House, season 3
Jan. 19th, 2008 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakMy House marathon is still continuing, and I’ve now reached the end of the third season.
Firstly, I did not hate the Tritter arc as everyone warned me I would. Actually, I thought it was somewhat better written than the Vogler arc, because Vogler aside from his introduction was presented as squarely in the wrong, the embodiment of the evil pharmaceutical industry and going after House for purely selfish reasons. On the other hand, it was to be expected that given House’s rudeness to patients, he’d one day piss off the wrong person, and Tritter never lost the benefit of the doubt, i.e. the impression we’re meant to believe he didn’t solely act because House was a jerk to him but because he genuinely believed House was a ticking time bomb. Vogler gets soundly defeated and we don’t even see him slink off, Tritter gets also defeated, but we see him say goodbye and again, the impression is that he means it when he wishes House good luck and expresses the hope he was wrong about House. Mind you, even a European like me with no knowledge in American law can doubt Tritter would have managed to freeze Wilson’s accounts (and later Foreman’s and Cameron’s), but I don’t expect legal realism on my tv shows.
The other reason I’ve heard for hating the Tritter arc was that everyone became unlikeable. I didn’t think that, either. I thought House behaved more like a jerk than usual, fulfilling Wilson’s diagnosis of him pushing and pushing and pushing people to make them desert him and fulfil his view on humanity, but everyone else was doing their best under dire circumstances. As for House himself, did anyone seriously expect a misanthropic addict under pressure with the emotional maturity of a child would become more likeable instead of less?
Familiar faces this season: Marc Blucas (aka Riley from BTVS) and Joel Grey (Broadway legend, Cabaret, also guest starred in BTVS and in Alias). Here Grey played the first not creepy role I’ve seen him in, though of course his ethically challenged doctor gone patient had a morally ambiguous past. When House pretended to euthanize him, and Foreman and Cameron left but Chase stayed, I thought: “Whoever said Chase has a bigger crush on House than Cameron had in the first season was right.” Mind you, in this particular case Chase could simply have been pro- death by choice for cancer patients, but it context, given the sheer amount of abuse he puts up with from House this season, I’m thinking daddy issues and leftover guilt from the first season don’t explain it anymore. He must have a masochistic crush. Speaking of Chase’s love life, the mini arc of him and Cameron starting with the casual sex again and then Chase developing feelings for her, in reverse to the usual female/male cliché, worked quite well for me. From Cameron’s side, since Chase is neither dying nor an authority figure it’s no wonder she thinks she won’t fall in love with him, and what I especially appreciate, given the way tv tends to confuse stalking with romance, is that Chase doesn’t do that. I’m not sure they’ll stay together but by the end of the season, these two neurotic kids have actually the sanest, most relaxed relationship with each other on the show. Who’d have thought?
Of course, dysfunctional relationships are also fun. I’m still valiantly fighting the temptation to ship House with anyone except his true love, Vicodin (there are some characters whom one loves to watch but would really not inflict on anyone romantically…), but it’s hard to interpret his behaviour towards Wilson and Cuddy this season as something other than: please, don’t become a couple, I want both of you to be/remain in love with me! Also, said shenanigans were fun as poor long suffering Wilson caught him on the flower thing and reciprocated with the “Yes I do… did you really believe me?” mind game, and Cuddy got to call House out on his remembering whom she made out with two Christmas parties ago, not to mention interrupting her dates. Also, I much appreciated House getting guilt-tripped by Wilson’s ex wife into taking care of her dog for a while. (All of Wilson’s exes must spend at least some time trying to figure out how to pay House back for emotionally draining their man on a regular basis…)
Am in two minds about the fact that the case Cuddy was allowed to solve instead of House meant saving a pregnant woman and her baby, because of the possible “every woman wants to be a mother” subtext, but on the other hand, both the woman in question and Cuddy want to be mothers without getting married or being in a permanent relationship with a man, so one can also read an endorsement of lifestyles other than the nuclear family into this. In any case, I’m glad we got an episode showing Cuddy to be a gifted doctor.
