Pardon the Interruption: House 6.10 - The Down Low

Overall Rating: 7.2

This episode should have been called: "Tee Hee - Watch Us Screw with Silly House/Wilson Shipper Fans!!" Correct title or not, the side plots were hilarious this week and brought a little of the old school House fun back (it's been notably missing for the last couple of seasons for the most part). The medical mystery was boring, but I really didn't care much.

Spoilers under the cut.



Plot Synopsis:

Medical Mystery: When a "drug dealer" named Mickey is brought to PPTH after mysteriously passing out at the sound of a gunshot, House takes the case - mostly because he enjoys working with lowlifes. :) After figuring out that loud noises provoke his fainting and seizures, House assumes the msot logical explanation - the dealer's been toking from his own coke - and spends the next half an hour trying to get access to the merchandise with Mickey and his accomplice Eddie keeping the information on the QT. He even resorts to bugging his patient's room while his flunkies do a pointless medical test for an autonomic disorder he knows his patient doesn't have. The bug doesn't work, however, and House eventually realizes why. There's another bug in the room and the two are creating interference!

With this information in hand, House deduces that Mickey is in fact an undercover cop, but he still strangely refuses to give up any information about his dwelling or his drug haul. He tells Thirteen and Chase that he's about to bust one of the biggest interstate drug traffickers in the country and can't afford to have doctors snooping around and blowing his cover. He insists the team keep him alive for one more day and then he'll tell them everything they need to know. However, he starts choking on his own blood and a series of aneurysms in his lungs begin to grow. With time running out, Thirteen pressures Eddie into revealing the info they think they need and they are taken to a dry cleaners (a veritable vat of poison). The drugs are eliminated as the source of his woes, but the team confidently starts treating him for the most common form of cleaning agent used - until they discover that this is a green dry cleaners and the stuff they use is harmless. Apparently back to square one, House realizes the aneurysms on Mickey's lungs may appear to be Michotic, but they are in fact something completely different. He diagnoses a rare auto-immune disease (don't ask me to remember what it was...it was so rare that as soon as I heard it, it disappeared in my Eustachian tubes) that is always fatal when it is this advanced. With nothing left to do, the patient's wife (who he hasn't seen in 18 months) is called down for his final moments and he dies knowing that his drug bust was a success.

House/Wilson: Wilson's got interest in a new apartment dweller. Recall that House and Wilson have just moved into a nice new apartment together! Seeing this, the entire apartment complex apparently assumes that they are a gay couple and this woman, named Nora, seems only to enjoy Wilson's company because she believes he is gay. House, sensing an opportunity to yank his buddy's chain AND potentially score with a hot chick, decides to play along with the gay theory and convinces Nora that Wilson is just severely closeted. He becomes Nora's best girlfriend and they talk about Broadway musicals (which he actually hates) and his relationship trouble with James. Just when it seems his brilliant scheme to drunkenly seduce Nora is about to work out, Wilson arrives at their restaurant table and proposes marriage (and yes, I was literally crying with laughter at this point)! Foiled, House finally admits to Nora that this whole gay thing was just an act to get her to sleep with him, but, admirably, he does stick up for Wilson. She comes away from the exchange thinking both House and Wilson are unrepentant jerks, but it's the thought that counts. :)

Foreman the Evil Mastermind: When the ducklings try to trick Foreman into thinking he makes less than they do, it seems to work perfectly. Foreman storms into Cuddy's office and demands a raise. Cuddy, of course, tells him he has no leverage in negotiations and he should take it up with her at the next performance review in August. When Chase overplays his hand ever so slightly and tries to convince Foreman to take more drastic steps, he catches on to the rouse. He makes the team think he's quitting at the end of the case in protest after trying to bluff Cuddy with a bogus second job offer and having his bluff called. The ducklings decide they should confess their evil scheme to Cuddy and insist that some of their paychecks be garnished and handed over to Foreman as a peace offering. Cuddy agrees to do this and then informs the team that she has no idea what they're talking about re: Foreman quitting. Foreman gloats about his evil double-cross.

Writing: 8.0

The medical stuff is boring, but if you're watching House because you love the medical mystery, you're weird. :) In all seriousness, the side plots keep you laughing the whole episode and some of the dialogue is reminiscent of the good old days of first season when House was just an ass (a hilarious ass) and not a complicated tortured soul with serious drama at every turn. Not that I want to see his character disappear back to square one, but it's nice to get a break from the high drama and the angst once in a while. I also love it when writers catch on to what their fans are thinking and use it to their advantage. Stargate is famous for this kind of meta humor, but this is a first for House, I think. The rip-tide of House/Wilson shippers is astounding, especially considering David Shore's direct comments about both men being straight. In this episode, we get to poke fun of the silly illogical shippers and the rest of us get a big hearty guffaw. Everyone wins!

