Watched it yesterday. It's the reason why I fell in love with the show. I also like how the characters were fully developed, that we came into the show not when their was a big change. But in the middle of an action as in everyone had been therefore awhile. It could be argued that it did start when House started to change and I guess that's true, but it wasn't any big life change the only thing was, Cuddy got him to do clinic duty, and Wilson got him to treat a patient.



The school teacher when I first saw her I thought she was Cameron, note it's midterms my brain is fried. I should have remember about the teaser, I was also working on my math midterm (which I still haven't finished and don't see how. Since I suck)


As far as lighting goes I thought it worked with establishing House's mood and outlook on life. I don't know if that was on purpose or it's the pilot so a lower budget or what, but it worked.


I'd write more but I have an evil paper to write, and a room mate to glare at, and hope she combusts- I'll just say this: if House didn't air. I'd throw the tv out the window (and the fact that I'd probably have to replace it)


I hate school

As far as television pilots go, I don't think I've seen a better one than the one for House.

For one thing, it's a completely self-contained story, almost a "mini-movie" - the characters develop and even come to some sort of conclusion within the context of the story. The scene at the end between the patient and House is a brilliant bit of writing. Even if they'd never made another episode of House, it would still have stood fairly well on its own.

And that of course is why House is brilliant. :P

I couldn't agree with you more Sam! But I will say that I wasn't totally hooked with the pilot. I was intrigued and seriously interested but resevered total devotion for a few more episodes. With a pilot usually the producers are trying their hardest to hook you but once they do the show quickly falls apart or does not follow through on hinted at intrigue.

House delivered, and is still delivering on everything promised in the pilot.

The conversation between Rebecca and House near the end at first gave us a hint that there was more to House than meets the eye. I don't say a heart of gold because I never got that impression and on rewatching it I still don't. What "Heart of Gold" is willing to let a patient choose certain death over a cure? A "Heart of Gold" would have gone with the ducklings pleadings to get a court order or do some other end around to force treatment on her to save her from her misguided ways. House let her make her informed decision and left it.

Although this still intrigues me and stands out. My thoughts are that House had solved the puzzle. Once he solved the puzzle he still feels the need to convince the patient that it is solved and thus their condition can be handled as needed (I don't say cured because sometimes it is incurable. See "Autopsy" and "Informed Consent"). Once that is done, whatever their decision, he can let it go. We don't see it that often because most patients don't fight or decline life-saving treatment but, it seems House is pretty consistant on this line of behavior.

But does he really "let go"? He still seemed bummed after walking away from Rebecca and then the ducklings pleadings. It seems as though he hangs on to blame. Or at least this is the impression I got and still get when watching that scene. That House somehow blames himself for her impending death. That if he'd have found the answer sooner she would be in a very different state of mind and thus chosen treatment. That his failings have cost her. He tries to rationalize it by seeing it as her choice but he knows he holds some of the responibility in that choice.

And at the time Wilson's line about now he see's her as a person he won't force her into treatment, seems like a true statement but now, I don't know that that is the reason for what he does here. Or is it?

Does that mean he has a "Heart of Gold"? I don't think so, I am becoming more and more convinced that most of it has to do with his ego. If she dies, even if it's her choice it's a failing of his. That is not to say that he doesn't have empathy for her and maybe doesn't press her into treatment after she has made her choice because of that.

So, what intrigues me is what is that defining thing? What shifts House from doing whatever it takes to cure the patient, to stepping back and allowing them to die? Like I said, it seems to be the point at which he sees that they truly understand all the elements involved and that they choose their own fate at that point. But does he see them as a person and not a puzzle at that point?

So, are these the moments that help to make small changes in House? The moments that make him wish he were more "normal" or better at people things and/or relationships so he could communicate with them in a fashion that would convince them to choose life? Or does he really, in his way begin to bond with them on some wounded level (god does that sound melodramatic but I think you all know what I mean) and thus care about them and begins to back off (as Wilson hinted at in "Euphoria") for fear of hurting them?

And this seems to be reflected a little in "No Reason". The reflection on what his responsibility is in the fate of people he has come in contact with. Maybe I'm stretching it but I see that debate already going on in his head in the pilot and we still have it going on now. Just amazing consistancy and a small example of what we were shown in the pilot carrying through even into season three.

So what is it in Rebecca, her case, her decision, their discussion that brings out this rarely seen side of House? Does any of that have anything to do with it? Or is it just the natural peaks and valleys of House's mental and emotional state?

And Prprl, I just don't like the lighting. If they were going for something, it missed my pleasure buttons. I felt it was really distracting and had huge potential to turn people off. Although, I always watch the pre-release DVD and don't remember if the lighting is that bad on the regular release DVDs.

I also love the contrast in how much the ducklings have grown yet stayed the same. Chase especially. This strikes me as being so real. That we all grow over time in small ways and yet essentially we are the same. I don't watch that much television and this is the first show I've followed this closely so I can't say that it's never been done before but I've never noticed it in what I have watched.

But then, have they changed or is it just that we are learning more about them and thus our initial assumptions have changed?

