House — Episode 1 (Season 5): “Dying Changes Everything”
The fifth season starts with an enjoyable episode with a mostly-satisfying conclusion, though the writers played a little fast with the clues tonight.
Lou, a thirty seven year old female, is admitted to House’s service for what at first appear to be psychiatric symptoms. She works as the assistant to a high profile feminist activist and travels around the world at her boss’s side. In the middle of a meeting, Lou suddenly began to hallucinate ants crawling all over her body. Other admitting symptoms convinced the team that her problem was not psychiatric; she was also found to have abdominal pain, anemia, bradycardia (an abnormally slow heart rate), and some memory loss. Various diagnoses were suggested: an infection she obtained while traveling (but she didn’t have a fever), amphetamine abuse (drug screen was negative), vitamin B12 deficiency, and an insulinoma (an insulin secreting tumor). House felt that the labs were most consistent with B12 deficiency and ordered a B12 injection for Lou.
While Thirteen was administering the shot, Lou complained of fecal incontinence, but Thirteen discovered that she had instead passed a large amount of blood. Upper and lower endoscopies were normal and no source of bleeding could be found. Her pregnancy test came back positive, but when Kuttner performed a uterine ultrasound, he was unable to find a fetus. The team now considered the diagnoses of choriocarcinoma (a tumor that secretes βHCG, the “pregnancy hormone”), immunoglobulin A deficiency, and βHCG injections (injections of the “pregnancy hormone” would give a false positive pregnancy test). House disagrees with all three possibilities and reveals that the patient has an ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy outside of the uterus). It has implanted in the intestine, and this is causing her bleeding and other symptoms. The fetus cannot survive where it is, and is a threat to Lou’s life, so Chase has to surgically terminate the pregnancy.
Lou continues to have a slow heart rate after the surgery and also develops new neurological signs, such as constant blinking. Her heart rate continues to drop, and in fact drops so low that she slips into cardiac arrest, but the team is able to implant pacer wires and revive her. Anxiety, stroke, and Tourette’s Syndrome are suggested for her neurological symptoms, but Taub points out that they wouldn’t explain her low heart rate. Thirteen suspects multiple sclerosis, and the patient is started on interferon. There is no improvement on the treatment — in fact, she develops a fever. Thirteen now suspects Lou somehow became infected during the surgery. On reviewing the surgical tapes, the team notices a small nodule in the intestine that they think might possibly be a ganglioma (a tumor composed of ganglion cells) which might possibly have caused her symptoms. They want Chase to perform another surgery to biopsy it, but he refuses, pointing out that the patient barely survived the first surgery. Instead, they decide on a do it yourself biopsy procedure involving an endoscope, a light, and a scalpel — and no anesthesia. Ultimately, and painfully, the biopsy is obtained. Under the microscope, it shows no ganglioma, and is suggestive of amyloidosis. To treat the amyloidosis, Taub states that they need to discover what caused it, and the team considers rheumatoid arthritis, familial Mediterranean fever, and lymphoma as possible causes of the disorder. Wilson looks at the biopsy and decides that while it doesn’t necessarily look like lymphoma, it doesn’t not look like it either, and that’s good enough for Foreman to start Lou on chemotherapy. She does show improvement on the chemo, so lymphoma seems to have been the cause of her problems. But then House appears — and pointing to the previously unmentioned bruises on her legs — points out that she has diffuse lepromatous leprosy and this is what has been the cause of all her problems. Some antibiotics and Predisone, and she’ll be cured.
Major complaints are in red, minor in blue, nit-picking in green:
The team should not have missed an ectopic pregnancy, that’s a first-year medical student mistake. A positive pregnancy test, abdominal pain, and abnormal bleeding — that’s an ectopic pregnancy until proven otherwise.
You don’t start chemotherapy for lymphoma by thinking it kind of looks like it. For one thing, it helps to know what kind of lymphoma you’re going to be treating.
Not mentioning the bruises until the very end was kind of cheating, don’t you think?
Apparently the team immediately knew that Lou had secondary amyloidosis (amyloidosis caused by another condition or infection) as opposed to primary amyloidosis — which is what it’s been every other time amyloidosis been mentioned on the show.
It takes more than a single injection of B12 to correct a deficiency.
Lou may have been too unstable for general anesthesia, but there’s no reason they couldn’t have used IV sedation, local anesthesia, or at least painkillers.
Maybe when Lou spiked a fever, they should have remembered that they only ruled out travel related infection initially because she didn’t have a fever.
There’s a bit of a paradox in today’s final answer. The (ectopic) pregnancy caused her symptoms which then caused her ectopic pregnancy. According to Thirteen, the pregnancy caused Lou to develop nodular leprosy, which caused her symptoms — including the scarring of the fallopian tubes. But it was these scarred fallopian tubes which led her pregnancy to become ectopic. The tubes didn’t suddenly become scarred the instant she conceived, they must have been scarred for some time before that. But according to Thirteen, they didn’t become scarred until she became pregnant…
Kudos: the surgical team all wore eye protection this time, a definite improvement over previous episodes. Now if only they’d carry that over into the other procedures as well.
So how did I grade episode one? The medical mystery was interesting, though the writers were too stingy with the clues, so it scores a solid B. The final solution was a stretch, but clever, and also earns a B. The medicine was pretty weak, and the team overlooking the ectopic pregnancy was a big miss, so only deserves a C-. The soap opera was very good, if more melancholy than usual, and earns a B+.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
As soon as pregnancy was brought up I was thinking ectopic. Huge mistake there to miss that.
And, was I seeing things or was there eye protection being used during surgery? Certainly that must be worth a plus point? LOL.
The whole season now will be about trying to get Wilson back. Don’t know what to think about that just yet.
Good to be back. :)
September 16th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Official Comment
Jay,
You’re right about the eye protection. I went back and added a mention of it probably at the same time you were posting your comment.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Excellent review as usual.
ObNitpick: Last word in paragraph 2 should be “pregnancy”, right?
September 16th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Leprosy? Woohoo! I got one!
September 16th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I saw the bruises on her leg very early on. I wondered till the end why no one mentioned them.
I really didn’t get the soap opera.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I really hope Robert Sean Leonard isn’t leaving the show, I’m still getting used to the new team, we can’t loose Wilson too!
September 16th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Thank you!! I was sitting there yelling at my tv “Look outside the damn uterus you guys this isn’t a zebra!” . You mentioned that B12 def. requires more than one injection but it was right after the first shot that she got the rectal bleed so they knew it wasn’t B12 so there would be no reason to continue the treatment. Oh and the whole not showing the bruises thing is sort of cheating but it also kind of harkens back to that episode where they kept processing the patient’s blood through computerized equipment and kept missing the huge parasites in it because they didn’t actually have a person look at it. (think it was Lines in the Sand with the autistic kid??)
