BuzzSugar

House Rundown: Episode Five, "Lucky Thirteen"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:30:20 PDT

Thirteen hasn't been my favorite House character. In fact, to this day, I would have picked Amber over her for the final fellowship spot. The prospect of an entire Thirteen-focused episode of House, then, did not exactly thrill me - but the episode turned out to be a nice surprise. I'm fascinated by the fact that Thirteen's essentially living with a death sentence, and this episode's case drills a little deeper into her psyche. Want to talk about it? Just

As you may have noticed from those vaguely porny promos, Thirteen's been dealing with her Huntington's diagnosis (and the recent news that she has even less time than she thought) by partying hard and sleeping with random women. And apparently, she's good at covering her tracks, because nobody at PPH had a clue until she shows up in the ER with one of her one-night stands, who had a seizure after their romp between the sheets. (House: "Penthouse forum meets medical mystery? Maybe there really is a God.") Turns out she's kind of a crazy stalker who followed Thirteen to get to House - but she has a point that only House can figure out what's wrong with her. And his diagnosis is dire: She has a rare lung condition and only 10 years to live.

That's a feeling Thirteen can relate to, given that she's dealing with it herself. She and her patient/hookup actually have some sweet bonding moments - which almost certainly would have been inappropriate had House not fired Thirteen earlier in the episode - but it all comes to a close when they discover the original diagnosis was wrong and her patient isn't dying after all. I was surprised by how invested I felt in this story, and by how happy I was when Thirteen (briefly) feels like someone gets what she's going through. Knowing you're going to lose control in a matter of years must be terrifying; I don't know how someone would deal with it without going into a self-destructive spiral. And sure enough, at the end of the episode, Thirteen's in yet another random hotel room with yet another random woman, desperately trying to feel alive.

Meanwhile, the PI is back as House and Wilson get up to their old tricks, baiting each other with silly traps all for the sake of House learning where Wilson was one morning. This story involves a faux prostitute girlfriend, stashed hypodermic needles, and a majorly significant doughnut, and it reminded me of just how much I miss the House/Wilson bromance when it's gone. That story ends with a pretty big bombshell: Cuddy's adopting a baby. I loved House's response: He says, "If you're happy, I'm - " and then turns and walks away before finishing the sentence.

Some other thoughts:

In other news, Foreman's just figured out that he's boring. Welcome to my world, Foreman.
I think "like Thirteen" could become House's "That's what she said."
Awesome insight about Wilson's character: He'd be a lot better at a carjacking video game "if he didn't stop at all the red lights."
If the patient had been to so many doctors, why did she never mention her lack of tears as a symptom?
While House's firing of Thirteen seemed especially random and probably deserved to be revoked, I think I like it better when his sudden firings stick.

Did this episode change your feelings about Thirteen at all? What do you make of Cuddy adopting? And could House, Wilson, and Lucas maybe go on a date together?

Photos courtesy of Fox

House Rundown: Episode Three, "Adverse Events"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:30:47 PDT

This week's episode of House hit the trifecta of major show themes: lying, spying, and drugs. It also made me laugh out loud for the better part of an hour, and now I'm pretty sure "Adverse Effects" is my favorite House episode of the season. Even Lucas Douglas, PI, is growing on me, which is a huge surprise. Did anyone else love this episode? Or do you all think I'm crazy? To talk about it, just

Often, when House tries to do episodes where the patients' and the doctors' lives intertwine, it can end up feeling heavy-handed, like Grey's Anatomy at its worst. I liked how "Adverse Effects" handles things, though, mostly because the events tie so closely into the show's themes: Do you feel better knowing the truth? Is there such a thing as "the truth" to know? Are the only good doctors miserable?

But here's what I really loved about "Adverse Effects": It's funny. I mean, the Kutner/Taub/Thirteen exchange about Kutner's crawling is priceless ("I didn't do it to get the babes." "No, that would cheapen the purity of your achievement.") - and seriously, Kutner's in the Guinness Book for crawling? Kutner and Taub also have a snappy bit about Taub's wife hypothetically "doing the doorman" (Taub: "We don't have a doorman"), we see House as a cheerleader, and Chase punctuates the removal of a nasty medical marvel with the line "And that is why I won't let Cameron get a cat." I laughed harder at this episode than I have at any comedy I've watched this week.

