3.15 Half-Wit

at no point did he actually lie to them about his condition. He certainly did. He told them that the Luke N. Laura file, full of a supposed terminal cancer patient's test results, was his. That's exactly the same as saying "I have terminal cancer". Well, they all put him off trying anything else again anytime soon. Fine job. Hey, put yourself in their shoes. How would you react if someone you cared about tricked you into believing he was dying? If you wouldn't be supremely pissed off, you're a better person than I am. (Which isn't much of a compliment but you get my point). It does seem a bit odd to me that Wilson doesn't figure out House's real angle, though. That's to assume that House's "real angle" was physical pain relief, that we know it for a fact, that it's canon. We don't and it's not. Don't post a long argument that that's what it was, I'm NOT disagreeing. My point is that it's purely interpretation on our part, neither right nor wrong. Someone said that that wouldn't occur to the casual viewer, to which I answer: exactly. If the writers really wanted us to think that it was that and nothing but that, they would have made it clearer. a little follow up would have been nice. But we got nothing. Absolutely nothing. We could have, nay, should have seen some fallout from this. We should have seen the ducklings still being hurt or angry, especially Chase. I don't see why "especially Chase", but yes I agree that resentment from Cuddy and the ducks would have been good. I will argue that we saw carryover with Wilson, though. In the following ep with the soldier (the name escapes me) he was unusually dismissive of House's complaint that he couldn't pee. That's not like him; he was cruelly insensitive about House's leg pain in 'Meaning', but only after House asked for Vicodin. I saw his reaction in the soldier ep as carryover to House having just faked cancer. Wilson was unwilling to believe him when he claimed to have another ailment. It was logical for him to react that way; if he hadn't, THAT would have been strange. Another example of carryover is that later in the season Wilson started dosing House with ADs. This episode laid the groundwork for Wilson thinking that House was clinically depressed. I think we saw how Cameron used the incident--I think she responded to the seriousness of the situation, first of House dying and then of House being desperate enough to either look for that level of pain relief or escapism, by trying to provoke him into admitting he wanted a relationship with her. I don't think her hospital antics, which followed this ep, were unrelated to what occurred in HW. Oh, that's a creepy thought!

Sorry but I don't see a direct correlation to the HT thread. In this case, we know that House lied about the brain cancer but are left to speculate what his motives are. With regard to House Training, the inference is more vague as it based on differing interpretations of what may or may not have taken place to begin with. I think I just gave myself a headache.

at no point did he actually lie to them about his condition. He certainly did. He told them that the Luke N. Laura file, full of a supposed terminal cancer patient's test results, was his. That's exactly the same as saying "I have terminal cancer". It's not exactly the same. And he told Cameron about the fake file only after she said, "There's a nurse downstairs about to risk his job to steal the blood you drew from yourself yesterday." House realizes at this moment that the kids will NOT leave this alone until they do a DDX on him. And since they already know about the cancer, he's not telling them something new here. He's just going along with what they've already "cleverly deduced." He thinks that the file he created is fool-proof (i.e., it shows cancer), so he figures they'll look through the records, do some research, and then leave it alone. He just wants them to drop the subject, leave him alone, and work on their real patient, Patrick. Because House is not really their patient! And he tells them repeatedly to drop it! I don't blame the kids for going on the wild goose chase, btw. They obviously care about him and wanted to figure this out. I'm just saying... House did not present this lie to them. Cameron and Chase are the ones who broke into House's apartment, went through his personal stuff, found the phone bill, called the Massachusetts phone number, learned it went to Mass General, went crying to Cuddy that House must be in talks to take a job at Mass General, leading Cuddy to call Mass General and find out the real deal. All b/c Cameron stuck her nose in House's mail and found his plane tickets to Boston and Foreman noticed he had drawn his own blood in the clinic. If Cameron had kept her paws out of House's mail and not blabbed to Foreman, then none of this would have happened. And maybe House could have participated in the drug trial, and maybe he could have stopped taking Vicodin... which is what his friends have been wanting him to do! And again... there are much easier ways to get high. The anticipation of getting high is not enough of a pay-off to justify the kind of trouble House was going to for this clinical trial.

I don't see why "especially Chase", Hee, that's just a personal thing. From the scene with the hug, I just thought that it impacted him in a way that I, personally, found more interesting than Foreman and Cameron. But I find everything Chase does to be more interesting than Foreman and Cmaeron so whatever. I'm with you on Wilson and his carryover to Top Secret.

If Cameron had kept her paws out of House's mail and not blabbed to Foreman, then none of this would have happened. Or, alternately, since House considers Cameron the keeper of his calendar and appointments (as he says in "Skin Deep"), he could have sent his personal tickets to his own house instead of his office where its been pointed out that Cameron handles all the correspondence. Maybe secretly House wanted to be found out. And maybe House could have participated in the drug trial, and maybe he could have stopped taking Vicodin... which is what his friends have been wanting him to do! Or, alternately, his deception could have been established once he was enrolled in the program and he could have been persecuted for fraud. While, simultaneously, the patient in the Witherspoon wing got the wrong treatment.

