An ailing old man: a head of state, comes to an American hospital. A dictator, he is responsible for the deaths of thousands. And if he survives, he will likely kill a hundred thousand more. Does he have a right to medical treatment? Does he have a right to live?
Or is it better to eliminate him, knowing that to cure him will mean certain mass murder and genocide in a small African nation? This is the question pondered in “The Tyrant,” this week’s House episode. Guest star James Earl Jones, the epitome of menace and evil as the voice of Darth Vader the legendary Star Wars saga, plays a President Dibala, an African dictator who begins to vomit blood after being served with papers accusing him of crimes against humanity.
It’s a compelling ethical question. One that touches on a core House theme: the tension between “ethics” and “doing what is right.” Is the right thing to pre-empt genocide and let the tyrant die? Perhaps even take an active role in hastening his death? Or is the right thing to treat him because he has the right to proper medical treatment, leaving judgment and punishment to the international legal and political systems?
Usually on House, we are treated to House’s unique take on ethics and morality; this week, as he continues to await the reinstatement of his medical license, House is relegated to a marginal role in the main case. Chase and Cameron are enlisted to work diagnostics for the department's new director, Foreman, after Taub’s resignation and 13’s firing last week. House has returned to Princeton Plainsboro only to observe and offer opinions, but not to treat—or have any patient contact.
The team is tasked with diagnosing and treating President Dibala. They are under siege from Dibala’s protectors, who are suspicious of every procedure; and his opposition: an oppressed people, who implore the team to “do the right thing” and let the man die.
In a way it’s like old home week with the original team intact, yet something seems askew. House is not there, guiding and filtering the debate, leading the team driving the diagnosis—and the ethical debate.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - NancyGail
It will be interesting to watch next time. Diabala's med team just might show autopsy results as scleroderma.
House and the kidnap scenes also make him something of a tyrant.
2 - Vita
Really interesting review, as always, Barbara! I have to say I don't think Chase was acting to protect Cameron here - he knew that when push came to shove she wasn't willing to end someone's life based on her opinion of him. I really thought that what pushed Chase was watching Dibala's personality unfold from someone who seemed to have regrets to someone who saw all his actions as entirely justified and was therefore capable of continuing them.
3 - Anna from Italy
Thank you for your usual super exhaustive comment!
Excellent, excellent episode! It is true, we would always like House in the centre of the action, and I can only think of a fantastic dialogue between Laurie and Earl Jones, but the moment of the "kidnapping" and its unexpected solution left me breathless. This show is amazing. No other shows have ever given me so much as "House"
4 - barbara barnett
Thanks for your comments all. I put the Chase-protecting-Cameron scenario out there as a speculation because it does fit him--and Cameron has occasionally let the insane part of her moral compass take precedence. I'm not sure I believe it, myself, but I thought it was an interesting possibility.
House was a tyrant by dosing Murphy and taking him hostage. But Murphy would never have consented to House going near him otherwise.
JEJ was, as usual, great in role he's often played. That voice just gets me all the time :)
Would have really, really loved to see Dibala and House go toe to toe on the issue of genocide. House's sense of justice is very defined, and I'm pretty sure there would have been some amazing debate between the two men.
I missed that. House's story should seldom be the "B" plot of an episode exclusively. His involvement in the main plot was so marginal, it was barely relevant.
that's not to say I didn't like the episode. I did. I felt the House=Wilson scenes sometimes felt almost tacked on, taking us out of the main action. That's my main quibble. House should always have some impact on the main story. He didn't here at all.
5 - Val
Barbara, wonderful and interesting take as always. A few things that stuck out for me:
When it was revealed what Chase had done, I didn't think of the protecting-Cameron angle; that is certainly a valid spec. Instead, it did not surprise me (after the initial shock, of course) in thinking about Chase's character the first three years that he could do something like this. Chase was the one feeding info to Volger in S1 and working with Tritter in S3. Granted those affected House directly and this move didn't (but it may indirectly). Knowing that background, it didn't seem implausible that he would take such a drastic measure for the sake of a moral issue...perhaps House's morals have rubbed off on Chase in that respect. Jesse Spencer was excellent and I have enjoyed him more since he was fired than when he was part of the team. It seemed Cameron had regressed a bit; it was the old Cameron with her "moral compass". I thought she had grown more the past two seasons outside of the diagnostic dept. And Foreman was the main tyrant. I found myself wanting to yell at him to get out of House's chair...lol! Wonderful job by Omar Epps the past couple episodes. Again, the parallels between Foreman and House (actually brought up by House this time), a device that just proves more and more how unlike they are...
