5.24 - Both Sides Now

Wow. Great episode (Doris Egan is my hero :D), and so much to think about... I've got to rewatch, I feel like there's something I haven't figured out yet, so I'll just drop a few lines for the moment. Split brain syndrome... How cool is that? :cool: If you're interested, I found an interesting article about the different coping strategies of the two hemisferes. You can find it here: Vilayanur Ramachandran;Figuring Out the Brain From Its Acts of Denial A quick note about the last scene: S4 and S5 ended in a similar albeit specular way, with House and Wilson parting in silence, only a long stare, full of sadness, passing between them. I wonder if it's a coincidence. sdemar wrote: As a Huddy, I was sad by the way it ended but I can at least hang my hat on the fact that House hallucinated Cuddy and that is how he wanted his life to be. Not necessarily. As I see it - that is, through the House/Wilson tinted goggles permanently fused on my corneas - a parallel was drawn between House's hallucinations and the kind of delusions caused by the left hemisphere. After all, House identifies himself with the left side of his brain - the logical, mathematical one, the one that is 'obsessed with finding answers' and that tells 'the story of who we are', words similar to those, BTW, "Amber" used at the end of the episode while talking about House himself - and dismisses the right side. The role of the left side of the brain isn't to tell us who we really are or what we really feel or want, but to create a model about ourselves and the world and maintain it at all costs: it's about who we think we are, about what we think we feel and want. The right side ("Amber"?), on the other hand, doesn't lie, doesn't confabulate: its job is to detect anomalies and force paradigm shifts, to tell us the truth, even if we don't like it or if it clashes withh what we think it's true about ourselves. So the fact that House hallucinated Cuddy doesn't necessarily mean he really wants to be with her, or that he's really in love with her: it may only be what he thinks he wants, what is consistent with the way he sees himself. Wow, for the first time since "Joy" I feel cautiously optimist about a possible H/W turn. :clap:

Jennifer Morrison cries really well. Chase figuring out the real reason she wanted to keep the sperm was very well done. Wanting to make sure a loved one "survives," that there's evidence that he was there, is very real. (And once Chase figured out the puzzle, he was fine with it.) ... I'm glad House was wrong about Chase.It's nice to see two people on this show have a normal, adult relationship. ETA: Loved "I don't want to be homeless." I agree so much. I thought the scenes with Chase and Cameron were wonderfully done from Cameron's "I don't want to be homeless" to the way they kept moving toward each other like they wanted to hug even though they couldn't to Chase's reveal of the puzzle to the beautiful way Cameron responded in tears. Before OW came along, I never thought of JM as a great actress, but the difference between the two of them and the emotions they can get across is staggering. And Jesse is consistently one of the best players they have. I really hope they use both of them more next year (but as doctors, not just for relationship stuff). I love that they act like adults and work through their problems instead of maliciously hurting one another. They make a wonderful contrast to the House/Cuddy relationship. I also like that they're not written like the perfect couple either because the perfect couple doesn't exit, probably not even in Chase's romantic view of love that reality can't compete with. I also have enjoyed the flip to the gender stereotyping that they've done with Chase and Cameron all along. It's been fun to see a male who wants to dive into commitment without a safety net. It'll probably come back to bite him, but it's been sweet and a nice contrast to what I usually see on TV. PS: If anyone finds those wedding pictures from FOX Flash in bigger versions, please let me know!

PS: If anyone finds those wedding pictures from FOX Flash in bigger versions, please let me know! SpoilerTV folks have them up.

Thanks for the link!

I find it interesting that no one gets pissed off at Foreman for spreading the rumor about the reason for the Chase/Cameron split all around PPTH to the degree that even Taub knows Cameron is hanging onto her dead husband's sperm. Yeah. That bugged me. Big time. Chase may have made great strides in opening up about personal issues (see contrast in first two seasons when he avoided discussion of all personal issues), but maybe he should be talking to someone other than Foreman. Unless it was Cameron who spilled to someone, but I just don't see it in this instance. One cool thing the wedding confirmed: The two of them know way more people than those at PPTH...and they even have (gasp!) friends (was dying to know which friend of Cameron was responsible for bowling night) outside of the hospital. Wedding did sort of confirm Cameron doesn't have a dad--she's so totally the type to have dad walk her down the aisle. Was wondering if the flower girl was her niece (we know she has a sibling).