House giving his teenage stalker the Casablanca speech, this time literally the Casablanca speech, word for word, made me feel smug, because I knew back when he gave Stacy a more Housian variation of that speech that he had to be a fan. I have some vague theory, based admittedly also on Woody Allen’s Play it again, Sam, that said speech is basically wish fulfilment of a male fantasy: the gorgeous woman who dumped you in the past turns out not to have dumped you but to have been torn away from you by cruel circumstances, and now she’s ready to throw her whole new life away to be with you again, but you don’t have to commit, you can be noble instead and send her away for her own good. (In the scene with the teenager, it’s of course meant and played as a parody by House and the scriptwriters alike, complete with House detecting the medical cause for the teenager’s crush on him when he switches from the end speech to the other famous one with “here’s looking at you, kid”. But usually, it’s played straight. Which is why my favourite Casablanca adaption, heretically, is the season 2 DS9 episode starring Quark as Rick Blaine and Natima Lang as Ilsa. Guess what, in that one, it’s Natima at the end who makes the speech and says farewell to Quark because though she does love him, she regards her political work as more important.
Back to House and House: House’s more humane moments like his reaction when the fetus/baby grabs his finger mid-operation (which could have come across as trite, but instead to me was a very powerful moment, and Laurie completely sold me on House’s stunned reaction) and his dealing with the rape victim (sidenote: though I’m sure we’re all stunned by surprise House’s father was a bad one; sidenote II: and he’s definitely replicating some of that relationship with Chase, also not a surprise) were sprinkled in between him being even more pushing and alienating in the Tritter ark and being his usual self afterwards. That Foreman’s resignation actually wasn’t retracted but followed by Chase’s firing and Cameron’s resignation was a surprise because it genuinely changes the format of the show; that House did it at all in Chase’s case and didn’t fight to keep them with the other two wasn’t, though the fact that in Airborne, he makes some passengers into temporary replacements for Cameron, Chase and Foreman shows he’s aware he needs their feedback. But with someone so paranoid about needing anyone, that’s bound to rather lead to him letting them go than the reverse.
Now I’m ready for season 4…
Firstly, I did not hate the Tritter arc as everyone warned me I would. Actually, I thought it was somewhat better written than the Vogler arc, because Vogler aside from his introduction was presented as squarely in the wrong, the embodiment of the evil pharmaceutical industry and going after House for purely selfish reasons. On the other hand, it was to be expected that given House’s rudeness to patients, he’d one day piss off the wrong person, and Tritter never lost the benefit of the doubt, i.e. the impression we’re meant to believe he didn’t solely act because House was a jerk to him but because he genuinely believed House was a ticking time bomb. Vogler gets soundly defeated and we don’t even see him slink off, Tritter gets also defeated, but we see him say goodbye and again, the impression is that he means it when he wishes House good luck and expresses the hope he was wrong about House. Mind you, even a European like me with no knowledge in American law can doubt Tritter would have managed to freeze Wilson’s accounts (and later Foreman’s and Cameron’s), but I don’t expect legal realism on my tv shows.
The other reason I’ve heard for hating the Tritter arc was that everyone became unlikeable. I didn’t think that, either. I thought House behaved more like a jerk than usual, fulfilling Wilson’s diagnosis of him pushing and pushing and pushing people to make them desert him and fulfil his view on humanity, but everyone else was doing their best under dire circumstances. As for House himself, did anyone seriously expect a misanthropic addict under pressure with the emotional maturity of a child would become more likeable instead of less?
