One Night I Gave You Everything You Wanted: House/Cuddy

I don't think I would go so far to say that House has realized that Cuddy is the "right" person for him -- that person will probably always be Stacy. But I think House has now come to the conclusion that Cuddy could be a good person for him, and now he has to deal with that information. There could be other "good" people for him out there -- Cameron certainly could have filled that role at some point, Wilson most definitely could, as could have Cate from the South Pole, even. But it would seem Cuddy is in that position for right now. Oh I don't know. I would like to think House has moved on from Stacey. I think he had closure with her and would like to think he is able to love someone else. I don't think Cameron could fill the role as I don't believe she can keep up with him. I'm not saying he isn't attracted to her but I don't think she is relationship material for him. Cate? We only saw her for 45 minutes. I'm not sure we can compare her with a woman who we have watched for the past 5 years. And Wilson is House's best friend but I wouldn't compare Wilson to Cuddy. I have always loved the House/Cuddy interaction and have from the beginning. For his part, House finds her funny, intelligent and obviously is physically attracted to her. I would say House has been more willing for a relationship than she has. He has tried and she has pushed back. Do I think Cuddy thinks of him as a prospective lover? Yes, I do, but I think she is too scared and there is also that damn employer/employee relationship. I don't think she wants to ruin what they have. But I do believe these two could make it or at least give it a good whirl as a couple. It's an unconventional relationship and that is the only way it could work. They are both married to their jobs but they both seem to care about each other. I hope they continue to explore this relationship and I feel an episode is a little off if I don't at least get some good interaction between them. AS KJ said, there are a lot of people that could make an argument for House and Cuddy never being able to handle a relationship and there are a lot of people that could argue it could work. I tend to agree with the later. Different strokes.

Oh I don't know. I would like to think House has moved on from Stacey. I think he had closure with her and would like to think he is able to love someone else. I don't think Cameron could fill the role as I don't believe she can keep up with him. I'm not saying he isn't attracted to her but I don't think she is relationship material for him. Cate? We only saw her for 45 minutes. I'm not sure we can compare her with a woman who we have watched for the past 5 years. And Wilson is House's best friend but I wouldn't compare Wilson to Cuddy. I think where we disagree is semantics. You said earlier that Cuddy is "the right" person for House. Now, I tend to agree with you, but I also don't think it's particularly good to say that House's relationship tendencies couldn't have gone in any number of directions. (Also, some would argue that you can't compare Cuddy to Wilson) AS KJ said, there are a lot of people that could make an argument for House and Cuddy never being able to handle a relationship and there are a lot of people that could argue it could work. I tend to agree with the later. Different strokes. My personal belief is that House and Cuddy could work out permanently and beautifully in a different time or place, mostly away from the employer/employee relationship or in my favorite place in the world -- fanfiction. However, when it comes to what goes on in canon, I think House and Cuddy are destined to crash and burn quite magnificently some time in the near future, if only because of the design of the show.

Also, some would argue that you can't compare Cuddy to Wilson) You realize we are on a board that tends to like H/W a little bit. :lol: I would never try to compare Cuddy to Wilson. Wilson is House's best friend. My point of reference is Cuddy is not House's best friend. She's a female and I think he looks at her different than Wilson. I think House and Cuddy are destined to crash and burn quite magnificently some time in the near future, if only because of the design of the show. And that seems to be the case because we have been pretty much told that from HL, LE, DS & KJ. But I wish it didn't happen that way because I could see it working out in a strange sort of way. Based on the past few episodes, there hasn't been much interaction and knowing there are so many other things going on, they may decide to let the whole fade away.

