House 3x03: "Informed Consent"
Sep. 19th, 2006 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bironicScrew it, all I want to talk about is that last scene. I felt moderately bad for Cameron when the camera cut to her crying, but no more so than any other time she's been upset over a patient. [ETA: Because I am a moron and didn't realize she was crying because she'd administered the lethal dose of morphine. Now it makes all kinds of sense. /ETA] But then when House put his hand on her shoulder—and when he stroked with his thumb—oh, that was lovely. It was the comfort he's denied all his fellows in the past as far as we've been shown, the kind of sympathy I'd have liked to have seen him share with Chase after losing the baby in "Forever," although at that point he needed Chase to buck up and help save the mother's life; so that may have demonstrated the difference in House's treatment of his staff during the stress of trying to puzzle out a patient's ailment(s) versus in the calm of post-diagnosis, like we saw tonight when House went from snapping at Cameron to make up her mind and do something to his uncharacteristic and delightful softening in the chapel. He'd been harping on her all episode, harder than usual, doubtless trying in his tough-love teacherly way to push her in one direction or the other so she'd stop waffling and being useless, until she did snap and take action, and then House gifted her with that caress and one simple, powerful line—"I'm proud of you." Perhaps the highest praise a person could hope for from him. And, sadly, it came at a time when it probably couldn't make her feel any better about what had happened.
I have such a weakness for older man/younger woman relationships in fiction with that sort of fond paternal attitude and a hint of sexual tension. That scene brought tears to my eyes. Feel free to argue, but for me it was hands-down the most powerful House/Cameron interaction we've had. Heh. In the sense of being powerful in the first place.
The final montage song playing throughout was "Into Dust" by Mazzy Star, if you were wondering. So pretty. It's funny—I only knew it because I got it off one of those eclectic music-share posts on someone's LJ a year or so ago. Thus fandoms come full circle, or something. Here it is for anyone who wants.
…Okay, I lied. One Wilson bit. The lab scene. (1) So apparently last week's lack of blow-up at the revelation of Wilson and Cuddy's lie did signify that, as House once famously said, they're okay. The reinstatement of their usual rapport tonight suggests that House expected as much from his deceitful friend and has moved on, and/or that we made a bigger deal out of the deception than was warranted, and/or that the writers tricked us into making a big deal out of it by giving it so much screen time and then deciding it was no longer relevant and dropping it altogether. Beyond this we start getting into whether we're watching the show in the way the writers want us to, so I'll stop there and move on. (2) Loved, loved, loved Wilson'shands of blue blue-gloved "gimme" motion (same as his "don't steal my patient's joint" gesture) and the way House automatically slid the bottle down the table to him. Quick and subtle and coordinated, and implies many hours spent in the lab together in the past.
…Okay, and some other random stuff:
- Another well-filmed teaser. I especially liked the Bach (that piece always makes me think of House, for some reason) and then the lab rat peering over the counter as if concerned for its collapsed keeper, and then dropping down to sniff and nibble at him. Probably that made a lot of viewers cringe.
- Peppy!House with moments of pain gets a thumbs-up. Highlights included pushing the clinic door open with his back, his highly animated face towards the beginning, the deep breaths he tried to hide during the initial differential in the Diagnostics office, and the way his eye twitched as if in sympathy with Ezra during one of the brooding sessions. He also looked super-attractive tonight in that dark outfit and with whatever the makeup and lighting departments did for him.
- Ezra's begging to die came very early, I thought, before we had a chance to understand the extent of his suffering. At first I thought that would be relevant to his character—that, based on the swiftness with which he dismissed his entire experiment upon seeing the tumor in one rat in the lab in the beginning and with which he gave up on the stress tests at the hospital, House would confront him about giving up on his life too early—but the subject never came up. Also, I'm trying to figure out whether the side-plot of his infant irradiation experiments was necessary, or rather, whether it would have been better to choose something less extreme OR give it more screen time. It smacked uncomfortably of concentration camp doctors, and reminded me of an episode of Star Trek: Voyager called "Nothing Human" that dealt with that idea of how to deal with doctors who have ignored accepted medical ethics to achieve breakthroughs in the field; only here they only touched on it, using it to propel Cameron in her ultimate decision to support House instead of Ezra, whereas on Voyager most of the crew debated those dilemmas for a good portion of the episode. Of course, they're very different shows, and I'm not saying House should or shouldn't have handled it differently. Like I said, still trying to figure it out.
