A jealous king, a brave knight-wannabe (with a couple of secrets that could get him burned at the stake), and a soon-to-be wedded queen: there’s intrigue at Court. Is this the latest installment of The Tudors? No, my liege, it’s “House goes to the Renaissance Faire.”
I admit to being a Ren Faire aficionado, and to see my favorite television show craft an episode around one—and seeing House (Hugh Laurie) garbed for the period to boot—made me fair swoon. But there was much more to this episode than sword and sorcery, hemlock and witches brew.
Young knight William (Noah Segan) feels himself unworthy for the Ren Faire queen, who is about to marry the king. But it’s clear from the teaser that the queen has feelings for the young man, whom she chooses as her champion in a swordfight. The much smaller (and geekier looking) William prevails against the king’s hulking captain of the guard (who reminded me a bit of Darth Vader, somehow), stunning the King, the queen—and the captain of the guard. But William falls, his eyes demon red.
House and the team are perplexed and without a diagnosis even after investigating the young man’s home (where they find he’s into witchcraft and potions) and the Renaissance Faire campgrounds at which he spends most of his time. There’s plenty of evidence and sources for environmental and organism-borne illness in both places as the team considers everything from the sanitary conditions and crowding of the faire grounds to the possibility of his being intentionally poisoned by the troupe’s king with hemlock. But alas, the answer to the mystery is of more modern witchcraft. The young knight beefed up his jousting muscles by taking steroids. Combined with a little bit of hemlock and it’s “double, double, toil and (big) trouble” time for our young knight (with apologies to Shakespeare).
And speaking of trouble, it also seems to threatening House and Wilson’s (Robert Sean Leonard) domestic bliss as Wilson reconnects with his first wife Samantha (Cynthia Watros). We all know how House is going to feel about that. And predictably, House begins to do his best to nip this relationship in the bud. Wilson perceptively realizes that whatever House is up to, it’s ultimately his way of being a protective friend. But he asks his best friend to please give it a chance. Interestingly, Cuddy sees House’s interference as less House’s protectiveness (although she sees that as well) than House’s fear, advising him not to push it, because if he forces Wilson to make a choice, he may end up losing.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - andree
Barbara, is Cuddy preoccupied during her conversation with Wilson (about Sam) because Cuddy is pregnant and noone knows? Cuddy not reaming Wilson seemed well out of character especially after we learned Wilson shared Cuddy's secret to House about Cuddy sleeping with her father's best friend?
It appears Wilson was unaware of Cuddy's preoccupied state. Please tell me if I'm on the wrong track? I know you're privy to much that you can't share in your column but am I starting a panic among Huddy fans?
It appears that if the presumption that Lucas proposes to Cuddy, it has to be due to some major turn of events. Lucas hasn't been seeing Cuddy long enough to suddenly propose. A pregnancy between Lucas and Cuddy makes sense for him to pop the question and ultimately help push House off the vicodin avoidance wagon.
That, plus the fact that it is reported that Cuddy is super happy to be asked to marry him. Why would she feel that way now? Its too soon, unless she is pregnant. I'm hoping to be wrong but something in my gut tells me that Cuddy isn't playing low-key with Wilson to help him with his relationship with Sam but because she truly is preoccupied.
Looking forward to your response.
Andree
2 - Jen
BB, loved, as always your review! As for the timeline, no big deal, I just love House and I get past it! Kind of like mile 1 in a 5K race! I am worried that House will go back to the vicodin for his pain, and maybe losing Wilson and Cuddy at the same time will push him even further than when Amber died and he felt responsible! Yikes! I am a huge NCIS fan so I love Kelly joining the crew. Can only hold on to my seat and watch what the final 4 eps have to say about this season! Yikes again!
Jen aka just4paws17
3 - Jeffrey K
"If you're happy, then I'm..." That's what I was reminded of this episode.
And that Ibuprofen... he's going to get serious stomach ulcers and bleed to death someday. Isn't any much better than vicodin. But again, he's probably on omeprazole or something to protect the gastric.
I also like that they are bringing back the intensity of a good medical mystery. I don't care about the timeline.
4 - Meena
Barbara,
I really love reading your column every week, and offering my two cents when I can, but the comments section is becoming too spoilery.
Andree, many of us avoid spoilers and gossip - I can understand if there is an interview, or casting choice that is officially publicized, but what you wrote about is not that. PLEASE at least put some sort of warning as a courtesy next time. I know other readers feel this way which is why I'm speaking up.
