I thought Cuddy wasn't depressed, just holding her tongue and trying not to offer advice or her opinion on Wilson dating Sam. Like House, she's trying to let Wilson make his own decisions and proceed on his own Hmm...yes. That could explain her being so subdued in this ep.

With all those references to Lord of the rings and Harry Potter, it's a shame Kutner wasn't around for this episode. I'm glad that House's opposition to Sam is because he's trying to protect Wilson, rather than that he's trying to protect himself. His objections to Sam reminded me of the things Wilson said to Stacy in her office, in season 2, after she and House had kissed ;). Nice parallel What annoys me though is that 13 is always the "cool" one with the upper hand. Everyone on the show has their moments of making a fool of themselves or being made a fool of except her. It makes it really hard to like her since they beat us over the head with how superior she is. Yeah, I didn't quite catch the one scene that took place in the patient's apartment, but from what I could see, Chase fell to the ground after unsuccessfully trying to break down the door? I found myself thinking "why couldn't that have been Thirteen?". It's always someone else from the team, who gets to be the clumsy, cowardly and wimpy one (Taub in 5.06 when they were buying cocaine, Chase in 6.11 when they followed their drug dealing patient in the car...). I like Lucas. He adds something to the show that none of the other characters bring. I think it's cheeriness.Why does everyone else hate him? Exactly! The fact that he adds something to the show that none of the others do leaves me with the feeling that he's out of place and doesn't belong to Houseworld. And his "cheeriness" is the kind of awkward humour that I expect from a sitcom, not House.

With all those references to Lord of the rings and Harry Potter, it's a shame Kutner wasn't around for this episode. That's exactly what I thought! :-) As for why I hate Lucas, I think his pranks crossed from pranks into dangerous, malicious acts. They were destructive and cruel and wholly inappropriate. He lost me then.

With all those references to Lord of the rings and Harry Potter, it's a shame Kutner wasn't around for this episode. I know! I kept thinking, "Damn! Kutner would've loved this case." :( ETA: JINX!

I think we need to hook pinkies and spin around now or something! :-)

Well, since nobody else has gone there, I guess it's up to me: OMG OMG OMG NEKKID HOUSE! ::catches breath:: This felt like an old-school medical mystery case, but I dunno, somehow the non-PotW stuff, much as I usually enjoy it, felt kind of ... forced. As if the PotW/non-PotW story elements were clumsily basted together, rather than existing as parts of a whole the way they were in past seasons. Loved: House in period garb (but not as much as OMG NEKKID HOUSE!) The "breakfast in Australia" line. "I said Frodo, not Gollum." And Thirteen's "Do I have short legs? Furry feet?" Chase's failed attempt to bust down the door. His facial expression just before he went there was priceless! I was hoping House would throw out the envelope full of dirt that Lucas dug up on Sam. And he didn't disappoint. Yay!

OMG OMG OMG NEKKID HOUSE! I knew there was something that I forgot to mention in my post. ;P How could I forget that? He looked damn fine.

How could I forget that? He looked damn fine. While I certainly do enjoy the sight ;), I feel bad at the same time, because I always picture how uncomfortable HL must have felt while shooting those scenes ;). Well I guess he earns enough money to make up for it...which means that I'm off to rewatch those particular scenes! And I have to say, it bothers me that his team notices House's increased pain, but they don't feel compelled to do anything about it. I get that they see House as this insensitive jerk who doesn't have compassion for others, and I'm aware that they probably expect him to rebuff their concern or help anyway, but still. They have to realise that stronger leg pain makes him very susceptible for a relapse. He's a recovering addict, shouldn't they be worried, if not on a personal level, than at least as doctors?

This has been my favorite episode all season (possibly the last 2 seasons). Reminds me of the older episodes. Loved the look Foreman gave when he realized House was limping more (before he said anything to the team), loved Chase's reaction to Taub's Australia comment and the breaking-down-the-door-thing, House in Renaissance clothes (and knowing everything in the apothecary shop), potw held my interest, Cynthia Watros was great, Wilson...love him (as always), Cuddy was great, and the best part: House proecting Wilson, but in his own way. The only mar on this episode was Lucas. I could have completely done without him. Anyone else think Cuddy looked/sounded tired? Intentional? Fun stuff.

I enjoyed this episode quite a bit, from the opening loveliness on. Very, fine, very, very fine.... It was a bit much for House and 13 to dress up so thoroughly just to go to the faire (they weren't really trying to blend in, their speech didn't change) nonetheless HL rocked that black costume so I totally give it a pass. I liked him knowing all the herbs in the shop and his moves with the sword were great as was the getting poison ivy. That looked like a heavy sword, to move it like that he's really strong (of course he can also twirl a footed cane which is impressive). House was great bringing the tranny, so proud of himself at first and then shrinking as his plan backfired: that was funny. I liked Sam's character, she's hard to figure out. Loved the scene where they face off. And I liked the shoutout to his earlier cooking adventures (he still has his apron, damn). I think I am still a little thrown by all the pretty in this ep. Ahem. I enjoyed the PoTW and how they solved his medical mystery. I really got interested in it this time, all the false solutions made sense, as did the real solution (I assume). Cuddy didn't seem particularly tired except from the exertion to keep quiet, mind her own business (which may have been considerable). I liked that, liked her stepping back from the games. She's bad at them, so maybe she's learned not to play. Good for her. Lucas is on the wrong show. Go be on Psych or Burn Notice or anywhere that's not House. Begone, I prithee! And yeah, beneath all that, House is getting worse. If he hadn't taken the plastic cover off the ibuprofen I might have thought it was vicodin in that bottle. After last year and since the finale approacheth, when they do CU shots of the pill bottle and it looks like Wilson might want his loft to himself and his new girlfriend, I start getting nervous.

I think Cuddy was acting the way she was because she doesn't want to intrude on Wilson's relationship. She wants to stay out of it and let him make his own decisions. As she said, "force him to choose and you may not like the answer" I think she knows first hand how that feels. But I am pretty sure Cuddy knows the relationship isn't going anywhere even though she told him that you never know where it will lead. Didn't she even get Sam's name wrong at first? I loved the sweet look of appreciation that Wilson gave her. I also think Cuddy remembers well when Wilson snapped at her about never liking Amber. I don't think she wants to hear him say the same thing about Sam. I'm convinced the only reason Lucas is still around is because they need him to be with Cuddy and Sam to be with Wilson so House is all alone at the end of the season. I can see no other purpose for him. He sticks out like a sore aching thumb.

I agree, i enjoyed this episode much better than the majority of this season. Also trying to figure out why House's pain is back... is it bc of wilson moving on and trying to date and cuddy is also hooked up so he's freaking out? I mean if you've been watching this series at all you know house's pain is linked a lot to psychological stuff, so what do we think caused House to turn to advil? And is this going to lead to him going back to Vicodin?? Ugh noooo please! I'm worried for my house!

Boffle said I liked him knowing all the herbs in the shop and his moves with the sword were great as was the getting poison ivy. That looked like a heavy sword, to move it like that he's really strong (of course he can also twirl a footed cane which is impressive). The new content for the iPhone app has an interesting segment with the property manager and costume designer. One of the topics was the sword...how different versions were used, etc. Because Hugh was wielding the sword in such close quarters, they actually had a sword master come to the set to teach him how to use it safely! For which we're all, I'm sure, very happy!