- I know some people don't care for Chase because they find him sycophantic, but I like his repeated displays of loyalty toward House. Huh—I almost phrased that "faith in House," and that's actually quite appropriate, isn't it? That the fellow who quit the seminary would find this unlikely man to believe in.
- So House has performed euthanasia "plenty of times" in the past. Does that surprise anyone? (Especially once Wilson qualified that he only does it after he's sure those patients are terminal?) It really shouldn't, whether you agree with the practice or not, considering all the times it's been made clear on the show that House cares about his patients and respects their wishes to die when they can't be treated (and even sometimes when they can, e.g. "Forever"). Very cool that Cuddy didn't give him a hard time about it, that Chase assisted until the twist, and that Chase later called Foreman out on his lack of spine re: not getting an authority figure to stop House despite vehemently disagreeing with his decision.
- It's not a proper episode until Wilson drops by to give a speech about House's state of mind. I'm resigned to it at this point. So, once again he has inside information from Cameron (as he did in "Sleeping Dogs Lie" when he divulged that he'd read the article she'd been bitching about all episode); seems that she, too, has reconciled whatever issues she had with him last week and is once more seeking him out behind the scenes to talk about her problems.
- Kind of have to say something about the almost-legal clinic stalker, I guess. I think she was funny, as were House's patronizingly flattered faces and Cameron's sneaking jealousy. The thong would have been too much if it hadn't led to The Epiphany. Not looking forward to where they're taking this plot line next week, but if they wrap it up then, it might not be too bad. Maybe the girl will function as the catalyst the writers feel they need to push House and Cameron together, especially now that they had this quiet little bonding moment in the chapel. Oh! and the Fresno calendar!![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
firestorm717, you don't have anything to worry about, yours is way better. Although it was a shame that they not only used someone else's calendar on the show, it also came from a total House fangirl. Woe.
* * *
ETA: Commentaries - firestorm717, Sam's Three Things (esp. early comments), thewlisian_afer, Diane Kristine, nightdog_barks, cryptictac, usomitai, renoir_girl (f-locked), researchgrrrl (in comments).
Post-ep fic: "The Necessary Angel" by pwcorgigirl
I have such a weakness for older man/younger woman relationships in fiction with that sort of fond paternal attitude and a hint of sexual tension. That scene brought tears to my eyes. Feel free to argue, but for me it was hands-down the most powerful House/Cameron interaction we've had. Heh. In the sense of being powerful in the first place.
The final montage song playing throughout was "Into Dust" by Mazzy Star, if you were wondering. So pretty. It's funny—I only knew it because I got it off one of those eclectic music-share posts on someone's LJ a year or so ago. Thus fandoms come full circle, or something. Here it is for anyone who wants.
…Okay, I lied. One Wilson bit. The lab scene. (1) So apparently last week's lack of blow-up at the revelation of Wilson and Cuddy's lie did signify that, as House once famously said, they're okay. The reinstatement of their usual rapport tonight suggests that House expected as much from his deceitful friend and has moved on, and/or that we made a bigger deal out of the deception than was warranted, and/or that the writers tricked us into making a big deal out of it by giving it so much screen time and then deciding it was no longer relevant and dropping it altogether. Beyond this we start getting into whether we're watching the show in the way the writers want us to, so I'll stop there and move on. (2) Loved, loved, loved Wilson's
…Okay, and some other random stuff:
- Another well-filmed teaser. I especially liked the Bach (that piece always makes me think of House, for some reason) and then the lab rat peering over the counter as if concerned for its collapsed keeper, and then dropping down to sniff and nibble at him. Probably that made a lot of viewers cringe.
- Peppy!House with moments of pain gets a thumbs-up. Highlights included pushing the clinic door open with his back, his highly animated face towards the beginning, the deep breaths he tried to hide during the initial differential in the Diagnostics office, and the way his eye twitched as if in sympathy with Ezra during one of the brooding sessions. He also looked super-attractive tonight in that dark outfit and with whatever the makeup and lighting departments did for him.
