This episode deals with the concept of teamwork, or actually the lack thereof, between many different teams in the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital World. Patients, doctors, couples and friends all get a good work out as a back-in-charge House treats a porn star; Cuddy continues to slowly break House's heart; Cameron tries to save Chase and Chase tries to decide whose personal sock puppet he wants to be.
“Teamwork” – House 6x08
The recession is hitting everyone it appears as we open this episode in the dressing room of a male actor and his director. They are discussing the hard bagels and crappy conditions they are currently working in because of cutbacks. The actor, although complaining of a headache, is a half-full kinda guy because he tells the producer to not let it get him down. They get to do what they love, touch people’s lives and get paid for it. They should not complain and just get to work! Oh, Roosevelt would have been proud of that work ethic….oh wait. The dude’s a porn star! He’s manning himself up to be a man! What a trooper! He walks into a room full of bada bing girls dressed like French maids. Of course, he’s not complaining. He could care less about the hard bagels he’s being served. And really, aren’t male porn stars used to serving things….wait for it…hard? Thank you. I’ll be here all week. And that ends the cheesy porn jokes for this recap. Oh wait. One more. What do you get when you cross a brown chicken with a brown cow? Brown Chicken. Brown Cow. Say it out loud while holding out the words. It’s funnier. Not much, but more. ANYWAYS….. The porn star, Hank Hardwick, his stage name hopefully, is ready to get to work! I’m tearing up at his dedication. The crew swings the big light over to him for his entrance and he immediately drops his prop briefcase and holds his head in obvious pain. He says to turn off the light; his head’s going to explode….no I will not make a joke of that obvious last line. His director rushes to him as he collapses. And cue theme music. Do you think they have workman’s compensation in the porn industry? Just wondering.
We return to a giant’s kitchen. Oh, it’s Cameron’s and Chase’s kitchen. Can they seriously reach the glasses in that top cupboard? Cameron tells Chase that even though he’s done a ton of naughty, naughty things she can live with it. She doesn’t forgive him, however. Interesting. He is amazed and grateful, which turns to confusion when she says that they need to leave PPTH and start over somewhere. She points out that Chase can barely go by the room where Dibala died as evidence that they need to change things. That argument still doesn’t seem to convince Chase.
Foreman and House are on power ends of the conference table in the Diagnostics Department. They are arguing over which case to take next: limp baby or Hard…wick. Why do the writers make it so difficult to NOT make porn jokes. Curse them. Foreman, of course, wants to save the little baby while House, of course, wants to treat the porn star. It’s a perfect case as far as House is concerned and he wants to wait til Chase and Cameron show up so they can vote for his patient. Foreman says he’s still in charge and they’re taking the limp baby. Cuddy walks in at that moment and House snarks, “Oh, and you’ve paged the limpness specialist.” Tee hee. Zing! His self-esteem and level of trust may have taken a hit, but luckily his sense of humor is a-okay. Cuddy appears unamused, but says nothing as she hands House an envelope, a medical license-shaped envelope House notes. Cuddy is then nothing but smiles as she congratulates House on getting his license back. House and Foreman lock eyes. Chase and Cameron enter the office at that moment and Foreman tells them that House is back in charge and that they’re treating a porn star. Foreman is not dumb. He knows the ropes, especially the one House has tied around Cuddy’s administration of the hospital. Sorry, Foreman, you are AUT. (Please, Germans don’t get angry at me again. That was strictly a pop culture reference to the Lovely Heidi Klum, whom I adore and wish every day I looked like.) Chase and Cameron could care less about who they’re treating as they are only there to say adios, pack up their belongings and ride off into the sunset. Everyone seems shocked, except House, who even if he was would not express it. He just finds it interesting. They say they’re just getting their stuff and walk out. Cuddy follows them. House has stood up to get a cup of coffee and proceeds to rattle off a bunch of tests for his team to do on the Hank. He turns to find only Foreman. Poor Foreman. He realizes he’s screwed and just leaves to do the tests.
Foreman and Hank are chatting as Foreman runs through the process of collecting specimens for all those tests he now has to do alone. Foreman is asking Hank about his medical and personal background. Hank insists that he’s mentally and physically healthy. He wasn’t abused or neglected as a kid and he and his co-stars are tested every month for STD’s. Even his wife is clean. Foreman is amazed to hear Hank’s married and even more amazed when he finds out the wife is a fellow porn actress. Hank says that he doesn’t mind that fact. You just need to keep the work life and personal life separate and everything will work out. And I just figured out the underlying theme of the episode. Can involved couples work together successfully? And right now on the show there is ALL kinds of involved couples trying to figure that one out. Foreman has moved on to a spinal tap, which Hank seems to be taking much better than I ever would when his arms and hands seize up. He’s in a heap of pain and Foreman orders muscle relaxant as Hank grimaces.
