Just realized something else revealed during the conversation about Danny and when he disappeared ... Danny must have been a student at Princeton. Wilson said Danny was in school at the time that he disappeared, and that after that time he'd come to Princeton whenever he could to search for him, seeing him outside the diner 13 years ago. House told him about the opening sometime after that. It would make sense that Danny was attending Princeton when he dropped out of sight, but yet still hung around the area enough to keep Wilson looking in the old neighborhood.

Hadn't seen this mentioned yet, but in the scene with House and Taub re Sandy Koufax and House's belief that Jews aren't good at sports, House mentions that Wilson was on the tennis team in college...but Wilson's Jewish. Interesting.

Forum newbie here, not new to House. Just wanted to put my $.02 in on the Cuddy age thing. I see both sides of the argument and I honestly haven't made my mind up as to which was meant (I'll have to re-watch the ep) but I can see it as being one of those "Cuddy is 38 forever" things, and that's why they're aging her backwards. I'm not 100% convinced it was meant to be taken literally. And, even if it is and it's an error, it doesn't take away from the ep or the show for me that much. I won't lie, it would be great if the continuity was better sometimes, but I can look past it at the big picture, and last night's ep was amazing regardless. My favorite seasons personally was Season 3, House just seemed to dynamic that season, and this episode was a little throwback to that stage of the character.

Maybe Cuddy's like Benjamin Button. :) LOL I can see Cuddy saying that, just to say it BUT if she isn't 38, House would totally call her on it. He's observant (um, meddlesome) enough to notice Taub checking out his nose in the back of a spoon, that he's certain to know Cuddy's real age. I think this will be one of those times I choose to just accept it's a wonky thing and move on.

House has come such a very long way since the Tritter arc. Then, he was useless and detrimental as a friend to Wilson. Now, he is almost a full service friend! I liked how House took time for his friends, Wilson and Cuddy, and demanded more from them in communicating and sharing thoughts and feelings. The "Go on..." twice from both sides, House and Wilson, asking for the entire story, good or bad. And the thorough and complete explanation to Cuddy of House's intent when he paged her to meet the POTW. He wanted her to know that he was trying to make her happy, full disclosure. I also like how he handled his backpack, almost as if it were his special, personal accessory instead of a hindrance (burdens). At the beginning he threw it with affection and esprit. At the end he adjusted the backpack comfortably on his shoulder with a sleek hand as he exited the hospital with a satisfied air. 13 still seems to inhabit a separate dimension that pulls me out of the story with a light thump. It used to be a thud. Could the problem be the lighting they use on her? Hopefully, the POTW's family will withstand the ordeal by honesty, the full disclosure. The wife had a slight feel of Bruce Willis's girlfriend in Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction". Both the girlfriend and the wife seem to feel threatened by their slightly less than average intelligence. In that case, it would be right not to disclose the naked truth.

I was kind of tickled last night by some of the non-PC things the POTW got away with saying. For example, how is it that several thousand people going for a walk cures breast cancer? Wouldn't it be better to have them build some housing for the homeless or something? The scene with the daughter was painful, and I felt sorry for her, but I suspect its true that nobody wants to admit that their kid is less than average. 'Doesn't anybody know what average means? Somebody has to be below average.' I think it's probably best not to worry too much about Cuddy's timeline and just accept the fact that it's all screwed up (and/or that the lady lies about her age). The only way to make it work is to assume that Cuddy is the real genius on the show and raced through all of her schooling and medical training at lightening speed, and there has been less than nothing to indicate she's capable of that. House, on the other hand, even with a year or so off is likely to have gotten through his schooling faster than usual and he would therefore have been long gone by the time Cuddy got to Michigan. To make the Cuddy timeline work you'd have to have House and Cuddy trade IQs. I liked that this episode didn't create another fracture in the House-Wilson friendship, which the spoilers seemed to be hinting at. They are OK.

This was indeed a wonderful episode in what is shaping up to be the strongest season by far. All of the House-Wilson scenes were excellent, naturally, with such lovely face acting by both men as they delivered real blows to the heart and ego. Excellent continuity of themes throughout this season as House tries to understand what his shared history with Wilson means. Wilson's assertion that he never really liked monster trucks had to hurt, even though House quickly assumed (hoped) it was a lie. Just like Wilson's statement at the beginning of the season that he had never been friends with House. The House-Chase scene was my favorite of the episode as it showed House at his most vulnerable and open. The contretemps with Wilson demonstrated to House how much it could hurt to push away a loved one and so House empathized deeply with the POTW's devastating dilemma. Chase got it instantly that House was exposing a raw nerve in his effort to win the risky surgery for his patient. A great scene all around. I loved, of course, the great backward compliment House extended to Cuddy. How adorable that he had complete confidence that no matter who was in the room, the truth-telling patient would confirm that Cuddy was the fairest of them all. House's eager face as he dashed out of the MRI room after her spoke volumes about his hopes for Cuddy. His assertion that she always viewed him as a "jerk who jerks you around" was a another great call back, a re-statement of his season-long struggle with her. Beginning with his delivery of the embarrasing cheerleader photo to the Detective Lucas early in this season, we have seen House work to change Cuddy's image and understanding of him and reconsider his possibilities with her. The continuity in this episode was outstanding. The brief and affectionate by-play between Foreman and Thirteen was nicely done as a contrast to the House/Cuddy conversation: sweet without false sentimentality or romanticism. Foreman knew that after the POTW admired Cuddy's bodacious bottom, he had to move quickly to make sure that his own lady's feeling were not bruised. The whole Wilson brother storyline felt a bit squeezed and rushed to me, but that was O.K. in the end. I love it that this show is so careful with the continuity that counts. (I don't really care how old Cuddy is actually, I assumed she was lying for purposes of the "social contract.") I liked a great deal that House was trying so hard to figure out how to do things for his friends in this episode. He concocted the kooky plan to give Cuddy a compliment and cheer her day. He volunteered to go with Wilson to visit the brother. House has moved forward as a character in small but significant ways and it is great to watch this unfolding.

