It was nice to see a new episode! :) The ducklings were just so lost without House. Foreman learned that being the boss is a lot harder than it appears to be. And Wilson...oh Wilson! He's like a shark in the water when it comes to young nurses. He's coming ever closer to flushing marriage number three down the drain.

Loved how one button on House's coat was the wrong color . . . wonder who sewed it on . . .

Stacy's speech about curry was amusing . . . if they do have a farewell fling in her last episode, I can picture her shouting, "Oh, yes, yes, CURRY! I mean, GREG!"

At one point, Foreman was wearing the same style and color cap as House . . . it reminded me of the ep where they have the same shoes. Foreman has some very snarky shoes to fill, while House is out.

Along the whole "House as Sherlock" line, that would prolly make Stacy Irena Alder, the one woman who Holmes respected (and quite possibly loved - he did keep her photograph).

As for Wilson, it's like he's trying to play Haweye Pierce with the nurses, but it doesn't look like it's working. He looked kinda disgusted with himself (or with the situation he had gotten himself into) and glad House interrupted him. (Maybe Wilson has a "must make it better" complex like Cameron?)

"Hi, honey. How are the kids? Do they miss me?"

Hehehehe.

No new House 'til February is a sad sad thing. It better be phenomenal. Of course, it probably will be, since that's what's kept us sticking around . . .

I'm just going to do a quicky now, be bad for more in depth discussion later today.

There's just soooo much to love here. Ha! He kissed her!! This makes me happy, even though I know it won't last. :D

My first thoughts on the curry comparison, I won't repeat here(had something to do with the effects of really hot curry on the digestive system. "A relationship with me gives you the...' :o ) but I was waiting for House to comeback with something along those lines. Guess that's why I don't write for the show.

I loved how he kept bugging her about the cross. It showed that he is obsessive with any puzzle, not just medical puzzles.

I absolutely loved the interaction between Stacy and House this episode. You can really see how they would be together. neither one really changing but just thos deep understanding of each other. nicelty written and superbly played by Hugh and Sela. I think I'm really going to miss her when she's gone.

What the heck is up with Cuddy? I'll put you in charge but I don't think you're good enough to do the job. Although he's not up to House's standards I think he's at least a better than average doctor. WHy would House have hired him if he weren't? I mean, at that point the guy wasn't dying he just had some problems. Why wouldn't she trust him to take care of it?

Loved the whole thing with the kid and the ball. I was laughing so hard I didn't catch a lot of the dialogue.

And the whole thing with Stacy and House with the medicare guy. He looked like a little boy, forced to dress up and sit quietly for Easter Sunday service. Bored and wanting to be elsewhere. That's our boy! :lol:

I thought the medical case was really interesting too.

I'll have to go back and check (or wait for the transcript), but I got the impression at least part of it was because the guy (Fletch -- I loved that nod) was a MAJOR investigative journalist, who'd have no trouble digging deep enough to get PPTH in MAJOR trouble... yes/no? And even if it wasn't life or death at that point, it was still a VERY weird/scary/baffling set of symptoms...

More later...

This didn't end up being my favorite episode of the season, although I guess they can't all be my favorite. :) Even though there were a few scenes I thought were right on the mark, there was something about the episode as a whole that bored me a little. Maybe it's the fact that the Ducklings, as cute as they are, just aren't that interesting to me on their own. Their point to me right now is to interact with House, and there just wasn't that much of that in this episode. The medical mystery seemed a little perfunctory, too, although that disorder is interesting. Fletch's syntax was fine; he was putting verbs in the right tenses, using articles correctly, ect. It's just that he was filling in the wrong words. That's really weird.

The most amusing scenes were the ones with House and Stacy in the airport, although they didn't make as big a deal over why he was actually up there as I expected them to. The scene where that kid was annoying him and then suddenly House has the ball was hilarious. I was a little incredulous at Stacy in this episode. I thought House was the immature one, but the further we get into the season it seems like they're almost switching roles. Now she's the one throwing consequences out the window and I think House is actually starting to get a little wary of her. He obviously wanted her very badly in the scene where they kissed, but the whole time I could tell from his expression that he knew this was a very bad idea. Wouldn't it be odd if he ended up being the one to end it...

