I’m going to be adding an extra House feature weekly, so that you all don’t have to wait to express your opinions about each week’s episode. Part of Blogcritics new “TV Open Thread: For All Your Rants and Raves” feature, I’ll be posting a short episode summary write-up to start the discussion. I’ll follow up a day or two later with something longer and hopefully more considered “End of the Thought Process” piece as well. I hope you like this new approach; so let me know what you think! Now on to “Out of the
Chute.”
In the aftermath of his breakup with Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein), everyone is worried about House (Hugh Laurie). Having cleared out his bank account and checking into a hotel, House seeks to bury his pain in a bottle of Vicodin and with a series of hookers. We know that House can be self-destructive, especially when things go badly for him. And Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) is right to be worried about him.
What is House seeking in sinking into a such a dissoulte and decadent adventure? Realizing that her breakup was badly timed and unfair, and acknowledging that House was acting out of fear and did his best in a terrible situation, she knows he loves her, and that she still loves him. He deserves another chance, but as she tells Wilson, she cannot go backwards.
Worried about his best friend, Wilson insists that House is on the brink of self-destructive disaster, but despite the fact that he’s back on Vicodin and consuming enough alcohol to poison a small animal, House insists he’s not being self-destructive. But Wilson has been here before with House, watching him fall apart in the aftermath of a bad breakup (Stacy). Have House's coping skills improved since then? The hurt is still too new to really know.
In the meantime, the team treats a bull rider who is attacked by an animal. House tries to diagnose the case from the comfort of his hotel room and poolside (and in the midst of a bubble bath). And despite the booze, broads and Vicodin, House comes up with an elegant and brilliant diagnosis.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Sera G
Thanks, Barbara,
It's silly that I am the first to post, since I did not watch. I am truly glad that I didn't.
Now, Cuddy is introspective? I love her. I love LE, I love the character (former) character of Lisa Cuddy, but come on! What did she expect when she left him? I am not saying she was wrong to breakup (although I think it was) I am saying NO ONE should be surprised that he spiraled out.
Of course, now we know that there will be no more House/Cuddy, we can't even hope that in a few 'days' they will talk it out and come to at least a civilized place.
Hurtful writing! Destructive turn of events! What does this accomplish?
As I said last week, this is dismal. There is nothing you can do? Life has no hope? No matter how hard you try, it will always fall apart? Even at the beginning, when House was isolated and afraid to reach out, I never felt hopelessness from him.
I wonder if they are trying to kill this show?
2 - barbara barnett
House spends most of the episode fighting what must be a sense of hopelessness. He does it in a way that is self-destructive and in full denial of his hopelessness.
Wilson said much of what was wrong about the breakup. But that final scene. Lordy!
3 - Jaim
I was happy when Cuddy said that he may deserve another chance but this decision is not about what he deserves. Her feelings do matter. She has a right to want more from her lover. I never will accept that what he did in Bombshells was romantic, noble, or brave. He was being a coward. I'm glad that Cuddy did not let Wilson sway her into changing her mind. She does deserve better, especially now. She should not be his emotional crutch nor a self-sacrificing doormat. Yes, she loves him but when she needed him most he was escaping with drugs once again. Why in the hell should she settle for this?
4 - Jessie
I'm so glad Wilson told Cuddy what I've been thinking: "You said you didn't want him to change." Of course House needed to change for a relationship to work, and Cuddy has the right to realize she was wrong when she said that. She also has every right to demand a boyfriend who is supportive and present. But that's not House. At least not now. She should have known that before she even started up with him. And part of her did.
I felt bad for House, seeing him spiraling out of control, trying to find anything that made life worth living. But, as always, Hugh Laurie is brilliant. IIRC, he's had his own history with depression, so I imagine he was able to pull from that, in small part.
I liked House and Cuddy together, but I think it was never meant to last. I don't see them getting back together anytime soon, if at all, but I'm excited to see where both characters end up after this.
5 - Taylor
That final scene....gave me chills.
6 - RobF
The show is best when it is being brutally honest with its characters (especially House), and not giving in to the temptation to make them happy.
This new direction is honest and inevitable. House is an addict. He is selfish. He will always put himself first. Cuddy knows this and had to face up to it sooner or later.
Story arc aside, the last two episodes have been brilliantly done. When House is like this, it is almost art.
House, as always, doesn't bother to sugar-coat things to lie to himself, nor to lie about himself to those around him. His binge of self-pity with hookers and Vicodin at the hotel is pathetic, and he knows it. He essentially tells them "I need to wallow in self-pity in my usual self-indulgent disgusting manner", without making apologies.
