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bironicRSL: I don’t have very many lines, so I will ham it up with my left eyebrow and sardonic delivery. And wear my super-sexy sweatervest.
HL: You’re only dressing up because you’re worried I’ll stop paying attention to you now that I’ve won all these awards for my brilliant acting talent.
RSL: ...
HL: You do look hot in it, though.
Hey, has anyone ever done an MST of an episode as a review? Like with House and Wilson providing commentary? That could be fun.
Ambivalent about tonight’s ep, in the same way I was ambivalent about “Words and Deeds”--not bad, not top-tier. The different format was way beyond due, so that was very nice, with everyone able to take their time and talk without a diagnostic clock ticking, and no last-minute miracle diagnosis to serve as a conclusion. It shared “Son of Coma Guy”’s focus on conversation and character revelation, only here I had a harder time telling what was profound and what made absolutely no sense. Also, the secondary plot with Cameron and Terminal Lung Cancer Man failed to register emotionally. At all. Felt like a rehash of the time she argued what TLCM was arguing--that if a person dies s/he should be remembered, that someone should care--about the young woman who also had terminal cancer. Eh. I think this would have worked better as a season premiere than a post-Tritter episode, what with the theme of meaning and rationality and House’s somewhat reluctant decision to try to connect with someone. The lovely river setting would have been appropriate then as well.
Not surprised, but still disappointed that after everything they just went through, Wilson and House seem to be back to normal, or what serves as normal for both of them. House may have told him that nothing changed, and so far it seems to be true, but something must have. Something must have.
The funny: The opening, with “Perjurer”/“Felon” and the three latex gloves and the crazy man running around clutching his head (decoy PotW!), and the false-hiccups patient trying to get House to feel him up, and Wilson saying “I don’t want to be you” in the role-playing scenario. And the part where House told Wilson the park was the last place Cuddy would look for him and my sister said, “But Wilson found youuuu!”
The unfunny: The abuse by his father. It certainly sounded as if House had never told anyone until now. In one sense, it’s going to make those moments in “Daddy’s Boy” and “Son of Coma Guy” and whenever else House mentioned his father more poignant and disturbing. In another sense, it’s disappointing to learn about, because it takes the subtlety and ambiguity out of his troubled relationship with his father; his complex no longer arises solely from a clash of personalities and a desire to be right than with lingering fear and animosity for physical abuse. Hm. I won’t say it explains a lot--definitely won’t say “it explains everything,” because we know what that means on the show. We were doing fine analyzing House with all the given information, and this... doesn’t feel like a missing puzzle piece.
Moving on.
Monogrammed handkerchief with blood spot from successfully bribed clinic patient: David Shore’s? (It had “D.S.” stitched on it.)
Foosball makes a comeback! As did a number of echoes from “Damned If You Do”: Cuddy entering a scene with House and Wilson relaxing together and telling him, “You did good”; girl’s/House’s “I don’t want to talk about it”/ “Neither do I”; and talk about whether everything happens to you because it’s God’s will. Very little Chase, again, in an episode where it would have been appropriate for him to be around.
ETA 11 p.m.: You know what was interesting? That when Wilson was trying to convince House to tell the girl the truth, the first (and only) example he gives of House's trauma was the shooting. Not the leg.
ETA Wed.: You know what else I liked? House eliciting three equally plausible explanations from Foreman, Chase and Cameron that "explain everything" and then declaring his own diagnosis. Not only does it feature teacher!House and demonstrate that each of the fellows has learned enough to produce a complicated and obscure diagnosis (albeit with a bit of extra coaxing for Cameron), it also harks back to his conversation with Cuddy in... "Damned If You Do"? that their current diagnosis explains everything, and if it turns out to be wrong, they'll find another one that explains everything. That's one of the great things about his job, about medicine and about the show; just because there's a clear answer at first doesn't mean it's the right clear answer, and with trial and dramatic error they (almost) always (eventually) reach the correct conclusion.
And... I think that’s all for now, folks. Apologies in advance for the expected delay in comment replies and review-reading. To contradict the great philosopher Jagger, time is not on my side.
HL: You’re only dressing up because you’re worried I’ll stop paying attention to you now that I’ve won all these awards for my brilliant acting talent.
RSL: ...
HL: You do look hot in it, though.
Hey, has anyone ever done an MST of an episode as a review? Like with House and Wilson providing commentary? That could be fun.
