All the examples you gave are perfect proof that House is willing and able to help those around him when the opportunity presents itself, that he cares. Nonetheless, all but two (Thirteen's drug problems and relationship with Foreman) lack the "taking things at face value and not interfere" behaviour that I, possibly erroneously, associate with "cutting somebody some slack". House helped by probing, by trying to make sense out of his fellows'/friend's/patient's behaviours, by trying to behave as their alternative brain.
I see! You're right. House is definitely the polar opposite of "non-interference." The man cannot NOT interfere. He'll screw with anything that moves, just to get a rise out of someone. It's sooooo funny that I just laugh and cringe at the same time.
Like you said, too, he can be gentle and supportive. But he can't keep out of other people's business! (ie. Locked in is a great example -- the man puts a digital recorder under the patient's pillow so he can hear the deep heartfelt confessions of all of his fellows. Oh, please, House. Your curiosity is excessive.)
And it is a behaviour that has permeated every single relationship withing the group of main characters. I partly blame it on the glass walls everywhere in the hospital : when and how do people get a little privacy in this God-forsaken place ?
Hahahaha....that's hilarious. I always thought those glass walls were a perfect meta-comment on the fact that this hospital has no privacy at all whatsoever. Like being in high school, except on steroids...
You are right to say that it is very probable all the other characters do not know the real extent of House's problems pre-Mayfield. But the reason is that House didn't want them to know and possibly was not even aware of it himself.
At Mayfield, he learnt to give a shot at trust from time to time. Maybe he should try to teach this trick to his colleagues when he comes back.
You know, I heart House. I watch the show only because I'm in love with this maddening, insane, rude jerk. If House were a real life person, I'd probably not give him the time of day. But because we, as viewers, get access to his inner thoughts and feelings, I feel a great deal of sympathy for him, even though he's a distrustful bastard and a conniving addict. I guess I spend a lot of time cheering House on, even for the tiny baby steps that he takes towards self-actualization and greater happiness.
I'm kind of like Wilson (or like Lydia), who'll see that House is acting like a jerk, but actually, underneath it, he is kind of nice. Like Wilson says, "You were being nice. What you did was also illegal, and immoral...but, well, baby steps."
So here's to hoping that House will trust his colleagues a little bit more this Season, and here's to hoping (with my heart in my throat) that his colleagues will recognize the small olive branch he extends and not stomp all over his withered, dried-out heart.
'Cuz that will make me sad and make me eat more cupcakes and I'll gain more weight, being melancholy...
House moves to Ward 6.
In his first group session he talks about Susan's attempted suicide and, as a result, he gets put in a padded cell in solitary.
After he gets out, he purposely exacerbates the others' conditions during the basketball game. He then goes back inside despite the fact that "it's yard time, Greg." As a result, he's back in solitary.
Some time later he beats up his roommate. The staff shoves a couple of Haldol down his throat and dump him, "unconscious," on his bed. They leave. They don't even move him or Alvie to a different room. Were the fight real, once the meds wore off, he'd have all night to attack Alvie without anyone knowing.
Mayfield has a very odd concept of fitting the punishment to the crime.
House moves to Ward 6.
In his first group session he talks about Susan's attempted suicide and, as a result, he gets put in a padded cell in solitary.
After he gets out, he purposely exacerbates the others' conditions during the basketball game. He then goes back inside despite the fact that "it's yard time, Greg." As a result, he's back in solitary.
Some time later he beats up his roommate. The staff shoves a couple of Haldol down his throat and dump him, "unconscious," on his bed. They leave. They don't even move him or Alvie to a different room. Were the fight real, once the meds wore off, he'd have all night to attack Alvie without anyone knowing.
Mayfield has a very odd concept of fitting the punishment to the crime.
So true. People in isolation rooms are there for reasons like beating up your roommate, not for being snarky. That reminds me, in hospitals, no physical contact of any kind is allowed at any time. When I shot hoops with other patients, we were only allowed to shoot hoops one at a time!
OK, so am I the only one who didn't see
this version of the end credits?
Nah, apparently even Greg Yaitanes doesn't know it. I must say I would be elated if we had any credits at all. They never show them, just cut right to the Mentalist or whatever show follows House.
Great rap though, love the part about Wilson and Cuddy.
Greg Yaitanes now says (via Twitter) that the mystery is solved. It's the end credits they put on the preview episode shown in NY or LA. (Or both.)
In the extras tonight, HL said that he lost is screen virginity in Broken. (I guess he tries to put Maybe Baby out of his consciousness too.)
I LOVED this episode and everything about it. No wonder none of the other episodes match up to it-writing, acting, directing-FLAWLESS.
Two things struck me tonight when I re-watched Broken.
I'm spoiler tagging the first one because it has a very minor spoiler...
The first words House actually speaks in Broken are "Help me." At the half-way point, when Nolan is refusing to treat him any longer, he says something similar...like "I need help."
I'm thinking that the title of the season finale--Help me--is no coincidence. House may have come full circle. Let's hope the circle is actually--at least partially--an upward spiral.
Another thing...I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the general feeling is that Lydia and House had a one-night stand, so to speak. I've wondered all year about that. We have only been given a hazy sense of the time line in Broken. In re-watching, it seems to me that a relatively significant amount of time probably elapsed between that night and the end, allowing for a deepening of the relationship and possibly more stolen intimacies. The wordless interaction between the two of them at the talent show and the way he reached for her hand when leading her into the room where Annie was playing the cello gave me the impression of a mutually acknowledged deeper bond.
I don't in any way, shape or form think that Lydia was the love of House's life. But the fact that the relationship obviously had a profound effect on him says to me that it continued to grow after that one night. Otherwise, I don't think he would have told Nolan he was "lost" at the end of Broken, and he wouldn't have still seen it as significant enough to share it with Nash in Lockdown.
I never noticed until today that House was using his cane on the good side, during this epi.
I just rewatched and there's one thing I don't get, hopefully one or more of you incredibly intelligent and insightful people can help me.<g>
When Nolan confronts House with the sugar pills and tells him that he knows House hasn't been taking his meds,House says that proves he is fine and doesn't need them. Now I'm not saying he doesn't need them, or saying that he is fine,I'm questioning why this doesn't prove to Nolan that he is right about not needing treatment.I just don't get that scene,particularly what Nolan means.
Also, I rewatched this after I read a transcript of the whole two parts, and I can't believe how much more I saw and loved this time, just WOW! (except for that one scene, of course.)
The sugar pills mean that House is faking it. He really isn't improving, just trying to work the system. He hasn't improved. It's just become another game to him, rather than a legitimate attempt to address his severe depression. Nolan knows this, and so does House. (Of course House is in denial about his depression until confronted with the effect his games playing has on other people, when Freedom Master thinks he can fly. It's only then that House accepts the fact that he's got emotional problems which need treatment.)