As the episode progresses, we notice that the hookers and pills aren't making him feel better. More revealingly, even his old standby of being an acclaimed genius doesn't help make him feel good about himself. Everyone cheers his brilliant master-stroke that cures the patient, but he feels nothing. As is often the case in this show, the choice of song is very deliberate. In this case, Arcade Fire tells us:
"I'm standing on a stage
Of fear and self-doubt
It's a hollow play
But they'll clap anyway"
So they clap when he saves the day, but that is no longer enough for him. Like the rodeo star who accepted that his days of "the 8 seconds" are behind him, and knew he would find other loves, House has to be reborn and move on.
Being House, he chooses a particularly extroverted and dramatic method for this rebirth.
7 - Jill
I am saddened, yes greatly saddened that the show and character I have loved since 2004, is reduced to this pathetic man. Some say House is back, not to me is is not. This is not the House I have grown to love and feel for. Tonight I saw a different character, yes the House of the past had his prostitues. But nothing like this, he is even showing them and him to his team! House has never acted like that before. And do not even get me started on the promo for next week.
I am right now very VERY sad. The character I have grown to love all these years to me died last week, I do not see him anymore. If there is a season 8, I do not think I will be watching after what I saw tonight. But then again I don't fall into that demo that the networks want anymore, maybe that is why they made House so extreme tonight!
8 - 54
Barbara, thanks for opening the new thread. I know we're supposed to be respectful here, so I'll try to be as respectful as I can while ranting.
Unlike what I posted, or at least tried to, post in my reactions to episodes before, I find myself unable to come up with a halfway decent coherent reaction to this episode. I was/am that nauseated by it. Is it wrong that my fist was clenched because I am so upset?
The thing that kills me, in addition to this episdoe, (what with the crazy simultaneous different season weather, the hookers, and the amazingly cheap humor (gross/crass humor on House used to be funny now a lot of it just looks like a cheap attempt at shock value)), is the promo for next week. It's so...again, cheap. I hate the gimmick of the marriage thing with a passion.
If House isn't supposed to change, as the writers argue, then how could he marry anyone at all at this point? I thought marriage was "seven levels of hypocrisy" to him. So, House being a jerk will never change, but, one of his fundamental beliefs can? In line with the craziness apparent in the show right now, I would even accept that he would have a regular hooker, heck, I'd even concede he might move in with a hooker. (Why do we have to talk about hookers so much in relation to the show?) But marrying? I don't care if the marriage turns out to be fake and a device to just hurt Cuddy. This is just beyond I don't know what.
I wonder if the writers realize the massive destruction they're leaving in the wake of these gimmicks. Why do they choose to explore themes in this way? NOT exploring themes in this way was precisely why I loved the show.
The gimmicky path they are taking is literally bombshelling the show's rich history, their characters. The idea that House would choose marriage to hurt Cuddy is something that seems to come out of a badly written fanfic. And the consequences of the dramatic device used...are the writers thinking about it? House getting married in reaction to the breakup...this would be proof that (1) House really is an unreachable and unsavable jerk, (2) Cuddy was right to break up with him because, as everyone can see, the cruelty he's capable of is out of this world (3) he's so emotionally stunted that he is, really and truly, doomed to be alone. If that's the intent of the writers, well, bravo.
I read some other reactions to this night's episode, and I think that perhaps (of course I could be wrong) the newer viewers to the show thought the episode was "awesome". They thought it was suspenseful, and House at his depressed state was so much more interesting than a House who was trying to be happy. Maybe the producers and writers are gearing towards these relatively new watchers. I don't know. But, for someone who has watched every single episode, this episode was nausea, and I don't know if I can bring myself to watch next week. I wonder how much consideration goes into thinking about fans who have stuck with 'House' for years, as opposed to trying to attract a wider audience for that episode only for ratings purposes.
9 - Jill
Thank you 54, you feel the way I do, the ones of us who have watched since the begining, are not cared about any more, its just the ratings they care about now. I am crying to think that. But it's true. It hurts me to think that HL could buy into this crap!
10 - barbara barnett
54--I've watched House since the beginning, analyzed every episode (probably more obsessively than I'd like to admit). I'm not a newer viewer at all.
I didn't find this episode gimmicky at all. I found it really pretty plausible that House would go for the dramatic just to prove (mostly to Wilson, probably) that he was "fine" and even better than "fine" having a great time.
We know he's anything but "fine." So does Wilson; so does Cuddy. He's not fooling anyone (least of all himself). Throwing himself into pleasure is not normal behavior for House. It's over the top and designed (by him) to force himself not to care about the breakup. It designed to allow him to lose himself in the sensations of pleasure and turn himself off to how he's really feeling and coping (not well).