And now we have to wait a MONTH to find out what happens next. FOX enjoys torturing us, that has to be it. :angry:

That just rocked… so worth loads of arseing about to get hold of the ep, amazing. :)

These writers are people so in their stride, the House/Stacy relationship was beautifully handled and performed. Not too much angst, perfect tension, humour and it was warm (well pretty damn hot in places). Sela has had a shoeing over the role but for me she’s been spot on and I agree, RT, I’ll miss her.

Loved me some sharking Wilson, he was having some fin while House was out of town. Loved the parallel – House and Wilson and their women – so screwed up and awesome. The Ducks were cool and Chase was back to his best ‘works with spaghetti’ form. Cameron was top tonight too- she was very likeable tonight/today/whatever.

I have one burning question lingering after this episode: WHY IS CHASE SO OBSESSED WITH DRUGS?!?

Every patient who comes in, the first thing out of his mouth is "he's on drugs!!!" and he wants to rush off to test for drugs.

Maybe guilt over his own previous drug use? Or worry that it will come back to haunt him, health-wise? Hrm...

[FONT=Courier][SIZE=7]I was just wondering if ANYONE please has that quote/conversation between House and Stacy dealing with the curry! I thought it was such a good one and I cannot find it anywhere! Thanks all :D

I posted this in the General forum, but it really belongs here...

Stacy: Our relationship is like an addiction. It's... like...

House: Really good drugs?

Stacy: No, it's like... vindaloo curry.

House: OK... sure.

Stacy: It's this really hot Indian curry they make with red chili peppers.

House: I know what it is. Didn't think it was addictive.

Stacy: You're abrasive and annoying and come on way too strong. Like vindaloo curry. Which is OK if you really like curry, but you have too much of it, it burns the roof of your mouth off, and then you never want to see curry again for a really really long time, but you wake up one day and you think... God I really miss curry.

The depiction of the guy suffering from bi-polar was really accurate. My Dad suffers from it and the idea that it can slip through diagnosis until well into adulthood is totally realistic. It took years for a doctor to recognise his 'mania' episodes and link them to his other depression problems. Nothing worked for him until they made the connection and it was really disorientating for my mother, she thought his hyper mode was his normal. It wasn't until he got into gambling that it became an obvious problem -an addiction counsellor suggested it might be bi-polar and referred him to a specialist. He was thirty seven before he was fully diagnosed and the doctor told him that this is often the case.

It made a lot of retrospective sense of his incessant need to move house and jobs all the time and have lots of kids. It did split my parents up in the end, my Mum found it impossible to balance a family and my Dad's condition. It worked out eventually, my Dad takes Tegretol and it keeps his moods fairly even. He remarried and my step mother is much more able to deal with him because she isn't blind-sided by by a lack of awareness and knowledge.

This episode did a really fantastic job of drawing a picture of complex disorder, within an hour, and I haven't ever seen a convincing portrayal. It's a frightening condition but as I partly owe my existence to it then it was good to see it handled well :)

I suspected the editor knew his 'secret' -anyone else pick up that vibe?

I loved the concept of "Daddy not in town, we have to take care of this one ourselves," but I still absolutely hate Stacey. She can never earn my respect for that stunt she pulled with him in "Three Stories." I hate her for that.

The boy and the ball had me howling. I wonder how he got it without the kid knowing?

The curry thing seemed very accurate. Although, it has to hurt being told, "I love you, but I get tired of you." Accurate, but, it hurts.

Whoever said that Stacey could be Irene Adler, I agree. Even that little part of temptation, because, technically, Adler was a criminal, and Stacey is fsking MARRIED! :angry:

thanks for sharing your family's story, Benj. it adds a more emotional dimension to the DotW, which I had already thought packed emotional punch with the reporter and his wife still unreconciled at the end of the episode. getting good actors for the PotW makes a big difference.

yeah, I think she did know. she was the one responsible for covering up a lot of his indiscretions in the past. I don't think she had the requisite medical knowledge to realize what she knew was important or not, though, so she wasn't holding his "secret" on purpose.

