Before the shooting, we see House admitting he's an ass after doing the most thorough patient history ever on a man with a grotesquely swollen tongue, because he found it amusing to watch him try to talk. The expression on poor Vince's face when House asks him what dessert topping he prefers is a perfect blend of despair and exasperation. "You never know what fact may prove the key to saving your life," House says coyly. Mitigating his assiness, that's actually true on this show. It could one day be some obscure detail about Cool Whip that will crack the case.
After the shooting ... well, there's also no way I can write in any semblance of chronological order and still have it make sense anywhere outside of my own mind. So I have to reveal this now, though the episode waits until the very end: everything after the shooting occurs in House's mind.
We get clues that that's the case along the way. Some are actual clues and some might just be me looking for strict medical accuracy where none was intended (and since I'm not strictly a medical expert, my judge of accuracy is suspect at best). Despite the clues, since we know that House is hallucinating at least part of the time, the fact that nearly the entire episode is a hallucination was not a foregone conclusion, though not a shock, either.
A possible clue that the episode is not what it seems is that after his surgery to repair the bullet damage, House's leg no longer hurts and he can walk with ease, despite the fact that he's supposed to have lost much of his thigh muscle, so I presume pain isn't the only thing making him limp. Plus, he's both weak and confused in an ICU bed and wandering around the hospital, running up and down stairs, going for fish tacos at a roadside stand, and generally confusing me with just how ill he's supposed to be, anyway. A severed jugular? Seems that would have you leaning more towards the ICU bed or the morgue than the fish tacos.
The absence of pain is explained when he analyses his operative notes and discovers that Cuddy authorized a procedure using ketamine that has been used experimentally to "reboot" chronic pain sufferers. House's angry reaction is a poignant reminder of the last time he was treated against his will, in "Three Stories." This time, he fears he's traded his intellect for the mobility he lost last time.
An actual clue that the episode is playing with reality is that more than usual, Wilson and the diagnostic team act as fairly obvious extensions of House's will and thoughts. Most amusingly and literally, Wilson and Chase perform some of House's physiotherapy for him. Most tellingly, Cameron, Foreman, and Chase understand and agree with his every convoluted metaphor, his every far-fetched diagnosis ("You're always insane and you're always right," Foreman points out when confronted at the end. "I'm almost always eventually right. you have no way of knowing when eventually is," House counters.) House tries to work on Vince's case while recuperating, but finds that he suffers from blackouts and hallucinations and makes errors in basic anatomy and medicine, and must trust his team to stop him from making any fatal mistakes.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - -E
haha, not a writey review? i think that's the longest one i've ever read. and it is certainly the longest that i've read the whole thing for too.
i guess i'll have to rent the DVDs for the show, as i've never caught it before.
2 - Phillip Winn
Fantastic review, Diane. THanks!
3 - Mary K. Williams
Excellent Diane! Makes me wish even that much more that I saw it.
Damn!
You had some wonderful insights here, and the patience to explain them is even better.
Thanks!
4 - Diane Kristine
Thanks all ... and, E, but just imagine if I'd written it long! I put those two "verys" before "writey" because, yeah, I'm not so capable of succinctness in the best of circumstances.
5 - Phillip Winn
Oddly, I identified the twist very early in the show, which annoyed my wife a bit when I turned out to be right. I think my mind is set for Lost tonight and already thinking outside the box quite a bit. But I'm as puzzled as you about where this is going.
If House is asking for ketamine, what are the possible outcomes? Let's assume that it works perfectly, producing the same psychological response that it did in this episode. The muscle is dead and gone! While the pain would go away, he shouldn't be able to run up and down stairs or anything. He might be able to eventually lose the limp, even, but... it would be quite odd, and anti-climactic.
Still, it probably won't work perfectly. If House has known about this treatment for a while (obviously), but never considered it, presumably there are risks (obviously) and it might not work at all. Heck, it might make things work, or he might have really bad side effects. Comas are risky, after all.
