This week of House is brought to you by Episode Formula #4: Doctor Sees Self in Patient. You may remember that we got the same formula in the premiere, to less than stellar results. Does it work this week? Read on!
Playing the Patient: Breckin Meyer, who I really like. Playing the Doctor: Louie. Finally he gets something to do besides sit around and ogle 13. More about him later.
Smoky Spanish music plays. There's skin and lots of it. Our boy Breckin is an artist, painting a woman nude. She has this cougar thing going, mostly because I needed an excuse to work in the term "cougar" before its 15 minutes of fame are up. Oops, I'm too late. The woman's husband, a goon of the Vincent D'Onofrio type, watches with his tongue hanging out. He takes one look at the finished painting, and punches Breckin the nose. The portrait's face is all warped like a Picasso, or that guy from Goonies.
Baaaby Ruuuuth?
Back at Mission Control, House and his new bromance the private investigator are looking over someone's diary in the cafeteria. No idea whose. Enter Cuddy, who cuts off the PI's funding. So we know character development is important this week, because this scene comes before the Name That Disease Game which opens most episodes. We also get the PI's name: Lucas Douglas. That Random Name Generator I mentioned last week would probably have come up with a better one. Lucas is all googly-eyed over Cuddy. He compliments her shoes, which House correctly points out is an excuse (albeit a gay-sounding one) for checking out her legs. And she's hardly even showing any skin.
And now, the Name That Disease Game, round 1! Let's do the short version. Stroke? Nope. Tumor? Maybe. Drugs? 13 thinks so, since he's an artist, and someone has to play up the stereotype. (You may remember that 13 was against the stereotyping two weeks ago.) House discounts her theory -- he doesn't trust the judgment of anyone who'd pay 12% interest for a car. (Remember this was filmed way back when we still had an economy.) Lucas has been digging up dirt on the Houseguests. Apparently Kumar holds the Guinness world record for crawling. How... random. House didn't get anything on Louie, but his wife, on the other hand... Louie squirms but doesn't take the bait, yet. House says to go check Breck's studio. Kumar points out that House has a detective to do those kinds of things, but that would mean we'd actually see Lucas walking the walk. Sorry, not happening.
13 and Foreman inject a very nervous Breck with a contrast so they can check his brain for tumors. Meanwhile, Kumar and Louie are breaking and entering, checking the studio for scary stuff like lead-based paint. Kumar heckles Louie about his wife. Louise puts up a brave front -- "we trust each other" etc -- but you can tell he's using up his meager reserves of backbone in a hurry. Oops, did I call him Louise? Let's roll with that.
Now it's time for Name That Disease, round 2: Rule Out Cancer and MS. NOW House thinks it's drugs. He wants a brain sample, but 13 says Breck will never go for it. He's too skittish. House gets a mini-lightbulb and asks 13 if Breck's girlfriend is hot. "Very," she blurts. I bet every week after the show airs, Olivia Wilde dials up her agent demanding a role as a nun (but not a repressed hot bisexual nun, please). Sorry, babe, after the OC gig, and with a name like Wilde, you're typecast for life. House charges off to the patient's room with 13 scurrying after.
"You seem to have a massive brain tumor... We need to cut your head open."
"Who are you?"
"This is Dr. House. He's pleased to meet you." 13 must be the Official Herald to His Curmudgeonliness King House, because this scene repeats itself every time House meets a patient. Anyway, Breck is not terrified of the aforementioned head-cutting, and House thinks it's because he knows the drugs are causing his symptoms. House deduces that Breck isn't using your garden-variety starving-artist drugs; instead, he's a test subject for experimental drugs. Three of them at once. He's afraid that his girlfriend will find out and dump him. House closes the case.
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Comments (6)
Good recap. I also thought it was the best episode this season, although am totally not buying Cuddy's Stockholm Syndrome (sort of). Women usually aren't turned on by stalkers. A MAN totally wrote in that storyline.
Sadly, there was no Wilson-House this time... *sigh*. Oh, and I lol'd at the Eric Forman thing. It was always strange to me as well.
1 of 6 | Posted by alex_w | Posted on October 4, 2008 1:26 PM
Very good recap. I agree with alex_w.
I don't agree about the car - seems like it is MADE for a short, middle aged, tired looking bald guy with a mid life crisis.
Any young, handsome hunk you see driving one is probably either a car salesmen, a valet, or dating a rich cougar.
2 of 6 | Posted by fire@will | Posted on October 4, 2008 4:42 PM
I agree, this was the best episode of the season so far. Lucas is a really good character and I'm really starting to like the role he plays. He and House have good chemistry...
I think the writers are digging into the characters of the new doctors (Talb, 13, and Kumar). Its about damn time too! Its weird to give them so much time on the show and we (the viewers) don't know anything about them....
excellent recap :)
3 of 6 | Posted by KrispyDixie | Posted on October 5, 2008 3:47 AM
This might have been the best episode of the season so far, but we all know this season has absolutely sucked. It's been shockingly bad, and I didn't think it could get worse than last season.
If I'm reading between the lines right, I think Taub's secret is that he is sleeping around on his wife.
I think Chase's first name is Robert. Speaking of Cameron & Chase, how pissed must they be about being nearly totally replaced on this show, while Foreman still gets a bunch of screen time every week?
I appreciate your use of Princess Bride references. They were spot on. You know, too, I had to look up Breckin Meyer. He looked familiar and I didn't know why. It took going allllll the way back the 90's before I got it. He played Travis in Clueless (the movie).
4 of 6 | Posted by Memememe | Posted on October 5, 2008 8:47 AM
@alex_w: I also think Cuddy's interest in a guy that's going through her personal things stretches the limits of disbelief. They better be coming up with some really screwball backstory for her to explain all that.
@fire@will: I see Louie driving a Buick. I don't see him as the midlife-crisis sort, but we don't really know him well enough to see him as anything. But maybe he's about to surprise us.
@Memememe: Every conversation can be improved by a Princess Bride reference. Never go in against a Sicilian WHEN DEATH IS ON THE LINE!
(Also, Clueless was a great movie.)
5 of 6 | Posted by copyhacker | Posted on October 5, 2008 8:12 PM
re: what taub did?
am i mistaken or didn't he leave his last job because he cheated on his wife? i thought we found this out during the whole contest thing.
anyways, i enjoyed this ep. lucas is annoying but i love his and house's scenes together. him and cuddy i'm not really feeling. if more lucas means less 13 then i'm all for it.
6 of 6 | Posted by MsMonis | Posted on October 6, 2008 3:16 PM