6.01/6.02 - Broken

Barbara Barnett has some behind-the-scenes info courtesy of an interview with co-writers Lerner and Friend. To add to the HL love: Yet, almost in spite of himself, when he sees Lydia alone and sobbing late one night, he tries to comfort her. Comfort becomes something else, and eventually leads to passionate, but gentle lovemaking. Which brings House to tears. "It was something Hugh Laurie came up with on the set that day," the writers told me. "He felt he wanted to try it. He felt it was the appropriate thing. And then when we saw it on the monitor, it was incredibly moving." and for an episode so infused with music — cellos, pianos, Dvorak, music boxes — little of it was House's music. Including House's little vocal solo in the bathroom stall. House singing Gilbert and Sullivan? HMS Pinafore? Friend and Lerner laughed, "That was Hugh. Thought of it on set. Oh. And the cake in the face? That was Hugh too. "Final take. Only Katie Jacobs knew, no one else on set about it. The reactions are genuine."

Is 50 old? I wasn't aware of it. Maybe because my perspective is that of 60 at my next birthday. I must be decrepit then and possibly also creepy.

Re: So painful
Three words about HL: creepy old guy. He looks a lot older than season 2. They can't hide his big stomach anymore. The dreadful hair (what there is of it) makes me cringe. I, like, totally agree, like, who wants someone who, like, looks like a real person and stuff? What kind of weirdo can't get plastic surgery? Men who really care look like Joan Rivers, AMIRITE? :?

Three words about HL: creepy old guy. He looks a lot older than season 2. They can't hide his big stomach anymore. The dreadful hair (what there is of it) makes me cringe. Mod Note: Well, I don't think you're going to find much agreement with that here. You're entitled to your opinion but really, there are much better ways to phrase this so you don't offend so many people and touch off a brawl which I will then have to clean up which will make me even pissier than usual, which no one wants. How about "HL doesn't really do it for me anymore. He seems to be looking his age" or something to that effect. I also have a surefire cure for what ails you about HL/the show - curl up with your Season 2 dvds and post about the glory days in the Season 2 thread. That should cheer you up. I'm sure people would be happy to chat about that season (which I also loved). Another option is to head on over to the Headquarters of the If You Can't Say Something Nice, C'mon Over! aka The Bitterness thread. Just...please try to be less confrontational in your assessments.

West coast checking in (at least a wee little bit of it)... It was nice to see people not trying to lecture, punish, seduce or change him. Makes me think the situtation back at ppth may be too toxic for him and his colleagues to fix. They are all so harsh with each other and always at cross-purposes. But drama needs conflict, so there it is. Wow, you're right. Toxic is the word for that working environment. I'm really worried about how House will be able to cope when he goes back. I mean, will Wilson/Cuddy let him be, or even allow him to change? Sometimes we're comfortable with a person's dysfunction, and if the person changes, we can't adapt. We can't "get used to it." And when a person goes straight back into the situation where everyone expects him to behave like an ass, then qed he by default remains one. It's tough. I'm just not going to enjoy watching House take a beating from all of his colleagues, not after the fact that he's been open and vulnerable. Nolan's gentle encouragement to House, that the fact he was hurt, came back to see Nolan, and didn't look for relief in a Vicodin bottle....well, all I could think about was, House doesn't have anyone like that in his regular life. He's going to be hurt, but no one is going to allow him to express that hurt in a human way. And he's going to screw up. Oh well. I suppose that's what psychiatrists are for. Here's to hoping that Dr. Nolan plays some part in House's life for at least three or four episodes after this one.

Toxic is the word for that working environment. Let's not forget that House was 80 percent of the creator for that toxic environment to begin with. What will be coming up certainly reflects the old saw about making your bed and lying in it. One of the things I liked is that this does change the dynamic. I don't think we're going to get direct return to the same-old, same-old. The interesting thing will be seeing how the "new" House responds to the old environment and working conditions.

