I think namaste has it exactly right: Cuddy's "damage" is complex, subtle and not easily summed up in a single event. Cuddy's self description to the doomed teenager Natalie in "Joy to the World" was meant to give us a close approximation of her own blighted adolescence. Cuddy identified strongly with Natalie's isolation, social awkwardness, compensating intellectual accomplishment, inability to establish close friendships with girls, or just talk with boys. I think we were meant to see Cuddy in Natalie's insecurities, physical gracelessness, and fatally foolish decisions. House clearly understood that Cuddy was looking at a younger version of herself when she argued so vehemently for treatment choices for her patient. So Cuddy's damage cannot be summed up in a single phrase or incident, but it is measurable by what is absent from her daily life: family, friends, lovers. It also measurable by how deeply and persistently she values the difficult relationship with House. When Cuddy told House in "Unfaithful" that for better or worse he was a part of her life, this summed up their shared understanding of the inextricable core of their relationship. They don't hang out together like buddies or go on dates like conventional lovers. Their intimacy is conveyed in the coded language of their conversations, the shared history that they feel no need to talk about, the intensity of their intellectual collaboration that result in the saving of a life. The portrait we are being given is of a wierd and inexplicable marriage of two extreme people. Like any domestic arrangement, we cannot completely understand its dynamic looking in from the outside.

She is the one-in-a-million woman for House; who else would want him? Well, Cameron wanted him and he turned her away. She still cares about him, so she must still see the good in him. Stacy wanted him and CHOSE him over Mark, but he turned HER away. So there's at least three-in-a-million that we know about. Yes, House is damaged, but three beautiful, intelligent women have loved and wanted him. How many men who aren't damaged can say that? I've mostly enjoyed the "music" with very few exceptions. Sometimes I hear music, but mostly it's been fingernails on chalkboard for me this season in regard to those two. Cuddy's "damage" is complex, subtle and not easily summed up in a single event. Cuddy's self description to the doomed teenager Natalie in "Joy to the World" was meant to give us a close approximation of her own blighted adolescence. Cuddy identified strongly with Natalie's isolation, social awkwardness, compensating intellectual accomplishment, inability to establish close friendships with girls, or just talk with boys. I think we were meant to see Cuddy in Natalie's insecurities, physical gracelessness, and fatally foolish decisions. As a teacher, I see this "blighted adolescence" every day; I'll bet most kids feel that social awkwardness and inability to connect with either sex at one time or another. I certainly did, and unfortunately STILL do at times, and I'm older than Cuddy. I don't consider myself damaged, though. It's not exclusive to Cuddy, Natalie, or a limited few. I think Cuddy did an admirable job of bonding with Natalie, and it is what a lot of people would have said to soothe someone who felt that they didn't fit in. She did exactly the right thing, in my opinion. It's like Foreman telling his "I used to be heavy" story to the patient in "Heavy," and Chase telling his "I didn't get along with my father" story to Gabe in "Cursed." They don't hang out together like buddies or go on dates like conventional lovers. Their intimacy is conveyed in the coded language of their conversations, the shared history that they feel no need to talk about, the intensity of their intellectual collaboration that result in the saving of a life. I disagree. If they had this kind of shared bond, this intimacy that goes beyond words, there wouldn't be all these tedious misunderstandings and mixed signals. She would have wanted him at the ceremony, and he would have known it without all the game-playing. Besides, everyone on this show is damaged in some way. House surrounds himself with damaged people and has since we first saw him in the pilot. Damaged people interest him -- especially people who hide their damage. This isn't a competition to see who is more damaged than someone else. It's a story telling backbone of the show itself. I absolutely agree that everyone is damaged on this show in some way or another, but up until now, I've only let House use it as an excuse for bad behavior. If I'm going to call Cameron on her immature behavior during the crush arc, then I'm going to call it for what it was - immature. I'm not going to pass off Cuddy's behavior - which, unlike Cameron, actually involved physically HURTING House - as simply "damaged," when we haven't been adequately shown that she has reason to be damaged more than anyone else. With the exception of Thirteen, we've seen more extra time devoted to Cuddy this season than any character other than House. It is inexcusable to me that we still have to fanwank about her past when we know so much about Thirteen's. I have not been shown why Cuddy and House cannot communicate in an adult manner after knowing each other for so many years. I'm going to drop this now. We all see this in different ways, and there is nothing wrong with that.

