It is here that House’s desire for a normal, pain free life clashes with his greatest fear: that any treatment he may undertake will compromise his ability to think, to observe—to affect his medical gift. And that’s something he’s unwilling to trade. No matter the upside.
House’s intellect, his genius, is his “one thing.” It defines him and is intricately woven into in his self-worth. After he is shot in season two’s “No Reason,” and after much unconscious soul searching, House is willing to make that compromise, as he seeks meaning beyond simple intellect. And in “Softer Side” House once again considers this compromise, and in the end, he’s decides that the risk is too great.
So when Cuddy stops by to give him his first methadone dose, House tells her that he can’t do it and why. That the cost is too great and almost caused him to kill a young patient. Now arguing the other side, Cuddy pleads with House, assuring him that he is not ONLY about his genius. "You'll still be a good doctor." "I don't want to be a 'good' doctor," he insists, refusing to take the dose.
“Don’t do this,” she begs. “It’s done,” he responds, picking up his cane. “This is the only me you get.”
It is this last line, the one with which I started this lengthy commentary, that has stayed with me since the episode aired. It makes me wonder whether House’s decision to try the methadone was (at least in part) fueled by his desire to have a relationship with Cuddy. But ultimately House tells her (or warns her) that he is who he is, and she will have to accept that if she wants explore anything deeper with him. Because the cost of changing, for him, is too great.
The next new episode of House is on March 9, “Social Contract.”
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - oz
once again an amazing piece. i never really think ive completly watched the ep util i have read yr take on it.
That parting line has stayed with me as well. and i loved how cuddy got right into his space and talked, well pleaded, with him.
laters
2 - Jaim
Good article! I agree to some extent that it isn't really Cuddy and Wilson's business, however how many times has House delved into both of his dear friend's personal lives?
He drugged Wilson with speed to see if he was on an anti-depressant. He also went through Cuddy's trash, finding the red clover, and deduced that she was trying for a baby. He confronted both of them on these issues even though it was clear that they were trying to keep these issues secret. So, I think that each of the big three have meddled in each others lives from time to time, always with concern and thoughtfulness, even if it is carried out in an intrusive and even frustrating manner.
I think that House needs to stop doing his weird 'negation' game with Cuddy. She wanted him when he was still his regular snarky bastard self in the episode "Let Them Eat Cake," but he pushed her away. I think she likes him nice or naughty, and I think he knows that deep down. Of course, she wants him less miserable. She is always going to feel guilty about her part in the condition of his leg, as she was his attending doctor during his infarction. If she can help him feel less pain and sadness then she can both finally absolve herself of the 'betrayal'(in her mind that she committed)and see her friend feel somewhat better.
She knows what she is getting with House. She even told Wilson that "House doesn't do happy. Pain or no pain." Maybe he was calmer and more easy going in this episode but he was still snarky, crude, and annoying. He'll never be without his hard edges. Even Stacy said he whad this same personality before the leg issues. I think he needs to give Cuddy a break and just let her in a little. She wants to be apart of his chaotic world where most women wouldn't.
3 - j.i.m.
Barbara, great job of highlighting the important themes, thanks.
The writing of this episode was especially refreshing. It was a relaxing breather to have House content and playful. The vitality with which Hugh Laurie delivered the "phasing" speech was delicious. "I'm greatly phased."
The writers also dared to be irreverent with their star character, House. I saw the clinic patient as a bit of a goof on House as he opts for pain and brain instead of contentment and slight compromise. "Ouch, ouch, ouch." Sorry, I just became irreverent for a second, too.
Jaim, I like your balanced approach. The writers always give Cuddy and Wilson good intentions or at least reactions that a good friend would have in those situations with House, given the information or disinformation that House allows them. They also have their personal demons and faults.
Looked at from Cuddy's and Wilson's perspectives, they are trying to do the best for their friend and keep him alive because they love him. But Hugh Laurie makes it easy to lose oneself in him, House, and not consider the point of view of his cohorts. That is, when we have a chance to get a glimpse of House during the episode. "13" had more screen time than House this episode.