I missed Taub and 13 and hope they return to fully learn from a better House. I am glad 13 walked out on Foreman. Two strikes against him on that front...
House and Wilson continue to amuse me. HL and RSL continue to be hilarious together. As scary as it was for a moment (because who really knew what House was going to do with the guy and duct tape),it seems House continues to take things away from his interactions with people be it outside PPTH and help them at the same time.
Would have enjoyed a moral discussion or two btwn House and Dibala...can't always get what you want. Yes, Barbara, House's lack of involvement in the 'A'story was my main issue with this episode as well. It just reiterated why I watched the show...didn't miss any fellows in season premiere and really missed House fully in PPTH this time around.
6 - savta
I don't think I saw anyone mention the fact that it was Cameron who ended the life of the medical researcher - played by Joel Grey - who wanted his DNR orders honored, though House continued to search for the solution to his deterioration, a few seasons ago.
House purposely gave Cameron damning evidence against the researcher based on dangerous research he had done on babies many years before. He knew exactly what effect it would have on Cameron. He found her exactly where he knew she would be the next morning when he arrived at PPTH after Cuddy asked him what happened to the patient since he was resting comfortably when she left the night before.
Though I don't really believe in this case that Cameron had anything to do with getting the blood sample from the dead patient in the morgue, it was not a far stretch for her involvement to be a possibility.
I can see Chase taking the responsibility to cover for his new wife, though in this case, I believe it was all his doing.
7 - barbara barnett
savta--exactly what I was thinking about when I wrote what I did. I can believe when Cam is pushed to her moral boundaries hard enough she acts extremely.
8 - Robert M. Barga
I am still pissed off that Chase and Foremen did what they did. There is no right to kill another human unless he is in the process of killing others
as doctors, they should know better
9 - Sarah
Barbara -- thank you for, as always, a thought-provoking review. I, too, would have loved to have had at least one scene between House and Dibala (just to let those two wonderful actors go at each other, if nothing else). However, I wonder about how much House would've had to say about Dibala's actions. The epidosde last night referenced "Acceptance" outright; my fuzzy memory of it is that House's focus was about treating the patient/prisoner, regardless of how many he'd killed or what his fate was to be. I wonder, as he's coming to grips more and more with humanity (both within and outside of himself) if his position would be different now.
On other fronts, I was also annoyed at Wilson, especially at the beginning of the episode. However, I did appreciate the incremental change in Wilson's attitude over this episode, literally from "I can't believe you" to "I want to believe you" to "I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt". One thing that I hope future episodes address are the trust issues that House, Cuddy and Wilson have created between themselves. From Wilson's (and Cuddy's) POV, he's been disappointed in his friend so many times, especially as to his attempts at rehab. I didn't really expect that to change very rapidly, especially as we don't know how much House has shared with him about all that happened in his mind/heart at Mayfield. House's dismissive comment about the "white coats" giving him some fun new coping skills makes me think that little has been shared about everything House experienced during his three months away -- without that, I would expect that both Wilson and Cuddy are just waiting for the other shoe to drop (something that Wilson could very well have pushed House into with his throwing House out).
As for the others, I thought Jesse Spencer was fabulous and that Chase was basically acting alone. It was great to see JS play off of Hugh in the differentials and yet go to this whole different plane after Dibala's death. Omar, as well, is so much better when given something new to do. His indecision over whether to support Chase and his almost whimpering voice when he asked Chase if he thought there'd be no consequences for himself were new aspects of this character that, as of last week, I'd grown mighty tired of.