The music did a good job (as it sometimes does) of helping us to understand that House's actions weren't reflective of how he was feeling. That ending was simply chilling. House can be pathetic and incredibly self-destructive when he's deeply hurting (Merry Little Christmas, Distractions, etc).
11 - fatOlady
Okay, I came home from work and went to sleep. I let the episode go to the DVR for the 1st time in months. I was a coward and wanted to read some of the comments first. I have now watched he episode.
I am aware that my opinion is likely going to be unpopular with the majority of fans I have been grieving with for the last week, but I liked this episode. I apoligize but remeber this is just my opinion. I thought it was everything that I tune into House for week after week.
I thought the episode was well written, smart, sharp witted, sarcastic, and full of bare or barely veiled angst. As sad as it is to say, House in pain is addictive and he always hs been. This episode was full of drama impulsivness, and avoidance, 3 things House does well.
I see a lot of HL in this episode. In interviews he has talked about his own battles with depression. He has talked about driving a race car over 100 miles an hour and feeling nothing but boredom. House was saying this with every crazy stunt in this episode. The bow an arrow sceen,the hookers, and especially jumping in the pool. This is classic House. His passion demands you either get busy living (even taking stupid risks) or you get busy dieing. Who has that kind of courage?
Also, I now have more hope for a future for House and Cuddy than I have had in a couple of weeks. No matter what has been said by the creative masters or the characters themselves, this is a love story that will have to be revisited. The passion that is so evident on the screen is going to have to be released or it will blow the top off everything. Watching them tonight, this love is not going to just go away if you ignore it. What you say doesn't matter; what matters is what you do.
12 - Michele1L
I've been watching "House' since day-one and I thought this episode was spectacular, so it's not only newer viewers who liked it. I enjoyed every moment of it. House has no choice but to somehow find a way to get beyond his grief in order to feel something other than ... grief, and the pool scene at the end, I agree, represents a rebirth of some sort (who knows of WHAT sort) but I'm fascinated to find out where it goes.
I am pleased to see that Cuddy takes some responsibility in the failure of the relationship and expect she will expound on why it happened because I know there is more to it. While I agree with her point that she deserves to have someone "step up" and be there for her when things are not going well, I also felt the split was ill-timed and abrupt.
I thought it was so touching how Wilson was fighting for House and Cuddy and how he was just about brought to tears over it.
Some of us are so depressed over the breakup, but I'm not convinced they are over. For now, perhaps ... but even so, they can't avoid each other while being boss and subordinate in the same hospital. There has to be communication, and Wilson put it well -- they need to be in each other's lives -- even if they are not sleeping together.
House did not just become pathetic. He has always been pathetic and he has always exploited his use of hookers, bringing them into the hospital without shame,etc. This is nothing new. This is House. He has always dealt with his pain by over-indulging in things that bring pleasure, in typical addict fashion. I have no idea at this point where this is going but I have to admit that after last week's episode I am both relieved and intrigued. I didn't expect this episode to be as good as it was. Well done.
13 - Michele1L
SeraG - You should watch.
14 - 54
Barbara (#10), thanks for sharing your opinion. I absolutely agree that the music was good this episode. "My Body is a Cage" was amazing.
I know House's self destructive tendencies have been shown since day 1 of the series. I've also seen the history with the hookers, the drugs, the alcohol. I can understand that. But I just can't wrap my head around this marriage idea. That's what feels essentially gimmicky to me, IMHO.
On another note, I think the idea to open a forum for rants/raves right after the episode is a great idea.
15 - fatOlady
54 - I second your cheer to Barbara for opening a forum for rants/raves right after the episode is a great idea. Good job.
16 - Celia
# 16 Out of the Chute easily the best episode of this Season. Kaplow can write , man ! Every Dept. hit their mark, from the Teaser with the metaphorical bull ride & goring, to the 'broken' heart, to the 'baptismal' jump in the pool. Beautifully shot, written, directed and acted. Even the small things like the bath tub scene: the hooker faces House and ids distant from him; with Cuddy he cradled her and was close. Brilliant.They've roped me in again * pardon the pun)
17 - Manuel Mexico
Hello Everybody...
Im so sorry for my badly english, all i want to say is that as a house Fan all over this 7 seasons, and under the "foreing" perspective, i think the episode was Brilliant, and before i missed, BARBARA, youre So Mean, cuz you know where this is gonna end, i do know, and im "Happy" xD for it, DO YOU REALLY, HONESTLY EXPECTED A CHEAP LOVE EVER AFTER STORY JUST LIKE THAT? CMON PEOPLE!!! ITS HOUSE!!!
