6.14- 5 to 9

I want an explanation about the fight between the surgeons. I get it that the head of the department wants Chase back, but what caused the two of them to fight? Who started it? How did it get resolved? Otherwise it was a better episode than I was expecting given how little interest I had in the premise. I thought maybe the check was from the guy who got his finger repaired, wanting to pay the bill and let go of the lawsuit. Speaking of, Chase really is the jack of all surgeries. He's a microsurgeon and a transplant surgeon too. This knocks his entry into medical school back to the ripe old age of eight. :lol: I just saw the check was for $850. I didn't have time to read the rest. I somehow thought it was from House to pay Lucas off on the bet. I thought the fight was because Foreman had Cuddy put their patient on the OR schedule despite the fact that the chief of surgery didn't want him on there. I figured House's team was trying to get into the OR and the others were trying to keep them out. In a hospital, in addition to General Surgery, there's Cardiac Surgery, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Ophthamology, Gynecology, Trauma. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but these are all surgical specialties and the chief of each of those services does NOT report to the chief of surgery. In fact, the head of some of them would look down on him for being just a "general" surgeon who does stuff like appendicitis. They all report to Cuddy. ETA: As Dean of Medicine, all the doctors report to Cuddy. The pharmacy staff and the nursing staff shouldn't.

I enjoyed the episode. It was about something real, something I can relate to. There was suspense about how the contract issue would be resolved and Cuddy still keep her job. There was a great payoff when the pharmacy tech incriminated herself. Sure, it was contrived in places, but I can accept some contrivance if the plot is good and involving. Hope to see more episodes like this, centered around the hospital and the doctors as doctors. Hope they can come up with some like that where House is a main player. It did bug when she was trying to guilt the guy whose thumb was reattached into paying. I don't think the legal department would have been too happy with that conversation. Of course, the lawyer should have been talking to the hospital lawyers in the first place.

I have a question about Thumb Surgery Guy's check. Cuddy ripped it up - does that mean she's forgiving the guy's debt or refusing his payment and going to court with him? I took it as her forgiving his debt since he dropped the suit.

She doesn't have to check each employee-but she should hire people capable of judging character. Or the people she hired should hire people who can spot a psycho. I thought the whole deal with sociopaths was you can't tell who they are in society and that's the reason they're so terrifying? House picks up on things quickly -- maybe he didn't in Remorse with the sociopath there, but whatever. Just because House discovered somebody is a sociopath doesn't mean Cuddy should have learned that in the span of a job interview. I loved the episode.

What I find interesting about this episode and Wilson are that they seem to be the show Hugh Laurie thought he was auditioning for, where House is the wacky guy in the normal medical drama. Lucas is an idiot, but I find it hilarious that he gave his girlfriend a flower with a bug in it. I guess he and House made up? I also thought it was weird to just leave the two surgeons like, in time out. Especially when it's the second time Chase took a swing at someone recently and the first time Cuddy was ready to press charges. All in all, though, I enjoyed the ep - maybe not the show I'd want to watch every week, but a fun diversion.

She doesn't have to check each employee-but she should hire people capable of judging character. Or the people she hired should hire people who can spot a psycho. She shouldn't be hiring *anyone.* At least not anyone below the level of M.D. That's HR's job. But then, this is Houseville, where doctors, not techs, do all their own tests and labs. And psychopaths are smooth operators. It's unlikely that whoever hired Gail (whether it was Cuddy or some HR person) would have picked up on her psychopath tendencies. Only 13 has the Magic Psychopath Radar. Oh, wait, she only picked it up from the lack of brain waves. Never mind.

I liked the way it humanized all those moments that we've seen Cuddy running around in the background -- those moments when she doesn't even hang up the phone when House comes into her office, or just makes a split second stop in his office -- and gives them context. (Is it factual business context as in I'd expect this to be a real life situation? No. Of course not. Fictional drama with heightened senses of reality and unreality. For instance, in the real world, the insurance company would have won. And it wouldn't control 80 percent of all private insurance. And House wouldn't have a job.) To me, it's easy to see these situations happening on a near daily basis for her. When I think of how easily Cuddy and LE could have been just a simple character who has to say no to House merely back when they were creating House's world, I'm more impressed with how well they've flushed out that character. Think, for contrast, of Frank Burns on MASH who had to represent authority to the cutup surgeons, and how he was never really anything more than a mockery. (Yes, I know, that's a comedy. It was just the example that came to mind.) And it was nice at the end when, despite all the insanity and all the stress, how happy and content Cuddy is despite it all. She's saved the hospital (again), her daughter is happy and sleeping, her boyfriend cares for her (even if he has odd ways of showing it). After that literal wake up call, to have this quiet moment at the end of the day is not only a respite, it seems like the reward for life. And let's face it, rewards usually aren't that big in reality. All we have are small moments of happiness, most of the time.

I took ripping up the check as she was forgiving the debt. It really bugs me that we go no explanation and no closure on the fight. You know I actually forgot Foreman existed until House said his name. LOL

Wow...best episode ever! Of course I'm biased since I work in healthcare administration and it was really cool seeing my life on House. Props to the writers for doing some research about insurance negotiations. They seemed to understand capitation and risk. Wow. Even though it's totally realistic that we discuss insurance matters almost all day, I think they overplayed their hand a little bit tonight. I think someone wanted to make a point about healthcare reform.

Exactly, this is Houseville, in a normal hospital HR or legal or patient affairs does the dirty work. Why was Cuddy doing everything? The hospital is small, but I doubt it's not that small. As for the sociopath-I just don't buy it. If that was her tone of voice and demeanor the whole time she worked there (even when she was being 'nice'), she might as well have worn a big ole "I'm nuts and evil" sign on her back. I get that I was the only person that thought everything about this episode was ridiculous and sad. That's cool.

I get that I was the only person that thought everything about this episode was ridiculous and sad. That's cool. No, you're definitely not the only one.

BTW, where was all that nudity we kept hearing about them filming?

BTW, where was all that nudity we kept hearing about them filming? That was the shower scene.

I get that I was the only person that thought everything about this episode was ridiculous and sad. That's cool. I actually agree with you, but still enjoyed the episode, if that makes sense. For me, bad writing in terms of dialogue and terrible cliches are what is most offensive, and I felt like this is the first episode in a while that had very natural dialogue (minus the way over the top psychopath) and was reasonably unpredictable and not cheesy. I felt like the dilemmas presented weren't too black and white and were pretty realistic for the pressures someone in that position must face. I wish they had focused more on those than on her and House's unbelievably (in the literal sense) inappropriate relationship and her illogical relationship with Lucas/inability to spend time with Rachel.

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