House goes to see the POW. He wants her to sign a consent form to start chemotherapy. He tells her it's a placebo. Wait, isn't that backwards? You aren't supposed to tell them they're getting a placebo, right? He's just trying to confuse her. Anyway, she buys it. Congratulations House, you pulled a fast one on a semi-conscious dying patient. She says she used to be an architect, but quit after her cornea transplant, because it didn't make her life any better. The world is just as ugly now that she can see, she says.
The PI spills the goods on Wilson. (I feel like I should be using gumshoe lingo when I write about him.) Wilson has a new job, is going to grief counseling, and gets visits from Cameron and Cuddy. I was wondering where those two have been for this whole episode. All during this conversation, the private dick is tailing some dame because he's sweet on her. (See what I mean?) The dame (she's a hot number, daddy-o) confronts them and stalks off. House gets around to the burning question: "Has he talked about me?" Not once, says the PI, and you can tell he's twisting the knife a bit. He thinks there are two types of things you ignore: the not-important stuff and the very-important stuff. OK, so he's one of those people that divides everything into categories. (There are two types of people in the world: those who categorize everything and those who don't.)
Back at the hospital, the POW is throwing up, so the chemo is working. So it's cancer, right? House insists that it isn't cancer. Hold up, didn't he just think it WAS cancer? I'm lost.
House thinks POW is still dying, even though the chemo seems to be working. The Houseguests make the point that it looks like cancer, walks like cancer, quacks like cancer and it's getting better with the cancer treatment, so what's the problem? The Houseguests Are Still Stumped, so it looks like House has no choice but to go see Wilson. Because Wilson will surely welcome him back with open arms.
Sure enough, Wilson looks about as pleased to see House as you might expect. Which is to say that he tries to slam the door in his face. House, always one to pick up on the subtle cues, grabs the door and keeps on talking -- and then goes into full-on stalker mode and lets Wilson know he sent the PI to check up on him. Wilson is shocked and indignant, of course, just like every other time House does something antisocial. House points out that they aren't friends anymore, so he doesn't to be considerate -- not that that stopped him before. Boy, House sure has it bad. Wilson says he's getting on with his life and shuts the door on House again.
Thus rejected, House goes crawling back to his new fling, the detective.
(Sidebar: Why do so many characters go nameless on this show? I can barely remember the names of any of the Houseguests, and they never name the patients, either. Isn't there a random name generator or something that the writers could use?)
House says Wilson was his only friend. And seriously House, don't you know you aren't supposed to talk to your date about your ex? Anyway, I hope this is just a rebound thing, because I'm not getting the chemistry here. Sure, this guy does weird stuff like spy on people from an ice cream truck, but he's so not in House's league. Besides, he's weird in a boring kind of way. Unlike Wilson, who's boring in a boring kind of way.
House asks the PI to be his friend, which translated into House-ese comes out something like "shut up". The detective says, and I quote, "Friends are friends. Customers are customers. Everything else is everything else. If it's not nothing, it's nothing." Which sets off House's lightbulb face. And like that, poof, he's gone.
(Sidebar, continued: I guess the writers couldn't afford a Random Name Generator because they blew their budget on a Random Deep Quote Generator. They're getting their money's worth out of that there gadget.)
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Comments (3)
It is difficult for a show of this complexity to maintain it's cutting edge. We just expect so much.
I kind of liked the PI - partly because I'm pretty sick of Wilson, and hoping they'll replace him with the quirky PI. And there is time for the PI character to evolve.
I would like to see more Cuddy... and more about her. It is like watching the old Incredible Hulk show, where there was this fixed formula that the writers wrote each episode around. And it is all about House so it is hard to feel very connected to any other character.
Thanks!
1 of 3 | Posted by fire@will | Posted on September 26, 2008 9:44 AM
I thought you were being unnecessarily kind about the quality of this episode... IMO, it absolutely REEKED.
The only good part was when the patient's bandages get removed and we get that shot of Hugh Laurie's gorgeous orb-like eyes.
Oh, and also the Wilson-House exchange was kind of good.
The PI character might grow on you.
Anyways, due to the disappointment of this week's episode, your recap kind of made up for it. I was laughing the whole way through.
And P.S. what's wrong with writing Gossip Girl recaps?
2 of 3 | Posted by alex_w | Posted on September 26, 2008 5:11 PM
Malignant cancerous stem cells? whuut?
This show is tanking so fast. What on earth happened?
I did some digging. See, if any of us cared enough we would have seen this from last May (TV Squad):
~ FOX is toying with the idea of a House spin off. But you may want to make sure you are properly seated before reading this: the spin-off would not focus on doctors but private investigators!
In his latest "Ask Ausiello" column, TV Guide columnist Michael Ausiello reveals that FOX and NBC Universal are developing a spin-off for the medical hit series House. Next season, a male private investigator will be introduced on House and stick around for a few episodes. If fans respond well to the character, he may get his own series. No more details are given about this "House: P.I." spin-off.~
*vomit*
3 of 3 | Posted by Memememe | Posted on September 27, 2008 10:26 AM