House — Episode 2 (Season 8): “Transplant”
Hopefully not too many of you found yourself watching Terra Nova instead of House because of the ALCS running late tonight.
Tonight’s episode of House featured House’s return to Princeton Plainsboro Hospital to work under Foreman, the new Dean of Medicine. The social aspects of the episode was good, and the mystery intriguing, but the follow through lacked some luster.
Foreman, now Dean of Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital, has arranged for House to get a conditional release from prison. The conditions are fairly simple: House is to break no further laws, is under Foreman’s direction, and is only to be at his apartment or at the hospital. (Or at least, those are all the conditions we know about now…)
Foreman has arranged for House’s release because of a difficult medical case. A young college student was killed in a motorcycle crash and his lungs were donated. Just as the transplant surgeons were ready to implant them into the new patient, the lungs went bad, showing signs of increasing airway resistance. The lungs were then placed in a pristine plexiglass box (seriously, no blood? No fluids?) hooked up to a ventilator. House has twelve hours to find out what’s wrong with the lungs and fix them so that they can still be transplanted. To help him out, he’s given the services of Park, a resident who punched her Neurology attending after he copped a feel.
House and Park meet with the transplant team. Their initial diagnosis is ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome), which House discounts as there is no exudates. He suggests ehrlichiosis, but that’s already been tested for and treated, and then suggests cocaine. While the patient’s drug screen was negative, House feels the cocaine ingestion was too recent to have made detectable metabolites in the urine. He and Park search the victim’s bedroom at his parent’s house, but find no evidence of drug use. They do find a new pair of glasses and an admission from the victim’s father that his son had headaches, leading House to a new diagnosis of brain tumor. He and Park get the body from the morgue with the plan of getting an MRI. House notices a bulge in the arm, and now thinks that instead of a brain tumor, the victim had rhabdomyosarcoma (A malignant muscle cancer) and paraneoplastic syndrome.
However, reality — such as it is on this show — is unkind to House. The MRI reveals no tumors, and what he thought was a muscle mass was a clot caused by the intravenous plasma the victim had received in the emergency room. House now suspects that something in the unit of plasma the victim received caused whatever is happening in the lungs. The trouble is that each unit of plasma is made up of donations from a number of donors — twenty-five is the number House throws around. He has six hours to find something in the history of those twenty-five donors that will explain the lungs. Possibilities include peanut allergy, dengue fever, FMF (Familial Mediterranean Fever), malaria, acute alcohol intoxication, or lead poisoning. The latter seems the most likely so he starts chelation therapy on the lungs. At first, they seem to be improving, but then things take a turn for the worse. Park and Foreman are able to correct the vasospasm in the lungs, but not before the right middle lobe dies. House is undeterred; he looks at the dead lobe as some tissue he gets to biopsy for the right answer.
Considering what conditions might cause chelation to go poorly, House considers and discards the diagnoses of sarcoidosis, heavy metal poisoning, and asbestosis before settling on the diagnosis of hemosiderosis (a type of iron overload). Park stains the lung tissue for iron, but instead of the expected metal, she finds white blood cells. To House, this suggests an infection hiding in the lung cells, likely brucellosis. He starts the lungs on antibiotics and IVIG (intravenous immunoglobulin). The treatment doesn’t help, and in fact seems to make the lungs worse. Desperate for ideas, House looks to Park and the transplant surgeon for ideas, but all they can suggest are IgA Nephropathy and lupus. House has his eventual Eureka! moment watching one of the wards celebrate a nurses birthday with cake and candles and realizes that the patient had eosinophilic pneumonitis, and the cigar smoke he was exposed to the night of his death caused his lungs to shut down. The lungs are given radiation treatment and this cures the problem, allowing the lungs to be transplanted.
The medicine was extremely disjointed this episode, jumping almost randomly from diagnosis to diagnosis. Some of this was due to the nature of the patient: lungs in a box, but part of it seemed to be a return to the usual poorly thought out differential diagnosis of prior House episodes. As usual, major complaints are in red, modest complaints are in blue, and nit-picking ones in green:
I admit it’s out of my field, but keeping the lungs alive in a pristine clean box — no blood, no fluids, no drainage, no mess — seemed unrealistic.
Not a medical question per se, but how did House, a convicted felon, manage to retain his medical license?