4 - Alex
I think it's disingenuous to think that part of House's decision to try methadone was fueled by his desire to have a relationship with Cuddy, was part of House's decision to go on vacation in Fetal Position fueled by seeing Chase's hand up Cameron's shirt too? That's wishful thinking on your part.
This is not the first time we've seen House doing whatever it takes to get rid of the pain, morphine in Who's your daddy?, faking cancer so the guys at Boston would implant a drug right into the pleasure centre of his brain in Half-Witt, and methadone in The Softer Side. House is in a lot of pain, in Painless he admitted he was having more bad days, and that's the only reasonable explanation I find that would explain why he was trying a new drug. But House would rather be miserable and in pain than losing his extraordinary ability to diagnose.
As for House's last sentence to Cuddy "This is the only me you get" you're right that House is telling Cuddy to stop trying to change him and accept him for who he is. But I can't stop thinking that the only reason why Cuddy wanted House to keep having methadone is because she only sees herself being in a succesful relationship with the new improved House and not because it took away House's pain. When House explained to Cuddy that whatever new drug he was having eliminated his pain she was against it, but when House started exhibiting symptons of happines and niceness she was for it even if methadone could compromise House's intellect if he continued taking it. Doesn't she know what's most important to House than being happy?
5 - Veresna
The entire last scene has haunted me since I saw it. I feel that House's "Why do you care if I'm happy?" challenge mirrored Cuddy's "Why do you negate everything?" moment that began this current arc. But this time it was Cuddy who couldn't take the next step to admit to House and herself how important he is to her. And, after all the times she had derided his lack of self-control, her pleading, "Just take it" broke my heart as well.
I find myself torn about so much in this episode. And while I have no doubt that House was indeed pain-free from the methadone, I can never fully forget the morphine shot he demanded from Cuddy that was only saline, yet alleviated his pain. I really don't know if House can really ever know how much of his pain is physically or emotionally derived.
V
6 - Wnkybx
Thanks, Barbara, for a very nice review. I always enjoy reading your thoughts!
Thinking over the episode, I had a somewhat but not entirely different take on it. To me, “The Softer Side” is a multi-layered, delicious cake with the main ingredient of dualism.
Layer 1: POTW Jackson embodies both sides of the gender coin.
Layer 2: Foreman shows his softer, romantic side (countering Taub’s hilarious impression of him as a one-dimensional robot).
Layer 3: We see Cuddy thinking both as an administrator who skillfully handles tense situations and as a parent who understands a child’s needs.
Layer 4: House demonstrates that he has a “softer,” hopeful side when he is not in pain. However, his softer side is at odds with the darker, hardened side of him that has been tethered to pain for years.
Do you all have any more layers to add?
In addition to weaving a story around the theme of dualism, the episode also reveals some of the emotions surrounding the time of House’s leg infarction. Although in “Three Stories” and for the first half of season 2 we watched Stacy struggle with her decision (and the long-term consequences) to consent to the failed “middle-ground” surgery, Jackson and his parents more elegantly distill the emotional process for us. The fact that Jackson, House’s mirror image, is a minor reflects House’s state of vulnerability when he was hospitalized for his leg. Jackson’s parents, mirroring Stacy and Cuddy, had a difficult choice to make; their questions and sense of guilt also mirror the emotions Cuddy has continued to experience status post surgery as well as her feelings of responsibility for House’s leg. The past several years of House’s emotional pain could be summarized by the following conversation:
Jackson: You lied to me.
Mom: We were trying to protect you.
Jackson: Don’t. Just leave me alone. Get out.
From that, we see how House’s reaction to push people out of his life, although understandable, is quite childish. The comparison between House and a child is not new, but this conversation reflects House’s emotional health in a more innocent light, despite Wilson’s claim that House just chooses to be miserable. As a mother-figure to House, Cuddy seems to understand what Jackson needs because she had been in his parents’ shoes before: she tells them, “Now is not the time to listen to him. Go be with him.” By extension, she seems to know what House needs but is not connecting the dots right now. I really wish she would.
