House — Episode 13 (Season 7): “Two Stories”
A multilayered episode with multiple flashbacks and fictionalizations telling (despite what the title says) at least three stories: 1) a patient with shortness of breath, 2)why House is on the outs with Cuddy and what he does to fix it, and 3) why the fifth-grade girl has the black eye.
Not as good as Three Stories, one of the best episodes ever, this was a mostly entertaining though incredibly hard to believe episode. (At some point though, that fifth-grade teacher has got to learn when to draw the line, no matter what her kids say.) And did I mention the medicine was pretty poor?
Since this is a medical review blog, I’m going to focus on the patient:
A college student is admitted for severe cough and shortness of breath. The initial diagnosis was acute bronchitis, but cultures and sputum studies were negative. He was admitted to House’s team and his symptoms continue to worsen, with the patient developing hemoptysis (coughing up blood). The thought now was that the patient had a drug–resistant infection and he was started on oxygen, pulmonary suction, and bronchidilators (medicines like Albuterol). His symptoms continue to worsen and he coughs up a handful of lung tissue. The differential diagnosis now includes primary squamous carcinoma (the second most common lung cancer, unlikely because the FOB –fiberoptic bronchoscopy –was negative), infection (unlikely because he’s been on broad spectrum antibiotics), ruptured amebic liver abscess (unlikely because liver function tests are normal), or toxin exposure. Personally, House favors a diagnosis of sarcoidosis. He orders the team to carry out a thorascopic lung biopsy and run a C-ANCA test.
A CT shows no evidence of sarcoidosis or foreign bodies in the lung. Furthermore, the biopsy is negative for sarcoidosis, and the C-ANCA is also negative. Nevertheless, House wants to start the patient on corticosteroids and methotrexate. Later, Foreman calls too tell him that a PET scan was also checked and showed no sarcoidosis. House suggests this was because the therapy was working, but Foreman tells him that the therapy was never started. He also informs him that the patient is worsening as his lung his collapsing. House insists that Foreman start the treatment for sarcoidosis. Later, while being lectured by an elementary school principal, he sees a poster on her wall for The Princess and the Pea, giving him his weekly Eureka! moment. He deduces that the patient has inhaled a small piece of food — too small to be seen on CT scan — and this is what is causing his problems. He is scheduled for an exploratory surgery.
As usual, major complaints are in red, modest complaints are in blue, and nit-picking ones in green:
A pea-sized foreign body will show up on a CT scan. I’ve seen them pick up things smaller than that (1-2mm nodules, for instance).
You could also, successfully to my mind, argue that a foreign body that small is not likely to cause the severe symptoms that the patient has. For instance, why would it lead to coughing up lung tissue? (Unless it was the piece of lung containing the foreign body — and then you’d never be able to find the foreign body).
A “diagnosis of exclusion” refers to a condition for which there are no reliable tests. Because of this, other diagnoses must be ruled out first (i.e. excluded). If those tests are all negative, then the patient must have the remaining condition — the diagnosis of exclusion. To put it another way, to make the diagnosis, you have to rule everything else out. (A common example would be irritable bowel syndrome. There are no good tests for it, so other gastrointestinal conditions with similar symptoms are looked at first. If those results are negative, then the patient is likely to have irritable bowel syndrome). I mention this all to point out that Sarcoid is not a diagnosis of exclusion. House has ordered tests for it (admittedly, an incorrect test) so it is, by definition, not a diagnosis of exclusion.
C-ANCA is a test for Wegener’s Granulomatosis, not sarcoid.
Negative sputum and blood cultures do not rule out an acute bronchitis. Acute bronchitis is only bacterial 10-15% of the time, so 85-90% of the time the cultures are going to be negative, no matter what. Furthermore, even if it is bacterial, it’s tricky to obtain a good sputum culture and bronchitis is rarely — if ever — bacteremic so blood cultures are of no use.
If a patient is admitted with low O2 sats, then he needs to be started on oxygen right away; there no reason to wait until he gets even worse.
The medical mystery this week was background story material, and it showed. Nothing exciting there: D. The final solution was unlikely, unless they have the world’s wost radiologists using CT scanners from the 1970s at Princeton Plainsboro. I give it a D-. The medicine was very sloppy, more expensive than usual, and incorrect: another D-. I’m of two minds about the soap opera. On one hand, it was fun to watch, but on the other hand, it didn’t add anything new. House acts like a dick to Cuddy? Tell us something we don’t know. I also found it hard to believe that House would be able get away with all he did in the classroom scenes. It was too over the top. Overall, I give the soap opera and non-medical storylines a weak C+.
The review of the previous episode of House
A list of all prior House reviews
February 21st, 2011 at 10:02 pm
I really enjoyed this episode for some reason….many LOL moments
February 21st, 2011 at 10:06 pm
>>>The final solution was unlikely, unless they have the world’s wost radiologists using CT scanners from the 1970s at Princeton Plainsboro. <<<
Well….
February 21st, 2011 at 10:09 pm
Fun fact: my grandfather had surgery for a similar ailment, he inhaled a pistachio shell by mistake and it managed to make into his lung.
