House 3.14: “Insensitive”
Feb. 13th, 2007 10:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bironicOh, oh, oh. Yay. “Insensitive” brought the happy like the happy hasn’t been brought in many, many weeks. Now we are back to normal. Funny, snappy dialogue, pleasantly quick pacing, intriguing patient mystery, and at long last, bones tossed to Cuddy and Wilson. Props to writer Matthew V. Lewis, who is almost -- almost -- forgiven for the only other episode he’s written so far, the first half of “Euphoria.”
A list, again, because writing it all out would take a while and I haven’t got a while:
- Someone -- I think it was![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pwcorgigirl -- wrote a story a few months ago that featured a clinic patient with CIPA. Part of what tipped House off to the diagnosis was the patient’s last name, which was Scandinavian; apparently that demographic has a higher incidence of the disorder. IIRC, originally, the first mention of CIPA in the story was written out as ‘congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis,’ and after some discussion of how the show would handle it, we agreed that House should say it as the abbreviation first and then the author could explain what it meant to readers by having his conversation partner (I forget who) say it out soon after. And here tonight we had House diagnose CIPA in part based on the ethnicity implied by the last name, and Foreman called it by its full name a few lines afterwards. So that was cool.
- Also on the fanfic front, has everyone readuarazy’s House/Firefly crossover? Because it involves Chase and the crew of Serenity, and a joke about galaxies, and when Cameron turned to him at the end of the episode tonight and said something about love and other galaxies, I burst out laughing.
- House/Wilson subtext returns without the need to put the highest-magnification lens on the slash microscope. The whole “I wanted to talk about that, but instead I have to be your conscience. I’m tired of being your conscience” thing, which kicked the butt of two weeks ago’s “I don’t wanna be you.” And then gossiping about the guy with a yen for male-to-female transsexual nurses while sharing a sandwich. And “We could be ranking nurses in order of do-ability.” And Wilson knowing House better than anyone and being firm in his Jiminy Cricket role while still respecting House’s privacy by sending the fellows out, and House listening to him and acknowledging that he’s right despite declaring him annoying. And, “Breakfast?” Because that’s as close as anyone came tonight to being happy together on Valentine’s Day. Ah! Delicious subtext, how I’ve missed you.
- Nice idea bringing Wendy back, for two reasons. Three if you award a point for the show actually having continuity. First, because she got Foreman gnawing his lip about commitment, which led to that great exchange with Cameron in the lab. That, I believe, is the first time anyone has managed to get through to her on the subject of her husband and sacrifice. And second, because last time we met Wendy, she was pretending to love jazz because Foreman liked jazz and she liked Foreman; and tonight, that theme resurfaced with Cuddy and her blind date. A nice setup there.
- WhineFest 2007: House vs. CIPA girl! House triumphant, but she held her own for quite a while, childish faces and everything, and even scored a couple of points off him, like with the bathroom timer. Fabulous. As was House’s parting shot to Cameron that “some people” think the leg and the attitude are connected. Not so simple, of course; he’s not a jerk only because of the leg, but he wouldn’t be as much of a jerk if it hadn’t been for the leg/Vicodin either. Oh! But how about House’s remark about checking for signs of jaundice from Vicodin-induced liver failure? Very happy to see that addressed, even if it was quickly buried in the rest of the verbal sparring.
- Cuddy. So much Cuddy love. I’d almost forgotten how much I could love Cuddy, it’s been so long since she was in top form. And she stayed in top form every second she was on screen tonight, from the first confrontation in her office through the brilliant doorway scene. She’s regained, or maybe found for the first time, her center, her self-confidence, when she argues with House, and it makes for some excellent dialogue. Her gentle, smug smiles as she refused to take his bait? His half-lidded gaze? This kind of House/Cuddy I could wholeheartedly get behind.leiascully must be close to exploding with glee. Lisa Edelstein’s delivery was varied and natural for a change, as was RSL’s, which helped too.
