What a way to end the season. The man who has stood on a ledge for five years has suddenly, tragically (and metaphorically), finally jumped and right down into the rabbit hole. “Both Sides Now” takes the year of unrelenting emotional and physical trauma endured by its central character to its logical conclusion. A very, very bleak ending to an intense, downbeat season. Hugh Laurie gave yet another raw, brave, and gut-wrenching performance. If he does not win the Emmy this year (and I mean it!) there is no justice. At all. Really.
Doris Egan’s complex script (more about that later in the week) plays with the concept of self-perception. Who we are? What makes us... us? How much of it is wishful thinking, a slightly deluded perception of who we might be; and how much is the reality? Our emotional well-being relies on us being able to tell the difference between the two.
This week’s patient, Scott, has undergone surgery on his corpus callosum that stopped his seizures, but destroyed communication between the left (rational) and right (aesthetic) parts of his brain. In his case his left brain doesn’t like what his right brain is doing. And the miscommunication between them leads to something called alien hand syndrome, causing his left hand to do what it wants, when it wants, consequences be damned.
House calls the right brain the brain irrelevant, yet (as Foreman points out) House’s insights and intuition likely stem from that half of his brain (not to mention at least half of his musical gift). The left brain does the math, analyzes the parts. It’s the logician: rational, analytical. It is the most obvious part of House’s personality. The right brain is intuitive, holistic, random and subjective. And without it, House would never be able to synthesize or imagine. He dismisses it because it’s his most fragile part: his creativity, his romanticism, his love of music and art. It reveals him, therefore it must be suppressed.
And in the midst of all this sadness, Cameron and Chase marry in a beautiful ceremony intercut with House’s journey toward his own uncertain future. It is poignantly ironic that House, understanding Cameron’s fears and advising her to take a chance on happiness, saves her relationship with Chase, as his own possibility for happiness evaporates like a mirage in the desert. The beautiful and haunting melody of the Rolling Stones “As Tears Go By” (and probably my favorite Stones song ever) gives the illusion of a love song. But the lyrics are starkly evocative of where House’s life now stands as he travels the long road to the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital: “My riches can’t buy everything/I want to hear the children sing/All I hear is the sound/Of rain falling on the ground/I sit and watch as tears go by.” No wonder I wept at the end of this stunning finale to a great season.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Dee
Don't forget Lisa Edelstein. She was beyond amazing in this epsiode. She is so often overlooked. It's time she gets the attention and accolades she deserves!!
2 - mzMraz
Thank you too Barbara for shedding some light and making us love each House episode one after another!
3 - Manu
Mixed feelings. It was a cheap cop out, but a brilliantly executed one. I hope to feel better once/if Doris Egan sheds some light on this one.
4 - barbara barnett
Dee--you're right of course. As I've rewatched, each time more stuff comes to me as well. I wanted this to focus on House in particular, but I'll have lots more to say about the episode. I can't believe I hadn't made the connection between House's illness and his missing the symptom with Reiner's character. It was a very important clue.
5 - Maria
Congratulations to Jennifer Morrison, she's a wonderfully talented actress who really deserves some credit for the scenes she has had to play in the last four episodes of the season.
6 - sandra
Though I often disagree with your views, I still find it very delightful reading your reviews, they are giving me a chance to take a look at episodes through the eyes of a Huddy fan - a ship I'll never be able to comprehend, which doesn't mean I'm not interested in differing opinions. Thanks for your reviews, and especially a big Thank you for these lines: "And in the midst of all this sadness, Cameron and Chase marry in a beautiful ceremony intercut with House’s journey toward his own uncertain future. It is poignantly ironic that House, understanding Cameron’s fears and advising her to take a chance on happiness, saves her relationship with Chase, as his own possibility for happiness evaporates like a mirage in the desert." It's the beauty of the relationship between House and Cameron, they understand each other and they trust each other, both simply wanting happiness for the other. And while the finale's storyline was rather predictable and not really surprising for me (too many spoilers in advance I guess), I'm still amazed by Hugh's brilliant acting. Him standing in front of the hospital broke my heart... I can't wait to see House finding his way back to his old self, to his unique personality and his life!
