Through it all, it was easy to forget to credit Hugh Laurie for doing such an amazing job of reflecting pain with every crease of his face, every movement, every catch of his breath. It was easy to forget it was a performance, one so visceral, I felt a sympathetic gut reaction to his pain. Hey, I was just like the clinic patient who was experiencing sympathetic pregnancy symptoms along with his wife.
There were questions about whether both patients and House are experiencing psychological or purely physical symptoms, and we get the answer – only House's worsening pain is in his mind. The episode provided a different kind of discomfort with a scene of pain-wracked House's pathetic plea to Cuddy for morphine to ease the pain. When she refuses, he pulls down his pants to show her his scarred, hollowed-out thigh, and asks if that's all in his head, too. Poor self-deprecating Laurie seems to be caught in contract hell where he's suddenly required to show some skin in each episode, but there was nothing sexy about this reveal, just desperation and pain. House's psychological pain has always been part of the mix, but now he's faced with the proof of it – and the possibly more painful proof that Wilson was right - when Cuddy later admits that the injection she gave him that seemed to cure the pain was actually saline, a placebo.
Though House is an anti-social misanthrope, he's also oddly reliant on those around him. We saw House's "lackeys" take care of him when he induced the migraine last episode. Wilson takes care of him this episode by urging him to recognize the truth, and giving him an MRI to see if there's something physically different about the leg (and even entertaining him with juvenile humour while he's stuck in the MRI tube). But Cuddy appears to be tapped out of sympathy, telling him: "You're on the road to becoming a junkie." It's another disturbing layer to a disturbing episode, where clues we've been given about his pain and drug dependence being psychological as well as physical come together in a revelation not so much for the audience, but for House. And like the best revelations of the show, it doesn't solve a mystery so much as it introduces new issues.
Article comments
1 - Joanie
This article has been selected for Advance.net!
2 - JELIEL³
This episode was so morbidly funny that I was laughing so hard that I missed the follow ups sometimes.
Great review and article... as usual. Please don't skip a week. Eventually it'll go on hiatus....
3 - Carolyn Lawrence
There's an even bigger problem with this episode of House. Paraneoplastic syndrome is only VERY rarely associated with testicular cancer (in males or hermaphrodrytes), and it usually does not cause the kind of symptoms that "Alex" is experiencing. Additionally, the type of paraneoplastic syndrome that IS rarely associated with testicular cancer NEVER occurs in teenagers.
The writers really screwed this one up, which is very unfortunate, as paraneoplastic patients and their loved ones deserve better than to be associated with sexual deviancy, hermaphrodism and this terrible show.
Anyone who wishes to learn more about what paraneoplastic is really all about can go to the above website, the International Paraneoplastic Association.
4 - Diane Kristine
I think the biggest problem is people looking to a fictional TV show for medical reality. Not sure if this is the site Carolyn was referring to, but since her link didn't work: International Paraneoplastic Association
Thanks Jeliel, I definitely don't need a vacation from House, but my vacation will get in the way of me watching it that week. I probably will eventually do the review anyway, just to avoid the hole in my season reviews!
5 - Sister Ray
As a contrarian, I'd like to one time see a show about a fashion model who's happy, healthy and drug-free. There must be one somewhere :->
6 - Mary K. Williams
Awesome write-up Diane. Gawd I love House. I love the show, and the character. He's such a prick most of the time, but so smart and funny.
Yeah, this show was creepy on several levels. You summed it all up quite well.
7 - jay moore
Fictional drama is not based on everyday reality but upon exceptional circumstances. Who wants to watch a TV show with diagnostic physicians diagnosing an acid reflux condition? And, as to whether or not any condition or circumstance has ever existed or occurred in real life must be proven before it can be used to create drama, did Shakespeare have proof that Cleopatra died from a snake's bite. Was Dr. Watson's medical information absolutely correct, and is anyone still interested in those things? Hugh Laurie's portrayal of House is the best acting on TV, and any script that allows him to exhibit the range of his great talent is quite welcome.
8 - Kent
I believe this episode of House went too far. I am beginning to wonder if the writers have some problems being sexually attracted to children. This episode along with the episode where a little girl wants to be kissed before she dies and a comment on last weeks show asking the question "teenage sex isn't interesting?" Something is wrong here and someone needs to open their eyes. There is nothing "okay" about making sexual comments to or about an underage child. What a shame.
9 - june
it was a good epsiode shut up
10 - June
well to all you people that think the show is that bad then dont watch it and,kent hes a writer it makes it good in episodes like that to make viewers want to know whats next and its different beside haveing adults all the time in serious things like this its just a show it isnt real.
11 - KJ
@ Carolyn- The correct term is "intersex" NOT "hermaphrodite".