That seems like a big leap to me. I think he came to the realization that he liked kissing her and would like to sleep with her, but I don't see how he decided she was the "right person" for him. I don’t think it’s a big leap. “The Itch” was about House being in denial about his feelings towards Cuddy and coming to terms with them. The writers can’t have House express his emotions openly and so they have to find other ways to do it. And Peter Blake used everything he could to let us know what was going on in House’s head - the agoraphobic patient, the symbolic mosquito, the dream sequence with the blow up, Wilson literally spelling everything out for House during their conversations and then, of course, that last scene where he rushed over to her place. The mosquito represented his feelings for Cuddy. The bite was a sharp reminder from his feelings that they needed to be addressed. But we saw him deny his feelings as he applied progressively larger bandages to cover the wound. When the agoraphobic patient told House that he’d rather die than go outside, it alarmed him because it reminded him of himself. We saw how this fear expressed itself in his dreams when his extreme measures to kill the mosquito resulted in a huge explosion inside his house, one which presumably killed him. The dream rattled him enough to make him go over to Wilson’s place in the middle of the night. Once there, House didn’t contradict Wilson when he said, “You got bitten the night you kissed her. Your itching always gets worse when you think about her. You need to address this.” All he said was “She’s my boss”. When Wilson pushed and told him “You’re not afraid of authority. You’re afraid that she actually is right for you. You’re afraid to take a chance because it’s too big a chance, if it doesn’t work with her, then maybe there’s no one out there”, he replied “I am not rationalizing. I am better off alone.” He didn’t deny anything that Wilson had said. And in the last scene, we saw him have an eureka moment and rush off to Cuddy’s without his cane or helmet. I honestly don’t see why an emotionally closed off and cautious person like House would do such an impulsive thing if he didn’t believe (even if it was mistakenly) that he had a chance at happiness with her and that she was right for him. And that scene’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. I hardly think that all the beautiful writing by Peter Blake and all the nuanced acting by Hugh Laurie was about House coming to the realization that he wanted to sleep with Cuddy. He’s already slept with her when they were younger. And he’s always noticing her body and commenting on it, so I think it’s safe to say the thought has crossed his mind. He has hookers to take care of his sexual needs. If he sleeps with Cuddy it will be about both emotions and sex. He's had plenty of time since the kiss, and certainly plenty of time since they first slept together to make his move. She has let him know that she's available to him. She has never indicated to him that she’s available to him sexually. Quite the opposite. In “LTEC” she said “Everyone knows this is going somewhere. I think we’re supposed to kiss now” which was her signaling to him that she wanted a romance. It was House who made it about sex by placing his hand on her breast and saying to her in a matter of fact way, “Seemed like the logical next step”. And he did it precisely because he knows she’s not available for sex and making it about that would drive her away, which was his goal. And sure enough, she walked away from him because she wasn’t interested in a “friends with benefits” arrangement. I don't think I would go so far to say that House has realized that Cuddy is the "right" person for him -- that person will probably always be Stacy. But I think House has now come to the conclusion that Cuddy could be a good person for him, and now he has to deal with that information. There could be other "good" people for him out there -- Cameron certainly could have filled that role at some point, Wilson most definitely could, as could have Cate from the South Pole, even. But it would seem Cuddy is in that position for right now. I agree with you that Stacy will probably always be the right one according to him but I also think that he’s accepted that she is a part of his past. House and Wilson are soul mates, if you ask me, but it’s not canon that either one is gay, not yet, anyway. And so I doubt House has considered a romantic relationship with him. I think he was intrigued by Cam and Cate but I don’t think we were shown enough with either one of them to indicate that he seriously considered the possibility of a relationship with them.