No, Chase has definitely changed and I think Cameron has too. Foreman, not so much but he is not so very shocked at House's actions anymore. He still doesn't like them but kind of anticipates that they will happen at any given time and he should be prepared instead of outraged. Still gets caught off guard at times though :P :lol: .

Wilson and Cuddy really haven't changed either so is it an age thing? The ducklings are young and still learning and House, Cuddy and Wilson are pretty well established in their professions and behaviors?

I am also struck by the dynamics between all the characters and how this has moved and morphed and gurgled but essentially stayed the same. So true to life. friends have conflicts. Sometime small sometimes big but they remain freinds.

I would never have suspected Wilson's actions in the whole Tritter arc, heck, most of this season, based on what I saw in the pilot or season one. But, I do see hints of that "House, this is your moral compass" in Wilson. You can tell he cares about House and that he is trying to change House. Not in major ways but in little ways, because he sees House's behavior as unhealthy. In the original viewing of the pilot I presumed it was the pill popping but as things have progressed we can see that it's a much bigger picture and that Wilson is trying to change that bigger picture too.

Anyhow, I've babbled enough and scared everyone off. I'll shut up now and let you all get into the game. :lol:

I think it's more of we know them better, then they've changed. people act differently in different situations. We can't possibly know the exact personailty of the characters from one episode; especially one's as well developed as the ones on House.

Also which episode are we watching next week?

Grrr. Well, I wrote up a whole lot of stuff on this ep last night when I watched it, but then I went out to the movies, came back and discovered that my computer had shut down and dumped everything. <_< Anyway, an abridged version:


I'm so glad they only used that awful bilious yellow colouring on one episode. Ugh.

A lot of the show's conventions come out in this ep, which is understandable -- it's the Pilot, after all. What's really cool to see, though, is how stuff has stayed the same and changed over the development of the show. It's good to see that House is basically the same guy. I think TPTB have got a while ago until they should think about quitting while they're ahead, as well. Which is comforting.


One of the things that makes this show so interesting is that we know all about House from the word go. He's a well-rounded character. This isn't a show that's going to strip apart the main character as we meander our way through the first season -- we know from the start who House is, and to a certain extent, why he is the way he is. That doesn't mean that we have things to find out and character development to still undergo -- it just means that we have a strong understanding of House from the outset.

I'd sort of forgotten about those two more light-hearted scenes towards the end. The writing on the show was most certainly brilliant from the beginning.

Agreed.

Well, I'm kind of annoyed that my rant disappeared. Just a few thoughts, so.

We're talking about an S1 ep, eh?

I suggest Control, because I think that ep is kind of underrated (unless we're watching in any kind of order). What do other people think?

or 2 but control works

I need to start taking notes during the show because I always forget most of the stuff, I'm going to say

I just had to comment on the heart of gold thing too. House definitely does not have a heart of gold and both David Shore and Hugh keep repeating that. And I do think they're right in that heart of gold and good person are not always the same thing. Or at the very least Wilson's statement is right that on the net side of things for all the chaos he causes House ends up doing more good than he does harm. The chaos and frustration are just two of the many services he offers.

Okay, I know there's been a debate way back on if House is good or not, it got very philosophical and I'm not going to touch it. Fox just reran DNR, and being the obsessive that I am, of course I watched it. There's a scene where House tells Foreman that he believes that what they do matters when he's discussing whether Foreman should go work for Smarmy-- I mean-- Marty or not. He also talks about sleeping well at night or not (then we have Stacey's comment that House lies awake at night thinking about something, granted it could be Fantasy Football, but I doubt it). In some way or another House has to care about what he does, which points to some goodness for me. I really doubt, as much as he'd like to have others think otherwise, it really is entirely a game for him--he also makes the remark to the med students that there are right and wrong answers (not neccessarily from the moral point of view). I do imagine he's also quite hung up on whether he did the right thing regardless because it's in his personality to dredge up and berate himself about how he could have performed better (I'm embarassed to admit that I share that--somehow it's never the brilliant parts is it-- in that I still contemplate whether I made the right editorial decisions when I was on literary magazine staff in high school) :rolleyes: .

Of course House would deny vehemently that he is a good person, probably because he doesn't think he is, partially because of his dad, but also for other, yet unknown reasons.

And we do just have Wilson, and I think Cuddy's, word on it, but he does seem to be thrown off when he's too connected to a patient. So, yeah there's something going on under the surface there I'm quite sure.

And as I think about it I believe the common denominator among the patients House finds himself bonding with is that they share something with him, not neccessarily crippledness, but being in a group that might not be seen as being as deserving of treatment (Karly the bulemic, or Anica with Munchhausen's, or the homeless woman come to mind), or having made some kind of mistake--real or perceived-- that could affect the rest of their lives (Hank, the baseball player, or I'd even stretch it to the mother in "Forever"), but shouldn't in his mind. And it may be that he doesn't push decisions once the case is solved because he knows what it's like to have his will violated even if it was for his own good. Of course if they give up before they have the real answer, then he figures they don't really know the choice they're making so, he can trick or badger them into hanging around until they do have all the info.