If Cameron had kept her paws out of House's mail and not blabbed to Foreman, then none of this would have happened. Or, alternately, since House considers Cameron the keeper of his calendar and appointments (as he says in "Skin Deep"), he could have sent his personal tickets to his own house instead of his office where its been pointed out that Cameron handles all the correspondence. Maybe secretly House wanted to be found out. He does not consider her the keeper of his calendar in the sense that he makes her do the administrative crap. She takes on that role herself. And he does open his own mail sometimes... you know, if he can get to it before nosy Cameron gets her grubby paws on it. I recall him opening some envelopes and throwing some right into the trash can in "Resignation." Perhaps he had the tickets sent to work because he doesn't trust his mailbox at home? Whatever. I have things sent to work all the time. It doesn't mean anything in particular. Or, alternately, his deception could have been established once he was enrolled in the program and he could have been persecuted for fraud. While, simultaneously, the patient in the Witherspoon wing got the wrong treatment. Well the patient in the Witherspoon Wing was going to get the wrong treatment anyway. House happened to find a patient who fit the parameters for the clinical trial. He didn't know the patient had been misdiagnosed with brain cancer when he really "only" had neurosyphillis. I suppose the patient can thank House for his antics on this one.

He does not consider her the keeper of his calendar in the sense that he makes her do the administrative crap. She takes on that role herself. For the purposes of plot, it hardly matters. Off the top of my had, there are at least 4 references to the fact that Cameron (mandated or not) handles the administrative duties, at least as they pertain to mail and calendars. In "Paternity" we know she does his correspondence with patients, loopy "G" and all. In some Stacy episode or another, we know that Stacy is concerned that the lone female is doing all the "girl work". In "Skin Deep" House comments that Cameron makes appointments for him. (Probably not all the time, but House mentions it, so....) I suppose I could add in the unaired scene from the pilot where it's revealed that Cameron has taken the task of fishing all the unopened envelopes from the trash upon herself. Regardless, House has employed Cameron for 3 1/2 years. I think he understands that she's probably going to be intercepting the mail. And he does open his own mail sometimes... you know, if he can get to it before nosy Cameron gets her grubby paws on it. The only mail I've seen him open is Cameron's when she got her test results. I recall him opening some envelopes and throwing some right into the trash can in "Resignation." Perhaps House learned something from "Half-Wit." Perhaps he had the tickets sent to work because he doesn't trust his mailbox at home? Whatever. I have things sent to work all the time. It doesn't mean anything in particular. I have things sent to work all the time, too, but not stuff that I don't want anyone else to know about. New books from Amazon? Sure, fine. Leather and bondage gear? Send that straight to my house, please. :-) I suppose the patient can thank House for his antics on this one. Indeed.

The flimsiest pretexts in the whole episode were Cameron's. The kissing him to distract him while she was trying to draw blood was bizarre but her initial round of reasoning was: House is going to Boston for the weekend therefore I must break into his apartment with Chase to find out why. While there they find that House has been calling someone in Boston on the phone which means that Cuddy must be told that House is looking for a new job. And, once Cuddy has discussed the matter with the doctors in Boston and with Wilson, she demands information from Wilson because if House is sick she has to find a new job TOMORROW! Ooookay! If I find out that someone is going out of town for the weekend, I don't immediately assume that they are job hunting even if they called someone in their profession before leaving. And I certainly wouldn't assume it about House considering that Cuddy is the only administrator that would put up with his antics.

Cameron: Do you have any idea why House would wanna go to Boston? Foreman: The chowder? Cameron: Plane tickets, this Friday. I opened his mail. I heard there's an opening at Harvard for division chief, Infectious Disease. So she somehow heard through the grapevine (yea, whaeva) that there was a job at Harvard. So she put the plane tickets together with a random, prestigious job opening in Boston. Then Foreman tells her about the blood and wanks that it could be for medical clearance for a job. Then she drags Chase to House's apartment. WHERE IT ALL COMES TOGETHER! But yes, I get your point. She did have flimsy evidence. Just further proves how unhealthily obsessed she is with House. :wink:

The flimsiest pretexts in the whole episode were Cameron's. The kissing him to distract him while she was trying to draw blood was bizarre but her initial round of reasoning was: House is going to Boston for the weekend therefore I must break into his apartment with Chase to find out why. While there they find that House has been calling someone in Boston on the phone which means that Cuddy must be told that House is looking for a new job. And, once Cuddy has discussed the matter with the doctors in Boston and with Wilson, she demands information from Wilson because if House is sick she has to find a new job TOMORROW! Ooookay! If I find out that someone is going out of town for the weekend, I don't immediately assume that they are job hunting even if they called someone in their profession before leaving. And I certainly wouldn't assume it about House considering that Cuddy is the only administrator that would put up with his antics. Agreed, the caper gets started in a flimsy way. As do most capers. Second most bizarre is Cuddy who, open receiving news that House might be looking for a new job decides to just go ahead and call them instead of doing the logical thing and asking House. Although considering what we (and CC&F) know about House, the fact that he's taking a day off and going anywhere is a bit of a novelty. The Tritter arc revealed that he never missed a day of work and the later "Fetal Position" reiterated that House can't really go anywhere other than his couch. In that sense, discovering that House had active plans to be elsewhere than Princeton would be pretty unusual, possibly worth investigating. And the most unlikely twist of all is that Chase would call the number for Mass Gen. and get an actual human answering the call. I want to live in whatever bizarre-o world he lives in.