Radiation for eosinophilic pneumonitis, even in this “every minute counts” scenario? Ridiculous. Radiation therapy, even if it would work for this condition, takes time — more than a single treatment — and has its own set of side effects (radiation pneumonitis, for instance). Why not stick with the corticosteroids, since a transplant patient is likely going to need them for some time?
Would a patient with active angina be a candidate for a lung transplant?
Nitrates don’t cause renal insufficiency.
An iron-stain of the lung tissue incidentally reveals high white cells, but no one follows through with a simple H&E stain to show what types of white cells they are.
I would expect the patient to have an elevated WBC, particularly elevated eosinophils.
The patient had severe enough EP to cause a life threatening reaction to cigar smoke, but had never had symptoms before? Surely he’d been around tobacco smoke before…
This week’s medical mystery offered an intriguing premise, but it failed to live to it’s full potential. Just like last week, I give it the mystery a A-. The final solution was unsatisfying, even if it was more or less almost nearly logical. I give it a C+. Unlike last week’s logical progression of medical diagnoses, this week seemed particularly haphazard, and this was a case where a consistent logical approach would have been extremely important. It earns a weak C. I enjoyed the soap opera this week, particularly the scenes with Foreman (but lose the ’stache), Park, and especially Wilson. I give it an A-.
The review of the previous episode of House
A list of all prior House reviews
October 10th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
Hmmm quite the interesting Ep. this week… How DOES House manage to go back to his old life? No team (except for the crazy asian girl Knives Chou from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), no friends….no office, and the most interesting case he’s had in at least a year… ;)
Was kinda surprised about Wilson growing a set of Balls (finally?) and not taking House’s crap any more and standing his ground when House tried to act like nothing had happened last year between them. His rejection of all things House borders on Belligerent….. HOWEVER, he then almost immediately folds like a House of cards (no pun intended…) and accepts House back? I mean ‘cmon the guy assaults him with his car and Cuddy’s House, that should matter for something….right? does one crack on the jaw make up for that?
I think he was looking for almost any reason to forgive House but man, dont have him fold THIS soon, at least stretch it out for a few more episodes… This could have made for same GREAT drama between them. House vs Wilson, Holmes vs Watson… a Match for the ages…but no, another missed opportunity by the writers (at least so far).
Now THAT would be something to see…
POTW appeared like her story was simply there to play off the Drama of House’s return. The story seems a bit ‘forced’ w/ House seemingly off a step or two trying to figure out why all of a sudden no body likes him anymore… and hasnt the whole “sister not liking POTW’S relationship choice” been done before?
And am I the only one who finds it a Stretch (even for THIS show) that House would just be allowed to casualy take the Lung and irradiate it like it was accepted practice just on a hunch, even if it IS one of House’s guesses? Is Foreman really that much of a wuss to just allow House to do whatever he wanted despite the counteless number of rules, ethics and HIPPA violations that this would likely cause (once again)? I cant imagine Foreman would want to lose his cushy new position to House no matter how brilliant he is…
Whats with Foreman lying to House about knowing where his stuff was? Was that a way Foreman thought he could control House maybe? Didnt seem to have worked very well…
Definitely a Drama Episode with a side of disjointed medicine and no suporting cast… I suspect they will be slowly bought back and at 1 person a week, it will be a while before the Band is completely “back together” once again and less it’s a gang return of them all at once or something..
What happens to lil old Knives? Does she get the “M3 treatment” when the regulars start coming back? Guess the stress of the hearing will be too much and she has to relocate or something after Taub, Chase and Hadley are back… (and yes I call her Dr. Hadley or Remy, not 13, never really liked the name but understand perfectly why House uses it to this day).
Oh and what’s up with the gratuitous Lupus reference this week? Even House was like “cmon man…really”? when he heard that other Doc offer it as an actual cause for the Medical Mystery.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
Who didn’t expect Foreman to be the new Cuddy, even without the Previews?
October 10th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
Could they have come up with an Asian lady doctor with less personality than Dr. Chi Park? (Did I hear right? Her father is Filipino and her mother is Korean, so why does she have a Korean-sounding surname?) Frankly, I would have preferred the return of M3 (yes, I know how divided people were about Masters, but I was one of the ones who liked her).
As for what the show itself has become, I feel a bit mixed. No Cuddy? No Chase? No Taub? No Thirteen (although she’ll return next week)? Foreman as the new Dean of Medicine? I kind of liked the shakeup because it feels more in tune with the vagaries of real life. (At least Wilson is pretty much the way he was before.) But, of course, it’s not the same “House” anymore.
