Overall: 7.0
This episode isn't too bad - it's a definite improvement over last week's, to be sure. But I find myself a little dissatisfied with the way the writers are handling the characters at this point - particularly Taub.
Cut for spoilers.
Plot Synopsis:
Patient of the Week: When seventeen-year-old Abby goes into respiratory arrest while on a school field trip to the planetarium, she is rushed to PPTH, where an MRI reveals an apparent abnormality on her mitral valve. Thirteen and Taub start to perform a transesophageal echo to get a better look at the affected valve, but during the procedure, Abby suddenly develops an aortic dissection and has to be rushed into an OR for life saving surgery.
The team then theorizes that an extreme allergic reaction to her boyfriend's semen may have weakened Abby's aorta. Chase tries to perform a skin test; mere seconds after he's dripped Nick's semen protein onto Abby's skin, however, Abby doubles over in pain. Chase looks at her catheter bag and notices that she's peeing blood. With kidney failure now on the table, House reluctantly orders a full body scan ("We hate full body scans!"). The scan, as expected, reveals nothing of use - nothing, that is, until Taub and Foreman realize that Abby is hallucinating.
This is when House gets one of his wackier ideas: he proposes that the team use cognitive mapping technology to "read" Abby's hallucinations. Foreman in particular scoffs at this, but when ordinary tests turn up no further information, the team agrees to try the mapping procedure, during which they see a number of indecipherable images from Abby's subconscious thoughts, including a fuzzy rendering of a little girl with an older man. The whole experiment seems to have been a failure until House has an epiphany while jerking Taub around and realizes that Nick's father must have slept with Abby (ew!), infecting her with a parasite that set off an allergic reaction.
The Soap Opera: When Taub gets into a fight with his wife over yoga, Thirteen advises Taub that said fight is a sign that his wife is feeling insecure. Thus, for the rest of the episode, Taub tries to come up with ways to ease his wife's anxiety. First, Taub tries to send his wife affectionate little texts while she's out getting the groceries, but House catches him at it and hilariously commandeers the phone. Then Taub invites his wife over to the hospital to make out in his car, but House interrupts this as well to pull Taub back into the office for another team meeting over Abby's case. Lastly, Taub decides a wedding re-do is the answer; near the end, he proposes to his wife and gives her another engagement ring. Alas, the sincerity of this gesture is tragically thrown into question when, in the very last moments, we see Taub apparently flirting with a young nurse.
Meanwhile, House is tired of sitting in an empty condo. Believing Wilson desperately needs a chance to express himself, House demands that Wilson shop for their new furniture. Wilson repeatedly chickens out, though. First, he rents a furniture set, but House catches on and sends all the furniture back. Then Wilson goes to a furniture store to browse the selection, but when an attendant informs him that he's looking at items in the patio section, he flees. When Wilson finally admits to Cuddy that he sucks at the whole furniture buying business, Cuddy recommends he hire a decorator. This Wilson does. However, he does manage to throw in one personal touch: a Wurlitzer organ. House is very pleased.
Writing: 7.0
The good: I love the whole text-messaging scene - particularly when we cut back to the hospital to see Taub furiously battling with House for his cell phone, as I think that's one of the funniest visuals we've seen on this show in a while. Also amusing is Foreman's anhedonia - and the fact that everyone calls him on it.
The indifferent: My co-author loves the House/Wilson plot, but I'm not sure Wilson's shopping woes - and their eventual resolution - really tell us anything new. We've already seen Wilson try to express himself through furniture - remember the waterbed with Amber? - and we already know Wilson likes to make House happy. House's ultimatum is pretty funny - and his glee upon discovering the organ rather sweet - but I feel like we've been down this road at least once before.
And speaking of well-traveled roads, this certainly isn't the first time that squicky sex has been a key plot element. Enough with the older men preying upon nubile teenaged nymphs! It's only edgy if you do it once.
The so-cool-I-wish-it-were-real: This episode certainly employs a very unique diagnostic tool. It's too bad that real world cognitive mapping researchers haven't actually gotten as far as generating a video feed.
