5.24 - Both Sides Now

Why did Wilson park so far away? I realize that House giving Wilson his watch, wallet, etc. and his walking alone were meant to emphasize the fact that he entered willingly. But even if he didn't go with him, carry his bag, etc., Wilson could have parked closer. Why did the place seem so deserted--no other cars, no people, etc.? And how did the staff members suddenly appear from nowhere, walking up the steps with House? Dramatic effect? If Wilson hadn't have parked so far away, we wouldn't have gotten that long sad walk House had to take. I don't think there's any logical reason for it, other than to show that House needed to (and was willing to) take the final steps on his own. The weather thing does bug me, but I can accept the rest of it. I just can't totally buy the "this is the life House wanted" scenario. Maybe I don't know enough about hallucinations but it seems to me that Amber made it clear that she was a hallucination not a fantasy. If the scenerio with Cuddy is really the life he wants, wouldn't it fall more into the fantasy category? Can you really subconsciously control a hallucination, really a delusion since he didn't know it wasn't real, to make it into something you want? That's the reason I can't take the episode as House is in love with Cuddy and wants a life with her. His mind may find comfort in Cuddy as I know he cares about her a great deal, he may be in love with her, but his delusions don't prove that to me. But, again I'm no expert.

I think if you're a Huddy shipper, you can pin your hopes on the "House concocts a fantasy world in which he gets together with Cuddy." For me, a non-shipper of anyone, I'd say that it goes back to the conversation in the bus with Amber in "Wilson's Heart," in that House doesn't want to be alone, and Cuddy is the likeliest candidate to put into that slot. (Not to start anything with slashers here, just going with what we've got from canon, OK?) A few years ago, he might have concocted a fantasy world with Stacy, but at this point, in this stage in his life where he and Cuddy have been dancing around the issue in closer and closer proximity, it's Cuddy that fills that slot in his delusion. OK, to take on the slasher aspect ... why not Wilson? (Other than the fact that we've only seen House with women sexually in canon.) Because he's reached a point where he's secure in his relationship with Wilson. Things are solid between them. With Cuddy there's uncertainty. The very fact that in his delusion he had to have the conversation with her in which he refers to himself as "your hospital's best asset" and he has to have her reassure him that there's something else means that he really doesn't know where he stands with her. He's a guy who wants answers, and his delusion filled in the answer he most wanted to hear at that time. Like Amber said in "Skin," when he was considering various causes for the hallucination, he knew infection wasn't the right answer but he was hoping it was because it was the easiest to deal with. If the reality is that Cuddy is just as uncertain about her feelings for House as he is towards her, that's not an answer and its not the security in his relationship that he has with Wilson.

I just wanted to pop in to say that as a tried and true Chaser since S1, I appreciated the parallels (and contrasts) generated between House and Chase in this episode. People have commented on the wedding ring vs. watch snapshots. I agree: that wasn't an accident, just like the theme of commitment vs. committed. It's juicy irony and I eat that stuff up for breakfast. As Chase builds a home, House's empire comes crashing down around him. I'm sure next season will see the pendulum swinging back the other way, at least a bit, but for now, it is amazing to think just how far Chase has come, and just how far House has fallen. I found some poetic justice in the way House began to realize how "off" he was regarding the diagnosis of the clinic patient (well played by Carl Reiner, who is 87 years old thankyouverymuch). He started writing him a scrip for antacids. Shades of The Mistake, anyone? (I hope the cancer isn't too far gone this time, not that I think we'll learn the outcome because this show loves loose ends.) Still, as soon as House was writing the prescription for antacids, dawn broke. :idea: And to those who just jumped on the Chase bandwagon this season: Took ya' long enough! :wink:

More Chase and Cameron wedding promo pics that were not part of the show posted here.