House is in a snazzy, modern-looking medical office. He’s rattling off Hank’s symptoms and the camera turns to show Taub sitting at the desk. Yeah! House is announcing that he has three spots open on his team and needs to know if Taub still has his diagnosting chops. Taub is uninterested. He’s happy where he is. He gets home by 6pm everyday and sees his wife on a regular basis. House in unconvinced. House says the only reason Taub’s not working for him again is because Rachel, Taub’s wife, doesn’t want him, too. Taub stands up and says, maybe yes, maybe no, but House belittles him again and then Taub fakes a FINAL EPIPHANYTM and gets his coat in the ruse to follow House to the hospital, saying the only link between…..yada, yada, yada. Instead, House gets the door shut on his butt and Taub hangs his coat back up. Wahoo!
House is now standing in a doorway telling someone the theory Taub used to get House out of his office. The camera turns to show 13 standing on the other side of the doorway. Yes, yeah! not so much, but I’m not as grumpy as I thought I’d be seeing her again. She tells him that Thailand was great. He doesn’t care. He informs her as well about the job opening. She says she has an interview in two hours with a clinic and tells House to go away.
House is walking with Foreman back at PPTH. He says that Taub thinks it’s one thing and 13 thinks it’s another. Foreman says he could care less because none of them want to work there. House sums it up nicely: Taub has a problem with his wife; 13 has a problem with Foreman; and Chameron has a problem with a dead African dictator. None of them have a problem with working at PPTH. Well, they may also be having a problem with a certain, cane-and barb wielding doctor, but…. Foreman comes up with a third theory which House likes and tells Foreman to go do the tests and administer the meds. He’s going to lunch.
We are in the PPTH cafeteria, which seems much nicer than any hospital cafeteria I’ve ever eaten at. I remember as we waited for the birth of my third kid, my husband went to go get something to eat and the place was closed. It was only 10pm! There was one stand open that had stale muffins and brown bananas on it. You don’t want to know how much those cost him. I must say I wasn’t too sympathetic to his plight as all I could eat at the time was ice chips and I was doing all the work. Okay, so we’re in the nice PPTH cafeteria. House and Wilson are standing at the grill counter. House is having whatever Wilson is buying, he honestly tells the cook. Wilson, resigned, orders two cheeseburgers and two orders of fries. You have to pick your battles, my friend. House tells Wilson that he’d like to hire all four for his team, but is afraid of the numbers. He asks Wilson who he’d not hire. Wilson reminds him that none of the people House wants to hire even want the job why is he bothering? House says that those 4 people have complicated lives which cloud their thinking. They really all want to work for him. He’s helping them out. Wilson calls him out on having a complicated life as well. “You went all the way up to a medical conference to cozy up to Cuddy. Instead she’s dating one of two people in the world you think of as a friend. There’s no way that’s not devastating,” Wilson says…while in the line of a very public cafeteria. Way to be discreet, Jimmy. House brushes it off. He had an attraction. Lucas bought him a ginger ale. It’s all good, House says. Wilson doesn’t buy it but says that obsessing over his work is definitely not the worst thing he could do, he guesses. He pays for the food as House looks at him. “What is the worst thing I could do?” he asks, his eyes gleaming. Oh, you’re a bad boy, House, and we love you.
Cameron and Chase are in the locker room cleaning out their lockers, which totally took a long time to do as House has visited Taub and Thirteen and Foreman has already performed numerous tests. Sheesh. Foreman appears and asks them to help him out. House is being a jerk (duh?) and he needs their help to finish the tests. They decline. Foreman pulls out the “I-covered-your-butt Card” from his pocket and tells Chase that he owes him. Cameron looks at the two of them but no more explanation is given. Chase says he’ll help him.
It looks like Cameron is helping Chase pay back whatever Chase owes Foreman because they are both in white doctor coats and riding in an elevator. Chase thanks Cameron, who replies that they’re in this together. Cameron asks if Chase really thinks it’s cerebral vasculitis, Foreman’s diagnosis. He says, “It could be.” Cameron is not happy with that answer as the treatments could do more harm than good. She suggests it’s Vitamin D deficiency. They exit the elevator and walk down the hallway. Chase asks if he should do the orginial tests. Cameron says of course, but they have the right to move on. Which I’m not sure if that’s about the case or about them. Probably both, the way these writers intermix everything. Chase stops. He’s confused. Look, he says, I’ll do anything for you right now. Just tell me what you want. And I swear I hear quiet evil music playing as Cameron smiles at him and tells him she’s not trying to guilt him into anything. Check it out, she’s got this little weird smile. Creepy. Chase looks at Cameron and says they’ll head out as soon as he goes and treats Hank for Vitamin D deficiency. Cameron smiles smugly as they walk out of frame.