- House to Foreman in the 60-foot walk to the treatment room: First mention of the fellowships ending, yes? I do hope that’s the beginning of the groundwork-laying for discussion of when exactly Chase’s tenure under House expires.
- Once again, Chase thinks up an impressive House solution but doesn’t quite pull it off. Unless you consider the damage House usually causes to his patients on the way to a diagnosis, in which case the second-degree burns on her hand (and the indirect harm caused by his suggestion to cause her pain, like falling off the balcony after running out of the O.R.) won’t count against him.
- Also nice to see the Foreman/House comparison crop up again, this time with Foreman’s desire to avoid intimacy. Gotta say, though, Wendy dear, as a parting gift, a position at MGH isn’t anything to cry over.
- I liked Chase’s comment to Foreman and Cameron that nobody can say “no” to House. I remember writing sometime during Season Two that House was resorting to firmer and firmer tactics to get the fellows to do what he wants, that even though he encourages and even relies on debate from them (see irritation at Foreman “Forever”), he was becoming more and more frustrated with them not letting him have his way right away all the time, and he ended up shouting at them and banging his cane while they sat stone-faced. Now that Chase has them thinking about resistance, I wonder whether we’ll start to see some real arguing in DDX and/or treatment and/or procedure scenes.
- Now taking votes: Which article of clothing wins tonight's Worst Fashion Choice Award, Chase's hat or Wilson's tie?
- And, just because: OMG tapeworm! Ha! That one looked almost as delightfully disgusting as this eye-wideningly long specimen in a huge jar of formaldehyde I once saw at a museum at Harvard that had been pulled out of a patient through his/her rear end. Never heard of pulling one out straight from the intestine during surgery. Awesome.
A quick look at the preview: Another deep, dark secret for House? The abuse thing wasn’t enough? Unless they’re finding out about that and not something new. And Wilson knows before at least Cameron. I’d say the secret was that House and Wilson are sleeping together, except the voiceover declared nobody knew except House. Unless House was drugging-- No, we’re not even going to go there. P.S. PLEASE DO NOT SPOIL ME THANK YOU.
So, shall we have at it? (And by "we" I mean "you, until I make it back to chat tomorrow.")
Post-ep fic: Breakfast at House's by topaz_eyes (NC-17)
A list, again, because writing it all out would take a while and I haven’t got a while:
- Someone -- I think it was
pwcorgigirl -- wrote a story a few months ago that featured a clinic patient with CIPA. Part of what tipped House off to the diagnosis was the patient’s last name, which was Scandinavian; apparently that demographic has a higher incidence of the disorder. IIRC, originally, the first mention of CIPA in the story was written out as ‘congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis,’ and after some discussion of how the show would handle it, we agreed that House should say it as the abbreviation first and then the author could explain what it meant to readers by having his conversation partner (I forget who) say it out soon after. And here tonight we had House diagnose CIPA in part based on the ethnicity implied by the last name, and Foreman called it by its full name a few lines afterwards. So that was cool.- Also on the fanfic front, has everyone read
uarazy’s House/Firefly crossover? Because it involves Chase and the crew of Serenity, and a joke about galaxies, and when Cameron turned to him at the end of the episode tonight and said something about love and other galaxies, I burst out laughing.- House/Wilson subtext returns without the need to put the highest-magnification lens on the slash microscope. The whole “I wanted to talk about that, but instead I have to be your conscience. I’m tired of being your conscience” thing, which kicked the butt of two weeks ago’s “I don’t wanna be you.” And then gossiping about the guy with a yen for male-to-female transsexual nurses while sharing a sandwich. And “We could be ranking nurses in order of do-ability.” And Wilson knowing House better than anyone and being firm in his Jiminy Cricket role while still respecting House’s privacy by sending the fellows out, and House listening to him and acknowledging that he’s right despite declaring him annoying. And, “Breakfast?” Because that’s as close as anyone came tonight to being happy together on Valentine’s Day. Ah! Delicious subtext, how I’ve missed you.