Familiar faces this season: Marc Blucas (aka Riley from BTVS) and Joel Grey (Broadway legend, Cabaret, also guest starred in BTVS and in Alias). Here Grey played the first not creepy role I’ve seen him in, though of course his ethically challenged doctor gone patient had a morally ambiguous past. When House pretended to euthanize him, and Foreman and Cameron left but Chase stayed, I thought: “Whoever said Chase has a bigger crush on House than Cameron had in the first season was right.” Mind you, in this particular case Chase could simply have been pro- death by choice for cancer patients, but it context, given the sheer amount of abuse he puts up with from House this season, I’m thinking daddy issues and leftover guilt from the first season don’t explain it anymore. He must have a masochistic crush. Speaking of Chase’s love life, the mini arc of him and Cameron starting with the casual sex again and then Chase developing feelings for her, in reverse to the usual female/male cliché, worked quite well for me. From Cameron’s side, since Chase is neither dying nor an authority figure it’s no wonder she thinks she won’t fall in love with him, and what I especially appreciate, given the way tv tends to confuse stalking with romance, is that Chase doesn’t do that. I’m not sure they’ll stay together but by the end of the season, these two neurotic kids have actually the sanest, most relaxed relationship with each other on the show. Who’d have thought?
Of course, dysfunctional relationships are also fun. I’m still valiantly fighting the temptation to ship House with anyone except his true love, Vicodin (there are some characters whom one loves to watch but would really not inflict on anyone romantically…), but it’s hard to interpret his behaviour towards Wilson and Cuddy this season as something other than: please, don’t become a couple, I want both of you to be/remain in love with me! Also, said shenanigans were fun as poor long suffering Wilson caught him on the flower thing and reciprocated with the “Yes I do… did you really believe me?” mind game, and Cuddy got to call House out on his remembering whom she made out with two Christmas parties ago, not to mention interrupting her dates. Also, I much appreciated House getting guilt-tripped by Wilson’s ex wife into taking care of her dog for a while. (All of Wilson’s exes must spend at least some time trying to figure out how to pay House back for emotionally draining their man on a regular basis…)
Am in two minds about the fact that the case Cuddy was allowed to solve instead of House meant saving a pregnant woman and her baby, because of the possible “every woman wants to be a mother” subtext, but on the other hand, both the woman in question and Cuddy want to be mothers without getting married or being in a permanent relationship with a man, so one can also read an endorsement of lifestyles other than the nuclear family into this. In any case, I’m glad we got an episode showing Cuddy to be a gifted doctor.
House giving his teenage stalker the Casablanca speech, this time literally the Casablanca speech, word for word, made me feel smug, because I knew back when he gave Stacy a more Housian variation of that speech that he had to be a fan. I have some vague theory, based admittedly also on Woody Allen’s Play it again, Sam, that said speech is basically wish fulfilment of a male fantasy: the gorgeous woman who dumped you in the past turns out not to have dumped you but to have been torn away from you by cruel circumstances, and now she’s ready to throw her whole new life away to be with you again, but you don’t have to commit, you can be noble instead and send her away for her own good. (In the scene with the teenager, it’s of course meant and played as a parody by House and the scriptwriters alike, complete with House detecting the medical cause for the teenager’s crush on him when he switches from the end speech to the other famous one with “here’s looking at you, kid”. But usually, it’s played straight. Which is why my favourite Casablanca adaption, heretically, is the season 2 DS9 episode starring Quark as Rick Blaine and Natima Lang as Ilsa. Guess what, in that one, it’s Natima at the end who makes the speech and says farewell to Quark because though she does love him, she regards her political work as more important.
Back to House and House: House’s more humane moments like his reaction when the fetus/baby grabs his finger mid-operation (which could have come across as trite, but instead to me was a very powerful moment, and Laurie completely sold me on House’s stunned reaction) and his dealing with the rape victim (sidenote: though I’m sure we’re all stunned by surprise House’s father was a bad one; sidenote II: and he’s definitely replicating some of that relationship with Chase, also not a surprise) were sprinkled in between him being even more pushing and alienating in the Tritter ark and being his usual self afterwards. That Foreman’s resignation actually wasn’t retracted but followed by Chase’s firing and Cameron’s resignation was a surprise because it genuinely changes the format of the show; that House did it at all in Chase’s case and didn’t fight to keep them with the other two wasn’t, though the fact that in Airborne, he makes some passengers into temporary replacements for Cameron, Chase and Foreman shows he’s aware he needs their feedback. But with someone so paranoid about needing anyone, that’s bound to rather lead to him letting them go than the reverse.
