Overall Rating: 8.9
A near-feature episode in which we see the strong emotional bond that exists between Cuddy and House without falling back on Hollywood cliches involving love conquering all - and in which the newest duckling continues to make a fabulous case for a moral approach to medicine that challenges House's assumptions.
Plot Synopsis:
When a family is scuba-diving off the Carolina shore, they encounter a relic from the bygone era of the slave trade...a relic that unfortunately also includes a lethal disease. The first to become infected - a pre-teen girl presents with all the classic symptoms of Small Pox. House is the first to come up with the believe that it may be the Pox, but when he notes that the little girl has a rash that is not consistent with Small Pox, he becomes convinced that she's got something else. That is until her stepfather also becomes infected and presents with an even more classic-looking case. Now convinced that both people have Small Pox, House throws in the towel and it's Masters' turn to shine.
While everyone else is ready to punt, she desperately scrambles for more information and turns up the fact that the girl does not have any pox on her feet or palms, making Small Pox unlikely. This convinces House to try again with a diagnosis that fits for the father, but not the daughter. He assumes that the father has Small Pox because he's immuno-compromised by kidney cancer. He goes barging into the isolation room against advice by the CDC and treats the father with IVIG...it has no affect, and the father dies, leaving House (and a grief-stricken Cuddy) to believe that he's doomed. Masters is still not convinced that it's Small Pox, however. Taking a cue from an earlier version of House, she scrambles for more information yet again and uncovers that the slave ship captain's cat lost all its' fur and died...a progression that is most commonly related to R-Pox, not Small Pox. She convinces House to examine the dead father's body for signs of S-scars - the telltale sign of R-Pox (after failing to convince the doctors from the CDC to do the examination). Everyone is treated with Doxycyclene and the Hospital comes out of lockdown. Unfortunately, the events of the previous episode have left Cuddy with a bad taste in her mouth for House since he's refused to apologize for lying to her and faking a lab test.
Meanwhile, Wilson and Sam - stuck in a quarantined hospital - must tend to a girl who is about to get chemotherapy to treat her Leukemia. Her mother and stuffed animal are unfortunately outside the hospital and unable to reach her and Sam Wilson try various tricks to get her to take her medicine, all failing. That is, until Sam tries a little honesty and admits that she's bad with children even though she loves them very much, saying she is so afraid to do the wrong thing that she screws up all the time. She convinces the frightened child to take her chemo without her stuffed animal just this once and all is well.
The Skinny:
Honesty and determination are the themes in this week's episode. This is a welcome change from the usual House standards of ruthless dedication to the best result at any price. Honesty saves (or would have saved) a lot of trouble on three separate fronts.
1) Dealing with children is a little simpler than some parents make it these days. Parents seem to prefer lying to their kids to get the resulting good behavior they want rather than having a rational discussion on their level - perhaps because they're unaccustomed to making rational points in debate at any level, let alone in terms simple enough for a child to grasp. Sam tries the usual tactics with all the best of intentions. She gets results, however, when she respects the kid enough to tell her the truth and subjugates her pride in the process. Kids are reasonable creatures if you establish a pattern of honest dialogue and rational boundaries.
2) Sam also makes a FANTASTIC point about House and Cuddy. She points out that Cuddy cannot resaonably expect their relationship status to change their common interactions. Everything they've done since House came under her employment has been based on the philosophy that results are all that matters. House routinely...ROUTINELY...lies to Cuddy to save patients. If Cuddy imagines that this should stop just because they're dating, she's going to run into a brick wall, because that's not how they do business. It's like training a dog...if you teach the dog for years that a behavior ends with a reward...and then try to convince him to stop doing that behavior, it's going to be almost impossible. Had House and Cuddy's working relationship been based on trust, they wouldn't wind up in this kind of mess. But the bottom line is...Cuddy doesn't trust House and House doesn't trust Cuddy. Until Cuddy finds a way to communicate with House at work in a more productive fashion or put their working relationship to the side the way House does, their personal affiliation can't survive.
3) Don't misunderstand me...I'm not laying the blame on Cuddy here. House is an ass...he knows it...she knows it. If he approached medicine more like Masters does...Cuddy would be more able to trust him. As it turns out, his machiavellian approach to patient care is the LAZY road. Masters is showing herself to be a brilliant...BRILLIANT...diagnostician and she gets results with an approach that is harder to pull off. She tells it like it is...she's moral and honest...and hey, guess what...patients (and other doctors!) trust her. I hope we see more of this. I hope we see House LEARNING from this. But Cuddy is making the same mistake that a lot of people in love make...she's assuming that love means literally changing who you are if who you are is offensive to your partner. If he loved me, he would see that I can't compartmentalize my work and social lives the way he does and he would change his behavior to make me happy! That's not how it works. Yes, relationships involve compromise, but they most certainly do not (not the ones that last anyway) involve making sweeping changes to who you are at core. House doesn't know of another way to operate while he's cracking a case. Forcing him to choose between his job and his partner is not a good way to foster a loving bond.
Writing: 9.5
This one was well constructed, suspenseful and there were many humorous and even touching moments throughout. Having House call a Dutch PPV porn star to get the captain's log translated to English (and then having Masters call her again to get more information) was a nice touch. Having Having Masters blow up House's attempts to circumvent her morality and then having her approach work was incredibly satisfying. The scene between Sam and the cancer kid was very sweet. I also like that the Huddy is not being directed by the believe that love should conquer all.
Acting: 8.0
I wasn't all that impressed with Sam's performance, nor did I think any of the afflicted guest-family's performances were all that believable. The girlfriend-has-to-take-care-of-the-boyfriend's-kid-now plot whiffed on the emotional register as a result. However, Masters was en fuego again and Laurie and Edelstein did their usual good work.
Message: 9.2
Honesty works best if applied consistently and with conviction and determination to get results. House is lazy...Masters is not. It's a lot harder to be moral AND be successful dealing with people than it is to be a manipulative bastard. Masters is a HUGE breath of fresh air for this franchise...I hope she sticks around.
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