February 21st, 2011 at 10:10 pm
I, too, thought it was an inferior but still entertaining echo of “Three Stories.” A highlight in both is when the actors play parody versions of their characters – Chase and Taub hitting on the hot nurse while the poor patient is coughing up blood may have been the funniest moment in this episode.
Usually, precocious, smart-mouthed children (on TV and in real life) make me want to run off in the opposite direction, but I actually enjoyed watching the school kids take on House – their consequence-free bluntness actually proved a match for him.
February 21st, 2011 at 10:27 pm
Yeah, even the crappy CT scanners I used to use in level four labs (where we got new equipment every decade) could pick that up
February 21st, 2011 at 10:39 pm
what an awful episode. it was so bad after me and my sister was done watching, she started cracking up. THE WRITER OF THIS EPISODE SHOULD BE FIRED.
February 21st, 2011 at 10:44 pm
This episode was genuinely painful to watch, I mean it practically hurt, the only reason I kept watching was in case there were any moments which would be important continuity points.
February 21st, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Like the “tennis pro” in the Cuddy focused episode, I feel the POTW this week was of secondary importance, an afterthought. Something simple, but not so simple, so they have something going on in House’s service. House at school was the real reason for this ep. Why was he there, what does this mean.
I felt the two ‘kissing kids’ were terrific. Especially the little girl. She held her own with House and I felt he appreciated it. Good, believable dialog (at least for an elite, private school.) I don’t agree that this was House as usual. We were seeing House NOT want to lose something, and go thru real effort to avoid losing Cuddy. Our hero is a little vulnerable.
For six seasons we have seen House willing to lose -everybody- in his life to protect his own self righteousness, or to prove he doesn’t need anybody, including Cameron, Foreman, Wilson–he even fired Chase, et. al.
He has screwed around with everybody to make various points–even to help them in some way, eg., Foreman and his brother, but tonight I feel we genuinely saw something different. House afraid to lose Cuddy. Willing to “fight” to keep her. So, maybe something new?
Anybody?
Uncle Ron
February 21st, 2011 at 10:58 pm
I know this is a medical review of the show, which I love, but I enjoyed the show despite the bad medicine. The last few shows, while good, were so dark and dreary. This had some good ol’ House humor and funny moments. Even if it was over the top, House is over the top so it works. It was entertaining if watched just to be entertained and not educated.
February 21st, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Eric, why painful? I loved him psyching out the two ‘kissing’ kids. House has respect for smart people, no matter what their age. The kid who knew all House’s movie references was a scream.
I really liked House casting himself as John Travolta and Clint Eastwood in his stories. Can you imagine him actually verbalizing that stuff? He was enjoying himself, and working pretty hard to get Rachel into that school.
Not so much with the POTW this week, I feel it was a sideshow anyway. The purpose of the ep was to move the season along to some kind of resolution with Masters, Thirteen and Huddy.
I liked it.
BTW, THANKS, THANKS, THANKS Scott for this terrific blog.
Uncle Ron
February 21st, 2011 at 11:06 pm
I loved this episode. It was hilarious but also well crafted and intriguing. A subtle point is that the 5th grade love story parallels House`s growth in the same area, which is both funny and significant. The medical mystery was a total side note, just something to tie the show together.
February 21st, 2011 at 11:10 pm
Nice to see a light-hearted and funny show after the last few ones.
Was Foreman talking into a non-existent cell phone? looked like he just had an empty hand.
February 21st, 2011 at 11:13 pm
I got all of the movie quotes BEFORE the kid did. I was like: “Isn’t that Pulp Fiction-” and the kid ” Come on that’s PULP Ficiton! “Can’t Handle the Truth” Men of Honor (over the top too easy). Loved the Ghostbusters reference which I caught immediately….
February 21st, 2011 at 11:14 pm
This episode was utter crap and awesome at the same time. I did like the plotlines, and House’s movie references (I got most of them and I haven’t even seen those movies). The fifth graders also acted like they were really listening to a speech by a misanthropic doctor.
Unfortunately, that girl with the black eye really was bitchy, and she just screwed up the plotline. Also, at the end I was screaming at the TV. A small piece of food? Really? Are the writers that desperate for a disease that they had to use a pea as the illness?
February 21st, 2011 at 11:21 pm
This is by far the dumbest episode they have made till date. I think one of the writers lost a bet somewhere and had to incorporate it into the show.
February 21st, 2011 at 11:26 pm
Talk about mixed opinions on this episode. Love it or hate it, gotta be one or the other!
Personally, I took it for what it was, a solid take on the classic Three Stories episode that was a lot more lighthearted than the last few heavier episodes, and it was quite an enjoyable one at that. Lots of classic House humor that was more absent in recent weeks and it was fine with me that we didn’t really learn all that much about House that we didn’t already know. I really enjoy this format as it mixes things up in a creative manner, and House uses it at nice intervals.
Disappointing that the medical stuff was weak, but considering that it was a really a side attraction I can’t say I’m not surprised.
February 21st, 2011 at 11:40 pm
Watching House grow as a character by working through his troubles with Cuddy is something I can be all right with. Watching House be strong-armed into talking by a fifth grade girl was just ridiculous.