While Jackson and his parents are providing a mirror to House’s past, we also see House trying to move forward ... with a hint of optimism. His willingness to shave, his decision to wear a suit, his decision to choose a pain-free existence over his current job with the hope he could land another job doing what he loves … these are all signs that a part of him is not afraid of change, despite Cuddy’s comment to the contrary. Some people may read House’s ultimate refusal of Cuddy’s methadone plan as his surrendering to a life of pain again. Just as House had sought radical treatments for his pain in the past, he will probably continue to do so in the future as more methods become available, but not with a drug that clouds his mental faculties. Barbara, I agree with you that House does not define himself by his pain but by his ability to be much more than “just a good doctor,” to be an excellent doctor who does not screw up. We have seen House arrive at a brilliant Addison’s diagnosis when he was pain-free from the ketamine treatment, so clearly he does not need pain to keep himself sharp. His decision to give the patient an MRI with contrast was not a direct effect of his good mood but of the relative mental haziness (and I say relative because House on methadone is still much brighter than 99% of other fictional doctors) the methadone caused. He simply didn’t want to take the gamble that he would create another unnecessary case.
As for his bittersweet comment at the end (“This is the only me you get”), I don’t think he was implying that he was permanently giving up on trying to alleviate his pain; I think he did want acceptance, as you stated. I think House didn’t want Cuddy to get her hopes up that he would be a happy-go-lucky guy. He knows himself, and he knows that he “does not do happy, pain or no pain,” just as Cuddy had so eloquently said earlier. On one level, he asked her “Why do you care if I am happy?” because he wanted her to admit that she cares about him; on another level, as Alex was getting at, I think he was trying to figure out if she was pushing the methadone so that she could pursue a relationship with the version of him that she wanted. But then I diverge from Alex's thoughts because I do believe that from Cuddy, he wants unconditional love (despite his claim that it doesn’t exist), not love for happy-House-on-methadone.
**As a side note, I applaud the writers for building a story around nephrogenic sclerosing fibrosis (NSF), a rare complication of gadolinium contrast when given in the context of renal impairment. It hasn’t received much attention in the medical community outside of nephrology and radiology but is still important to consider in medical management. Although the writers fumbled a bit by having Foreteen assess the patient’s kidney function in a very roundabout way (no one mentioned the word “creatinine” once), they did a great job in coming up with some fresh medical material … finally!
7 - j.i.m.
Alex wrote, "I think it's disingenuous to think that part of House's decision to try methadone was fueled by his desire to have a relationship with Cuddy..." Last time I checked, disingenuous can mean naive or uninformed. In fact, given the ending of the last episode with House at the piano, such a conclusion seems highly informed.
I also saw House's renewed effort to attain a better quality of life as inspired by his feelings for Cuddy. As I wrote, last episode, I was led to believe that House has deep emotions for Cuddy by the scene where he was crying at his piano while playing a song to honor Cuddy and Rachel during her baby-naming celebration.
Part of the reason why I love the character of House is that he takes action when he reaches a moment of informed understanding about himself. It came as no surprise this episode that House took decisive steps to improve his life after that evening of crisis over his relationship with Cuddy. Of course House sought pain relief to be relieved of pain as well. But his emotional breakdown and desire for Cuddy was the vital impetus that led him to seek a new form of pain medication, IMHO. Everytime he tries some new pain panacea without success, the disappointment weighs ever heavier. I think, at the end of this episode, House was doubly disappointed with the blind alley of a pain reliever and the blind woman, Cuddy, who will not see beneath the mask he has held so firmly in place for so many years. At the end, he turned out the lights and left her and him in darkness as he walked dejectedly away from her.
8 - barbara barnett
jaim--I do understand Cuddy and wilson's pov. And in a sense, as I said, their story here is parallel to the parents in "Softer Side." Yes, House can and HAS interfered in both of their lives. But I think House's leg issues are very private, and offering him an ultimatum: your job or your quality of life was unfair without first hearing his point of view. Both of things are so enmeshed, and this is the first hopeful sign for him since the Ketamine. So I can see House's point as well.