jim wrote, She is the one-in-a-million woman for House; who else would want him? LogicalLilly wrote, Well, Cameron wanted him and he turned her away. She still cares about him, so she must still see the good in him. Stacy wanted him and CHOSE him over Mark, but he turned HER away. So there's at least three-in-a-million that we know about. Yes, House is damaged, but three beautiful, intelligent women have loved and wanted him. How many men who aren't damaged can say that? You're quite right, I miswrote. I should have said that Cuddy is the only woman (one-in-a-million) who wants House that has a chance of a successful relationship with him, their success measured on their own, perhaps unusual terms. jim wrote,I've mostly enjoyed the "music" with very few exceptions. LogicalLilly wrote, Sometimes I hear music, but mostly it's been fingernails on chalkboard for me this season in regard to those two. Since season 5 has been so full of the story of House and Cuddy, your nerves must be shot. You have my sincere condolences.

Logicallilly, I know what it feels like when you’re not enjoying a pretty big part of the show so you have my sympathies. I was thinking about why we have such different perspectives on the same scenes and I think it comes down to two things. One is that I suspect I see more good in House than you do, perhaps more than the character deserves. I don’t think there’s any excuse whatsoever for his insensitive behavior, but it helps me to put it in some sort of perspective and arrive at an understanding of it that works for me. The other is that I sense Cuddy is more damaged than you do based both on what they’ve shown us so far and on my instincts. (I agree with you that they could have done a much better job of showing it to us, especially in JTTW, which was an important episode for her character ). Anyway, here are my two cents worth in response to your comments on my post. We apparently see House in a different light as well. The photo was one of those many WTH? moments for me this season. House a cheerleader? But as far as House as "willing to take chances and not afraid of embarrassing himself," I think he's shown us quite often that he's not afraid of embarrassing himself since Season 2. He made an ass of himself in Mark's therapy class and in "Distractions," when he acted out in the lecture hall, in Season 3 when he insisted on riding in a wheelchair. In Season 4, he made an ass of himself over and over again, but the do-rag scene certainly should have embarrassed him. I can't imagine the Season 1 House doing anything that ridiculous. House is an ass and what is more, he loves to perpetuate that image of himself partly because he’d rather people hate him than pity him. But we get glimpses into his kinder side when he mentors the fellows in his own quiet way (as Wilson said to him in Emancipation “You’re an ass. But a noble ass”). And we got glimpses into his romantic side when he got a corsage for Cam, when he gave Stacy a “prescription” for her heart condition and when he surprised Cuddy with the med school desk. So I don’ think we saw House in a different light in Adverse Events. The cheerleader stuff is perhaps a bit much to swallow but I bought the idea behind it, that is, a young House doing something silly and embarrassing to impress a girl. He was hoping that Cuddy would see that side to him, the part of him that wasn’t an ass, one that he’s afraid to show to people because it makes him feel vulnerable. I'm not saying he doesn't want Cuddy, but I think it's very possessive and has a lot to do with taking what she has been offering to him on a silver platter this season. Does he really have a choice at this point? The baby is part of Cuddy's life now. House is obsessive and possessive about people he loves. We’ve seen it with Wilson, we’ve seen it with Stacy and we’ve seen it with Cuddy. It’s not healthy but it’s consistent with what we’ve seen in the past. I think that the baby entering Cuddy’s life has been a good thing for his growth because it’s taught him to step back and give Cuddy her space. I do think he had choices all along and we saw him making the wrong ones in Joy and in JTTW but gradually switching to the right ones in Big Baby and TGG. He held Rachel for a moment when Cuddy handed her to him, and quickly gave her back as soon as he had an excuse to do so. It was a sweet moment, but it was initiated by Cuddy, not House. as Lully said, he held her when Cuddy handed her to him directly, but he hasn't pursued any kind of involvement with