Episodes like this always make me wonder what the House episode creative sessions are like since there a few times, this one in particular, where it seems they start from a symptom and then decide on a cause later. According to David Shore, there are three people who check on the medicinal aspect. You think the writers just ask, “Hey, can someone actually cough up a lung,” and those people go, “Yeah, sure, what the hell?”
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:55 am
Agree with OPJM. A girl’s ability to compress her lips, narrow her eyes and speak nastily doesn’t make her someone who can intimidate House, nor does it make her someone the audience would like to watch.
Couldn’t figure out why the teacher kept trying to get more info out of House. It was obvious from the start that he was a disaster and that her best move would be to whisk him off the stage. Maybe if the teachers are so incompetent, Cuddy should think twice about wanting to enroll Rachel.
The episode kept me interested, which is more than much of seasons 6 and 7 have done, but I still wouldn’t call it a good one, and it’s kind of an insult to the original Three Stories episode to even give this a related name. It only serves to remind me of how amazingly great this show’s beginnings were. Three Stories was witty, original and loaded with captivating medical mystery, as well as having a poignant ending note. This was…entertaining enough. I liked the show better last week when Foreman and Taub were doing fore-roommate play. And I like the show a lot better when it has serious doses of Wilson in it.
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:21 am
The girl was horrible! “WHY WAS SHE MAD?!” “YOUR TURN!!” “FINISH THE STORY!!!”
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:22 am
I think I have to like an episode that has the line “If porn was bad, why would there be so many nuns in it?”.
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:33 am
All I can say about the chick… “Bitch”
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:33 am
I think the soap deserves an F. An intelligent woman quarreling with her lover on a toothbrush and garbage? A top administrative officer using a pet name as password, and using the same computer for her job and for her private diary?
And don’t let me start ranting about private schools where girls have to wear skirts (ew) in Princeton, home of some of the finest public schools of the planet. This show is just a memento to what it once was.
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:40 am
The dialogue was poorly written, the scenes were messy and mainly stupid. I felt it was written by a…moron.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:26 am
Medically, there was so little going on that it’s disappointing that it turned out to be as poorly done as Scott says.
However, the character interaction was very well done, because we generally don’t see House being stood up to like that, and the girl truly did hold her own against her. The flashback scenes were well done, and in the end the episode just helped show how much Cuddy has come to mean to House over the last 13 episodes or so, something that’s sure to be important if their relationship isn’t going to last beyond this season, something that a lot of people thing will happen.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:34 am
Scriptwriters probably heard something about this story. :)
http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2009/04/14/a-fur-tree-in-the-lungs/
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:14 am
i didn’t see the point in the 2 kids’ story. they didn’t even really conclude it, so it just seemed like padding for the episode.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:59 am
I was confused that 13-14 year olds would be going for a first kiss, then I realized they were supposed to be playing fifth graders. Fifth graders who watch Pulp Fiction, apparently (which I had to watch in its entirety immediately following the episode!). Not sure why they couldn’t have made it a middle school class – would have made a lot more sense I think. Having a school with that many grades is possible.
Also, this was just a throw-away line, but Computer Science majors don’t fabricate computer chips. Electrical Engineering, maybe, but Computer Science majors use stuff that others have already made.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:08 am
I thought the writers tried to be too cute and clever for their own good. I don’t know if House has jumped the shark, but he’s on a pair of water ski’s(sp) being pulled by a boat. The young girl’s acting was not good, she did everything on one level; every line was delivered exactly the same. I guess a guy coughing up his lung wasn’t interesting enough and they decided banality was the way to go. I forgot if I was watching House or Scrubs.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:16 am
I really have to wonder what the point of this episode was, other than to fill out the season. On a show like House I really don’t expect to see filler episodes that feel like filler episodes.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:21 am
Medicine stuff aside, the episode was interesting at some points (House’s movie references -i cracked with YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!- and that “nuns in porn movies” thing haha) but i’m afraid it was awfully pointless most of it, really…
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:55 am
I think that the unbelievable nature of House’s “classroom behavior” can be explained by the fact that what we the viewers were shown was House’s version of those events as told to the two kids in the Principal’s Office. In other words, he was embellishing THAT story, and it didn’t really happen that way.
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:34 am
I enjoyed this episode. To me, the “Two Stories” were the two relationships, i.e. House+Cuddy and the young boy and girl. What seemed clear to me was that the kids handled their relationship with more maturity than House was able to handle his with Cuddy. I think that fact also dawned on him at the end. We really don’t know what Cuddy actually did or said in this episode other than in the last scene, because it was all told from House’s point of view. And we know that he lies like a rug. Why people here and on other fora continue to complain about the lack of realism is beyond my comprehension. NOTHING about this show has been realistic since the start. If you can’ t enjoy it on its own terms, why watch???
