But as much as those feelings buzz around him, persistent and refusing to go away, for House the fear of exploring those feelings is even worse. When Stuart admits, “I feel pain when I go outside, so I avoid going outside," House calls him on his irrational fear, telling him that he’ll die if he doesn’t go to the hospital. “I’d rather die in here than live out there,” is his honest reply.
It’s something that should resonate with House, who has so often been held back because of his own fear, telling himself that he’s better off without love, without companionship. As miserable as he is, exposure and rejection would put him in a much worse place.
Although Cuddy doesn’t share House’s fear of involvement (at least not overtly), she has convinced herself (perhaps correctly) that a relationship with House would likely combust and consume them both. Wilson doesn’t agree and is delightful trying to play matchmaker. (He’s a great “yenta,” which is Yiddish for someone who can’t mind their own business, and a character in Fiddler on the Roof: Yenta — the matchmaker!) Wilson goes so far to concoct an obvious yet endearing plot to make House jealous enough to act on his feelings.
But House’s fears run very deep, and maybe, like Stuart, House had always been isolated, afraid to connect with women on anything but a very cursory level. Stacy, the love of House’s life, was the only woman able to get past House’s barriers and his terror (and maybe House’s own version of post-traumatic stress disorder). And even when she was willing to return to him in season two, he retreated, unable to take the risk.
So House's whole life is tied up completely in his work, perpetually on the outside looking in (or, like Stuart, on the inside looking out). But for House it's the only way he can cope, deluding himself that he's "fine," and "better off alone."
“When one part of your life is the Titanic,” he says to Taub, deflecting, “you make a life raft of the rest of your life.” Work takes on more significance, etc. And isn’t that fundamentally House? His life is a wreck, and rather than try to repair it, he takes refuge in the one part of his life that isn’t a wreck. Cuddy offers House the promise of something else, but in order to access that promise, House has to risk much. Is it too much?
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Marianna
*I guees you have read Hugh Laurie's delightful novel "The Gun Seller" -if not, just ignore what i'm about to say because it contains minor spoilers about the book*
I always thought that there are parallels with Thomas Lang (the protagonist of the Gun Seller) and Gregory House (and even maybe Laurie himself?), as they both are irascible and rather grumpy on the outside but sensitive and emotional inside. So in todays episode, when i heard the following dialogue between House and Cuddy:
"-I was emotional because of the adoption falling through, and you, actually, let your human side show for a moment, that is why we kissed. I just wanna say 'Thank you' for not ..taking advantage.
-You are welcome. Anytime you wanna stop kissing, I'm there for you",
it immediately rang a bell. And i tried all day long to remember what it reminds of, and then it just hit me! It's Thomas Lang and Ronnie from the Gun Seller:
"‘Thank you, Thomas.’ (..) ‘Thank you for what?’
Ronnie looked down at the ground and kicked at something that probably wasn’t there.
‘For not trying to make love to me last night.’
‘You’re welcome.’
I really didn’t know what she expected me to say, or even whether this was the beginning of a conversation or the end. ‘Thank you for thanking me,’ I added, which made it sound more like the end.
‘Oh, shut up.’
‘No, really,’ I said. ‘I appreciate it very much. I don’t try and make love to millions of women every day, and never get a squeak out of most of them. It makes a nice change.’"
Aww, aren't they both adorable. Yes, i know, they are fictional characters, but still :)
Once more, i love your thoughts and your insights, and once again i couldn't be more satisfied with the way the writers are handling the whole situation.
Very House-y, but with a glimpse of humanness.
2 - Barbara Barnett
Thanks, Marianna. I thought that sounded a bit familiar. I do indeed see parallels between House and Thomas Lang.
3 - Sheelagh
I quite liked the episode 'Itch' . I tend to accept the medical 'mystery' of the week as a metaphor for House and willingly suspend my disbelieve in any medical reality.
I was rather proud of House for making the decision to go to Cuddy's home, even if he lost his nerve at the last minute. The 'dance' needs to continue for awhile longer & it wouldn't have been consistent with the character if he had just gotten in there & acted on his desire. At least he had some insight and took a meaningful first step. HUGE for this character and some actual growth.
