Let that be a lesson to you all: Don’t piss off the geeks. (House 2.23, “The Jerk”)

[bironic]

Five (but sort of eight) things about tonight’s House.

1. So, mini!brunet!Rodney as a patient tonight, being a genius at chess and whining and insulting doctors and cafeteria workers and calling everyone morons and being afraid that they'd damage his brain (though the kid was far less hyper than Rodney). House even referred to himself as Dr. McKayCane. And referred once to Canada. See, it’s obviously a deliberate allusion on the writers’ part!

...I bet Rodney called his mother by her first name, too.

2. Wilson needs to smirk more. And be on screen more, but that’s a hopeless cause. Weird that he smirked at Cuddy when he’s supposed to be so chivalrous and/or awkward with women. He doesn’t seem the type to smirk at a woman he’s interested in. I guess that means the show has decided to (surprise!) drop Wilson/Cuddy after two or three episodes.

3. House leaning back with that open shirt collar while talking to Chase was surprisingly hot. Except that he looked kind of orange. It was great to see him and Chase, the fellow he’s had the longest, talk fairly seriously for so long, and to see House give him a genuine smile despite himself because yes, for all the crap he gets about being lazy and sycophantic, Chase has picked up a lot from him, including how to read the people around him.

Poor Chase in the lab, too, offended that Cameron thought he would sabotage Foreman’s career just for the hell of it. His pouty “I like you” afterwards was cute, in a sulking six-year-old sort of way.

Very much enjoyed Chase ordering the kid to eat his grade-D ground meat or get tied to the bed, though. He's been practicing his dom skills since “Love Hurts.”

4. Are we supposed to wonder about Foreman’s sexual orientation now, since the kid (whose name I can’t remember) was one of the many many patients who expertly deconstruct our characters after knowing them for three minutes? Having gotten Cameron/Chase “right,” and noticed that Foreman was hesitating, and said all that stuff during his chess match with Chase, are we to think that there’s something to his immediate remark that Foreman’s gay? Or was he just needling him? Or was it meant to be played for laughs? Who knows. I’m not really going to think about this, but it seems noteworthy in that it came up a second time.

5. I liked that instead of actually answering the question, each person responded to the accusation of having cancelled Foreman’s interview with a version of “Why would I do that?” They’ve all grown defensive after so much time with House, probably. Too bad that half the time, that answer invited too-long and too-meta explanations (e.g. “I enable him”). Would’ve been nice if the show had let us weigh the suspects in peace (and why did nobody mention Cameron’s motive of revenge for what Foreman did to her last year?) and come to the same conclusion as Chase.

...And, uh, probably other little things I’ve already forgotten.

Oh yeah. A pretty irrelevant 6. is that the first time House suggested stuffing the kid full of meat, I turned to my sister and asked the obvious question about whether that was a euphemism, which made her snort. Then the next time Chase said they’d been stuffing him full of meat, we both laughed. Plus there were those threats earlier about the restraints, and the jokes about Foreman being gay. Anyone else thinking the same? Anyone?

All in all, I liked the patient despite the preview last week, was neither bothered nor gripped by what was going on in the Foreman plot, and am not feeling a build-up to the season finale. The preview makes it sound as if they're planning to pack quite a wallop into the last hour, but I'm doubtful. And if David Shore wrote it, as the conspicuous mention of "heaven" of that shot of House (you know the one) makes me suspect, then we're really in trouble. And by "we" I mean "those of us who tend to dislike episodes written by David Shore." Insert sad face here.

Comments

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

I must admit, I thought that Rodney would have been able to put the POTW in his place w/o any problem, especially regarding chess (and he wouldn't have had to resort to a sedative, like Foreman).

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I was more imagining Rodney as the kid than as the doctor, but heh, yeah. He certainly would have been more abrasive than House, which is saying something.

(And I do want to write lots about SGA and SGA fic, but am not in a good headspace for it yet. Soon.)

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

I was more imagining Rodney as the kid than as the doctor,

Yeah, I know. But I like Rodney a hell of a lot more than I liked this kid, so I'd prefer to think of the former in a more positive light. *g*

I really hope the next episode is not a David Shore extravaganza and that we don't discover that this entire season has been a hallucination.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I hope it's not DS too, for several reasons.

Having House wake up again and discover that season three never happened might be a good opportunity to take the show in another direction, and it'd explain why Chase is still around with no explanation after three years in this fellowship, but it'd still be a cheap trick.

P.S. Your icon reminded me that the kid tonight was afraid the doctors would turn him into a vegetable, like how Rodney values his mind/brain above everything else -- thanks; I added that to item 1.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

"Stuffing him full of meat" - ha! I actually didn't catch that, and I usually catch stuff that isn't even there.