From the spoiler discussion thread (doesn't contain spoilers): Cuddy is evidently a very slow learner. The fact that she even remotely considers having any sort of romantic relationship with him after his years of publicly humiliating her makes this whole pairing beyond absurd and mostly laughable. Well, House is as slow a learner as she is then. Why did he stick around after she bossed him around and humiliated him in front of his team in "LTEC"? (She moved into his office, took over his desk, cleared his office of all the furniture and ordered him against doing the brain biopsy). Why did he stick around after she humiliated him and physically hurt him again in "TGG"? Why did he accept her job offer after he’d resigned and had job interviews lined up at other places in "TSS"? The reason he put up with her crap is because she puts up with his. And the reason he has been so patient with her is because he knows that he’s the one who upset the equilibrium they had when he acted insanely jealous about her adopting a baby and then compounded it by kissing her when she was very much minding her own business and trying to move on with her life. The reality is that he needs her to be a part of his life just as much as she does. And yes, to some it may seem like a juvenile, unhealthy and laughable relationship, which is fine. But the fact remains that they are both very much a party to it. Like they say, it takes two to tango. To be fair, except for that disasterous attempt that ended in House grabbing her breast Cuddy has been the one resisting a relationship with House. She was the one to come to him after the kiss and behave maturely and state it shouldn't have happened. She didn't invite him to her baby naming thing. She's in love with him (in my opinion it's canon now) and has trouble resisting him, but has never asked him out on a date. She's not pursuing him. I agree with you that she’s been as resistant to the idea of a relationship as he has been. But I don’t think Cuddy's the only one in love. He's the one who became insanely jealous and possessive when he learned she was going to adopt the baby. He's the one who went over to her house and ended up kissing her. I don’t think someone as cautious and emotionally closed off as him would have done something like that unless it came from somewhere deep inside. And although Cuddy dismissed his kiss as a weak moment between the two of them, we saw that he took Wilson’s advice and rushed off to her place in "The Itch" but “failed to ring either her literal or metaphorical bell”. And again we saw him ordering her the desk in "LTEC" even though she was behaving in a pretty appalling way. I think they’re both in love with each other but they are both resisting it (for the most part) because the idea of being in real relationship scares the hell out of them. Really? You think that whole mess belongs in the win pile for her? She was playing more stupid games, changing her mind every five minutes and she very clearly wanted him there, as shown by the mopey look on her face at the end. I think she was about to ask him for real before he cut it off and left. That episode is just further evidence of how far she's fallen. Well, I don’t think either one of them came out looking that great at the end of that episode (and I disagree with your interpretation of that last moment) but I’ll agree that she came across as worse because she was the one who started it off by inviting him. What I don’t like about the way they have written romances with House on this show is that he always comes out smelling like roses while the woman always comes out looking both cruel and pathetic. I don’t consider House/Cam a romance but the fact remains that he did ask her out on the monster truck outing. And yet it was Cam who came out of it looking like a juvenile, self centered and unprofessional stalker and blackmailer. But he was the one who was unprofessional to start with. Stacy came out looking pretty bad too. Now it’s Cuddy’s turn.

I think they’re both in love with each other but they are both resisting it (for the most part) because the idea of being in real relationship scares the hell out of them. I don't know that I would ever go so far as to say that they're in "love" with each other, but they're definitely in something with each other. Their relationship is definitely unlike most both on the show and what we would come across in real life. They seem to communicate in code all the time, and they always have. It's just that it wasn't as obvious at the beginning of the series as it is now. So that now, when they interact, we do understand that it's more than just about the PoTW. It's about... everything that they've been through together in at least the past 10-15 years, if not longer. The thing is, though, that when it comes to exploration of Cuddy's character, it's always been done in regards to her relationship with House, as it should be since everything is about him anyway (and this also goes for Cameron and to a certain extent Wilson). The downside to that, though, is that we don't always see exploration of House with much regard to his relationship with another character; usually it's with regard to his desire to not have a real relationship with anyone. And so, no matter what the relationship, it will always look like Cuddy, in this particular case -- but it also goes for Cameron and, at least in the first couple seasons, Wilson -- is coming on too strongly to a very reluctant House. We haven't seen much, aside from Stacy, of a House who really is contemplating the nature of his relationship with a woman (he's always contemplating Wilson). And because of that, it can be construed by certain viewers that he just doesn't want the relationship period.

What I don’t like about the way they have written romances with House on this show is that he always comes out smelling like roses while the woman always comes out looking both cruel and pathetic. I don’t consider House/Cam a romance but the fact remains that he did ask her out on the monster truck outing. And yet it was Cam who came out of it looking like a juvenile, self centered and unprofessional stalker and blackmailer. But he was the one who was unprofessional to start with. Stacy came out looking pretty bad too. Now it’s Cuddy’s turn. I agree 100%. 110%. Since Shore doesn't want House happy in a relationship, I wish he would stop shipping House with everyone woman in sight. (Except for Thirteen but that's coming if the show goes on for long enough.) Because Shore can't bear for House to be less than sympathetic and it always destroys the female in the mix. She has never indicated to him that she’s available to him sexually. Quite the opposite. In “LTEC” she said “Everyone knows this is going somewhere. I think we’re supposed to kiss now” which was her signaling to him that she wanted a romance. It was House who made it about sex by placing his hand on her breast and saying to her in a matter of fact way, “Seemed like the logical next step” I took it as House saying "this is who I am. I'm not the relationship you're dreaming of. I'll never be what you want me to be, I'm crass and I'm not making you any promises." He said much the same thing at the end of The Softer Side when she wanted him to stay on the methadone. There are star-crossed lovers, such as Wilson and Amber, where the fates conspire to keep them apart. And then there are lovers who mess up their own relationships without any help from the stars. That's what I've been seeing with House and Cuddy all season. House wants to go to her in The Itch but he can't bring himself to. He is willing to enter into a sexual relationship with her but Cuddy wants more. Cuddy doesn't trust House to give her a good reference for the adoption so she asks Wilson instead , rightly as it turns out since House spends the episode beating up on her hopes. She doesn't trust him to behave himself at the naming ceremony so she tires to keep him from attending, hurting both him and herself when she realized she really did want him there and kept hoping he would just show up. When she gets frustrated, she takes it out on him, not realizing till Wilson points it out to her that she is causing him real pain. I believe that they want each other sexually, and that they care for each other in their own different ways. But that's not for a relationship. They've been getting it wrong for 20 years now. If they were meant to be, shouldn't they be getting it right by now? Cuddy, to her credit, wants House but she doesn't want a FWB relationship which is what he's offering right now. I always thought that of the four canon ships (Wilson. Stacy, Cameron and Cuddy), she's the one who idolizes him the most but gets who he is at his core the least.