the child himself and hasn't tried even a little to initiate something with Cuddy. I wasn’t arguing that House was interested in being a daddy figure to Rachel. I was merely making the point that given the changes we’ve seen in him this season, I found it believable that he would want to attend the baby naming ceremony because he knew it was important to Cuddy. Even if he ultimately decided that he couldn’t go (or didn’t want to go). He's known for several years that she wanted a baby; it wasn't some sudden whim of hers. He was afraid of losing her focus on HIM. He was thinking of himself, not of her. Cuddy stopped trying for a biological baby by the middle of season three and House knew this because at the end of Joy he asked her “So you’re giving up? Just like you gave up on IVF?” To suddenly discover that she was still trying for a baby after a pretty long gap and this time through adoption was a shock to him. Yes, there was an edge of cruelty to his remarks in Joy because he was afraid that he’d no longer be No. 1 in Cuddy’s life but he was also warning her of what he saw as the downsides of adopting a baby, just like he warned her about what he saw as the possible downsides to using an anonymous sperm donor. Like jim pointed out it was very similar to the way he behaved with Wilson when he decided to leave PPTH. It's true that he didn’t want him to leave for selfish reasons but House was also genuinely concerned that Wilson was making a decision based on emotional reasons and it was going to ruin his career. And this is what I HATED about the whole kiss thing. He'd been very cruel to her the whole episode, undermining the whole process, even in the delivery room. What kind of selfish jerk would try and snatch such a lovely, life-changing moment away from a new parent? Then when she loses the baby, he's suddenly all compassionate and tells her that she'd make a great mother. Based on WHAT? What happened between his mocking derision all episode and the moment in her vestibule that made him decide she'd make a great mother? I don’t think House has ever really doubted that Cuddy would make a good mom. But I think he has doubted whether she wants to become a mom for the “right” reasons. Is she doing it because according to society, becoming a parent is an important component of a fulfilled personal life? Is she doing it to get unconditional love, something she hasn’t been able to get from another adult? I don’t think Cuddy was really angry with him for his behavior. She even smiled when he pointed out that she had become such a quitter that she wasn’t even arguing with him any longer (“There, you just did it again”). She only lost it when he told her she’d be a great mother. He was being sincere but she thought he was still jerking her around. House suddenly realized that he did negate everything and that it had hurt her but couldn’t explain why he did it. So, the kiss was a way of erasing both their pain. And this is another reason why I'm having so much trouble with the whole romance angle. We've barely seen them interact as friends - they never go anywhere together, or hang out together outside of work. There are different kinds of friendship. The one they share isn’t conventional but they still stand by each other when it counts. House helped Cuddy with her IVF and kept it a secret even from Wilson. Cuddy went beyond the call of duty and lied in court so House’s career wouldn’t be ruined. These are acts of true friendship, more important than hanging out together, IMO. Besides, two things prevent them from hanging out with each other - there is a palpable sexual tension (a good thing from a romantic perspective) between them and they are boss-employee. No such problem with House/Wilson (although H/W shippers would disagree about the lack of sexual tension). Up to now, I haven't seen anything to indicate that Cuddy is any more damaged than anyone else. She was able to secure a top-notch job at a young age and keep it for many years, which shows good communication skills. I don’t see why she has to be more damaged than anyone else. And I am not sure how having a super successful career or good communication skills disproves that she’s damaged. In fact, some people push themselves to excel to make up for some deficit in other parts of their life. She's had dinner parties with friends at her lovely home, dates with handsome men, and had a roomful of close friends and family to celebrate Rachel's naming ceremony. We’ve had only one mention of a dinner party in Humpty Dumpty