Acting: 7.5
I find the acting very invisible this time around. Robert Sean Leonard and Hugh Laurie put in their usual solid performances; even though their characters' relationship is starting to get a bit stale, they still manage to bring the funny. The guest actors, meanwhile, are competent (if not astonishing), and I continue to be quite fond of Peter Jacobson.
Message: 6.5
Until this week, I was really excited about Taub's personal storyline, as it was shaping up to be a very mature depiction of a troubled couple trying to make things work. I really liked that, despite Taub's infidelity, neither Taub nor his wife threw in the towel and declared their marriage finished; personally, I think people do that far too often. Unfortunately, after building up all of our romantic hopes, this episode ruins the whole flow with those last few seconds. Was Taub's proposal merely a self-serving means to quiet his wife's suspicions? The desperately optimistic side of my nature sincerely hopes not; I want Taub's arc to transcend the ordinary.
Highlights:
WILSON: Would you mind at least putting a napkin under your jelly toast?
HOUSE: Get a table, and I won't eat on the couch.
WILSON: Yes, you will.
HOUSE: But I won't have a good excuse.
WILSON: Why don't you go get a table?
HOUSE: Not my condo.
WILSON: You have my permission. Pick out whatever you want.
HOUSE: But then it would be a reflection of me, not you. That wouldn't be right.
WILSON: Nooo, it would be a reflection of the fact that the guy who's been mooching off me for as long as I can remember isn't a complete ingrate.
HOUSE: (smiling) You've never furnished a home.
WILSON: I've furnished a bunch of homes.
HOUSE: Nooo, you've married a bunch of women who've furnished a bunch of homes.
WILSON: You want to eat off something? Fine. Move your piano in here and eat off that.
HOUSE: You're afraid.
WILSON: Of a dining table? You know, they don't actually come to life when you put a knob from your bedpost on them.
HOUSE: You are what you sit in. Your job, your friends, your furnishings - it all defines you.
WILSON: You don't really believe that. You just don't want to do the shopping.
HOUSE: Buy us some furniture, or admit that you're empty inside. (LOL!)
TAUB: If he knows we were fighting, he's going to want to know what about.
THIRTEEN: So tell him, or tell him it's none of his business.
TAUB: This is easier.
THIRTEEN: Really? Because it seems much harder. But what do I know? I'm not a guy.
TAUB: Yes - if only I could be as open about my emotional life as you are. (Zing!)
(On Mrs. Taub's cell phone.)
TEXT 1: Whatcha doing?
MRS. TAUB (texting): Groceries.
TEXT 2: What r u wearing?
MRS. TAUB (texting): U don't want to know.
TEXT 3: Take off your shirt.
MRS. TAUB (texting): R u nuts?
TEXT 4: Touch yourself.
(We switch to the hospital. Taub is struggling with House for the cell phone.)
TAUB: House! It's not funny! I've got enough problems already!
HOUSE: Trust me, this is gonna help. (ROTFL!)
HOUSE: Subconscious is trying to tell her something. We need to eavesdrop.
TAUB: She was screaming she was being sucked into a black hole, so... we should look for a tumor in her anus. (Yes, I'm six. Dur, they said anus! LOL!)
TAUB: Holy crap!
CHASE: That's amazing!
FOREMAN: Yeah. Now all we have to do is read her subconscious and hope that it's completely rational and went to med school.
(The other Ducklings glare at Foreman.)
CHASE: Does anything get you excited?
FOREMAN: Well - it's taken us just over an hour to prove that she has a very boring subconscious.
HOUSE: Did anyone ever tell you you can be a real buzz kill?
THIRTEEN, CHASE, and TAUB (in unison): Yes. (LOL!)
MRS. TAUB: I don't remember him at our wedding. Do you?
TAUB: I don't remember most of the people at our wedding. Which is why - (He gets down on one knee) - I thought I'd ask the love of my life to marry me.
MRS. TAUB: We're already married.
TAUB: I want to... be better at it. (If only this wasn't ruined by those last few seconds.)
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