Just got a chance to watch and I liked it. Actually, I liked the whole episode, probably because 13 was hardly in it except for her pointless little "dance" with House. (Great to see her hair fly when she turned around, I guess that's the purpose for the disturbing moment.) This is probably totally crazy but I find Foreman pretty much of an interesting character when it comes to personal stuff. Well, outside from Boreteen that is. He's not as arsy as everyone thinks he is, he's just insecure! Loved Houses interactions with him and his brother. I thought it was interesting to watch House holding up the values of family, because he doesn't really have that. Loved Chase! He makes the most out of the few screentime he's been given lately. It strikes me that he is the only one who ever seems amused with House. And Yay for Ball-y! Loved House's Hercule Poirot-accent. Did anyone else notice how stone-faced 13 was when he did it? It can't be easy to look superhot all of the time AND acting like a human being. (Sorry, me again.) Loved Taub. The guy adds some dry humor that makes me laugh. I won't go into the Lucas stuff because I begin to feel sorry for the actor. What's the purpose in turning him into the most-hated character on the show? He was partially fun in the last season, but now he's downright creepy and it seems a little too much OOC for my taste. I am pretty sure he'll have a pretty disturbing exit from the show, and I don't think I'm going to like it.

Totally secondary, but I find myself irrationally getting annoyed with the constant "Stiletto" references. (This time House is reading the comic.) Not secondary at all, I share your annoyance. Inside jokes and references are usually a fun thing, even when they are referring to completely random events, but this Stiletto-thing just doesn't do it for me. Maybe because it's so disconnected from House? It's simply not funny. But didn't Cuddy imply that she knew that he was responsible for the pranks? At least that's what I got from that scene. I think she started suspecting Lucas after the little Clue reunion (I doubt Lucas warned her beforehand). Oh I didn't mean that she was in on it from the beginning. Their conversation suggested that they had a discussion about it where Cuddy told Lucas not to retaliate. And yeah, when she became aware of the pranks, that's when she must have realised that he disregarded her wishes. Some people here wrote that Lucas lied to her, and I took that to mean that he tricked her into believing he was innocent, even in the end. But that was probably just a misunderstanding on my part, and those posters only meant that he lied to her about not going to retaliate. To be fair, slapstick has always been a part of House to a certain extent True, but I'd say the key is moderation. Once in a while it's fun. But now it happens every other episode. And it just doesn't work for me from a dramatic and comedic standpoint. And it evolved from "occasional madness" to a defining characteristic of the show. It used to be a game between House and Wilson, it was their thing, which made it their special brand of dealing with each other and it's what set House apart from the other characters. Now everyone's playing those games and it's just tedious and unbelievable. For Wilson, this was a boundary issue. Wilson's bathroom is inside his bedroom. House was in his bathroom nekkid, singing away. House doesn't see anything wrong with intruding into Wilson's space sans permission. I get where Wilson was coming from. If personal space was the issue, Wilson should have berated House for not respecting his privacy and demanded that from now on House should let him know first, before he's going to use the tub. Instead he just entirely denied House the tub. Doesn't make sense (and how girly of Wilson to be so touchy about his bathroom :roll:) so I'll have to agree with what wintertide said, it was basically just bad writing to create a conflict. I won't go into the Lucas stuff because I begin to feel sorry for the actor. What's the purpose in turning him into the most-hated character on the show? I don't feel sorry for him, because IMO he's a pretty bad actor, I find his line delivery and mumbled speech incredibly annoying, so much that I'm literally cringing during his scenes. And I suspect that is part of the reason why I dislike Lucas so much. So if you ask me, as an actor he's to some extent responsible for the feedback his character gets and he can affect how Lucas comes across. Look at what HL has done with the material he was given, House is by no means a likeable and kind character and I still find myself rooting for him.