and the idea there was not to show us that Cuddy has a successful social life, it was to highlight the fact that she is a difficult to work for because she has a tendency to be a slave driver. It’s consistent with the fact that we have also been told that none of her personal assistants lasts for longer than a few days. (The exact line was “He wanted to go home. I thought he was lying. I told him I had a dinner party. I made him go up there”. The look of guilt on her face and the way LE delivered that line implied that she lied about having a dinner party in order to get her repairman to finish the job). And I don’t see how having a lovely home disproves damage. House has the loveliest home, IMO, and he’s quite screwed up. As far as dating goes, it’s been implied in Season Two that j-date didn’t work out for her. We’ve been show one date (with Lube Guy) and that didn’t go well at all. Again, the point was not to show that Cuddy can get dates with handsome and nice and rich men but rather that she can’t get her dates to turn into something bigger or longer lasting because of some underlying pathological need for conflict. I think the baby is making Cuddy step out and do things she otherwise would never do, like the ceremony. We saw that she turned to people she knew from work to be a part of it. Wilson was understandable but Chase and Cam? (What about friends and family?) Also, House made a joke about her sister which indicated that her relationship with her might not be perfect. M_supercomputer, I think we agree more than we disagree. Two things that I saw differently from you. This wasn't exactly a clear gesture from him - it was sent as a double-reverse through his retained PI, with even Lucas not being made aware that it was real. Like I argued above, this is not evidence of an unambiguous desire to pursue a relationship, but curious hesitance mixed with contradiction, much like his pattern in previous seasons. I agree that it wasn’t a clear gesture, more like an experiment. But the last scene in The Itch, the “eureka” moment, the episode’s underlying theme of conquering your fears and embracing the possibilities in your life and the sad, scared and longing look on House’s face as he looked at Cuddy through the window was a very clear indication that he did want a relationship with her but was too scared to pursue it. They can’t have his character express his emotions because they can’t have him change in very obvious ways but that scene, it’s juxtaposition with the agoraphobic PoTW stepping out and the song playing in the background ("I am in love with a girl") said everything that couldn’t be put into words and more. That's not how I saw it - to me, Cuddy was as open as possible in saying what she wanted. That their interactions were "going somewhere" can't be understood as anything but an intention to move their relationship in a romantic direction. What else could she have said at that juncture? House reacted badly, and continued to show his own ambivalence. She said “Everyone knows this is going somewhere” and followed that with “I think we’re supposed to kiss now”. I don’t see who “everyone” is (only Wilson knows what’s really going on) and why their opinions matter anyway. And where exactly is “somewhere”? If she had been sure of what she wanted she would have said “You know as well as I do that this is headed someplace serious”. Her “I think we’re supposed to kiss now” didn’t sound like it was coming from a deep sense of conviction that they should, more like something she thought they should do based on a text book definition of romance that she had picked up from novels and films. I felt sad for her in that scene not because of the way House treated her but because of how clueless she was about what she wanted. We saw her strength and quiet confidence in TSC when she said “You and I both know you belong here” because her words were coming from a place of self knowledge, conviction and honesty and we saw House responding to that honesty when he accepted her job offer without a fuss and when he genuinely thanked her. Like House, Cuddy doesn’t do conventional relationships and she doesn’t really want him to change, but the kiss and Wilson’s advice (“Maybe novelty and hostility and forbidden-ness doesn’t have to end bad”) temporarily changed how she viewed House and what she thought she wanted from him. I think she’s getting closer to the realization that kiss or no kiss (or even sex or no sex), their relationship works best for them when it’s unconventional.