Finally, my favorite moments (of an episode that had quite a few) were: 1) the moment when we're first shown that House has duct taped his hostage -- I was delighted to find that I truly didn't know which of about 6 directions the writers could have gone with House in that scene. 2) House's shy smile when he's cured Murphy's pain. In days of not-too-old, House would've totally denied any compliment or thanks. He still dipped his head when Murphy thanked him, but actually seemed pleased both with himself and the thing he'd done. Lovely work by Hugh. 3) It's small, but in the second differential when House says that it's great to have the old team back together, Chase raises his coffee cup so sarcastically and so perfectly in tune with his character, it made me miss what these actors bring out in each other. I really enjoyed last night's show, and it's great to have a place to chat about it like this. Thanks again!
10 - blacktop
This episode immediately rose to the top ranks among my favorites for "House." I appreciated the strong storyline, with its large scope and difficult issues, the intelligent tightly balanced script, and the exceptional acting, especially by Jesse Spencer, Omar Epps, and the superb James Earl Jones. I found I didn't miss House at all (which is a first for me) and was even a bit irritated when the condo tyrant plot intruded on the main story.
I didn't regret a scene between House and Dibala because I thought the ones with Chase were so powerful and moving. I think that we got a fascinating glimpse at a moral turning point in Chase's life, whereas I don't think that House, with his fixed and highly personal code, would have experienced the dictator at all like the younger man did. We watched as Chase decided that his commitment to abstract humanity overrode his code as a doctor. And Foreman underwent a similar moral transformation when he realized at the end that he cherished his friend more than he valued his abstract commitment to professional ethics. Powerful stuff indeed.
11 - TV Obsessed
I liked this episode a lot, probably because I hate Foreman and 13, who weren't important to the storyline. I'm liking where the season is going so far with a focus on Chase and Cameron instead of the other team members, thought I hope there will be more of House in future episodes. [Edited]
12 - meimei
It was a breath of fresh air seeing the old team back together again. Although you can definitely see that the characters are older and wiser now. (i.e. Cameron is no longer trying to please House.) This is the reason why I loved House. It's hard for me to watch seasons 4 & 5 particularly because of the lack of chemistry between the new fellows. I don't miss Taub at all. 13 is good as an auxiliary character and Kutner was never used to his potential.
(No Spoiler here) but I'm speculating that Cameron takes the rap for Chase which is why she will no longer be at Princeton Plainsborough toward November. What a damn shame. I still don't understand why the writers felt they needed to tinker with the formula. (to keep it fresh, yes yes. I heard that one before) I just feel that it's getting a little gimmicky with all the plot lines of late.
I'm just hoping that as the season progresses and that House will return to what it was know best for. Focus on House and his relationships with others, the patient of the week, and the hilarious clinical patient segments.
13 - Rewriter
I had a different take on Wilson's pronouncement of House's eviction. Wilson told House that he had made a deal with the neighbor to keep him from filing criminal charges of burglary by agreeing to get rid of House; he did it to protect House, not to hurt him. Neither one of them looked happy at the end of that conversation, and Wilson advised House not to "double down" and do something rash like he usually does, but to deal with it. Instead, as House himself said when the neighbor woke up from his "nap" in his duct-tape chains, this action was "a step back" for him with some of the issues he was trying to work through. But the wild and crazy risk he took worked; he saved himself not only from eviction but from jail.
14 - P.
Good review, Barbara!
I enjoyed this episode more than I've enjoyed a House episode in a long time.
The old team has a chemistry that the new one never developed, although I liked Taub, Kutner and 13 (when she isn't with Foreman) and even Amber. They just never seemed to gell as a group.
And the ethical question posed by the episode was interesting, relevant and edgy.
I do have to disagree with your assessment of Cameron's "insane moral compass". Just because she has principles that she sticks to may make her a human rarity, but hardly
"insane". That's one of the reasons that I really love her character, and will miss her. Too bad that 13, with barely a moral compass at all, isn't the one to leave the show. Foreman would also be better off with her. I'm just dreading the long, angonizing and painful death the writers are going to give her when the time comes. They are so in love with Olivia Wilde they stoop to melodrama when it comes to her character. Yuk.
Hopefully, the show will continue back on the path to what made the show great in the first place.
15 - barbara barnett
P--the "insane" part is simply a quote from House ("Daddy's Boy") he talks about her "insane moral compass."
16 - nicole.o
My husband and I (I should note this is the only show we both like and watch together) were stunned at the ending! It was SO powerful to see the interaction between Chase and Foreman and the end scene where Foreman burned the paper was, wow. Powerful. It made up for some of the other parts that fell flat for me. The old team in my opinion is the best by far. I did enjoy seeing House's playful side with the team and writing the diagnosis on the blinds and such. Funny.
