1.22 Honeymoon

This is one of my fave episodes (and arcs), I think because it does grapple so well with the complexities of love and relationship. It shows how the choices one is presented with can be in conflict - there is what is probably the "right" thing to do versus the overwhelming desire for connection. I too interpreted Stacy's comment as House being "the one" as part of a goodbye. That precious look on House's face when he hears her words just shows us how deep it struck him, and how vulnerable he still was, and the fact that she didn't disappear again into the depths of New Jersey with her husband, required him to grapple with what her statement might mean to him and to them. It was not a prudent statement for Stacy to make. I think Mark would not have been happy had he heard it, and it could be seen as a betrayal of her marriage. But I don't find Stacy to be a terribly introspective, cautious person who thinks through her impact on others. However, while I'm not sure I find Stacy to be a particularly good person, I found her to be very real - how many people stray in their marriages or relationships or think about the greener grass? How many want everything they want, on their terms, and try to figure out a way to get it? How many dither, hoping that somehow it will all work out, and are unable to make quick, good decisions (House is extremely admirable for his ability to cut through the dilemmas to find that "it's not easy, but it's simple"). The poignancy of the last scene, for me, is that her words and presence reminded House of the time when he was on two good legs, and he had her love. Standing in front of the chair, he had his moment of wishfulness - that maybe the years of pain and the cane could be tossed away and without them, Stacy would return to him and he'd have happiness. Instead, he is faced with his physical condition and its history, and that now he has Vicodan to get through the days.

The poignancy of the last scene, for me, is that her words and presence reminded House of the time when he was on two good legs, and he had her love. Standing in front of the chair, he had his moment of wishfulness - that maybe the years of pain and the cane could be tossed away and without them, Stacy would return to him and he'd have happiness. Instead, he is faced with his physical condition and its history, and that now he has Vicodan to get through the days. You could especially see that as he approached her. In former days, had Stacy walked into his office, he could have greeted her with a hug or a kiss. But now, he has to reach for his cane. And only HL could make reaching for an object look like regret the way he did.

An inanimate object, as it were. You could see, he practically ripped the cane off his desk as he took it. When he threw the cane away in the very final scene it was obvious he was trying to prove to himself that he still had more.

At the end of "Honeymoon," House wanted punishment, but he didn't want to mete it out. He wanted to punish solely himself. He wanted to feel a physical pain that matched his emotional pain, and the ending as it was perfectly showed how much he internalizes his pain. I never saw it like that. I thought House was testing himself. He sets very high standards for himself. He's the smartest, gifted musically, the most sarcastic, etc. He seems to look down on himself for being crippled. I always interpreted that last scene as House testing whether he could walk normally and thereby be the man he was when he met Stacy. Oh, I think he's definitely testing himself. I was speaking solely of the comparison to the outward "Hit me!" bar fight type of a "test" (of his manhood?) and striking out in anger compared to the very personal test of where he's at in his life in the scene in his apartment. It's the reason why I prefer the scene as it aired, rather than the pages that were leaked and never shot. In both he's having pain inflicted upon himself, but one it's a solitary exercise of his own soul. The other would have been lashing out at the world as a whole.

I never saw it like that. I thought House was testing himself. He sets very high standards for himself. He's the smartest, gifted musically, the most sarcastic, etc. He seems to look down on himself for being crippled. I always interpreted that last scene as House testing whether he could walk normally and thereby be the man he was when he met Stacy. That's how I saw it too. His leg is the one thing that got between him and Stacey. As you said, he looks down on himself for being crippled. I also think that he believes everyone else looks down on him for that too - Stacey included. My interpretation was that House believed if he could walk normally (as he did he was with Stacey), then the bum leg wouldn't come between them anymore. He would be the man he used to be with Stacey, and he wouldn't be a disappointment or an embarassment because he was crippled. And, if he could walk with some normalcy, he could also be able to forgive Stacey for what she did to him. He just wanted things to go back the way they were. Unfortunately, that all came crashing down on him when his test failed and his leg gave out.