I wondered about Chase and Foreman being so sensitive to what the kid said to them. How long have they worked for House? House has definitely said worse. I would've thought the kid's comments would've rolled off a little better.

Although, Chase was definitely having a little mommy envy there, as in "Why does this jerk get a mom who stands by him and my mom drank herself to death?"

PS. I am working on a fic (OK, several fics, but I'm talking about one in particular) and wondered if you might have time to have a look? It's about halfway done but any thoughts would be appreciated:
http://deelaundry.livejournal.com/49669.html

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Although, Chase was definitely having a little mommy envy there, as in "Why does this jerk get a mom who stands by him and my mom drank herself to death?"

Oh, yes, forgot about that! There was that moment when the mother said something about hating herself for hating her kid, and Chase went all glassy-eyed.

[thedeadparrot.livejournal.com]

See, I haven't actually seen the episode, but clearly, the PTB are trying to tell us something about who House is really supposed to be with! I think they're reading our minds.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

*g* You're also the one who said Wilson and Sheppard should make out because it'd be hot, right? Because you're absolutely right there as well.

[thedeadparrot.livejournal.com]

Yes. That was me. It totally would be. And it would distract them from being sad that House and Rodney have found their one true loves!

Because as hot as Wilson and Sheppard making out would be, it doesn't quite compare to the awesome of House and Rodney TAKING OVER THE WORLD.

[theninth.livejournal.com]

4. Are we supposed to wonder about Foreman’s sexual orientation now

I think that was just the kid being a jerk because Foreman blocked him with "because I'm black". He couldn't just say "never mind"; he had to finish with something. Then, of course, he couldn't drop it because his attitude was so much like House's.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Could very well be. I didn't catch the kid's expression between "Because I'm black?" and "No, because you're gay"; that may help in figuring out which it was.

[pun.livejournal.com]

Some say enabling, others say big gay love.

This episode bored me. I liked the conversation between Chase and House, and I liked the two minutes that Wilson was in it. Other than that, it didn't really hold my interest.

[theninth.livejournal.com]

Some say enabling, others say big gay love.

I may need to put that on an icon.

It didn't really hold my interest, either. Good to know I wasn't alone in that.

[purridot.livejournal.com]

This episode just reminds me *yet again* how painfully and desperately I actually want to see Hugh Laurie and David Hewlett face off!

(Wilson and Sheppard kissing in the background is just fine too -- but in my fantasy, only to make House and McKay jealous.)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

And then they have a REALLY HOT FOURSOME.

...

Okay, back now. Welcome back yourself!

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

02.) I got the feeling that Wilson dropped the Wilson/Cuddy waaaaaay back after that awkward date. And then the more recent stuff was basically him honestly offering her a way to relax without having to worry about someone trying to get into her pants. I still don't buy the "mistake" with the gallery as a mistake, but I also don't think it was a plot to get her nekkid. I think it was just that House makes so many freakin' comments like he knows something about Cuddy's tastes and it's so hard to tell when he's serious and when he's not, that Wilson took the opportunity to see Cuddy's reaction to things like that.

04.) Foreman is absolutely the last character on that entire show that I could picture being gay or even curious.


... Um. I thought I had something else to comment on, but now I can't find it. Oh noes! Ah, well. Couldn't have been that important, then. XD

[bironic.livejournal.com]

4) Yeah, it was a weird choice. Chase would be the most obvious target for that kind of comment.

2) Could be, could be. Any interpretation's as likely as the next at this point, considering how much of what we need to see to understand what's going on between half the characters has been going on off-screen.

[litalex.livejournal.com]

because Chase would have heard it before and wouldn't be needled. Foreman, on the other hand...

[nicocoer.livejournal.com]

As a non-SGA fandomer (though I'm guilty of occationally reading fic from there) I found the mccane thing amusing as there is the "Dr. McScruffy" comic floatin about LJ. . . But now that you mention it. ..

I loved the kid, seriously. :)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

First it's the fic, then it's the occasional episode, then you're SUCKED IN FOR GOOD. Watch out! :D

I liked the kid, too, and was pleased that he managed to be a character in his own right instead of just a lens for House.

[games-end.livejournal.com]

Too bad that half the time, that answer invited too-long and too-meta explanations (e.g. “I enable him”).

AGREED!

[stephantom.livejournal.com]

Er, that was me, not Ender Wiggin. XD

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Aw, thought I had a new reader there. :)

Yes yes. I agree with what you wrote in your LJ yesterday too. Need to hop over and say so.