September 16th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
completely non-medical but…
wow, a new team? I was only able to rip through the first two seasons of House in the last month, but I figured I would catch the new season since it was airing..kind of disappointing. I kept missing cameron and chase (and foreman, although he was there). The new team doesn’t seem all that interesting to me, but I guess that’s because I haven’t seen them in action much. Really, the best parts were the scenes that involved wilson, cuddy, and house.
And is it just me or does the new female doctor seem to have a personality ripped straight from the old Cameron?
thanks for the reviews, they’ve become like my official guide to House medicine.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
So how do we see our scores in the diagnosis challenge? (I know I didn’t get any, but I’m curious how far behind I am)
September 16th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
“In six months you’ll move on from amber to burnt sienna…”
Glad to see House’s wit wasn’t lost in the writer’s strike.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Official Comment
J:
Thanks, fixed.
EricTFBat:
Close…
Jordan L:
Here are the scores
September 16th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Oh my god, my first time playing and I score 5 points! ^__^ I definitely find the game enhances my viewing of the show.
And, oh my god, Wilson dumped House?! I dubbed in at one point Wilson saying he was in love with House, and it still seemed to fit that last scene.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
I was thinking the same thing about ectopic pregnancy as Kutner came up with the negative sonogram: he needed to look outside the endometrium.
But, I forgave it when House found the ectopic on the colon. It certainly would not be routine, even when an ectopic is suspected, to go looking at the colon. I am not even sure an ectopic on the colon would be sonographically detectable.
So, Kutner may indeed have looked at the tubes during his exam. Hey, the internet is a series of tubes, isn’t it? ;-)
September 17th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Curses! Foiled by the minor matter of House being set on Earth instead of Gallifrey! If only I’d known!
September 17th, 2008 at 12:38 am
Damnit! I considered playing two days ago, and ectopic pregnancy would SO have been on my list. I’ve been researching the phenomenon called Lithopaedion recently (preparations for a roleplaying game I’m running–don’t ask, it’ll only get weirder from there. The Lithopaedion is actually the villain) I’ll also have a sideshow in my game (it’s set on Earth, early 20th century) and I was reading up on fetal deformities on Wikipedia, and wow is that ever a bad subject to get sucked into. Left the weirdest mental aftertaste ever.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Thank god I wasn’t the only one screaming “ectopic pregnancy!” at my screen. I knew I should’ve put MS on my list, seeing as my dad has that. Drats! I really can’t believe that they didn’t think of an ectopic pregnancy though, I mean come on. I’m just 18 with limited medical knowledge and _I_ got that.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Oh, almost forgot. Wilson dumped House!?!?! NOO!!!!! That’s spoils ALL of my erotic fantasies involving them… well unless there’s make-up sex. I still have that one. ;)
September 17th, 2008 at 12:49 am
Shogo, maybe you should watch the last five episodes of the third season and all of the fourth. That explains the change in teams, and why Wilson’s leaving.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:51 am
I was so sure they would have checked for an ectopic pregnancy, when they said she wasn’t pregnant, I assumed they also checked that possibility.
Is it possible for a fetus to embed itself into the intestine? That’s pretty far to go, isn’t it? And it would have to go through the fallopian tube or uterine wall, right?
September 17th, 2008 at 1:21 am
I love how whenever House displays any vulnerability he hangs his head and barely looks up. Its such a contrast to his usual “I can see your soul” stare downs. Its so awkward yet actually appears that the man who can manipulate any situation is actually displaying sincerity. Hugh Laurie never ceases to impress me.
If Wilson is absent for some time is House going to go into a miserable antisocial downward spiral, remain the same or actually try to make some necessary changes?
To be absolutely cliche and probably to you, Scott, redundant- thank you again for such a thorough, informative and interesting analysis. As soon as I finish the episode waiting for me on my computer I click right over to your site. I can’t imagine my House viewing experience sans Scott. You should be generously compensated for your services! Cheers
September 17th, 2008 at 1:35 am
I gotta give much props to Wilson not blaming House for Amber’s death. As House accurately explained, it wasn’t. And House is also right about Wilson being an “idiot”, at least as far as its the pain talking regarding his decision to leave.
My pronouncement still stands, even though it’s still up in the air as to how much House actually realized about him and Amber that fateful night. Regardless, Wilson and Amber did not belong together at all and were doomed even if she survived the crash. Cameron was right that it likely would take years (and I know this from personal experience (it wasn’t a death to be fair, but I still lost someone I didn’t belong with and felt bad about it for way too long)), but it will happen, and then his leaving his high-paying job will seem quite silly.
I still gotta admit I didn’t see Wilson blaming being “friends” with someone like House as the problem. I was afraid they were going to use what Cuddy described as the reason for their feud, but this thankfully didn’t happen. Maybe House didn’t realize what he could/should have after all, which is probably better for everyone involved. I’m sure the last thing Wilson would want to hear is that House actually lost more because he never got the chance with Amber that he should have, while the only thing Wilson really lost was the chance to ignorantly continue on in a doomed relationship. And House coming to realization that he was responsible (even if not really and entirely indirectly) for the death of the first person he met that he could have actually had a decent relationship with is not something I’d ever want to deal with. Of course, House’s behavior continues to be strange and reeks of someone not dealing with the real problem. His usual coma-guy antics plus totally taking a case off to the benefit of no one are probably just because of the temporary loss of his friendship with Wilson, but Wilson’s realization that House had actual feelings for Amber while giving him an MRI (in House’s Head) have yet to be explained or addressed. I know TV shows are notorious for forgetting things like this, but I’m hoping since House’s narrative is somewhat continuous (each episode doesn’t necessarily strive to bring everything back to its starting point, which is incredibly flagrant in shows like The Simpsons, for instance), that this isn’t going to be the case.
Let me write down right now that Wilson isn’t going anywhere, at least not permanently. House is absolutely right that this is the pain talking, and it won’t last forever, no matter how much it feels like it will right now. The sooner Wilson realizes he didn’t belong with Amber the better, although I understand that this could be years on the time scale. And this isn’t to diminish the understandable pain he’s feeling right now, but he’ll never get over her if he thinks he lost the love of his life, which he didn’t. House on the other hand wasn’t so lucky. Perhaps it’s better for his sake if he didn’t realize much or anything about Amber, but it doesn’t change the facts.