I watched it yesterday with my dad and my brother. My dad said something mean about Stacy's appearance and I laughed, because I suck like that. My dad was proud of himself for making me laugh, so then he told House to punch her. Which made me laugh harder. So then he wouldn't shut up and he became annoying and then I told him to stop, which just encourages him more, so yeah... At some point he said that House seems like a great guy (that is open to interpretation) and he asked why they made the poor guy marry her, so I told him that they just lived together for 5 years, so he said that she was a stupid failure and that I shouldn't be getting any ideas from stupid television... And I answered that she's not that much of a stupid failure as she did get married later and he said that Mark is much more of a stupid failure than Stacy is. And then he saw Cuddy who seemed awesome and he said that he should "marry" her, not that mummy. Unless she was a stupid failure, too. And then he said nevermind, because his name is House and the show's name is also House, so everyone but him is a stupid failure. And I tried to explain, but as soon as I said that she was his boss, he said that then she was a COMPLETELY STUPID FAILURE and that it was a shame. And then he played you can't always have what you want on the bouzouki (it's a greek musical instrument). And then he said that Hugh Laurie looks familiar and I said that he might know him from Blackadder and he asked me if that is something like Manchester United (which means, yes he does know him from Blackadder. He remembers the show's name and that it is English) and I said no and he got all pissed because he didn't understand why I would think that he watches anything other than soccer, politics and documentaries. And how come Hugh Laurie doesn't look gay? Everybody knows that there are no straight men in England. And then I left the room, so yeah...

Just a short question from a non native speaker... I absolutely liked the DDX in the beginning when House tells his ducklings what to do with the patient and is listing the whole procedure. After going through a severe list, he says "Did I miss something?" and Chase replies "Kitchen sink". Which leads House to the conclusion "Oh, you minx!". Anybody please care to explain the joke for me? I just don't seem to get it, although I think he says that House didn't "forget" but "misses" the sink. Why? What for? Please, I am dying to know... (BTW, Chase's smile while House is looking at him is adorably cute!) And how come Hugh Laurie doesn't look gay? Mwahahahaha! Liked that one!

The English expression for when you want a lot is to say that you want everything "including the kitchen sink." So House gives them an exhaustive list, then asks if he forgot something, Chase's "Kitchen sink?" is a reference to that expression. If you mean the "minx" bit, that would be teasing Chase as if he is flirting with House by giving him exactly what he wants.

Just rewatched this episode and wanted to add some thoughts: I too interpreted Stacy's comment as House being "the one" as part of a goodbye. I can see why Stacy felt that she needed to get that off her chest, to explain to him that she did care about him but couldn't be with him. Even though we see it as cruel, I don't think Stacy felt comfortable with keeping things from House (except for, you know, that one time). Yeah, I agree with the second statement. The way I understood that scene, Stacy felt that she owed it to House to give him this confession of love, to acknowledge and validate their past relationship and feelings for each other (especially after dismissing them throughout the episode). And also confirm that he was right about her all along, knowing that being right is very gratifying for House. So I believe she actually did it for his benefit, she must have assumed that it would be consolation to him to know that he's so special to her, even though she's with someone else. So her intentions were good and she didn't realise how devastating it would be to House. And I absolutely adore HL's acting when House is reacting to Stacy saying that she can't be with him. The way he's trying to appear unaffected, but barely manages to get out a nonchalant "Ok" because his voice is failing in this particular way that happens when people don't succeed in controlling their body language and it betrays their true emotions. Each time HL pulls this off, I'm especially impressed because in real life this is something that happens involuntarily and in spite of oneself, so it's really tricky to make it appear authentic. You could especially see that as he approached her. In former days, had Stacy walked into his office, he could have greeted her with a hug or a kiss. But now, he has to reach for his cane. And only HL could make reaching for an object look like regret the way he did. I didn't see regret in this gesture, it looked rather aggressive and pointedly, and I believe it was meant to be symbolic. The cane stands for what he is now, a sign of his disability, so it's a symbol for what tore them apart and what still stands between them, so in this scene House chooses to reach for the cane in a way that puts it also literally between them. We also know that House blames Stacy for his disability, so I think the way he's reaching for the cane is also subconsciously reproachful. Furthermore, I assume he feels more confident when he's holding the cane, because it supports him physically, which of course works also on an emotional level. So holding it gives him a sense of security and support, and I think that's another reason why he's reaching for the cane (which he didn't really physically need in that situation) upon spotting Stacy, to prepare himself for facing her. And just to add to the Stacy-hatred ;), I was so annoyed with her for making it House's choice whether she should accept Cuddy's job offer or not. By doing that, she put him in a position where, if he was to deny her the job, he would be the resentful and pathetic asshole who's still hung up on her and is too delicate to handle her presence (and I loved the fact that House mentioned something like that to Cuddy in 2x01, although much more flippant of course, when he said: "What was I supposed to do? Ask her to leave? That's just rude"). So it was either that, or he was forced to accept her working at PPTH, and endure her presence and the emotional turmoil because of it. But of course Stacy freed herself from the blame of being the insensitive one who's putting him through this, because she's doing it with House's "blessing" (and I might be able to believe that she had no idea of the extent of his feelings for her before she confronted him in his office. But there's no way she wasn't aware of them after seeing his face and reaction to her words! So this time simple ignorance is no excuse). And I don't even think that Stacy took any risk by making House decide, because she must have known that House's pride would prevent him from denying her the job. So it was just an empty and hypocritical gesture.

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