Astonishing (to me at least) that simple second-hand smoke could have caused all those problems with that set of lungs.
P.S. Thanks to the 53-minute delay caused by the ALCS game, I got to watch most of that new show “Terra Nova,” about colonists from the future settling in prehistoric Earth. Not very stimulating, I’m afraid. As members of the colony became infected with an amnesia-inducing virus, I’m sure I wasn’t the only viewer who kept shouting at the TV, “It’s the cold!” to explain one of the characters’ immunity to the virus.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:44 pm
@ Scott: Actually, the show isn’t that far from the truth, provided that the box is under appropriate negative pressure with appropriate humidity and respiration, and blood is kept flowing to and from the lungs, they can be kept ex vivo for awhile. Not something that’s very routine though, I’ve only heard of this being done once or twice.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:46 pm
Hey Dr. Scott:
Where has it been mentioned previously that House is a Convicted Felon?
As far as I know, he’s never been convicted of anything more than a misdemeanor but I don’t know if under NJ law, that would qualify as sufficient grounds for revocation of his Medical License…. Maybe someone in the know can chime in on that?
October 10th, 2011 at 11:48 pm
Official Comment
Oh, I’ll accept that the lungs can be kept alive in a box of some sort for some time, I just have a hard time accepting the lungs and box would be so clean and free of any sort of mess. Medicine is messy, surgery doubly so.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
@ Scott: Here’s a picture: http://www.impactlab.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/2008-12-19_exvivo-lg.jpg
October 10th, 2011 at 11:53 pm
@ Dr. R
That pic is amazing…
October 10th, 2011 at 11:56 pm
I’ve only seen it one time, when I was on a transplant team a couple of years back. Really breathtaking (no pun intended) to see it in person.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:03 am
I’ve gotta admit, that whole lung-in-a-box did seem really farfetched, but is guess Dr. R gave proof.
Also, I doubt that radiating a brown, almost dead lung causes it to visibly GLOW with health. That was definitely faked.
Love the House-WIlson plot. House is back to his usual, joking self, and the one-punch dinner invite seemed very friendly. Then again, maybe not.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:10 am
A couple comments. Can’t assume the chest discomfort was angina. People with pulmonary hypertension get chest discomfort, an etiology that would fit with her diagnosis of emphysema. Of course, in most cases she’d have cor pulmonalae and need a heart, too, but it isn’t a given. Nitrates are not a great medicine for pulmonary hypertension, but they do work in some cases. But it’s very tricky to dose… pulmonary hypertension limits the throughput of the heart, and so systemic arterial dilatation from the nitrates can result in an uncompensated drop in blood pressure… enough to drop renal perfusion pressure and stop urine output.
So, the hemodynamics made sense to me.
I’m not sure a medical license is needed to treat an organ in a box.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:11 am
First episode I’ve watched in the first-run in quite a while. I had every intention of watching the season premiere, but simply forgot. Tonight’s episode just seemed like a lot of old ground being trod over and over again. We now have TWO! clips of Wilson saying “we’re not friends anymore” only for them to, like, totally still be friends.
Charlyne Yi is a sweetie, but this is really not a great role for her. And I seriously question the decisions of this show’s casting director. To look at her, Amber Tamblyn looks like she totally belongs with Jesse Spencer, Olivia Wilde, and Peter Jacobson as a peer (Tamblyn is in fact older than Wilde), yet her character is this uber-young precocious doe-eyed ingenue taking her first steps in the world of grown-ups. Balderdash. Yi meanwhile looks like she’s 11, and is pretty much just another doctor. Okay, it is acknowledged that she’s young (lives with her parents) but nothing like Masters.
I have to say I was disappointed with how fast the reset button was pressed. How long till he gets the big office back? A whole ‘nother episode? Maybe even two?
Did I blink and miss it, or was Wilson’s connection to the patient left unrevealed? He clearly knew her personally (”I haven’t heard the name Bobby in a while”) but I was waiting to find out the nature of their acquaintance.
And did anyone else think the doc that Park punched was Foreman? That was my natural conclusion.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:18 am
Ok, it looks like revocation/suspension is entirely the prerogative of the medical board in NJ (fairly typical). Based on their precedent, I would say that House would likely have his license suspended for more than a year, and possibly revoked. But this is Houseland, where you can get Vicodin in prisons that mix violent offenders and minimum security prisoners!