I thought Wilson's efforts on House's behave were charming and I even liked his new ' tough love' when he kindly threw House out of his apartment. Wilson does have more backbone these since returning but he also seems to have really committed to remaining a good friend to House.
The fact that Cuddy 'read' both of them...if not herself.. like a good poker player was great. She was forceful but vunerable.
The song I was thinking of for further down the road as House gathers his courage together was Divine Brown's ' Lay It On the Line'. What could be better than a Canadian (!!) R&B singer for House's ongoing efforts at commitment ?
One question: why would the Show do reruns during the November Sweeps in the States ?
4 - Sarah
Cameron is unable to completely overcome the loss of her husband " something she must do to hang on to her relationship with Chase. It’s something that Chase perceives; realizing that he can only pursue her for so long, no matter how much he loves her. But Chase must wonder whether it's Cameron's dead husband or House that blocks their happiness.
Please, Chase wonders nothing, last night he made it clear that he knew that Cameron's fear of commitment was about her husband, he didn't mention House not even once, and do you think he would have been so understanding with Cameron had it been House the cause of her phobia-commitment? Cameron's over House.
5 - Boffle
Nice recap, Barbara. I like the parallel with Thomas Lang, Marianne: what a great book that is.
So, here's one of the subtlest and coolest bits I've seen on this show:
The show aired on Armistice (Veteran's) Day: 11/11/1918 was the end of WWI. The most affecting tv episode about WWI imho was Goodbyeee, the last episode of Blackadder, Series 4. HL played a wonderfully naive gung-ho lieutenant in that series and that last episode took place during the Third Battle of Ypres.
I wondered if there would be some acknowledgement in "The Itch" and I think there was: House mentions "re-enacting the Battle of Ypres" using chlorine gas right after he asks the PoTW if he cleans the tub with bleach and ammonia. Perhaps HL used the name of that particular battle in honor of both the real tragedy and of the Blackadder episode which many have found so moving, black humor and all. Fine, fine writing!
6 - James
Later today, I’m participating in a conference call with Katie Jacobs and will report on it in the next couple of days.
I just hope that your report will include something more than House/Cuddy love, life and highschool. Not everyone is so enamoured of this storyline and I find it very difficult to navigate your reviews trying to read what you have to say about Cameron, Chase or Foreman when 90% is about House and Cuddy relationship. Thanks
7 - Kiddo
AMEN, my friend.
AMEN.
^________^
8 - Barbara Barnett
Sheelagh--the reruns are running on Wednesdays only, along with the new eps on Tuesday. Not to worry!
Sarah--of course it's her husband. She is over House (I think, anyway--and House has no interest in her) but Chase still perceives House as a threat, I think, in some way. He's alluded to it in the past.
Boffle--Hmmm. Interesting idea. They would be clever indeed to make that sort of subtle self-referential commentary. I like it :)
James and Kiddo--Have no control over the course of conference calls (I actually didn't even get a question in this time). As far as the House/Cuddy content of my reviews, the last two episodes have been much about them. My commentaries, by design focus on House and how those in his orbit affect (or are affected by) him, so they will be House-heavy.
9 - Tammy
I LOVED last night's episode but it had nothing to do with all the House and Cuddy implications, it had to do with the fact that we saw more of Cameron. Cameron has definitely grown as a character, and though may say that she was annoying and being highly over ethical, I think that's what makes the show interesting. She was wonderful advocating for her patient despite having to deal with her own personal problems. Jennifer Morrison did a brilliant job each scene she was in and it just shows how much better the show is with her than without her. Chase included. Jesse Spencer was brilliant.
The episode had a lot in it and it was more than just about House and Cuddy.
10 - Renee
I love you.
That is all.
LOL.
11 - sassydew
Hi, Barbara, and thank you for another wonderful review! :-)
This episode isn't among my favorites. I found the whole thing a little too much like a soap opera with House unsure of his feelings for Cuddy, Wilson playing the Yenta and there possibly being some truth to his telling Cuddy that he has feelings for her, and Cameron and Chase arguing about whose apartment they should sleep in.