- Ezra's begging to die came very early, I thought, before we had a chance to understand the extent of his suffering. At first I thought that would be relevant to his character—that, based on the swiftness with which he dismissed his entire experiment upon seeing the tumor in one rat in the lab in the beginning and with which he gave up on the stress tests at the hospital, House would confront him about giving up on his life too early—but the subject never came up. Also, I'm trying to figure out whether the side-plot of his infant irradiation experiments was necessary, or rather, whether it would have been better to choose something less extreme OR give it more screen time. It smacked uncomfortably of concentration camp doctors, and reminded me of an episode of Star Trek: Voyager called "Nothing Human" that dealt with that idea of how to deal with doctors who have ignored accepted medical ethics to achieve breakthroughs in the field; only here they only touched on it, using it to propel Cameron in her ultimate decision to support House instead of Ezra, whereas on Voyager most of the crew debated those dilemmas for a good portion of the episode. Of course, they're very different shows, and I'm not saying House should or shouldn't have handled it differently. Like I said, still trying to figure it out.
- I know some people don't care for Chase because they find him sycophantic, but I like his repeated displays of loyalty toward House. Huh—I almost phrased that "faith in House," and that's actually quite appropriate, isn't it? That the fellow who quit the seminary would find this unlikely man to believe in.
- So House has performed euthanasia "plenty of times" in the past. Does that surprise anyone? (Especially once Wilson qualified that he only does it after he's sure those patients are terminal?) It really shouldn't, whether you agree with the practice or not, considering all the times it's been made clear on the show that House cares about his patients and respects their wishes to die when they can't be treated (and even sometimes when they can, e.g. "Forever"). Very cool that Cuddy didn't give him a hard time about it, that Chase assisted until the twist, and that Chase later called Foreman out on his lack of spine re: not getting an authority figure to stop House despite vehemently disagreeing with his decision.
- It's not a proper episode until Wilson drops by to give a speech about House's state of mind. I'm resigned to it at this point. So, once again he has inside information from Cameron (as he did in "Sleeping Dogs Lie" when he divulged that he'd read the article she'd been bitching about all episode); seems that she, too, has reconciled whatever issues she had with him last week and is once more seeking him out behind the scenes to talk about her problems.
- Kind of have to say something about the almost-legal clinic stalker, I guess. I think she was funny, as were House's patronizingly flattered faces and Cameron's sneaking jealousy. The thong would have been too much if it hadn't led to The Epiphany. Not looking forward to where they're taking this plot line next week, but if they wrap it up then, it might not be too bad. Maybe the girl will function as the catalyst the writers feel they need to push House and Cameron together, especially now that they had this quiet little bonding moment in the chapel. Oh! and the Fresno calendar!
firestorm717, you don't have anything to worry about, yours is way better. Although it was a shame that they not only used someone else's calendar on the show, it also came from a total House fangirl. Woe.* * *
ETA: Commentaries - firestorm717, Sam's Three Things (esp. early comments), thewlisian_afer, Diane Kristine, nightdog_barks, cryptictac, usomitai, renoir_girl (f-locked), researchgrrrl (in comments).
Post-ep fic: "The Necessary Angel" by pwcorgigirl
no subject
Date: Sep. 20th, 2006 03:04 am (UTC)I guess I'm more of a House/Wilson/Cuddy shipper, because those three have the best chemistry IMO. Chase and Cameron just never clicked in my mind as romantic interests.
Yup, it's one of my favorite classical pieces ^_^ Great music to fall asleep to.
Apparently, euthanasia and assisted suicide are criminal offenses in New Jersey (as well as most states). There's a list of definitions here, but it's obvious that what House did in this episode was euthanasia by action, clearly illegal. If even PAS is illegal, then...I think the only act that would be legal is taking someone off life support. Which I doubt covers House's patients, so yeah, it seems like House has definitely stepped over that line multiple times, although I'm sure he does it in such a way that (given his words to his fellows about taking a walk) it's difficult to prove any sort of charge. Interesting. I never considered pre-PPTH, I thought it was referring to cases in the past when Cuddy was dean. But yeah, that definitely could've gotten him fired; in fact, I'm sure an offense like this most likely would get your license pulled if discovered and brought to trial. House must've had some fast connections he drew on to get him out of those messes XD.
