House: Mirror Mirror
By fred | November 1, 2007
But enough about them, let’s talk about all the doctors and, of course, our patient. A patient that we never really get to meet, because for the time he was around and due to his lack of personality and memory, he was mirroring whoever was in charge around him. A little device that led to a few great scenes, obviously.
As I said earlier, at some point I questioned whether or not it became just a way to get more insight on our potential new team members, because except for dark religious nut, they all got to spend a few minutes with him, so that we - and they - could learn about who they really are. Now why did one of them escaped such a treatment, I’m not really sure.
(Yes, I’m sorry but I’m pretty bad with names. Really. So I figure, I’ll really have to learn those guys names, but since some might not stick around that long, and we still don’t know all their names, I’ll keep using their nicknames or numbers for a bit.)
My guess would be we already knew enough about him. He was quite present and got examined by House already, we know he’s a “dark religious nut”, and a single dad. What else is there to discover ? But to be fair, learning that the surgeon was hot for CTB wasn’t that much of a reveal. Just like the fact that she has to be good, because she knows that if they all hate her, at least they’ll keep her around if she’s the best, wasn’t really news either.
We got to learn more about a couple of guys, though, that turned out to be quite like House himself. Whether it’s the other guy, who is annoyed until something out of the norm presents itself, or 6/9 who gets really excited about the uncommon ways House uses to find out about the patient, they all share that interest in unusual cases, (medical) mysteries, and how to solve them. I still think 6/9 fits the profile more, because his addiction to adrenaline gets him closer to House’s ways, just like how he almost killed himself, or set a patient on fire not so long ago.
It’s not necessary very smart, “you’re insane!” said House, but not after acknowledging the dedication, which is why he’ll get the job. If scores are being kept, he’s not loosing, no way.
I absolutely loved the how House used, or tried to use the patient’s “ability” in order to learn more about Thirteen, only to be in charge and only get a reflection of his mind. “Are you an idiot ? Do you not think she’s hot ?” It was absolutely hilarious. House could have tried to talk a little less and not take control of things that much, knowing he was mirroring whoever’s in charge, but still I laughed out loud.
Then, as he tried to convince 6/9 to get in the room to find out about her, we got to see her mystery. Although that part was a bit disappointing, because we didn’t learn anything about her, not really. We saw the was scared, really deeply scared, but we already knew that. Hell, even House knows that (”Didn’t want to look in the mirror?“).
So despite an encounter with the mirroring patient, Thirteen is still a complete mystery. We don’t know her name, and we don’t know anything about her, who she really is and how she really feels. Not the real her, the one who join in to be part of House’s new team, not who she was before her mistake, not the one she will be, again, once she overcome her fears.
This episode was really good, but there were a few things I didn’t like. Couple of things screamed “ludicrous” real bad. For instance, to have House behave as a childish immature person fits the character, he’s been doing that for years. Messing with Cuddy’s pills, or implying that he could, that’s House. But that Cuddy would actually replace his vicodin with laxatives really doesn’t seem like something she would actually do. I mean she’s supposed to be the down-to-earth one here, she’s supposed to run the hospital, despite the fact that, of course, of the two House is the one in charge. We didn’t need any mirroring patient to know that.
Sure, I liked the bathroom humor, gave some great lines, such as “that was just a courtesy flush, I’m not actually done“, but it felt quite out of character. And while House sending everyone from the cafeteria to the clinic was a pure House move, there’s no way all those people would have actually been treated, come on!
I liked the reference to Michael Moore (Sicko is a great movie BTW), but I think we didn’t see anything after that because none on them got MRIs or any other scans, or private rooms, the line was a great one, pure House-style, but no one took any actions on it. And while people would have trusted him in the cafeteria, it shouldn’t have gone any further.
Speaking of classic House move, his involvement with Chase in the bet was another one. I knew it was odd that he didn’t want to let the other guy quit, it seemed off for House to care that way. I should have guessed he was up to something, but it’s not until I saw the look on Chase’s face that I knew.
So no one got fired this time, and I wonder how things are gonna go from there. Two teams, one for House one for Foreman, or will some be fired next week ? I hope the later, not because I don’t like CTB but because I don’t want two teams. I also hope things don’t change with the way Chase and Cameron are used, though I wonder if they will agree to be seen so little each time, for a whole season.
Still the greatest show on TV, a real must-see TV I’m counting the days till the next dose…
