So how had House managed to get hard time when, as prison doctor Jessica Adams (Odette Annable) observes, House has had no prior convictions—and no one had been physically injured by his actions. We learn that House hadn’t hired a defense lawyer, instead taking the first deal offered in exchange for a guilty plea. He’d apparently put up no fight, and as Adams suggests, perhaps House intentionally subjected himself to a much harsher sentence than he was due (or would have gotten with a lawyer).
It doesn’t surprise me that House would punish himself much more harshly than would the legal system. He is usually his own harshest judge. And despite his characteristically defiant sarcasm to the parole board, House carries a lot of guilt on his shoulders (not undeserved, in this case) for a great many things. How many times, I wonder, during his time there has House provoked a prisoner to beat him?
The events of season seven have taught House that something has to change in his life. So, House has decided that he wants nothing more to do with medicine. Although, as young prison Dr. Adams observes, House has a “gift,” House believes that it is his gift that’s gotten him into so much trouble. Explaining that he intends to pursue a PhD in particle physics, House says that he wants to research dark matter: the biggest mystery in the universe.
Physics (at least I think they’re physics) equations line the white wall around his bed and the overhang from the bunk above him. It’s as if he’s had a bad breakup with medicine (and the humanity medicine forces him to be around) and has hurtled himself into another discipline. Likely feeling the full impact of his actions, House may believe that only by divorcing himself from humanity entirely—holing himself up in a physics lab may be the only way for him to move on.
As he explains, when he gets out of prison, everything’s changed. “No medicine, no fixing people—done!” He seems to believe that there’s no longer a place for him among “normal people.” He’s so far outside “the circle,” he can’t get anywhere near it. He observes, “There’s a reason we’re locked away from nice normal people.”
For all his personality flaws, House is a natural, and even charismatic, leader when he wants to be. House has been accustomed to being a rock star of medicine for years, getting his own way; making his own rules. But in prison, House has lost all power. His job is to follow the rules; not make up his own.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - angelcat2865
I really enjoyed this episode and hope that the rest of the season will be as good. I love this show and it's title character despite their faults or maybe because of them.
2 - doddle
BORING, and the new dr saying "cooool" like House while she's an idiot solving cases. And why House, a drug addict could be in a place where there are lots of medications? silly
3 - jonnieboy
Season 7 was already a write-off for me the moment Cuddy walked in and found House, vicodin in hand, in his bathroom at the end of S.6 It didn't take an idiot to see what kind of an idiot House would become with his guaranteed involvement with her after that scene. And indeed, it WAS a train-wreck of a season.
However, after seeing tonight's opening episode, maybe there's some hope. Maybe- even a good possibility. I liked it, and for all of the reasons that Ms. Barnett outlined above. I don't know who the new lady doc is- I don't watch much of anything as far as serials go ('cept House and Criminal Minds), but I do like her, too. Maybe a female that actually seems fairly down to earth for a change? Sure hope so, because none of the rest of them were. Especially Cameron, who couldn't stop putting herself under House's thumb if her life depended on it.
Anyways- fingers crossed for this season.
4 - Lucy
I thought this episode was good but not great.
Some scenes were lame (the beginning with H repeating words by words Shore's explanation of the crash; Adams being surprised by the fact that House is in jail because "nobody got hurt", seriously???) but as a whole, I thought the episode was solid and well executed.
And yet, it lacked something IMO. I wouldn't say it was boring, but it had no energy, it failed to really catch my interest. It was just more of the same, just in a different setting.
5 - Tall Writer
Great article and very interesting premiere. We miss Lisa Edelstein and have a great interest in other familiar characters in future episodes.
6 - cjhousegirl
I liked 20 Vicodin, but I would say it was a good episode and not a great one. It started off a little slow but I did like to see House invested in a medical case again. I also liked his relationship with his cell mate, and the older guy he plays chess with.
I would've liked to have known that House was lying when he told the parole board he didn't feel remorse about what he did. I feel like the immediate scene after that one should have shown House in his cell looking remorseful.
I agree with you completely that House's comments at the beginning were in answer to the criticism of the finale. I thought Hugh Laurie played that really well though. Not only did he convince me that House thought exactly that at the time of the crash, he also convinced me that thinking there could be any other outcome is insane. It was only later that I went: wait a minute...lol
It was a well crafted episode. I'm going to watch it again because I always get a better picture of it sans the commercial breaks.
7 - Barbara Barnett
Hi CJ--I thought it was pretty clear (even though House never said it) that House regretted deeply what happened in Moving On. The fact that he never had a lawyer, took the first deal offered and wants to remove himself from humanity (whether being locked up away from it in prison or in a field where he doesn't have to deal with it) because it's what got him into trouble....