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:13 am
I liked the two kids and their interactions with House. There were more than a few times when he didn’t know what to do with them, and resorted to “I know you are, but what am I?” type juvenile responses to their challenges. Great stuff! On the other hand, the whole Cuddy snit with House was rediculous. She’s known this guy for years and is surprised by his crass behavoir and “needs a little time off”?? PLEASE! The writers are killing her! Little-by-little they are turning her into a moron. How did she get that job? He father must have donated a wing to the place. Finally, I always try to “suspend belief” when it comes to the realism when watching House. Even so, the outrageous classroom behavoir he showed was WAY over the top. Any teacher that didn’t throw him out after the -first- inappropriate behavoir or talk would be fired and the school likely sued by one of the rich parents.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:16 am
I really felt that the episode was oversoaped, much like the last episode that Moran wrote (5 to 9). I truly, truly hated this episode, what little horrid medicine was there was clearly an afterthought to excuse a soap-centric episode
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:26 am
This show made such an impression in its first two seasons because of its crazy ambition to do two difficult things at once–make an engrosing medical mystery based on real medicine, and portray a group of fascinating, complex, quirky characters interacting in unpredictable ways. If anybody here truly expected a bunch of Hollywood writers working under deadline to be able to keep that up indefinitely, please see me about some wonderful investment opportunities in the housing market.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:47 am
Does anyone know if there are medical reviews similar to this cite for Greys Anatomy or Off the Map?
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:11 pm
@MDCharlieOSU: Grey’s doesn’t need weekly reviews, since it would always get a D or below, but Off the Map might be interesting. since they haven’t been utterly horrible (at least the two that I watched) but not up to House standards. House is probably the most accurate medical drama I can think of that is still on TV
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:58 pm
I though this episode was great. At least dramatically. It still amazes me how natural House’s character development has been. Looking back at seasons 1-3 when they rerun shows on USA Network I could hardly believe it was the same character. Then I remember all the crazy stuff that happened in season 5-6 and it all makes sense how he’s changed from being quite literally the definition of an asshole to someone who is actively trying (even when it’s hard as hell) to be a better person. At least with people he cares about. That’s the real marvel of this show for me, medicine be damned!
Oh, and all the movie references and tomfoolery (wow, did I just type that? tomfoolery? I’m getting old… at 20) with the class of 5th graders were hilarious. Unrealistic, but really all of House is kind of out there- I’ve never had a doctor come close to being as rude as House and since this episode revolved around him being outside of a hospital, which much less chance of him being sued for his actions (I’d hope-aside from the identity theft bit, of course), it makes plenty of sense he’s wilder.
@ Dr. R
Do you ever watch “Royal Pains”? I’m not a doctor, but that show always seems pretty accurate when I think of all the stuff Scott mentions during an episode. At the very least, they don’t shock flatlines, LOL. Then again it’s a cable show so not on “regular” TV.
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:52 pm
“(Unless it was the piece of lung containing the foreign body — and then you’d never be able to find the foreign body).”
I think that was the point, the pea was in his lung, thats why he coughed lung tissue and what caused all his repiratory symptoms.
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:03 pm
The medicine in this episode was pretty striaghtforward which I actually liked – of vource it was awfully wron on many levels but hey they do that on House pretty regularly now. However I am going to ask D-r Scott something he might have missed – let us take a turn to season 3 the episode name was Needle in a Haystack – I am not discussing the medicine there but saying that they left something unanswered there – the boy swallowed a tooth pick which supposedly was with the same tissue “contrastivity” so to say that it blended with the surrounding tissues on the imaging studies. Is that possible? Because if it is than a pea (which is organic and could rougly be with the same image “contrastivity” as lung tissues might blend as well? Of course lungs are practically empty space filled with air and the pea isn’t but if there was inflamation and infiltration there may be the pea can “blend in”? BTW aspiration bronchits and aspiration pneumonia are two things that they make us (dentists) learn pretty well in medical school – mostly because swallowing something dental (bridge, endodontic instrument even a needle) used to be a pretty common thing before the introduction of rubber dam. My own estimate – medical mistery – B (uncurable bronchites? Sound good to me. Solution C- (as you said it has got to be a pretty dumb radiologist with bad equipment) however if 1.the pea desintegrated into smaller chunks and THAT caused the symptoms and 2. (ab)normal lung funtion combined wiht inflamation combined with costant strain on the lung (from the coughing) caused the pea to move shift and disperse than I upgrade the solution to B- (a stech but almost possible). One bad thing is that a detailed history (as always) would have given the answer a lot earlier.
The sopa opera was great and I give it a B+. Would have been an A if House did not strech his storry telling to non-believance. Because it was a backflash episode TOLD by House we actually do not know which part were truth (ALL truth) which were false( House TRUTH) and which were a mixture of truth and good/bad storry telling. The fast shifting of time/space was whitout a doubt the best part – it reminded me of Three Stroies (whitout a doubt the best House epsiode ever) Since this episode was basically a remake they (the writers) overdid it and that is why I am giving it a B. The House – children interactions were smart funny and incredibly belieavable and were the high point of the entire episode. They are a straight A. I think that House somehting both from Wilson AND Cuddy at tha little bitch which is exactly what he liked about her. The boy was also somewhat like House lite – House was smiling because he knew the boy have played his cards like he would – connig the girl for a kiss than telling the truth to make her fall. Coup de Gras classy House :) All in all it was an enjoyable episode even if it was forced to be almost unbeliavable. I was not surprised that Cuddy actaully boiled over over “nothing” – Women tend to do that BECAUSE men tend to overlook details all the time. It is a matter of time before the small stone turns the cart over. It was due on Huddy as well. So that part was believable for me and the fact that he caved and begged (after looking for the answer in tippical House way :) was also good soap. As I said B+ and cudos to the cating crew on House – even with bad script material they manage to sell the product good. Looking forward!