Toxic is the word for that working environment. Let's not forget that House was 80 percent of the creator for that toxic environment to begin with. What will be coming up certainly reflects the old saw about making your bed and lying in it. True. As viewers we are privy to House's inner thoughts and his hallucinations, so of course we have some sympathy for him. I think the fact that he hallucinates a woman he thinks he killed, causing him to lose both his sanity and his medical license, is enough for me in terms of "making his bed and lying in it." And what bugs me about his colleagues is that there's a subtle but gleeful sense of schadenfreude in their treatment of him -- or, as Cuddy says, "Good, for all the stunts he's pulled!" That's what makes the environment toxic and difficult to handle. He has made his bed, but four months of treatment in a psychiatric hospital and the loss of your professional identity definitely counts as "lying in it." I don't think Wilson, Cuddy, or the ducklings will see that. And it's sad they don't.

House can be creepy with me any time he wants. Although he'd have to be a creepy young guy as I have almost 6 years on him. (And I have no objection to cradle-snatching either if he's the one in the cradle.) I'd bet he could wipe the floor with any pretty boy hack with abs that came solely from the gym. One of the things I've always loved about his body is that the muscles are for use, not show. Let's not forget that House was 80 percent of the creator for that toxic environment to begin with. Even if they want to be supportive:<*>House is still the same person he always was. He has a goal of being happier but in the kindest, gentlest environments in the world, that wouldn't happen overnight. <*>They have their trained responses to him in place, too. Under stress, they'll tend to treat him like an ass. And while Wilson may not want to be House's conscious, it's a job that he now undertakes automatically.

And what bugs me about his colleagues is that there's a subtle but gleeful sense of schadenfreude in their treatment of him -- or, as Cuddy says, "Good, for all the stunts he's pulled!" Was this in one of the clips of next episode, or something? I haven't watched all the previews yet. Up to this point, only Wilson's really known what's going on, and he seemed pretty supportive to me - dropping everything in "Under My Skin," taking House to get help & acting sympathetic once he realized House had been having delusions, and in this episode doing what he thought House needed even though it was painful for them both and against Wilson's own inclination to "need to be needed" and enable House.

m_supercomputer, it's from The Greater Good after scenes like the tripwire: Wilson: You're hurting him. Cuddy: Good, after all the stunts he's pulled on me. Wilson: You're physically hurting him. Cuddy: That's the point. Wilson: What's the point? What do you think you're going to accomplish? Cuddy: House shouldn't be allowed to make people miserable without paying for it.

And what bugs me about his colleagues is that there's a subtle but gleeful sense of schadenfreude in their treatment of him -- or, as Cuddy says, "Good, for all the stunts he's pulled!" That's what makes the environment toxic and difficult to handle. He has made his bed, but four months of treatment in a psychiatric hospital and the loss of your professional identity definitely counts as "lying in it." I don't think Wilson, Cuddy, or the ducklings will see that. And it's sad they don't. You make a very good point, RachelSue. House has indeed gone through a lot and his sufferings should make the others cut him some slack. But it is hard for the more vengeful side of me not to wonder when was the last time House cut one of his fellows (not just his team, but all the people around him) some slack. House can be a surprisingly caring, attentive and gentle man, but he can also be unbelivably cruel to those around him. Whether he does it on purpose is a different topic, so is the reason why his friend and colleagues keep on coming back for more, time after time after time... The fact remains that, as far as we know, he has always been the instigator behind this functionally disfunctional ensemble of people, he has conditionned their responses to him by setting a less-than-stellar example according which showing any kind of vulnerability or fondness when dealing with a fellow human being almost always resulted in exposing oneself to ridicule. PPTH may now be toxic to House because, for so long, House has been toxic to himself (he is, after all, an addict). As Poeia wrote, House's entourage may very well go on auto-pilot when dealing with the returning diagnostician. Since we are quoting old saws, how about this one to justify what may be Wilson's/Cuddy's/Foreman's/Thirteen's/Taub's reactions to the "new" House : "Once bitten, twice shy". Now, given the countless numbers of times these guys have been "bitten", I wonder how shy they'll be.