Cuddy, to her credit, wants House but she doesn't want a FWB relationship which is what he's offering right now. I always thought that of the four canon ships (Wilson. Stacy, Cameron and Cuddy), she's the one who idolizes him the most but gets who he is at his core the least. This. Exactly this. I have personally felt this way all along. Cameron "gets" House, but romantacizes him. She knows what she'd be getting, but she thinks it's the hot rebellious bad boy and/or a mentor or father figure. She also wants to mother him and fix him. But on a basic level, she understands him. Her outlook and motivations are seriously skewed, though. Wilson is probably (of the 4) the best-intentioned, but I think he gets House the least. I mean come on...calling him out on going into therapy? Wilson HAD to know that would be the one thing that would make him quit going. Wilson, I think, truly wants what's best for House at least most of the time, he just doesn't know what will and will not work where House is concerned, and doesn't always see House as a real person with real feelings. That's understandable, of course, because House doesn't think or express his emotions in the "usual" ways, but he still feels things like anger, betrayal, and intrusion the same way Wilson does, whether he expresses it or not. Stacy is kind of a dead issue at this point, the only one I see is if House is really and truly over her or not, or will ever be able to get really and truly over her. Cuddy just makes no sense to me. It's pretty obvious that she wants House and even gives serious thought to pursuing a relationship with him, but I think she feels that a relationship would stabilize him when the evidence is right in front of her that it will DE-stabilize him more than just about anything else. She's doing the family thing and wants House to settle down, mellow out, be pleasant, reasonable, level, less neurotic, etc. She doesn't want him for who he is, but what she thinks he could be. Too bad he'll never be that, and he's told her that outright: "This is the only 'me' you get." She just refuses to listen or accept it. I actually don't ship House/anybody. He's just not relationship material. I think the relationship that truly works and will ever work is his friendship (platonic, not physical or romantic) with Wilson, and even that's pretty messed up, needless to say. But they truly do care about each other and have found a way to accept one another and make it work.

Cuddy, to her credit, wants House but she doesn't want a FWB relationship which is what he's offering right now. I don't agree -- not with the idea that Cuddy wants a friends with benefits relationship, but rather that that is what House is offering. House isn't a "friends with benefits" guy. If all he wants is sex, he'll pay for it. He has no problem with prostitution and getting his needs met that way. He has no problem with FWB issues for other people, but he personally, doesn't do relationships halfway. We saw that with Stacy. He broke with her when he saw she couldn't commit fully to him. He's made it clear to Cuddy that she gets all of him -- including that ass who does the boob grab and insults her. There's no halfway with him. He's not going to pretend to be something he's not. "This is the only me you get," as he put it. At the same time, he's not about to put himself out there emotionally without some guarantee -- some idea that this means something. What he's contemplating isn't merely some physical relationship. That'd be easy for him. (Prostitutes, remember?) Emotional commitment is hard, and that's what he's so afraid of and so cautious about.