Now I’m ready for season 4…
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 10:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 10:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 11:01 am (UTC)Yup! I can't come up with any other reason for it either *g*.
I saw lots of comments about how bad the Tritter arc was before I watched it and ended up being suprised I didn't dislike it. Given the way House often behaves towards his patients I didn't find it at all unbelievable that someone in a position to do so might well think that House needed stopping. Using it to put the other characters under pressure also worked for me.
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Date: 2008-01-19 11:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 12:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 01:09 pm (UTC)Though now you're making me wonder about a House/Life on Mars crossover...
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Date: 2008-01-19 03:47 pm (UTC)WANT!!!
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Date: 2008-01-19 12:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 01:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 02:30 pm (UTC)The Vogler arc I didn't mind, mostly because, over-dramatised as it was, it at least reflected reality and current issues, which is something you cannot say for Tritter, whose whole vendetta came out of left field and didn't disturb me as much as it made me think, Hi, Who Thought This Was Good Storytelling?
no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 03:46 pm (UTC)House's more humane moments like his reaction when the fetus/baby grabs his finger mid-operation (which could have come across as trite, but instead to me was a very powerful moment, and Laurie completely sold me on House's stunned reaction)
That moment really gave me the shivers - it was marvellous. And you're right that Hugh Laurie is magnificent in that, as indeed in most everything else.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 07:56 pm (UTC)for some reason the original messed-up comment won't delete
Date: 2008-01-19 08:09 pm (UTC)Huh. I thought the fetal finger-grasp was the most dreadful cavity-inducing schlock I've ever seen in my life. De gustibus, I guess. It's also a debunked urban legend (http://www.snopes.com/photos/medical/thehand.asp), which is part of why it made me burst out snickering.
I found S3 to be pretty schlocky and out-of-left-field on the whole, actually. There was just too much that was in there for no reason except cheap emo-porn.
Part One
Date: 2008-01-20 07:19 pm (UTC)To respond to the comment above regarding the writers' harping on the drug use: Yes, that's a third reason that's been cited for fandom's despising the Tritter arc, but I think it's mistaken. Understandable, mind, but mistaken.
Here in the U.S., it is very difficult to get powerful narcotics unless you are dying of cancer. First, this is because the drugs in this class are the most likely to be stolen and sold as street drugs. My mother's medication, Oxycodone, is especially popular among thieves, which means she has to sign mountains of contract forms in triplicate and go to designated pharmacies in order to acquire it, which, yes, is incredibly frustrating for her.
Second, these drugs are provably habit forming (hence the first issue). There's no getting around it - if you take narcotic medications long term, you will become physically dependent on them. As my mother's pain doctor told her, these drugs completely change the way your body experiences pain on a physiological level. Minor injuries that before might've been adequately treated with an over-the-counter dose of aspirin will begin to require more.
Yes, there is an important difference between physical dependence and addiction. Addiction includes the physical dependence, but also involves emotional and criminal aspects. Yes, the chances of a pain patient tipping over onto the addiction side of the line turns out to be pretty remote on the whole. Yes, popular culture has done much to perpetuate the myth that the transition from dependence to addiction is easy and common- a myth that has consequently made many physicians leery of trusting people in real pain with these kinds of drugs. And yes, I see where the complaints re: House are coming from - a combination of bad fanfiction and genuine aggravation on the part of those fans who have to deal with chronic pain and bureaucratic roadblocks.
I don't think the writers in this case are confused, however. House is not just physically dependent on Vicodin. He doesn't reserve it for when he's in pain or otherwise feeling unwell - he also takes it, canonically, whenever he's annoyed, angry, or bored, and that is very, very iffy - and also very much ignored by House's principle defenders. Other iffy behaviors include stockpiling for rainy weather, hitting up friends and treating oneself instead of seeing a specialist, and, of course, the stealing. Bottom line, he's certainly treading the line, if he hasn't crossed it already. And basically? I think there are some people out in House fandom who need to get off their high horses where the "is he or isn't he addicted" issue is concerned. True, the vast majority of pain patients don't abuse their medication, but if ever there was a man who would, House is it. If you're unwilling to consider that, fine, but I think you will be, in the process, guilty of selective viewing.