I am not a "shipper", I don't really understand that world but I know a lot of readers do feel strongly about certain relationships, and I would never want them to feel that they can't share that information here. So I mean no disrespect regarding the pairing you are focused on. But one thing I love about this unique blog is that we delve so far beyond speculation, that we can discuss House in graphic detail without revealing anything crucial regarding future episodes. Think of it like the drawer just barely covering HL's "essentials", but revealing everything else (and boy, was that enough;) ) So you should have plenty to contribute!
Sorry, Barbara, but I had to say my peace. If this site continues to be so spoilery, I'm so sad that I will have to wait and read your wonderful reviews (and everyone's astute & fiesty comments) during the summer.
5 - Michele1L
Really enjoyed this episode. Very interesting. Someone who unwittingly turned this on would never have guessed in a million years it was "House", that medical show. It played like a film in the beginning.
Is it just me or was Cuddy reacting a little oddly to Wilson's asking for her advice. He asked her, "am I out of my mind"? Her response was, "you never know what could happen. You should give it a chance". I'm sensing possibly some threads of regret developing in Cuddy. After all, she just readily assumed her life with her child would be of no real interest to House without giving it a trial run to see if it could work out. -- Also, maybe House's mention of Lydia in the previous episode is suggestive of a future re-appearance of her. I know the actress had an option to return. Who knows, perhaps Lydia, a woman with children, might be used to convince Cuddy that she may have jumped the gun. ?? It'll be interesting to see how all of this unfolds.
6 - barbara barnett
Thanks all for your comments. Just a reminder all to please avoid spoiling upcoming episodes if at all possible. I know the end of the season is nigh and we're all anticipating it and wondering where it's all leading, but...
I agree with those of you who've noted Cuddy's strange attitude. I also believe she was preoccupied with something. Is there trouble between her and Lucas? Or is it something else. But she was definitely preoccupied.
7 - Nancy
I got lost somewhere. House did indeed attempt to break up Wilson and Amber. However, the phone call he made when he got stuck at the bar was to WILSON. Amber made the decision to go pick House up, THEN decided to hop aboard the bus. Had she not done so, she might still be alive. The crash caused her to not digest the pills properly.
8 - PH
Great Review Barbara.
I think the odd behavior from Cuddy, when Wilson tries to speak with her about Samantha, is due to Cuddy trying not to meddle in his affairs. She just finished warning House not to lob his grenades into Wilson's relationship. Now, it appears that she is truly biting her tongue when Wilson poses his questions. After all, Cuddy is just as versed as House in speaking her mind concerning other's relationships. (Recall Cuddy's "Are you sure she's not going to hang you upside down and deposit her eggs in you" comment to Wilson in Season 4.)
I also think that Cuddy is speaking from her own experience with her boy-toy Lucas. I think she was driven more into his arms due to her friends questioning her involvement with him. (But have heart, somewhere along the way, possibly with the help of some alcohol and her own frustrated loins, Huddy will commence.)
With this epi, I was brought back to House's final rejection of Stacy. His "I can't make you happy" turmoil, paralleled William's.
My favorite scene in this epi was, of course, the 'Cold Hearted Bitch' scene. HL's cold deliverance was MASTERFUL, only complimented by RSL's intuitive rendition of "Is it safe to leave the two of you...?" I cannot wait to see further battles between these two strong characters.
IMO the opening teaser was a tad drawn out. But the next scene, after opening credits, was quite the eyeful. I could only mutter the mantra OMG, OMG, OMG. (That, and remind myself to breathe.) :)
9 - Anderson Smith
I have got to be completely honest. I was a huge fan of House, MD, for the first five seasons. Somewhere at the end of season five, I just lost it. I had no desire to even start season six. I cannot put a reason behind it, as the show had always been a favorite of mine. The main reason is that I can relate to the character of House. My demeanor is somewhat the same as his and I felt connected to the show, if only through Hugh Laurie's portrayal of House.
With that being said, I for some reason or another did watch this episode and I think I found where I left my desire. I am now going back and watching season six that was TiVo'ed!
10 - PH
Oops, one more comment.
I found it interesting that Wilson failed to pick up on Samantha's distress after the CHB accusation. And even more interesting that Wilson deferred to House, instead of his date, when he posed his "Wanna see what's on TV?" question.
It should have been a big clue to Samantha of the tumult that lay before her in her pursuit of this relationship. House's "I'll outlast you" comment only served to shore up the mountain that lay ahead.