The humor helped take the edge off what could have been a heavy episode, with House digging into everyone's personal lives and forcing people (well, forcing Taub) to deal with truths they otherwise would have kept hidden - a nice parallel with the patient, who literally nearly killed himself trying to keep secrets from his girlfriend. This episode has some bits that really speak to what House is all about - Lucas and House's exchange about the truth ("There is only one truth." "Maybe true for you.") and House's assertion that miserable people save more lives, to name just two. Some other thoughts:

Aw, Cuddy and Lucas, sitting in a - um, diner - and not quite k-i-s-s-i-n-g but not too far from it, either. Is Cuddy just attracted to people who drive her crazy, manipulate her, and go through her personal belongings?
So much was made about Taub's wife's secret bank account that I was expecting a twist. Instead, we got one car and zero lies on the wife's part. I think the storyline would have had more zip if I hadn't nearly forgotten that Taub had an unconfessed affair.
Speaking of which, I bet that reference to the fictional "Jefferson Mutual" bank was funnier a few months ago.
Breckin Meyer looks old.
House played lacrosse and was a cheerleader? I know I'm supposed to be most shocked at the cheerleader revelation, but I didn't figure lacrosse would be his sport, either.
Yet another episode with only the briefest glimpse of Chase and no Cameron. I hope they're enjoying what must amount to a paid vacation.
I always love the irony of House saying things like "People hate people who mess with other people."

So: How are you feeling about Lucas now? Wasn't the jam session at the end kind of awesome? And can you picture House doing spirit fingers and basket tosses?

Photos courtesy of Fox

House Rundown: Episode 2, "Not Cancer"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:30:30 PDT

If you asked me what House needed, I think the last thing I would have said is another character. But that's what we got anyway on Tuesday, when Michael Weston arrived as Lucas, a new private investigator House hired. House creator David Shore is tossing around the idea of building a spinoff around Lucas if the character clicks with the audience, so I'm curious to know if he clicked with you. That and more on this episode when you

I have a hard time not thinking of Michael Weston as "that guy who attacked David Fisher on Six Feet Under," and even looking at him on screen can stress me out. That, coupled with the over-the-top quirkiness of his first scene (seriously, he sneezes like that?), turned me off to the character right away. I'm also not convinced that Lucas is actually a very good private eye. Having a signature item of clothing - argyle socks! - seems uniquely stupid. That said, I warmed to Lucas as the episode went along. House needs a friend right now (did anyone else love the scene of him "auditioning" a potential soulmate in the cafeteria?), and Lucas is, if not exactly a friend, at least someone for House to talk at - for a few hundred bucks an hour, anyway, with an additional fee tacked on if the job requires almost killing someone. Plus, Lucas's undercover posing led to one of the best lines of the night: Cuddy's "Why does it cost $2,300 to fix a coffee machine?"

Meanwhile, it was pretty clever to give House a possible cancer case so soon after Wilson's departure. House is really lonely right now (probably not as much as Wilson was after House inadvertently killed his girlfriend, but still), and finding out that Wilson isn't even mentioning him has to hurt. I loved the scene with House at Wilson's door, and I also love that Wilson is sticking to his resolution to stay away. It would have been easy to get them back together - but it's so much better to have Wilson tell House that the next time House is at the door, he's not even going to answer.

Speaking of the case, I thought it was a pretty interesting one, with the team trying to figure out what disease could be affecting several different patients in several very different ways. But wow, was there a lot of gross-out medical stuff between the "sewage"-spilling and the brain-cutting. Ew.

Some other thoughts:

House always seems to do better work when he connects with his patient, and I like the way he and this patient bonded over a shared sense of disappointment in the world. But it turns out her dismay was partially a result of her brain not working right and dulling how she saw things. So, is there something dulling how House sees the world, and would he ever fix it?
Kutner doesn't solve the case, but he once again pitches a diagnosis and a plan nobody else had tried. He may seem like a bumbling fool, but he seems to come up with interesting answers pretty often.
I was glad to see Cuddy finally do something about House being so unethical - but even posting guards outside an ICU can't keep him from getting his way.
Looking for Cameron, Chase, and Cuddy is starting to feel like Where's Waldo?

Your thoughts? Love Lucas, or want to ditch him immediately? Did seeing Felicia Day as the patient make you want to watch Dr. Horrible again?

Photos courtesy of Fox

Movie Preview: Milo Ventimiglia in Pathology

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:31:42 PDT

Pathology was one of the creepiest-looking parts of my thrillers Fall Movie Preview post, what with its centering on a murder game and all. Now that there's a full trailer for the film, I'm even more creeped out.

Part of this is Michael Weston's fault because he seriously makes for the ultimate creepy guy (remember how sick he was when he terrorized David in "Six Feet Under"?). He stars opposite Milo Ventimiglia playing a med student who becomes embroiled in a dangerous game along with a group of other students: to see who can commit the perfect murder.

Now, of course, for the big question: Will Hayden accompany Milo to the premiere of Pathology? We'll have to wait and see. Pathology opens November 30, so to check out the icky-looking preview,

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