Comments on: House — Episode 19 (Season 5): “Locked-In”

By: Chic

Chic — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:05:43 +0000

Of course filming from the POV of a person who can’t speak is not an original idea, but then very little in fiction is totally original. You could consider it a tribute to the predecessors, but better than that, as something like a genre. (I know it’s not, the plot content is too narrow for that.) There was a first time for everything we see on TV (or elsewhere, or read, or listen to, for that matter), but that does not make every subsequent occurence of a similar thing a piece of shameless plagiarism. Artists will experiment with other artists’ ideas, sometimes for worse, sometimes for better, and that’s a good thing. It’s explicitly stated that House was based on Holmes, after all, and that doesn’t seem to bother anybody.

By: Stoney

Stoney — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:25:35 +0000

I really didn’t enjoy this episode at all. I watch House because of House and we got to see so little of him…. I didn’t really care about the patient, so seeing everything from his point of view wasn’t particularly interesting. They did the same POV thing on ER with Cynthia Nixon from Sex and the City and it wasn’t particularly interesting there either.

By: .NetRolller 3D

.NetRolller 3D — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:21:58 +0000

The original doctor at the beginning of the movie says that Lee’s brain wave activity is below the EEG’s noise level – then later in the episode, Lee communicates through a BCI, which essentially works by interpreting brain waves (and thus needs higher brain wave activity than a simple EEG)… WTF? Was the EEG machine broken or something? Maybe it is to further show the stupidity of the original doc – he can’t even use an EEG…

Also, for the 1743rd time (I actually counted the references to it in the comments to make that accurate): Don’t, repeat, do NOT shock a flatline!

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:57:19 +0000

This review is depressing. I’m quite happy that I know next to nothing about medicine because I greatly enjoyed this episode. Ignorance is bliss, because it must suck to be unable to enjoy a simple TV show because you can identify all the flaws in it.

Not suggesting you guys are all pompous elitists, but sometimes you have to realize perfect medicine isn’t possible when the writers want to develop drama, which they did quite well in this episode. Just enjoy it rather than whining about a small procedural or factual mistake that ultimately didn’t diminish the entertainment value of the show.

By: Skooma

Skooma — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:36:01 +0000

“How did the liver failure affect just the one tiny portion of the brain to cause the locked-in syndrome? Why wouldn’t it affect the rest of the brain?”

Because that’s what the writers wanted to happen. :)
A vegetable or stiff is realistic but it isn’t a reason for them to use this plot device. I liked this plot device btw. I thought the brain computer was a bit contrived even though I know for a fact they exist.

I’ve become accustomed to anticipating to them shocking flatlines. If medical students would simply read this blog the damage would be undone or at least minimise.

By: Jhep

Jhep — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:50:32 +0000

best house quote ever : “oh damn! flatline!”

By: Hans

Hans — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:16:45 +0000

If anyone working at a hospital can tell me that it is hard to diagnose that the liver has so completely hit bottom that even the enzymes are not elevated anymore I would be very interested.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:16:15 +0000

As at least one other commenter posted, this was a direct rip from “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” an outstanding movie. I guess for those who didn’t see that, this seemed fresh.

By: Carley

Carley — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:01:08 +0000

Hey Scott, I just have a question. I know from reading your reviews that you don’t shock a flatline, so how do you revive a flatline?

On a semi-related note, my badly-translated medical video game appears more medically accurate than House; they’ve never shocked a flatline.

Thanks in advance!

By: jj

jj — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:10:50 +0000

pet peeve of mine:
don’t use Wood’s lamp with fluorescein dye. Use the Cobalt blue filter on the ophthalmoscope.
1. UV light not good for retina.
2. Flourescein absorbs blue and gives off yellow/green. Does not absorb UV.

now if i can convince all the other IM, peds, and ER docs.