So the fact that House hallucinated Cuddy doesn't necessarily mean he really wants to be with her, or that he's really in love with her: it may only be what he thinks he wants, what is consistent with the way he sees himself. This is true. House has been trying all season to get back in whatever way he could the life he had before the infarction -- one of less pain and one with the sassy brunette in his life. And for about five minutes of "Under My Skin" and the first forty minutes of "Both Sides Now," it looked like he was on his way back to that. He was seemingly not on drugs, and he was on the cusp of something potentially very special with the sassy brunette in his life (the one with the boobs, not the one with the pocket protector). That was the story he wrote for himself, and he inserted whichever characters necessary to make that story work. What I do hope comes from this, though, is that House really realizes what an important role both Cuddy and Wilson play in his life. Cuddy may have been a convenient character to insert into his story, but she was also there for a reason. He does need her. He does count on her. They may not be headed for some epic love story, but they are important to each other.

Unless it was Cameron who spilled to someone, but I just don't see it in this instance. She told House, though, right?

Oooh, Cameron's dress is even more gorgeous now that I can see the details. Simple, but elegant. She looked radiant.

I think since Chase told Foreman, Foreman told 13. We saw 13 tell Taub. House just knows everything anyway. ;) Let's hope the whole hospital doesn't know because that's just creepy. LOL

Unless it was Cameron who spilled to someone, but I just don't see it in this instance. She told House, though, right? If Taub knew, then House already knew...or things were even worse for him than they appeared to be.

The current Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital defintely not anywhere near as imposing as the original: here Several people have commented on the startling differences in the weather and general vibes between the wedding and the hospital scenes. Combining this pic of the new facility with Wilson's comment in UMS about knowing "a nice facility" makes me wonder if House is hallucinating when they arrive at the hospital--that what we saw really represents his worst fears. Possibly the actual hospital looks like this newer one. (I think someone else questioned whether it was a hallucination, but I can't find the post.)

I think the delusion started where we saw in that montage, when Cuddy walked out on House after he made that nasty remark about her baby. He needed her support and didn't get it (through no fault of hers!), so he created a fantasy where he did. Cuddy's clearly been in love with House for years. Throughout the last three seasons I've thought that House cared about Cuddy as a person and lusted after her, but didn't love her in return. This episode convinced me that he's truly in love with her. And now she knows it. What's more, she found out just as she'd finally determined that they have no personal relationship and never can. What will she do now? House is in a facility outside Philly. One of the directors was in college with Wilson. The facility outside Philly that Wilson spoke of in UMS was a rehab facility where Wilson was going to take him to detox off Vicodin. This is a psychiatric hospital, it may not be the same place. TPTB will need to give both Wilson and especially Cuddy a measure of contentment before the bitter end. Baby Rachel is supposed to provide that comfort but I don't think it is enough unless Cuddy is revealed as more of a masochist than we have seen so far. (Has anyone seen the delightfully masochistic film "Secretary"?) I have, and criminy jim I have no idea how your mind connected those two thoughts! I could have sworn that the posters in Wilson's office switched during the various scenes Did they? I'm curious because two storylines have been foreshadowed by a poster appearing in Wilson's office: the Tritter arc by a "Touch of Evil" poster and Danny's reappearance by an "Ordinary People" poster. I don't think Cuddy would go through with firing House after finding out the truth. It's not his fault he's lost his mind. Word. Notice the way she touched his face in her office. In this ep. what was it that Cuddy was playing with in her office? Coins? I thought they were worry beads. Interesting that House created a fake life that mirrors the life that Wilson wants him to have: be happy, be with someone, try to be with Cuddy, try something other than Vicodin. Of course it was a lie, he based it on someone else’s expectations. You think he doesn't actually want that life he pictured for himself? I do. After looking at those lovely wedding shots, I think DS must be one sadistic bastard to make JS and JM film that!

It's not unheard of for an old building like that to still be in use as a psychiatric facility. I've seen a few. They don't need the state-of-the-art wiring for all the high-tech equipment, or the easy-to-wipe-down-to-OR-sterile surfaces a hospital for the physically ill requires. Mental illnesses aren't contagious, and they are largely managed chemically. (I'm not saying psychiatric hospitals are dirty, unsanitary or technologically backward -- just that it's more feasible for an older building to function as one than as a regular hospital.) That said, I think they found a perfect building to stand in for House's psych hospital. It's dark and heavy and gloomy, like a church or monastery -- and like the current state of his mind and heart. Conducive to the rest and reflection he needs as much as he needs a clinical diagnosis. And it suited the mood of the scene far better than a bright, sunny cheery facility would. JMO and YMMV, as always.

I agree with all your comments Taiga except the last. They are a couple years away from their personal breakup and this has been on the horizon for a while, they've been working together every day and they are professionals getting a chance to have some big moments on the show. I don't think it was sadistic for the two characters that have been together one way or another for years to get married. It was just where that storyline went. It may cause a twinge for them, but my guess is that they are over it, have moved on, and are fine with playing their characters. And as happy as they looked there, I expect there to be trouble lurking just around the bend.

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