Chameron are with Hank and his wife (who I think played the Vulcan officer on Enterprise) in the UV room. Hank is stripped down to get a tan and some good ol’ vitamin D. The scene barely opens and the first line is “So do guys actually work together?” from a super judgemental Chase. Hank explains that they used too, but now keep their films separate. The wife says they’ve learned to separate the mechanical from the emotional aspects of their work and keep the two things separate. And “clink!” There’s another coin in the Theme of the week’s Wisdom Bank. Cameron pulls out her own soapbox and preaches to them about there not being a difference. Yada. Yada. Yada. The whole scene is a salute to the self-righteousness of Cameron. Now, don’t all you Cameron Club Members get mad. That’s a known element of her character. It’s surprising, however, that Chase joins her in the judging. Hank says that he’s doing the world a favor, by letting people know it’s okay to do what you want and not base your actions on other peoples’ morals. Chase says that they can’t escape consequences and can’t make your own rules and morals. The porn couple takes it pretty well, actually, until Cameron throws a last insult at the wife and Hank takes offense at it. He tells her to back off and we see his nose start to bleed. His wife is concerned, but Chase writes it off as just a nosebleed (since when has a nosebleed, ever just been a nosebleed on this show, I ask you.) Cameron, however, notices that he also has breaking blood vessels all up and down his leg. They realize that he doesn’t have Vitamin D deficiency or cerebral vasculitis and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
And then we get a five minute preview of Avatar. Yawn. I was thinking that with five minutes there would be something in there to make me want to see the movie. But…no.
Now, where were we? Oh, yeah, bleeding nose and self-righteousness. House is back in the Diagnostics Department with his team. House is watching one of Hank’s films on his laptop. You know, research and all. Cameron is disgusted. House is impressed. He mocks Cameron about her views on the evil of pornography. She defends herself saying she doesn’t care what Hank does, yeah right, she just doesn’t want him saying that what he does is good for the world, etc. Hank does tend to over-emphasize the role porn has in the world. Chase changes the topic by closing the laptop and going over the symptoms again and offers an idea. Cameron shoots him down and suggests another idea. House goes with it and orders the work done. He calls back Cameron and comments that since Chase is relaxed and they’re in sync again, Chase must have told her that he iced Idi Amin, Jr. House is wondering how that plays out with Chase breaking the other nine commandments now. Cameron says she’s forgiven Chase, which House calls her on. The Cameron he knows would never forgive anyone for murder and technically he’s right. We only heard Cameron say to Chase, “I can live with that.” Cameron accuses House of playing games in the effort to break up Cameron’s marriage. House denies that; he just wants Chase to not be on the team and if breaking up the marriage is the result than whatever. Cameron tries her best to be as cool and manipulating as House and all I saw was a little kid trying to play with the big boys. Yes, Cameron has finally gotten a mind of her own, but her demeanor is a bit more reflective of the man she currently thinks is trying to break up her marriage. The goal may be different , but the play is the same. Or she could also be acting as a woman scorned. Maybe she’s mad House chose Cuddy for his fantasies. Hmmmmm. I thought that was long over, but you never know. She walks out not trying to hide her disgust.
Chase is giving meds to Hank. It’s just the two of them. Chase says that what they think Hank has now is contagious through person-to-person contact so he should let people know next time he goes to work. Oh, good, they provide soapboxes in every room at PPTH. Hank says Chase doesn’t need to lecture him. Chase’s wife isn’t there. Chase says his opinions aren’t linked with his wife’s, but Hank asks him if he like living up to other’s morals and expectations. We can see that Chase doesn’t, but Chase just asks Hank if he likes not having a real commitment to his wife. Hank admits to not having a perfect marriage, but he and his wife work it out and are committed in all the ways that matter. Chase says that’s fine if they don’t have a conscience. Hank spits out that a conscience is just what kicks in when there’s no logical reason for you to behave the way people want you to behave. Chase is intrigued by this but is distracted by the monitoring beeping out the fact that Hank has a fever. That means the antibiotics aren’t working and they need a new diagnosis.
Taub is in the waiting room of the fancy doctor’s office he works in. The wall reads “Sherwood Aesthetics, Surgery Centers.” It appears to be a clearing house for outpatient plastic surgery procedures. I thought he had signed a non-compete clause in his resignation from his previous job before PPTH. Did that have a time limit? Anyway, he is checking out the patient sign-in list and calls out for Mr. Takayama. We see House drop a newspaper from his face and say, “Yes?” Taub is not amused. “I really like what the last guy did to my eyes, but why would broad-spectrum antibiotics fail to work on meningococcemia?” Taub says he’s busy and has another patient. He looks at his list. “Mr…..Hitler?” House owns up to that one too. He was bored. The next patient Taub calls is there, but House ignores Taub’s requests to leave saying he knows Taub would rather figure out complex cases instead of hovering two years of corn chips out of a man’s neck. Taub insists he’s satisfied. House knows that but also knows that Taub is never satisfied with being satisfied and that’s why he cheats. Taub tries to do damage control with that as House tries to get Taub to admit he still wants to work for him. Taub says House is an addict and although over drugs is now trying to fill that addiction with getting his team back together. That’s what Wilson said, too. House belittles Taub’s current list of tasks to do. Taub shoots back that he just helped a man regain use of his sinuses…and then Taub has a real FINAL EPIPHANYTM look and tells House that if the man had a pocket of infection in his sinuses the antibiotics wouldn’t be able to reach it. They should drill the man’s sinuses and treat the infection directly. House smiles. “Nice,” he says. “Tell me that didn’t feel good.” He nods and walks away hollering out, “See you tomorrow!” as he leaves Taub standing in the waiting room, looking like it did feel good. But he still yells, “I’m not coming back!” It’s not very convincing.