September 17th, 2008 at 1:50 am
Anthony,
yeah I am going to go back and watch seasons 3 and 4, just haven’t had time yet. I had heard about Wilson’s girlfriend dying so I understood those scenes, which were great. I was just not really into the new doctors at all, and it seems like the old ones (cameron and chase) are getting no screen time.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:33 am
Finally!!! —-there are some character development in his new team. Kal penn’s character and the plastic surgeon have been boring the entire 4th season. Luckily they took a much needed new direction with Wilson, and added 13’s new death sentence, otherwise, they would be no drama left but plain medine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a med student and the medicine is interesting, but the new team is way past due for some interesting character development. Next episode should be good.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:52 am
As enjoyable as it is that Dr. Wilson is finally calling out House on his non-medical behavior, his leaving the hospital just isn’t convincing. In this internet age, the old shock of “character so-and-so is gone!!” doesn’t really work anymore – If Leonard were leaving the show, we would have heard about it months ago. Besides, I doubt the writers can really afford to eliminate the lead character’s only friend.
On another note, I wonder just how far a doctor can go in House’s world before he’s fired. We’ve gone from getting drunk while on duty to assaulting a patient’s father to refusing to treat a patient experiencing cardiac arrest unless a colleague does exactly what he wants. Cuddy’s infatuation with House must run pretty deep to overlook blackmail with a patient’s life.
September 17th, 2008 at 7:03 am
It was good to see them wearing goggles (and Chase’s line about visitors day was classic) but when they performed the second surgery, the team didn’t wear goggles or masks. Wtf?!?
September 17th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Ectopic pregnancy – duh!
And Wilson is right – nobody liked
Amber anyway.
September 17th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Question:
13 made it sound like the ectopic pregnancy could be transplanted to the uterus and that the patient should have a choice before they removed the fetus. I thought ectopic pregnancies could NEVER be saved. Was 13 right? Or was that added for dramatic purposes?
Also, I didn’t think they had to do surgery for ectopic pregnancies anymore. Don’t they just need to give you methotrexate, or some other drug that would be lethal to a fetus?
September 17th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Scott, will you be doing a post on the (highly questionable) medicine in episode two of Fringe? They re-started a person’s heart with a defibrillator again…
September 17th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Rachel:
You raise an interesting point.
I also found the medical side of this episode extremely interesting, as it made me recall that my now retired father, an obstetrician, delivered via C-section a healthy virtually full-term non-tubal ectopic pregnancy over 20 years ago.
When I asked my father why it went undiscovered until the C-section, he mentioned that the ultrasound technology at the time was much more primitive and that x-rays were not very conclusive.
I remembered the event, not so much for the medical side (as I am not a medical practitioner) but for the human interest side of the story. Apparently, the mother had complained of abdominal pain on more than one occasion and was thought by the nursing staff to be a little neurotic. After the delivery (and a life-saving operation to control severe internal bleeding), she made a single request of my father – that he “tell that f ***ing bitch nurse I was in legitimate pain”.
I know my father stayed in touch with her for a number of years afterwards as it just so happened that her son and my father shared the same birthday.
Cheers.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:59 am
They said at the end that they left bruising out of the differential because she’d been punching herself during the hallucination. But we didn’t see her punching herself on the legs. Still, at least they tried to explain.
I’ve gone through what Wilson is going through; I mean, without the crazy evil friend or the weird bus accident or the oncology career, but I buried a fiance. And that part of the show is being handled remarkably well.
First, what Cameron said to Wilson was so, so, so perfect. You just don’t realize how completely irrational you are those first six months until like a year later.
And Wilson is bargaining. It’s so strange, the bargaining thing. You know, rationally, that dead is dead, but you cannot help doing things that are, in fact, bargains to get your beloved back. Kübler-Ross knew her stuff.
Wilson tried anger at House, and that didn’t work, so now he’s basically bargaining away his friendship. “I’ll give up House if I can have Amber back.”
September 17th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Was anyone else thinking delerium tremens when the patient thought ants were crawling on her?
Annoying that if a patient doesn’t have a fever, the doctors assume there’s no infection. Some people run fevers easily, and others hardly ever. The only infection that ever makes me run a fever is strep.
September 17th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Technically speaking, and since one commenter finds it unclear, shouldn’t you say the ectopic pregnancy implanted ‘on’ not ‘in’ the intestine?
And I missed your summing up of the soap opera quotient. I enjoy the slightly jaundiced eye with which you usually survey those proceedings. But please don’t stop these reviews! I’m definitely in the couldn’t-watch-it-without-you camp.
September 17th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Even I was thinking they missed the obvious ectopic pregnancy, and this knowing next to nothing about medicine.
While Wilson is right about his being an enabler, he’s still just running from the problem. He should listen to Cameron. That blonde hair may still look ridiculous, but at least she’s making sense.
Also, Cuddy was in top form.
September 17th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Nobody else thought it notable that 13 confirmed that she has Huntington’s? Especially to a patient, and considering that she’s done nothing but deny it before now.
Also, thank you for the excellent reviews.
September 17th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Peter:
That is really freaky. I’ve never heard of that before. I like the mother’s request, though:)
I just brought up the “transplant’ question, because I just started my second trimester and all my pregnancy books mention ectopic pregnancies and every one of them says such pregnancies cannot be saved.
September 17th, 2008 at 11:22 am
The scene where Cuddy tries her version of “couples therapy” was a stitch.
The scene where Wilson walks out after telling House they’re no longer friends, and he’s not even sure they ever were friends, was too sad for words.
But, given the previews, it’s obvious that House isn’t giving up on Wilson, and will do his damnedest to get him back – in his inimitable way.
By the way, I don’t know if anyone else has brought this up, but there’s a wickedly funny parody of “House” on YouTube – a clip from a British comedy program called “Dead Ringers.” The actors pretending to be Cameron and Foreman are nothing to write home about, but “Chase” is kind of spooky, and a fellow named Jon Culshaw does a funny turn as Hugh Laurie. (Search out “dead ringers house parody.”)
September 17th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
This whole soap opera thing really is getting pathetic. I guess I liked the first and second season best, where the stories were centered around the patients and side stories (like the Vogler arc) did not interfere with it. I hope things between House and Wilson, and with Thirteen, are getting back to normal soon.
September 17th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
“Nobody else thought it notable that 13 confirmed that she has Huntington’s?”
I didn’t. It didn’t make her any more interesting as a character, and while it did effect her treatment of a patient, it was petulant and unprofessional. They’re just using it as a tool to force along the plot now (IE, House’s little “everybody dies” lecture in the hallway).
September 17th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
After Wilson told House that he didn’t blame him for Amber’s death, was I the only one who thought of House’s famouse quote “Everybody lies.” Plus, I can totally see Wilson breaking up with House. Wilson put with with House’s breakup with Stacy, not once but twice. I was sorta expecting some change in House considering that he mentioned when he was on the bus with Amber (after she had died) that he was tired of being miserable. So I expected some changes in hime this season, I guess time will tell.
September 17th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I love this show—I did NOT like the season opener. This one was forced, contrived, and more bombast than substance. Does anyone really think that Wilson’s leaving? And does anybody really care about 13??? For that matter, does not having two teams cluttering up the show only add breadth and next-to-zip for depth???