In that sense, discovering that House had active plans to be elsewhere than Princeton would be pretty unusual, possibly worth investigating. Other than Singapore. And he did miss 8 weeks of work between S2 and S3, but I guess getting shot is a pretty good reason. :D

I don't see why "especially Chase", Hee, that's just a personal thing. From the scene with the hug, I just thought that it impacted him in a way that I, personally, found more interesting than Foreman and Cameron. But I find everything Chase does to be more interesting than Foreman and Cmaeron so whatever. I'm with you on Wilson and his carryover to Top Secret. I can see "especially Chase" of CC&F because Chase seemed to be the one genuinely hurt by the situation. He had the only sincere reaction to the news. Foreman lied and said, "I like you" because he thought it was the right thing to say. Cameron--who knows WTF was in her head with that incredibly stupid "Kiss and Stab" move. Whether it was her last chance to try to seduce House or just that she just wanted to get a sample, it was an odd reaction (and a ridiculous strategy). Chase spent half the episode looking like he was on the virge of tears and expressed a genuine affection for House, which was significant for Chase given the "I've given him enough hugs; he's given me enough disappointments" speech. Hell, House didn't even return the hug, which was kind of sad (though completely in character). I often wondered if they set it up so that House had something in both hands so it would make it easier for him to not return the hug?

I can see "especially Chase" of CC&F because Chase seemed to be the one genuinely hurt by the situation. He had the only sincere reaction to the news. I agree (wow - so many more posts after I went to bed last night! Why does all the excitement happen when I'm asleep?). Hey, put yourself in their shoes. How would you react if someone you cared about tricked you into believing he was dying? If you wouldn't be supremely pissed off, you're a better person than I am. (Which isn't much of a compliment but you get my point). You've got a point there, Taiga. I get carried away sometimes... Taiga wrote: Quote: at no point did he actually lie to them about his condition. He certainly did. He told them that the Luke N. Laura file, full of a supposed terminal cancer patient's test results, was his. That's exactly the same as saying "I have terminal cancer". It's not exactly the same. And he told Cameron about the fake file only after she said, "There's a nurse downstairs about to risk his job to steal the blood you drew from yourself yesterday." House realizes at this moment that the kids will NOT leave this alone until they do a DDX on him. And since they already know about the cancer, he's not telling them something new here. He's just going along with what they've already "cleverly deduced." Yep, NightOwl, that's how I thought of it.

Sorry but I don't see a direct correlation to the HT thread. In this case, we know that House lied about the brain cancer but are left to speculate what his motives are. With regard to House Training, the inference is more vague as it based on differing interpretations of what may or may not have taken place to begin with. I think I just gave myself a headache. The particular aspect I was referring to as similar was the question of whether the writers would set up a very important situation with logical real world consequences, such as emotional feelings about what was learned, and then not show the logical followthrough, leaving us to connect our own dots about that. We had that question come up in the HT discussion, and we had it raised here. I wasn't comparing the specifics of what happened plotwise.

Or, alternately, since House considers Cameron the keeper of his calendar and appointments (as he says in "Skin Deep"), he could have sent his personal tickets to his own house instead of his office where its been pointed out that Cameron handles all the correspondence. Maybe secretly House wanted to be found out. Or, since if he suddenly disappeared for a couple of days he'd have had a headache dealing with questions after the fact. So hide in plain sight & if Cameron asks about the mail he can just say he's going to give a lecture. The problems starts when Cameron doesn't ask - maybe assuming he's going to lie? - and goes off on the wild goose chase. One thing that struck me about Cameron in this ep is the astounding panic she goes into over House possibly moving from PPTH - and by extension her. I really don't buy that it was about her needing to find a job, its really about her need for a relationship with House and to understand that he can be quite that callous about her as part of her evolution to where she can walk away in Human Error (part of which is the following PPTH sexage - as in "well, if you don't want me, I'll show you I don't want you either"). Re Chase, I thought the writers did a nicely subtle job of the parallels between the situation with Rowan & House not telling Chase about their real/fake illnesses & yes, his reaction was sincere (goodness knows why he likes House, but its that same thing he mentions in Cursed, you still love your father no matter what they lie about ;D). Foreman's reaction was sincere in his own way - he sincerely didn't care & sincerely did what he always does, glossed over it to avoid the truth until push came to shove (its that same sense of "we're colleagues, not friends") :wink:

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