We see a cute scrapbook page with hearts and happiness and pictures of 13 in Thailand. She so does not scrapbook. What writer thought that fit into her character? She is so not a scrapbooker. But maybe this is her deep dark secret in her character development. Foreman walks up to 13 who’s recording her memories on a dirty diner countertop. Don’t spill your coffee on your memories! Foreman fills her in on what’s happening. He is no longer the boss and House is right to want her to come back. 13 asks if he wants her to come back. Foreman says he wants to keep their personal and professional lives separate so it shouldn’t matter. Huh? 13 reminds him that he couldn’t do that before and he fired her butt. She can’t work with him. Foreman goes all humble and says yes, she could. He was the one that had the problem, but it’s not a problem any more. He leaves her. See porn stars do influence people for the good. Foreman is taking Hank’s advice. I smell a Nobel peace prize!
Then we get a great shot of a drill going up Hank’s bloody nose. Yuck! Chase is doing the gross procedure when House enters the observation room. He looks down on the surgery as he tells Chase that he owes him an apology. House pretend to say he was wrr—wrr-wrr—wr---, but can’t quite get it out. Chase helps him and asks House to explain what he was WRONG about. House says that Chase spent weeks hiding the fact that “he crashed Daddy’s car” only to end up telling Cameron all about it, who is accepting of the deed and riding off into the sunset with him. House disclaims Chase’s, “because she loves me,” theory and says that this whole reaction is inconsistent with the Dr. Cameron they’ve known and loved for the past six years. House is going to help Chase and find out the real reason Cameron is letting Chase off the hook. He leaves and we end the scene with disgusting infected pus oozing out of the bloody nose. Yum……
Wilson walks into the clinic to find a busy Cuddy signing off on charts. She doesn’t want to talk to him right now. He blames her for House’s current obsession of getting his old team back together and Cuddy, rightly so, tells him to back off. She is sorry that she’s not dating his best friend, but she’s going to live her life and for the first time ever not worry how her actions are going to affect House…or Wilson, she adds. She walks off with a sigh of annoyance. Wilson looks after her and then…smiles. He has zeroed in on the phrase “for the first time ever not worry how my actions affect House.” She all but admitted she’s been making decisions based on House and Wilson interprets that for Twu Wuv. Now he finally realizes that Cuddy’s been pining for House as long as House has been pining for her. Well, that’s what I think that little smile means.
The next scene has Cuddy pacing in her living room. She’s telling Lucas that she feels guilty about how it all played out with House. Lucas expresses his wish that they should make their relationship about them, not House, which Cuddy says House will twist around to him again anyway. So Lucas, who can’t NOT express everything that runs through his head surmises outloud that he finds it surprising that Cuddy thought she could date, marry, have kids with and retire with Lucas without House finding out. Or maybe, Lucas supposes, Cuddy didn’t think they’d date long at all. Lucas calls Cuddy delusional if the first observation is true and him delusional if the second observation is true. He begins to opine a third observation about Cuddy being loopy thinking House was mature enough to deal with all of this when Cuddy cuts him off and tells him she’s sorry. Lucas says he’s actually flattered that Cuddy feels comfortable enough to freak out with him and then he pulls her down with him on the couch and I’m TOTALLY grateful they don’t start making out because…ew. They do look happy, however.
Chameron are checking out the recovery on Hank when Chase takes that perfect moment to confront Cameron on the reasons behind her forgiving him, which she really hasn’t done yet, remember? Cameron says it’s because Chase feels shame and guilt. Chase looks confused but the patient interrupts their moment by letting his liver fail. Inconsiderate little….
That Gap commercial is a bit much. I even missed what company it was for the first time it ran because I was busy watching the girl try to surf on the boy across the slippery floor. Hmmmm. Still processing.
We return to the Diagnostics Department where the old fellows are doing what they do best: guessing. They discount many with Foreman saying that there can’t be pre-existing conditions they didn’t know about because Hank’s parents took them to the doctor for every little thing. BING: my non-sequiter medical fact alarm just went off. I think this is the first hint of the final diagnosis. Let’s wait and see. They come up with a theory that’s better than the rest and decide to run with it. Chase exercises some backbone by telling House off, who is intrigued rather than upset on the display of said backbone. The team stand and leave the room but House calls Chase back. It’s his turn for some psycho-analysis courtesy of the Dr. House. House asks Chase what Cameron said about her reasoning. He knew Chase would run and ask her. Chase says she forgave him (but not really, yet, right?) because he feels guilty. House says that could be but the main reason is because Cameron blames House for the murder. She blames him for creating the atmosphere where Chase could even think about doing that (but Cameron thought about killing Dibala, too!) Chase thinks House is off his rocker and wonders why he’s trying to mess things up between him and Cameron. House explains that is already is messed up and that Chase needs to stay and work for House to prove that he’s not House’s personal sock puppet, which I think would do the opposite. I’m still working my way around that statement. He leaves Chase with that same confused look he’s worn most of the whole episode and I feel for Chase right now. I think he realizes that both Cameron and House are probably manipulating him right now and although Chase is normally content to let things slide as long as they slide in his favor, he’s feeling a bit abused.