Hugh Laurie—he of the four hundred thousand dollar episode—probably should take on script duties. I’ve read some of his stuff; he could do better left-handed.
September 17th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
@Rachel – Yeah, all of the documentation I found in a quick Google search repeatedly says that there is no prospect of transplant. There was a successful ovarian ectopic pregnancy case in Australia apparently. The only article I found citing it was basically mentioning it as an aside that this was going to result in Pro-Lifers eliminating the “abortion to save the life of a mother” clause (which, in most cases, is not an issue for Pro-Life people that I’ve met, who see such cases as a matter of medical triage just like any case where the doctor has to make choices regarding which patient lives). Given my research was all of typicing in “ectopic pregnancy transplant” into Google and reading the first 50 results including clicking into promising articles, I can’t guarantee my results have much validity other than that popular opinion is that transplants can’t be done. I didn’t find any medical journal articles and popular opinion also holds that you can hasten labor with Mexican food.
September 17th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I was impressed by Thirteen this episode. Was I the only one? After a season of not really noticing her I thought she had some pretty good moments this time. Specifically her little outburst at the patient, and the scene later where she tells her about having Hungtinton’s and the patient tells tells thirteen about her looking for a better job. Perhaps not the most original writing, but I found the acting very convincing.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
When Thirteen first goes in to her room and Lou is on the phone with her boss and Thirteen tells her to get back in bed, you can see those bruises on her right leg. I commented on them to my DH, and he brought up the issue of Lou pounding on her legs.
BTW, DH was totally pissed — he tried to send his list through 3 times yesterday, and it wouldn’t go through — and he had leprosy on there. Bummer.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
I thought the soap opera was the best we have ever seen in House, because Wilson mentioned the essential paradox in their relationship, which is why should he put up with House’s crap all the time. The fact that we know Wilson is going to return ultimately does not make this less interesting quite the contrary, it will be really interesting to see what House will do to convince him to come back. Does anyone have any ideas??
Also I liked the fact that Foreman was the only guy who told Wilson that he should leave. It kind of reminded me of the episode “One day, one room”.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
First, why does Cameron still have blond hair? Couldn’t she at least dye it a more natural shade during the two-month break? She had a three-minute appearance in the episode and the whole time I was fixated on her roots.
Second, ectopic pregnancy was an obvious call. I got that the minute Kutner showed us the ultrasound, and I’m a 19-year-old with nothing more to my name than AP Bio (as an aside, did anyone else find the “ultrasound showed no evidence of a baby” line oddly funny?)
Third, I liked that Wilson finally stood up for himself, but I don’t like that he’s making his leaving out to be just as much to help House as it is to help him. Can’t he make a decision to benefit himself only, just once? It goes back to the waterbed idea–Wilson’s still trying to please others when he should be concerned for himself first and foremost, especially now. That being said, I look forward to seeing how House will convince Wilson to come back.
Fourth, I’m not looking forward to the private investigator storyline. I loved the show best in the first and second seasons when it was dedicated to the mystery and the medicine and centered around a small core group of people. Adding three new characters in the fourth season stretched the show to the limits, in my opinion–after that there simply wasn’t enough time in each episode for all 9 people to have a contributing role. Plus, adding a private investigator seems to be one more step along the way of turning a medical mystery drama into a soap opera. I like the soap elements, but I prefer them to be second to, or at least tied to, the main mystery.
With all of that said, though, I did like the episode–though I felt that the medical was pushed too far to the side, and the final diagnosis seemed to come from nowhere. Still, I’m eagerly waiting for the story to continue next week.
September 17th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
@Keith:
Fringe is Fringe Science, it’s not even CLOSE to reality. Why are we trying to pick it apart? For pete’s sake, they questioned a guy in a coma via syncing his magnetic field with Dunham’s! Come ON! :P
September 17th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
My wife and I got annoyed when MS was brought up, and Foreman suggests starting her on an interferon: is that correct? Wouldn’t steroids be the quickest treatment?
September 17th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
I thought 13 had a little bit of an attraction vibe going on with the patient…I wondered if that was intentional due to the “is she or isn’t she” a lesbian thing.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I had no idea ‘ lepromatous leprosy’ made anyone ‘pretty”? that’s a new one on me!
I wrote something last nite and it disappeared so I’ll try again.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
What was it about Amber that nobody liked her? I don’t really remember her as I’ve missed a lot of the new episodes of House. Which ones is she in previous to the bus accident? Thanks
September 17th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
@ Nancy,
What kind of list, that your DH had written leprosy on it? Sue( a lot of the stuff I wrote last nite. seems to have ‘been deleted. Are we supposed to sign up or something to write on this board?
September 17th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
@Sue
Amber was the last person to get cut during the season 4 trials. She was also known as “Cutthroat Bitch” by House after she convinced a large group of the contestants in House’s trials to quit and then took advantage of that. She believed that the ends justified the means even more than house. Also, she was kind of a bitch.
September 17th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
@Sue
Amber was in every episode of the fourth season except the first and It’s A Wonderful Lie. Her CTB-ness showed early on in the second episode of the season, when she got the nine or so candidates who got stuck washing House’s car to leave, except for herself and Big Love. For whatever reason, the CTB nickname didn’t appear until the third episode (”cutthroat little pixie” is all House says at first). Her willingness to do whatever it takes to win grated on her fellow candidates, as well as ultimately got her fired (no doubt because she was too much like House in that respect, even though that’s not what he said).
Kutner did admit asking her out, even though entirely because of physical appearance, but it was made obvious in Wilson’s Heart (if not elsewhere) that the new team had little love for the runner-up. Of course, Wilson’s statement, like most of what he said in the last episode, was more due to the pain than actually being true. He blatantly ignored/forgot the person who was responsible for bringing Amber to the hospital in the first place, and who kept her in the running for the job until the very end (he never fired her until then, unlike Kutner and Taub), and who paged her when he was about to stick a knife in an electrical socket. And, oh by the way, the same guy who risked his life numerous times (via various ODs or deep brain stimulation) in an effort to save her life. There can be no question whatsoever that House, at the very least, liked Amber as well. And as I mentioned before, Wilson’s realization that House had feelings for Amber has yet to be addressed.
September 17th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Wilson and House remind me of a line from Dune. I am not going to look it up so don’t beat me up if I mis-quote it. “The most dangerous thing to the entity that can only give is the entity that can only take.”
I have a Jane Austin type prediction for you to ponder; Wilson’s return will be linked to either his need or his new love’s need for crackerjack diagnosis.
September 18th, 2008 at 3:53 am
Every scene the leprosy woman was in i kept thinking ‘blunted affect’, simply because she didn’t seem to care about anything.
However apparently she just wasn’t emotional, and there was me trying to see subtle clues…
September 18th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Luna:
“First, why does Cameron still have blond hair? Couldn’t she at least dye it a more natural shade during the two-month break? She had a three-minute appearance in the episode and the whole time I was fixated on her roots.”
