Our culture's bias against people who choose not to have children is undeniable. Not wanting to be a parent is generally perceived as unnatural and/or transgressive. It may have something to do with the fact that childfree people are a relative minority, but this rather lame explanation most certainly does not make up for the bad press people with no children get. Nevertheless, on House, childfree people are not the exception. They are the rule. On House, the social transgression (therefore drama) that may, in the real world, surround somebody's decision not to have a kid would have no substance for the microcosmos the series depicts is 100% childfree. Who, on the show, could possibly be shocked by one of their peers' choice not to ever become a parent? House, who seems never to have even thought about it? Wilson, who was married three times but never reproduced? Taub, who's been married for years but has no child we know of? Foreman, who focuses solely on his career? Had a storyline been created around Cuddy's decision not to become a mother, it would have (in the words of Eddie Izzard) "slowly collapsed like a flan in a cupboard" for the other characters couldn't have opposed/questioned her. In my opinion, what makes the Rachel/Cuddy storyline stand out, for better or for worse, is that Cuddy is now the only character who has a kid. She is in a situation the others do not want to/cannot really understand (like most childfree people in the real world) and it showed a little in 9 to 5. Now, a female character who chooses not to have children on a merry-jolly-lovely, family-friendly TV show... I am all for it.

Taub, who's been married for years but has no child we know of? Taub and his wife discussed the children issue in an episode last season. She doesn't want kids, and he agreed with it at the time, but now is wondering if maybe he would like to have them sometime. The topic was left open at that point.

I've seen references from some of the critics that the show closed with Mary-Chapin Carpenter's "Passionate Kisses." It's not my imagination that that didn't happen, right? They closed with an Eric Bibb song, didn't they? I guess they replaced the song at the last minute. I can't really complain. "Passionate Kisses" is a bit upbeat for that scene. Or am I misremembering?

Someone asked Greg Yaitaines that on twitter: "YO! could u find out why song was changed from screener 'Passionate Kisses' to aired epi 'Shine On' on #Cuddy5to9 closing?" and he said: "screener is temp for review process. then we found something we liked more."

On House, the social transgression (therefore drama) that may, in the real world, surround somebody's decision not to have a kid would have no substance for the microcosmos the series depicts is 100% childfree. Who, on the show, could possibly be shocked by one of their peers' choice not to ever become a parent? House, who seems never to have even thought about it? Wilson, who was married three times but never reproduced? Taub, who's been married for years but has no child we know of? Foreman, who focuses solely on his career? Had a storyline been created around Cuddy's decision not to become a mother, it would have (in the words of Eddie Izzard) "slowly collapsed like a flan in a cupboard" for the other characters couldn't have opposed/questioned her. House, Wilson, Foreman, and Taub are men, which, obviously, you know. Men don't the same type of scrutiny when they decide not to have kids.

I liked that we learned a great deal about Cuddy from this excellent episode. We saw that she is a risk-taker who follows her head and heart to make all-in gambles that she believes will result in improvements for the hospital. She believes fiercely in fairness and responsibility as it applies in small things (breast-milk patient, thumb guy) and large (insurance contract, psycho pharma thief). She is a devoted parent to her child and a determined supervisor of a sprawling and complex institution. We also saw that it is possible apply courage and resolution in ones's professional life while lacking the same traits at home. Cuddy's boldness and daring in the negotiations with the insurance company rep paralleled the similar risk-taking that we have seen House pursue in search of a solution for his patient. She followed his advice to do the math and make a calculated gamble rather than letting her ego get in the way of what was best for the hospital. We have seen Cuddy at the poker table in "All In" and it was great to see her approach of combining hire-wire theatrics with cool calculation applied to the administration of the hospital. House was present in this episode much more than I expected and what a treat it was to see how closely he monitored Cuddy's work day. He knew where she sought refuge from the stress of her work (the stairwell and her car) and he was confident enough of his place in her life to approach her in both locations to give advice, support, and comfort. Seeing House's interruptions from Cuddy's POV was quite informative, I found. Usually we see House barging in on her office to interrupt her paperwork with his wacky requests. She appears irritated and distracted by his instrusions. But in this episode we got the other side of the picture: House's ventures into Cuddy's realm were neatly timed to give her relief from the pressures of her work. She welcomed his interruptions, took them in stride, doled out rapid but considered responses, and got back to the work at hand. Even his notorious off-color jibes about her body appeared different from this angle: in the break-neck pace with which crises and dilemmas were flung at Cuddy from every side, House snarky jokes about her figure or about outrageous medical prcedures he wanted to try were like a refreshing and cooling splash of fun for her. Surprisingly, House is Cuddy's respite from the pressures of her crazy day. It was interesting that every problem that House created in this episode was easily handled by Cuddy. He generated a faux-crisis with the chief of surgery over Chase and then blithely encouraged its escalation. Cuddy roundly told off the department head in her first encounter with him, then scolded the two surgeons like the children they had become after their scuffle, then stepped in to resolve the scheduling conflict. It was as if House was making little problems for Cuddy to swiftly solve in the midst of her grappling with the enormously more complex and consequential issues of the insurance negotiations and the thieving employee. The contrast between Lucas and his short-term victories (and short-term performance problem) with House and his long game strategy was quite striking. As Wilson pointed out to Cuddy, House is the master of negotiations. House combines patience with close analysis, unpredictability, and tenacity for a winning formula. He uses these character traits most notably in his diagnostic work. This season, after the trauma of his breakdown, he is learning to apply these same skills in his personal life as well. His war of attrition with Lucas is the proving ground for these skills. In this episode we saw Cuddy use these same qualities in her administrative successes in this episode. House has said on several ocassions that Cuddy is a middling doctor but an excellent administrator. Now we see what he means.