Yeah, that "negation thingy." I was thinking about that during that scene and id did remind me. I don't think he was negating her, though. Just negating the whole idea. I don't think this was about her (not directly).
j.i.m.--I loved that clinic patient. Even my husband laughed (and he's not a fan of the show particularly). But I missed that bit of (maybe unintentional--or not) foreshadowing House's choices at the end of the episode. Nice catch. I do think that Cuddy is fine with House, whatever. I think the methadone was more about himself. I think he believes it's important. I remember at the end of Honeymoon--with Stacy back in his orbit--he tried to take that "normal" step. He did that to try to make himself "normal" (physically). Does this in some oblique way parallel that?
How people feel about him has nothing to do with the leg. I dunno. Maybe trying the methadone is a way to test. Is her love tied up in his neediness? Will he be less needy without the pain and the cane? Maybe that explains part of it too.
I would agree with Alex that the methadone had nothing to do with Cuddy and was just the next in House's efforts to be pain free, except--it's been a long time since we've seen him using anything but Vidodin. The morphine in Who's Your Daddy? was a one-time shot to deal with an very bad day--not a permanent fix (as it were). This was more like Half Wit and Insensitive. But we haven't seen anything like it since then.
Fetal position was part of that whole series of episodes that included half wit and insensitive, and I categorize that with those efforts to help himself. I do agree with you, Alex that what happened in Painless has weighed heavily on him (and I said that) and really fueled this decision to try something else. But I think his final words to Cuddy suggest that his relationship with her was also much on his mind.
Veresna--I have always believed that the saline helped with the pain (as an adjunct to the Vicodin) due to the placebo effect. House believed it was helping, so it did. Until the shot, deep inside the case, he was in pain. It wasn't involvement in the case that took away the pain it was the belief that the shot was working. Placebo effect.
Wynkybx--very nice distillation of the parallels between Jackson and House. There were very strong echoes in this episode to Three Stories.
Fundamentally this was a story about acceptance, but I love your pinning down the little and more subtle "softer sides" to the episode. A beautifully written entry.
9 - Alex
j.i.m. wrote: I was led to believe that House has deep emotions for Cuddy by the scene where he was crying at his piano while playing a song to honor Cuddy and Rachel during her baby-naming celebration.
I hope you're kidding when you say House was crying at his piano.
10 - j.i.m.
Alex, I was kidding. House had dry eyes and he was enjoying his evening alone with his bourbon and music.
11 - barbara barnett
j.i.m.--Seriously? :)
He was having a grand time, so great that he can enjoy that all-important alone time.
I do think he was dry-eyed, but certainly thinking about Cuddy and Rachel (and probably what he was missing in his life).
12 - Alex
I do agree with you, Alex that what happened in Painless has weighed heavily on him (and I said that) and really fueled this decision to try something else. But I think his final words to Cuddy suggest that his relationship with her was also much on his mind.
If that were the case House wouldn't House have tried methadone when he was facing a major fall-out with Wilson at the beginning of the season? Can't it just be that House has an increased level of pain because there's something physically wrong with him that has nothing to do with his emotional state of mind and that Painless is the beginning of that arc?
13 - barbara barnett
Can't it be both? I viewed that final scene--House's resigned decision to forego the methadone, his question to Cuddy about why his happiness matters to her to have some significant to them (your mileage may vary, and we may just need to agree to disagree on this). That final line had the feel of a direct answer to a question that Cuddy didn't ask.
You're right, Alex, it could all be the beginning of a new pain arc. But it's an arc within an arc, because the thing with Cuddy is not resolved. The end of "Unfaithful" left things between them begging for resolution.
14 - Alex
House's feelings for Cuddy are unresolved and they will be addressed before the end of the season, but that final line to Cuddy doesn't imply that he started a new treatment for his pain with having a happy relationship with Cuddy in mind. I'd say that during the exploration of their relationship House's level of pain has increased because he has a physical condition not because he is emotionally affected by Cuddy.