…Blonde is her natural hair colour. She was dyed darker for the earlier seasons.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Re: the biopsy with no sedation or local anesthesia.
I’m getting really tired of (and slightly disturbed by) the way the writers always seem to want to put the patient in as much pain as possible, usually for no good reason. Anyone else find it a little, um, sick?
September 18th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I enjoyed the episode. I thought DTs at first as well when I saw the ants.
I am wondering if we’re going to go ahead in time a bit when Wilson has had a chance to deal with his grief, and comes back to the hospital?
September 18th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Not only does House appears and points to the previously unmentioned bruises on her legs, but he grabs a huge syringe and needle and stabs lou in the leg with it, even while she is loudly protesting. I didn’t get that, and I was surprised you didn’t mention it. What was the purpose. BTW, House often seems to be bordering on assault
I really enjoy your reviews and look forward to reading them after each episode.
September 18th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Official Comment
House (apparently correctly) believes that Lou’s bruises are not actually bruises, but are actually leprous skin lesions that just look like bruises. They are full of the leprosy mycobacterium, and House sticks a needle in to draw a sample to culture — that’s what Thirteen is referring to when she tells Lou at the end that the leprosy tests were positive.
September 18th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
And just how many times has House jammed a needle into somebody without swabbing the skin with alcohol first? (Isn’t an unsterilized injection a lawsuit just waiting to happen?)
September 18th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
@Lucinda: Of course Wilson was lying when he said he didn’t blame House, at least unconsciously. He had contradicted himself by the end of his speech by blaming House for the late night phone call and his declaration that House should have been alone on the bus. Obviously he blames House, and i interpret most of what he said about their relationship in that light.
We’ve seen plenty of evidence in previous seasons that House is Wilson’s friend, albeit in a very strange, often tough-love fashion. Then again, Wilson is just as manipulative of House, so it’s not all one way.
It will be interesting to see how (and if) the writers reconcile this split, and what (if anything) they have planned for 13. I think they’re trying very hard to not have her be a simple replacement for Cameron, but her portrayal seems very erratic right now.
September 18th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I thought that House did mention the bruises on her legs earlier, but Thirteen attributes them to her psychotic episode at the beginning.
September 18th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
you’re having a contest? is it closed? where can I find out more?
(Pam, who has probably posted at least once in the last 4 seasons, nut happily noticed a link to your site on one of her lists today (the one she rarely reads, at that) and got to pop in. Also Pam who remembers the “surgical contest” on Grey’s last season.)
September 18th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I thought the medicine was shoddier than a B in this one. The egregious (possibly bordering on malpractice) error of missing an ectopic pregnancy 2 or 3 months along was inexcusable and it got more preposterous from there.
The suggestion of MS was ludicrous. Even though MS can RARELY cause dementia early on, there are ALWAYS other presenting symptoms, none of which were mentioned, e.g.. fatigue, ataxia, tremor, motor dysfunction, autonomic dysfunction (i.e. incontinence, NOT life threatening bradycardia). Foreman should lose his certification as a neurologist for letting this one get treated. Speaking of which, as a neurologist, where the heck was he the whole time – this entire episode should have been his ball game.
There are many others, but what I really want to get to is “pretty leprosy.” This one was definitely skipped over in the derm unit of med school, and I had to go to medical journals for it. I eventually found a reference to it in a Portuguese journal from Brazil. In lepra bonita, or Lucio’s leprosy as its originally called, “patients present with a shiny skin, with a myxedematoid appearance” thus the name. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THE DISEASE MAKES THEM PRETTY or even allows them to stay pretty. They are simply spared the traditional nodules of leprosy…however, had the writers read a little further into whatever they’re source was, they’d have found: “Multiple painful purpuric patches and hemorrhagic blisters that progress to necrotic and ulcerated lesions, generally on the lower and upper limbs characterize it clinically.”
Get a physician on your writing team for god’s sake! Or even someone who knows who to use pubmed…geez.
Anyway, good to have the show back on.
Peace!
Evan
MS-2
University of Alabama School of Medicine
September 18th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Not a bad episode. I like the new layout of your reviews :)
September 18th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
I was wondering if doctors still call it “leprosy.” I thought Hansen’s Disease was preferred these days, and although I don’t mind them calling it leprosy for the laymen, would they have at least mentioned that they don’t call it that anymore? I don’t know, not having ever known anyone with leprosy or knowing many doctors.
Fun stuff, as usual. I always get here late because I DVR the show, but it’s still fun to read!
September 18th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Just got a chance to see the epidose (love DVRs!)
What I liked: House was House. I loved him solving two things that stumped the team in 30 seconds (first the pregnancy that wasn’t, then the bruises that were more…)
The previous several episodes had a lot mroe guess work and rushing down blind alleys.
Cuddy’s couple councelling was great — the show is always best when it focuses on those three.
The new team needs to go. 13 does nothing for me, Kumar is more believable as a stoner than a doctor, and the short ex-plastic surgeon is a one note song.
I like Chase’s new role — though it is amazing how fast he became head of surgery.
I get a sense they just don’t know what to do with Foreman. He is being wasted.
The whole “I am leaving because I don’t want to be an enabler” is hard for me to buy.
For one thing, that is what Wilson is. It isn’t like House is the only one he enables. He will just be back enabling someone else somewhere else…
It feels forced to me. Frankly, the whole CTB storyline seemed forced to me. Those two (Wilson and CTB) had no chemistry whatsoever.
The best story arc was the Vogler one… that one actually felt real. This one seems very forced.
I do agree though that Wilson will be back. And I am voting that after he has really ripped House and ended the friendship, he will end up coming back because of a Medical emergency… my prediction: Wilson is gone for a six week story line and then is back.
But… it was really great to have the show back!
September 19th, 2008 at 2:15 am
I remember when Foreman was leaving house, Wilson was all over house. Now that its the other way around — foreman telling wilson that if he thinks it will make life easier for him, then go.
For a while i thought wilson hesitated and thought maybe this is foreman’s way of telling him “don’t do it — you will end up coming back”
Just my thoughts.
September 19th, 2008 at 7:35 am
I stopped reading a little less than halfway down, then picked it up a few posts up from the bottom.
Wilson is not leaving. Robert Sean Leonard has been quoted, and I paraphrase, as “very much enjoying his character [Wilson]“. This new development is one logical extension of Wilson’s time spent with Ms. Volakis. Wilson and Amber were truly happy together, in good part thanks to her breaking Wilson’s romantic habits (the water bed). In a way, he believes he is now continuing the possible changes in his life she would have shown him he could take. However, I doubt that this would come so quickly had her death not occurred. Many of the things we do after someone’s death are motivated by a lack of concern for others than oneself; Wilson is acting out his frustration and misery by separating himself from House, as a predictable way of drawing backward after a loved one’s death.