7 - sandra
I just need to add it: "Congratulations to Jennifer Morrison, she's a wonderfully talented actress who really deserves some credit for the scenes she has had to play in the last four episodes of the season." Agreed, her part was rather small (too small if you ask me) but brilliant! And I'm sure it was anything but easy for both, her and Jesse Spencer to replay their personal play (though with a different ending for now), no matter if you're a professional or not, that can't be easy.
8 - dave
Have to underscore Dee - Lisa is far too under-rated. The emotion she showed in a simple twist of her hip while collapsing against the reception desk in the 'balcony scene' where House shouts out he slept with her.....wow that's communication.....deflation, resignation, all in body language. Great ensemble, great actors, great writing and thank you Barbara great reviews!
9 - Maria
Thanks Sandra, I think people often take for granted how gracious and professional Jesse and Jennifer have been during the last two seasons of House trying to act their way out of a couple of scenes every other episode and still be able to shine through weak plots and storylines.
10 - barbara barnett
I agree that Jennifer--and Jesse were terrific in these last episodes. The range of emotion shown by them--and really everyone in the cast, but especially as they were dealing with their own crisis really highlighted their gifts.
I agree with you Sandra that Cameron and House share a unique understanding of each other. And I am so happy to see it more fleshed out and matured this season. She's gone to House twice now for advice regarding Chase--not because he a rational, dispassionate thinker, but because he's a deep thinker and he understands her (and she knows it.) Likewise I think she understands him in a way that is unique. She sees beneath the exterior and sees a romantic and his more noble side.
11 - barbara barnett
Maria--I disagree that the plots and storylines have been weak. They have not. Season five has been about as cohesive as it gets. I disagree with their choice to highlight 13/Foreman as much as they did, but beyond that...
12 - Val
This was the first time this season I could say, after the first viewing, that I had mixed feelings as well leading towards disappointment. I was really hoping that (despite speculation...as it "makes a spec out of you and someone named lation" lol) what had happend was not a hallucination.
As much as House had suffered this season, I hoped that he had found his light at the end of the tunnel. However, the gut-wrentching final scene with philosopher Jagger's haunting song was a perfect, telling choice of where House is in his journey. As depressing as the first viewing was, the second had bits of light.
The first light, Wilson: RSL was wonderful and it is clear that Wilson cares deeply about House. He was his cheering section (urging him to act on his feelings for Cuddy), his board of sound advice (his warning about being careful to not hurt himself or Cuddy), and the sadness in his eyes as he watched another person he cares about walk into an institution. I was sad for him too!
Second, of course, Cuddy: The center of his delusion, and yet the center of his happiness. His addiction, his right brain, his subconscious whatever force brought him to his happy delusion rather than his lonely reality was very telling. She certainly had to put up with a lot of "poo" in this episode and as angry as she was still a point of stability for House. The parallel that Cuddy was there both in his delusion and, eventually, in reality remains a high point in very dark episode.
I enjoyed the PoTW from the start. His different physical halves compared with House's inner halves was the most telling story of the episode for me. What a great twist to have the girlfriend, Annie, ultimately put the missing pieces together.
So, upon a second viewing, I have no more mixed feelings about the episode. It was brilliantly written, directed (Greg Y again!), and acted. I think every viewer will go mad if Hugh Laurie is passed over for him Emmy this year. What a tour de force! The "detox" scene in 5.23, his obvious happiness in reaction to his delusion, his realisation of his delusions, and the final walk to the instition...and that was just in the last two episodes.
I guess all that's left now is to say how great I thought this season was (easily my fav so far) and make a wish list for season 6...and I already have a few ones on the list! Maybe when the summer winds down we can all comment on our wishes...wouldn't that be fun?!