I agree with your assessment, Lily. the ducklings have not had sufficient character development to be able to keep our attention when house is out of the picture. plus, the writers making these three doctors look inept to highlight their difference from house was somewhat of a disservice to their presumed skill levels. they are full-fledged doctors, even if they don't possess the diagnostic genius that house does. they should not be fumbling around when a patient goes into code. I think they miss curry too. :P

The fumbling of the ducklings actually reminded me of middle school band when the instructor was out sick. We'd have one of the kids up there trying to conduct instead and it was always an absolute mess even though it was the same bunch of songs we had played a million times before. It wasn't that we were bad musicians (for a bunch of middle schoolers anyway), just that we were used to having a someone there to guide us through things, and pulling that foundation out from under us left the whole band wobbling. The ducklings aren't bad doctors, they're just used to taking orders from a single leader. When left to sort things out on their own, they're all pulling in different directions without someone there to hold the reigns for them and they end up lost. Too many chiefs, not enough indians, if you'll excuse the somewhat racist metaphor....

I understand your analogy, TelegramSam but with all due respect, they are not children or inexperienced students (as funny as house's telephone greeting to wilson was). TPTB have made a big deal about how house never goes in to see his patients so he wasn't present during all the other times the ducklings have had to do procedures yet they weren't getting in each other's way then. usually house just tells them to do specific procedures after the differential diagnoses; he doesn't hold their hands while they do it.

I think all the fumbling was just a heavy-handed attempt to show how they need house. hey, I love house; he's the best character on the show. but there's a limit to what's believable with how they show his guidance.

btw, I don't think your metaphor was racist. the chiefs were indians as well. :rolleyes:

You didn't usually have all three ducklings in the same room doing three different procedures either, runawayhouse. I never said house had to hold their hands, because he never did. He was simply there to make the final decisions for the team and determine the direction they were going to take. Without him there to make the final decision, you had a bunch of petty squabbling over who should run the show and they all ended up just trying to do their own thing and getting in each others' way. I never said they were inexperienced (I think I made a point of that in my analogy), just that they were lacking the direction they normally had, and thus were running about like a chicken with its head cut off-- which is basically what they were. House is the head of that team.

I think it had to do with the ducklings underlying need to prove themselves. They all have it and when House is gone they, probably to some degree subconsciously, feel the need to prove to the others that they are capable of leading.

They have all, in one epsisode or another in the past, expressed a need to prove themselves. Yes they're adults and fully qualified doctors in their own right but with House gone there are two things to consider.

One, House is in charge. He is the guy who gets the blame if things go wrong. Even in "The Mistake" House was accountable because Chase is under his supervision. Cuddy told Foreman that now that he was in charge its his a$$ if there's a screwup.

I think that knowledge frees up the ducklings to be more confident and comfortable in what they know they can do. With that authority gone, second guessing comes into play. Even if you know how to do a proceedure it's all on your shoulders. One little screwup and it could be your career. With House there, they know he'll get the flack and that he will stand up for them so they are more at ease.

As an example. On night shift I was responsible for rebooting the main server (pretty much all the companies data resides there) I was nervous as heck doing that but as I did it more often I became comfortable because I knew my boss just lived down the road and if things went bad he would be there to fix it. And that it would be his butt if there were big problems. We had backups and all if it really went to pieces so no problem.

Now take that same situation and remove the boss from the picture. He goes to Idaho for 3 weeks and I'm hesitating to hit that enter button. I didn't know how to restore the backups (I do now). I had no idea what to do if it didn't come back up (Which it has done on occasion). Checking and double checking that I have everything typed exactly right and all. It does make a difference when it's your butt on the line! If it crashes and I don't have it back on line by tomorrow morning the president of the company is going to be all over me and its a high likelihood I'll lose my job

I think that's what they were trying to show. If we make the wrong diagnosis and the wrong treatment its our butts and in the medical profession it could be their career that they've worked how many years to achieve?