Barbara, is Taub gone from the show for good? I haven't heard anything that he is but didn't know?
Looking forward to next week as always!
17 - barbara barnett
Nicole-â€"I do not believe Taub is gone for good. I’m pretty sure he will return at some point.
18 - Orange450
Hmmm. As occasionally happens, Barbara, I enjoyed your review more than I enjoyed the episode.
Maybe it was me who had an off nite, but somehow, this one just didn't do it for me. Much of it felt too melodramatic to me, too soap-opera-ish, even too contrived, in some parts.
Of course JEJ is a legend, but I thought he came across as a stereotypical caricature of "the terrible dictator". (Just as an aside, I've seen episodes of L&O which deal with similar bad guys. Somehow, in a very understated way, they come across as far more realistically terrible.) He seemed to have been plunked down in PPTH just so that our cast of characters could struggle with their ethical dilemmas (in fairly predictable ways).
Now I could be wrong (and I've been doing some research to find out about this), but I think that the dilemma didn't necessarily have to be as "all or nothing" as it was staged. Meaning, I don't think this necessarily had to be a case of cure him or kill him/let him die. Maybe someone here knows the answer - could each doctor have been within their rights, as individual professionals, to refuse to treat him (before meeting him), on ethical/moral grounds? Sort of recuse themselves from the case? (Personally, I think the right thing to do would have been to Medevac him back to his country and let him be treated there. A probable death sentence, but fair.)
Now I know that Cuddy had told them to treat him, but if any of them had refused on ethical grounds, would she have fired them over it? And if she had threatened to do so - well *there's* the real (and far more realistic, IMHO) ethical dilemma of standing up to one's own convictions and risking losing one's job in the process.
JS has blossomed into a fine actor, but I don't think the material was worthy of him this time around.
Barbara, I'm 100% with you on Wilson's treatment of House. GMAB! Selling out his friend for a garden fountain?? I also enjoyed watching House's old snarky self struggling to come out, and House's new "I'm working on some stuff" (LOVED it :)) self struggling to keep the old self in check.
But I thought Murphy was overdrawn and overdone, and I couldn't even enjoy the mirror-cure scene, because I thought it was too soap-opera-y as well. IMO, it happened too quickly to feel realistic. I mean, the guy didn't even wait two minutes to realize that he wasn't in pain anymore.
And Dibala's son crying over him at the end?? Just to show us that even though he was a cruel dictator and his son hadn't spoken to him in years, the son would now cry because he was dead?? Please.
I've checked over at the Fox forum, and I haven't yet come across anyone who didn't really like the episode. So mine is definitely a minority opinion. Thanks for hosting a safe and friendly place in which I can air it!
19 - Linda
Nicole--Greg Yaitanes has posted pictures of Taub and 13 back on the House set in their white coats doing scenes. And Chase and Foreman were there too, so I guess they don't get fired either.
20 - Celia
Yes Orange, a physician can excuse himself from a case in the real world but there are of course repercussions to dealt with..... plus it rather kills the drama needed in a 42 minute episode of a network TV series. I think the 'choice' as written as a narrative/symbolic choice to focus the moral dilemma, not necessarily portray the array of options available in the real world.
Having worked ortho for 14 years with a lot of amputees the phanton limb pain cure was not unrealistic. The man had blown off his own arm to get out of Veit Nam and needed to let go of the bomb and his guilt. It too was symbolic in nature.
The weeping son IMO was shown to cast some doubt on whether a wholly 'bad' man had been murdered or an emotional rush to judgement had been made in the presser cooker situation.
As for Wilson & House: there was a nice symmetry between the initial mail box scene where House asked Wilson to " give him the benefit of the doubt" when House really hadn't done anything to the neighbor and the last scene where Wilson chooses to give House the benefit of the double when House actually has done something ( kidnapped the neighbor). And less we forget, House tried to throw Wilson out his condo back in S3 when Wilson was in a vulnerable situation....but he changed his mind too. Wilson at least was worried about House having charges pressed against him for trespass & going to jail given he already has a police record post Tritter. It may also be germaine that the condo actually is Amber's....and Wilson has admitted he is " stuck". I think sometimes a cigar isn't just a cigar. Wilson may be deeper into a depression now than House.