Looking forward to your interview with DE, Barbara! I really enjoy how she writes House and Wilson. She gets to the core of their friendship each time. I don't know if you've already had the opportunity to talk with her yet, but I'd sure be interested in knowing how she sees the relationship bwtn House and Wilson has changed during this season?
I really enjoy this blog. Looking forward to the discussions during hiatus!
13 - Janna
Thanks Barbara! Great article!
14 - Dominique
Thank you for this wonderful review! I agree with every observation you've made.
The thing that haunts me is House's desperate look at Wilson before the door closes, and the subtle upward creeping of the corners of Wilson's mouth: it's okay. That's what it said to me along with Robert's eyes. Their friendship will always be my number one reason to watch House MD (the way it's written, so complex and having them share emotions through looks and body language) and Hugh and Robert will be my favourite actors out of the whole cast forever. People that don't want look very hard underestimate the relationship they share as the Emmy committee underestimates Robert Sean Leonard's outstanding portrayal of Wilson and Hugh Laurie's purely divine portrayal of House. Both of them should win. They take the complexity and the loyalty and the being there for one another but... not really being there for one another, giving every slight twitch of their muscles the significance of a full blown theatrical dialogue to an unreachable level.
Emmy's for both of them... they're long overdue! And I mean that.
Dominique.
15 - GMF
Thank you for a great review as always Barbara. After viewing the episode last night I must admit I was very angry and felt I had been cheeted by TPTB. I guess in my own mind after five yrs I just wanted to see House have a little piece of happiness, alas though that was not to be. So House has finally crashed, the look of relisation on his face was trully heart breaking to say the least, and also heart breaking watching House walk to an uncertain future! Will he loose his licence to ever practice medicine again? I guess those answers will be answered next season. It sure is going to be a very long four months. I look forward to reading Doris Egans take on this episode. Also want to agree about Hugh Laurie, he has to win the EMMY this yr, he is always just amazing. I would also love to see Robert Sean Lenoard and Lisa Edlestine also finally get nods this year.
16 - Louise
Barbara, I totally agree with you about the strengths of Season Five!
I had read some hints that the House-Cuddy lovemaking might be a hallucination but I dismissed it a too cheap a device for the classy House producing-writing team. BUT, they pulled it off in a highly coherent and believable way. Yes, it broke all our hearts and the philospher-god of House, Jagger, was back to sing us through it.
The thing that makes me smile, however, is all the online snipes at the poor medicine last week as House detoxed overnight! We ALL missed a major tell--it was only an addicts fantastic delusion that he could detox overnight and wake up the next morning and make love to the woman he loves.
Season Six. Oh my that is too far away.
17 - Eve K
An amazing episode. The ending was totally destroyed for me because of a writer in New York Times, who wrote about the ending without spoiler warnings before the ep was even shown! (It was in my mailbox at seven o clock, New York-time - you can read the article via the url)
But I got over it and enjoyed the episode, re-watching it now.
The ending was amazingly played and Hugh looked VERY handsome. (He sometimes looks unbelievable handsome and sometimes he DON'T. Love him all the same.)
About Chase and Cameron. They had a little God and Abraham moment there.
Chase wanted Cameron to give up her husbands sperm, but when she did, he offered her to keep it. The sociologist Francesco Alberoni says this is the final test of true love. The future is looking good for the two of them.
Looking forward to the interview with DE!
18 - Christina
Thanks to all for sharing their thoughts on this last episode. One previous comment was in regards to family members. I was sad to see Cameron walk down the aisle alone, even though she was radiantly happy. I also would like to see the reappearance of House's calm, strong mother. The one person he can't lie to. His relentlessness and devotion to duty came by way of his father, his observational powers by way of his mother. Surely Wilson will have let her know about her son's institutionalization? My blood chilled at the sight of this "good facility" that Wilson recommended. It looked so grey, cold and forbidding, more like a prison than a place to get well.
Looking forward to the Doris Egan interview--thanks Barbara for supporting our dependency.