Maya brilliantly wrote, House is obsessive and possessive about people he loves. We’ve seen it with Wilson, we’ve seen it with Stacy and we’ve seen it with Cuddy. It’s not healthy but it’s consistent with what we’ve seen in the past. I think that the baby entering Cuddy’s life has been a good thing for his growth because it’s taught him to step back and give Cuddy her space. I do think he had choices all along and we saw him making the wrong ones in Joy and in JTTW but gradually switching to the right ones in Big Baby and TGG. House has turned a corner and started to do for Wilson and Cuddy (TSC, TGG, respectively) what he does unselfconsciously for some of his patients who are sick at heart and need more than medical care from him. That is a very exciting development and coupled with his improved prognosis vis a vis his pain management, a foundation is being layed down for House to build something valuable and durable in his life with his loved ones. Until now, House seems to always be on shifting sand in relation to his friends. Recently, he has been taking the lead to help as they falter. I see more tragedy ahead for Wilson and Cuddy so that House can continue to grow in his ability to provide the essentials of love and care to his "family" (David Shore's words). I did see the boob grab scene in LTEC a bit differently from the ever insightful Maya Maya wrote,She said “Everyone knows this is going somewhere” and followed that with “I think we’re supposed to kiss now”. I don’t see who “everyone” is (only Wilson knows what’s really going on) and why their opinions matter anyway. And where exactly is “somewhere”? If she had been sure of what she wanted she would have said “You know as well as I do that this is headed someplace serious”. Her “I think we’re supposed to kiss now” didn’t sound like it was coming from a deep sense of conviction that they should, more like something she thought they should do based on a text book definition of romance that she had picked up from novels and films. I felt sad for her in that scene not because of the way House treated her but because of how clueless she was about what she wanted. In LTEC Cuddy was as open as possible without appearing aggressive; she was ready to begin a "thing" with House. She wasn't promising anything more to start with. Cuddy can't go to prostitutes, I assume, like House can. She wanted House. But he wasn't ready for a "thing" because he knew it would overwhelm his world. He is extremely obsessive and posessive, as Maya so astutely said, and knows he would be well and truly lost to himself, at this point, if he entered into a sexual relationship with Cuddy. So he opted for the prostitute. I also think that one of the reasons House balked at Cuddy's door in "Itch" is because he had gone through some sleepless nights and nightmares. He was essentially an emotional wreck after the kiss when not occupied at work but Cuddy was, by contrast, sitting comfortably at home with a cup of tea while she contentedly finished off a speech or something. At least that is how it appeared from the outside. House could see that their emotional cycles were obviously unmatched at that moment. It took the traumatic pressure of "The Last Resort" to nudge Cuddy into seeking some emotional and physical saisfaction from House and to go for the "thing". But she had not decided on anything more serious than that with him. She assumed their "thing" would crash and burn soon enough even as she said, "I think we're supposed to kiss now".

Maya, Jim, I appreciate all the time you've taken to state your case for Cuddy and House. As you both said, it has been difficult to watch this season, but it wouldn't have been so difficult if the OTHER dominant storyline hadn't been all about Thirteen. I want you to know that I loved the House/Cuddy scene from the kitty episode. I'd like to see more of that kind of thing before the writers try to take it anywhere else. They seemed quite at ease around each other, as if the angst and games of the rest of the season never existed. I will say, without mentioning spoilers specifically, that the rest of the season looks intriguing. :D

