28 replies to this topic

[TWoP Nikita]

From Zap2it:

The team treats an Army veteran who refuses treatment unless he and his brother are given information about their dead father; Adams seeks help when she suspects House is sick.

[missy jo]

After starting off with a bang in "20 Vicodin," this series sure is limping to a halt. Meh episode.

[ddawn23]

How many everybody-tries-to-figure-out-if-House-is-faking-illness-and-it-turns-out-he-is episodes do we need?

[marleyfan]

Meh episode

Yeah, I agree. So, do you think House going to end up being killed off?

[egbert]

Can't believe there still is a thread dedicated to this show. Formulaic, tiresome, boring, what can kill off this show?

[CoveredInGaston]

I figured throughout the entire thing that the twist would be that everyone thought he wasn't faking it, then it turns out he was, but the tag is actually that he's not faking it, setting up a finale where he comes very close to death but ultimately survives (I don't think they'll kill him off).

Boring episode overall.

[leila56]

Tonight on House: The team finds some of House's crap and examines it, thinking it might be something interesting. In the end, it turns out that it was House's regular crap all along.

The writers wrote this plotline so that the audience would finally have characters they could identify with.

[090108joanna]

This certainly has been done before, and that's why I'm not buying it. I'm not sure anymore what to believe. I'm not sure Thomas Bell isn't House's biological father, and I'm also not sure House doesn't have a liver problem. Something, sometime, before this series is over for good, has to be real and has to have real consequences, and the one thing I'm sure of is that we'll get there eventually. I hope that doesn't mean the character will die in the last episode, because I want it to end with him alive, but where's the drama if he never has to face what all the drugs have done to his body? And where's the drama if we never get any real answers about who his father really is, or have him confront his mother about John's abuse? They're going somewhere, but my patience is running out, and there isn't much time left to give us any satisfying answers.

Edited by 090108joanna, Apr 3, 2012 @ 8:05 AM.

[twinmom]

What was the point of House telling Chase he was the rat?

[arachne]

Funniest part of this epi was learning House's game tag: "Occam's Chainsaw". Otherwise the show was nothing to crow about.

[rory]

Was annoyed that they had to make Chase the "rat". Didn't expect that after Chase was the one arguing against telling Foreman. Don't know why Chase always has to be turned into the bad guy when he's always been my favorite.

[braggtastic]

Was the brother of PoW the same actor who was involved with Neela on ER? He was in the military too, but I'm fairly sure that's not why I think it's him.

[090108joanna]

Don't know why Chase always has to be turned into the bad guy when he's always been my favorite.

I don't think this necessarily makes him the bad guy, even in House's eyes. I think House understood it, and, in a way, it's evidence that House means more to Chase than he means to the others on his team. They have more of a history together, and Chase knows House better than the others do. When Adams first thought House was sick, Chase is the one who immediately thought that House was setting her up and was faking, but once he was convinced House was sick, he was the one who went to Foreman, because I think he truly cares about House's well-being.

[Unspoiled]

I agree with everyone! Pointless.
But that trick with the candy bars and the cup, I thought that was rather clever. I'd like to try that in a convenience store someday, to be honest.
Another positive was when House told the folks searching him to go slower. I'd like to try that in an airport someday....

[momof6]

Was the brother of PoW the same actor who was involved with Neela on ER? He was in the military too, but I'm fairly sure that's not why I think it's him.

Yes, it was Sharif Atkins, who played Dr. Michael Gallant in ER.

I know it didn't make sense in the context of the story, but when House had his epiphany and said something about someone taking the blame for someone else's acts, instead of referring to Chase, did anyone think for a second that he meant the younger, sick brother was taking the blame for the actions of the married brother? Especially because House said it as the younger brother was being carried out on a stretcher by the military police and exchanged a knowing glance with the married brother, who was saluting him?

[redbudrose]

Sharif Atkins is also on White Collar.

It wasn't a bad episode. I just couldn't get into it because the whole time I was thinking Hey Chase, when are you going to tell them about that one time at band camp when you, Foreman, and The Ex proved he had cancer but he really didn't?

Edited by redbudrose, Apr 3, 2012 @ 11:43 AM.

[090108joanna]

It wasn't a bad episode. I just couldn't get into it because the whole time I was thinking Hey Chase, when are you going to tell them about that one time at band camp when you, Foreman, and The Ex proved he had cancer but he really didn't?

Yeah, and Halfwit was a masterpiece compared to this episode. That's because House had a legitimate (in his mind, at least) and understandable reason for faking cancer -- he wanted to get into the Boston drug trial. His reasons for wanting that were left vague, but I think it was pretty clear that it wasn't just "to get high" as Cameron put it. He never intended for anyone at PPTH to find out about it, and I think he genuinely felt bad for worrying them unnecessarily. This time, if the whole thing really was a fake-out, he deliberately let his team be concerned about him (and also worried Wilson, which is unforgiveable), and the reason wasn't really clear at all. That makes his actions this time seem crueler than what he did in Halfwit.

[redbudrose]

, but I think it was pretty clear that it wasn't just "to get high" as Cameron put it. He never intended for anyone at PPTH to find out about it, and I think he genuinely felt bad for worrying them unnecessarily.

Lol. At first I was trying to figure out which one you were calling Half Wit until I rembered it was the name of the episode. I think it was to have something implanted or somehow block the pain so he actually wouldn't have to take the vicodin.

[missy jo]

The only thing I DID like about it was addressing that the Vicodin may be killing his liver. It's not the narcotic, it's the acetomenaphin/Tylenol. His liver is bound to be a tad "stressed" by now.