The whole sense of “not knowing what to do with Foreman”, to quote Mr. MarkJoel, is deliberate. House always tries to leave him in the open, where he can get into conflict with the rest of the team and hopefully (for House) resign. If he asserts his Cuddy-given power, someone seems to cut him down, and it isn’t always House. No one seems certain, other than House and perhaps Cuddy, what sort of power Foreman can truly exercise, even Foreman. This is the show’s way of deliberately putting him into the open, so he is forced to either assert himself as a “second-in-command” as he has done on a few occasions in the past, or to tender his resignation.
Ultimately, House respects Foreman as a doctor, and appreciates his diagnostic capabilities. Even so, House is far too misanthropic to openly show this respect unless it also serves him. If it came to it, House would once again fight to keep Foreman, because, otherwise, he loses what abilities Foreman brings to the table. Yet, House continually tests, berates, and wields authority over others; House is House, so his behavior towards Foreman is as would be expected.
The show’s drawing back of Omar’s character could also be a prelude to Foreman becoming House’s new friend, or, more likely, as a source of encouragement, advice, and/or propulsion for House to reconsider his life and his actions so that he can bring Wilson back in. With Wilson leaving, and Foreman standing where he is, any words he gives will seem more poignant for his retreat from the limelight.
Diffuse lepromatus Hansen’s Disease is too clumsy, though isn’t so much of a legitimate complaint, and doesn’t sound as provocative as Hansen’s Disease. Diffuse Hansen’s sounds like something that would have been illegal in the 90’s. Mmm-bop! Even so, you are correct.
The bruises were mentioned. Because of the team’s lackluster medical performance, I personally feel that the medicine has taken a backseat to the sob story of Wilson leaving. I understand that every is going to talk to him. I don’t understand why House needs to knock at his door three times. He’s not Kong Ming, cut it out, no more threesies.
I feel the story was compelling. I also feel little desire to see the episode again. As a season premiere, this episode should have gestated a little longer before being given light. Some of the writing choices so far, given a single episode, have been poor, while some of them have been fantastic. House will always be House; he will never change, not anywhere near quasi-dramatically. There is a whole season ahead; give the writing job to the people who made the earlier seasons great, the same people who helped us define the show.
This is Eli Attie’s second episode writing credit. I hope to see better, instead of trying to mesh every storyline together with a few House-Cuddy moments interspersed in between the obligatory medicine and the all-American romance between a stubbly cripple and his mourning guy-friend. There is more to this show than House and Wilson. I love the both of them, separately and together.
I would also like to see strong character development from the others. Pulling Foreman back will soon regress his character. Kutner is slowly becoming that idiot savant that pulls brilliance out from behind a sheen of sequins and his magic cape like a child magician with an alligator and a hat. 13 seems to be solidly building a character base; however, at this rate, she will undoubtedly be in a bed in Season 6 with her disease of choice. Maybe it’ll be sooner, and that’s what they’re saving Foreman for. She is struggling against defining herself by her disease, which is what I would like to see. Still, I don’t think she should be defined by her disease. And, I seem to be the one of the few who isn’t surprised by Wilson. Amber tried to teach him to be better, for himself. Why she did this, who knows. I believe it’s the House in her. Even so, I believe she loved him, and he her. That’s what makes me love the last season’s finale. The same fact seems to be detracting from this season’s premiere. To have loved and lost so quickly will turn Wilson into House, if House doesn’t be Wilson’s Wilson for a little while. Wilson sees this possibility, a strong one at that, and is trying to retreat from House so that he doesn’t become him. I will miss the best quotes if this is Leonard’s last season:
“Wilson! I’m going to cut out a cripple’s eye! Wanna watch?”
“… Good times.”
“You are wearing that shirt for someone!”
“The health department. They frown on topless oncology.”
I remember watching “Frozen” and thinking, “this is what makes ‘House M.D.’ a show worth watching”, beyond the criticisms. And now, for some wit: It would appear that Dying truly does Change Everything.
Sorry that took so long.
tl;dr: I want a refund on this episode, maybe from a different brand (writer). The current brand is talking to my favorite show, and making it feel bad about itself, making it want to change. Cut it out.
September 19th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on TV. :-) However, I thought of ectopic pregnancy as soon as the ultrasound showed nothing in the uterus.
I do have to say that I thoroughly enjoy reading your reviews since I discovered them earlier this year. In fact, while watching the show, I kept wondering what your review would say. I found myself looking forward to it as much as the show. Thank you for adding to the enjoyment of House.
September 19th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
“[…} they kept processing the patient’s blood through computerized equipment and kept missing the huge parasites in it because they didn’t actually have a person look at it.”
That was actually Failure to Communicate. ;)
September 20th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I also guessed an ectopic pregnancy having virtually no medical knowledge at all! I really enjoyed the episode, especially the Cuddy-House-Wilson scenes, and it was great to see Cuddy back on form.
However, it felt to me like they were trying to cram way too much into one episode- there are just too many characters! I also find the new team, especially Taub very boring, and Foreman seems to have absolutely no purpose at all anymore. If they keep trying to hand out equal screen time to each actor we’re really not going to get anywhere.
Thanks very much for your medical review, it was very interesting as usual.
September 20th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Thanks for your answers. I had missed some of S4 where Amber was in .I’ll have to go look at the video recaps later.
September 20th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I cringed when I heard Foreman initially protest that she doesn’t have lymphoma (when talking to Wilson) because she doesn’t have any palpable lymph nodes. OH COME ON, every M.D. w/at least a year of experience knows that you don’t have to have palpable nodes. And foreman, out of all people, should know that.
Small gripe, but there it is.
September 20th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
I second Larilee. I look forward to your medical reviews of House as much as House the show itself. Keep up the good work!
September 20th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I was SO excited for this, and was majorly, let down.
The final solution seemed to be nothing more then a footnote to me. It only could’ve been worse had House done this:
House: *walks in* “Blah blah, feminism, blah blah, stupid, blah blah.” *walks out, pokes head in the room* BTW you have leprosy, kthxbie.”
I am interested to see what happens with Wilson though. This seems to be shaping up to be the story arc that goes through the first half of the season. Like the Survivor arc of last season.
September 20th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
@Miliardo
My comment that they don’t know what to do with Foreman isn’t an “in show” comment — it is a writer’s comment. Chase is now Mr. Surgeon, and Cameron is ER Doc… what is Foreman? It seems to me that his character has no real definition.
I agree with much of what you said, though… Kutner is a really bad character. We don’t need him. 13 had a chance to “grow” in this episode, and I must say, I liked it better when she was in the background.
The new mini-docs are just not as interesting as the original 3. 13 does nothing for me. Kumar would be more interesting if they did gags like having him eating a burger from white castle or something. The short Jewish ex plastic surgeon is there for… what exactly?