All in all, an intriguing cliff-hanger.
6 - Bliffle
I captured House in HDTV on my DVR. Now I just have to get my offload thru 1394 to DVD to work. Usually, "House" episodes are available the next day on BitTorrent, minus commercials.
7 - sach
Fantastic review! I watched the episode but was looking for a few of the lines from the end of the show. I never expected such a comprehensive review. Excellent job. Thank you.
8 - west by southwest
It gets exhausting, the way issues have to be blown up to sky-high proportions on this show. Are we responsible for other people's feelings? Are we responsible for other people's actions? Did House "make" that man shoot him? I grow so weary of being lectured to. Please, give us the occasional glimpse into his internal life and make the writers stop lecturing us.
9 - chilibreath
Fantastic article!!!
10 - Housetango
I only hope I can go "Cold Turkey," without new installments of both "House" and your blog, over the summer! After all, my addiction to both, is worse than vicodin! I thought the cliffhanger worked really well for this episode. Will House finally get to make his own risky choices, rather than having decisions forced upon him by his medical proxy? (Cuddy & Wilson, replacing Stacy, in this episode.) It remains to be be seen, if Cameron follows his request to ask Cuddy for the ketamine. Yes, ketamine has been used to lessen chronic pain, but will it help House? I'm eagerly awaiting the outcome, as well as the August release of the Season 2 DVD's! I can't wait to see if they have any special extras on them! Diane, thanks again, for another insightful & brilliant review!
11 - House Rules
What a magnificent review.
I am totally addicted to this show and the brilliant acting of Hugh Laurie.
Diane, I look forward to your reviews every week, and I might add that I am starting on Vicodin today in order to medicate the pain, at no new episodes for the next couple of months!!!!
Diane, keep writing and reviewing this show.
12 - Amrita
hey diane,
i'll really miss this blog over the summer... d'you think they'll address the question as to why house was shot? it was very clear that the man had never met house before so i wonder if the woman house saw killing herself was another patient whom he linked to the shooting or if she's somehow connected to house in another capacity... and thats why he apologizes.
by the way, that was huge - house apologizing? wow. how much do i love hugh laurie? enough to back your not-bet with my non-money.
13 - Diane Kristine
Wow, thanks guys. House Rules, I hear ketamine might be a better alternative ;-)
Amrita, I don't know if they'll address why he was shot. My instinct is no, but I have no idea, of course. Maybe they'll just leave it at what the guy said - he's an ex-patient - and assume that's enough explanation (it kind of is, really, the way House treats patients), and the woman will remain a representative of House's realization that his actions have consequences beyond the hospital. I dunno. That's part of my issue with cliffhangers - by the fall, it's not likely to be one of my compelling questions, so I kind of hope they don't try to resolve it.
Maybe I'll be back next season, and maybe I'll have stuff to write in the next few months about House (maybe around, say, July 6? Or Aug 27? Just to name random dates), so watch this space and have a great Houseless summer.
14 - Steve
Great review. One thing I'd like to add: the Cameron/robot scene really seemed packed with metaphorical significance. House - strikingly looking into her eyes via the monitor - manipulates the machine to stroke her cheek, reveal her navel, and cut away a button near her breasts, while she fairly writhes on the table, torn between fear and arousal. It suggests the lascivious element of House's affection for her, and presents one more great representation of his disconnect and its consequences. Here he has a beautiful woman he seems to secretly care about lying down prone and vulnerable, and while he's lovingly touching her, he's doing it with the cold hard steel of a robot. It symbolizes, fairly literally, his cold, intellectual approach to physical/emotional situations: he can't even touch her with his own hands.
Also, as for his suggestion of ketamine at the end, I do wonder if it should be taken more figuratively than literally. Even within the hallucination, House seemed pretty skeptical about ketamine's effectiveness. I think that the possibility you mention, that he's decided the sacrifice isn't worth it, is the intended meaning. Suggesting ketamine's a surrender.