[blue monkey]

But that trick with the candy bars and the cup, I thought that was rather clever.

I also remember a scene in the cafeteria where House covered his T-Bone steak with salad before heading to the register. If memory serves, he stuck Wilson with the check, even after all that trouble.

[redbudrose]

The only thing I DID like about it was addressing that the Vicodin may be killing his liver. It's not the narcotic, it's the acetomenaphin/Tylenol. His liver is bound to be a tad "stressed" by now.

This is true, although in the real life, he would most likely be on Norco rather than Vicodin. It's the same thing with less tylenol. Not as many people know it by name so I can see why the show uses vicodin.

I did think the best part of the episode was the preview for next week. I still think the season would be better without Adams.

[Zyx]

I agree with everyone! Pointless.

Me, too! Another episode where everybody plays mind games with everyone else for no discernable reason. This plot device is getting tedious. I thought the person who told on House was going to be Wilson, but it makes sense that it could have been Chase as well. I think that Chase and Wilson are the only two people who have a real affection for House, so either one of them would risk his wrath to get him needed medical care.

I wonder if Chase the rat is the grandson (or great-grandson) of Steve MacQueen.

[NYC2007]

I know it didn't make sense in the context of the story, but when House had his epiphany and said something about someone taking the blame for someone else's acts, instead of referring to Chase, did anyone think for a second that he meant the younger, sick brother was taking the blame for the actions of the married brother? Especially because House said it as the younger brother was being carried out on a stretcher by the military police and exchanged a knowing glance with the married brother, who was saluting him?

I totally thought that too, but don't know how the married brother would have had access to the footage.

Overall, boring episode. The only bright spot was that Wilson was involved. Loved his clinic scene. It was very House.

Edited by NYC2007, Apr 4, 2012 @ 7:54 AM.

[MissAnneThrope]

Maybe it's just me, but couldn't the purpose behind House's fake-out be exactly what Chase said, that House is afraid because he knows he will eventually start losing his edge and wanted to test that his team would notice and be there when he does. Of course House disagreed, like he always does, which doesn't mean Chase was wrong. Whether you buy it or not, they did give a reason for what he did.

Edited by MissAnneThrope, Apr 4, 2012 @ 6:52 PM.

[ReverseFleckerl]

This is true, although in the real life, he would most likely be on Norco rather than Vicodin. It's the same thing with less tylenol. Not as many people know it by name so I can see why the show uses vicodin.

Right, but the show has gotten everything possible wrong regarding pain management and House's "addiction." He would have been dead long ago when he was taking 16 pills of 5/500 every single day.

If they end up killing him off because of this point that many of us have been howling about for eightyears, I'll be pretty damn angry. This show has already done serious damage when it comes to the public's understanding of pain management. It's been directly responsible for giant leaps backward in people's willingness to take needed opiates.

[MissAnneThrope]

Right, but the show has gotten everything possible wrong regarding pain management and House's "addiction." He would have been dead long ago when he was taking 16 pills of 5/500 every single day.

If they end up killing him off because of this point that many of us have been howling about for eightyears, I'll be pretty damn angry. This show has already done serious damage when it comes to the public's understanding of pain management. It's been directly responsible for giant leaps backward in people's willingness to take needed opiates.

This isn't necessarily true. I'm not an expert, but the real-life accounts I have read and seen on shows like Intervention look like the effects of Vicodin (and similar drugs) varies rather significantly from person to person and people can live for many years with similar Vicodin addictions to House. Also, they never gave us very detailed accounts of House's drug use in the show, so it's impossible to say exactly how much he's taken of what and for how long. Then if you consider that the core of the show focuses on atypical medical cases, that significantly broadens what they can get away with. Plus, you know, it's a TV show and anyone dumb enough to use a scripted drama as a source to make real-life medical decisions, is more to blame for the results than the TV show is.

[090108joanna]

Also, they never gave us very detailed accounts of House's drug use in the show, so it's impossible to say exactly how much he's taken of what and for how long.

I agree -- they've never given us hard numbers about his usage, except in the first season, when Cuddy said he was taking "twice as much as when I hired you." The one thing they've really never explained is how he managed for the year he was off Vicodin, after going to Mayfield. Supposedly he was on ibuprofen, and they never mentioned anything else, but that doesn't really seem like it could've been enough of a painkiller. Also, if he were to refuse to go off Vicodin again because he thinks he can't function without it, then how did he handle it for the whole year he wasn't taking it? And when he was in jail, he supposedly got only 4 pills a day, and had to give the goons 2 of them, so that was another 10 months when he wasn't taking large quantities, yet still managed.

[ReverseFleckerl]

Sometime in the first season, Wilson rags on House for taking 80 mg of hydrocodone. (Well, I think he said Vicodin, but the writers are idiots.)

In the third season when House stole Wilson's Rx pad, he wrote the dosage 5/500.

As for it just being a television show, well, yeah. But the fact is, as someone who has had a long acquaintance with the pain management field in different capacities, (and who is, incidentally, a published writer for whatever the hell that's worth), I have found the writing on this issue in particular to be irresponsible, lazy, and inconsistent in the extreme. The run of this popular show with its "addicted" lead combined with the ever more brilliant [/sarcasm] initiatives by the US government to decrease the use of opiates make me want to scream.

[Canada]

Yes, transporting someone to the OR and squeezing the spleen is so much faster and easier than just giving someone a platelet infusion. I understand that these shows aren't realistic but House has just been stupid this season. I think they must have fired their medical advisor.