Namaste, were the writers saying in the interview that Hugh came up with House crying? I also worried what would happen when House gets back to his old environment. I know that alot of the environment is of House's own making. I wonder if the new and old ducklings, Cuddy and Wilson will still expect House to be the same. So, anything he does will be looked upon as suspect. I'm wonder if that will push House back to being like his old self. You know? However, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. Watching House change through the course of the episode was wonderful to watch. I loved his going away party. Hugging Beasly and Alvie. I loved the talent show scene. House helping his roomie and actually enjoying himself up there. Then having his arm around Alvie and bowing with him. It was nice to see House enjoy himself up there. I kept thinking what would the PPTH gang think if they could see House. Seeing House smile was wonderful to see. I wish House could see Alvie again. I loved the friendship they developed. I would have liked to have seen some discussion about his hallucinations and the possible reasons. Other than that I loved everything about this episode.

Just rewatched and love this episode even more. Seeing it without commercial breaks will be heaven. The buff, handsome, trim and sexy Hugh Laurie really got to me here. And I had s cuple insights of things that I missed on the first go around. Some of them have already vanished, so ephemeral and gentle they were, but here's one. The music box scene. That wasn't House's epiphany in the first place: it was Steve's. He made the connection between where Annie was looking and what she was looking at. And then House believed he was right, believed he could cure him, so he played his part in getting the music box into Steve's hands. But it didn't work. But when he passed by her while wheeling Steve, the connection kicked in again and he backed Steve up so she could see it. It was the connection between Steve and Annie that made the difference. House facilitated it by trusting that they would know what to do. Once he didn't try to force it, as he did earlier, once he allowed them the opportunity to connect, they did. He's done that with the fellows to teach them, let them catch up to his own thought processes, but here he just lets it happen. I liked that as he got better, his clothes seemed more like regulr House's" the pink shirt with the tee underneath. The placard on the side of the bus as it carries him away is about achieving success through learning life and professional skills. Nice touch. The lovemaking scene was about a real human connection, love, not sex so much, though it had a gentle warmth and vulnerability to it. Hugh is a beautiful, brilliant man and we are graced that he shares his talent and insight so generously.

I would imagine that there's going to be a lot of tiptoeing around House once he's home, with everyone trying to figure out what's going on. Obviously, some people will handle things better than others. (I'm expecting full on smothering from Cameron, and a huffing from Foreman that he knew all along and knows what's best for House now.) Some of that will depend on how much they know about why he's been gone. Cuddy will obviously know where he's been because Nolan has to sign off on the medical license. She's his employer and will be aware of something. The details may not be as clear. And filmlover, yes that's what the article says. Click through to read the whole thing and the writers' comments on other elements of the filming and creation of the episode.

But it is hard for the more vengeful side of me not to wonder when was the last time House cut one of his fellows (not just his team, but all the people around him) some slack. He cuts them slack. He just doesn't cut them slack in a way that they can appreciate. Which, I guess, is the point. Taub wanting to quit -- and House saying, Your job (basically) is still waiting for you, because quitting is the wrong idea. Thirteen wanting Foreman to go immolate himself on the altar of self-sacrificing love -- and House saying, He loves you, he made a mistake, phone him and get him back here so he doesn't lose his license. Thirteen partying and puking her way through denial -- and House prevents her from getting suspended by Cuddy. House looking the other way even though he knows Foreman and Thirteen are back together again. And this is despite the fact that a relationship with a colleague in such a tense working environment is a bad idea. House telling Cameron that she's making a mistake with Chase, by not giving up the dead husband's sperm. "If your condo rules didn't let you buy fire insurance, would you go homeless?" House going to support Wilson when Wilson has to see Danny. Even that very subtle point, in which he orders a bone biopsy for the young girl, instead of going straight into chemotherapy. As Wilson points out, "He's being kind." So, House was taking steps to improve. His environment -- his colleagues -- didn't recognize his efforts. There's no reason to think that they'll be any more supportive or recognize the steps he's taking to change in this season. This is going to be fun but painful. Looking forward to next Monday.

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