Is it a tourism calendar? I don't even know what the hell Fresno's is.
no subject
Date: Sep. 20th, 2006 03:12 am (UTC)House/Wilson/Cuddy's cool in my book, as is House/Wilson/Stacy. Chase/Cameron not so much, but either with House or Wilson gets interesting.
Oh, I wasn't thinking that a euthanasia or PAS had gotten him fired from those previous positions, since, like you said, if he'd been discovered by an antagonistic party, he probably would have lost his license. He's certainly done enough other unethical, illegal, and otherwise horrifying things to himself and his patients to lose him his job many times over.
no subject
Date: Sep. 20th, 2006 03:30 am (UTC)I end up sticking Chase and Cameron together just to make things easier for House/Wilson ;;; I'm at a dilemma where I don't know whether to address the Cameron's unrequited crush on House and go into soap opera land, or just sort of quietly tuck it away in a corner and hope readers forget u_u;
It says a lot that he's know by such famous people for being a radical doc XD.
no subject
Date: Sep. 20th, 2006 03:35 am (UTC)I don't think anyone can know for sure whether we're supposed to get into Cameron's lingering crush. I mean, look at the difference between their relationship two weeks ago (three hours, our time) and now: one minute she's telling him he's not healthy and he's all 'have a drink...ha, I knew you'd say no, this is why we can never work' and the next he's squeezing her shoulder and saying what No Man Has (Possibly) Heard Before. I think it's going to take several weeks before we'll have some sort of consistent depiction to go by.
It says a lot that he's know by such famous people for being a radical doc XD.
Yes, that was cool. Normal patients may hate him, but the doctors under his care trust him to do what's right. I liked how Ezra was able to challenge House when he tried to deliver a false diagnosis to buy more time and how he went along with what House wanted (when it would have freaked out a layperson-patient) because he knew why the tests or injections or whatnot were necessary.
no subject
Date: Sep. 20th, 2006 03:43 am (UTC)Right, consistency is a big issue for me with Cameron's character. I don't know if it's because they have so many different writers with different opinions on where things are going, or whether they're trying to combine too many traits together at once without ever settling on one, or...who knows. I do know that in order for a relationship to work with the general audience, they're going to have to work out some of these characterization issues before my brain implodes at the bipolar-ness of it all.
And yes, part of my >_> over the ending scene was because I secretly wished it was Wilson; I can't recall any other moment in the show when House ever made a physical, comforting gesture like that toward anyone.
Oh, that scene was awesome! I was so glad someone could finally challenge House on his own turf, with their own knowledge. Another reason why I liked the patient. He knew what he was getting into when he went to House, and he no doubt thought over it for some time, having been in and out hospitals for a year. I'd say Ezra was almost a polar opposite of Sebastian Charles from last season.
no subject
Date: Sep. 21st, 2006 12:00 am (UTC)they're going to have to work out some of these characterization issues before my brain implodes at the bipolar-ness of it all.
At this point I don't even mind if they ditch half of what they've established (or tried to) about her in past seasons if it means they choose a clear characterization path for her now. Just, please, it's so confusing, and that distances viewers.
I secretly wished it was Wilson; I can't recall any other moment in the show when House ever made a physical, comforting gesture like that toward anyone.
Me too, now that you mention it, and for the second part, me either. Alas, 'tis still the realm of fanfic. Or perhaps not alas, since relationships on serial dramas tend to be riddled with problems before ending badly.
I'd say Ezra was almost a polar opposite of Sebastian Charles from last season.
Mm, good point: the two very different doctors House has treated. Was "TB or not TB" the third episode last season? Am too lazy to go check. That'd be cool, though. For me it was the similarities to "DNR" that popped right out, and mostly in a bad way for last night's episode, since "DNR" did some of what "Informed Consent" tried to do and succeeded where "I.C." failed (patient House respected, patient with a personality, House fighting patient not to let himself die, House convincing patient his ailment may be non-terminal, clear plot line, etc.).
no subject
Date: Sep. 21st, 2006 07:25 am (UTC)Yeah, and talk about wank over at
<3 <3 I'm glad I'm not the only one. He hasn't had a moment like that with either Wilson or Cuddy that we know of, and he's known and trusted (to some degree) them for a much longer time. Meh, I'll keep hoping for a bit of physical contact to feed my House/Wilson bunny, just enough for fic fodder ^^. I like my relationships as subtext.
