“My urethra is not for public entertainment.” – Cuddy
“But it is good time adjacent.” – House
Really? Did I not just profess last week how I was really rooting for House and Cuddy to make it, how I thought that they had the normal relationship pains of any couple and how I truly believed in them? Well, crap. I am so, so disappointed that Cuddy truly believed in House through the whole episode yet still dumped him in the end.
Why do I defend House? I feel like an enabler but he was fine when he was on the Vicodin — really he was. If that’s what he needed to be able to be there for Cuddy, then I think we should all just quietly pretend that the Vicodin thing never happened and give him that chance to do better. We can sweep this one little transgression under the rug, right?
House did so many things right. Sure, it took him a long time to come to Cuddy, but she knew he would and she was right. He was worried right away, but in true House fashion he tried to help keep Cuddy down to earth by blowing it off. He ducks the important moments (very House) by sending Chase, but we all — including Cuddy — get that he cares and he’s doing his best. I really believe House when he says he can do better. He’s risen to the occasion all season long. Being confronted with the death of a loved one is huge, people.
You may argue that Cuddy can’t keep giving him chances, that there’s got to be a breaking point, and in real life, you’d be right. Just let me have my fictional House; let his character growth that has been so charming and asinine at the same time this season continue to be charming and asinine. Let him continue to bring us lines like, “Looks like peeing blood is the new black,” while getting diagnosis face in the middle of Cuddy’s fear confessions.
One thing I definitely wasn’t disappointed in was how well they told this story. They managed to interweave all of the humor and character interactions that we have come to expect in a House episode and raised it to a new level. The dream sequences were brilliant (although the “Get Happy” one was nearly as trippy as the Willy Wonka boat ride); we got the funny stuff, in the sitcom, but we also got the important stuff, like Cuddy remarking on House’s lack of a limp — a big clue that he was on Vicodin and her subconscious was nagging her to notice.
Speaking of noticing, another point of brilliance in this episode is the final scene, nearly the exact scene that began the season, when House didn’t take the Vicodin and Cuddy professed her love for him. This time, it ended with the Vicodin instead. Brilliant, but crappy.
House, you are the antihero of all antiheroes — you can do this. You can be better. You can choose not to think of yourself above everyone else.
This and that:
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Mar 07, 2011 @ 22:23 EST5EDT
Cuddy knew going in that he was an addict. This is how addicts behave.
*POST AUTHOR*
You are so right! Makes it even more frustrating, but it is her fault, LOL!
Very very frustrating :-/
And there goes the shark! Finally jumped!
Although I feel bad for House (he does care), Cuddy was probably right to draw the line immediately. If she let him get away with this “one time,” he would keep pushing the limits, seeing how far he can go.
“What if I do it one more time? She forgave me last time; she will probably forgive me again.”
It’s just like her dreams were telling her – I’m thinking specifically of the sitcom dream in which House said (of Rachel), “Next time she won’t get caught.” If Cuddy forgave him for this first transgression, instead of stopping he would think to himself, “I can do better – next time I won’t get caught.”
It’s not realistic to expect him never to slip up – but his way of thinking needs to change from “What can I get away with?” to “What can I do to keep from slipping again?”
It’s not a choice he made to be an addict. He tried as hard as he could to change and be the person that she wanted. But when it came to watching her be in pain and being there to help her, it was more than he could handle at the moment. Remember in season 1 he would take vicodin for emotional pain as well as physical pain. They were all mixed up together in his mind.
It’s not really anyone’s fault. This is who House is, the person Wilson has dealt with for years. Cuddy thought she could handle it but she said that when he was off vicodin. Now that he’s back on and there is always the threat of relapse, she realized that she couldn’t.