The parallels between House and Stuart were, I thought, a little too obvious, and as for Cameron, I'm just really not particularly interested in her issues anymore. (I like Chase, though, so I'm glad that she gave him a drawer.)
I thought the mosquito/itch was kind of cliche and the apartment explosion more an excuse to blow something up than a profound metaphor, but that's just me.
Regarding Wilson pushing House to go for it with Cuddy, as much as it pains me to admit it, he sort of did the same thing where Cameron was concerned back in S1, and, of course, with Stacy in S2. I think he believes House will be happier in a relationship so he encourages him whenever an opportunity arises.
I think House's predicament regarding his feelings about Cuddy would have made more sense had mention been made of House's past relationships with both Stacy and Cuddy because this would have provided the context for his current issue (not to mention continuity). Us diehard fans know about his history, but newer or less dedicated viewers maybe don't know or have forgotten; we learned about House/Stacy in S1-S2 and House/Cuddy in S3 - both some time ago.
I think what I missed the most here - and what I find lacking this season - is House himself. It seems that almost every episode is split between House and one of the ducklings, old or new. I watch primarily for House and secondarily for Wilson and Cuddy; I'm just not that invested in any of the ducklings to want to have them take up half the show.
I don't mean to be a wet blanket; I am very glad to see that a lot of people really enjoyed this episode! :-) In any case, Barbara, I always look forward to and enjoy your reviews, and I am anxiously awaiting your piece on love and the KJ interview!
12 - Orange450
Sassy, I haven't even seen The Itch yet (I typically read Barbara's review before seeing the episode - I think Doris Egan would strongly disapprove), but your post made me smile, because I thought it sounded very much like something I might write :-) Maybe we're all beginning to rub off on each other!
Barbara, I'm also looking forward to your piece on love, and your interview with KJ. My comments on Stacy took me longer to write than I expected, but I'm almost done, and will probably post it in this thread, if that's OK with you.
13 - Barbara Barnett
Tammy--I am a big fan of the Chase/Cameron pairing. I've liked it since they got together in season three as FWB (Friends with Benefits). I've loved their courtship (and Chase's Tuesdays) and enjoyed the fact that Cameron saw Chase for the catch his is in Human Error.
I've liked them this season as well, and pull for them to make it. Everyone has their favorite focus, I suppose, and none is more valid than anyone else's because we all have differing points of view; and the show is written to be differentially interpreted on all levels. Jennifer has really grown as an actress. Jesse has always been one of the strongest of the cast memebers. But (to me) the episode was about House, his parallel with the patient and his relationship with Cuddy.
Renee--thank you ;)--(were you talking to moi?)
Sassydew--as always your insightful comments are most welcome! I, too, miss more House. I do want him in more scenes (all of them, if possible, like House's Head--but poor hugh!)
Yes, I agree the episode was more obvious than most; I didn't have to work very hard to find my metaphors :)
BUt I have to admit to having enjoyed watching House struggle with his feelings and Wilson just enjoying being House's friend. It would have been better to bring back the past, but for the characters, so much time has passed, would it have been realistic to do so? Wilson's probably long forgotten House and Cameron's date and his words to her about opening up; and alhtough I'm sure he hasn't forgotten Stacy, two more years have passed since she left, and maybe her name is better left unspoken to House (who will always love her, of course)
KJ interview should be up shortly.
14 - Kate
I think Wilson would support House with anyone, Cameron, Cuddy, Honey, masseuse, as long as it would give House a life apart from Wilson's.
I really liked this episode because it was back to the significant patient story and ethical dilemmas. It was thought-provoking and intelligent again, the whole show in old school style.
I could have done with the House/Wilson/Cuddy passing-notes-in-study-hall plot. Has House never kissed a girl before? What is he, 11? Cameron grew up, now can House please.
15 - Barbara Barnett
Orange--no problem. I've been a little writing machine today. Phew. Three articles in one day! My stress (and my cold) are mostly gone and I can once again concentrate on writing a little more.