It's actually the fourth; the third was Humpty Dumpty. It came to mind when Cameron (or someone) acted surprised that there was someone in the medical community that House respected, very much paralleled Cuddy's line about "is there no one you admire?"
But anyway, yes, DNR was big on my mind even in the promos. I do think House and the musician had a lot more...hm...connection going on that we just didn't get for IC. But I don't think that was the point of the ep. I think it was supposed to be more exploring the ducklings' reactions to a DNR style storyline that doesn't work out in the end. And of course, develop Cameron's character and all that. What didn't you like about IC?
no subject
Date: Sep. 21st, 2006 05:30 pm (UTC)The only other time I can think of is when House lifted Stacy's chin in "Need to Know."
Also, we know from Stacy that he can occasionally express something seriously, like in Three Stories, when he said, "I love you," it was said like something natural he'd said before and meant - not a big revelation. So the "I'm proud of you," isn't really OOC. And we know he is proud of his ducklings often, though, only very, very rarely tells them so (he has told Chase and Foreman in the past that they are good doctors).
And he's never given such a comforting gesture to Wilson, but. He let Wilson live in his home! lol. And of course, there was that wonderful scene at the end of "Histories" when he sat with him.
I agree with a lot of your thoughts on the ep, Bironic, and though I tend to hate House/Cameron, I'm finding myself surprisingly warming up to it a little - but only if the writers do a better job with characterization regarding Cameron. So far, they've done a better job this season than they have in the past. I still would rather see House and Cameron have a platonic relationship though. Which is actually why I liked this scene. It just felt so fatherly, so mentor/student. That dynamic feels right for them.
no subject
Date: Sep. 21st, 2006 08:04 pm (UTC)I forget that part in Three Stories o_O. But then, House and Stacy have always seemed more natural, personally, as a romantic pair, at least to me. They act more like equals and have sort of the rhythm you would expect of longtime boyfriend/girlfriend. As for telling the ducklings they're good doctors, House has never outright said it, that I remember. I do remember him implying it, by roundabout routes and rhetorical questions, but never actually going to Chase/Foreman and saying, you're a good doctor. You know what I mean? Even if House feels strongly that way about one of his fellows, he won't say it directly to them, it just...it doesn't seem to fit his personality. Meh. Who knows. He could've changed because of the leg thing after all.
That was more of a college buddies type gesture. Only Histories and Babies and Bathwater got close to something like that. Nothing recent, and I don't like that they keep using Wilson as an amateur psychologist to House (especially in this season), making his whole character revolve around just dealing with House's issues. We had some promising tidbits that were tossed to us in previous episodes, but nothing since Grace has really contributed much to his character.
I don't know. I really don't like Cameron's personality and tone of voice. Mostly the latter; if her actress would stop making every other line out to be this sort of obstinate challenge to whatever's being done, I might warm up to her. Maybe I've been listening to Japanese seiyuu too much...I'm starting to judge a lot just on the basis of delivery...
no subject
Date: Sep. 21st, 2006 08:31 pm (UTC)And I definitely agree with you on the Wilson thing. Wilson is a fantastic character, and RSL is a fantastic actor, but the writers are not using that to their advantage at all. I'm sick of Wilson's only purpose being to give an annoying little explanation of House's ulterior motives, which are half-true but ultimately reductive, and break the "show, don't tell" rule way too much. Wilson's always done that to a certain extent, even in season 1 - but it's gotten way worse. Started getting really bad about halfway through season 2, and so far, this season's had waaay to much of it.
And yeah... I kinda think Jenniffer Morrison's deliver is annoying too... A lot of it is the writers, but Morrison doens't often help that much. Just my opinion.
no subject
Date: Sep. 21st, 2006 09:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sep. 23rd, 2006 01:41 am (UTC)I would prefer to see it develop in a mentor/student or father/daughter direction too, and I agree that it feels right for them -- or at least, it feels much better than the declaration-of-amorous-feelings and dating arc did and than the let's-make-Cameron-House's-female-counterpart probably would -- but I hesitate to argue that in depth not only because I don't know Cameron very well but also because I'm so biased toward those sorts of relationships in fiction that it's largely based on personal preference.
no subject
Date: Sep. 22nd, 2006 05:01 pm (UTC)