19 - simchasd
This episode reminded me a little of the "I See Dead People" Movie. Even though nothing happened between Cuddy and House the previous night, their dialogue fit neatly into what the other was saying, without giving anything away until the end of the episode. Can anyone explain to me the point of House wanting to make Cuddy angry? At that point did he have any doubts as to her feelings for him? Was he trying to prove how she felt toward him scientifically?
20 - Wnkybx
Beautifully written review, Barbara! There is so much in this episode that a full review would take 20 pages, but I like your focus on House. I love your haunting commentary that everybody lies (like House says), including his own brain.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about this episode. Unlike Val, a second viewing didn't resolve those feelings, but it did bring more positive feelings than negative ones. My right brain loved the beautiful execution and seamless storytelling, Hugh Laurie and Lisa Edelstein’s performances, and the David Lynch-ian reveal in the last scene between House and Cuddy. My left brain is sighing in disappointment that TPTB really did go down the “Gotcha! It wasn’t real!” road again. In the week between “Under My Skin” and the finale, I had felt confident in my delusional belief that they had something else up their sleeves.
Disappointment aside, and getting over the fact that TPTB decided to reuse and recycle, the view we got of House’s heart was incredible. We saw that in the depths of despair, House believed Cuddy was his salvation, from the sinister Amber and from his addiction. We saw the deep trust he has in her and the connection he perceives to exist between them. When Hugh Laurie gave us a smiling House, we also saw the potential happiness Cuddy would bring him. Previously this season we saw clearly that Cuddy wanted to move forward with him (hence all the antics in “Let Them Eat Cake”), and we suspected House wanted her too but was dragging his feet. Now we see that as a coping mechanism for his downward spiral and increasing misery, House’s brain went into overdrive and created a beautiful love story of his innermost desires. How heartbreaking it was for reality and his left brain to emerge again, shattering the illusion of happiness. The look in his eyes during the final minutes will haunt me all summer. House’s imaginary time with Cuddy becomes more disturbing when placed in the context of the beautiful reality of Chase and Cameron’s union at the altar. The stark contrast between the two love stories"complete miscommunication vs. open communication, misguided childish antics vs. adult decision to commit, Cuddy’s tears of anger/hurt/frustration vs. Cameron’s tears of joy, House’s expression of complete devastation when reality hit vs. Chase’s expression of complete happiness after the “I Do’s”"truly core-shaking.
What’s also scary is how alone House has truly been during his descent into madness. I'm glad the review addressed how it was missed by his friends. Despite all of his support and good intentions, Wilson, his best friend, still missed that House had lost his mind in this episode; his suspicion that something was amiss (during his whole lecture on romantic endorphins) didn’t cause him to question House’s sense of reality when 24 hours ago he was hallucinating Amber. Even House’s team didn’t say anything when they looked somewhat alarmed that he was twirling his vicodin bottle. In this episode we get a small glimpse into how isolated Kutner could have been with his inner turmoil and how private his quiet struggle with depression was.
I feel a bit numb about House’s admission to a psych hospital. I’m not sure where the story will go, but I am certainly ready to find out (4 months from now!!).
21 - Sheila
I wasn't looking for more sadness just now in my life, as I battle colon cancer and face chemo shortly, but I couldn't turn away from House last night. They simply broke my heart. The tears I shed for House's loneliness & fear drew from my own well of sorrow.They- broke-my-heart. I worry about HL psyche given he goes to that deep well of pathos & lonliness so often . DS is a 'functional vampire' with his cast , delving into their pain to realize some strong story lines. I feel like a sadist watching Jesse & jennifer get married knowing their personal history ; as well as knowing HL's battles with depression.I hope DS is careful & doesn't push to far.
I second the motion for the HL Emmy with nods to RSL and LE. I don't know what else the man could have done to make me feel his pain anymore. High-fives to the writers.
May House find some moment of peace...even joy...in Season 6. It would make me smile even under my current circumstances. I would like that.