In some ways identified with Cuddy (even though I'm married and childfree by choice). As an entrepreneur/writer/performer it feels like work never ends, that there is one demand after another, always a fire to put out. It was great when the insurance executive mentioned that a sick kid would be his wife's issue. I was hoping that Lucas would be even more of a psycho than he was in the last episode, but he's just a self-centered jerk. And their sex life obviously isn't too great, judging by Cuddy's reaction to the two-minute miracle. It seemed like it's happened many times. (BTW, does anyone remember the same joke from "Baby Boom," between Diane Keaton and Harold Ramis?) I did wonder if he took Marina's cell phone and turned the ringer off the phone in a wierd way to give her some relief. And I was disappointed at the end with the three of them together...icky. However, it won't last all that long. I loved that the elevator closed just as House had his epiphany. The massage was a bit much, and the situations all resolving magically in three minutes was sloppy writing. And I didn't believe for a moment that House and Lucas had been on an all-night stakeout. Lucas would have probably blabbed about his long-term plans with Cuddy and House would have been so demolished he wouldn't have come in that day. Another thing I loved was the easy give and take in House and Cuddy's relationship. And how he's omnipresent in her world in unexpected ways. The car scene was particularly good. There is a lot going on in that relationship, and it seemed like the hostility that's been coming from her is easing up. And yes, me likey the massage scene. The insurance stuff was captivating. I have to deal with a lot of medical insurance from the patient side, so a drama revolving around it and its relationship to health care was very satisfying. And I have to respectfully disagree with those who feel we learned nothing new about Cuddy. Other posts have said it more eloquently than I could. The only thing I would have liked to see what Cuddy taking a hunk of that lasagna into the stairwell and devouring it. The woman never eats! Disliked: Wilson's hair. It's weird. Also, his increasing girth.

Yeah, it just made sense to me that she'd do that as well. I have friends who have kids and they do that too. Closing song wasn't Passionate Kisses which I know and love. Close captioning said Eric Bibb as Namaste mentioned above.