I didn't get that the sense that House is in love with Cuddy from the episode - clearly she's someone he cares about and is attracted to, but it's significant to me that the Cuddy he imagined in many ways did not act like the real woman. He wants to not be miserable, and that means to House that he wants a life like he had before the infarction - a romantic relationship with a woman who loves him, no pain, no drug dependence. Cuddy's the only woman in his life now who could conceivably fit into that fantasy. So it didn't seem to me it was about Cuddy as much as she was something of a symbol. I also think, like the patient, House is not completely sure *what* he wants - part of him wants that normal type of happiness, to be that guy. And part of him values his own oddness and wants to protect that from changing. All that said, I think this episode was a case in which the showrunners/writers are using purposeful ambiguity - I suspect they want to be able to move on from the 'ship' part of the storyline next season, and so had Cuddy realize she could never have that kind of relationship with House, and House know on some level that that's not truly "who he is" now. But they wanted to leave the other interpretive option open to give shippers a way to see a more congenial meaning - that House truly wants to be with Cuddy herself, but doesn't feel he can. Which is, IMO, similar in a way to the step away from H/Cameron in "Love Hurts" - I saw it as Cameron not having a realistic view of House, and House being unwilling to pursue matters, but there was room then for shippers to believe he was pushing her away out of fear.

I keep rewatching the last few minutes of the episode, and keep getting the sense the show nearing the end. I always thought the show could go about five seasons - then four was truncated, so I thought six. And now here we are, gearing up for season six. The montage at the end shows us three happy couples - completely unheard of on this show previously - and Cuddy with her baby. They all pretty much got what they need, if not what they want (why, yes, I had to reference the song). Only House - and by extension, Wilson - is unhappy and has a major issue to resolve next year. Plus, we had three years with the original fellows and would have three years with the newbies.

Well two days after watching the episode I'm still in shock, I think. I can't believe I have to wait FOUR months to know how House wil get back (and if it takes a few episodes, it means a few episodes with less Hugh Laurie's screen time, damm...) I feel somehow comforted that strong Cuddy was back, and post detox sex was not real, but my inner fangirl still felt sorry for House. I hope they manage to build some kind of believable relationship next year (at that point, Wilson or Cuddy, I really don't care) I'm a little fed up with all the growing misery they put on House. I don't want to watch his slow downfall, I don't want him to turn happy out of character, but I hope really, really hope the witty, grumpy, smug doctor I used to watch will come back at some point. Does anybody want to see him worsen more?

Why did Wilson park so far away? I realize that House giving Wilson his watch, wallet, etc. and his walking alone were meant to emphasize the fact that he entered willingly. But even if he didn't go with him, carry his bag, etc., Wilson could have parked closer. Why did the place seem so deserted--no other cars, no people, etc.? And how did the staff members suddenly appear from nowhere, walking up the steps with House? I think 99% of the questions we're asking are about clues they deliberately put in the script. And it's wonderful that they're not anvils, the answers aren't obvious. We're going to have several months to pick at this, have epiphanies, have others shoot down our epiphanies, etc. But, for me, Wilson's parking so far away was dramatic license. Watching House limp down that road emphasized how alone he is. The staff members were representative of the people who will be significant in his life, who will, in fact, control his life in the immediate future. They joined him and Wilson was left behind. ETA: aithlyn, I love “commitment vs. committed.” Great observation. I agree about Eugene Schwartz (Carl Reiner). As House said in The Mistake, “Mistakes are as serious as the results they cause.” At this point in his life, House has the potential to make mistakes with very, very serious results. And we won’t learn about what happens to Eugene because that’s how life is. Four months from now he isn’t going to be a Diagnostics patient. House isn’t going to ask about him. It still bothers me that we never learned what happened to Jack Moriarity or why he shot House. It doesn’t bother me when we don’t learn what happens to a patient after he/she leaves House’s care. In real life doctors experience that all the time. I'm a little fed up with all the growing misery they put on House. I don't want to watch his slow downfall I feel like House has, pretty much, reached rock bottom. It’s hard to imagine how much further he could fall and there still be a show. It seems to me that what we have to get now is House’s slow crawl back toward some sort of equilibrium. Not happiness, certainly, but back to where he at least enjoys being miserable

Well said, m_supercomputer. I suspect this is the end of the major shippiness between House and Cuddy. After all the build up for the sex that turned out to be a hallucination, there's no way they can create that same build up of tension again without it feeling repetitive. I don't think they would have made such a big deal out of the fake thing if they intended to go for the real thing next year. The tension of waiting is gone. And it does leave it open like HAM was (though, now that she's married, I'm pretty sure that ship has completely sailed).

People have commented on the wedding ring vs. watch snapshots. I agree: that wasn't an accident, just like the theme of commitment vs. committed. It's juicy irony and I eat that stuff up for breakfast. As Chase builds a home, House's empire comes crashing down around him. Nice, aithlyn. I love that House and Chase are such similiar but at the same time very different characters. House was acting very insulting and self centered when he insulted Cuddy's need to get home to her child. Chase was willing to put his ego and fears aside and came to accept that Cameron wanting to hold onto a piece of her deceased husband didn't diminish her committment to him.

love that House and Chase are such similiar but at the same time very different characters. House was acting very insulting and self centered when he insulted Cuddy's need to get home to her child. Chase was willing to put his ego and fears aside and came to accept that Cameron wanting to hold onto a piece of her deceased husband didn't diminish her commitment to him. House is a self-centered character. But when he said that to Cuddy he was also, literally, insane. And Chase is certainly capable of being self-centered (e.g. Vogler and telling Cameron he liked her once a week when she said she didn't want to hear it.) I think the difference is that House does have a truly vicious streak (a trait we've never seen Chase exhibit). He usually keeps it under control. He seems to use it against Wilson in pre-emptive strikes when Wilson is going to tell him something he doesn't want to hear. Otherwise he mostly shows it when he's in pain (e.g. telling Cuddy she's make a lousy mother in Finding Judas.)

Wilson's Cuddy replacing Vicodin after 6 hours theory was stupid and makes Wilson seem like an unbelievable character. Actually for a drug addict it makes a great deal of sense. Wilson was saying House was attempting to replace one addiction with another. House was getting the same high from his delusional Huddy sex as he had from his vicodin. That's why I so loved the use of the lipstick as a substitute for the vicodin vial. House was looking for an easy way out. He wanted to avoid doing the hard work of getting sober. It's hard and it's painful and it hurts a lot.

House is a self-centered character. But when he said that to Cuddy he was also, literally, insane. And Chase is certainly capable of being self-centered (e.g. Vogler and telling Cameron he liked her once a week when she said she didn't want to hear it.) I think there's a difference between being self-centered and self-preserving. And in someone who grew up the child of an alcoholic mom and with a dad like Rowan, Chase is very much the latter. He went to Vogler because he felt threatened (a feeling House magnified when he decided to play games with Chase at the time). And I don't know if going after a woman you're interested in (and, who it turns out, really was interested in him) really qualifies as being more self-centered than normal behavior. I think the difference is that House does have a truly vicious streak (a trait we've never seen Chase exhibit). Yep. That's totally true. His remarks to Cuddy on parenting (and that line to Chase about not getting to say goodbye to his dad) were seriously vicious.

I just wanted to pop in to say that as a tried and true Chaser since S1, I appreciated the parallels (and contrasts) generated between House and Chase in this episode. People have commented on the wedding ring vs. watch snapshots. I agree: that wasn't an accident, just like the theme of commitment vs. committed. It's juicy irony and I eat that stuff up for breakfast. As Chase builds a home, House's empire comes crashing down around him. I'm sure next season will see the pendulum swinging back the other way, at least a bit, but for now, it is amazing to think just how far Chase has come, and just how far House has fallen. I found some poetic justice in the way House began to realize how "off" he was regarding the diagnosis of the clinic patient (well played by Carl Reiner, who is 87 years old thankyouverymuch). He started writing him a scrip for antacids. Shades of The Mistake, anyone? (I hope the cancer isn't too far gone this time, not that I think we'll learn the outcome because this show loves loose ends.) Still, as soon as House was writing the prescription for antacids, dawn broke. :idea: And to those who just jumped on the Chase bandwagon this season: Took ya' long enough! :wink: Where've you been? (missed!) Thanks for coming along and connecting these dots so wonderfully. When it comes to a Doris Egan script, I don't think there are any accidents.

it appears that it might have occurred over three days. Didn't House announce on that balcony that he'd slept with Cuddy the night before? But then the patient's girlfriend said she's been away for days... I'm confused. I can't see House and Cuddy sitting down and reading the paper over coffee on a Sunday morning, I can't see them going grocery shopping together, or any of the mundane, everyday things that normal couples do. I don't know if I can see that or not, maybe, but what I can't see is House accepting Cuddy and her baby into his life. Becoming a stepfather as well as a boyfriend. He's never given any indication he's interested in parenthood, and seems jealous of the attention Cuddy gives the baby. To me that's the barrier because nothing can change the sheer fact of Rachel's presence in Cuddy's life. You can't fanwank it away. it does leave it open like HAM was (though, now that she's married, I'm pretty sure that ship has completely sailed) I don't see how that ship could be any more sunk.

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