October 11th, 2011 at 12:25 am
Official Comment
CalendarDog,
The patient and Wilson both referred to her chest discomfort as angina, so I’m assuming they (or at least Wilson) know what they’re talking about.
Alexandra,
We know the patient was a former breast cancer patient of Wilson’s.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:34 am
@ Alexandra:
“And did anyone else think the doc that Park punched was Foreman? That was my natural conclusion.”
Mine too for a half second until I thought “That sounds more like something Taub would do than Foreman” only because we spent at least half a season recently watching Taub struggle with (and ultimately fail at) marital fidelity (or rather he lack of it)
All Foreman has to his credit recently is being a douche for allowing Remy to get away….
October 11th, 2011 at 12:36 am
From what I can tell, most license suspensions in New Jersey are temporary, and the only thing that would automatically make it permanent would be a Second Degree offense or above (a fairly major crime, like robbery or manslaughter). House was probably convicted of a Fourth Degree crime (vehicular assault). But as Dr. R says, this is Houseland, and we all know he wouldn’t have a license in ANY state if he practiced medicine the way he does anyway.
I, for one, was glad they hit the resent button on House/Wilson so soon. We already did the “our friendship’s over” schtick at the beginning of Season 5.
I’m liking Dr. Park, I think she’s a nice change of pace. But then, I wish they would have stuck with Masters longer.
Overall I’m enjoying this season much, much more than the last couple — but it’s early days yet.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:43 am
Wilson says the hospital brought in a consultant to work on the lungs, do you need a medical license to consult?
October 11th, 2011 at 12:47 am
I’m pretty sure Chase will be returning because his name was still on the credits. Not sure about Taub.
@Dr. R That pic is amazing.
@Hugh L The crime he served prison time for would be a felony, correct? That was a violent crime to so I’m surprised his medical license isn’t provoked.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:20 am
Just the patient referred to angina. Patients are always wrong.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:33 am
Shouldn’t the transplant patient be on a full mask or even pressurized air/O2 instead of a cannula?
October 11th, 2011 at 1:43 am
Eric: Yeah, normally they are, at least immediately post-transplant
October 11th, 2011 at 2:43 am
Regarding the question of how House kept his license, as far as I can tell, according to the law governing the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners (BME)(http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/laws/BME_Laws.pdf), the only absolute grounds for revocation of a NJ medical license are (a) if the practitioner represents an “imminent danger” to his patients (45.9-19.9) or (b) if his license in another state is revoked (45.9-19.16a).
The law states that the clerk of the court has to report any criminal conviction to the BME (45.9-19), the practitioner has to report any convictions for criminal or quasi-criminal (whatever those are) offenses (45.9-16.16), whether in New Jersey or elsewhere (aggravated assault is specifically listed as an example of the type of conviction that has to be reported), and notification that the practitioner was convicted for a criminal offense is added to his profile (45.9-22.23).
The law does *not* state that a criminal conviction will necessarily lead to the revocation of the practitioner’s license — only that the BME can decide whether or not to take disciplinary action against the practitioner (45.9-19.16).
Interestingly enough, the BME regulations (http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/laws/BME_Regs.pdf) give lists of reasons for revocation of limited practice licenses (e.g. for midwifery), but not for regular medical licenses. I guess that the doctors decided that they wanted to be in charge of policing their own.
It may be likely, as Dr. R said, that in “real life” House would have faced disciplinary action from the BME, especially given his history — since he’s already been in a mental institution once, it’s easy enough to see how someone might argue that his erratic behavior makes him an imminent danger to his patients. On the other hand, in “real life” hospitals don’t hire doctors whose sole job is to diagnose one patient a week.
October 11th, 2011 at 4:32 am
Well, technically he was a “consultant” and didn’t perform any surgery, that’s allowed even without a medical license right ?
October 11th, 2011 at 5:19 am
As I said last week, we’re a season behind out here (they just showed “Two Stories,” enabling me to be amused at how many of the people who commented here on that episode seemed to have missed the point, but I digress). Did anyone explain how Foreman got to be Dean of Medicine, given his own less-than-distinguished career? From glorified post-doc to head honcho seems to me like a bit of a leap, especially given that Foreman failed epically when he tried to strike out on his own — and he failed in a way that would make him totally unsuitable for the post of Dean of Medicine in a top-rank hospital. (As in, “made decisions that, although medically justified, would more likely than not have led to a multi-million dollar lawsuit if they had been made by an administrator.”)
October 11th, 2011 at 5:45 am
@Hugh L.
