5.02 - Not Cancer

5.02 - Not Cancer
When several people die suddenly and without warning five years after receiving transplants from a single organ donor, House and the team rush to save the only two surviving recipients. With one already dying and other healthy but sure to fall ill at any moment, the team must find out what was wrong with the original organ donor. As the team sorts through the records on the deceased donor recipients to find the common thread, they must deal with a new intrusion. House has hired Lucas (guest star Michael Weston), a private investigator, to dig up information about the deceased despite the team's skepticism. Meanwhile, House auditions new best friends to replace Wilson, and soon uses Lucas for his own personal means to spy on Wilson and the other team members in the "Not Cancer" episode of HOUSE airing Tuesday, Sept. 23 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/ PT) on FOX. (HOU-502) (TV-14 D) Cast: Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House; Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Lisa Cuddy; Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman; Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson; Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron; Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase; Peter Jacobson as Dr. Chris Taub; Kal Penn as Dr. Lawrence Kutner; Olivia Wilde as Thirteen Guest Cast: Michael Weston as Lucas; Felicia Day as Apple; Tim Conlon as Dr. Laibson; Elaine Kagan as Belinda; Melissa Loprire as Girl; Christine Lucas as Emma; Denice Sealy as Nurse; Tyler Patton as Neurosurgeon; Eric Kaldor as Frank; Aimee Bell as Holly; Dennis Keiffer as Danny; David Buglione as Rico; Mark Beltzman as Tibalt Oyylant; Mike Gaines as Morgan; Jamine Alvarez as April; Bobbin Bergstrom as Nurse Source: The Futon Critic

This exchange cracked me up: Dr. O'Shea: You know I'm not gay, right? House: Neither am I. If you don't want to have sex, that's cool. OMG - the corpse's bowel exploding onto Foreman was absolutely gross.I guessed that might happen when he started applying pressure but I still shrieked. Not sure how I feel about the PI. ETA: H/W scene - so sad

How many episodes in a row do we have to endure with such sad endings? Poor House; he was so pathetic in that final scene. Paying for a friend! I'll be his friend; he doesn't have to pay me. I may not be as interesting as Wilson is, but I'm interested in the medicine more than the P.I. is. So we'll have stuff to talk about. :cry:

All those mentions of peppermint tea - is Honey coming back? Sad for H/W. Cuddy/Chase/Wilson - one scene each - even sadder. Still don't understand what the POTW had.

I liked it. It wasn't the emotional wrenching experiences we've had from Season Four on through, but it was a good, solid mystery. (Besides, I have residual fondness for Captain Horrible's Penny. At least she was saved this time.) But we still got a little gut punch in the House and Wilson scene. Kutner got to be both clever and go too far all in the same scene -- reminding me of why I really like that geek, Foreman fit well into his sub-departmental head role, Chase wasn't the primary surgeon (I can see him assisting in brain surgery, but actually running it?) And I loved O'Shea. Oh, and House, his new nurse nemesis and the whole peppermint tea/boy who cried wolf exchange. ETA: Still don't understand what the POTW had. If I understand it correctly, cancer cells are similar to stem cells in that they can change their structure. But while stem cells can actually become other parts of the body, cancer cells are still cancer cells, even if they're acting like heart, liver, brain stem, etc. The original donor had an undiagnosed cancer, and when his organs were donated, the cancer cells traveled, eventually latching onto new parts of the recipients' bodies -- but they weren't really those body parts, so they'd fail under pressure (like a retreaded tire). In the patient, it had settled in her brain, where it disrupted the normal brain functions, including the way she interpreted sight from that donated cornea.

All those mentions of peppermint tea - is Honey coming back? Bite yr tongue! We don't need any more characters. ;-) But yeah, what were there, 4 mentions?

I was expecting the PI to be much more annoying based on preview talk. He was waaaaaaaay less annoying than 13 was last week or CIA Chick was. Kutner continues to blow things up. And I got the impression that the one thing that separates Foreman from the newbies is that he gets to wear pink scrubs while they wear some other color. You go, Foreman. I found the episode pretty boring. The new cast just doesn't have the spark that comes when Chase, Wilson, and Cuddy show up for a scene. (Cameron too, but she wasn't in this episode).

Can you imagine your brain not working right, being operated on, your eyes once nearly blind and now bandaged, and then they're unwrapped, with the comment that now you'll see the world as it is, and the first person you see is House !!!!!! Gosh, what I'd give for that.

Kutner is coming across as the most focused on the medicine and patients. He may be a goofball, but he knows his stuff.

And I got the impression that the one thing that separates Foreman from the newbies is that he gets to wear pink scrubs while they wear some other color. You go, Foreman. Doesn't Foreman always wear pink scrubs? I like to think that it's some of OE's snazzy fashion sense coming through. ETA: I still don't have a TV, so I have nothing to say about the episode yet. :cry:

Very neat premise, and very hook-y teaser. But House going after that other Dr. WhatsHisHame made me cringe. Blatantly slashy, but cringeworthy. I did like the guy's reaction, though. And after his first scene, I already love Lucas. Of course, I was prepared to love him after seeing just one spoiler photo (since the photo in question had him VERY MINOR SPOILER sitting on House's couch, with House's metaphor touching his thigh).END Are they trying to make Kutner a baby genius like House? I'm pretty sure none of the other fellows, old or new, have gotten this many points this quickly. I utterly adored House going to Wilson for the epiphany and explaining out loud what we all already know. :-D And that he didn't go to Wilson until he needed the epiphany, and didn't get it from Wilson but from Lucas. The theme of this ep seems to be borrowed from Julia -- Wilson isn't as needed as House has thought (wanting is something else entirely). Insert what seems to have become mandatory growling at Cuddy -- you'd think she'd have learned by now to trust House's medical judgment, if not his judgment in anything else. Ewwwhh! They've got warnings for suggestive dialogue, but none for ooey gooey brain gore? I also loved House's last conversations with Lucas and Apple, especially the way Lucas was unamused (he's not too bright, I'm afraid, not to have realized that screwing with the meds was dangerous). I seemed to have loved quite a few distinct bits of the ep -- which is odd perhaps, because the episode as a whole just didn't feel that enthralling. But I suspect the last scene with the patient is going to end up one of my long-run favorites. Shame no one can make the world less ugly for House.

Doesn't Foreman always wear pink scrubs? I like to think that it's some of OE's snazzy fashion sense coming through. Yes. But THAT is why he's special. He gets to wear the pink scrubs! Don't you realize how special that makes him? I just thought it was funny that he was wearing pink scrubs while the newbies were all wearing a different color. And since he doesn't seem to be any more powerful, respected, or effective than he was when he was a fellow with Chase and Cameron, the pink scrubs thing is just about the only perk to his job.

Ewwwhh! They've got warnings for suggestive dialogue, but none for ooey gooey brain gore? \ Brain gore?! What about exploding dead guy bowel gore?! I was so glad I had finished dinner before watching. Ugh.

Aside from being just really gruesome, I liked the episode. Thank goodness the preview was misleading, because I expected more OTT House/Wilson stuff. Instead, it was well-handled, not overdone or taking up too much of the plot. I also had grave fears about the PI. He turned out to be OK, if kind of an odd device because he's doing stuff instead of the team. Just as long as they don't make him into some idiot savant, about either medicine or House. One scene I liked was when the PI started into all the stuff House was getting for his $2300, and House relaxed into a sort-of smile - a person after his own heart.

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