15 - mk879
Barbara - great review, as always.
One thing I found very interesting that I don't think I saw mentioned by you or in any of the other comments was about the woman House hired to "watch him sleep." Nevermind the sexual side effects that methadone can cause. The woman was awfully similar in looks to Cuddy - wavy brown hair and wore a tight, structured business suit.
16 - Pat
I only wish that House were still at the core of the show. Once again Thirteen got more time than House did.
It's interesting how different people can see the same episode and view it differently. I thought this pretty much explained yet again why House cannot be in a relationship with Cuddy, as did Unfaithful. Cuddy wants a House that does not exist. She wants him to be part of her and Rachel's life, she wants him to be painfree and nicer so that they can have a relationship.
But that's not who House is. And it's not who he wants to be. As he said at the end when he went off methadone, “This is the only me you get.”
He may have wanted her to finally admit that she has feelings for him but he also wants her to see that she's never going to get what she wants and her constant efforts to change him into what she wants him to be are going to fail.
I agree with Alex that this is part of a larger pain exploration cycle that started in Painless.
Whether it's significant that it was Cameron who noticed his increased pain yet again as she did in season 3 and not Wilson or Cuddy remains to be seen.
17 - barbara barnett
re: #14 (Alex)--I think that House believes his leg affects his ability to have a "normal" relationship with a woman. And while he is primarily driven by the pain and his desire to live a pain=free life (even if it's shorter), I do think Cuddy enters into the equation. I agree with you that his increased pain has nothing to do with Cuddy. It's physical. Actually in many people with physical pain issues, stress and anxiety exacerbate the pain, no reason that can't be true of House as well.
#15 (mk879)--That was an interesting little scene. House hiring a hooker to watch him while he sleeps so that he doesn't die. I'll have to watch that scene again (yeah, I know someone has to do it) and think about the metaphor.
Pat--I had read that 13 had more minutes on screen. But there is no way that this was not House's story. I completely didn't mind her in this episode.
18 - Monica
Once again I totally and completely disagree with you. I do not think that there is any way that House started taking the methadone because of his feelings for Cuddy, he did it because his leg hurts. That's it.
No offense Barbara, I am sure that you are a very nice person, but it is painful for non Huddy fans to read your reviews. You are certainly watching a different show than I am, I guess your rose tinted Huddy glasses has a lot to do with it. I always thought that reviews of tv shows and movies were supposed to be somewhat open minded, but yours are not at all.
And I don't think you could possibly be more judgmental or negative towards Wilson, and I totally disagree with you on that too. Everything Wilson has ever done, while perhaps misguided, was only because of his love and caring for House, not some malevolent evil plan on his part. Maybe Wilson's plans don't work, but his heart is always in the right place.
Again, no offense intended at all, I just needed to respond.
19 - barbara barnett
Monica--Disagree with me or not, I think it's a matter of interpretation (and mine is given on the season's narrative thus far.)
I pretty roundly criticized both Cuddy and Wilson, so I'm not sure how you could take what I was saying as "huddy-esque." It's a pattern that she and Wilson seem to repeat regarding House. It's unfair (on both their parts) to him and bravo for finally saying something about it (to each in a different way.)
You say you disagree with me about Wilson, but say exactly what I said: that however misguided he acts, he does it out of love and concern--like Jackson's parents. That was sort of my whole point regarding that part of the story. I barely mentioned House's motivation regarding Cuddy. I think I maybe spent three sentences on it in the entire commentary.
I've loved Wilson this season (for the first time in a long time)--starting with Birthmarks. I think that he and House have come to an understanding. In my opinion, Wilson got freaked by House's sudden behavioral change, respiratory issues and overreacted by reverting to old self.
20 - Barbara
Barbara, I disliked Thirteen's continuing increased screentime because with it there is no room on the show for the characters I am interested in. Not everyone watches for Huddy and Thirteen, and if tptb continue to think that they do, it is going to cost them greatly next season.