Nothing comes easy with Him, This will be, FURTHER, one of the Most ICONOCLASTIC Modern Couples ON TV of our Time...
QUOTE°°°° (EveN if they wont "last forever")
House will "not change" Because Everybody Lies!!! Its a LIE that he´s entirely as he Claim to Be...
But we cant Loose House Escence... AND FOR ALL THOSE WHO FEEL BETRAYED OR ANGER... YOURE JUST HYPOCRITE... all the people that enjoy seen House Miserable, its just because they are Hopeless with themselves, hate House when he was Happy, but I WILL ENJOY WHEN HE PROVE ALL OF YOU... THAT EVEN FOR SOMEONE LIKE HOUSE, IT IS POSIBLE TO BE HAPPY, GETTING OUT OF THE CAGE... HE.. has the Key... xD and hopefully, You All, Maybe learn Something...
So, It was Smart, hilarious, just Brilliant, and even better, no matter how many times you all say youre "quitting" the Show, youll be there first in front of tv...
HE IS NOT REQUESTING A CHANCE OF YOU , QUIT IF YOU WANT, TRUTH IS HOUSE WILL ROCK THA HOUSE TILL ITS OVER!!!
Barbara its a pleasure to Write on your Wall... i may screw it all with my pitty writting, i just hope you understood what i was trying to say...
One day, and i hope still take a while... we all honored House MD, for showing us, that "Everybody Lies, cuz Everybody Hurts... But once the Pain goes away... Lies will vanish trhu the Winds of Love... Cuz he Might not believe in God, or a Life After death... but he´s learning for the very real first time, about the Power of Love... and with Love comes Hope, and what is God if is not Hope and Faith...
Thaks, and sorry again...
PS
Best Ever Ending Episode...
18 - Ragula
The last 5 minutes of this episode were truly epic in ways I can hardly describe! The fact that House just can't get over Cuddy by resorting to anonymous sex, popping pills, marinating his liver, concocting extreme pranks, and even solving another medical "puzzle" means that the break-up profoundly and fundamentally scarred him. In fact, he was wounded in a such way that he had to resort to utterly reckless behavior by jumping off a balcony just to force his heart to beat again (and as metaphor and tie-in with the patient). He did not go to such lengths when Stacy left for the second time, or even when Wilson practically disowned him after Amber's death. Only for Cuddy.
19 - Molgano
House's slowly despondent plunge (literally and metaphorically) into the unknown in conjunction with Peter Gabriel's cover of "Scratch My Back" by Arcade Fire as well as his cathartic yet unhinged grin while underwater will forever haunt the very recesses of my mind for an extremely long time to come.
To quote Al Pacino: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"
20 - bigHousefan
Fantastic teaser! I loved the metaphor of the bull rider's 8 seconds and House's relationship with Cuddy. House felt like the bull rider, holding on tight, recalculating and adjusting to every twist and turn and in the end, falling and failing - and getting kicked when he was down.
Is House trying to numb his pain, or trying to feel something amidst a pain that has numbed him? I think he wants Cuddy, Wilson and his team to know how 'off the deep end' shaken he is by the breakup.
The writer's continue to defend Cuddy's decision to leave House. I can understand and even accept the premise. But, I would have thought it more true to her character that Cuddy would agonize over how she would approach this given her acute awareness of his fragile emotional being. She loves him and knows that House 'needs her', and I would have thought Cuddy would be more gentle and protective.
Cuddy seemed so cold and 'back to business as usual' when chastising House for wanting to blow up the patient's heart and accused him of trying to 'fill a void'.
And in the end we hear the lines: "What do you do when you win? Party. What do you do when you lose? Party harder." Perhaps when Thirteen returns she will play a large part in helping House grab hold of his reckless self to some degree. I have always thought House had a particular respect for her. Thirteen sees through him and House knows it. The choice of the song, My Body Is A Cage was perfect.
My body is a cage
We take what we're given
Just because you've forgotten
That don't mean you're forgiven
I'm living in an age
That screams my name at night
But when I get to the doorway
There's no one in sight (Seriously, they found a song that mentions the doorway? :)
My body is a cage that keeps me
From dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key
And, poor Wilson. House looked so maniacally delighted that Wilson was there to witness his cannon ball! I think instead of the hiding in his depression as he's done in the past, he's doing this craziness out in the open to signal to everyone (especially Cuddy) how scared and scarred he is.
