House: The Softer Side
By fred | February 24, 2009
(S05E16) In a show like this one, there are things that are bound to be repeated, often if not every week. There’s of course this good old formula which almost if not all episodes are based on, with a new case somehow finding its way to House, the patient’s case mirroring the life of one of his doctors, and/or another one getting involved emotionally in said case, and of course House Eureka moment at the end, over a plate of french fries with Wilson, that leads to solving the mystery and saving the patient.
But that is not the only things that will be repeated, other things, situations, might be coming back every once in a while. And this week, while the weekly case was not any bad, the real interesting part of the episode was – as often – what happens surrounding the case, and this time more precisely what was going on with House himself.
Vicodin wasn’t doing it for House no more, so he dropped it for better or for worse, and he’s now an heroin addict. At least, that was what everyone eventually came to conclude based on his odd behavior. Odd behavior, for House, meaning that he actually asked Wilson if he could before taking food from his plate, or that he didn’t argue with the parents and just let them have their useless test, or even went and worked a clinic patient without causing any riot.
It might sound fine, but of course what is fine for the rest of the world just isn’t for Gregory House, and that meant there was something else going on, he couldn’t possibly just be happy. There was indeed something else, as indicated by House who simply stopped breathing for a while, while sleeping on the job. House was indeed off Vicodin, but he didn’t fall for heroin, only its legal substitute, Methadone.
And while this whole thing, and this episode, was not bad, overall I’m not sure I liked it very much, because I was having this major impression of déjà-vu all over. We’ve seen House being pain-free already, dropping his cane and even starting to run in the hospital. That’s how season 3 opened, if I remember correctly, with House free, free from his pain, and his cane.
I don’t know if it was then, or at another time, but I’m pretty sure we also already went down that road, of House needing to be miserable to be House. House afraid to be happy, afraid he couldn’t be who he is if he wasn’t in pain, suffering, miserable and popping Vicodin all day long. All along I felt like we’ve been through this again, wondering if House could still be House if he wasn’t miserable, and realizing that change wasn’t good.
Maybe changes could be good for House, Dr Gregory House, but it probably wouldn’t be good for House, the medical hit-drama and its writers. Because people love him because he’s cranky, miserable and torturing people all around him. But at least last time, everything felt much better, it wasn’t forced, and it wasn’t rushed like this time.
In season three, House also was pain free, and a much happier person. I even think he might have been nice with some patient during that period, but of course eventually had his pain back, and started to take Vicodin again as the pain was coming back, and soon he was using his cane again. But it spread over many episodes, and it just felt better.
We’ve seen House happy already, it lasted longer and House actually got to enjoy it! We’ve also been down the road of House using some miracle secret treatment, and his team and friends worrying about him and his (mental) health. This episode wasn’t the first time we were going down that road, and it was all happening within this single episode.
House taking Methadone, realizing it is affecting his process, that he allowed for the kid to have a useless MRI that actually ended up causing all the troubles and risking the boy’s life, as well as having him unable to see the obvious, or what used to be obvious for him, as he was apparently the last to find out about Foreman and Thirteen.
So of course House decided that despite a clean shave, he would stop and go back to Vicodin, and walking in pain with his cane. But while some things were fun, I liked Kutner being the one finding out about “Foreteen” and betting about it with Taub, I loved Taub’s impression of Foreman, and the phone call between Foreman “realizing” House was on heroin and Wilson on a date with House was just hilarious, overall I kept having this sense of déjà-vu, of going through plot lines we’ve been through before, and I ended up somewhat disappointed, or unsatisfied, with this episode.
Okay, and one last thing : what the Hell was that clinic case ?? I mean seriously, I’ve been wishing for House to go back and do such cases for a while now, because it’s usually lots of fun. Of course, that’s only valid if House is House, i.e. miserable and spreading the wealth. It doesn’t work with Happy House, but that’s got nothing to do with anything.
Did they really use that old joke as plot for the case ?? Really!?? I mean the guy was probably stoned and whatnot, but if as a joke it works (the first time you hear it, a few decades ago) put into a TV show, in all seriousness, I don’t know it didn’t do it for me. Besides, happy & pain free or not, I refuse to believe that Gregory House would not make fun of such an imbecile! No way.
What did everybody else think ?