My biggest fear is that Wilson’s leaving the hospital (if not the show) will leave us more time to fill with the lesser characters. PLEASE NO! I don’t CARE about them… they are house guests who have stayed too long… what is that old saying: House guests are like fish… they stink after seven days? Well, these three are like house guests at day 9…
House-Cuddy-Wilson make the show.
September 21st, 2008 at 4:45 am
Very nice season opener, but I have a lot of trouble with WIlson’s attitude towards House.
“We’re not friends anymore…sometimes I wonder if we ever were.” (paraphrasing)
So they went through 4 seasons (especially in seasons 1 & 2) showing those 2 hanging out together, having a good time, and suddenly “…sometimes I wonder if we were ever friends”? No way.
One thing I don’t like about these story arcs (especially the Vogler story and the Detective Tritter story) is that they’re putting an unrealistic threat on the MAIN character of the show.
So in season 1, Vogler wants to fire House, and does force Wilson to quit…did anyone *actually* expect that to last? You’re gonna fire the 2 main characters in the first season of the show?
Also, with Tritter, you’re going to put House behind bars for years because he’s apparently “dealing” drugs? Right, that’s just grounds for canceling the entire show.
A good story arc was when we thought House had cancer – it was plausible, and similar to 13, he could’ve continued to practice medicine with his disease.
So now in season 5, Wilson doesn’t want to be friends with House anymore, but again it doesn’t make any sense. Unless he’s leaving the show (which every internet site in the world would’ve picked up on), he *WILL* come back to the hospital, and they WILL make up somehow.
The first thing I thought of when I heard Wilson say that he was resigning is that he and Cuddy are somehow in collusion together to teach House a lesson of some sort. It’s happened before and will likely happen again.
Until then, I eagerly await what the new season will bring :)
-Bryan
September 21st, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Some of the posters on this board seem to have become “Housies”. Like Trekkies, they are so emotionally invested in the characters that they cannot accept any utterance or behavior that differs from their world view.
Personally, I like it when the writers mess with the characters by making them do “out of character” things. It’s more like real life, where people often do bizarre things for unpredictable reasons. It’s all fiction anyway, so why not go along for the ride and see where the writers take us?
September 21st, 2008 at 10:17 pm
@Bryan:
I really disagree with you about the story arc thing… I think Vogler and Tritter were two of the best story arcs they came up with… Yes, I did not expect House to end up in jail — but they so artfully boxed him in, you did spend some time thinking: “Man, how will he get out of this???”
OTOH the cancer thing was a real snooze. No one bought he had cancer for a minute… really… did you think he did? You can accept that House will have cancer and die, but you can’t believe Vogler will fire Wilson and get away with it? That’s a strange litmus test…
@ Don: I don’t like when someone acts out of character exactly BECAUSE its not realistic. If you know someone really well, and they do something completely out of character for them… what is your reaction? “No, there must be some mistake…”
It’s OK to have that a little — especially if they explain the reasons why later. But you can’t suddenly change a character and have them do things which don’t mesh with their background — that’s just bad writing. if House came in one day and was nice to everyone… or if he suddenly joined a Baptist Church… or Wilson suddenly told his patient to “Grow up and stop whining” — it just wouldn’t be believable…
IMHO.
September 21st, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Yay! We’re back, meaning I also get my weekly medical review + added snarkiness from you (which I did miss this summer). I’m glad to see that this season is starting off well, because damn, last season was a bummer (although not as much of a bummer as Heroes, but I digress…)
Two questions for you, if you don’t mind me asking:
1) I swear there was an episode last season where the answer was, indeed, lupus, but a quick glance through the wikipedia episode list doesn’t say there is. Do you remember this, or am I completely bonkers? I bought season four and immediately wanted to watch the lupus episode.
2) …ok , NEVERMIND, I randomly looked down and got my question answered: I was going to ask if you could start doing Fringe reviews, because that show is freaking amazing! Kudos!
See you next week ;)
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:59 am
@Don
O_o I would display my Geekdom to the world and admit “yes, I am a trekkie” [I even had the trading cards! Booyah!] But now am confused. I like watching the show. [Kirk is Epic Win] but have no emotional attachment to the characters. Why would I? They’re completely fictional. [Other then the occasional "dang! Sulu's hot!" or "Cuddy striptease, rockin!" "Why did they do that? its dumb, silly wrinkleface aliens"etc] Do i need to insert my worldview on & enjoying the show not make me a fan? So confusing, who knew? :P
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
The ectopic miss was a huge mistake. My wife and I aren’t even med students and we were thinking, “Why aren’t they looking outside the uterus?”
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:26 pm
@Adrienne: Lupus was the episode with the magician (4×08).
@Scott: thanks for an excellent review, again. Just a few questions, perhaps:
1. Do you think they’re running out of interesting rare diseases? Leprosy was feature in the first season (1×13) – although it was not the main disease then.
2. Do you agree that nine protaginists is a bit much? Personally, I like 13 better than Cameron and Kutner better than Foreman, but would they really have all the characters sit through the entire 5th season? Chase hardly got any screen time last season.
PS: How can I enter the competition?
Cheers,
Peter
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Here is my prediction:
Wilson will leave. House will be even more antisocial for a few episodes and probably become even more self-destructive. A few more Vicodin than he usually takes, a little more whiskey, perhaps some illicit drugs.
THEN, around episode 4, a phone call. A hopsital in Omaha, Nebraska requesting an emergent transfer of a patient names James Wilson who is dying and requesting the medical expertise of a Dr. Gregory House. House, of course, takes the case, cures Wilson of whatever obscure ailment he has, and suddenly…best “friends” again!
At least that’s what I hope happens.
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:23 am
I have never bought the Wilson-Amber romance storyline. It was a hurried up whirlwind romance and the writers didnt take time to establish their relationship.
So, when Wilson is so distressed by her death that he decides to walk off everything, it just seems very hallow. The audience just cant empathies with him.
Amber was never a pleasant character and there was no genuine relationship with Wilson shown. It dosent make sense for Wilson to feel so torn and to discard his best friend. Not good drama Im afraid.. The season opener was still enjoyable though.
September 23rd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
It appears as though ectopic pregnancies can somehow (rarely) be delivered:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/4197194.stm
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I’m pretty sure it’d be tuberculoid leprosy: she’s mounting an immune response and thus preventing it from becoming disseminated. Small but probably important differentiation to make.
Also, I agree about the ectopic pregancy. If these are the top diagnosticians in the country, they wouldn’t have to think twice about that.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
# Denny, I agree with you about the Wilson-Amber relationship. One of the problems with making her such a Quitisential Biatch is it is hard to imagine her having the qualities Wilson would need to really fall in love.
So, it does seem forced.