Kate--Of course House has kissed a girl. He lived with Stacy and loved her. but maybe, like the patient, Stacy was a once-in-a-lifetime draw him out of his shell find (and maybe that's why he came so unglued when she left the first time). House is a man with profound trust issues. In a way, he almost reminds me of Boo Radley (but just in one or two aspects).
In a way, he is 11 (stuck in time) in a lot of ways. But his woundedness is one of his most important characteristics, and his struggles to overcome his problems (unsuccessful as they may always be) make him a pretty classic tragic hero.
16 - Marie
I am tired of hearing that House can never be in a relationship, he is destined to wind up alone, he is a tragic hero, he will never be happy, etc.
Now, I definitely do not want to see sunshine and puppies, happy-in-love House. But I would love to see the series tackle a real relationship between Cuddy and House - one that is as contradictory and annoying and persistent as they are. House can grow without giving up being House. In fact, I think he should because the "eternally wounded" man is getting a little old.
17 - Barbara Barnett
Marie--I think they will tackle a relationship with House and Cuddy, but it will be complicated and fraught with all sorts of stuff.
To me, though, if House "grows up"--becomes emotionally healed, it could go one of two ways. He becomes a funny jerk or a compassionate doctor who is funny but acerbic. the fact that he keeps his inner life under such wraps with only allowing us to see small bits of it--and to see him struggle--is at the heart of his character. But your mileage may vary. Of course.
18 - Clare
Could the dream scene be a symbol of a House-Cuddy relationship? I mean really... House and Cuddy together is the same as propane and a flame--ultimately.
19 - Pam
As to the cane-less walking, I also think it echoed back to House attempting to walk without it in "Honeymoon". In moments like this one, it seems to indicate that House wants the life he once had, that he wants happiness, but it also suggests that House, just as House can't walk for long or well without his cane, he can't experience happiness or normalcy in his life without it soon collapsing in on itself.
20 - Barbara Barnett
Clare--That's what I originally thought when I first heard about the dream. But let's think about this a minute. The mosquito, which House is intent to obliterate, buzzes relentlessly. The mosquito represents the idea of Cuddy, which House cannot banish from his conscious or (evidently) from his subconscious mind. So he chases it, trying to rid himself of thoughts of her. He tries everything, but when he tries too hard (the elaborate zapper), it blows up in his face. In the end (outside the dream) and playing his guitar, House is again plagued by the mosquito, representing Cuddy re-entering his thoughts as he considers what he told his patient. But this time, rather than try to rid himself of the pest, he gently blows it off his hand, letting it live. It's in that moment that he decides to act on his feelings because he'll never get rid of them anyway, so he needs to do something. That's my take, anyway.
21 - Barbara Barnett
#19 Pam- Yes. I absolutely felt a callback to Honeymoon (I wrote something about it, but had to cut it--getting way, way too long :))
But I think your assessment is spot on. He does want to live a normal life, a happier life. He admitted it to dead Amber, and his actions with the Ketamine, as well as his search for some sort of radical therapy later in season three all speak to House's desire for living a normal, happier life. Like he said to Wilson in "Insensitive" when Wilson ragged on him for wanting to do the nerve biopsy on Hanna. Wilson reminded House that his life would be shorter and he'd be on immunosupressants for life. House's grim reply was "shorter, but normal."
22 - Orange450
“And, again in season two, he gave up Stacy (after pursuing her for months) rather than put himself through the inevitable pain that would come with her leaving him for a second time.”
Barbara, thanks for providing a hook on which I can hang my House/Stacy perspective! I refer to comments that you and others posted in your “Joy” review, so I wanted to get this out before we get too far away from that episode.
“Stacy told House that he was "curry." That curry is something you take in small doses because in bigger quantities it tends to burn the roof of your mouth. She missed "the curry."”
Barbara, you included Stacy’s curry analogy in your take on the “fun” aspect of their relationship. I took it as an observation on House’s behavior in the relationship! (“you’re abrasive and annoying, and come on way too strong….”) The curry is addictive, and you love it, but it sets up a cumulative irritation " and you can take just so much of before it’s too much. We all know what a relationship with him would be like " no pain no gain, right? And you’d have to be able to put up with a lot of pain to hold out for the gain " even in good times! I think she definitely had the temperament for it, though, and took him in her stride, which probably can’t be said about most women. It will interesting to see whether/how Cuddy is put to the test.