Acting: 7.5

Not too many stand-out performances. I did enjoy Sasha Alexander's (Nora) presence in the story. I thought she had great chemistry with both Wilson and House, which made the bizarre love triangle work quite nicely. The rest of the regulars weren't spectacular in any direction. The moment when Thirteen attempted to convince a drug dealer associate of Eddie's that she was a high priced call girl didn't work for me...she didn't look the part AT ALL and there's no way a drug dealer would be convinced by that bit of bad acting. However, Wilson's stunning declaration of love (which was hilariously directed, BTW...I love how the whole restaurant turned when he spoke and how the old lady implored Greg to say yes to his marriage proposal!) was played PERFECTLY. Brought this house down, that's for sure.

Message: 6.0

This episode didn't really carry too much of a coherent message. If there was anything to comment on, it would be House's final line regarding his deceased patient. "He died believing he was a hero in his own mind. I'd say he was pretty lucky." This is why it's important to have a strong set of moral values in life...you won't go peacefully when it does all end if you can't say to yourself that you lived your life the way you wanted to live it - that you stood for something right. The rest of the episode was pure fluff, aside from some moral relativism regarding drug trafficking vs. alcohol sales which I'll let slide on account of my belief that alcohol is in fact significantly more dangerous than many drugs that are currently illegal. Fluff is OK as a little treat - think of it as a reward for having stuck with the show long enough to get a kick out of the House and Wilson friendship and all of its twists and turns.

Highlights:

NORA: You and your boyfriend are going to love the food around here!
WILSON: Whoa, my boyfriend?
NORA: Oh whoops? Do you not like to be called that? What is he, your husband? Lover? Life partner?
WILSON: We're not together! We're not gay!
NORA: Seriously???? (LOL!)

TAUB: I didn't know Thirteen's middle name was Beauregard.
FOREMAN: It's obviously a fake pay stub. House is playing you.
CHASE: How can you be so certain?
FOREMAN: There's no way she makes that much!
TAUB: I make that much. And you...obviously don't.

HOUSE: (tearing open a HUGE poster with the original cast of A Chorus Line) Oh...my...gosh! It's beautiful! We finally have a proper place to hang it. (snerk)

WILSON: I saw her first!
HOUSE: Are you actually invoking the guy code?
WILSON: We're guys! It is a code...
HOUSE: That would be a much better argument coming from someone who wasn't wearing such fabulous designer shoes. (LOL!)

WILSON: We're not gay! I swear to you, House is just doing this as a ploy to screw with me.
NORA: OK, I understand...
WILSON: Finally...
NORA: Look, it's alright, nobody cares if you're gay! Just be honest with yourself!
WILSON: (mentally facepalming) Look around you, Nora. Does this look like a gay man's apartment? It's barely decorated. There are no window dressings!
NORA: My ex husband didn't even know what window dressings were. (poor Wilson...he's too metro for his own good...LOL)

HOUSE: I don't know what to do about him anymore. He's so closed off...it's like I don't even know who he is anymore! I don't think I can go back there tonight.
NORA: So stay at my place for a while.
HOUSE: Really?
NORA: Sure! It'll be fun! Like a sleepover! (House grins with a glint of evil satisfaction)
HOUSE: Oh thank you! That would be so helpful! You're such a wonderful friend!
WILSON: House!
HOUSE: What are you doing here?
WILSON: (putting on a perfect display of fake fear and then new courage and drawing the attention of the entire restaurant as he speaks) I...love this man! And I'm not going to waste...another second of my life pretending otherwise! Greg...will you marry me?
HOUSE: (after a long stunned silence) This...was unexpected.
WOMAN: Well...say yes!!
NORA: I'm gonna go...you two obviously have some talking to do. (Wilson sits and triumphantly drinks from Nora's wine glass...you can just hear House thinking "well played, Wilson...well played")

THIRTEEN: He's been working for over a year trying to put these lowlifes away. That's noble.
HOUSE: Yeah...I'm sure the new dealers who take their place will be very grateful. (heh...sad but true)

HOUSE: Well at least we can finally get rid of that (pointing to the huge Chorus Line poster)
WILSON: I kind of like it. Unlike this sofa.
HOUSE: You're kidding me. This sofa is perfect! And...it reclines!
WILSON: One...singular sensation...every little step she takes...
HOUSE: I will punch you in the face!
WILSON: I'll stop if you get rid of the couch.
HOUSE: Not a chance.
WILSON: One...thrilling combination. Every move that she makes! (ROTFL!)