namaste wrote: I take my cues for what should upset me by House's response. The light in House's eyes when the sprinklers went off? That was sheer joy at the being in the fight. He said that "this guy's good" and he meant it. Even Wilson didn't seem overly concerned, except for the flat screen. So while in the real world, the sprinklers would ruin wooden floors and wallboard and appliances ... in House's world, it's an inconvenience. So since House doesn't hold a grudge and isn't mad (he even used it as part of his plan to get the Foremen to join together against him), I'm not mad. I agree with this. In fact, I think that reading the contexts for the various prank wars we have seen over the years on "House" we get a pretty good idea of how House's mind works: -- House pulled several fraternity style stunts on Wilson in order to get his friend out of his post-breakup funk. He wanted Wilson to confront directly the impending divorce and so he was pleased when Wilson retaliated with the cane-sawing prank. House saw that Wilson got his message and was ready to move on. -- Cuddy pulled the tripwire, cane-stealing, and elevator-closing pranks at the depths of her post-adoption emotional breakdown. House recognized that Cuddy was lashing out as an expression of her inability to deal with her loss of control, her fears, and her frustrations at so suddenly becoming a new mother. He knew that the best response was to let her punch it out and that is what he did. Cuddy apologized sincerely and completely at the end of that day of pranks and he accepted without hesitation. With both Wilson and Cuddy, House was acting like the wise and insightful friend that he truly is to them. -- Lucas' over-the-top pranks signalled to House that Lucas is desperate, insecure, immature, and duplicitous, just the qualities Cuddy most does not want in a lover. I think House figures that Cuddy will learn about the pranks soon enough and that they will not cast Lucas in a good light. House is prepared to bide his time in this long war of attrition for Cuddy. For House, these slap-stick pranks are an extreme form of communication at which he excels. The illustrative contrast is with the rapid and harsh way that House responded to Tritter tripping him in their first clinic encounter. Objectively, House was less injured by that minor spill than by the fall in the bathtub Lucas caused. But House did not see Tritter's gesture as a prank and he retaliated with the cold fury it deserved. House can hold a grudge when one is merited, i.e. when he is truly physical assaulted.

I understand that House world isn't like the real world,and that House has purpose in everything he does, and he reasons things in his mind that dictates how he responds, but can anyone explain to me why they made House handicapped and in chronic pain if they are going to continuously have people in his world physically hurt him.It's not a good thing to see for those of us that are disabled and in chronic pain.

Sometimes I suspect that House appreciates being manhandled this way, because it means he is not being treated differently because of his disability. He smiled after Wilson's cane-sawing and Cuddy's tripwire, and seemed to be actually listening to Lucas after the tripping. Or maybe this is just me, trying to desperately fanwank as to why the writers insist on tripping the man, argh.

Sometimes I suspect that House appreciates being manhandled this way, because it means he is not being treated differently because of his disability. He smiled after Wilson's cane-sawing and Cuddy's tripwire, and seemed to be actually listening to Lucas after the tripping. Quite so. We also know that he responded positively to all the shoving, arm slapping, chest bumping, and other manhandling that Stacy dished out in season two. House is a highly physical person, despite his disability, someone for whom all the senses are constantly in overdrive. But he is largely deprived of ordinary human touch by his enormous emotional barriers and distrust issues. In his hallucination, he was quite physically bold, even rough, with Cuddy as he kissed her and wrestled her down the hall toward the bedroom. This is a man who craves vigorous physical contact in all forms.

I've read quite a few comments on this episode saying the soldier is an idiot. Am I the only one who feels sorry for him? What if he really didn't know what he actually commited himself to? What if the reality he experienced made him think twice? You cannot always foresee that. I don't know, maybe it's just because I, as a German, don't really have a strong sense of patriotism. I find it sad the soldier in the episode has to take desperate measures just to be able to quit.

goldenheart, I felt sorry for the soldier too. *hides* Sorry.

I felt terribly sorry for the soldier. It's easy to say that he should have known what he was signing up for, but actual experience of war is never the same as an idea of war.