“But she also in my (humble) opinion (until that moment in Need to Know when he came to tell her to go back to Mark) didn't understand the depth of House's feelings for her”
Barbara, not long ago you said that Stacy may not have been a reliable narrator when she told Cameron that House was the same before the infarction. I've thought the same thing ever since I saw ”Three Stories”. In fact, one of my very first posts at the Fox forum was a detailed analysis indicating how House was different before his leg - based on how he and Stacy were presented to us in that episode.
This week you wrote: “Stacy, the love of House’s life, was the only woman able to get past House’s barriers and his terror (and maybe House’s own version of post-traumatic stress disorder).”
While I don’t think that House was ever “easy”, I do think that there may not have been quite as many barriers to breach in the days when he and Stacy were first getting together. But that has no bearing on the depth of their feelings for each other, which I think were made very clear during their flashback interchanges in Three Stories. I think Stacy was conceived of and portrayed as a perceptive individual " one has to notice that it didn’t take her five minutes with him when she walked into the clinic to realize that he was profoundly affected by the knowledge that she’d gotten married.
“and the devastating effect her leaving the first time had on him”.
To be fair to Stacy, I think it must be borne in mind that she probably had no way of knowing " and that’s not a judgment on her perception or knowledge of him. We all know what House is like - how carefully he guards his inner core, how he lets almost no one in (and it's only recently that he's let even Wilson in as far as he has.) We all eagerly anticipate the occasional "reveals" that show us glimpses of the humanity and emotion that dwell deep under the surface. But the only reasons that we know how much goes on inside him is because 1) we probably spend much more time analyzing his every action, utterance, gesture, and facial expression than we spend analyzing the real people in our lives, and 2) most of the "reveals" that we *do* get take place when he is alone - and only we, the TV viewers, are privy to them.
Given what we know about his ability to throw up an impenetrable forcefield, strong enough to repel any trespasser who tries to get too close, it doesn't surprise me that he would have shut Stacy out so completely after the infarction, that there would have been no conceivable way for her to get in. She would have had a hard time knowing what was going on with him - whether he would be likely to pine for her after she was gone - as Wilson said, or whether he was pretty much the same - the answer she got from Cuddy. His oldest and closest friends misunderstand him regularly. And when he deliberately renders himself opaque, no one has a chance of chiseling in.
In “Failure to Communicate”, she told him that she recognized the signs that she was being pushed out of Mark’s life, because she remembered how Greg pushed her out of his. It’s easy for me to imagine that his behavior to her made her think that he thought that he’d be better off without her. She would have had no reason to believe that he was devastated when she left.
“What I don't think she understood during most of it was that House wasn't about the passion and the sex at that point ….They were not on the same page at all.”
I have a different take on this. I think he did a number on her. She got swept up in reawakening feelings " just like he did " but his path was clear (given that he recognized no obstacle in Mark. As far as he was concerned, she was still fair game), while hers wasn’t. She came back as a married woman, and almost right from the get-go, House’s closest friend knew that House was going to try to get her away from her husband on his own terms.
(It’s bad enough that House stole her file. But then he had to gloat over it with Wilson! Some friend, Wilson. He was on to House’s scheme from the very beginning. Why didn’t he tell Stacy: “Get out of here. You have a good thing going with Mark, and you know House " he’s going to do his best to ruin it”?)
House jerked her around, he manipulated her, and he steadily wore down her defenses. We all know that he's a master manipulator, and he pulled out all his stops with Stacy. I appreciate that he was struggling as well, but much of his behavior didn't come across like someone deep in the throes of reclaiming a lost love, but rather like someone bent on bettering a rival almost for the sake of the competition, rather than the prize.