11 - barbara barnett
Nancy--You are right in that House did not cause Amber's death, but his meddling (and constant testing) led however indirectly to the situation. It did end tragically and had House not been testing Wilson's loyalty by calling him out to pick him up from the bar, Amber wouldn't have come.
I also believe it's very indirect, but it leads directly into House's self-assessment throughout season five (and his eventual breakdown).
12 - ann uk
I 'm sorry to be behind the times but I have only just seen " Lockdown " and it was such a moving episode that I can't resist commenting . Isn't it significant that when House and the patient discuss lost love it is Lydia House regrets , not Stacy or Cuddy ? When he was at his most vulnerable she offered him love, freely given, not shadowed by failure or regret and House clearly wants it to last, but then she rejects him.
So when he says "she changed me " what does he mean ? Perhaps that she enabled him to recognise his own needs and admit his own feelings but at the same time made him less able to be alone ?
House says " We suffer alone , we die alone " but he doesn't leave the patient to die alone but gives him comfort and companionship - one of those moments when we see the fallen angel in House.
13 - Felicia
Re timeline: They have to have lost 10 years somewhere and this is definitely a mistake. It's not like they said "1990" somewhere in the depth of season 2, it was last episode and it fits with everything else we know reasonably well. So yeah. I'm going to ignore this epi timeline-wise. It's just impossible.
The other problem is Cuddy remembering, which isn't much better. When I saw it first, I somehow took it as "Do you remember what he was like after Amber?", but thinking about it and watching a second time, it doesn't seem to make much sense.
14 - tata
I m with Felicia about the timeline,,it's a mistake. About House/Wilson/Danny , the timeline before Knight Fall was right:
In Histories Danny was not gone missing 9years before, Wilson says that the last time he saw him it was 9years ago and then in the Social contract are 13 years ago,,so it s right.
Here the transcript:
In Histories(S1) Wilson says:
"This was the last place I saw him, nine years ago. I don’t even know if he’s alive"
In the Social Contract(S5)
House:"You told me you saw your brother once. After he disappeared."
Wilson:13 years ago. I used to go to Princeton whenever I could..." and yes he says danny had dissapeared while he was in medical school. So it s all right i think, and in Birthmarks i remember Wilson says:
"I was fresh out of med school..." . So if Histories is 2005 and the social contract 2009 the last time wilson saw danny is 1996.
The timeline with Sam is all wrong :(
15 - simona
barbara, beautiful review. For now I can only say that this episode touched me a lot.
House in the role of an "errant knight in his shining armor" is always very very moving. He is really touching and melting.
16 - Anna
>Speaking of writers, I’ll be chatting with House scribe/producer Doris Egan after episode 21 (which she wrote). She’s always got interesting things to say about the series. So stay tuned.
Please, DO make it in Q&A form. Without your own explanations, interpretations, "analysis" and mixing up or cutting down phrases (or quoting them only partially).
Let us make our own conclusions
With all due respect
17 - Flo
good episode except for the timeline.
Married 12 years ago???? Seriously?
However don't have much trouble with Cuddy remembering the post Sam thing because she already knew House and they were already friends. We don't know since when she is at Princeton Plainsboro. House met Wilson and made him his friend. It is something that he might have tell Cuddy at that time and they could have met.
Cuddy really looked preoccupied in her scene with Wilson. I thought of two things:
first, she is rather cold with him because she is a little mad at him for telling House her 'sleeping with dad's best friend' secret.
Second, I think the fact that Wilson reconnected with his ex-wife makes her think about her own situation.
Giving another chance to a person you know for a long time and you already had a thing with? Rings the bell?
Wilson is doing something that Cuddy and House weren't ready or failed to do. Wilson has the courage to take a chance, he is taking a risk that House and Cuddy didn't dare to take. It is interesting that Cuddy encourages him by saying sadly "you never know what can happen. Might as well, give it a chance". Is she beginning to regret not having done the same thing with House? Especially seeing how happy and hopeful Wilson looks like now?
The past two years, Wilson is the one that moved on the most. He broke the "pleasing you until resenting you" pattern and was able to finally overcome Amber's death to move on with his life and giving himself another chance, with someone who broke his heart of all people. Huge step.
Cuddy and House can be a little disconcerted by this because it sends them back to their own loneliness and failure at relationships.
I must admit that i wasn't very impressed by Campanella's filming of the teaser. looked like a bad B movie.