I sincerely thank all of you who answered my question (about why the showrunners keep showing House get physically hurt) You have given me new insights, things I never thought of. That's why I come here to ask questions. That being said, I still wonder why the show doesn't keep the plots, but have less painful things happen. For example, House/Wilson pranks in season 3. House did many annoying things, and definitely wanted Wilson to get him back. But the suggestions he made,short sheet my bed, put saran wrap on the toilet, were along the same lines as what he did to Wilson. So I don't know why TPTB didn't have Wilson respond in kind as opposed to sawing a cripples cane so he would fall. More than that example, when Cuddy wanted to punish House in "The Greater Good", why couldn't all the things she did be in the same vein as turning off the utilities? When I first watched the trip wire scene, I thought there's no way Cuddy did that, She must have meant for him to see it and not trip. But when Wilson confronted her about physically hurting House, she responded that that was her aim. So it's canon that Cuddy, who knew House for so long, knew all about his handicap and pain, was a doctor, (if I'm not mistaken, House's doctor), wanted to punish him by hurting him. I can't make that jibe with House liking to be manhandled, being physical, and not wanting to be thought of as crippled. And then Lucas. Why couldn't he do more things like the possum and sprinklers instead of breaking a safety rail and tripping House? He still would have "gotten his point across and proved his superiority" without the cruelty. I know the writers and TPTB can do this because when Kutner wanted to pay House back for his pranks, he peed on his chair. He got everything he wanted out of the situation, and it was funny. I will shut up now, I just had to try to put into words what I personally felt. I still don't understand why the show chose to show a character that they spent a lot of show time showing us that is crippled, and in chronic pain,be treated like this when they could tell the same story without it. There are other scenes where they showed House being manhandled that showed everything that you said in your answers, so I understand what you are talking about, I'm just talking about those few scenes. Sorry if I offended anyone. I love coming here to hear all the great insights of people who really love this show like I do.

You made some very good points C.A.R.. Personally I think they do it for two reasons: one to show just how well House manages to minimize his disability (enough that I think that people forget just how disabled he really is) and the second to show how many people are not as nice as they seem (or think they are).

Another thing I find annoying about the development of Lucas' character, is the fact that now he's no better than House himself, except maybe for emotional stability. You'd think the point of hooking Cuddy up with someone other than House, would be to show her with someone completely different, healthier and more mature than House. Emotional stability is hardly a small thing. Not to mention not being an addict. The point seems to be that Cuddy is not very good at picking the right guy. But if Lucas is just a sunny version of House, than he looses the justification for being there. I think someone mature and serious would be a better foil and competition for House and everything House stands for. But with this episode TPTB just proved once again, that the only reason to bring Lucas back was for comic relief and not the development of the relationship I between House and Cuddy. The show doesn't really want true competition for House. They know, as does anyone watching with even one eye open, that from the get go Cuddy and Lucas were beside the point and had a very short shelf life. Lucas is basically a rebound guy for Cuddy after the close call with House before the hallucination finally (and temporarily) crossed him off of her list. Because House likes Lucas he's also a way of keeping House at bay. In some ways Lucas has shown himself to be a better fit, the more appropriate choice, for Cuddy and her life. But at base Lucas is just a variation on a theme of House. In this situation he's being shown to be capable of being even Housier than House. It was all done on Cuddy's behalf even if she would see it as ill-conceived. Depending on why Luddy breaks up that should give Cuddy pause in even considering a romance with House himself. Lucas' over-the-top pranks signalled to House that Lucas is desperate, insecure, immature, and duplicitous, just the qualities Cuddy most does not want in a lover. But who else do those qualities apply to? Um...Paging Dr. House. I think House figures that Cuddy will learn about the pranks soon enough and that they will not cast Lucas in a good light. House is prepared to bide his time in this long war of attrition for Cuddy. If pranks were a deal breaker then Cuddy would keep clear of House permanently too. And House from Cuddy and Wilson; And Wilson from House and Cuddy; And the team from House; And the team from each other; And...you see my point. Even if one sees Lucas's pranks as the worse possible things ever. That's a very over dramatic reaction to me. These were pranks that House and Wilson each saw the other as capable of pulling and just sought to out do the other. Abusing animals!? How? By putting him/her safely in a loft, in a bath tub where it might not have been the happiest but was certainly healthy enough to frighten off Wilson. :D A ruined big screen TV owned by two highly paid Doctors! Oh no! However will they replace it!? Meanwhile as the "rain" came down House was gleeful as a kid on Christmas morning. House is capable of plenty of stuff that's very tough to take too; cheating, lying, extortion, physical and verbal abuse, petty competitions, taking people for granted, druging himself & others, etc., whatever his rational for all of it has been.