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:09 pm
If you haven’t read RAK’s post above, go back now. (S)he got it. And Sean’s above RAK’s is also right on.
This ep wasn’t as good as “Three Stories.” Not even 2/3rds as good. But it was good. And moved the season along to whatever HORRIBLE season finale the writers are concocting.
I hope they don’t phone it in.
Uncle Ron
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:51 pm
I forgot to ask: WHY was House in the classroom? I guessed it was some sort of “career day” or “bring your parent to school day”, but even if that was the case, why was he there? Was he filling in for the Doc at the hospital who had his office broken into by House?
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:15 pm
@D-r Bulgaria
I think the pea being missed on the CT is unlikely but it is – I GUESS – possible for the radiologist to miss it due to a flukey error or sheer incompetence
(the terrible staff training might explain why they do all their own lab work, test the patient themselves, re-do bloodwork a dozen times and miss obvious patient history {like perhaps “I was eating peas, and I choked. I was fine, but I’ve been coughing ever since…”} and why Chase conducts EVERY surgical procedure in the hospital)
But I still don’t see how the lung could be coughed up in the manner shown. They shot down their own weird and erroneous explanations, then skipped straight to sarcoidosis for vague reasons.
@Dr Scott — can you think of any way that situation might *actually* happen? Coughing up necrotic lung tissue makes sense, but obviously that would be indicative of something far more serious than not chewing his food.
And wow, that guy is an impressive human being that he managed to stay lucid, concious and generally in good condition during and after coughing up said lung. It didn’t even seem like he was going to need a lung transplant or respirator.
And for the record, I liked the kids ^^
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:16 pm
BTW, the grown-up version of the girl of this episode is a chef and lives in Buenos Aires, check this out :P
http://www.intramed.net/UserFiles/imagenes/narda_int.JPG
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Loved it tbh. Somehow it made perfect sense to see *house* waiting at the principal’s office, and a twelve year old girl unflinched by all his deceptions to get to the truth of the tale – because of course, everybody, including house, lies.
This episode may not have added anything to the grand scheme of things but it was certainly refreshing and a lot of fun to watch.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:07 pm
Almost pire fluff. Pity.
But the interaction with the two in the school office – I disagree with some others. I found it [well, the interaction with the girl - the boy, not so much, just wierd] fair to good. Even House has been acculturised to react differently with pre-teens, and yes, I have known girls of that age to be both persistent and “bossy” as well as able to hold their own with most adults (though maybe not of the calibre of House). OTOH, that was part of the trouble I had with most of the classroom scene[s] – except for the “clueless” kid at the back of the room, not a single person in that room acted or spoke believably.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Williston: House “broke into” Cuddy’s computer and realized from her journal that she really wanted to get Rachel into the school depicted in the episode. That school was actually Cuddy’s first choice, even above the school from which Rachel was rejected. But Cuddy wasn’t willing to ask for help to get Rachel into the school. House WAS, and he made a deal with the big honcho at PPTH (forgot his name) who was also on the school board. House had to do “career day” at the school in return for honcho’s help with Rachel. I guess Rachel will be looking for a new school!
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:12 pm
@Brian: I’ve not seen it, though I’ll have to look it up
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Oh cmon, this episode was obviously made for the lulz… Someone mentioned Scrubs, I think that’s exactly what they were going to with this episode. The represented movie references were hilarious! Most epic stuff ever. The actual storyline and medicine suffered with it. if it’s a filler, it’s a fantastic one.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:23 pm
What happened to the clinic patient? There are moments when House is imagine what happened when the patient cough out the death lung tissue where Chase and Taub, lol.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:29 pm
I found the patient passing out after holding his breath while House stunk out the clinic quite funny.
That’s not actually possible. We tried that while I was in my 2nd year doing Human Physiology, and we tried holding our breath as long as possible on normal air and on pure O2, you physiologically cannot hold your breath until you pass out.
Great advice for parenting, when your kid gets annoyed and threatens to hold their breath until they die or pass out, smile and tell them to go right ahead :) Nothing’s going to happen.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:13 pm
The medicine in this episode was atrocious, but I really enjoyed the soap opera. I didn’t think the girl was a bitch at all, she just refused to take any of House’s bullshit, and I commend her for that.
The slow chubby kid in the back of the class looks awfully familiar. Anybody recall what else he’s been in?
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:39 pm
It’s getting old watching House guilt-trip his way back into people’s hearts. He’s this blackhole that feeds on codependency, ‘justified’ because “he’s always right.” Any time he gets called out on his narcissism, he still wins out in the end, even if it takes a couple episodes. He probably even got Cuddy’s kid into the school she wanted.
February 23rd, 2011 at 2:59 am
@MIMI – The writer of this episode should be fired? As in like one writer wrote the whole thing? You know thats not how they do it right? Every writer contributes to every episode…
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:37 am
Actually, this whole episode is just a big lie house told to the students.
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:31 am
Shafi: Actually, this whole series is just a big lie the writers told to the audience.