House and cane are on a treadmill in the trendy workout area of 13’s apartment. His leg seems to be giving him less pain these days or maybe beating his opiate addiction has lessened the pain. Anyway, 13 wonders why he’s still trying to manipulate her into working for him instead of just asking her straight out to come back. Really? I know you haven’t worked for the man that long, 13, but a clinic patient who spent 10 minutes with House would know that’s how he works. House deflects so 13 answers. It’s because House can’t handle rejection. Well, maybe but it’s probably more that House likes to manipulate people and he’s good at it. Watch. He says, “Are you asking me to ask you?” She tells him it wouldn’t be a good idea for both their sakes. She walks away.
Cameron is giving the bad news to Hank and his wife. Hank’s liver is damaged and he’ll need a transplant in the future, but the transplant committee most likely will reject his request if he continues to make porn films. Hank gets his feathers all ruffled as usual, but Cameron, looking down her nose the whole time, tells him she’s “just giving him the facts.” Yeah, you’re evil and doing horrible things so you don’t deserve a liver. I’m just saying…. Oh, that Cameron, her honesty is so refreshing. Hank says his job is healthier than her’s and that he’s not going to stop everything the minute some health issue comes up and worry about every little scratch, like his parents did. BING!: there’s the second random mention of over-protective parents. Now, if I was a doctor I could come up with the diagnosis and the episode would be over. Good thing I’m not a doctor. The wife tells everyone to back down. She’s the voice of reason when she says that Hank should change professions so he’ll live. Hank’s not happy.
Chase and Foreman have a scope down inside Hank looking for things as they discuss House’s efforts to manipulate Chase. Foreman tells Chase to stand firm and make his own decisions. Cameron wants the marriage to work and Foreman knows Chase does too. Chase tells him to back off, “I make my own decisions,” he declares. The ominous clouds of doom begin to fill the room. Chase changes the subject by saying he’s found something in the liver. They think it’s a gallstone but it turns out to be a whole lotta little worms. Yuck! Hank’s liver is filled with them. They think they’ve found the reason for all the problems.
Twilight. Blech.
Back to grown-up fare…Chase is telling Hank that his liver is filled with worms probably gotten through sexual content, but they can’t be certain. Why even mention it then, Mr. Judgie Judgemental? Chase gives Hank a couple of pills and tells him that he and his liver will be fine. He can go back to his life. This statement hangs in the air and begins to stink up the room…
Chase enters the doctor’s lounge to find Lucas reading Chase’s medical charts. Lucas is impressed with Chase’s level of exactness. Chase is creeped out by Lucas reading his medical charts. Lucas drops the “I’m-dating-Lisa-Cuddy bomb” on Chase, who is genuinely stunned. Lucas says he’s trying to keep his girlfriend happy and is trying to help House reform his dream team, which includes Chase. See, if House is happy, then Cuddy is happy and Lucas is happy. Lucas, dude, that whole statement should give you enough of a warning to get out of the relationship NOW! Lucas casually mentions Chase’s precise medical notes have slacked off a bit, most recently in the last four weeks. Is something wrong?, he asks innocently. Is Chase leaving PPTH to cover up something? Is Lucas trying to blackmail Chase? No way. See. I knew that Lucas was more like House then just surface features. I’m thinking he’s just as conniving, but conceals it better behind a friendly persona. Watch out, PPTH. Lucas tells Chase he’s better off sticking around and facing the problem. Chase thanks Lucas for the advice and walks away. Lucas asks him if he’s got any dirt on the other three ‘cause it would really help him out. There it is. No subtle hint of blackmail there. Mr. Weston lost a lot of weight since he played Lucas last season. I prefer him beefier. Hey, it’s my recap so I’m exercising my writer’s rights.
Hank is barfing up foam and again I am reminded of why I never liked Marcel on Top Chef. His lungs are filling up with fluid. Cut to House and fellows in the office. Chase is reporting that Hank’s lungs are severely compromised. Cameron comments that maybe the worms were just there and not the actual problem, “I’d be surprised he didn’t have worms,” she mutters. Dang, she’s got her pantyhose in a not on this episode. They throw a few ideas around before catching ahold of Lymphoma. House sends them off to begin chemo, but asks for someone to fax over the new developments to Taub and 13. “Seriously,” asks a pissed-off Cameron. “You either like the diagnosis or you don’t. If you don’t we need to keep talking. If you do you need to shut up. What we don’t need is this stupid game,” she slams at House. Her speech warrants an eyebrow raise out of Foreman and Chase and a faked shock of surprise from House. Cameron storms out. House looks at a stunned Chase and smiles. Cameron is pissed at House and his games. See, Chase, House knows everything that goes on it Cameron’s brain.
