devestation, was memorable, to say the least.
5. Where does this show go from here? I'm not sure. I can see House being stuck in a psych ward, with the team coming to him to ask him for medical advice. I can see his desire to solve medical mysteries driving him back towards pyschological sanity. My only fear is that the writers will try to create a semblance of normalcy around the show, with House playing a minor role. I don't give a shit about Hameron, Fourteen, Taub, or the like at this point. I want the focus to be placed squarely on House. The show cannot continue without him, and trying to do so would only be foolish.
48 - Meena
Barbara, thank you for this article. Even in your comments, I loved it when you described yourself as an "angst whore" (I work at the same brothel), I just love the way you put things.
I have resisted commenting until after viewing the season finale...definitely wow (they've reduced me to monosyllabism).
(Spoilers Below)
While I think of something else to say regarding the season finale, I am greatly looking forward to your interview with Doris Egan. If I were ever so lucky, here is what I would want to know (to start):
1. So, is Cuddy's faux lipstick shade named "Red Herring?" Seriously, it seems the concept of a 'red herring' has reappeared a lot over this entire season - especially in the later end. How was this planned by the writers? Was it intentional? Even the promos led to the delusion, fantastic.
2. And, as such, there is still little known about what House has, or even which reality he exists in (and now, as viewers, which one we are supposed to trust). Will we ever get an answer, or will it be another Kutner situation? Will we, as the viewer, get to experience his emotional trauma, if that is what is wrong? Or will he come back after the summer with a nice tan and haircut again?
3. I really loved that the final two episodes of this season were named after two great songs, and yet the songs weren't actually played during the episode but certainly 'appeared' in other ways. In addition, I loved the use of the Rolling Stones' As Tears Go By, one of my favorite songs by them and so absolutely, appropriately detached and sad. As these songs are so integral to the plot, particularly the end, was this something within your control as a writer? More generally, how did you collaborate with the music dept, or the director, etc, to pull off such a great script?
4. Just a comment...What a hard episode this must have been to write - to tie up so many loose ends over the season, as well as set up the plot, dialogue, and even patients to have multiple meanings and interpretations (more than the usual double entendres). I have to say, the first half felt like an authentic Housian reaction to detoxing and sleeping with Cuddy somehow - you got me. But the end has left me breathless, not for what happened as much as how it enfolded. I love that this show deigns to be intelligent and convoluted.
Thanks again, Barbara, for allowing me (us) this outlet. In keeping with the finale, I can now delude myself that I am conducting the interview;)
49 - Mary
Hi, Barbara!
Just wanna know if you're writing "Both sides now" a review anytime soon... your text is delightful and I just can't wait to read it! Thanks,
Mary
50 - JL
Barbara, I need to detox from this episode. It is burning up my brain. Discussion is HIGHLY NECESSARY.
That, plus all of 'Under My Skin' now needs review.
Please help.
My basic reaction to this episode is, "I NEED Barbara's review NOW. Someone needs to make sense of this madness."
Having said that, I know that you will not want to be rushing this review. There's a LOT to consider.
I respect that.
I can wait.
*fidgets*
*shakes*
*jigs around...*
Really. I can.
...............................
(In all seriousness, I have thoughts on this episode, but I'm not sure whether I ought to get into them here, or whether to wait to post them in a Proper forum. The former might allow me a little more sleep.)
51 - Dee
I'm SO confused!! I'm not sure what was real and what wasn't. If everything from last week when he was standing in her office to when he was standing in her office last night was a delusion, what happened during that time? I am just so, so, so confused!! Can we get some clarification from Doris Egan on that? thanks!
52 - Quin
Question for Doris Eagan:
Ever since "One Day, One Room," we've seen House move glacially toward the notion that there is a qualitative aspect to life as well as the quantitative, that even though our lives can be objectively described as a series of electrical impulses that drive our thoughts and movements, that possibly there is something more that is unknowable and undefinable. Will his journey into the unknown at the psychiatric hospital result in him becoming more rigidly logical?
53 - Kim
All I can say after watching BSN is that the writers are pure genius, in this case Doris Egan.
I'll wait for the review..
Thanks, Barbara
54 - Houseaddict
Awesome job as ever, Barbara...Can't wait for your interview with Doris Egan....That finale was the best I ever saw....So looking forward to season 6...Hope you can get some information ...
Thanks a lot for your wonderful work
55 - barbara barnett
Just finished my commentary on the finale, and it will be up soon. There is too much to say in one article, so it isn't as long as it might have otherwise been, but clearly there will be much more to say after my interview.
56 - Eve K
Wish-list for Doris Eagan & Co:
It would have been wonderful to se House work with Cate the psychiatrist, they had such a great chemistry. He already trusts her. He saved her, now she could return the favour.
I do hope that they choose to let him spend some time in therapy. That they dare to step out of the procedural formula for some episodes anyway.
57 - mary
I have never been so disgusted with an ending in my life. House and Cuddy. All season very evident there are deep feelings. Then nothing!! Whats up with that. It really seems like many of us viewers got cruely punked. I might not stick around for season 6.
58 - Liz
I am particularly curious as to whether House and Wilson's brother are now committed to the same hospital?
In this episode was House continuing to use Vicodin or did he up his medication to oxycodone?
59 - mary
Barbara,
It looks like the psychotic breakdown on last article's list was much needed to lead us to this awesome season finale!
It broke my heart to realize how badly House wanted his share of happiness. The smiles, the memories, the lipstick... the desperation of realizing what did not happened. But I must say I feel relieved aswell it solved my own questions about the stupid 12 hours detox and the false redempting relationship hopes. It stayed loyal to the whole concept of the show, no matter how it'd hurt the fans (like myself). Acid House. Can't wait for the next season.
60 - Miri
As for house "practicing medicine" again, I think House's hallucinations are going to be linked to a disease and once he is cured of this disease, he can practice medicine again. It could be a tumor and if the hallucinations were caused by that and not the vicodin, than he can practice medicine again.
61 - david
SPOILER ALERT (Stop reading now if you don't want to see spoils)
So apparently 3 of the choices for the poll are correct: Cuddy "fires" house, House "quits", and House goes to a psychiatric hospital. :)
62 - ilovehugh
is there gonna be a 6th season since house is in a psyciatric hospital and all :S
ILOVE HOUSE AND DONT WANT IT TO END!!!!!