I don't think Stacy took her infidelity lightly at all. I do think that she was swept away by the intensity of her feeling for him - love, more than passion, even. Don't forget that when he came to her office (because Wilson said she was waiting to find out if he was serious) in “Need to Know”, she was packing to go. After Baltimore she knew she was in over her head, and would be in trouble if she stayed any longer. She was doing the honorable thing by leaving. We have no idea of the words that got them together finally (more's the pity!), but the way they looked at each other in that scene wasn't about "fun and passion" on her part, any more than it was on his.
I might not condone what she (and House) did, but I can understand the feelings that led her to do it. And they're excruciatingly difficult feelings to have. I think it's a lucky person who’s never experienced loving someone - that they can’t have " so deeply that they can contemplate pushing aside every sincerely-held core conviction or principle. May none of us ever know what she must have been feeling at the time. (And it's to the incredible credit of the actors and TPTB that the emotion and conflict came through so clearly - to me, anyway.) I can imagine the torment she must have been in - and she played it perfectly, in the most understated and believable way.
I think House misunderstood her on the roof. And dramatically oversimplified her ethical/moral dilemma. I didn’t get the sense for a second that she was trying to “have both”, but rather that she was trying to work out her problem " a problem that House didn’t share, given that he was able to think only of himself. She knew that what Mark had feared had come to pass. And she had told Mark that it wasn’t going to happen! She was caught between a rock and a hard place (to put it mildly), while House saw only a single decision that needed to be made with a swift slice of the scalpel. This is in keeping with his personality " he generally sees one direct way to a solution, he usually discounts collateral damage, and doesn’t always see both sides of a story.
On your “Joy” review, SF wrote, in connection with House’s personality: “Tolerance, yes. Absolution, no.”
I'm glad sf said this. I think we tend to cut House a lot of slack " usually for very good reasons - but we also tend to forget, sometimes, that his behavior can be quite blameworthy, too. During the Stacy arc, IMO, it often was. In their last scene together, I know he had his reasons for pushing her away (and I’ve mentioned before that I don’t think Wilson was entirely wrong). But there’s no denying that after chasing her for months " when he finally caught her, he tore her world to shreds, and threw the pieces back at her. And IMO, that’s where her tears and bewilderment were coming from, not because she finally understood where *he* was coming from.
Oy, talk about getting way too long.
23 - Marie
I don't see House becoming totally emotionally healed, and I'm not imagining another Patch Adams here.
I appreciate everything you say about the continuing struggle (in fact, I think you have the best take on House of all reviewers). However, when I think of tragic heroes, especially per Shakespeare, the thing is that they're dead after a few hours. To me, the same struggle is getting to be a bit boring after five seasons of it, and the writers seem to be making House more one-dimensional to keep driving home the message that he is miserable.
I want House to have a relationship that is as imperfect as he is and to become a more broadly nuanced character through THAT struggle.
24 - sdemar
Thanks for your review, Sasmom.
While I know it couldn't happen, I so much wanted Cuddy to realize that House was watching her on the porch and open her door and call him back.
I'm enjoying this arc for obvious reasons.
25 - Grace
Orange450, THAT WAS AMAZING!!! The Stacy arc is my favorite....such love...such passion. I've never seen that look on House's face before or after. The moment for me when I KNEW that House really loved Stacy was when Mark was following
House up the stairs in the hallway. House knew that Mark knew that he could make his injuries much worse, but Mark didn't care. All he cared about was keeping Stacy. I think at that moment House knew that he couldn't be that selfish.
House knew that Mark would do anything for Stacy and House wasn't sure if he was ready/able to do the same. So he 'gave her back' to Mark, even
knowing how Stacy would hate him. To me there's no doubt in my mind that the two of them deeply love each other and always will. I am hoping, in spite of feeling sorry for Mark, that in the end, Stacy will come back to House and that is how the series will end. Don't get me wrong, what they did was WRONG, but maybe Mark will want to leave Stacy.......could happen!
Anyway, I had a question for anyone. If House had his bad leg cut completely off and had a fake one fitted, would he still be in pain??
Oh about House and Cuddy. I think Cuddy was exactly right when she told Wilson how the relationship would go.
Isn't Wilson just the cutest? :)