I agree. Cuddy knows that and that's why, despite wanting him, she won't enter a relationship with him. Remember her speech to Wilson post-kiss on what a relationship with House would be like. She's thought about it, she knows it would be a disaster, she's not going to do it. She can't control her emotions, nobody can, but she can control her actions and that's why despite some missteps she's not chasing him down the halls of PPTH. Plus she is (or was before Rachel) dating other men and she's adopted a baby to make a family for herself. I'm not sure about this; can't say whether I agree or disagree, but I do question it. I think this was almost certainly true before the baby, but I'm not sure it's true now. I think Cuddy still knows a relationship with House would be a mistake, despite how attracted to him she obviously is, but I also think the baby has put her into "I need a man" overdrive, and she eitehr can't or won't get involved with other men, so House is the next "logical" choice. He's at least the devil she knows, which I think in her mind, counts for a lot. She at least knows what she's getting and more or less what to expect. I think the draw for Cuddy, who, for whatever reason, avoids relationships is that while she gets all of House, that also means NOT getting all of House. If we remember what Stacy said, she said that with Mark, there was room for her, while with House, he was always absorbed in other things. We know House loved her, but he's so obsessive and quirky that you can be Stacy didn't see him much for an entire week if he had a particularly tough case. I think this is what appeals to Cuddy. I suspect she's much like House in that way, she wants a relationship that she doesn't always have to be in, and she's likely to feel smothered and skittish if she had to be "too domestic." Still not saying it's a healthy relationship or that either one of them are healthy people at all, it's just at this stage in Cuddy's life she's realizing she's kind of missed the boat and is latching on to what's available and familiar.

I think Cuddy still knows a relationship with House would be a mistake, despite how attracted to him she obviously is, but I also think the baby has put her into "I need a man" overdrive, and she eitehr can't or won't get involved with other men, so House is the next "logical" choice. He's at least the devil she knows, which I think in her mind, counts for a lot. She at least knows what she's getting and more or less what to expect. It all goes back to their conversation in Who's Your Daddy: House is someone she knows, trusts, and likes. I think this is what appeals to Cuddy. I suspect she's much like House in that way, she wants a relationship that she doesn't always have to be in, and she's likely to feel smothered and skittish if she had to be "too domestic." Still not saying it's a healthy relationship or that either one of them are healthy people at all, it's just at this stage in Cuddy's life she's realizing she's kind of missed the boat and is latching on to what's available and familiar. I think the reason that DS once said that if House was going to have a relationship with anyone it would be Cuddy is because in many ways, Cuddy is the female House. No, she doesn't have his intuition, and she definitely operates at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, but we've seen on numerous occasions that once Cuddy's involved in something, she's all in, and it's very hard to break her concentration on her goal. I think House and Cuddy recognize these mutual qualities in each other, and it's why they work so well together professionally. And while that doesn't necessarily create a very healthy personal relationship, it is one that they can take comfort in. They're way too self-involved to every really consider having a long-term romantic relationship, but that doesn't preclude them from having a very complicated friendship. And if the end result of all this "arc" is that they consider each other friends a little more often (because I think we can all agree that House probably needs more than one friend to whom he can turn) and recognize the roles that they play in each other's lives, then progress has definitely been made.

First of all, hello. I’m not native speaker, so this’s my best attempt to be understood. OK, I’m not going to write about particular scenes or the current (or eventual) situation between House & Cuddy, and this’s not a replay to anyone. Neither I’m joining in the disussion, you guys, have above (which is quite intersting, I have to say). I’m writing this basically because there’s something that I can’t understand, it is why suddenly some people is judging House as a normal-without-any-issues-person, applying the “normal” standards. Yes, I agree, the way that he generally treats Cuddy -and everyone- is considered terrible, humiliating and disrespectful in “our real world”, and if I, or everyone else here, would do the same things that House does every day, I'm sure we were likely alone. And like this is a TV show and not the real-life, the other characters have to put up with it, which probably makes them pathetic or “slow-learner”, but otherwise we wouldn’t have the show at all. If we want judge every single House’s relationship (as a friend, as an employee, as a boss, as a son, etc.), let’s do it. Finally we’ll find out that Wilson has no self-respect, or Cuddy, or Foreman, or Taub or everyone who’s around him. That’s basically the way that he communicates, and I don’t why someone can expect something different from him. House doesn’t act like everybody else, I think we can't "translate" his actions as if they were performed by anyone, with, as I said before, with “normal” standards, and after 5 season we should know it. (Sorry in advance for any gramatical mistake & because I don't have a wide range of vocabulary, I really hope that someone can catch my point, it’s sorta difficult do this when English’s not your primary language)

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