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:33 am
Wouldn’t the pea be hard to find on a CT without contrast? and would you use contrast on a lung CT? I know CT’s have greater resolving power than inferred on the show but that always seems to rely on being able to inject contrast in the right area.
February 23rd, 2011 at 7:39 am
I enjoyed the episode a fair bit. I mean the medical side was quite poorly done. On the other hand, the whole multi-layered story thing was quite well done.
However, I am getting a little sick of the obscure story lines, or the fact that the show no longer revolves around the POTW, with the subplots following.
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:53 am
That was awful… worst episode of the season, and that’s saying something. Something about a toothbrush? Also I kept being distracted by the realisation that the little schoolgirl looked like Christian Bale.
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:57 am
I wasn’t too concerned with the medical mystery, b/c I wasn’t sure that there was one until his light bulb went on; until then I just thought it was part of a story he was telling the kids.
I laughed the first 15 minutes, but after that I was just waiting for it to be over.
It was a long episode in order to show that House really “needs” Cuddy and the fact that their relationship at this point is not 100%
February 23rd, 2011 at 9:04 am
To: RAK: Thank you. I guess I need to get myself into “Pulp Fiction” mode and re-watch it…..then it will make sense. I admit I also had to watch that movie twice before I “got” it. (i.e. the switching back and forth between past, present, and future.
February 23rd, 2011 at 9:14 am
@amathakathi regarding coughing up a lung: House embelished (AGAIN!) he did not cough his entire lung but voughing a chunck of lung tissue is actually completely possible in the case of aspiration pneumonia or aspiration bronchitis (I would go for the pneumonia myself though – all the symptoms pointed to deeper lung involvemnet. I do not know why they kept calling it bronchitis). Here’s the deal – apsiration of something – anything – that has been in the mouth leads to placing: A. a foregn body material (which leads to “foreign body” type inflamation) and B. Oral bacteria (have I mentioned already the the mouth is literally the most soiled part of the human body? I mean THE MOST period. The anus is like a level one isolation chamber in a Hospital compared to the mouth. Over 200 types of bacteria thriving there and all can lead to a very nasty infection on top of the ördinary”pneumonia. So aspirating something tiny and insignificant can have all the described significant consequesnces and more. As per that part of the show the medicine was A- (Cause-solution). The solutions fits the symtoms – it does not fit the course shown and would have been discovered way earlier I would guess while taking the history of the POW
February 23rd, 2011 at 11:36 am
I’m amazed at how many people enjoyed this episode. Personally, I thought the writing was so poor as to be insulting…not to mention boring! Sadly, a show that I’ve loved for years has finally lost me as a viewer. Thanks for all the great reviews — I’ll miss this website!
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Nobody picked up on the Sherlock Holmes reference. House’s address is:
221 Baker Street, Apt. B (on his license)
Sherlock Holmes:
221B Baker Street
I thought it was funny since the House is based on Sherlock Holmes.
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:27 pm
The Sherlock references have been around since the first season.
I liked some of the episode, but in other ways I found it pretty hard to suspend my disbelief.
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:31 pm
Perhaps it wasn’t the writing that was bad, but rather the interpretations of the writing. It seems to me that many people here don’t really get what this episode was about. Throughout the episode we are seeing things through only House’s eyes. Remember the first scene when House’s team rushes in to treat the POW? This is the way House sees his team, in its most exaggerated form. It was funny, but not true. Likewise, the only “real” scene in which Cuddy appears is the last one. In every other scene , it is House’s interpretation of what Cuddy did or said. He’s deeply insecure about this relationship and has been since day one. He always assumes she will dump him, so he sees even Cuddy’s small discontents as the end of the world for him. At the end of the episode when we see the real Cuddy, after all that House has done to screw up her life, she’s not angry, just accepting of him with all his flaws because she realizes that even though he is and always will be a selfish bastard, he does care for her. This episode is NOT to be taken literally. If you do, you totally miss the point.
February 24th, 2011 at 12:18 am
@RAK You’re a 100% right! I mean I knew a lot of the reality in this episode wa “shifted” due to House being the person who tells the story but I completely missed the point that he not only lied a lot but also involuterly shifted his own reality (eg. his conversations with Cuddy) to match his viewpoint. This actually means that Huddy has a chance of not dying :) I like that!
February 24th, 2011 at 8:02 am
I thought the kids were great, but I was kind of disappointed – it’s easy to see what House gets out of his relationship with Cuddy, but I’m darned if I see what she gets out of it (apart from the obvious).
February 24th, 2011 at 10:57 am
RAK – Really excellent point. I hadn’t seen it that way, but it makes a lot of sense.
I’ve watched this episode twice and I liked it a lot better the second time – it made more sense the second time as I realized how much of it was from House’s point of view. My favorite part was his view of Chase and Taub coming on to the nurse and totally ignoring the patient, while Foreman is pulling rank on everyone and M3 is tattling to Cuddy. I thought that was hilarious.
I had seen the title of this episode and of course related it back to Three Stories which I agree was the best House episode ever. And while I agree with several posters that this wasn’t nearly as good as Three Stories, what I did realize is that the tie that links them is that House is telling a story in both episodes about something he’s ashamed of. And both take a really circuitous path that obstructs the revelation of the real point of the story.
