Lovely, blacktop. One other thing I noted elsewhere dealing with perceptions and the problems with perceptions is that House is quick to write off 13's diagnosis of lyme disease because there's no rash ... the issue being, of course, that he should know that it doesn't always present as a rash. He's Mr. Zebras, not Horses. So why did he dismiss the zebra then? I think it's because at that point, he's so befuddled by his own perception problems with Terzi -- and to an extent 13 -- that he doesn't trust his own perceptiions of his misperceptiions. He's second guessing his every thought, telling himself that his instincts as to whether what either of them is saying is right, so in fact he's going too far in the other direction. His own perception of his inner voice is now thrown off by what he sees and hears.

Wow, blacktop. Just wow. That was the best analysis I've seen in a long time. That's the kind of thing I really love about reading here—stumbling upon and learning from someone else's thoughtful and perceptive observations (!) :sherlock: Thanks for making my day.

I think there can be two possible explanations. Foreman didn't hear House say that to Cuddy... I just took it as a simple case of Foreman's being wrong about House yet again. :-) Scratching head about the PoTW coming to PPTH for the surgery. I think we're supposed to infer that he's at PPTH because of The Great Dr. House I don't think that was the idea; I doubt House had anything to do with it, beyond his rep enhancing PPTH's rep in general. It was more a case of Cuddy being willing to authorize the camera crew because of the PR value. Lovely analysis, blacktop. I don't agree with your take on the final report, though; I think that's giving both the final take and the film crew too much credit. I loved Cuddy's smile at the end, but I interpreted that as her understanding that core of House, not the film crew. (And I think it was significant that House missed that final scene of patient gratitude.) On the other hand -- editing is active manipulation, and the film crew knows it. And they weren't just coming to PPTH to produce a specific cliche'd heartwarming project; they were being paid to deliver that project. We all know the show creators aren't always able to do what they'd like without interference from the networks. :-) So I'd like to think the "director's cut" of that documentary would have been a bit different from the network version.

Wonderful analysis blacktop. I'm growing very fond of your insights :) I do agree with Bedawyn though that the final (pilfered) version of the documentary was not a result of any insight on the part of the production crew but rather an attempt at making an appealing and marketable product. I rather like Taub. He has many Wilson-like qualities and not just philandering. Peter Jacobson is doing a great job. One of the little details I like in particular is his utterly insincere little smile to pelvic!girl after practically hissing 'we're doctors' as if remembering that he's supposed to charm patients. He's entirely pleasant and diplomatic but when pushed shows that it's partly façade and there are less savoury aspects of his character lurking underneath. And that really does remind me of Wilson.

Great analysis, blacktop. I especially liked your insights on House/Wilson.

I doubt I'll last much longer. The moronic, moldy jokes are out, yet instead we get House going agog around pwetty girls. What has that got to do with.. anything? Seriously, what? How does what we've seen in 3 seasons adds up to this? How does any of it contribute to his character development, or even to the plot? Last week it looked like they gave House a lobotomy, this week he is reborn as a a virgin. And Wilson.. Oh, Wilson. Wilson's character always reacted to House, and was actually based on that relationship. House is rapidly losing credibility for me since the beginning of the season, and Wilson devotedly follows suit. I guess I can take comfort in them going down together :roll: Bahhh. Two of the best TV people ever, and they're being ruthlessly butchered. What a shame. The wonderful depth of the show is merely a distant memory by now. I can't imagine them bouncing back after all of this, and I doubt they'd even want to. JMO, YMMV, blah blah. Oh, and I almost shut my laptop down in the midst of House's first interaction with the POTW. The show's POTW bits were often on the cheesy side, but that display was above and beyond. Anyway, I will probably stop watching soon. I have low tolerance for my favourite shows withering & shriveling, but at least you won't have to endure my bitching no more :P

I suppose I'm a little confused as to why they wouldn't have shaved the POTW's head for the first surgery (and spotted the tick infection) since the deformity seemed to extend into his hairline. And I just have to say, either they used a real soundman for the guy on the documentary crew or did a brilliant bit of casting because that dude is totally the epitome of sound guys everywhere. :-)