I don't really care how old Cuddy is actually, I assumed she was lying for purposes of the "social contract." I think Cuddy lied but House respected the social contract by playing along with the lie. It just struck me that the reason they've made Chase look so scruffy since season 4 is that he's supposed to be a mini-House in some respects. He was even wearing a leather jacket in this episode. Similar to Kutner doing the analogy and mischievously making Taub pay for his lunch. Very nice touches.

I still want Wilson to say out loud that he loves House, that House is his best friend, but this episode gave the very concrete reason why he doesn't: House doesn't want to hear it. I'm sure sometimes there's mixed motive (Wilson feels too spiteful or angry to say those things), but the conversation in the cafeteria made it clear that Wilson is trying to be the friend House wants him to be. Which just made me think back to the "tampon" line from "House Training" - heh. :D

I just don't see why Cuddy would lie about her age. What's the point in this case? There's no way House doesn't know how old she actually is, she's got the kid she wanted and House is the guy she wants, and again I'm sure he already knows how old she is, so what does lying about it accomplish? It just doesn't feel like a Cuddy thing to do. About the monster trucks, it feels like we're supposed to believe that Wilson really doesn't like them, but in S1 he seemed genuinely excited about them, so I don't know what the truth is there. I'm actually glad we didn't see Danny, I think that would have made things too crowded and rushed. I don't think it was needed here, like Wilson said, it was anticlimatic. Perhaps we'll see him another time, but I won't hold my breath. I find it ironic that House seemed much nicer this week than in The Softer Side when he was supposed to be "nice." I actually thought he was extra grumpy in that episode. I guess I would be too if everyone was on my back, but still, that just stuck out to me. The POTW's kid should not have been there at all. I don't know why her mother let her stay in the room, knowing that the guy would just say more horrible things. I felt really bad for the daughter. I liked that this episode didn't create another fracture in the House-Wilson friendship, which the spoilers seemed to be hinting at. They are OK. Agreed. The angst is fine once in a while, but it was nice to see it balanced here with just friendship. Once the truth was out, they just were best friends. If that makes any sense. No tension, hostility, ulterior motives, or jealousy and mistrust, just two people meeting each other in the middle. House supporting Wilson when he needed him and Wilson understanding who House was but accepting him anyway, and williningly letting him in at the end.

As I mentioned in the timeline thread over in the general discussion area, I don't think Cuddy lied. But I also don't think she ever said that House was a med student when they met (that's been the fandom supposition). She only said he was "already a legend." He may have been doing his residency or a fellowship when they met. We know that he went to UM, but we don't know that he was still a student at the time they met. I think the reference to her age was there to give us a good hint to House's timeline. It would have been about 1.5-2 years post-infarction (and some time post-Stacy) when Cuddy "hired him" for the new diagnostics department. That also supports interviews with LE that Cuddy "created" the department for him during a time when he was at loose ends.

The previous episode, "The Softer Side" ended with House turning the light out on Cuddy and leaving her alone in darkness, both of them disappointed and dejected with each other and themselves. He had asked her to reveal herself but she had refused to open up, so he completed her (in)action by covering her in darkness. It was not a friendly gesture. But House is so often resilient. And Cuddy is endlessly understanding and forgiving of House. In "The Social Contract", House not only turned the light back on, but he did it in such a fashion that he was only revealing himself to her and demanding nothing from her this time. Then he did all the talking, explaining his intent and wishes in the MRI caper. (What a great location for true quality, inner and outer, to be measured and judged) House's behavior is finally as it should be. He even confesses his awareness of his jerkiness to her with the subtext that he realizes she cannot trust him or his words because of this jerky behavior but that she has, in fact, been misinformed and that by House, himself. Labyrinthine!

Finally got to watch! Such a fun, intriguing episode. DE really nailed this one, from very big themes to very tiny conversational details. Wasn't the "I didn't pick up the phone" thing a story in "Love Actually", too? Only the brother was institutionalized, and poor Laura Linney was too scared ever to let the machine get it ever again. Loved the contrast between bright, glowing PPTH and the dated, shadowy psych hospital. Chaaaaaase. Cool scene. House's true meaning being subtly offered, and Chase apparently having a propensity for working for egomaniacs. I enjoyed both the little Foreteen and Huddy bits. Did not understand why Cuddy's age was 38 and not LE's actual age, that was weird. Time is so not a fixed construct. :lol: