Thanks Chipper. Just rewatched for the xxth time. I love the fact that they gave us a big clue right after the credits. House wakes up and there's a long shot of the right side of his face with no lipstick on it. Then, when he gets to the bathroom you can see his right cheek for a second -- no lipstick. Then he looks in the mirror and there's lipstick. Of course, you don't notice a lack of something that's never there. It's only in hindsight that it becomes significant. (Besides, he wasn't wearing his usual t-shirt in bed.) I also loved that none of the doctors at the hospital solved the case, the girlfriend did.

Totally agree Poeia. Actually, if you want to consider the PoTW's left hand/right brain a character, he's the one who knew it was the deodorant and kept trying to communicate that until the girlfriend finally picked up on it. My question is how did his other half know it was the deodorant?

Yes, Chipper is right about what MF refers to. Just as she was right about how Season 5 would end. What insight! That's a right brain well connected to the left by a four lane freeway and a couple of bridges. I just watched BSN again for the third time. I had to let some time go by before seeing it again. Two things struck me as obvious that had completely escaped me before. First, Cuddy is now in the same position in relation to House as Wilson has been all these years vis a vis his brother. House reached out to Cuddy but she had more important things to do with her time, take care of her baby. Will she feel forever guilty about this as Wilson has over his brother? Will House use this guilt against her in the future? How will it affect her behavior toward House? Guilt is good for drama, bad for sexual tension. Second, Wilson chose Amber using his conscious brain, rather than his sub-conscious (HD?). I suppose that decision was in contrast to how he chose his 3 ex-wives. House's conscious brain chose Cuddy to help him detox. Cuddy rejected the possibility of a personal relationship with House using her conscious brain ("This is an unemotional decision", BSN) But when House's desperate state was revealed to her she automatically reached out to him with her left hand (right brain, subconscious) mirroring how the POTW's left hand reached out to his girlfriend after she revealed the source of what was poisoning him. At the same time, House reached out to Cuddy using his right hand (left brain, conscious). House's delusion about Cuddy also revealed the source that is poisoning his mind, Vicodin + isolation from intimacy and denial of emotion. There were a few worrying references to disconnecting the two sides of the brain completely as the best solution generally by House. I hope that isn't the choice House makes in Season 6. But mostly I just hope that House's problems aren't trivialized and then forgotten. ETA: House used to enjoy his sexual fantasies about Cuddy, waking or dreaming, and he hired prostitutes who resembled her and encouraged them to dress like her. Now he'll shy away from any such thoughts.

ETA: House used to enjoy his sexual fantasies about Cuddy, waking or dreaming, and he hired prostitutes who resembled her and encouraged them to dress like her. Now he'll shy away from any such thoughts. I don't think he hired prostitutes that looked like Cuddy, necessarily. After all, Stacy is the same look and build. I think it's just his "type."

I agree, small brunettes are just his type. Or the casting director's type. And when did we ever see House tell a prostitute how to dress? Cuddy is now in the same position in relation to House as Wilson has been all these years vis a vis his brother. House reached out to Cuddy but she had more important things to do with her time, take care of her baby. Will she feel forever guilty about this as Wilson has over his brother? It's not really the same though, is it? Cuddy wasn't aware House needed help because in reality he never told her. Therefore she didn't choose not to help him, as Wilson did with Danny.

It's not really the same though, is it? Cuddy wasn't aware House needed help because in reality he never told her. Therefore she didn't choose not to help him, as Wilson did with Danny. Taiga, you're right, it's not the same. Perhaps she'll feel 50% of the guilt that Wilson has felt. It does put her in a position of guilt when interacting with House. He went to her for help in a time of extreme crisis and she didn't respond, for whatever reason. BTW, I really liked your chart of how many times the characters have had sex with different partners. As I am someone who follows everything Cuddy, it is in my personal canon that Cuddy had sex with the P.I., Lukas Douglas, aka "Mannix". It took place in "Adverse Events" after they met cute at the Cafe and before he returned to House's apartment where House found him playing his cherished piano, with the ivory "Flying V" guitar newly displayed on the wall behind him. (The guitar connected to Cuddy, S.4, "Alone") I don't think he hired prostitutes that looked like Cuddy, necessarily. After all, Stacy is the same look and build. I think it's just his "type." Namaste, The prostitute in "The Softer Side". I do think Cuddy embodies his current type and has for a few years but I'm sure he varies the menu as well.(LTEC) He is certain to remember Stacy occasionally in his dreams for the rest of his life. And there is still a chance that they will bring her back at the end.

jim, people do have "types." And I don't think that's a case of a current type. It's generally pretty permanent. It's no different than being a "leg man" vs. looking first at the butt, chest, biceps, etc. The way I always think of it is that, if you are at a crowded party and you see someone who is good looking and your "type," that's who you are going to make sure you talk to before the party ends. You may find you don't like that particular person and, certainly, you might date or be attracted to people who fall outside your type (e.g. watching Ali the stalker as she walked away), but that's where the initial physical spark is. House likes petite brunettes just as he likes big busts and great asses. Good legs are less important to him. And I don't think there's a chance that we'll ever see Stacy again.

And I don't think there's a chance that we'll ever see Stacy again. Poeia, I don't think we will either but as far as a chance goes, never say never. As Taub said in BSN, with the right/left brain together, it's more fun to make it up as we go along and I think that is what Shore is doing. I know there is a fan base that holds out hope for Stacy's return, but I'm not one of them and had actually never considered it until reading a persuasive, intelligent and insightful post by one of them.