21 - Bery
"It’s actually Wilson who’s the real jerk here with his imperative is to get that fountain, even if it means jettisoning House from his condo to appease the neighbor. This is such a fragile, critical time for House, and Wilson continues to treat him like a barely-reformed juvenile delinquent on probation."
"Wilson then magnanimously allows House to stay. How big of him. Sorry, I thought Wilson’s treatment of House in the episode was unjustified, judgmental, and harsh."
I STRONGLY disagree with this.
Do you really think things would have gone any different if the fountain wasn't involved in all of this? Wilson is the eternal people pleaser, he sees this war hero who lost an arm and he can't help but feel it's his obligation to show utmost respect for the guy and do whatever the guy tells him to do. It was never really about the fountain.
We all know that House is trying to change, but he has a history of this, of making conflicts worse, so there was little wonder at the fact that Wilson wanted him to stay away from the dispute.
But House does get involved instead of setting for the apology-letter idea, which he was just about to do, but of course he couldn't help himself and acused the guy of something he didn't have substantial proof of, making all the matter worse. Very old House like.
So with House himself having already admitted that he had technically broken into the guy's place and his unjustified accusations to the guy, of course the guy was going to press charges. The guy, like House very well said, was clearly a jerk, so I'm positive that he wouldn't have let it go until House left, either voluntarily or unvoluntarily.
What choice did Wilson have? He was trying to stop the guy from pressing charges, he was trying to protect House. If he didn't care about House and only cared about the fountain like you sem to imply, then the best for him would have probably been for House to go to jail, he wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of calming the jerk down and convincing him of just letting House move out.
Lastly, I find it funny that you call Wilson a jerk, judgemental and blame him for treating House like a 'barely-reformed juvenile delinquent on probation', when ALL OF US already know that House is gonna go back to his old ways, it's only a matter of time. How can you blame Wilson for being suspicious and cautious? If he wasn't, I think that would show very little understanding of House on his part and a big ammount of naiveness. House himself knows that he has to earn the trust that he has lost with many years of putting fuel into fires, that is why he, unlike you, doesn't blame Wilson for his actions on this episode.
I'm glad that House settled the conflict and actually ended up helping Wilson, that was kind of him, and I'm glad that he didn't have to move out because I really heart them living together. But you can't deny the fact that House made the conflict a whole lot worse by slipping into his old self, before making it better. THAT should be proof enough that Wilson's disbelief of House was hardly unfouded.
22 - Joanneasj
Bery,
I totally agree with you on your take on Wilson. This was not about a stupid fountain, it was about protecting House from jail. And also I think that Wilson and House converse in a language of understatement. They are embarressed to express their affection for each other, as men often are, and so they use understatement. "I will give you the benefit of the doubt" therefore means something like: "You have surprised me by doing something good. That pleases me greatly and I will trust you more now than I did before." Or words and thoughts to that effect. :-)
And as was mentioned before, House did do a lot of things in the past to make Wilson distrust him, so I can't blame Wilson for being just a little sceptical with regard to the changes in House. Trust indeed has to be earned.
23 - MIRNS
There seems to be a consensus now that Cameron's ethics, her integrity and uprightness are "insane." Why? Has morality become that much of an alien concept in the world we live in?It is the dearth of such values that is totally insane.
24 - Bery
Joanneasj:
Thanks for your comment and agreeing.
I really liked this point
"They are embarressed to express their affection for each other, as men often are, and so they use understatement. "I will give you the benefit of the doubt" therefore means something like: "You have surprised me by doing something good. That pleases me greatly and I will trust you more now than I did before." Or words and thoughts to that effect. :-)"
Very well put!
25 - Jen
Great review Barbara! Once again, HL does an excellent job of acting and my fav part is when he cures Murphy! Wilson is not very nice, but maybe he is afraid that if he is nice to House, House will slip. He must be conflicted on how to act and is overcompensating the other way. I love stopping by every week to read all of the comments above! Keep them coming!Oh, btw, when I hit preview comment, the box isn't working correctly. Any ideas?