5.12 - Painless
HOUSE TREATS A PATIENT WHOSE CHRONIC PAIN PUSHES HIM TO THE EDGE ON AN ALL-NEW "HOUSE" MONDAY, JANUARY 19, ON FOX - NOW AIRING IN THIS NEW REGULAR TIMEPERIOD At Cameron's urging, House and the team take on the case of a man living with such severe chronic pain that he tries to kill himself, unable to go on after living for years without a diagnosis or any relief from his suffering. As they try to determine whether the man's pain is psychosomatic or caused by a physical disease, parallels between the patient and House's experiences with excruciating, prolonged pain become apparent. When the patient again attempts suicide under the team's care, their search for answers becomes urgent. Meanwhile, Foreman and Thirteen explore their now complicated relationship as they work together on the Huntington's disease clinical drug trial, and Cuddy finds that taking care of her newly adopted baby leaves her little time to run a hospital and baby-sit House at the same time in the "Painless" episode of HOUSE airing Monday, Jan. 19 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (HOU-512) (TV-14; D) CC-HDTV 720p-Dolby Digital 5.1 PA: Viewer discretion is advised. 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: Martin Henderson as Jeff; Sarah Danielle Madison as Lynne; Jake Cherry as Zach; Lori Petty as Janice; Alex Fernandez as Fernando; Anthony Montgomery as James Carlton; James Ingersoll as Chris Carrick; Aisha Kabia as Nurse Rita; Bobbin Bergstrom as Nurse

All this wait and nothing to say, people?

Oh, House. Break my heart, why don't you. And then buy some pull bars. Naked. :D I think we've finally seen the Thirteen story intersect with House's ongoing drama. Over this past season, we've seen Thirteen go through almost everything that I'm sure House has gone through in the last decade. And now, Cuddy is to Foreman what House is to Thirteen (at least before Rachel). Everyone can think of 80 different reasons why neither of these couples should be together, but really, in House!world, why not? (At least for a little while... not forever) ETA: The board is moving slow, Fiddy!

So glad I'm unspoiled (mostly). I enjoyed watching this run past, and moments like House's increasing number of bad days leave an intriguing trail to follow. (And interesting that it's Chase who hears that -- and potentially Cameron, if she was listening in from up above.) Love the fact that House still has Foreman's number, no matter how suave Foreman thinks he is. Interesting to parallel the idea of where House would be if he had nothing left other than pain, and intriguing to question if Kutner was right about Taub at the end. Taub's still bringing the quips and the fun: 'I'd shoot the guys with torches," and "that summer on Fire Island." (By the way, who provided the slight "whooo" at the end of that line? Was that also Taub?) Oh, and Taub referring to Kutner as a Dickens character. Hee. I was mildly spoiled on the Cuddy subplot, but it didn't play out quite the way I'd been led to expect. Yes, she's obviously struggling, but to me it seemed more like she was expecting perfection of herself, rather than the idea that she couldn't actually do anything. I'm waiting to see how the rest of it plays out. Besides, it gave us Wilson with a giant stuffed duck. ("She'll grow into it.) Oh, and the baby has a name. Rachel. Who wins the pool on that one? Oh, and we now know that House doesn't have official grab handles, but he's certainly created one. Overall? I watched it with a smile, and I'm still smiling, so I enjoyed it.

House has very nice plumbing. I love the shower head. And the tile. Can't get enough of the tile. They should show it more often. Another thing I love is that 13 will not be getting better. Nice to see RSL had a few spare minutes and decided to film a scene. I hope he didn't miss a crucial round of Jeopardy. The Cuddy baby story wasn't as bad as one might've guessed. She's not having any harder of a time than anyone else would. But WTH? There's not a more qualified doctor? Y'know, one that was born before the Reagan administration, at least? But seriously, there's tougher tests to adopt a freakin' kitty than that dude ran Cuddy thru. Come on now! Yeah, really liked that bathtub.

I was full of love for Taub tonight. He had some great lines.

I really liked this one, and I think we're seeing the intersection of storylines that to me and I think many others has been missing. I liked everyone's story tonight: Taub and the suicide hint, Thirteen and Foreman's personal issues obviously leading to ethical issues; Cuddy's difficulty letting go of being Superwoman, House's pain and the way his coping mechanism in the bath was destroying his house--metaphor, anyone? And I think Wilson is being set up for feeling alone, though he's not letting on to anyone. Cameron will get her storyline--hopefully Chase will get some love. I'd like to see Chase deal with the information he got during the surgical procedure on House's pain level. But, we'll see. All in all, a good episode raising a great many issues to play out. And we got House in the bath.

Episode started strong, didn't quite live up to that, but was pretty good. A standard mid-season episode, I'd say. Minor nitpicks include the silly treatment of motherhood and working mothers. Of course, they had to make Cuddy all in a tizzy and unable to think about her job because of the impending visit. You would never know this woman is supposed to have been a high-flyer in her profession. I'm all for Foreman having a relationship, but not this one. There's no chemistry. It's awkward. I kept waiting for the shoe to drop about why the pipe burst. ETA:Duh, the light dawns belatedly! He did break it.

I liked the scene with the POTW's wife and House. Perfectly played by HL - the resignation in his voice and face when he agreed to just get him stable enough to go home so he could end it all. RSL must have been giddy when he saw that script. Lotta love for the giant duck. And House's bathtub.

When Ausiello said we'd get to see Hugh partially naked, I NEVER expected this kind of turn out! I mean, we've seen him shirtless in the past, but man, leg and chest action? Anyone else fanning themselves? :P Overall, decent episode. I thought the writers did a good job weaving everyone into this plot. For once, House actually seemed like he held the lead on screen, as opposed to another supporting character role like in many many many past episodes this season. Foreteen wasn't obnoxious, I hate it, but I wasn't scraping my nails against my window while I watched. Tolerable doses, that's how it should be. I did find it some what, not strange, but intriguing that the writers decided to make House all of a sudden have bad pain days while the episode features a pain patient. Not that it's unrealistic, House should have bad days, but I can't even recall once this season where they even gestured toward the possibility of him really struggling. I'm sure it was convenient placement, but it was very nice to see the facets of House and his day to day leg problems show up again, its a major part of his character that should surface the majority of the time. I'm still a bit confused on why the plumber couldn't fix the pipe? Was he hinting that House's cane trick with the T-shirt was what caused the problem? That doesn't make sense, I have to go back and watch.