Another example of Cuddy wanting House to be what he cannot be was in Let Them Eat Cake when she asked House to kiss her and he grabbed her boob instead. She was hurt, then optimistic at the desk, and then hurt again when he went home with the hooker.
Now that I look at it, there are so many clues that Cuddy keeps wanting House to be who she wants him to be and not who he is and that no matter what their feelings about each other are, her hopes for a relationship with him are doomed to fail because of that.
21 - Sheila
It's true that watching an episode of House doesn't feel complete until your review, Barbara, and all the comments that flow from it are posted.
Personally, I loved this episode.Any exploration of House's mind and character are fascinating to me. A few comments follow:
I realize that some dramatic license has to be given to move the story along, so Cuddy's blanket ultimatium to House , although unlikely from a Hospital Administrator to her Star Physician, it made sense in terms of Cuddy's personal fear for House's safety. Lisa's tomented body language during that sence said more than her dialogue could.
I also want to 'stick-up' for Cuddy and Wilson here in their 'meddling' with House's decisions. House is arrogant enough, and risk taking enough, that self-starting on an unsupervised Methadone Program would pose serious risks for him. The very fact that he risked downing a shot of bourbon on the same day as a respiratory arrest, driven by the desire to show Wilson that he was misjudging him..... even with planning to heave it all up shortly.... demonstrated a scary level of risk taking right out-of- the- gate.
As an asside, I think Chase was the prescribing physician on the Methadone as Chase was privy to House's distress over his increasing pain in ' Painless'. Maybe we'll find out, maybe not.
Back to the meddling:
House accepted the supper date with Wilson knowing he would "get a lecture on moderation". In 'Emmancipation', House was almost driven to distraction when Wilson didn't have opinions on his behavior. As House said to Wilson while pleading for feedback in that episdoe " You were designed to have opioions and force them on people." I see House , by his own descriptions over the past seasons, as having been a lonely and isolated child. I think Wilson's hypervigilence and interventions are seen by House as a demonstration of friendship and caring.....regardless of how annoying and, at times, counter-productive they are. House has used the words " you were trying to protect me, that's what friends do" on a number of occassions. Wilson is drawn to neediness & designed to try and safeguard those he loves . House is like a thirst plant in the desert , just drinking up the attention . He really is bereft without it.
Wilson is a busy guy these days trying to explain House- to- Cuddy and Cuddy -to -House. I took hope when House phrased his question to Cuddy as " WHY do you can if I'm happy" because it at least showed his awareness that Cuddy does 'care' about him. I hope she can answer his question soon.
22 - Kathy
Barbara, great review.Its just a pity that you are getting the odd negative critism.
Monica, you have missed the whole point of blogs yet again. As someone said the last time (can't remember who) blogs are personal reviews. Barbara doesn't have to be objective. It is to her credit that she gives up a lot of her time to do these reveiws. The least we can do is not deride everything she does with such negativity. There's nothing stopping you from starting your own blog with your own reviews.
House's experimenting with methadone could be both to relieve his pain and perhaps as a way of having a less miserable life -possibly with Cuddy or with some other person in the future figuring in his life. He's not been in a relationship as far as we know since Stacy, and he pushed Stacy away after the infarction. Couldn't that indicate he may not believe he's capable of another relationship whilst he's in pain??
23 - barbara barnett
Thanks Sheila and Kathy. Sheila--what an interesting point. Hmm. That would make some sense that Chase might be helping House with the methadone.
I agree that House, while fighting their constant meddling and resenting it, values it in the end. And the degree to which he listens to them both (eventually) suggests that. Emancipation also showed that.
Kathy--thanks for coming to my defense ;)
I don't do recaps, which are available elsewhere--like the official site, and why they usually take me a bit longer to write--these are really commentaries. My opinion (just as any review is an opinion). Even movie critics have variable mileage when it comes to some films.
You also hit on something very important. Remember at the end of Honeymoon? With Stacy back in his orbit, House tried taking those first tenative steps cane-free? It was a step he had to try (and his failed), because I do think his self=worth as a partner is tied up in his physical pain as well. He feels a need to be physically normal to explore a relationship with any woman.
