6.22 - Help Me

According to danaan999, a very reliable supplier of spoilers, the initially plan from TPTB was to end the episode with House alone in the bathroom and taking two Vicodin pills. The writers, director and actors all say that the script (which would be one source of the spoilers) ended with House alone in the bathroom with his Vicodin. That was all that was slated to be shot on the schedule. No one except the writers/director/actors knew that the episode would end differently until they "wrapped" the scene, and they then pulled the last bit out from their pockets and shot it as a total surprise to everyone else on the set. So it's hardly a surprise that even a "reliable supplier of spoilers" wouldn't know about the real ending, since even the guy running the camera, the lighting guy, the sound guy, etc. didn't know. And being a spoiler phobe, I think it's a shame that that's the level the production folks have to reach to to avoid people spoiling the audience.

The writers, director and actors all say that the script (which would be one source of the spoilers) ended with House alone in the bathroom with his Vicodin. That was all that was slated to be shot on the schedule. No one except the writers/director/actors knew that the episode would end differently until they "wrapped" the scene, and they then pulled the last bit out from their pockets and shot it as a total surprise to everyone else on the set. Yeah, this is what I think happened. They had been on a mission the whole season trying to crack down on spoiler leaks. They wanted this ending to be a surprise, so they took measures to make sure that it happened. Also, I'm not really trusting reliable spoiler sources that much anymore. Supposedly, according a reliable source, House pawned his stuff to pay off gambling debts. Yet, it turned out Alvie pawned them.

And according to Ausiello, House would wake up in a strange bed. Well, that's true, but it belonged to a six-year-old, because he was drunk. Not because of sexytiems. And wasn't Lucas suppose to attack House in the shower and Wilson finds him all huddled over in pain and comforts him? Or was that just fan speculation?

And according to Ausiello, House would wake up in a strange bed. Well, that's true, but it belonged to a six-year-old, because he was drunk. Not because of sexytiems. And wasn't Lucas suppose to attack House in the shower and Wilson finds him all huddled over in pain and comforts him? Or was that just fan speculation? That's right! Ausiello claimed that House was supposed to wake up next to a woman, I think from his past. Turned out House just woke up to poor Esteban. I think the Lucas attack and Wilson comforting was just fan speculation.

I was not searching other people's posts, I was reading the thread, and pardon me for my misinterpretation of what you wrote, to21be. I certainly did not mean to insult your intelligence, and I apologize if that's what my post implied. Some months ago I tweeted Greg Yaitanes about the one thing he wanted more than anything on the show (he was asking for questions), and he responded, "More Huddy." Since he is only a director and not a writer or showrunner, this doesn't really mean anything. Not to me anyway. Director is it but I have to hand it to him. He is damn good one. I agree with Namaste that they intentionally did not let this part of the script out because they knew it would be leaked. They beat the spoilers thieves at their own game and I have to say, in this case, I am glad. I was shocked, moved and totally blown away by the beauty of that scene. I also love that the show finale ended on a high note. There are only so many finales like last year that I can take before I want to join House on the floor and share his bottle of vicodin with him.

And being a spoiler phobe, I think it's a shame that that's the level the production folks have to reach to to avoid people spoiling the audience. Newhart ended in 1990 and they filmed the last scene with such secrecy that only Bob Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, the director, the writer and the crew that worked on the scene and the editor knew about it before it aired. Thank goodness. The best ending ever and it wouldn't have been one-tenth as good if one knew what to expect. I don't particularly want to see Cuddy but I think it was going to happen sometime and it might as well be now. I do look forward to the complications their personal relationship will bring to their work one. And some of the posters here have convinced me of one thing -- it's a nice change that, for once, House has something good to look forward to in the season ending. That's a first and it is a good thing.

In the scene where House rips the mirror from the wall after seeing Hannah's dead face, does anyone think that it was exhaustion/anger/ despair alone that made him do that and the reveal of the vicodin was in a way a 'surprise' to him; that he might have forgotten it was there? I had the feeling in the way he momentarily hesitated before taking the vials, rather than grabbing them , that he hadn't destroyed the mirror to get at the drugs.

In the scene where House rips the mirror from the wall after seeing Hannah's dead face, does anyone think that it was exhaustion/anger/ despair alone that made him do that and the reveal of the vicodin was in a way a 'surprise' to him; that he might have forgotten it was there? I had the feeling in the way he momentarily hesitated before taking the vials, rather than grabbing them , that he hadn't destroyed the mirror to get at the drugs. I think he knew perfectly what was behind, but hesitated a few seconds before taking the vials because this was the final move for a relapse ; and he didn't want to relapse but could see no other issue. He hesitated again before opening the vials and before getting the pills.

I was not searching other people's posts, I was reading the thread, and pardon me for my misinterpretation of what you wrote, to21be. I certainly did not mean to insult your intelligence, and I apologize if that's what my post implied. You didn't insult my intelligence. My statement was a (far-fetched) demonstration of searching someone's post to find something offensive. So lets forget about this. I thought there was some really good original music in this episode. It seemed more intense to me than usual. Jon Ehrlich did a fine job heightening the emotional moments. Always thought that it's great, that the 'regular background' music is soft and understated. Even on the umpteenth re-watch it doesn't get annoying but still serves its purpose. This makes it possible that special scenes they want to emphasize can stand out through music, too. Because then it's still special when they write a beautiful, emotional piece. Am I making sense?

The "very reliable supplier of spoilers" was fooled as were all of his followers, including me. I am so happy that we were led astray by these erroneous spoilers, because this heightened the sweet surprise and the emotional impact of that beautifully crafted final scene. I think that the tiny inner circle of writers, actors, director and crew who knew about the true ending of "Help Me" did an immense service to everyone by closely holding its secret for months. I can't say I am going to completely swear off spoilers, but I am going to up my dosage of salt when I read them from now on.

For anyone interested, I've taken the reliability of spoilers discussion over to the spoiler thread. (Not looking for new spoilers or a spoiler source, just tracking back to see what came through this season that is false, what was true and what was head scratching.)

I thought there was some really good original music in this episode. It seemed more intense to me than usual. Jon Ehrlich did a fine job heightening the emotional moments. Oh yeah, I did enjoy the music during the "praying scene", it felt very movie-like. And I also liked the stomping music in the end, when Thirteen left and House entered his apartment. Although I'm still trying to decide if I find the violins in the end, while they're kissing, too sentimental or not ;). I mean, they work great in that moment, it's just that I feel a little bit too manipulated by them.

I was very happy to see the end of the traditional credit sequence. They decided to save precious time, I'm assuming and went for a "lost' type of brief title insert. Hopefully, they'll reshoot one for season 7 that updates the team. Although, if they stick with House's short haircut, I'll be disappointed. It wasn't a welcome change - I want his longer hair back please!

I think they've done the title card rathern than credit sequence before, maybe Broken and a couple others? I love that title sequence. If they change it I hope it's just the names. And they may not change the song.

I think Half-Wit was the first time.

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