I was reminded of something Wilson said to House in either season 5 or 6, which was “Do you want to be the guy who’s right, or do you want to be the guy who’s with Cuddy?” He has to learn that being right is not the most important thing in the world, and he may actually be learning that.
February 24th, 2011 at 11:19 am
RAK you have the perfect explanation.
I had to explain that to my wife when the patient threw up his lung and she said “No Way” and almost quit watching.
He used the figure of speech “He threw up a lung” when explaining it to the kids and if you put that in literal picture form, sure enough he threw up a lung.
This was an episode to escape the seriousness but like I posted before, my laughing stopped fairly early.
Here’s to next week.
February 24th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Thanks for the feedback. What’s interesting to me is that before House was actually involved with Cuddy, he seemed to know everything about her life, including her menstrual cycle. Now that they actually have a relationship and he’s emotionally involved, he sometimes seems to be totally mystified by her! He listens, but does not hear!
February 24th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
Scott
I’m sorry, but I completely disagree with your opinion the episode. OK, medicine was awfull, but the story, the nrration were beautifull. Probably the most enjoyable episode of this season.
February 25th, 2011 at 4:33 am
The clasroom stories were actually also told by House right? So no wonder they looked not real as well – he could have told them any way he likes :) I do not thing there was any lying to the clasroom scenes just the way House likes to do it: “it would have been so dramatic!” as he likes to say. Here he makes the rules of the story – drama away! I like that! I suddenly remembered something else – we had a Wilson episode and a Cuddy episode. When are we going to see a “Chase” “Taub” or “Foreman” episode? To see the world of House through their eyes would be. entertaining to say the least! Especially if it is another “told” episode like this one (or like another of my favorite episodes: “The mistake”. Remember that one guys? Chase was a star then!
February 25th, 2011 at 10:39 am
That was by far the worst episode ever. I had to put in a DVD of an old episode to feel like I watched House this week. If they are going to continue like this I won’t be watching anymore.
February 25th, 2011 at 11:13 am
The comment about Cuddy using the same laptop for work and business made me realize how ridiculous ti is that Cuddy doesn’t have a PC in her office. At least, I don’t think she has one.
February 25th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
I missed very start of the ep (darn full DVR) so was confused for a bit….but it was an ok ep. I do like the funny ones.
The girl–Amber as a 5th grader. Spot on.
On a sde note, I get to watch House on my new 46″ flatscreen…I think House would be jealous :D IT IS AWESOME even when the episode flops. Those blue eyes……*sigh*
February 25th, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Joel Kazoo, I think the kid you’re referring to was in “Sleepless in Seattle.”
February 26th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
I love this blog for the medical insight and discussion. But I didn’t really care about the POTW here. The story was kind of sloppy, and the story disclosed nothing about the patient that made me want to care much.
I also did not like this episode much initially, partly because it felt disjointed (given the non-linear format) and because I also thought it was way over the top. But on rewatching, I liked it a lot more. I think the over the top narration of the story by House is just House being House in how he exaggerates, how House cannot be a reliable narrator, at least not for the details in any story , etc. What I liked was how this episode demonstrated House’s epiphany; that was very touching. He not only loves Cuddy. He also needs her in his life and he even admitted this out loud to another person. This realization scares him but he is trying to make things right between him & Cuddy, albeit, at first, in a totally selfish, House kind of way. I also think that it could only have been someone outside House’s immediate orbit that could have helped see the error in his ways. How fitting that they were kids! Plus, they have no agenda.
February 26th, 2011 at 10:33 pm
I enjoyed this episode, mostly for the House’s retelling of events. I thought the medicine was silly and the Huddy aspect was silly. (Really? Again she realizes he’s a jerk and will never change?)
But I had fun with the rest, especially they way that House appreciates the bluntness of the children.
February 28th, 2011 at 4:57 am
I felt that a few glaring plot holes were left in this week’s episode.
One: Why did the guy he rear-ended (Mr. Dryden) not just call the police, especially with his licence plate right there to gain House’s real name?
Two: How did House manage to talk Dryden into not just taking the fake ‘Harani’ name sans ID and insurance, but into following him to the career day (assumedly, to keep an eye on him until they reported the collision)?
Three: Since when did middle schoolers become intuitive and eloquent enough to give even House a run for his money? Sure, it services the plot, suspension of disbelief, yadda yadda yadda — but come on.
That said, I liked the non-chronological story-telling angle which they went with on this episode. Very Pulp Fiction-esque; very unusual for television; quite enjoyable.
February 28th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
Everybody lies. Or would.
Because House can’t. Not anymore.
How hard can it be to lie to children ?
How hard can it be to manipulate infants or morons ?
How hard can it be to stay focused while telling a story ?
(And boy, you have to stay focused when lying before a police officer about your identity, while trying to seduce a whole school).
Has House become a complete moron ?
Please tell me, because I can’t respect him anymore.
He used to get things done.
He delivered while being a jerk (although a lot of House’s breakthrough are often due to serendipity).
So is this the point of the episode : when you can’t deliver, you have to become a nicer person ? Lame.