It’s not the girl from Scott Pilgrim. It’s Charlyne Yi.
October 11th, 2011 at 6:20 am
House probably got a pardon from the Obama-wannabe :). Or the former billionaire’s connections. Or the porno star. Or…
We already know that 13 got her license back, so it isn’t too hard a pill to swallow.
I thought it was really well done. The place looked *changed*, permanently. No more Foreman making coffee. Even the clinic looked cut back. Department of Diagnostics, gone. House’s office a tiny box. And the biggest shock was the appearance of House himself and Wilson. Of course, most of that was squandered by the end of the episode. But people really looked sick of House’s antics. And of course, the one moment where House shows he’s a human being — he tells Wilson that if he wants to go, he can, but to get it all out. No stalking, no private investigator, no games. Pure truth. House is changed.
As for Foreman being Dean, I knew one day he would go for the job. Ambitious people find a way around things, and Foreman probably got one or two huge donors or Cuddy’s recommendation that gave him the spot. It was still a shock to see him as House’s driver, but I always knew he wouldn’t settle for being someone’s lackey. Department of Diagnostics don’t exist, so there goes his lifestyle and he would never be happy as head of neuro or research, not after House. It was also a shock because I read rumors that someone else would be the new boss (I think Yi.)
I think the writers did the best they could with a bad situation. Just think how bad it *could* have been — at least with Taub, 13 and Chase not there it feels like there’s been real change in a year. It also focused exclusively on House and Park, and I feel like I know Park more in one episode than Masters in ten.
October 11th, 2011 at 6:47 am
well i always wanted to know what Terra Nova was about lucky me i have a DVR and had to work late. I got as far into house as “He’s not going to throw us out, now go…”
October 11th, 2011 at 7:25 am
I didn’t buy the “lungs alive in the box” thing either it just seemed odd. But to my surprise here it seems like it is, indeed, possible. With video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXqMsraSb84
October 11th, 2011 at 8:11 am
That video was cool.
I’m a first year RT student but one of the first things we learned was that if the patient is having problems breathing on a nasal cannula, change devices. At the very very least she should have been on a partial rebreather, and truthfully, she probably should have been on a high flow device if she has having problems keeping her airways open.
Likewise, jumping to a slurry before attempting anything else (like Helium or NitrousOxide) seems a little extreme.
October 11th, 2011 at 8:12 am
Much better sound design so far this season. They got rid of the creepy we-can-hear-every-breath-hissing-through-House’s-nose mic work and provided less isolating ambient sound. Last season sounded awful.
Would have been nice if the new doctor could have modulated her voice more. It was like listening to an adolescent.
October 11th, 2011 at 8:57 am
Holy crap @ the lung in a box pics. I thought it was farfetched too, but can’t dispute photographic evidence, I suppose.
October 11th, 2011 at 9:16 am
@ Hugh L.
They already played the “House-and-Wilson-part-ways-forever-but-then-Wilson-forgives-House-and status-quo-returns” card at the beginning of season 5, eps. 1-4. Four episodes of that! At least the writers had enough dignity not to beat that dead horse again…
October 11th, 2011 at 9:22 am
Come to think of it, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to wrap the series with a “greatest hits”-type bevy of guest shots from past eps —including Cameron, House’s ex-wife and her hubby, Tritter, Vogler, the guy who shot House, Foreman’s dad and even Chase’s dad back from the dead…
And maybe Cuddy.
October 11th, 2011 at 9:38 am
luc69: Perhaps in one of House’s hallucinations?
October 11th, 2011 at 10:30 am
Is no one else disappointed that they didn’t keep house in prison longer?
Would have been much braver not to bring everything back to normal after 1 episode.
October 11th, 2011 at 10:47 am
Are parole restrictions typically that, well, restrictive? Those conditions look a lot more like house arrest+a work release program; isn’t parole generally a step up, freedom-wise, from that?
October 11th, 2011 at 10:51 am
@ mianmar :
I stand corrected, but’s also scary that 2 different people can have that SAME annoying “fingernails-scraping-the-chalkboard-and-making-my-ears-bleed” voice as knives did from Scott Pilgrim….
October 11th, 2011 at 11:11 am
Is it proven that House has recovered his medical license? I didn’t see him make any test (well, apart from cutting the piece of “tumor”) and what he did isn’t much different from what he was doing after leaving the asylum.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:15 am
So in the association with Holmes. House’s being in prison is equivalent of Homles’s service in WWI?