Chase catches up with Cameron. “You’re mad at House?” Chase says, trying to confirm House’s theory. Cameron admits she’s mad at House but just because he’s an ass. Hey, girlie, he was an ass when you fell in love with him before too. Chase is shocked. He tells her that he killed Dibala, not House and if he had the chance to do it he’d do it again. Okay, so Chase doesn’t feel guilt or shame. Chase tells Cameron he’s not going to run away because Cameron wants to pretend the act never happened. Now it’s Cameron’s turn to look surprised and confused. She stutters out “If that’s how you feel…then okay.” But we can see she’s rattled by the admission and realization that Chase doesn’t actually feel like what he did was wrong.
House is sitting in a very cool chair in Wilson’s apartment. Wilson is tinkering around in the kitchen, probably cleaning up House’s mess. House is talking about his day. He says that his strategy is not working out exactly as he thought it would. Now he’s got all four doctors wanting to work for him, but all four doctors have “valid” reasons for not coming to work for him. He asks Wilson how to get them to pick one from column A and none from column B. Wilson ignores him. He walks into the living room and straightens some magazines on the coffee table. “Oh, by not answering you’re saying the answer is inside me?” House taunts. Wilson turns and takes the Wilson Stance of Wisdom. You know the one: head slightly cocked with his hands on his hips. Yeah, that one. You know solid nuggets of advice are coming when he strikes that pose. Wilson tells him that he only wants the old doctors back because they’re comfortable; because House doesn’t like change. Wilson surmises that because Cuddy has spurned House, House is now trying to get the rest of his life back to the way it was before. House, of course, mocks him again. Oh, House, you’ve regressed to your old tactics. Wilson has hit the nail on the head, didn’t he? I was hoping that House would use some of his new found coping skills and realize his machinations might not be appropriate, but no. I know we all pay big money to have House act this way, and I can understand his falling back on something he knows. He fears change and tried to overcome that fear by moving something along with Cuddy, only to get rejected, another huge fear. Who can blame the guy for trying to get some familiarity back into his life? Again, I just wish he had used some of his new found skills. On House’s continued mocking Wilson spills something Cuddy kinda sorta said in a roundabout way, but which he totally attributes to her, “Cuddy’s right. Maybe, just maybe if I don’t play along you’ll realize that you can’t solve a deeper problem with a surface solution.” House’s expression hardens at the mention of Cuddy’s name and I think it’s the first time we see how badly her actions have hurt House. His eyes darken as he says, “It would have been more profound if you hadn’t said anything.” Wilson rolls his eyes and walks away.
Chase and Foreman are checking on Hank. Foreman asks if Chase is okay. Chase nods, “Getting’ through it.” Foreman knows better and tells Chase that things will be better once he and Cameron get out there. “Yeah.” Chase then realizes Hank is peeing blood and his heart then freaks out and sets off the monitors. Chase and Foreman scramble to stabilize him.
Hank’s in a bad way. Chase is amazed that Hank reacted to the medicine that way. They have no idea what’s going on. House asks for any idea at all. They throw some out and House has a definite answer as to why it can’t be that one. Finally, Foreman throws out Leukemia and House quickly agrees, telling them to nuke Hank’s bone marrow. All three fellows freak out saying it’s too radical and too dangerous when they’re not sure it’s leukemia. How is this different than any other case? House isn’t listening. Can you come up with something better, he asks. House would rather Hank die while they’re at least treating him. House writes something down on a piece of paper and stands up. He turns to Cameron, “Is it okay if I bring the other candidates into the loop now?” he snarks. Cameron gives a very mature facial smirk back at him. He then faxes the paper off.
Taub is in his fancy office taking to someone about minimal risks and painless injections when the fax comes in. He takes it out and throws it away. 13 is cleaning up her resume on her laptop at home when her fax comes through. She turns to see what is it and just lets it fall to the floor.
House is at the admin desk. He’s going through his phone messages. Cuddy is RIGHT there, popping out the clinic doors. “You’re leaving at 11am?” she asks. “Trust me,” House barely replies. “The case is almost over.” Hmmmm. What does he know? Cuddy spills the beans that Foreman spilled the beans. She’s not pleased with the fact they’re going to kill the patient’s bone marrow on a theory of Foreman’s that he now thinks is wrong. House just ignores her. Out of the blue, Cuddy says, “Is this about me and Lucas?” Really, woman! She is so insecure she’ll destroy her relationship with Lucas without House’s help. House turns and gives her a death glare. Oooooooh. He is not amused. I’m beginning to think that Cuddy isn’t really moving on with her life so much as she’s trying to make House want to be a part of her life. Maybe she’s just using Lucas to make House jealous. She might not be aware she’s even doing it, seeing as how grade school some of the relationships are on this show. Still love the show, however. Yup. House just turns and walks away at that comment. Cuddy follows him. “I want alternatives for the patient!” Cuddy calls out. “So do I, “ House calls back as he limps out the front door. Interesting side bar: House only takes one of the messages from the stack with him. Wonder who it was from.