Seconding the bravos to maya and jim for their detailed and astute analyses of the House/Cuddy relationship. I think they have offered plausible and clear overviews of the trajectory of this much vexed pairing this season. The changes we have seen in House have been ocassionally minute but nonetheless real. Certainly his desire for a shift in his relationship with Cuddy has moved in a non-linear fashion from the season-ending scenes of her sitting beside his sick bed and this can be frustrating, but the movement itself has been at the core of the character examination this year. I agree with maya's interpretation of Cuddy's crucial missteps in communicating with House in "Let them eat cake." Her use of the phrase "Everybody knows this is going somewhere" was cool and distancing; if she was trying to convey to House how she felt about him, an appeal to a vague and general convention was precisely the wrong approach. Cuddy followed this critical blunder by saying "I think we are supposed to kiss now" rather than the more direct and inviting "I want to kiss you now." By using the former phrase, she conveyed to House that she was not speaking from her own heart but from the fairy-tale notions she carries in her head of what is supposed to be the trajectory of a conventional romance. House was waiting to hear from Cuddy about her desire for him. Instead, she told him about the way that she thinks she is supposed to act based upon the lies of social convention. Her distancing words disappointed him and he struck back with the cold gesture of grabbing her breast. The two were seriously out of synch at this juncture. It has taken the small but steady steps since then to get them back on track as evidenced in "Softer Side," "Social Contract," and now "Here Kitty." Would I have preferred more House and Cuddy and less Thirteen this year, undoubtedly. But thinking back over the season I find that the episodes and scenes that stand out are those which furthered the central storyline and they are not shaded by memories of Thirteen at all. I think that "Here Kitty" represented a further step along the path for House and Cuddy. House took a decidedly submissive posture (head and shoulders lower, eyes cast upward beseechingly, lollipop in mouth) with Cuddy on the sofa as they lounged shoulder to shoulder viewing the video of Kitty's antics. The two looked comfortable, domestic, and content, a portrait of confidentes working together in solidarity. Of course House didn't let the opportunity to ogle her bottom go by, but he judiciously held his comments in check until he could joke with Wilson later in the autopsy scene. This imploring posture was repeated by House when Cuddy came to his office and discovered the litter box evidence that he was continuing his investigation of the death kitty phenomenon. House lowered his face to bring himself closer to her height and offered those silly and mollifying munching sounds as he explained to her just how tasty the genetically-altered mice were! Here House was not in high resistance to Cuddy the arch-administrator, but rather he was a man pursuing a woman by consciously changing his behaviors as a direct follow up to his complicated backward compliment in "Social Contract." This is House focussed but relaxed, romantically inclined but casual as he hones in on Cuddy. This was House's version of a charm offensive.

blacktop wrote of House in "Here Kitty", ...romantically inclined but casual as he hones in on Cuddy. This was House's version of a charm offensive. House's Charm Offensive? Delightful. The most intimate moments between House and Cuddy in "Here Kitty" seemed to be the exchange where he asked her, twice, to use a more pleasing tone in her voice. And the second time he asked her, as she initially didn't comply, he was even more coaxing in his tone than the first. As blacktop wrote, he is honed in on what he wants. The best part of the exchange was when she finally responded to his request with a sweet and husky, "You have 24 hours." House's usual quick rejoinder, "Consecutive?", was a split second later than usual as he forgot to be completely casual.

Someone on TWOP described it as “the lollipop leer”. That is perfect. Too bad Cuddy wasn't also sucking on a lollipop. So much wonderful dialogue these past couple of pages about my favorite complex and unconventional couple. I have nothing to add other than to say thanks for the great read. TPTB keeps saying once they get intimate, it will be a disaster. Some people wonder why bother then. I'm excited about the disaster because the foundation of their relationship will never change and will always have that sexual undercurrent going on and eventually I believe they will circle back around. I'm excited to see how these two will struggle their way through it. At the end of the day, these two strongly like each other and they are connected whether they will admit it or not.