22 - Dara
Thank you, as ever, for a wonderful review. Other people have said it, and I agree, that my viewing of each new episode isn't complete until after I've heard your take on it, and come over to read the thoughtful comments on this board.
A devastating episode. Felt like I had been punched at the end of it. I had to turn off the TV, the computer, and try to distance myself from the episode for a while. But this morning, I woke up thinking about it. This one is going to stay with me for a long time. And as much as I hoped that maybe House had found a bit of happiness, this other road they've taken us to is tremendously compelling.
Still, there are some episodes of House I just can't rewatch. Not because they are poorly done (because they never are), but because it is just too painful a thing to see again. The Tritter arc. End of Wilson's Heart. And this episode, I suspect.
23 - freya ozyman
this is the best review of last nite episode by far. great review on the house's right brain is the one that make him vulnerable. I guess that ties it up to the patient, but I didnt see that until I write your review.
I was shocked with the finale twist, but glad at the same time. it wont end well if house and cuddy become a couple, the show would never be the same.
24 - Coconut-Ice
A beautiful review, Barbra, as always. Reading your reviews has become as much a part of watching House this season for me as watching the episodes, and my, what an episode the finale was. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every episode this season, but the last three especially have been on a level of their own in terms of just everything that goes into them being at its best.
I did wonder what you thought of House’s pursuits of Cuddy? I know some fans are angry that it was a hallucination, but to me that he hallucinated all of that, and that he asked her to move in, seemed in a way a bigger step then the one night stand would have been. It obviously goes beyond the physical for him, and there could have been no better way to show that than how it played out.
Re-watching the episode made me cry, because suddenly everything became so much more poignant, every conversation House has that day, every scene with the “lipstick” an object of art that deserves full analysis. His happiness was bittersweet in a way that really choked me up inside. And to me, there is a definite parallel between this episode and the finale of season 4. House metaphorically driving Wilson away, without meaning to, and then here Wilson driving House away, and their facial expressions in both finales were rather similar I thought.
25 - byzantine
I was weeping uncontrollably by the time they paralleled the wedding and House’s going into the psych hospital. My perception of Cameron’s and Chase’s nuptials was entirely marred by the image of House being driven through a dreary gray landscape to a prison like structure. I cannot imagine listening to the song played at the end without bursting in tears. For now.
I thought that the episode was brilliantly written and executed. As a person who studies visual narratology and style, I was intrigued to see that it was divided stylistically into two uneven portions"a longer one, not particularly Housian, with House under the spell of romantic endorphins and a shorter and more powerful one that was initiated by the very believable anger of Lisa Cuddy and his realization that he’s been imagining it all along. In the first part we were given a glimpse of a happy House, of House in love, and in love with Cuddy at that. By the end all of this was gone and we saw him at his most miserable and alone. I was heartbroken, still am. I am sure that this was the effect the writers were after. Do we want House who is distracted by his romantic interest or a House who is cynical and unhappy but who continuously has epiphanies that heal people? Tough one. Can the two coexist? I thought they could, but this does not seem to be the rule for successful television. In my opinion these rules have to be ‘re-written’ ?.
As an incurable romantic I loved that House thought of Cuddy as his cure. Or am I wrong here? I loved how at the end she was caressing his face which was both comforting and sensual, a meager substitute for their imagined passionate encounter.
I thought that Lisa Edelstein was not only mesmerizingly beautiful in this episode, but also her performance was beyond outstanding. I have seen Cuddy fight with House but never have I witnessed her being so exasperated and tired of the whole game. Cuddy’s nervous laugh at the end of the exchange in the corridor left me convinced that she had had it. I wonder"was he joking when he offered to move in together? Why was he smiling? Was he trying to distract her from her anger?
One way or another"it is unbelievable that the fifth season is over. I am grateful for it, as I am for your thought provoking articles Barbara. I am especially thankful for sensing our eagerness to put our thoughts in writing (which I find very cathartic) and for providing the forum to share them with the wonderfully perceptive group of people who read your blog. Thanks again.