House limps to Wilson’s front steps. That is seriously not handicapped accessible. Chase is sitting on them. He tells House he wants to work for him. House asks if he thinks that’s going to save his marriage. “I don’t know,” Chase replies honestly. House shrugs. “Three spots, four candidates. I have a tough decision ahead for me.” He climbs the steps and goes into his apartment, leaving Chase sitting out there.
In a shot that makes me slightly nauseous we see them rolling Hank down the hallway to get his bone marrow nuked. All three old fellows are with him. We cut to 13 letting the answering machine pick up the phone call. It’s the clinic where she interviewed offering her a job. She listens to the message, but doesn’t pick up the phone. Instead she picks up the fax from House off of the floor. We cut to Taub who is now listening to a middle-aged woman drabble on about her crows feet and their removal. He’s clearly not paying attention and suddenly turns around and pulls the fax from his trash can. We move to the nuclear lab at PPTH where Chase, Foreman, Cameron and House are hanging out in the monitoring room, well away from Hank, who’s about to get a huge dose of radiation. Foreman asks what House is doing there. House replies that he thinks they’re wrong which means something’s going to go wrong. Just then House’s phone rings. “Or they’re going to go right,” he says as he answers it. “Takayama here!” It’s Taub and 13 telling them to stop the procedure. Why, House asks, as he puts his phone on speaker and places it on the table. The old fellows tune in. 13 and Taub proceed to solve the case. They say that the thread worms were actually keeping Hank from getting really sick. Hank has Chron’s Disease. Because Hank grew up in such a sterile, protected environment his body didn’t know how to process all the crap that then cycled through his body. The worms were keeping the Chron’s in check by feeding on the crap. When they killed the worms, then the unfiltered crap started killing him. SEE! My Non-sequiter Medical Fact Alarm is spot on, baby! House is pleased with the efforts of 13 and Taub. Foreman and the others look chagrined. House caps off the scene by saying that it wasn’t the filfth and dirt of Hank’s life that was killing him. It was the sudden clean living. Gosh, I hope that’s not what the Powers That Be on House really think. I hope their just milking the irony factor. House adds one more jab at his old fellows when he says, “Best out of three?”
House is relaxing at his desk, which is now officially his again, and he’s making full use of it by watching another porno on his laptop. Taub walks in and is surprised, but not really at what’s playing. House turns off the movie and turns to Taub. Taub informs him that he want to work for House again. Maybe he doesn’t love his wife as much as he thought. House finally uses his new found interpersonal skills but saying that maybe Taub loves his wife more that he thought. Working for House gives Taub the thrill he used to get from philandering. It’s better to cheat with a beaker than with a blonde, House tells him. Taub smiles. House tells him he’ll let him know. Taub turns to leave and we see 13 standing outside House’s office door. She smiles at Taub and then at House. We get a great shot of House smiling back at them. His world is beginning to spin around him again. Whew. He may have manipulated the whole thing, but he’s momentarily happy and really, manipulation is what he does best.
Cameron is finally packing up her stuff. Chase approaches her and tells her that he wants to stay on House’s team and he thinks she should, too. She had always loved the job and he thinks they should stay. Unless, Chase says, House was right about why she wanted out in the first place, which for those without scorecards is that Cameron blames House for Chase killing Dibala because he’s House’s personal sock puppet. It looks like Chase decided to not be anyone’s sock puppet, House’s or Cameron’s or Lucas’ or Cuddy’s, and decide what he wanted to do. Keeping a paying job at a prestigious hospital in a world-renowned department and getting to decide people’s fates is what Chase wants to do. And we know that Chase, when pushed, will look out for Chase. No matter what.
House is loading up his porno dvds into his back pack as Cameron strides into the office. “Four for four,” he mutters under his breath. He turns to accept the declaration. Cameron just stares at him. He begins to think she might not be there for what he thought. “You were right,” she states flatly. “I was in love with you. I was an idiot.” House straightens up on this declaration, clearly intrigued by what’s about to unfold. “I tried to be like you; tried to understand you because I thought I could heal you.” She tells House she knows House knew the correct diagnosis for Hank long ago but risked his life to bait back his team members. She’s disgusted that his need to make things better for him led him to manipulate not only the patient’s life but the doctors’ lives as well. House agrees that he knew but isn’t buying into her humanity-loving insurance plan. Cameron also confirms that she does believe House killed Dibala by acting like God and teaching them how to do it, too. House argues that he merely taught them to think for themselves. Cameron again sings her song about House not caring about the patient and House almost agrees by saying that he just wants to solve the puzzles, but in doing so he saves the lives. It’s the same argument that Cameron and House have had numerous times. Cameron just doesn’t ever understand that disassociating the puzzles from the patients is how House works. He’s been like that from the first episode of the first show. Cameron tells House that he’s poisoned Chase and will poison everyone else who works for him with this emotional disconnect from the human side of doctoring. It’s a pretty harsh lecture, but Cameron sounds so resigned and defeated that there’s no real bite. She’s given up and is letting House have Chase. House just stands there during the whole thing starring at her. People in the forums have said he looks hurt at her words, but I don’t see it. I see acceptance at her reasoning and almost pride at her convictions. Cameron won’t admit it, but House taught her to think for herself, too. And then, Cameron sticks out her hand for House to shake. And in a replay of the scene from “Role Model” from season one House doesn’t take it. And then grown up Cameron, who owes a lot of who she is today to House, shows some more of the gumption she’s developed and steps forward to kiss House on the cheek. No unresolved attempts at closure today, my friend. We see House’s face as she kisses him and lingers. It is then I finally see a small bit of pain at what just transpired. He realizes she’s leaving and he didn’t want that to happen. He now knows his game broke her heart, twice, and I don’t think he likes that knowledge. Cameron simply turns and walks away. She hasn’t finished turning around when House reaches over to get his cane and begins to walk after her. It’s a great shot of Cameron, tears in her eyes, with House limping after her. But he stops just as he gets out of the door. What would or could he say to change things? What’s done is done and that piece of baggage is too heavy to carry. House decides to just let her go. What a great scene. I will miss Cameron, people. I enjoyed her character and Ms. Morrison is a gifted actress. She is a part of the House I love and I will miss her.