Moreover, House wouldn’t let himself to become stupid.
Being efficient and clever is the only thing he can prides himself.
So now, House can’t keep a simple story, can’t help Cuddy to get into the favors of the school’s principal, and get bossed around by a brat. And even by the class/teacher who got him on stage again and again, while he allegedly wanted out.
Am I missing something ?
Besides, when you have a compelling story and interesting characters, you don’t have to resort to cheap tricks.
And multiple flashback, dream sequences, pop culture references and numerous characters *all in one* episode are cheap trick.
(They even had the little boy translating the references for us : I feel dumbed down)
House used to be a character driven show. Adding up many characters don’t add up to one truly interesting one !
Well, at least, the episode got one thing right. House used to command authority because he was clever and effective. Now that he’s weak, he loses his leadership (with the class, the two children and even with Cuddy).
March 1st, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Has anyone mentioned the fact that House is discussing the details of the ongoing diagnosis of one of his patients to a bunch of kids / teacher / parents?
March 1st, 2011 at 9:43 pm
Whenever the consensus is that an episode is horrible, crappy, and pathetic, I love it. Not surprisingly, then, I think this is one of my favorite episodes that they’ve ever done. Absolutely hilarious, loved the little girl, the whole concept of House getting sent to the principal’s office, and the “ooohs” in the classroom, not to mention all the other gags. Episodes like this are the reason I watch the show. Seriously, some of you guys just need to lighten up. It’s a TV show. It’s supposed to be funny.
March 1st, 2011 at 11:21 pm
i love when tv dont reat kids like kids, but people.
March 2nd, 2011 at 7:17 am
It’s probably giving the writers too much credit, I assumed the absurdly over-the-top classroom scene was very embellished by House. But otherwise, yes, in reality he’d be out of the school the moment he said “vibrator”
March 2nd, 2011 at 3:40 pm
I agree with Kevin. Unreliable narrator totally.
March 2nd, 2011 at 5:54 pm
I though the actor who played the kissing boy looked and spoke as though he might be the son of the actor who plays House’s detective (Lucas?).
March 3rd, 2011 at 4:11 am
Hugh Laurie made the kiddie part work. He played it like he was playing with the girl as if she could give him some sort of new insight into the female psyche or something.
I had the SAME fight over the toothbrush with my husband right after we married. Down to yelling at him about chewing on it. (Ew!!!!!) He did not tell me to shut up, but the best I got from him was a statement that he was willing to indulge my foolish squeamishness and use his own @#$# toothbrush.
And we had a fight over taking out the trash–we were on the 3rd floor and I was 6 months pregnant, then. (He thought I should take out all the trash because, and I quote, “Cleaning is your hobby.” See, at that point, it didn’t occur to him that anyone would ever clean anything for any reason except for fun. The whole scrubbing-the-toilets thing? Hobby. I think he assumed that you just rented your residence and moved when it got to filthy, or something. This was a man with an advanced degree in computer science but who I learned only wore 3 pair of underwear a week, on average, at the time of our wedding.)
Now, we never had a big fight over the toilet seat because I let it be known that if I fell in the toilet in a darkened bathroom, he would have a 100% chance of being awoken. And I agreed to always lower the lid, making it equally burdensome to us both, which somehow makes it fair.
So, anyhow, I thought the choice of details were pretty hilarious.
March 3rd, 2011 at 9:01 am
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March 8th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
I really hated this episode. It was torture for me really, I made it to the finish, but found it cringeworthy all the way!
It reminded me of when they took the character of Dr.John Becker (another show) and made it so he was struggling, learning, developing, but it ruined everything that made the show worthwhile.
A young girl intimidating House into telling stories – sorry, I dont think so. The classroom scenes – just dull, save for the Toub and Chase hitting on the nurse.
House has this thing going for it where he can push people and manipulate them, but him telling extrapolations to a young girl with a black eye “well based on what you just said, THIS must be what you really meant”, then her listening to it, and using it back on him? Sorry, I dont think so.
Same with the classroom – I think alot of it was intended to make me laugh, but it was just poor all the way through.
Mr.Will
March 10th, 2011 at 9:54 am
House’s address was established as 221-B Baker, years ago. Still a good joke.
Williston, the phrase is “suspend disbelief”, not “suspend belief”, which would make no sense.
This episode, I think the writers were more interested in how cleverly they could construct it than in the actual content. House is still struggling to learn the most basic facts about relationships; maybe his decades-prolonged adolescence is nearing its end.
For some reason I’ve seen several tv storylines about preschools lately. It makes me queasy. Are parents really playing politics, and willing to spend thousands a year, to get their toddlers into an expensive private version of what used to be called kindergarten?
March 10th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
This was definitely the worst episode of House ever. it was all totally unbelievable the POTW was just an afterthought. I am not sure I will watch the rest of the series now – it’s just been one long drag.
July 30th, 2011 at 6:28 pm
lol talk about mixed opinions! I thought this episode was hilarous and one of the best I have seen in ages! How so many people here hated it i do not know!
October 8th, 2011 at 10:40 am
This episode was not about the medicine but more just for laughs. I love this episode. It’s one of my favorites. I found it very entertaining.
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