House: I didn't used to be, but I changed.
Wilson: He's not afraid to be you; he's afraid to be who he thinks you are.
House seems to perversely take that as a dare from one of the few people he does seem to have genuine regard for (very occasionally), perhaps to prove that it is Wilson, Chase, and Cuddy who have the mistaken impression of the real House, not Foreman. House is flummoxed by the Foreman issue because Foreman wants the one thing House cannot give him — an apology for or denial of who he really is.
Chase lectures House on the same topic, and even yells at his boss, but House is at a loss how to keep Foreman around. "Foreman's not as easy as Cameron. But then, who is?" Director (and executive producer) Katie Jacobs does a hilarious quick pan to a previously unseen Cameron sitting at the conference table. "I'm in the room," glowers the woman whose departure was remedied with a date from House.
Esteban is frustrated that House himself has not seen Marina. "I came 1,000 miles to see him," he complains to Chase.
"He doesn't care. I'm sorry, but that's who he is. That's who you risked your life to see," Chase says, adding: "And you made the right choice."
That bit of insight might have helped cushion the blow when House abruptly fires Chase when he approaches him to explain more calmly his frustration over House's dealings with Foreman.
"Because you've been here the longest, learned all you can," House explains. "Or you haven't learned anything at all. Either way, it's time for a change." It's safe to say House doesn't care whether it's time for a change for Chase, but rather that he's the one who wants the change. Take that, Wilson.
Chase has grown considerably in the last half of this season. He's gone from barely existing in much of the first half of season — down to the character's "remarked on but never explained" disappearance midway through "Que Sera Sera" — to asserting himself as the persistent but not stalkery wooer of Cameron and conscience of House.
Without that growth, it would be inconceivable to imagine the Chase who betrayed House in order to keep his job, who was double-dipping shifts to earn extra money, could possibly be the same Chase who's so accepting of House's snap decision to fire him because "change is good." It's still easy to think he's in shock and hasn't fully processed the change yet.
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
Great recap, as always. I was desperately waiting for this after watching the show (taped) last night.
Two things:
1. The guitar was from eighth grade, he said.
2. I think Cameron said what she did ("I've gotten all I can from this job.") to mirror what House had told Chase, which she would have learned as pillow talk with Chase.
One of the best episodes yet, and a fantastic un-cliffhanger. Your connections to past episodes are fantastic. House is embracing manic change because he doesn't do anything by halves, but I think we'll find he can't handle the change as well as he thinks he can.
2 - Diane Kristine
1) Curse you and your good memory :) Wilson or House said 8th, the other said 9th, and I didn't have the recording with me to help remember who said what.
2) I agree, though I don't know if it means a) it's a ploy to get Chase his job back b) she realized it's true c) something my tiny brain hasn't thought of. I'm thinking a) but the show often goes in directions I hadn't considered.
3 - Maddoc
Wilson said 8th grade.Is it just me or the new guitar was a replica of the old one?I think with his fellows,he went big.Change is a risk.So he took it where he could distance himself from it at an intellectual level.But when it comes to personal change,be it anything,he goes small,hence the replica replacement.
And I agree with his last outburst at Foreman.Who cares what a doctor's motives are when he fixes his patients.I think he does care.It is impossible not to.But there is a huge difference between simple caring and making it into an emotional booby-trap.And even if he doesn't,how could caring make it any different for the patient?Why are 'his' motives such a big deal?Everybody has motives.Who are we to define which ones are good to have and which ones not so good.Wilson and even Cuddy have been harping this ever since season 3 started.I just don't get it.
4 - Joey
[Quote]No, he really, really doesn't care, and he's had enough of the people around him thinking he is[/Quote]
Remember "Euphoria"? He seemed to care a lot then.
5 - Diane Kristine
Were you trying to quote the heart of gold line from the review, or did someone else use the line with "care" in it? Because being an occasional human being doesn't qualify someone as having a heart of gold.
But, while I wouldn't characterize it as anywhere near "a lot," he cares selectively - he put Foreman's life in danger, and Foreman is one of the few people in his narrow life. He cares about Wilson to the greatest extent he's capable, and let it show in Son of Coma Guy and Babies and Bathwater. I'd say he connected to the little boy in Lines in the Sand, and the woman in Control, too, though "care" might be a strong way to put it.
But about most patients? About this particular patient? Not one bit. And throughout season three, he seems to care even less than seasons one and two, even putting his own needs and addiction above the patient's benefit in some cases.
6 - Sub
Am I the only one who noticed that House had tears in his eyes when he was sitting back at home staring at his old guitar while Esteban was leaving him a voicemail? His eyes were red, puffy and there were definite tear streaks below his eyes.
7 - reybo
What is it with supervising sound editor Brad Norta? The background music is twice the volume it should be in this episode, and covers the dialogue. No one in the audio department noticed this?
Alas, it's one of two recurring bad features of this series, the other being the choice of background music. Sometimes ok, sometimes execrable.