He believes that he deserves to be punished. That says volumes.
8 - Anne
I liked it, which surprised me. Originally I wasn't even going to watch S8, but now I'm glad I started. The next episode looks really interesting too. Hopefully this will start an upward trend so the show can get back on its feet and (if this does end up being the last season) end on a high note. :)
9 - Amy
Good review! I found your statement that his mother felt guilty over his existence and his father didn't love him to be interesting. This is one subject they haven't explored nearly enough, IMO. When you interview the writers maybe you can let them know that people are interested in more exploration of that subject. As for the ep, I enjoyed it. It was nice to see House in an environment where he was not the Alpha dog. Even in Mayfield he was very larger than life and toweted over the other patients. Prison was different. He was definitely more subdued and you could see more fear. Like you I was a huddy and will miss Cuddy greatly, but I am looking forward to seeing how House handles this new environment and the absence of Cuddy in his life.
10 - Ronald Leff
I enjoyed the first episode very much;parole board reminded me of Morgan Freeman's scene in Shawshank except House had to wait 5 days longer.
The new female doctor had me interested as it seemed to pull House back into his world and I hope we see her as a new team member when House goes back to Princeton Plainsboro.
I am looking forward to next weeks episode.
11 - Eloise
I loved this episode, thank heavens House is back! If this is a refelction in any way as to what to expect for Season 8 then its gonna be a corker!!!
12 - Kim in California
I agree with you Barbara, the whole statement about knowing that no one was in the room was too contrived. The same information could have been given to us through House having a soul searching moment with his chess playing friend. "I knew no one was in there, but it didn't make it right."
Having said that, I loved the more subdued House. It took me back to the first three seasons where he only became really animated when he was dealing with his puzzles. I really enjoyed it and so did my husband (who is not the rabid fan I am and stopped watching because of Huddy.)
I am cautiously optimistic about Season 8, but if House gets behind the wheel of a Monster Truck again, I'm done.
One more gripe, can't the producers find actresses that look like they could be old enough to be a doctor? They always look as if they just graduated from high school. There are enough lovely 28-30 year olds who can act...why not hire one?
13 - housemaniac
I agree with several of the comments on this thread, particularly that the episode lacked energy (by *House* standards) and that OA looks too damn young to be a doctor. It's annoying that they seem to go for the super-attractive women for doctors on this show. The men are not (for the most part) super-attractive and I don't think it's necessary for this show.
Barbara, you asked on the live chat (which I wasn't able to participate in because my TV broke a couple of days ago--aaargh) about questions for Peter Blake. I have one: Do they plan to have any dramatic arcs this season, besides House's reintegration into life on the outside? Or, is it going to be more episode-based? I'm concerned about the show lacking dramatic tension this season, what with Cuddy gone and no (apparent) issues around the Vicodin and House starting out the season in trouble so I don't see him getting on the wrong side of the law again this season... Hard to figure without legal troubles, women troubles, personnel troubles, where the drama will come from?
14 - 2Lightworker
Barbara, thank you for this thoughtful and balanced review, with your characteristically honest insights, as well as for last night's on line exchange to share our thoughts and feelings. You continue to provide a place where we can express our responses without descending into a lot of negative projection and character assassination. Mazeltov for this!
I am putting "Chasing Zebras" on my wish list!
For some time the writers and other commenters from the team have referred to House as a jerk, or an a**. He is called that in scripts over the seasons. Yet when Hugh Laurie imbues the character with his own spirit, those terms seem far from what I experience. That may well be MY projection, but House seems to be light and dark all at once, a hypersensitive introvert who can solve amazing riddles but is unable or unwilling to engage the inner process of searing radical honesty that could lead him to renounce his pain and be open to something better. Thus the "people don't change" mantra.
On another site a fan referred to him as a Don Quixote, which feels close to what I see when House is tilting at his own windmills.
He also has the traits of the Trickster,or Heyoka, from indigenous people's beliefs in many cultures, including the Druid healers/magicians in Celtic culture. The use of consciousness-altering substances was not unusual (cf. Vicodin).
One description of this in Heyoka Magazine:
"the heyoka were at once feared and held in reverence...
the heyoka, or sacred clowns, were usually few in number, but were found in almost every clan. Heyoka were contraries, often speaking and walking backwards. They acted in ridiculous, obscene, and comical ways, especially during sacred ceremonies. They were thought to be fearless and painless, able to seize a piece of meat out of a pot of boiling water. They often dressed in a bizarre and ludicrous manner... The heyoka was thought to usually carry various sacred items - a deer hoof rattle, a colored bow, a flute, or drum. His 'anti-natural' nature was thought to be shamanistic in origin -- and as a contrary, he was expected to act silly and foolhardy during battle...