Well it took me eleven days (11!) to come to the conclusion I loved the epi. Even being spoiled, I totally bought the whole detox/delusion thing, and I felt so sorry for a fictional character I still can't believe it. I am not convinced, though, that it is really in character for House to experiment such a complete breakdown, and I hope they use it to make a real character development, show us the jerk House was probably eve before the Vicodin. I hope it sticks to the rest of the story, because I would really hate it to be just a convenient, breath taking cliff-hanger before resolving in four episodes, and back to routine. I can understand how House could get his work back, the akward thing in my opinion being the balcony declaration. I would like to see some board issues regarding Cuddy, following this statement and her quite unprofessional behavior around House in last episodes. I would also like to see Cuddy visiting in Mayfield, but I get the impression only Wilson will have agreement to visit.

If so, (House chose Cuddy look-a-like prostititute to babysit in TSS) given that this is the prostitute he hired to make sure he kept breathing in his sleep, this ties back in to my view that Cuddy is in many ways a representative of "mommy" for House. Yeah, he sexualizes the relationship, which is disturbing, but consistent with his psychology in general in my view. All of this is not to say he doesn't care about her, of course, but that he does so in the selfish way of a clingy, arrested-adolescence, only child. supercomputer, your assessment of House's psychology is very similar to mine. But given UMS and BSN, I think House loves Cuddy for all he is worth. But what is his love worth? His locked in personality is damaged and he expresses love in a damaged way, selfishly. That is, unless Houses's refusal to become intimate with Cuddy in reality is mostly an unselfish act to protect her from himself. I'm still enjoying learning what House's boundaries are. I got such a kick out of Carl Reiner this episode. He's 86 and perfect. So I thought I would take a stab at Decoding Carl Reiner's Guest Appearance playing the "Ghost of House Yet To Come". The framework of the Coded Scene: Wilson praises House for committing to something, someone, a direction. Deluded House sees 2 options and a 50-50 chance with each at this time. Option A: 1. a relationship with Cuddy (and Rachel?) 2. a longer life of less pain 3. but no longer a diagnostic god or a TV series star. Option B: The opposite of above. (House already chose Option B in TSS) The Scene: House asks, "Who is that old guy in my doorway?" In walks 86 year old Eugene Schwartz aka "The Ghost of House Future" (if House eventually chooses Option A before the end of the series). The name, Eugene Schwartz, decodes to "Your genes (future potential) are black." He squawks like a parrot. A parrot mirrors what you say and can speak for you. Is ES, the parrot, also speaking for the direction DS is finally committing to, a dark and black future? ES asks House, "Where are we going?", similar to the questions the parrot, Poll, in "Robinson Crusoe" used to ask of the isolated Robin. Does the chair ES built in his garage also mirror the one DS is building for his viewers to sit in at the retirement of the show? If so, it was built by a man named Black whose diagnosis is "not good, not good at all..." But House says, "Stay with him.", referring to ES in repetition of the words to Amber, "Stay with me.", at the end of Season 4. House's empathy and need for connection is as strong as ever. Where will it lead him? Where is he going? Cuddy Perspective: Cuddy sent this patient (parrot) to House to repair his acid reflux "squawking", like the acid words that also pop out of House's mouth and are ruining their relationship. (The Social Contract) House also used Cuddy as his parrot in his delusion, repeating to him what he wanted to hear.

House loves Cuddy for all he is worth. But what is his love worth? His locked in personality is damaged and he expresses love in a damaged way, selfishly. That is, unless Houses's refusal to become intimate with Cuddy in reality is mostly an unselfish act to protect her from himself. This is a very interesting concept. Is House selfish or unselfish when it comes to love? I think he can be both. When Stacy came back into his life, he seemed to have a "score to settle" with her. He selfishly pursued her to the point that he was intimate with her and had her thinking about a relationship with him again. But he ultimately chose to (as you say) "protect her from himself" by not continuing the relationship, and this was unselfish. With Cuddy, there is a somewhat different dynamic, but the same selfish / unselfish dichotomy exists. His selfish, prurient side always wants to be intimate with her, but his unselfish side does want to protect her from himself. He's shown that he thinks he must change to "deserve" a relationship with her, to be a "self" that he does not have to protect her from. He tried to change this past season. At the end of Under My Skin, in the ultimate proof that he wants to change and "deserve" her, he hallucinated a validation of this by detoxing, then being intimate with her. m_supercomputer and jim, regarding House's relationships with prostitutes and with Cuddy, I have long thought that there is some Madonna-whore complex variation going on. (Does DS have mommy issues???) House certainly does seem to exhibit the some of the elements of this complex, from his own mother not adequately protecting him from his father, to his penchant for prostitutes, to his complicated relationship with Cuddy. jim, your analysis of the Eugene Schwartz character in Both Sides Now is certainly a thought provoking one. He was no doubt a pivotal character in how this episode, and how this season, ended.

With Cuddy, there is a somewhat different dynamic, but the same selfish / unselfish dichotomy exists. His selfish, prurient side always wants to be intimate with her, but his unselfish side does want to protect her from himself. He's shown that he thinks he must change to "deserve" a relationship with her, to be a "self" that he does not have to protect her from. He tried to change this past season. At the end of Under My Skin, in the ultimate proof that he wants to change and "deserve" her, he hallucinated a validation of this by detoxing, then being intimate with her. HL, lovely, balanced insight, beautifully put. Thanks.