Here's my take on the whole thing (the short version). I have never seen House as an emotional cripple, or even that overly damaged. I believe he experiences a full compliment of emotions, and probably feels things deeper and more acutely than so-called well adjusted people. House's problem is with the expression of his feelings. From what we know about his family background, and what I know of people with similar backgrounds (those with detached and/or abusive partents) the feelings of the child were ridiculed, stifled, judged, or just not important, so over time, such a person learns to try to mute their feelings or keep their feelings to themselves because "nobody wants to hear it anyway". This, of course, leads to becoming confused about how to experience and react approporiately to emotions, but I don't think does anything to the emotions the person actually feels. I don't think House is at all confused about how he feels about Cuddy. He just doesn't know how to sit down and express his feelings, or how any kind of normal relationship is supposed to function. But, he knows he wants to give it a try, which is why he keeps grasping at straws where she's concerned. That's why he has to negate everything, and part of why he keeps trying on different hats as to how to cope with his pain and other things of that nature. He keeps hoping that eventually he'll hit on something that she can love and accept. Only thing is, she never will. I really, REALLY don't like the House/Cuddy ship because on more occasions than I'd like, she treats him like crap. She conspires with Wilson against him. She physically harms him. She lies to him. She is unwilling or unable to see the things he is capable of emotionally, things he is trying to express, and efforts he makes. She takes advantage of her position over him. Of course he would "love" her, she's probably the female version of his father. He knows just what role to assume and doesn't even know he's being abused by her. This kind of treatment is normal to him. I think the woman that House would succeed in a relationship with is a woman who sees and accepts all he is and is not and doesn't expect him to play any other role than himself. And that woman is not Cuddy.

I really, REALLY don't like the House/Cuddy ship because on more occasions than I'd like, she treats him like crap. She conspires with Wilson against him. She physically harms him. She lies to him. She is unwilling or unable to see the things he is capable of emotionally, things he is trying to express, and efforts he makes. She takes advantage of her position over him. While that may be true, it is a two way street and we have seen House treat Cuddy rather shabbishly, too, on more than one occassion. The problem with them is when one is ready to take a step forward, the other is playing games and taking a step back. If only they could get in sync. I believe Cuddy is as much emotionally wrarped as House is. I get why House is the way he is but I have a hard time grasping why Cuddy is. I hope someday we get a little more background other than knowing she "sucks at every relationship she has been in". There is no doubt in my mind that Cuddy loves House and unconditionally at that. She hired him, committed perjury for him. and has protected his ass time and time again. At the end of the season last year, she spent the night holding his hand while he lay in the hospital bed. These are not the signs of someone that doesn't care deeply for this individual. Let's talk about conspiring with Wilson. My memory sucks and I could be proven wrong but it seems to me that anytime Cuddy has conspired against House, it was done at the direction of House's best friend, Wilson, who we know also loves House. While we may disagree with what they have done, they were doing it because they believed it was in House's best interest. Part of the problem with seeing it from their perspective is, we, the viewer, are able to see inside of House's mental state while they are not. They are at a disadvantage and House gives nothing away. The one time I did have issue with Cuddy was when she was physically hurting House in the one episode and there was another episode where she moved into his office and acted very juvenile with the stink bombs, etc... To me this was out of character for Cuddy. Cuddy loves to play games with House and can give it back to him which is part of the zesty chemistry these two have with each other and is one of the many things I love about them. They appreciate each other's strange sense of humor and ballsiness. The only reason I was able to conclude why Cuddy was so out of character in those two episodes was because I thought she may unconsciously be pissed off at House for knowing that she really isn't a great mother. In other words, he is able to see through it and look honesty at it while she may be in a state of denial. No, I think Cuddy totally gets House. They are two wounded and lonely souls who need each other in their lives. And, yes, I believe they both love each other deeply. And I loved the last episode how they were both sitting on the sofa. House never lets anyone in his personal space but he is very comfortable with Cuddy there. That scene summarizes their relationship to me. Total comfort and closeness.

Once again, ITA with every single point you made, sdemar. This is television, folks. Rules of our day to day actions and/or feelings don't usually apply here. David Shore said that "if House is capable of having any relationship with anyone, it's Cuddy", so any drama created around these two is bound to generate obstacles and add to the will they/won't they - on/off dynamic that applies to most male/female leads on television shows. Add that to the permise that House!Can't Change! and you realize it's always going to be one step forward/two steps back with these two. Having that said, I find it amusing how people always find room to excuse House's actions but can't do the same for everyone else, especially where Wilson and Cuddy are concerned. But, hey, to each his own.