Next I think goes to the proving yourself. House gets the credit. If you're going to take the blame you get the glory too. Patient cured, House gets the kudos. I think the ducklings were trying to grasp some of that glory. They wanted to be the one to solve the case and get the glory so they could have the bragging right and maybe a pat on the back from Cuddy, their peers, maybe even House himself (Although that's doubtful).

With House there they play as a team because that is the unspoken structure and they recognise that he's in charge. With House gone and there's no one there to enforce the team atmosphere it's every man for himself. So either Cuddy or Foreman should have stepped up and defined things. Foreman tried but it's interesting that he didn't go to Cuddy about this. On the one hand I understand, he didn't want it to seem like he couldn't handle things. But on the other, when the patient's care is suffering I think it would have been the responsible thing to do.

It did seem like as the story went on they jelled and worked as a team but its the whole 'the alpha male is gone so we need to wrestle for authority and see who comes out on top'

They still didn't seem to recognize Foreman as the authority figure but they did realize to a degree that someone need to lead, not nessecarily because they are better than you but because you need direction that can only be achieved from leadership.

Anyhow that's my long take on it all.

Wow this site has changed! Guess I've been away too long :)

A few Things I like about this episode (and relating to the episode).......

...House was able to write all over an airport wall w/out being caught.....and there was NO ONE in the busy baltimore airport at 4am even tho it was snowing out and all flights were cancelled :)


....that more than a dozen different folks on the Fox House board had to ask what the polar bear riddle was all about as they had never heard it befor....heck that was in my 10th grade geometry book (back in 1977!!!)


....House taking the kids ball :)

....House saying that he never charges his cell phone, he just buys new ones....knowing House...thats almost beleivable :)

....Stacey bringing him the charger...she knows him too well.

...me making the comment "Boy that guy (the patient) looks like an adult version of the kid from caddy shack....then finding out 3 days later that it WAS the kid from caddy shack.......lol.

Carolyn

I think foreman did try to take charge, albeit in a very heavy-handed, alientating way, so much so that chase and cameron both visibly chafed under it. and given cuddy's attempt to get the name of a different neurologist referral from foreman in the beginning, he could probably be sure she wouldn't back up his leadership role if he were to go to her for help in corralling cameron and chase. besides, going to someone else for help isn't really in foreman's nature. we see evidence of this when wilson comments to house that "the kids" haven't called him. indeed, house is the one to call the ducklings in order to give them his opinion on how to treat fletcher.

I agree with you, rtlemurs, that they all wanted to prove themselves but were probably really anxious about messing up, especially on a famous investigative reporter as the patient.

do you think that was because house became more involved in the case and regained his leadership role?

I think the rest of the stranded passengers were all supposed to be on the cots downstairs (announced on the PA system before the hotel room scene), though I don't know why everyone would be there and absolutely no one left in the terminals. it looked like house was writing on one of those construction partition boards that they put up when they try to hide their mess. since it's disposable, I guess that's why it was okay.

hey, it changed overnight! cool. I like that I don't have to write on a blue screen anymore and am loving the puzzle banner. good job!

It's still under MAJOR construction, but rt, PPD and I hope to have it finished by next weekend. Thanks for the comments! And did you notice no more ads? That's thanks to Benj, so if you see him, say thanks!

One bad note about the new look, there are now going to be some limits on the size of banners, and avatars, this is so the formatting works, sorry about that, I will be getting in touch with those of you who need to edit stuff, or I may just size stuff down a little bit, sorry about that, but I don't know enough HTML to fix it any other way.

Taru

Can't wait to see what the end product will look like. I like what I see so far though! ;)

That's why he borrows so much $ from Wilson! :P

Site looks great! Thought for a moment I clicked the wrong link, and was pleasantly surprised to find I hadn't. Nice pictures :D Where's the pic on the left from? They look like they're all having a fun night out, or something.

Wheee, snark!

That's funny. Mexicans are used to spicy food.