Ambivalent about tonight’s ep, in the same way I was ambivalent about “Words and Deeds”--not bad, not top-tier. The different format was way beyond due, so that was very nice, with everyone able to take their time and talk without a diagnostic clock ticking, and no last-minute miracle diagnosis to serve as a conclusion. It shared “Son of Coma Guy”’s focus on conversation and character revelation, only here I had a harder time telling what was profound and what made absolutely no sense. Also, the secondary plot with Cameron and Terminal Lung Cancer Man failed to register emotionally. At all. Felt like a rehash of the time she argued what TLCM was arguing--that if a person dies s/he should be remembered, that someone should care--about the young woman who also had terminal cancer. Eh. I think this would have worked better as a season premiere than a post-Tritter episode, what with the theme of meaning and rationality and House’s somewhat reluctant decision to try to connect with someone. The lovely river setting would have been appropriate then as well.
Not surprised, but still disappointed that after everything they just went through, Wilson and House seem to be back to normal, or what serves as normal for both of them. House may have told him that nothing changed, and so far it seems to be true, but something must have. Something must have.
The funny: The opening, with “Perjurer”/“Felon” and the three latex gloves and the crazy man running around clutching his head (decoy PotW!), and the false-hiccups patient trying to get House to feel him up, and Wilson saying “I don’t want to be you” in the role-playing scenario. And the part where House told Wilson the park was the last place Cuddy would look for him and my sister said, “But Wilson found youuuu!”
The unfunny: The abuse by his father. It certainly sounded as if House had never told anyone until now. In one sense, it’s going to make those moments in “Daddy’s Boy” and “Son of Coma Guy” and whenever else House mentioned his father more poignant and disturbing. In another sense, it’s disappointing to learn about, because it takes the subtlety and ambiguity out of his troubled relationship with his father; his complex no longer arises solely from a clash of personalities and a desire to be right than with lingering fear and animosity for physical abuse. Hm. I won’t say it explains a lot--definitely won’t say “it explains everything,” because we know what that means on the show. We were doing fine analyzing House with all the given information, and this... doesn’t feel like a missing puzzle piece.
Moving on.
Monogrammed handkerchief with blood spot from successfully bribed clinic patient: David Shore’s? (It had “D.S.” stitched on it.)
Foosball makes a comeback! As did a number of echoes from “Damned If You Do”: Cuddy entering a scene with House and Wilson relaxing together and telling him, “You did good”; girl’s/House’s “I don’t want to talk about it”/ “Neither do I”; and talk about whether everything happens to you because it’s God’s will. Very little Chase, again, in an episode where it would have been appropriate for him to be around.
ETA 11 p.m.: You know what was interesting? That when Wilson was trying to convince House to tell the girl the truth, the first (and only) example he gives of House's trauma was the shooting. Not the leg.
ETA Wed.: You know what else I liked? House eliciting three equally plausible explanations from Foreman, Chase and Cameron that "explain everything" and then declaring his own diagnosis. Not only does it feature teacher!House and demonstrate that each of the fellows has learned enough to produce a complicated and obscure diagnosis (albeit with a bit of extra coaxing for Cameron), it also harks back to his conversation with Cuddy in... "Damned If You Do"? that their current diagnosis explains everything, and if it turns out to be wrong, they'll find another one that explains everything. That's one of the great things about his job, about medicine and about the show; just because there's a clear answer at first doesn't mean it's the right clear answer, and with trial and dramatic error they (almost) always (eventually) reach the correct conclusion.
And... I think that’s all for now, folks. Apologies in advance for the expected delay in comment replies and review-reading. To contradict the great philosopher Jagger, time is not on my side.
no subject
Date: Jan. 31st, 2007 04:04 am (UTC)I agree that the father abuse thing was a little...off. But the way I see it, the whole idea of strict discipline and never telling his son he was right seemed to fit together with our image of this controlling military father. I think it explains a lot about why House is so emotionally repressed, as well. It did, however, clash a bit with our first encounter with House and his parents, but I suppose that's to be expected since they didn't plot this far ahead.
Cameron's storyline seemed incomplete. I felt like they'd cut scenes from it, because I was waiting for some big connection or further insight into her relationship with her husband. But I really liked the ethics and philosophy debates - I guess that's one of those things you either enjoy, or you don't particularly care either way for.
Scenery in the park was gorgeous. I hope they do more outside scenes like that. And how about Wilson being able to spot the "sightseer" male joggers, eh? XD XD Oh, House and Wilson...still got a bit of that college mentality *grin*
no subject
Date: Feb. 3rd, 2007 12:40 am (UTC)You're right that House's father as strict disciplinarian fits with both his and House's characters as we've seen them so far -- even the scenes in "Daddy's Boy," I think. The revelation just seemed unnecessary; we've already got plenty to chew on with the infarction and shooting, and IMO his strained relationship with John didn't need this added drama to be interesting or believable. Still, I'm more than willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt and see where they take it.