After Wilson and The Down Low I was almost certain that Cuddy's episode would be about her trying to pull a House and failing and H/W being BFF. Then I started reading good things about it and I started getting excited... Then 15 minutes before the episode, my internet connection was down and by the time it was up my brother screwed up and the power was down in a few rooms in the house. Then my dad fixed it and my cat decided to be a spoiled brat... What the hell? Anyway, I did manage to watch the episode and it was AWESOME! Basically it was mostly stuff we already knew, but it was nice seeing how Cuddy HAS to be directly responsible or everything because she can do it better, how hard her job is, how little everything she does gets acknowledged. And House being a bastard and keeping things from her because they may come in handy, not caring about the fact that it may make her life harder and then showing up to try and win the malaria bet, just when she needs to take a breath... And he knows all her hiding places and he won't even leave her alone there, but then he will call her an idiot and that will be exactly what she needs to hear and I love them so much! I had missed them! I also loved the nurse and her relationship with Cuddy, although I did wish she was Brenda. The high-five was awesome! I wanted to kill the stupid, patronizing insurance guy who was the one who was bluffing. Take that, dude! I don't think that drug-stealing lady can be compared to House... She stole way more than just a prescription, she is not as important to the hospital as House is and she is not as important to Cuddy as House is either. Saying that Cuddy keeps House in the hospital because she is in love with House, makes him look bad too, IMHO. One of the things I loved the most was the clinic patient: At first I was thinking that if it was House and not Cuddy in this scene the patient would be a complete moron and the scene would be funny. But possibly because it was Cuddy and she doesn't treat patients the way House does, I actually felt sorry for him. I so loved it when House implied that he gave him the prescription! The thing I hated most was poor mister Acavedo. I kinda wanted him to go to court and win. Shouldn't Chase respect his wish to not have his thumb reattached? But then again I guess these are the kinds of things we should expect from him now... And I didn't like the way had to and did defend him... My mom works. I went to a private school and stayed there until 17.00 every day so that she'd be home before me. My aunt stayed at home to ~raise her children~ and still calls my mom a bad mother. I wouldn't trade my mother for my aunt for the world. My aunt who wasn't a ~selfish person who only cared about herself and her career~ and who always had time to spend with her children is a TERRIBLE mother. I don't think it's about how much time you spend with them. She clearly cares about her baby and she kept trying to be in touch with the nanny. And at last, I think that having the toddler in the shower with her is safer than leaving her unattended while she showered. I get that Lucas means well, that he's trying to take care of her, that he thinks that she worries too much for no reason, but... you don't take the nanny's cellphone away when the baby is sick. You just don't. I think that he'll be gone as soon as she gets 5 minutes to think about their relationship. How many times did they call her a bitch? And how used to it is she? Ugh! I didn't miss the patient so much, but I think that that's mainly due to the boils and the abscess. As soon as I heard that, I was done with it! :P OMG I just can't get over the look on House's face when she announced that they got the 12%! And I noticed he wasn't sitting with the Wilson and the team, where you'd expect him to sit. Aaawww! The way everything magically fixed itself in the end, reminded me of JTTW. And while I don't generally like that sort of thing and it was sort of a... turn-off? I don't know how to say it... I think that it fits Cuddy. That you can play fair and by the rules and still sometimes get what you want in the end. Plus House has magically healed many patients in the last 5 minutes, too. It's not new and it doesn't only happen to Cuddy.

I didn't expect to like this one, but I really enjoyed it. The lack of House, which bothered me for the last few episodes, was not that bad here, because the scenes they did have together were excellent and showed how much House knows what is going on, both in the workings of the hospital and in Cuddy's life and mind. I thought it was a good representation of a working mother's life, eventhough most of us, thankfully, don't have this much stress in their job. On the other hand, I could never afford to hire a full-time nanny.

I just watched it. That was good, not my top 10 but still entertaining. I always thought House's episodes just after christmas are the worst (often boring) so I think the writers did a good job trying something new. At least it's not one day one room all over again and it was better than the last two episodes for me. I'm not a huge Cuddy fan but sometimes (above all back in the day) I like her. I think she used to be a great character but this Huddy arc (a pretty long one) is just destroying her character and making the show weaker. I can't understand what's really interestinh in this Huddy/Luddy. Please show, just stop trying to be Grey's anatomy in slow motion. If only Lucas was the right man for her, you know, an handsome and mature man. That House will like or at least tolerate because he is really a good person. A guest, a la Taub's wife, would be perfect. And of course, I still love Chase. I just think it's a shame they're not showing us more of him and more of his behaviour lately. Are the writers planing to tell us one day that, in fact, Chase is a Dr Doogie. I would have loved to see what exactly happened with the other surgeon and what was exactly Cuddy's answer to their fight because it's obvious Chase needs some counselling. I mean from Cuddy's perspective at least. Oh, and Taub is number two on my list. It was funny to watch him watch the fight. More Taub and more Chase would make me happy.

Two things I noticed. On the positive side, it was nice to see writers dealing with topical healthcare issues such as insurance and risk management. Yes, they had to dumb it down, but that's ok b/c it's way too boring and technical for most of us. I did wish Cuddy had gotten 10% instead of 12%. You knew at the end she'd get 12 b/c she wasn't really going to quit and they weren't really going to fire her. 10% would have been a huge victory as compared to 4% and also would have injected a bit more realism into the story. On the negative side -- where were the lawyers. No way would the employment situation happen w/o an employment lawyer. Contract attorneys would be reviewing that contract w/a fine tooth comb. And so on. Yeah, I know they don't want the extra cast members, etc., but no way would a Dean of Medicine be allowed to deal with this stuff on her own -- to many legal ramifications. Not to mention that you can get into trouble in taping someone w/o their permission. And, I'm not sure that getting someone to admit that she'd been stealing from the hospital for 7 yrs helps the hospital. DEA might well question what controls the hospital has in place and why this wasn't detected earlier. I found the story generally enjoyable but would have liked it better if they'd toned it down a bit. Perhaps a bit more of the boring routine (described in an interesting way) . . .