I still haven’t read through the entire Holmes volumes, but I did read something about his being a bee tender eventually. I wonder what that would translate into House
October 11th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
I did not watch this episode and will never watch again because I could not stand to watch once AGAIN the whole Foreman as House’s boss scenario. They had already done that TWICE and those story arcs were so irritating I almost stopped watching at those times. Who the hell wants to have to watch throughout an entire season an arrogant butt-hole like Forman act like an arrogant butthole.
Also, I agree with Balok that Foreman would NEVER have gotten the position of Dean of Medicine at a major teaching hospital. Besides the fact that he never moved past being House’s Post Doc, the one time he tried, at the beginning of season 4, he was fired from Mercy after just a few weeks and blackballed, resulting in him not being employable and having to return to PPTH even thought he did NOT want to. And then during season 5 he pulled the stunt with13 in the research clinical trial which caused him to barely escape with his medical license, and the offense was so aggregious, Cuddy refused to give him a letter of recommendation (which he asked for when House fired him for not breaking up with 13).
I checked this site to see if they explained how Foreman got the position, and from what I’ve read so far, they haven’t explained it. Perhaps they’re afraid to try since him getting the job is beyond any kind of believable explanation, even in a show where an intensivist turned diagnostic medicine post doc (Chase) suddenly is the hospital’s best surgeon, and an allergist turned diagnostic post doc (Cameron) is suddenly Head of the ER… no, not just an ER, a level 3 trauma center.
In the past, Cuddy made the decisions to continue to employ House and to give Chase and Cameron the positions they had, but Cuddy is no longer there, and no Board of Directors would EVER hire somebody with a background like Foreman’s to be the hospital’s Dean of Med.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
That was a pretty cool episode. Though I looked away when House got punch, I assume it was Wilson that did it?
@MrBuddwing: Cuddy wanted to pursue other things. She’s in the Good Wife now. I respect this.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Dammit, they put House back into his old spot after just one episode? I wanted to see more prison drama, more Mean Misanthropic House, not the feel good stories they started to throw these last few seasons…
I hope he does something stupid, pisses off Wilson for good and goes back to prison to finish his sentence. Then go to Physics and just end.
Also, how do you get a “special parole” from a judge on a man that is a convicted fellon, a rogue doctor with several mal-praxis suits and who started a riot during his prison time?
October 11th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
So basically, my guesses for LAST YEAR would be doing pretty good so far. Clearly I am unstuck in time.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
About Foreman as Dean: remember that House did almost immediately deduce that he wasn’t actually the Dean of Medicine despite having the title. And he certainly didn’t seem as busy as Cuddy ever was with the title. So there could indeed be some shenannigans/figureheadery/reduction of the role of ‘Dean of Medicine’ to ‘House’s Handler” and nothing else going on inside the story here…
October 11th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
Lead poioning in lungs? Do your research, writers. Lungs are the only part of the body lead doesn’t damage.
October 11th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
Loved the episode. I thought the sub-POTW’s subplot was excellent. The House/Wilson subplot was magnificent – so much love. And I thank the TOTB for hiring a doctor with FLAVA or color. Love, love Dr. Parks and DR. Adams from last week. Foreman as DoM seemed really, realy farfetched.
@Scott, I don’t think House lost his medical license because his criminal activity was not related to his medical competence, which it was when he lost his mind at the end of S5. However, I do believe he has to report any criminal CONVICTIONS to the his state medical board.
I thought the lungs as POTW was very creative. However, I think we should have had more exposition on ex-vivo lungs. I just didn’t have enough information to really understand the medical issues involved.
October 11th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
@Jeff R: Sweetie, its not easy getting a lot of stuff done in 6-inch hooker heels, a pencil skirt and a push-up bra. It was all she could do to walk without tipping over, which, of course, made her “look” busy. Give Foreman a chance to strut HIS stuff; he may surprise you. With the proper tailor, Omar Epps may get a separate paycheck for promoting HIS ass, the way Lisa Edelstein did with hers.
October 11th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Yes, there was a lot in this episode that flouted logic, especially the elevation of Foreman to dean of med (and would they please bring back his goatee? he looks terrible with just the moustache; loses all his interesting edge). Yet I found this a more enjoyable episode than most of last year’s. The young doctor was a welcome change of pace, though I don’t want to see that much more of her, the medical case was unusual, and it was good to see things mixed up character-wise. I’m glad they didn’t just have the old team waiting. The show needed a shift and it will be fun to see who comes back under what circumstances.
