5.12 - Painless

And thank you Night Owl. I think I got that when I watched it, but then thought it meant something else later. Anyway, thanks!

What bothered me is the way the patient kept talking about wanting to die in the presence of his kid, and even using him to try and achieve his suicide. Not something a child should go through and his mother should have protected him from this, even when his father couldn't. I did like Wilson with (as) the überduckling. But that nursery, how much more pink can you get. We know it's a girl Cuddy, no need to blind us with this overdose of fluff.

So in that same scene House says something about last time I did this I got shot? By an attorney whose name he used without permission? Help me. I am thick today. House meant that the last time a guy walked into the office and asked, "Which one of you is House?", he got shot. So this time, he pointed to Foreman in response to the question, as a gesture of self-protection. And, of course, last time he tried to indicate that Cameron was House. "Skinny brunette."

Actually House sent an email. The lawyer said "next time you send a threatening email...". That's what House was doing at the computer when he asked for the name of a lawyer. LOL. When I wrote letter I meant e-mail. I never write letters on actual paper, so I forgot to specify. :wink:

True, we haven't seen evidence of House's pain increasing. Actually, we've not seen much evidence of ANY pain this season. I wanted a more meaningful, intimate seen between House and the POTW. But the OR scene where House admits he is having more bad days was well done. They squeezed a lot of scenes in, so maybe that's why the whole episode seemed rather rushed to me. Oh yeah, the "fake baby"? I thought maybe Cuddy was pranking House, and was going to toss the doll at him from across the room. Really, for a show that does so many cool special effects, the obviously fake baby was glaring.

True, we haven't seen evidence of House's pain increasing. Actually, we've not seen much evidence of ANY pain this season. I wanted a more meaningful, intimate seen between House and the POTW. But the OR scene where House admits he is having more bad days was well done. They squeezed a lot of scenes in, so maybe that's why the whole episode seemed rather rushed to me. I agree with this. I think his co-workers have a tendency to forget the pain he's in because he doesn't make a big deal about it. I liked the scene. In fact, I was pleased with the whole episode which is a change for me. My favorite line of the episode was when Cuddy told him she had a meeting with D-Y-F-S coming up and he told her of his meeting with w-h-o-r-e coming up. That's the House I know and love. Wasn't thrilled about the potw dragging his kid into his issues either. I thought the diagnosis was clever but who knows if it epilepsy could present that way.

Long time lurker, first time poster. One thing I really didn't like about this episode was that the patient was too much like House. I think it would have been cool if he was trying to soldier on and be happy and upbeat about things. When I first read the spoilers I thought maybe that was where they were going. This worked too, because they played up the family issues and the suicide issues but, I think it would have been cool if the patient was as alone and disconnected as House but didn't have House's work and financial security. Being alone and in pain and barely hanging on to a part time job at Wendy's has to be worse than House's existance. I think the Cameron-as-Cuddy's-second-in-command plot could be pretty interesting. If you look at it objectively, the job is horrible (I mean probably one step under guy who cleans peep show booths on the crappy job scale) and I wonder what made her take it (ambition? House? concern for Cuddy?). Technically you could argue that it looks good on a resume but Foreman looked totally ineffectual as House's supervisor (as some have mentioned upthread,) and that couldn't be helpful when interviewing for future jobs. I don't know what it is, but I find Foreman really creepy in this particular subplot. If 13 ends up chained in his basement, I don't feel bad for her. The danger seems pretty clear to me. Although I guess it does give more credence to the Foreman as House comparisons, I feared for Stacy's safety several times during Season 2 as well. If Wilson ever starts getting threatening phone calls and his paper stolen, I know who the culprit is.

So I just found something that probably qualifies as a continuity error. I was re-watching 5.06 Joy last night. At the start of that final scene (in which House knocks on Cuddy's door and they eventually kiss), there is a shot of Cuddy sitting alone in the baby's room. Next to her is the crib, packed full of baby items—including the exact same giant yellow duck that Wilson would bring her as a gift in 5.12 Painless.

Maybe there is one more to come, making three ducklings in all!

So I just found something that probably qualifies as a continuity error. I was re-watching 5.06 Joy last night. At the start of that final scene (in which House knocks on Cuddy's door and they eventually kiss), there is a shot of Cuddy sitting alone in the baby's room. Next to her is the crib, packed full of baby items—including the exact same giant yellow duck that Wilson would bring her as a gift in 5.12 Painless. I KNEW I recognized that duck! Something seemed off, I swore I had seen it before! Nice catch

Don't be silly. Obviously Wilson gave her the duck when she was going to adopt Joy but, when she lost the baby he took it back so it wouldn't be a reminder. Now that she's got a baby, he brought it back. House would never have anything as gauche as a continuity error.

Are you sure?? :P I had to watch a couple of times to get the W-H-O-R-E visit line, but I got it! This was quite a god episode, I thought. The POTW plot went nicely with House having increased pain, but if the writers are just gonna put that in they should continue it for more than one episode, because when you think about it House didn't take any pills in JTTW or maybe afew but this episode he's pulling them down. If they just have him going back to normal, I won't be that happy with breaks.

I had to watch a couple of times to get the W-H-O-R-E visit line, but I got it! This was quite a god episode, I thought. The POTW plot went nicely with House having increased pain, but if the writers are just gonna put that in they should continue it for more than one episode, because when you think about it House didn't take any pills in JTTW or maybe afew but this episode he's pulling them down. If they just have him going back to normal, I won't be that happy with breaks. Also, since it's been established that House's increased pain always correlates with increased emotional stress, it'd be interesting to explore what that increased stress is. Stress over his friendship with Wilson? Stress over Cuddy taking her attention off him? If they just let it drop, I think they'd missing a big opportunity.

if it is an emotional stress thing (here's hoping!), and not just a handy plot device to coincide with suicidal pain man, I imagine it will be over Cuddy's baby. Any emotional upset wrt Wilson appears to have been all but forgotten.

I hope that a small element of it is just regular chronic pain. The emotional stress thing has started to bug me because it only shows up at convenient times. We used to see House in pain for no particular reason other than the huge gaping hole in his leg. But now he needs an emotional reason to be in pain or an episode revolving around the pain, or the writers simply don't show him in pain. I'd just like to see him suffering every now and then for no other reason than his bum leg being a bum leg. Show him taking Vicodin more often, show him limping heavily, show him rubbing his leg every now and then. It doesn't need to be a big plot point for certain episodes. Just something that is a part of House's character.

View Full Version: 5.12 - Painless