"You don't see what is, you see what could be" -- Foreman advises Taub that House wouldn't like that, but doesn't House say in some ep or other that that's one of the things he likes about Cuddy? As I recall he said it made Cuddy a good boss but a lousy doctor. So no, he wouldn't like it in Taub. I was amused at the end when the documentary and patient were lauding the charming Dr. Gregory House, when it was Thirteen who solved the case. What I'm confused about is what the true status of her relationship with Chase is at this point. The mirror scene felt like friends. I didn't get any romantic vibe at all. Me too. I'm honestly not sure if they're supposed to be in love or not. When they waltzed into the MRI room to get away from the camera crew, weren't any of them wearing metal? Shouldn't their watches have ripped off their bodies and gone flying into the machine or something? I just felt myself thinking ...ok, Taub is the one who is going to argue with House like Foreman (without the racial issues )and Thirteen is going to be obsessive and caring like Cameron (without the crush.) Taub maybe, but I don't see that as a bad thing. That's what House wants, that's what he's openly admitted he needs, it makes sense he would choose a new fellow for that. (Assuming Taub stays, and now I'm hoping he does.) Thirteen... she annoys me because she seems so Mary Sueish, but we have to be fair here. So far she's done nothing obsessive and caring. She's shown no personal interest in House of any kind, hasn't argued about ethics, hasn't overempathized with a patient. One scene I really liked was not yet mentioned here I think. It's where House avoids answering the question if he's bothered with Cuddy's interfering with his practice. Very sweet how he's sort of defending her there (where it really matters) while it would have been so easy to make her look bad. You're right. He could also have been thinking that Cuddy is another hot woman who is also smart: he's constantly deriding her for her appearance, but the truth is she's his equal. we get House going agog around pwetty girls. What has that got to do with.. anything? We saw something I've been wanting to see, House having a crush on someone who doesn't want him. I think we're also seeing House exploring himself and his world more, maybe actually realizing he wants a romantic relationship. In a recent interview HL described House's heart as "cold and dead" and no doubt House would too: now we see it's not. Nice episode, 407!

When they waltzed into the MRI room to get away from the camera crew, weren't any of them wearing metal? Shouldn't their watches have ripped off their bodies and gone flying into the machine or something? Not unless they're IN the MRI, right? But what bothered me about the scene was what happened to the neat little alarm that goes off when a person walks in on an MRI in progress? Cuddy set it off in "Skin Deep." Also, if you look in the background and through the window, there is no one manning the MRI of Doom control center! Apparently the doctors and techs stuck the guy in there, left it running, and all went out for coffee. I guess that explains why no one shut down the thing when House and his fellows barged in.

I doubt I'll last much longer. The moronic, moldy jokes are out, yet instead we get House going agog around pwetty girls. What has that got to do with.. anything? Seriously, what? How does what we've seen in 3 seasons adds up to this? How does any of it contribute to his character development, or even to the plot? Last week it looked like they gave House a lobotomy, this week he is reborn as a a virgin. My take on this is a little closer to what Taiga said: We saw something I've been wanting to see, House having a crush on someone who doesn't want him. I think we're also seeing House exploring himself and his world more, maybe actually realizing he wants a romantic relationship. In a recent interview HL described House's heart as "cold and dead" and no doubt House would too: now we see it's not. IMO, House is finally over Stacy, the woman he spent five years "pining" for and pushed away because he thought he could never please her, and testing his "I can has relationship?" wings again for the first time in more than five years. I see his 14-year-old, thinking-with-Little-Greg, seemingly OOC behavior re Terzi as a manifestation of his heart finally emerging from cold storage combined with what's probably a lifelong awkwardness when it comes to interpersonal relations in general and romance in particular -- cf. the "lame" (his word) corsage for Cameron, the "cheesy" (her word) heart prescription for Stacy, the inappropriate comments to Cuddy. The "socially inept genius" aka "nerd/geek" stereotype is a cliche for a reason; it's based in truth. But his "I'm that guy" realization is a step forward; he's starting to understand that genius or not, he's not that different from "normal" people when it comes to matters of the heart (or hormones). I'm holding onto the hope that the 14-year-old-boy behavior is a temporary swing of the pendulum and he will find someone who "gets" him and puts up with him in all his prickly, misanthropic glory. (My Hammy little heart wants that someone to be, well, you know, but I'm not holding my breath.)

Wilson seems remarkably un-annoyed that House is expressing guilt for dumb CIA chick giving up her career to work for him, particularly after House went a very long time expressing zero remorse for Wilson giving up his career during the Tritter arc.

Wilson seems remarkably un-annoyed that House is expressing guilt for dumb CIA chick giving up her career to work for him, particularly after House went a very long time expressing zero remorse for Wilson giving up his career during the Tritter arc. My bitter response to that would be that TPTB have hurled seasons 1, 2, & 3 into oblivion.

Wilson seems remarkably un-annoyed that House is expressing guilt for dumb CIA chick giving up her career to work for him, particularly after House went a very long time expressing zero remorse for Wilson giving up his career during the Tritter arc. Maybe because House wasn't feeling guilty about it at all? I mean, Wilson might know that House was using the "give up her career" thing as an excuse to not fire her, but he was really upset because he misjudged her abilities. He was wrong about her intelligence - and he doesn't like to be wrong about anything. He chose her because, like Cameron she would be a nice piece of art in the lobby with brains, but unlike Cameron (and now 13, it seems) she was worthless. I guess that's the big theme of the first part of the season: how appearances can deceive, when you just look superficially at somebody or something.