I dunno why after reading these lines, as Mexican that little fact makes me happy :rolleyes:

I'm unearthing this one as it re-aired tonight. I just caught the last bit, but the whole concept of the reporter keeping both his bipolar disorder and his attempt to get rid of it from his wife makes me think (and there's probably something in the fact that his long-time editor knows all about it too).

This may not mean much to anyone besides me, so if that's the case please excuse the mental/emotional regurgitation. :wacko:

The obvious House/reporter parallel is that they tried, or considered trying, to change for someone they loved and didn't succeed. At the very least House is trying to figure out if he can change ( and I suspect as he reveals in the next episode that he knows it won't happen, or at least not without disasterous consequences). I noticed another similarity though: not wanting to be, and fearing that the one you love does not want, "damaged goods".

I may or may not be reading more into the reporter's thought processes (and House's) than I should, but the reporter's wife doesn't know about his bipolar disorder or about his attempt to cure it once and for all. With the way he's been self-medicating all those years and the way he's played it off as just being part of his wild, risk-taking, reporter persona, people are not neccessarily going to automatically guess that stems from a mental illness. Other people don't neccessarily need to know, but obviously his wife, with whom he's going to be spending fairly large amounts of time, and who is going to be very familiar with his personal life and habits, he's got to tell her. The only way he can avoid having to tell her, if by no longer having the condition.

Why not tell? Well as much <a style='text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 3px double;' href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=5&k=lip%20service" onmouseover="window.status='lip service'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">lip service</a> is paid to it being okay to have a mental illness and that it is just that, an illness, like diabetes or some other chronic condition, there's still an undercurrent of it being okay for other people, but not for someone like you who is strong. Then there's the American fear of needing medication--there are people who overmedicate themselves and believe there's a pill for everything or there should be, but it's sort of part of the Protestant work ethic, whether we consciously subscribe or not, that good people handle their problems on their own and just endure their way through whatever.

On one hand this is someone he loves, whom he would love no matter what happened to her, or what sort of problem(s) she might have now or develop later, and he thinks that she probably feels the same way about him (loves him no matter what--including screwed up brain chemistry). On the other there's something deep that tells him that someone who is so weak and damaged is not worthy of that kind of love, so he doesn't want to tell his wife about his disorder and then be heartbroken when she can't love him because of it (even if it is illogical, even House would acknowledge that logic just doesn't come into it all that much, even for himself).

Of course House's problem is something that is immediately obvious. If you see him once or twice you might just assume he screwed up his knee and the cane is temporary, but beyond that you'll find out quickly that the cane and the reason for it's use are permanent (if the cane isn't permanent it'll be something "worse" instead e.g. a set of crutches or a wheelchair). There's still the damaged goods thing. Even House knows that once you get beyond superficial appearances, there more than the leg that's gone awry. There are issues, of course that he's had for a long time,--I've asserted again and again that House was never one of the "shiny, happy people"-- but a whole other load of issues came into being around the leg, and House has definitely not dealt with them. Even when they have been, the emotional scar tissue still exists and must be worked around. That again delves into the mental stuff that we, as good, hard working Americans, are supposed to just get over by willpower alone.

There was some reason why House was able to be with Stacey before the infarction, but not afterwards. It may simply be that he couldn't trust her anymore, or that she just wasn't cut out to offer the kind of support he needed, but I suspect it goes much deeper and considering how attached House seemed to be to his leg (I know no one wants to have an amputation, and wouldn't get through it without scaring of the emotional type, but when it's death or the leg, a majority, after the initial shock, will choose the leg), there's some kind of deeper issues to it.

Sorry to be completely OT, but would anyone mind unearthing Clueless?
I made a comment after it aired in Aus... There were pictures and everything! *Please*

Grovelling out of the way <_<:

I think House made a major gamble with Stacy. He lost.

The main thing that annoyed me from this bit, Mitheaeven, is the way Stacy pronounced curry. Coory. Coory. Coory. Maybe no-one else found that annoying, but for some reason I did.

(Shorter than usual, I know)

Cheers.
AE.