House wasn't so passive when Cuddy gave him the methadone or your job ultimatum in the bathroom. Methadone isn't mind altering, it doesn't give you a high ... the difference in House's behavior was simply lack of pain. I think House is fundamentally nice as a person, under the pain and the bitterness. What he basically said in very simplistic terms was I like my pain because it gives me an edge,a nice excuse to act out and get away with it. I think Cuddy was right, he doesn't like change ... He is used to being the eccentric people tolerate instead of a normal flawed person that will sometimes accommodate other people's wishes. I think he views his in pain life as simpler, I do what I want when I want and how I want price for that is pain.Besides he has done procedures he thought were useless countless times accommodating Cuddy or his fellows, it wasn't the first time and it certainly wasn't proof his mind was not working right.

Yesss! I couldn't agree more, reckless. I said a similar thing a few pages back. I don't think the methadone affected House's mind or medical judgement at all. His "happy" demenour seemed to stem off the simple fact that he was feeling absolutely no pain after years of chronic pain. Stacey might have said that House was "pretty much the same" even before the infarction, but no doubt his pain exacerbated his not-so-charming personality over the years. And heck, his sudden happiness wasn't that different than his usual personality... He was just a little more accomodating. And there's still the chance that he would have done the kid's MRI anyway, with enough prodding from the parents or his team. Maybe if House had made an obvious medical mistake then I could understand his reasoning for believaing his mind wasn't quite up to scratch, but the reason for the kid's illness was such a fluke. I agree with Cuddy that he just doesn't like change - He screwed up a case completely by chance, and blamed it on the only change in his life. I wouldn't say that's a bad thing though... I thought that showed a great 'human' side to House that we haven't seen for a while... Despite the harsh outside, he's very insecure on the inside. He's so afraid of losing his mind and his genius that he'll immediately stop taking a drug that completely rids him of pain- no questions asked. Because without his mind, I don't think House thinks he's worth anything to anyone.

Perhaps nice was the wrong word, fundamentally decent might be a better way to put it .... in any case I m not suggesting for a second there's mother teresa hiding under his misanthropic exterior. But I do feel that human contact and generally letting people in scares House far more than pain, and he prefers to keep his barrier up than changing and going down roads that ended up with him getting (physically and possibly emotionally) scarred. I 'd explain more but I feel I m borderline off topic for the thread :) ETA I'm no physician, but it's my understanding that all drugs are mind-altering. In fact, that's the point -- the methadone was dulling the pain receptors in House's mind. Technically no, methadone is not mind altering, drugs that are designed to produce euphoria or distort perception are classified as mind altering. And being in pain isn't the natural human state, if the drug caused pain then yes you could classify it as mild altering but since it returns him to the normal equilibrium you can't. Medically House wasn't euphoric ... a simple way to explain it is to imagine I dunno having a really lousy toothache. You 're irritable and unwilling to deal with anything. You go to the dentist he/she fixes the tooth you return to normal. Just because you barked at your gf while you were in pain doesnt mean the dentist altered your mind by fixing the tooth cause you then went back and apologized. :)

I think House was incredibly brave to make the choice he did. On the other hand, there was no other choice that would be true to his character. He wasn't dulled to the point of being unable to make a decision, but body chemistry is a delicate thing and the effects of drugs on different body chemistry do vary from person to person. He is a hyper-obeservant and sensitive guy who foresees how things are going to work out. Here he saw how the drug affected his willingness to pursue his own convictions in the face of opposition. He was less willing to stand fast, more compliant, more passive, not completely so, but more than his usual MO, and he saw that the choice was perhaps to become a lesser doctor, but also a more acceptable and less lonely and miserable man, but the trade-off was too high. I think he clearly does not want to be in pain, does not think he needs to be in pain to put up or take down barriers, or do his job, since, as jonne said he has been searching for ways to relieve the pain. He wants to be pain-free, but he doesn't want to lose his core self which is complex, has elements of decency as well as a fierce rage against stupidity, and then there's just plain cussedness. He's not a simplistic character, so a simplistic explanation of who he is or what his motivations are won't fit the evidence. He has tried and failed at this so many times, so frustrating to face a life of pain, and even when he is so close to getting what he wants, a relationship, a pain-free life, he sees that it just isn't going to work because he can't give up what makes him himself, whatever complicated mix that is, anymore than he could give up his leg.

Yes, Namaste is right. It's semantics. Triteness...we have a difference of opinion. I don't see House as fundamentally nice. I see him as human. He's got a sensitive side, we've all seen it. I don't think he's fundamentally anything...nice, mean or otherwise. I see him more as a complicated character. Boffle: word to your whole post :)