House bursts into Wilson’s office asking him if he knows where House can buy a “Mission Accomplished” banner. House tells Wilson that he’s got his sanity back, he’s got his medical license back and now he has his team back. Wilson is astonished. “All four of them?” he asks. House pauses. “No, 3 out of 4.” Wilson asks which one bolted. “Cameron.” “Well, you were right, House. Good for you,” Wilson states. House looks down. “Yeah,” he says quietly and not very convincingly, “Good for me.” Wilson looks at him quizzically. “She’s broken up with Chase and is leaving the hospital, still 3 out of 4 ain’t bad,” House says as he leaves the office. Wilson looks after him. Was that guilt I just sensed, he thinks.
We start our music montage. 13 is giving a cup full of intestinal worms to Hank, who drinks it happily. Really, couldn’t they just treat the Chron’s disease? I missed something. Foreman is watching her through the glass. He walks away and she turns to smile at him but he’s gone. Will they be able to work together as well as the porn stars can? Hmmmm. We watch through a window as Taub and his wife talk. It looks like she’s not liking what he’s telling her. Will Taub be able to keep his personal life out his job this time around? Hmmmmm. We are then in Chameron’s apartment and we see Cameron wheeling luggage past Chase, who’s sitting on the arm of the couch. He doesn’t even stand up and she has to come over and give him a hug. She’s crying as she gets her luggage and walks out. Come on, Chase, help your wife with her luggage, even if she’s leaving you. These two could only work and play together as long as they didn’t work or play with House. What does that say about the future of their relationship? Hmmmmm. The camera pulls back through the window. I noticed all the window shots, but haven’t come up with a connection. Then we are at PPTH where Lucas has picked up Cuddy after work and is walking her out. They smile at each other as he strokes her hair. The camera pans up to show House watching them from the balcony. He watches them sadly as they leave then looks downward. How sad. As much as House tells everyone he’s okay with the two of them being together it’s OBVIOUS he is lying. But hey, everybody lies.
I have mixed emotions about this episode. The acting was great, but it took a few viewings in order to sort things out. I’ve tried to share my findings in this recap. I’m beginning to think that all the rooms at PPTH come standard with a soapbox ‘cause the doctors certainly let the patient have it this week. And I bet there’s a portable soap box cart next to the crash cart, just in case. I will make sure to tell all my porn star friends to stay away from PPTH! I’ve heard a lot of chatter in the forums that House was disappointing because it seems as though he’s taking huge steps backward. I think he did, too, but I’m not disappointed because at least his huge steps backward didn’t lead him to a Vicodin bottle. Seriously, he may have lost some interpersonal skills and manipulated just about everyone in this issue but he did it drug free! That’s a huge point. And everyone was manipulating or being manipulated in this episode anyway. House was not alone. And you can’t blame House. He put himself out there with Cuddy and got shot down. You can’t expect a man as messed up as he is to just brush that off quickly and move on. But his actions show us something else. Many viewers have attributed his bullish behavior to the drugs, but now he’s acting that way drug free. True friends should know that that’s just House. Cuddy has admitted as much. The drugs may worsen that trait, but House was born with that need to solve puzzles and to heck with the fallout of getting the answer. Those that don’t want to take the ride should not buy a ticket. Cameron decided to turn her ticket back in, which I think House respected her for. But he doesn’t think any less of the other fellows, either, because of all people on the show, House is the one that truly believes that everyone is different and we all act differently to do what we need to do. House is an exact observer of human character and accepts those differences, maybe he doesn’t like the differences, but he accepts them. House clearly still wants a relationship with Cuddy and I hope he goes about it in as mature a way as he can. Although after seeing the preview for Monday I highly doubt that’s the case. Plus, he gets punched by Chase. I’m thinking his interpersonal skills are still struggling as well.
Thanks to all of you for reading and responding. Even those dissing me and my opinions are interesting to read. Plus it means that at least you’re reading my recap! Always a good feeling. Until next week!
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