Sure didn’t miss Cuddy’s presence. The character had been dumbed down terribly in the past year or two. There also was a return to more humor, though I’m hoping the writers will be raising the wit quota for this last year, back to where it was the first few years.
I’d still like to see a return to the real differential-diagnosis process.
One thing I found interesting: The lighting during most of this episode was very different from the past years of House. It was bright and flat. Then when House returns to his old office, the lighting changes to the darker, deeper and more cinematic tones that were typical for the show. Was that a purposeful symbol?
October 11th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
@Bill S, obviously amongst their other numerous shortcomings, the writers don’t even bother to do the minimal medical research any more which just emphasizes again how bad the writers are! I am stunned that they can manage to have House make up with Wilson in one episode, but he isn’t even curious (HOUSE ? Not CURIOUS!?)!!! about where Cuddy is working or anything other than when she left the hospital. The only surprises this season will have are how terrible a once great show can get, and how little anyone involved cares since their contracts end this year, and like Hugh Laurie they just want to be done with it.
BAD, BAD, BAD writing has crept in and infested the show like a disease, starting with hallucinations and ghosts and going so far as to broadway showtune spin-offs, sitcom spin-offs, even zombie movies and what the heck – they threw in any and everything irrelleveant and irreverant and wrote it off as a dream or hallucination – the SIGNATURE of TERRIBLE writing!!, and they hope they will get long time House fans like me who have put hours, and years and money into buying discs, and even promoting the show to keep carrying the torch in hopes that Lisa will show up as a surprise like #13 (Olivia Wilde) is doing next week – let people that are hoping know that there is not a chance of Cuddy showing up at all in the final season, and I guarantee you over half of the current audience will stop watching because that is ALL they are waiting for – it is just something that they haven’t read isn’t going to happen because most people don’t read about TV shows they watch – believe me, many a viewer is just hanging on to see what happens with Cuddy (and many others waiting for Chase, #13 or even the “new girl – the red head that didn’t really fit in, not the NEW NEW girl that doesn’t fit in and that speaks like she has a mouthful of cotton, so you need to have the subtititles on to read what she is saying) I really feel sorry for the fans who don’t know. I think it is the responsibility of those of us that do to get the word out to them, so they don’t waste any more time or hope on this now poor excuse for a TV show.
Everyone responsible for season eight and what happened to the phenomenal actors is counting on the lack of publicity about what happened to so many key characters – including Cuddy, and most of House’s team, and they count on that alone for their ratings because it is unbelievably getting worse by the episode!!! I feel so sorry for everyone including Hugh, but especially Lisa Edelstein (and her fans) who got stabbed the worst IMO by this immature group of undeserving hacks – these lame writers – (and producers) – some producer must be giving his or her kid’s creative writing class a go at the last season of House.
@Mary, I agree with EVERYTHING you wrote, but obviously the current people responsibe for the show care very little for the story line, the medicine, or anything else being accurate since it is OVER after this season,and I for one will be glad it is, because with the writers they have on staff now keep blowing my theory that the show can’t get any worse with each episode. I feel sorry for Hugh having to deliver these lines and deal with a character that has been systematically destroyed by horrible writing ever since they could not handle writing about the House/Cuddy relationship. Anyone who believed episode two of this season was in any way “realistic” or “interesting” or “entertaining” – or “good TV” well, that’s as good as this final season of House is ever going to be, so enjoy. I have decided to stick with my memories of when the show was better and not continue to watch these writers hack it up – people think that “Cuddy fans are so bitter” – you bet we are! So should anyone who has invested any time or money in what has become a pathetic show. They will probably end season eight with House realizing that Wilson is his one true love, and the two in bed sharing a cigarette – I don’t put it past them, and I just can’t bear to watch it any more. The TV show “House” is a perfect study of a televsion show that went wrong because of the producers and writers and whatever their relatrionship is. I suspect nepotism and things that go beyond that … it is disgusting that no one even tried to save what was once a good show, but it was obviously a choice between keeping people who do a bad job and doing whatever it took to keep the right actors and restoring the show. Someone is responsible for making ALL of the WRONG choices for the show – a sad thing to happen in it’s final season. Pathetic really. Whoever is responsible should NEVER work in television again!!! I am done – now I am going to write the advertisers and suggest they invest their money better. I am sure they paid for something worth more than this show is now. It is the only constructive thing I can think of to do with my great disappointment in a show I once loved.