Personally, I'd love to see House try and "surrender" and find out that the exchange wasn't a quid pro quo - that his intellect's as strong or stronger without the pain, but that vanquishing the physical pain won't cure the emotional.
Anyway, excellent review, again.
15 - Phillip Winn
Steve, remember that the Cameron/robot scene might reveal much about House, but it reveals nothing at all about Cameron, since the scene took place only in House's mind! So what you've labeled "fear and arousal" are only what House expects.
16 - Steve
Right, Phillip, though I didn't indicate anything to the contrary. I merely described how "Cameron" appeared, which has import for the meaning of the incident. Really, it's just one more demonstration of House's hidden self-awareness and his interpretation of his relationships and lifestyle.
17 - Linda
Great review!
Cameron may not be representing herself literally in the two scenes that are rather intense between her and House. There is speculation that she represents how House interacts with women in general, the emotional distance he maintains from others. She is a stand-in for any woman, including Cuddy, who House finds attractive.
18 - Vicki
Wow! I loved this review and I really look forward to reading more. (So I hope you don't take the summer off!) I actually found out about this blog because I found a link on this Hugh Site:
I've now went back and read all your reviews of past "House" episodes. Thank you so much for your blog!
I don't know if it's appropriate to comment on the replies as well; but I have to say, I loved Steve's comments.
I'm a big House/Cameron shipper and it did my heart good to read Steve's take on those scenes
19 - denise
hugh, is an amazing actor,he always knocks my socks off! thank you diane for this and all house reviews.i would love for a house/cuddy relationship! hugh is outstanding,love this show and all the other characters also
20 - denbigh
wow. Diane, you rock. You hit all the nails on the head and helped me understand the ep just a little bit more :)
Hugh owns that Emmy. And just like Amrita I'll back your non-bet as well :)
21 - gena
Great review as usual. You've got to help us poor folks with House Withdraw this summer. Can you keep writing about House until September?
22 - katie
In response to #6, Phillip, the meaning behind the Ketamine is that it, apparently, was worth it to him to be out of pain, regardless of what happened to his mind.
23 - Sarah
I agree with Steve's take on the Cameron/Robot scene. Sorry Cuddy/House shippers, but it's obvious that House has an attraction to Cameron, after this ep it's hard not to acknowlege that at least.
I prefer the friendship Cuddy has with House, I don't want to see her romantically involved with him.
24 - Mike Kelley
It's no coincidence the episode was called "No Reason" -- there wasn't any reason as to why House was shot, even though in his mind he attempted to come up with one (because accepting randomness is just not his style). That is also why I knew quickly that he was hallucinating (when the gunman provided the pat answer).
Ketamine might be a way for the writers to tone back the Vicadin bit, which has grown somewhat out of hand (we all know it has escalated to where it isn't helping much). IOW, it might work just enough so he can still manage the pain.
But Diane's expert (and loving :>) analysis to the contrary, I didn't see this as a cliffhanger in any respect (we all know House will survive -- in some respects the Cutty pregnancy bit from a week or two earlier is more of a cliffhanging moment that has yet to be resolved). Indeed, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the new season opened with House just fine and only referring back to the shooting incidentally (actually, I don't think he'd talk about it at all, but Wilson might say something like "Do you really want to tempt someone else to take a shot at you?")
25 - Diane Kristine
Like most House titles, there were at least a few reasons for No Reason " House was losing his ability to reason, and questioned whether reason should be valued about emotion, and he told Cameron he didn't want an explanation for why the guy shot him because any reason would be unreasonable.
I did analyse why that cliffhanger isn't really dangling us from a high precipice, but any episode that ends with the main character on a stretcher after being shot, saying he doesn't know he's going to be OK, and authorizing a procedure that risks what he valued most in his life, is at least trying to be a cliffhanger.
I would be surprised if his recovery and the ketamine experiment wasn't a storyline next year, but not surprised (or disappointed) if they don't try to top the existential hallucination of the shooter with the mundane reality of the shooter.