This week on House: independence, metaphors and parallel plots, oh my. Which doctor is going to have an identity crisis, and does House like Cuddy more than he hates humanity in general? Better yet, will we see the return of Lucas? Follow the Jersey Turnpike, we're off to see the Wizard of Princeton. I could try and keep going with that, but I have no idea who would play Toto, so let's just ease on down the road to the recap.
Some workers are talking in a factory about a fund for another worker who got hurt. Along comes the boss, who looks a little young to be working in a factory. She clutches her chest and appears to have trouble breathing. The fancy CGI animation is not much help here, because I have no idea what yucky bit of anatomy I'm looking at. She collapses on the conveyor belt (of course), inches from the Giant Smashy Thing (of course), so her cow-orker has to push the Big Red Button Just In Time (of course). None of which is relevant. She starts foaming bloody foam at the mouth, which is.
Giant Smashy Thing(TM) is required by law in all television factories.
Wilson and House ride the elevator up to work. "So I take it you did not ask Cuddy out?" asks Wilson as House gets off on his floor. House says nope. Wilson is all ok, whatever. House is taken aback by Wilson's lack of interest and does his jam-the-cane-in-the-door trick. Best. Prop. Ever.
Name That Disease, the Deja Vu Round
The POW has fluid in her lungs. Yep, lungs it is. She's 16 and lives alone. She says her parents died in a car accident, and rather than be stuck with foster parents, she got a job and an apartment and got emancipated. Since all teenagers are irresponsible sex-crazed liars, half the team suspects heart problems caused by drugs or STDs. Isn't drugs almost always the first guess? Kumar, though, thinks the POW is awesome (he's an orphan too, remember) and sticks up for her. "Didn't we just have this conversation?" says House, which is a reference to the Chinese woman 3 or 4 episodes ago. He sends Kumar to check the girl's heart. So it appears this will be another Kumar-centric episode. But wait, there's more...
Foreman sticks around after the 2.0 Houseguests have scurried out, and tells House he wants to bail on this case to go do a clinical trial. There are plenty of doctors on the team, and they usually only have one patient at a time, so he has the spare time to work on other things. So that's where Foreman's been hiding out lately. House says forget it. Foreman shuffles out, looking like House just told him there's no Santa Claus.
Kumar bonds with the POW over dead parents while giving her the heart test. Her heart is fine, so back to the whiteboard. Meanwhile, Louie and 13 are poking through her apartment. She made all her own furniture, don'tcha know. "If you're this grown up at 16, what happens at 30?" asks Louie. "You turn back into a kid like Kutner," says 13. She thinks Kumar is being naive to trust the girl. Right on cue, she finds a bong in the apartment.
Name That Disease, the "Let's Toke About It" Round
Kumar says the bong doesn't matter, because the POW's heart is fine, so drugs are not the problem. It's either the heart or vasculitis. That term gets tossed around a lot on this show. They argue whether they should give her steroids (which would be dangerous if she were on drugs) or beta blockers to keep her heart rhythm stable. House chooses beta blockers. House is mad because Foreman didn't help do the heart test, so this time Foreman gets to run all the tests. Foreman leaves right after House does, though, leaving the Houseguests 2.0 to do the grunt work.
Kumar is all too happy to help out again. The POW insists the bong belongs to her ex-boyfriend--"That's why he's ex"--and she doesn't do drugs. Kumar believes her and starts her on steroids instead of doing what House told him to do.
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Comments (1)
Great recap. I enjoyed the episode. Not as predictable as some. Some good twists that did not depend on repeated wrong guesses.
I would like to see more oc Cuddy (in more ways than one), even in ways that don't directly involve House.
You are so right that the basic House (played by Laurie) would be great in a number of other roles. Detective. Director of a half way house for boys - or a military school.
Laurie is great (and the character so well conceived) that I sometimes take them for granted.
1 of 1 | Posted by fire@will | Posted on November 23, 2008 10:22 AM