Overall Rating: 8.5
I really like the particular way in which the writers have chosen to pursue House and Cuddy, I really like this particular patient of the week, I really like the little boy in House getting to come out and play again (we haven't really seen that in quite some time...House in a good mood is still a juvenile ass...but he's a lovable, playful ass...LOL)...this was a very nice episode all around.
Cut for spoilers.
Plot Synopsis:
PotW: House is confronted with another of his silly, boy-like obsessions when Alice Tanner appears in the E.R. after seizing (in the middle of suicide attempt). She fights House and his team in an attempt to stall her way through a 72-hour psych hold as they attempt to figure out what's causing a host of symptoms from fatigue, joint pain, and seizures to effusions in her pericardium to depression and finally paralysis. The clues to unravel the medical mystery come from her strangely self-destructive behavior and her final novel in the famous Jack Cannon: Boy Detective series (of which House is a dedicated fan, along with millions of squealing teenie-bopper girls...LOL). She doesn't tell the team about pins in her leg (that melt and wreck her leg when she is put into an MRI), she accepts a bluff offer from House to inject herself with Morphine rather than let him try to diagnose her, and at every turn, she obfuscates the truth about her medical history.
House's fannish obsession with the latest Jack Cannon mystery leads him to rig an MRI to read the tape from her antique typewriter, where he realizes that the mentor-figure in the books is actually an autobiographical representation of her. Indeed, during a discussion with Cuddy, he realizes that Jack Cannon himself is in fact her long lost son. It comes out that she blames herself for his death in the same car accident that lead to the aforementioned surgical pins, and House lies to her with a fake X-Ray showing her son's supposed aneurysm. This convinces her to accept the surgery to remove a tumor from her neck that has been causing all of her symptoms.
Huddy: House has correctly realized that he and Cuddy have very little in common when it comes to interests, tastes in food and culture, or...anything that he can think of other than a mutual desire to hump like rabbits. With this very logical and very reasonable concern, he spends a few days testing to see if Cuddy will share any of his interests - from Jack Cannon to go-cart racing (in a HILARIOUS scene that really can't be highlighted because it's all visual...suffice to say, House and Sam are both six. Cut-throat competitors to the last...and House cheats his way to victory while leaving Cuddy in the dust with a bit of whiplash...LOL) to breaking and entering on his dates to solve his medical case (and his jones for the scoop on Tanner's Jack Cannon series). None of his attempts are successful. House is convinced that when the love chemicals fade from her system, Cuddy will realize they have nothing in common and their relationship will be doomed. Wilson informs Cuddy of his concerns and she lets him know that it's not the surface interests that matter to her...it's the bigger things. She doesn't want a common relationship...she wants the weird adventure that is House.
The Skinny:
This patient of the week was more interesting than average...a lot more interesting. I rather miss the House episodes where hidden truths about patients come forward with the help of House's masterful powers of observation and where his patients leave their interactions with him stronger than when they arrived (not just physically, but also mentally, when they are forced to confront those truths). The medical mystery was pretty interesting too, though I can definitely tell that the writers are getting bored with the med-tech dialogue as the DDX's don't have the same level of detail that they once did.
The soap opera appeals to me for three big reasons:
1) House is being moral again...he knows that a relationship that is only based on sex isn't going to work and that it could end badly for both he and Cuddy. He makes every effort to reach out to her (except the whole...direct communication thing...he's still learning...LOL) because he doesn't want just sex.
2) I believe that Cuddy is right here. Generally, it's important to have the big priorities in common when you get into a relationship - this much is obvious to everyone with eyes. But too many relationships live or die based on the minutia of surface interests...the unimportant stuff that has nothing to do with core values and compatibility. Does he like the same bands I do? Is she experimental enough in bed? Will he enjoy camping as much as me? None of that matters. My parents will attest to the fact that neither of them can agree on what to watch on TV (though they do have some common interests - these things CAN be important in the early bonding process).
The key that will determine whether your relationship can withstand the test of time is simply this: when push comes to shove, to have have the same goals? Do you like what's in your potential partner's heart? Can you grow to understand how they think and are you what they need (and vice versa). House is right to be worried that they're focusing too much on the sexual chemistry, but I think Cuddy is right that their relationship isn't hinging on whether Cuddy can tolerate monster truck rallies or House can enjoy an art exhibit. Whether they will work out long term is yet to be determined, but House is focused on a problem that isn't fatal.
3) Because House has been in such deep trouble (ever since the Ketamine treatment failed), we haven't really been able to see him "at play" very much. This thing with Cuddy is having the very pleasant benefit of reminding us of the potential entertainment value of his immaturity. :)
Writing: 9.0
I enjoyed the House/Cuddy exchanges this week (I like the new little system they've got now where they declare what they think professionally and what they think personally - that has a lot of comedic potential), but I think that alone wouldn't push the rating as high as it is. The patient of the week was very well written and had a lot more depth of preparation than the average...especially recently (most of the medical dramas in the last two years have been boring and lame). I also find it interesting that Cuddy is now the person House goes to when he needs to think out loud about his patient and the person leading to his breakthroughs. Wilson's moved on (with Sam) and so has House - at least somewhat. They haven't forgotten about Wilson's pivotal role either...he's still the little voice in Cuddy's ear helping to keep their relationship on the right track, which I think is a nice way to make use of him.
Acting: 8.5
Hugh Laurie doing House at play is just as fun for me as House in pain or House on the verge of implosion. :) The guy who played Jack Cannon was only "eh" and I thought Helen/Alice was a bit flat at times, but the regulars all had their moments (at least the ones who had any interesting part of the story).
Message: 8.0
It's not a PERFECT romantic message...House and Cuddy are still doing things out of order, if you ask me (they got right to the sex, rather than try to build a relationship from emotional compatibility), but I did enjoy House's moralism on display both with his patient at the very end of the episode when he tells her her son was lucky to have her as a mother and with Cuddy, and I also enjoyed the decision to emphasize the bigger picture with Huddy, rather than getting too focused on a lack of common interests.
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