Otherwise good, witty episode. Interesting case which brought fun and insights.
18 - Alexandra
>and had House not been testing Wilson's loyalty by calling him out to pick him up from the bar, Amber wouldn't have come.
No, it was a pure accident and though disastrous, but only coincidence. House could have never predicted bus crash, and all the decisions Amber had made (to come pick him up, to have a drink), she'd made by herself.
19 - barbara barnett
Couple of things I wanted to address in this great conversation. Regarding my interview with Doris Egan: I rarely do Q&A's. My interview style is conversational, so it's not all that adaptable to a Q and A style like a conference call can be (but even those are very random). I'm sorry you don't like that, but I do not take quotes out of context, nor do I parse them.
Alexandra: I'm not saying it wa House's fault. Not at all. Because the tragic course of events led to Amber's coming to get him (for her own reasons), House blames himself even if no one else does. It's like he blames himself for Kutner, although that wasn't his fault. He took on that guilt of not being able to foresee his suicide.
House talks a good game about not feeling guilt or blame, but we know he takes on a terrible burden from his guilt. His belief that words cannot reverse an act and no one's ability to right every wrong both play into his psychology. It was a fundamental thread in "Broken," which led (in my opinion) directly from Amber's death through season five. So that's all I meant.
In my reviews of Wilson's Heart through the early episodes of season five, I believe I make your exact argument several times. So, we're not disagreeing at all :)
20 - janine
I liked this episode a lot, and was only thrown off by the timeline (the minute Wilson said twelve years ago, I said out loud, "that's not right". Perhaps is was even more engrained in my brain since we had a big discussion about timelines here last week). The timeline did not affect the episode overall though.
One of my favorite things about the episode were the parallels that you mentioned. When the patient gave that speech about loyality to Thirteen at the end, I immediately thought about House and Cuddy. Like the patient, House did not think he was worthy of his woman, so he let her go. Perhaps House feels the same way about Wilson, that he does not deserve such a good friend and that Wilson would be happier and better off with Sam. Also, when House was talking to Sam about hurting his friend, I immediately thought of season 2 when Wilson asked Stacey if she was serious about House because he couldn't deal with House getting hurt again.
I really liked the fact that House threw out the file at the end of the episode, it showed that he is really making an effort to change and be the bigger man. If House had had Amber's file two years ago, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have not only read it but used it against her.
I think the thing I enjoyed most about this episode (like most of the season) is that it was able to blend in the hysterically funny (the transvestite for example) with the seriousness of House's changing and the forshadowing of what may be to come. Its interesting you mentioned that the writer of this episode used to work for NCIS because I felt that this episode had a certain quirk too it, like and episode of NCIS or Bones. It worked though, and was very entertaining (although I do agree that the teaser was a little too long).
I am definately placing my bet that House will take vicoden by the end of the season (in fact for a portion of this episode, I was convinced that we were going to find out that the bottle of ibuprofen was filled with vicoden, especially since the wikipedia description of this episode said that Wilson would find a bottle of vicoden in House's pocket when doing his laundry, and since it wasn't taken down, I assumed the poster had had some evidence for this. I guess we now have yet another reason to never believe internet spoilers!)Anyway, I only believed that it was actually ibuprofen when, at the end, we saw House break the seal off of a new bottle, which brings up another issue; the amount of pills he is taking. The episode took place over the span of a couple of days, and yet House managed to use an entire bottle of pills. This is definately a sign that House may desire,or physically need to go back to a stronger drug.
Without being too spoilery, I am going to ask a question, but real spoilerphobes may want to stop reading now (even though this is not a plot spoiler). I know that two characters whom we met at Mayfeild will be back, but any word on when and if they will be in the same episode?
21 - Ted
Barbara, I think it would really help if you could include at the end of next episode's review a plea for commenters to avoid or at least warn us of spoilers? I noticed that most spoilers come from new commenters and while they may not have read the repeated complaints from the rest of us, they would definitely read your review before posting anything. Thanks.
For this episode, I haven't organized my thoughts about it. But I've been dwelling on some other issues so if you don't mind my side comments... Ps: I have no intentions of distracting attention from this wonderful episode, so subsequent commenters, please do not dwell on my side thoughts too much. I would love to hear more discussion on this episode than what I'm sharing below.
