House: "Half-wit." And no jokes about the production team.

[bironic]

Kind of bleh for a large part of the middle of the episode, but enough at the beginning and end for an overall favorable verdict.

The good stuff:

1. Dave Matthews in this role = adorable.


2. Abbreviated opening credits for the sake of just having the dramatic piano chord = funny but a little weird. Wasn't until the actors' names came up in subtitles in the next scene that we knew for sure there hadn't been an error.


3. Cameron/House kiss = hot.


4. Chase/House hug = really touching. With the massaging fingers and the tears. Especially after being set up for something lighter what with all of House's previous jokes to him and Cameron about Chase or Foreman kissing him or Chase grabbing his ass.


5. House/Cuddy ass grab and Make-a-Wish jab = hilarious.


6. Foreman’s attempt at making his peace with House = good effort.


7. How spectacular was the doorway scene, their faces all alight with joy at using their super diagnostic skillz to save their cantankerous boss and then moments later crumpling into horror and disappointment and embarrassment and disgust and hurt?

Wilson:

1. Needed way more screen time. His best friend supposedly had brain cancer!* Where was he? And why did he keep calling it "brain cancer" when he's an oncologist and would use the specific term for whatever kind House had?


2. Rolling his eyes while Cameron chased after him.


3. Conniving with Cuddy again, leaping to conclusions when it was so clear it would blow up in their faces later somehow.


4. Delivering that line about “Why didn’t you tell me?” with such brief but palpable pain. Ow, ow, ow, and *sniff*.


5. Still holding strong to their friendship even when House treats him, and himself, like crap.


6. The body language, the facial expressions, the heroin line, the holier-than-thou lecturing about pushing people away in favor of seeking artificial pleasure -- well, better to have annoying!conscience!Wilson than no Wilson at all.


7. That last little scene, with Wilson’s “please eat comfort food and watch movies with me because I love you, you idiot, we all love you”? Oh, House, why did you leave him to that stale, lonely hotel room and hang out with your fellows? Being social is a big step for you, we get that, but your older, closer and more earnest friend practically begged you for your company and you snubbed him.

*The fact that House didn’t have brain cancer was not only completely obvious, it was distracting. Maybe that was done on purpose, to reflect the way the fellows were themselves distracted from the patient case, but still, how could you be expected to engage emotionally in everyone’s reactions to House’s supposed condition when you’re sitting there shouting, “He doesn’t have brain cancer, you morons”? The interest there was in figuring out how House didn’t have cancer. (Switched samples? Patient’s info? Parent? Testing his fellows’ and friends’ reactions?)

So, Kurtwood Smith, a.k.a. Neil’s dad in Dead Poets Society, also a.k.a. a quietly heroic Cardassian on DS9. Too bad there weren’t any Smith/RSL scenes for the multifannish plot line combo possibilities. Doubtless the vidders will work some splice magic. He seemed like a decent enough guy and a good father. There was a minute -- when he and House were arguing about the hemispherectomy, and he said all those things about how his son is great and has a gift and is doing fine and he couldn't take away what makes him special -- when it became so very clear that House was dealing with a man who's the complete opposite of his own father. I wish they'd gone a little further with that. Also I was disappointed that he followed House’s advice and approving the procedure. Piano-playing was Peter’s “one thing,” and his father sacrificed that. Was greater self-awareness and the possibility of learning new skills worth the price? Will Peter’s brain somehow compensate so he can play piano again -- or will he slowly become conscious of the fact that he used to be a musical prodigy but can’t even play a simple melody anymore, making the ending to House’s sweet junior-high song Peter’s last composition? Probably we are meant to hope, since House took an important step tonight too.


Commentaries: Pru

Post-ep Fic: “When I See You There” by nightdog_barks, "Half-wit Ending Rewrite" by savemoony (drabble), "Halfwits" by daasgrrl
 

Comments

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

*shakes head*

I don't know. The more I think about this episode the less I like it.