However insulting or sacrilegious heyoka actions might be, they were tolerated, since it was assumed they were acting on the higher and more inscrutable imperatives of the Great Mystery.
Heyoka were freed from all the ordinary constraints of life, and thus were usually not expected to marry, have children, or participate in the work of the tribe.
Despite their bizarre acts (such as dressing in warm clothes during summer or wearing things inside out), they were trusted as healers, interpreters of dreams, and people of great medicine.
Whenever they interrupted the solemnity of a ceremony, people took it as an admonition to see beyond the literalness of the ritual and into the deeper mysteries of the sacred. Like the flash of lightning, the heyoka's sudden outbursts and disturbances were thought to be the keys to enlightenment - much like the absurd acts of Zen masters in Japan. (Hultkrantz 1987)"
This seems to capture something of the mystery of the many tilts over the seasons, House's iconoclastic outlook, his resistance to commonly accepted conventions, and his power shown in reality-shifting actions.
This concept helps me grasp the fascination I have with the character, through all the ups and downs and twists and turns of episode plots, following House's journey into the unknown, and why I look forward to seeing it manifest for the episodes to come.
15 - rbrown205
You wrote: "How many times, I wonder, during his time there has House provoked a prisoner to beat him?"
I noticed also that the awful scene when someone threw House up against a wall in one of the previews wasn't in the actual episode. Frankly I am glad they cut it out - it hurts me to see him get hurt, even though he is only a character.
16 - RobF
It was an ok episode, a one-off that felt like a "road trip" episode that sitcoms sometimes do.
The theme was of House retreating into himself, regrouping, and getting back his self-respect. His method for doing this was to insist on his dignity and independence, refusing to be beholden to anyone. This is why he refused to take less than a harsh punishment for his crime. It's why he bristled at the parole board wanting him to act contrite and ask their indulgence. And it's why he threw the vicodin in the face of the faux-Nazi gang boss, defying him when he had the payoff literally in the palm of his hand. They are setting the scene for House to begin this season as aloof and unrepentant as he was in Season 1.
(also, I agree with Barbara that House's exposition about the crash was a bit of back-pedalling by the writers, who must have realised the audience thought they'd taken things too far)
17 - Kim in California
video
Barbara, (see above link) his father may have been abusive, but I'm not sure he didn't love him. Back in the sixties, the ideas of punishment were different than they are now.
18 - Ladybelle Fiske
I am hoping Foreman isn't the head of the hospital (seemed so in scenes from next week's show) only because we've seen him "in charge" of House so many times. I'd rather see something else. Hope that House can get beyond the problems not only of PP but that the fans have with him now. I felt that oddly, Hugh Laurie himself wasn't playing "House" with his full power and energy as he has in the past, no matter what. Something changed-- but he will always be one of the best actors I've ever seen and I love the show. Let's hope the new people are able to help carry it. Odette Annable was good-- I liked her character... clearly she'll work for House @ PP because she can't work elsewhere now. I wonder if there will be any emotional reaction on House's part when he learns Cuddy is gone?
19 - Ladybelle Fiske
I wonder why 13 doesn't come to get him? He got her out!
20 - Ladybelle Fiske
I don't think his father loved him either. The things he did to him might well have been considered child abuse even in the Sixties... I mean, a tub of ice? Sleeping in the yard? Probably John House knew Gregory wasn't really his son, on some level.
I really think they ought to explore this with House's mother a character in an arc in this season. How can he ever get to the bottom of his problems (if he ever will) without finding out what really happened? He seems to have little curiosity (for House, I mean) about the details-- he who follows Wilson to find out whether he has a cat or not!
21 - maineac
Wonderful episode, and spot on review.
22 - MusicandHouse
I agree about the begining exposition about House knowing Rachel wasn't there etc was definately for the fan benefit. However, only a small portion of the fans follow online controversy so I am very curious as to how that part played out for the more casual viewers.
I too really enjoyed the episode and seeing the vulnerable side of House. I can't wait for next week to see where the show will go
23 - MusicandHouse
Also, I find it interesting that the rating are actually UP from the seasno finale of last year. Looks like all of those people who claimed they would not be watching changed their minds.
24 - Barbara Barnett
2Light--Thanks so much for your kind words :)
Hypersensitive introvert in extrovert jerk's clothing. That my House :)
Thank you everyone for your comments about the show and the review.
MusicandHouse. Yes, I noticed that. They are up against ridiculous competition this season. I want to find out what the final DVR numbers are later this week. I think they'll change. Down 7% from last year's premiere, but again, I think there were probably many more DVR-ers than last year.
25 - Geddings
I think House needed to say that comment about the trash just to assure viewers he wasnt trying to kill them it may feel tacked on but i think it was good that he said that none the less. and i actually liked that scene.