I am also rewatching season 3 at the moment and realized that the focus then was more of House's worldview and reactions to different forces; His ideals and integrity to stick to them when facing a variety of issues from medical to social, professional, ethical, philosophical, religious issues, etc. They were intriguing and inspiring. I'm not suggesting or complaining that season 6 is boring or shallow because it is everything but these two qualities. But the continuing and zooming into mainly relationship issues may have lost that sense of... "biggerness" (for lack of a better word).
He was the hero who did as he deem fit, gave no damn what the rest of the world think and defied authorities if need be. It was liberating to see somebody who could do that which we in real-life often fail to. His pains and limitations gave him a humanity that allowed us viewers to identify with him and live through him. In season 6, however, House is becoming more human, mature, restrained and... ordinary. And I suspect (I may be wrong and it is only for myself) that many of us suck equally or worse than House at relationships and subconsciously don't want and so consciously feels a disconnect with the new House who is trying hard to right his life.
Hence, I was most thrilled to see the return of a fast-pace and more engaging diagnosing process, which signals to me the return of an intense and heroic House.
But having said all this, I admit that when I put on the objectivity of our famous "chessplayer-viewer", I cannot deny the continuing excellence in the writing of the show. Yes, there is more writing on House's emotional side, but it is a jolly well written one. And yes, his intellectual and philosophical side have been neglected, but that is not without good reasons; because it would be absurd for House, who is just walking out of the darkest patch of his life, not be become more introspective and attentive to issues and people most immediately relevant to his life. I also realize that this House who is attempting to better his private life can be just as inspiring as House the doctor in previous seasons if only I'll let that happen to me. After all, it is common knowledge that audience pick up what they want to hear more than what the writers want to convey. As W.H. Auden put it: "the interests of a writer and the interests of his readers are never the same and if, on occasion, they happen to coincide, this is a lucky accident."
22 - barbara barnett
Janine: LOL about the spoiler being wrong! I think it was actually intentional that we saw House removing the seal from the IB bottle. We are not to believe that he's lying about the ibuprofen at all. House is really hurting and as usual emotional turmoil tends to enhance (or should I say exacerbate) pain.
House is stuck here if the pain continues to get worse. Go back to Vicodin and risk hallucinations or don't an eventually become too disabled to work.
I notice that we didn't see him taking antidepressants. I wonder how long ago he stopped taking them? If he ever took them at all once back in the saddle at PPTH.
He's heading for a crash of some sort (and this time maybe without his Wilson/Cuddy safety net), if he's decided he can't trust either of those relationships.
About Janine's spoilery question. I don't take spoilers seriously, so it's hard to answer. I'm not sure we'll see either of those characters again for sure. What I am finding out is how much I'm enjoying being surprised and not having any pre-existing expectations for the episodes. I've been trying to stay away from some of the bigger spoilers (or read them and immediately forget what I read!) But I'm not sure at all about those two.
23 - madfashionista
Barbara, that was a fantastic review. I love knowing that the new writer is from NCIS. NCIS is a far more formulaic show in content, but the interplay between the characters is consistently funny and interesting, and that definitely perked up this already well-done episode. For instance, "they call that breakfast in Australia" and Chase's reaction.
The timeline stuff was very distracting; first it was twelve years, and then in House's office Sam says less than ten years. HUH? I even wondered if the actress was unwilling to say twenty years, it was so farfetched. I loved DE's LJ entry, "Mr. Continuity," in which she said the writers comb through scripts to keep the continuity straight. This was so far off for a show as relatively consistent with these things as "House" is. (Many shows don't even know what continuity IS.)
I had to watch the show a second time to get a good sense of it (I often do that anyway to ff through the commercials), because I'm writing a long fanfic set in the 18th century so I was more attuned to similarities (i.e. "FUCK! Cow eyeballs! FUCK! Apothecary!" than the actual content).
Seeing angry, in-pain, suffering House made me feel better about the show, in some sense the same way Ted mentioned. I identify with the character, more early on than now, and I was truly worried for much of this season if the character was going to go off-the-rails entirely. (House Lite, as many were calling him.)
I'm trying to stay away from spoilers, so I'll only say that showing the ibu bottle so much, and Chase breaking the fourth wall by saying, "I liked him better on Vicodin" does not portend well.
24 - madfashionista
P.S. I got completely confused by two things: where did the witchcraft come in? (And why was the room still fully lit?) And why was William the only one who got the hemlock poisoning?
25 - tara
@madfashionista I think I at least solved the "almost a decade" vs. "12 years" problem. Wilson was referring to the beginning and Sam to the end of their relationship.Of course they still forgot 10 years-_-