Pardon the Interruption: House 8:15 - Blowing the Whistle

Overall: 5.7

Upon reflection, I find the premise of this episode rather insulting.



Plot Synopsis:

The official site has a basic recap here.

The Skinny:

SABR Matt doesn't think the idea behind Blowing the Whistle is that bad, but I'm afraid I must disagree. Basically, what the writers are doing here is taking the My Lai Massacre and updating it -- ignoring that more than four decades have passed since the Vietnam War in the process. Yes -- the soldiers who blew the whistle on the murder of civilians at My Lai were branded traitors initially. Yes -- it did take some time for the truth of My Lai to be revealed. But I refuse to believe that the Army is so incapable of learning from its mistakes that it would repeat them in the era of the democratized press. Indeed, when a U.S. soldier went on a spree recently and killed sixteen civilians, knowledge of the incident was made public within a week.

That being said, I agree with the Patient of the Week that the armed forces should be honest when it comes to the malefactors in their ranks. Beyond the fact that a cover-up is virtually impossible to pull off in this day and age (sorry, conspiracy theorists, but it's time to put away your tinfoil hats), I also believe openness is a part of that whole honor thing all the characters were discussing during this episode. Oh, and by the way - though this is probably needless to say - I disagree with House's relativism on the subject. Honor is an objective quantity; it is definable. In essence, it involves being truthful and keeping your promises.

And as for the side-plot about House's supposed illness? Once again, I was disappointed to learn that it was yet another mind game. First of all, given that House has done something like this before (see also: Half-Wit), you would think Chase, Foreman, and Wilson would've caught on to the ruse. Secondly, as I complained last week, I'm getting tired of House being House and would like to be offered a little emotional engagement instead.

Writing: 6.5

I felt pretty detached from this script. It was standard House fare and nothing more.

Acting: 7.5

The performances were decent but not amazing.

Message: 3.0

I would've liked this episode more if the writers' portrayal of the military weren't so mired in the past.