God, I'd forgotten how WEAK Cuddy is in this Ep. I want to strangle her! (Interesting that House was still going to cut the umbilical even after the anesthetized fetus hand-grab.)

Let's face it, there is always something to love about any House episode; with HL especially, how could there not be? I always glow is priceless but hardly worth the whole touched by a fetus thing. Hate, hate, hate, hate that and hate Cuddy's whole attitude. I would rather the potw had died. Much prefer ODOR or even Airbourne. Whole ep ridiculous and heavy-handed. Too many anvils spoil the soup.

Let's face it, there is always something to love about any House episode; with HL especially, how could there not be? True, except for the fact (and I know I've said this on another thread) I was sooo angry at House in this ep. I've never been so angry with him before, not even WAM, MLC, H-W, or anything else. Don't ask me why, I don't really know, I think it was all my anger towards him from the above episodes mentioned festering inside of me then suddenly there was an ep. with no interaction with Wilson, the relationship that was having enough problems at the time, and I just found myself not caring about House at all, even actively disliking him. It never happened before and it hasn't happened since, just FP does it to me. Much prefer ODOR or even Airbourne. Me too, IMO Fetal Position has been THE worst episode of the whole series.

I like this episode better than at least half of the other eps in Season 3.

My least favorite episode in the entire series. The more Cuddy is on-screen, the more incompetent she is.

There were things I liked about this episode. The Chase/Cameron stuff was actually done well (save the conversation between Cameron and Cuddy). I liked the PotW and the actress who played her. I also liked the team ignoring House's bratty histrionics and continuing to work the DDX. And to be perfectly honest, I really didn't miss Wilson. Of course, I would have preferred something a little less crazy (seriously, why do they think all that weird rantiness is appealing to watch?), but Cuddy sort of has to look bad. The basic principle of the series is that House must be right - even in FJ, he doesn't solve the case, but he's still plainly right that his "reasonable" medication dosage isn't working. If Cuddy's all reasonable and ultra-professional and still saves the patient, then the underlying principle of the show is kinda shot, because House's rightness must be preserved. I think her lack of emotional detachment could have been written more subtly, though. Because that...really wasn't. Highlighting flaws can humanize a character, but this was too over the top. Hated the stupid robot fetus, and that it was used as an emotional anvil. They could have used the story to close off Cuddy's baby storyline, or come up with emotional impact that actually tied into the characters, instead of pat sentimentality. That cheesy fetus-grab might be acceptable on a first-season show, but it's really lame in a third season where we're invested in the characters.

Okay, I am aware of the risks of handling high explosives but I feel safe here so...one thing that really gripes me about this ep is the unquestioning way they all, except House, take it for granted that the fetus is a baby human being with as much right to life as the mother and they even use the touched by the fetus (props to whoever coined this excellent phrase--sorry I can't remember whom to credit) to bring House around to this pov. I don't know exactly where I stand on this issue myself but it sickens me that a show as intelligent and edgy as House unquestioningly adopts this extreme Right To Life stance--and apparently for no better reason than a cheap emotional score. Boo! There. I said it. Let the political wars begin. :crying:

The thing is...I think that anyone in the position of being pro-choice has to recognize that yes, it is a choice. Emma believed her child had a right to live, and that's the only person authorized to make that decision, so isn't following her wishes in that case the only appropriate response to the situation? If anything, House is the person trying to tell her that she doesn't have a choice, and she is arguing that in fact, she does. The show talks a lot about the choices patients and their families have the right to make, and in this case, House couldn't outstubborn her. (Unfortunately, what I'm actually saying here is a lot more intelligent than the robot fetus.) I personally believe that if another woman with a life-threatening pregnancy walked through the door, House would be right back in his same position. He can only call it a baby when it's not the life-sucking enemy anymore and is back to being a somewhat parasitic inconvenience to its mother.

I agree with vitawash99. It is Emma's choice to keep or terminate the fetus. She chose to keep it, so the doctors should, therefore, respect her wishes and operate under the assumption that this is Emma's future child. Of course they can advise her that not terminating is risking her life, but it's her choice to do that. Also, yeah, I don't see the 'Touched' moment as House accepting the ProLife stance or anything. I mean, there's no way... Instead, I think he accepted Emma's stance about her fetus, specifically: that, to her, this particular thing was worth dying for. I must seriously be in the minority here, because I liked Cuddy in this ep. A lot :?