However, in defense of the writers, Wilson is not REALLY leaving because of her death. He is leaving because (supposedly) her death opened his eyes to the fact that his relationship with House was destructive behavior on his part.
Which would have been an epiphany — except that he mentiones it off and on throughout the first three seaons… so its hard to understand why he suddenly now goes over the edge.
I’m willing to give the writers some rope — er space — but I’m hoping this is a short arc.
September 26th, 2008 at 10:58 am
House: *walks in* “Blah blah, feminism, blah blah, stupid, blah blah.” *walks out, pokes head in the room* BTW you have leprosy, kthxbie.”
I had a question, what is “kthxbie? I saw this last nite/this morning and was trying to respond to it and ask, but I had got ’sent to a dead page. (the usual thing.where it says no access, blank page. where it tells you to check your connections,etc)so I couldn’t write. this is for anyone to answer.?
I got a big kick’ out of House popping in at the last minute to tell Lou this… I suspected it all along so I was way ahead of House’s diagnosis.
I guess it would be a ’shock’ to find out this way, wouldn’t it? Well, i guess it’s not a biggie these days to have ‘Hansens’ disease. all they do is shoot you full of antibiotics/prednisone and send you home…
BTW, just wondering what ‘ kthxbie’ meant?
September 26th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
rgom: no. The actress has *dark* eyebrows and her natural hair color if you look at her skin tone is very clearly the dark color she started the series with. The blonde is not a natural shade and doesn’t become her.
wg
September 26th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
@ Peter, hi,
Yes, I’ve noted that Leprosy was featured in the first season, but wasn’t the main disease mentioned.
But i think they should have a few more episodes with Leprosy being the main featured disease as I think people should know more about it and if so,t hen It will no longer be the ‘feared ‘ disease it used to be in the old days. Nowadays, it’s no big Deal. but yes, it can be as serious as any other disease.
So, I think it was good it was featured yet again in the first episode of s5.
I have really learned a lot watching House. I just got a kick of the ‘deadpan’ way he said…BTW…blah, blah, etc. to patient…”BTW, you’ve got Leprosy, give her antibiotics and she’s good to go.
Just my two cents… Sue
September 27th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Educated guess for Sue…
Kthxbie = Ok thanks Bye
September 28th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Am I the only one who is simply not impressed? There’s something missing here. This new season does not promise to be all it should be.
September 28th, 2008 at 12:31 am
thanx, took me a while to think.
also I just wondered why Lou said, Thank God when Thirteen told her House’s diagnostic test for Leprosy was positive?
Just wondering why ’she’ was pounding on her legs so much? I was surprised that her legs hurt when House ’stabbed them with a needle, thought Leprosy made people lose feeling where her ‘nodules’ were?? that surprised me.
October 12th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
First time I read an article of yours, came across it by chance and am very grateful I did, terrific job, in my medically uneducated opinion. I can see you are thorough and reliable, will come by to check your opinion after I watch the next episode.
Because though I’m a medicine enthusiast I’m as of yet a quite ignorant one, I can’t really give my scientific input, but I do have something to say about the eye protection: my guess is that it wasn’t introduced as much to be medically accurate as to serve an aesthetical purpose: notice how the camera spares us from seeing the fetus being removed but provides us a subtle, indirect and sensitive-viewer-respecting view of it, through Chase’s goggles’ reflection. Too bad, would have been, like Jay said, a plus point.
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Yes, dying changes everything. House goes one up again.
3 “pro-life” episodes: Sports Medicine, Babies & Bathwater, Fetal Position
4 “not pro-life” episodes: Kids, Informed Consent, One Day -One Room, Dying Changes Everything.
December 3rd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Is it just me or is the intro music for season 5 different?
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Official Comment
The producers couldn’t obtain the overseas rights to Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” — the previous theme — so decided to stop using it in the U.S. as well and are now using a sound-alike theme instead.
December 15th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Whoa..really?? So the intro music now is actually different then what they played for the first four seasons?? I must now go online and watch to compare! I havent heard a note different since season 5 began. Eh…
One thing I can add to that though, I was watching a show (from a previous season) of some other popular prime time program recently, and I jumped up because they had the House MD theme in there between scenes. The entire thing. But bah! I cant remember which show it was now! Possibly CSI:Miami, but I’m not sure. But it was clearly the same theme. I was surprised to see it used in another show, I always figured House was the only one and that they wrote it just for the show. (goes to show how much I know about that stuff….) It is a pretty groovy track…
January 5th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I just want to share this, because I thought it was hilarious. Even though no one will probably read this.
The radio station I listen to when going into work sometimes plays random stingers. Usually something to the point of “This is absurd.”
Usually I don’t recognize these stingers. Sometimes I do.
I recognized this one.
It was Wilson from this episode, saying “I need a flow chart to illustrate all the ways you were ridiculously insensitive.”
Incidentally, the recapper on Television Without Pity did do a flow chart of all the ways House was ridiculously insensitive.
Kat
January 18th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
i’m tired of “House” confusing bacterial and viral meningitis…i had the bacterial and almost died when i was 76 years old in ‘03…i was taken to Beth Israel Hospital in NYC with a temperature of 106˚ and managed to live with no brain damage although it took me almost 3 months of hospitalization…the first thing i was told when was put in my room after the diagnoses was the bad news was it was bacterial but the good news was IT IS NOT CONTAGIOUS!, so no one has to be notified and i could have all the visitors i wanted…i was not put in isolation…the VIRAL IS CONTAGIOUS
September 9th, 2009 at 9:47 am
I just settled in with my family in the UK and I feel lost with the crazy doctor.
Anybody knows how can I see the past episode of Doctor House M.D. rather than make a new Sky subscription?
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I didn’t watch the show, but are you sure there was only one injection of B12? Maybe they gave him more, but didn’t show it, so it wouldn’t be repetitive.
March 14th, 2010 at 4:08 am
Am I the only one who noticed the magazine Cuddy was reading at the start of the “couples therapy” (about 23 minutes in to episode)?
It was “Pole to Pole”!! (remember last week – who could forget?!)
May 2nd, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Re the ectopic pregnancy — My friend had the same symptoms as the PotW, but had to go to 3 different doctors before one finally diagnosed her with the ectopic pregnancy. So it does happen, especially with teaching hospitals.
July 25th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
“Various diagnoses were suggested: an infection she obtained while traveling (but she didn’t have a fever), amphetamine abuse (drug screen was negative), vitamin B12 deficiency, and an insulinoma (an insulin secreting tumor).”
I think it’s not insulinoma or even vitamin b12 deficiency because as far as I know, vitamin b12 deficiency symptoms are depression, hair loss and many more. I usually take this http://products.mercola.com/vitamin-b12-spray/ and it’s great supplement.
August 1st, 2013 at 5:08 pm
Wilson’s such a douchebag.
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