21 - Val
I also really liked this episode. I saw a familiar House yet an unfamiliar House...let me try to explain.
The familiar House I saw was the one with his Vicodin, his puzzle, his booze, his hookers; basically his self-destructive behavior.
The unfamiliar House was the one I saw realizing that that kind of behavior wasn't having the affect it used to have. The Vicodin and booze wasn't numbing the pain, the medical mystery wasn't taking his mind off his troubles, having a string of hookers maybe wasn't a good as what he had with Cuddy, and even a highly planned practical joke wasn't lessing his depression or taking away his heartbreak. It looks as if he will be trying even more tricks to forget Cuddy and numb his heartbreak (which he admitted to Cuddy he had, and I think he was telling her the truth), as we see next week.
I think he has evolved a bit these past couple years. No his behavior hasn't changed, but I think he may be in the process of learning what's really important. And, though his cannonball into the pool seemed a bit predictable by the end, it was good to see him really smile...a smile of understanding. One I hadn't seen since he went to the carnival with Freedom Master.
Wilson was great and did what he had to do. I don't think he could have done anything more or less. I knew there was a reason I trust TPTB and let them take me wherever they must...even if I only watch certain episodes once, when I usually watch them at least twice! Tonight's episode just proved it again. This is not your series 1 House.
22 - carpenter
First: Sorry for my English, it isn't my mother-language.
Although with a lump in my throat and near to weep I found this episode great. The self-destruction trip we find House is worse to look at than the breakup last week but his behaviour was very believable. He tries to benumb his pain - of course unsuccessful. His actions have been extrem but typical for him. Only sad he reminded me on the House from de fifth season (his behaviour - not the progress of the story).
Cuddy blames herself, demonstrated red wept eyes and remains strong to Wilson, who cares heartbreaking about his friend. But she depicts again how weak she is when House requests (with totally cold eyes) to do her job and try to stop him if she means his judgement is affected. At least she's so honest to admit that this development is also her fault and she's still in love with House (if only just to Wilson).
The patient have been a interesting subplot. His brainfailurs, Martha's amorousness and finally again a possibility for House to give proof of his genius. To bad that does'nt even satisfying for himself although he has shown he was right despite hookers, booze and drugs and he's a brilliant doctor.
The end of the episode was nerves disrupting. Certainly I knew that House doesn't kill himself - there remains 7 episodes untill the season ends - but this song "My Body is a Cage" and then the bounce from the balcony in slow motion ... I had rather preferably caught him.
This episode war good. I hope FOX know that Hugh Laurie is a treasure and will give us a season 8. But I can't watching "Out of the Chute" a second time. It's only a series but I love House very much and it's aching to see his pain.
23 - Fe
Honestly I haven't been this excited after watching an episode for months. It was cracking. I thought the whole downward spiral would be done badly but the metaphor with the patient was soooooo brilliantly constructed from the opeining scene to the one one where house told him he'd never ride again and he said he's fine something else, while his hand was tightly wound round the bedding. While Cuddy says she loves him, that scene with the bull rider was the one that nailed it for me. Like the patient, House can do all the destructive things he wants to his boday and heart, but it won't take away his love for her. It was great and all done without pushing it in our faces because at the end of the day it was a good POTW.
As an aside, Masters reminded me of why Cuddy loves House. As she falls for the fearless bullrider and at the same time a little bit for House when you saw how impressed she was with this diagnoses.
Just perfect. Long may these episodes last.
24 - Committed
I think I'm still having a hard time with the break-up to give this episode a fair comment and I know that. This may not be a return to the House of old but watching him spiral down worse than ever - well, it's just hard to call it entertaining. I really didn't find too much humor or hope - actually just the opposite and maybe thats the problem for me - I just don't need to be depressed week after week no matter how fascinating House's character is. Hopefully by seasons end, something positive will evolve from this, otherwise, speaking for myself only, there isn't a lot of reason to return.
I still think the best hope House and Cuddy have is to be friends, I don't see where they will ever be a couple again. Sad because it did take so long for them to figure out that they wanted to try.
Maybe someone who does think they can still make a go of it can explain why they feel that way.
I can't wait for 13 to come back - I need something else to focus on.
25 - smk46
the bull rider's hand was wound up in the bedding because before he rides a bull, a cowboy has to bind his hand to the bull's circingle. that part wasn't shown in the episode, but it is a vital part of every bull ride. when the potw freed his hand from the blanket, it was him letting go of the eight seconds/ every ride that he defined his life by. his congruency to house who has been unbound from cuddy is the symbol here.