It's the ending that got to me -- Wilson has once again shown himself to be the concerned friend, and House throws the hotel card in his face. Again.

Just how pissed is House that Wilson moved out of his apartment? It's at least the second (maybe even the third) time he's mentioned it, and always in a mocking, angry tone.

He's very pissed. I honestly thought the only redeeming hope from this episode was that it would lead to some real House-Wilson confrontation scenes later in the season.

[theninth.livejournal.com]

That last little scene, with Wilson’s “please eat comfort food and watch movies with me because I love you, you idiot, we all love you”?

That was so well played. He was essentially asking House out, IMO. Pointing at himself and saying "I'm right here".

And House really is very bitter about Wilson moving out. Even after all this time. Ah, subtext. How I love you.

[pun.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree that much of it was kind of bleh.

Also, I realize that chances are an episode that had 38 min. of Wilson would still leave us saying, "You know? This episode really needed more Wilson," but seriously! Not to have more Wilson in an episode where House supposedly has cancer makes NO sense at all!

[kabal42.livejournal.com]

(Yes, still reading even if I'm scarce.)

They put Smith in the series and didn't give him screen-time with RSL??? That's so WRONG!

And I might add, without knowing the case, that robbing the kid of playing piano is nothing short of cruel. Dammit.

[mirrorskippy.livejournal.com]

Hi there, I lurk around your journal from time to time because your House commentaries are always interesting (I swear it's not as nefarious as it sounds).

Just wanted to pipe up with my two cents re the House snubbing Wilson bit at the end because, yeah, I think House is still ticked at him. Personally I think he was a little offended by Wilson's laughing/irony statement.

I don't think he's quite used to Wilson being almost, I don't know, condescending towards him - that comment about the apartment was very 'you hurt me so I'll hurt you back', and that sentiment doesn't hold a lot of weight if you cave afterwards and go for pizza, even if you really, really, reallly want to (which in my own head House totally does).

Anyway, nice commentary, and OMG Yes DM was really adorable. I wanted to take him home and bake him cookies.

[bell]

Chase did get quite upset at House's dying, didn't he? If I had to rank them in terms of upsetness (or showing such a reaction, anyway), I'd rate it:

Chase, Wilson, Foreman, Cameron, Cuddy.

I thought all of Wilson's scenes were unbearably sad, especially the last one where there's so much anger flying about. I thought we'd get to see them get along better from now on.

[saara-zaara.livejournal.com]

V. interesting remarks, but wanted to comment on this:

And why did he keep calling it "brain cancer" when he's an oncologist and would use the specific term for whatever kind House had?
Because Wilson never actually saw the file & he doesn't know what type of brain cancer House is supposed to have.
Wilson only knows what Cuddy told him, what she inferred from the Boston folks. The kids have the fake file, but because 1) they assume, as its a PPTH file, that Wilson has seen it & doesn't need to see it again (after all, they think are double-checking his depts work) and/or 2) Wilson isn't going to admit to them that he doesn't know what's going on as his friend had lied to him & won't go ask to see it, all adds up to Wilson having almost no info and stewing alone until the kids tell him about the lie.

Poor Wilson - he really got hung out by House this time and really got hurt. Notice he doesn't follow House & Chase when Wilson has to admit he told Cameron. He knows House is furious about that, after being furious for his first assumption that Wilson told Chase. Telling Cameron was foolish in a lot of ways (though dramatically necessary), & maybe triggers Wilson pulling back from her as well as House after being rejected like this.

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

I had no idea that was Neil's Dad until I read this. I thought he looked familiar XD

I enjoyed this ep, although I agree that the 'brain cancer' thing was a blatant fake-out because there's no good way they could extract the show from that kind of plot *g*

I thought Wilson was virtually having a hysterical freakout at the end there, blue shirt and all :)

I agree the H/Cam kiss was sort of hot. AGH!