I find this confusing. I'm not suggesting that the choice should have been anyone's other than Emma's or that she or anyone else was wrong. I don't disagree with anything vita said but there is nothing there that explains or accounts for the thing that bothered me about the ep. Maybe I simply didn't pay close enough attention but I don't remember anyone saying this is her position and her choice so we have to work from there--I saw everyone except House sort of automatically assuming the fetus was a baby and rolling their eyes at House's insistance on using the word fetus instead of baby. It seemed to me that they were not operating from a default position of "acting within the patient's choice" but from a default position of "of course it's a baby and we have just as much responsibility and desire to save it as we do Emma" and it's that as a default setting that bugs me. What did I miss in the episode that makes this distinction clear? I don't see the 'Touched' moment as House accepting the ProLife stance or anything. I mean, there's no way... Instead, I think he accepted Emma's stance about her fetus, specifically: that, to her, this particular thing was worth dying for. I don't quite follow you here either blue. What in the episode supports your view that House switching from fetus to baby after the itty-bitty hand grasped his finger doesn't mean he went over to thinking of it as a baby not a fetus? If you mean by "there's no way" that this would be out of character for House, I agree; that's part of what I find disturbing about the ep. What in the episode--not what we think we have previously learned about House's opinions and attitudes--reassures you that he was specifically speaking from Emma's perspective, not his own? I freely admit I am capable of missing a lot--not just sub-text but text!--and I know I'm by no means the most careful viewer but I did not see anything to suggest that there was a distinction between what they all appeared to believe themselves as being different from Emma's pov. And that's my largest complain about this ep. Well, that plus the schmaltz and CrazyCuddy...... :roll:

What in the episode--not what we think we have previously learned about House's opinions and attitudes--reassures you that he was specifically speaking from Emma's perspective, not his own? The fact that House tells Emma that she shouldn't thank him because he would have killed the kid, coupled with his final conversation with Cuddy in which he insists that her decisions were irrational and wrong tells me that he would come to the same conclusions if this situation were repeated. Referring to the fetus as a baby at the end of the episode is a question of semantics to me, and ultimately irrelevant. I don't care what word House used to refer to it; what matters is that despite that schmaltzy moment, he still didn't abandon his position. As he would put it, 9.9 is 9.8 greater than 0.1.

In that respect, though, isn't House's position just as extreme? He's acting like the fetus is disposable, and not someone Emma has loved before she even met them, and that Emma (and Cuddy) was just some placenta-brained idiot who didn't know what was good for her when she didn't do what he wanted. Once House rid himself of that impression, he came up with a solution, which I suspect he already had before Chase said a word. Calling the fetus a baby is, in fact, a nod of respect to the patient, not a magical reset button of House's attitude. I don't think he would change a thing in a different situation. I wasn't under the impression that real medicine was practiced any differently from what was shown in the episode. The mother gets first priority, but if we're looking for the ideal outcome, that would be both parties surviving, especially in a pregnancy that's fairly advanced. Of course, actually discussing the issues of Emma's choices might have ended up interesting and thought-provoking, as opposed to underdeveloped schlock. Man, this episode needed a remix like nobody's business.

I forgot to mention this, but I found it interesting given the dislike of this episode on the forum. My mom is an RN who works in the cardiology unit of a large hospital, and she often discusses the show with her coworkers. Apparently, this episode was one of their favorites and many believed it to be incredibly powerful. Whatever that means.

What in the episode supports your view that House switching from fetus to baby after the itty-bitty hand grasped his finger doesn't mean he went over to thinking of it as a baby not a fetus? Please don't take this as any kind of political arguement (I despise politics), but House's insistence on calling the unborn child a fetus was clearly to lower Emma's expectations should they have to terminate. In my experience it is exceptionally rare for people to use the term fetus anywhere other than in high school health class or abortion debates- again not a politiacl statement, it's just how people talk. I've had 4 kids and never at any stage of my pregnancies did a doctor refer to any of the little parasites as a "fetus"- even early on or when they thought I would have complications with my oldest. I thought House's switch from "fetus" to "baby" had more to do with Emma and the unborn child being in the clear than any change in his feelings on the subject. Yes, the hand reaching out to touch him was a bit schmoopy, however, House has always been a show that presents all sides of the debate when tackling a subject like this (one of the reasons why I love it). One of the sides of that debate is that a fetus very much resembles a human being very early on, and I think the hand was the easiest way for them to visually present that side of the argument. I don't think it was any attempt at a "Right to Life" agenda given the content and the decision made by the POTW in the equally hated ODOR. The writers of House have always been very smart about recognizing that hotly debated issues are usually hotly debated because both sides have some pretty valid points and that ethics and harsh reality of certain situations can get sticky.