- Nice idea bringing Wendy back, for two reasons. Three if you award a point for the show actually having continuity. First, because she got Foreman gnawing his lip about commitment, which led to that great exchange with Cameron in the lab. That, I believe, is the first time anyone has managed to get through to her on the subject of her husband and sacrifice. And second, because last time we met Wendy, she was pretending to love jazz because Foreman liked jazz and she liked Foreman; and tonight, that theme resurfaced with Cuddy and her blind date. A nice setup there.
- WhineFest 2007: House vs. CIPA girl! House triumphant, but she held her own for quite a while, childish faces and everything, and even scored a couple of points off him, like with the bathroom timer. Fabulous. As was House’s parting shot to Cameron that “some people” think the leg and the attitude are connected. Not so simple, of course; he’s not a jerk only because of the leg, but he wouldn’t be as much of a jerk if it hadn’t been for the leg/Vicodin either. Oh! But how about House’s remark about checking for signs of jaundice from Vicodin-induced liver failure? Very happy to see that addressed, even if it was quickly buried in the rest of the verbal sparring.
- Cuddy. So much Cuddy love. I’d almost forgotten how much I could love Cuddy, it’s been so long since she was in top form. And she stayed in top form every second she was on screen tonight, from the first confrontation in her office through the brilliant doorway scene. She’s regained, or maybe found for the first time, her center, her self-confidence, when she argues with House, and it makes for some excellent dialogue. Her gentle, smug smiles as she refused to take his bait? His half-lidded gaze? This kind of House/Cuddy I could wholeheartedly get behind.
leiascully must be close to exploding with glee. Lisa Edelstein’s delivery was varied and natural for a change, as was RSL’s, which helped too.- House to Foreman in the 60-foot walk to the treatment room: First mention of the fellowships ending, yes? I do hope that’s the beginning of the groundwork-laying for discussion of when exactly Chase’s tenure under House expires.
- Once again, Chase thinks up an impressive House solution but doesn’t quite pull it off. Unless you consider the damage House usually causes to his patients on the way to a diagnosis, in which case the second-degree burns on her hand (and the indirect harm caused by his suggestion to cause her pain, like falling off the balcony after running out of the O.R.) won’t count against him.
- Also nice to see the Foreman/House comparison crop up again, this time with Foreman’s desire to avoid intimacy. Gotta say, though, Wendy dear, as a parting gift, a position at MGH isn’t anything to cry over.
- I liked Chase’s comment to Foreman and Cameron that nobody can say “no” to House. I remember writing sometime during Season Two that House was resorting to firmer and firmer tactics to get the fellows to do what he wants, that even though he encourages and even relies on debate from them (see irritation at Foreman “Forever”), he was becoming more and more frustrated with them not letting him have his way right away all the time, and he ended up shouting at them and banging his cane while they sat stone-faced. Now that Chase has them thinking about resistance, I wonder whether we’ll start to see some real arguing in DDX and/or treatment and/or procedure scenes.
- Now taking votes: Which article of clothing wins tonight's Worst Fashion Choice Award, Chase's hat or Wilson's tie?
- And, just because: OMG tapeworm! Ha! That one looked almost as delightfully disgusting as this eye-wideningly long specimen in a huge jar of formaldehyde I once saw at a museum at Harvard that had been pulled out of a patient through his/her rear end. Never heard of pulling one out straight from the intestine during surgery. Awesome.
A quick look at the preview: Another deep, dark secret for House? The abuse thing wasn’t enough? Unless they’re finding out about that and not something new. And Wilson knows before at least Cameron. I’d say the secret was that House and Wilson are sleeping together, except the voiceover declared nobody knew except House. Unless House was drugging-- No, we’re not even going to go there. P.S. PLEASE DO NOT SPOIL ME THANK YOU.
So, shall we have at it? (And by "we" I mean "you, until I make it back to chat tomorrow.")
Post-ep fic: Breakfast at House's by topaz_eyes (NC-17)