Part Two
Date: 2008-01-20 07:20 pm (UTC)Now, on to other things fandom despises - like, for example, One Day, One Room. Can I tell you how happy I am that you seem to recognize this episode's value and haven't jumped onto the "they've simplified him psychologically" bandwagon just because the episode mentioned House's daddy issues? Many fans seem to live in fear of said daddy issues "explaining everything," but I think Shore and co., whatever their flaws, are far more sophisticated than people think. After all, has House's childhood been brought up again? Has anyone actually attributed House's behavior to his daddy's ice baths? Not even close. House himself wouldn't stand for it. One Day is not my favorite, but boy, did I appreciate Shore's willingness to give House daddy issues without it becoming an excuse for anything. Moreover, I appreciated that the rape victim wasn't a suffering saint, because that's a cliche that definitely needs to die.
Then there's Foreman, who seems to be about as hated as Cameron. What are your thoughts on him specifically?
Re: Part Two
Date: 2008-01-20 07:58 pm (UTC)Absolutely, he did.
Incidentally, on a meta level, I can't help but be reminded of the fact that when Arthur Conan Doyle gave Holmes a cocaine habit (and Holmes, like House, is described as taking his drug of choice when he's bored or annoyed, not "just" when in pain) in the 1880s, the long term consequences of such a habit weren't known yet, but in the 20th century, of course they were, which led to Nicholas Meyer writing The 7 % Solution, which in turn led to later Holmes adaptions like the celebrated BBC series incorporating the downsides of a cocaine addition in Holmes' behaviour, complete with later withdrawal phase. Which is sort of the reverse of what you describe - here, original canon treated the drug taking as far lighter than fandom who for once didn't whitewash!
Can I tell you how happy I am that you seem to recognize this episode's value and haven't jumped onto the "they've simplified him psychologically" bandwagon just because the episode mentioned House's daddy issues?
Like I wrote, I found it predictable - but also unavoidable - that House has daddy issues - given his personality, it would have been a miracle if he had had a good relationship with his father - but didn't see the show as using that as an explanation or excuse why House is the way he is. As you point out, not a single character, and certainly not House himself, ever indicates that. I'd draw a parallel to things like Wilson's brother becoming a homeless man - this doesn't explain Wilson's compassion or inability to turn down someone who seems to need him, let alone his relationship with House, and it's not meant to. The emphasis in the episode definitely was on the interaction between House and the rape victim, and his willingness to connect with her, which I think came precisely because she wasn't behaving like a saint. (Remember how he absolutely couldn't stand and remained away from the nine years old cancer girl who did behave perfectly?) I couldn't believe it when I saw someone describing her as "whining". Is there any tv etiquette on how a rape victim is supposed to behave in order to remain sympathetic?
Foreman: is a complex character. I was both surprised and impressed that the show let him go as far as he did to save his life by stabbing Cameron, because being locked up with a dying man and dying from an infection really doesn't always bring out the nobility. His reason for resigning struck me as both plausible and valid (though I think - and the fourth season seems to support the thought - he's kidding himself in as much as "becoming like House" stands for traits he already had but House's tutelage brought to the fore, but the fourth season also shows he's really trying not to just fall blindly in the same patterns but to treat people with politeness and respect).
I also suspect the show is going for something like G.B. Shaw did in "Candida" with Foreman and Chase. In "Candida", the title character decides to stay with the character who needs her more, and everyone at first thinks she means the young, sensitive and seemingly needy poet as opposed to her husband who usually exudes practicality and confidence, but no, she meant her husband because she knows he'd fall apart without her whereas Eugen (the young poet character) really is self-sufficient. House was right in his statement during the finale - Chase doesn't need him anymore. Foreman, otoh, still does, not just because of external circumstances (i.e. nobody but Cuddy hiring him) but because he still defines himself through House, whether as standing against him or as educated through him, but his sense of self is still House-dependent.
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Date: 2008-01-21 12:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-22 10:29 am (UTC)