24 - Flo
Good review Barbara, for a good episode.
I didn't mind thirteen at all. The importance of a character is not to be based on screentime alone. This was a story about House.
I understand the critics towards Cuddy and Wilson but I also want to say that House has addiction issues and as he seems to not really care about it, Wilson and Cuddy feel the need to do it . Cuddy being House's doctor and Wilson being the one who prescribed him the vicodin for so long they are a part of House's health and I think that a change of drug is a little bit their business (as doctors but also as friends who care about his health I mean).
Yes the prostitute was a bit Cuddy-like, it was fun.
I also agree with Barbara when she says that Cuddy is part of the equation. House didn't decided to change his drug because of her or for her but unconsciously she's always here.
I disagree with those of you who say that Cuddy want to change House. She knows him for years and she likes/loves him for years. Just as he is. The last scene is not about her wanting him to change but, as Barbara pointed out, about acceptance of him trying to be painfree with methadone.
Cuddy is not so selfish. I think she wants him to be happy because she feels he deserves it. But like House and his decision of taking methadone, yes House is also part of the equation. That's why the last scene between those two was kind of heart-breaking for both of them. Oh and House IS afraid of change.
This is coming from someone who's not a huddy. Actually I'm not a shipper at all.
25 - Quartier_Latin
Regarding Cuddy's role in House's methadone use...
The romantic in me would like to think that his exclusion from Cuddy’s special occasion got him thinking about who he’d have to be, to be included and seen in a different light. Perhaps this sparked his search for an end to his pain, a new drug- the methadone. House knows that his pain affects his personality (to some extent, for he is who is, pain or no pain) and not vice versa as everyone else seems to think. So- maybe Cuddy could have been the trigger and motivating force.
The second argument, and the one I tend to believe, is that House didn’t initially take the methadone with solely Cuddy in mind. House was seeking another option to eliminate his pain. Did he evaluate, analyze and breakdown the repercussions of taking the drug? Yes, as much as he possibly could- my feeling is it that this is House. He surely played out the different scenarios if he were to be pain free. I’d guess he anticipated that the ‘painless’ House would be a more tolerable House, a House with softer edges and someone who Cuddy would invite to special occasions. But, I don’t think Cuddy was the driving force. I think being pain free was, and being seen by Cuddy in a different light was an added bonus that he’d welcome.
Unfortunately for House, the only thing he didn’t count on was that his sharpness and accuracy would be dulled and compromised by the drug. I think as we see him in his office in the closing scene, he’s given a lot of thought once again to the pros and cons of the drug. And ultimately, whether Cuddy was the driving force, or a contributing factor- he came to the same conclusion. She’d have to take him as is.
Also- just read a negative comment to which Barbara already addressed, and I’m sure she doesn’t need anyone to come to her defense- but I’d like to share my opinion on the ‘rose tinted Huddy glasses.’
I’m a House and Cuddy fan, but I was also a House and Cameron fan, and a House and Stacy fan… That is because each relationship allows a different side of House to surface. We learn something new about him, we get to peel away layers of this complicated character. And that, to me, is the most enjoyable part of this show. Getting to understand this brilliant character through excellent writing and the relationships (friendships, working, and romantic) he has.
Clearly, this season is a House & Cuddy season. It’s been leading up to that for quite some time and there seem to be a lot of supporters- hence why it’s taken this direction. I mean, if you read interviews with cast, producers, writers it’s pretty apparent that this is a heavy part of season 5. Therefore, I think Barbara is most definitely watching the same show… at least the same show as I am. What bothers me about the negative comment is that the opinions were so definite and sure “he did it because his leg hurts. That’s it”… Really- was this expressed by a writer to you personally?
We have no way of knowing what the writers truly intended. We’re here to share our different perspectives. I think Barbara does an excellent job of showing objectivity and an all-encompassing commentary on something that is fundamentally subjective- this whole show is up to interpretation. Make of it what you like, and if you don’t like what you’re reading, read another blog.
Fin