October 11th, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Just a few of comments:
1. People who complain that this or that portion of an episode is “unrealistic” have not watched House carefully over the years. Nothing on this show is realistic, and it just keeps getting worse; especially the interactions between the characters, which have, IMO, really deteriorated in the last 2-3 years. Wilson, who used to be a favorite of mine, has become an even more complete wuss and his easy forgiveness of House was disgusting. Just because the man solves a case does not make him a worthy human being. Wilson must be one lonely guy. The writers did a bad job with this.
2. I like the Yi character. She a combination of fraidy cat and kick-ass. But did anyone else have a hard time understanding what she was saying in some scenes? I found the combination of her soft voice and the loud background music to be really off-putting. She’s interesting, I want to know what she’s saying. And BTW, I’m old, but my hearing is fine!
3. Re Cuddy’s ass: TPTB decide what the look of a character should be. On House, Cuddy at work was supposed to have a certain look, therefore, the high heels and tight dresses. If you recall, Cuddy at home wore very casual clothes. If you watch “the Good Wife”, a much better show than House has become, with flesh and blood realistic characters, who all have their good and not so good points, the lawyer played by LE wears mostly pants suits that are not particularly revealing. A different group is in charge. Those who mock Cuddy’s ass probably wish they HAD her ass.
4. I’m not looking forward to prison doc’s appearance next week. I don’t think she’s much of an actress and don’t see what she’ll add to the mix. I guess TPTB (or the network) just needed some cheaper replacements for the missing characters whose roles have been cut back.
October 11th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
From what I’ve read (I could easily be wrong), lead poisoning is a very slow process because the lead is stored in bone, blood and various organs like the brain, reproductive organs and kidneys, and it can also affect heme synthesis. I’m assuming, along with the transfused blood, there are also some remnants of the dead patient’s own original blood in it. Even if that was was the case and there was lead in the blood, I can’t imagine lead poisoning to such an extent that airways in the lung would be obstructed. IF this is all true, why exactly did they come up with the lead poisoning diagnosis? Hopefully Drs. Scott or CalendarDog can clarify it for me. I’m only an M1 :(
October 11th, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Lots of insightful comments that mirror my own opinions, but one I didn’t see: Is Hugh Laurie weary of the role and anxious to pursue his newly launched musical career? There was a bit of lethargy, I thought, in his performance. I still love the show, and am a great admirer of Laurie, both as actor and musician, but can’t help wondering if he’s feeling a bit of “buyer’s remorse” at signing for Season 8. Just asking!
October 11th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
Someone else thinks Park looks like Velma from Scooby Doo? Apart from that – I hope she’s a one-time-shot, because she’s annoying, I really liked Triple M better. I wonder if they’ll bring the Team back, or maybe rest of the season will look like S4E1 episode…
October 11th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
Don’t complain about lungs in a box. It could be way worse than that, ask Justin Timberlake.
October 11th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
@RAK: I DO have Lisa Edelstein’s ass. Thanks for asking.
6″ pumps are known in the industry as “hooker heels.” The cut of the skirts she often wore is universally known as a “pencil skirt.” And anyone who still has the use of their eyes will agree that a “push-up” bra was employed on more than one occasion, usually in conjunction with the aforementioned pencil skirt and hooker heels. And as for her more understated wardrobe on TGW, she did, in fact, look “less busy,” did she not?
So, who on this site mocked Cuddy’s ass? And when did you become so contentious? That’s not you; at least I don’t remember you as such.
Finally, the lovely-yet-undignified Ms. Edelstein DID remark in one or two interviews that she thought her “tits and ass deserve a paycheck.” Perhaps that was a deal-breaker in her recent, albeit unsuccessful, contract re-negotiation with FOX. In any event, don’t kill the messenger.
No need to respond. As soon as D-r. Bulgaria checks in and reads our posts, hyperbolic devotee of his Divine Lisa E and total Cuddy-slut that he is, he will come down on me like the wrath of the god in whom he does not believe, and I will be suitably cyber-spanked.
October 11th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
At episode end House’s office’s door had “Gregory House M.D.” on it, so I assume he still has a full licence.
October 11th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Official Comment
“MD” is his degree, which is entirely separate from a medical license. All it means is that he graduated from a medical school. Licensure is determined (given and rescinded, if need be) by the state Medical Board.
October 11th, 2011 at 8:17 pm
I unfortunately *tried* to DVR House. DAMN BASEBALL.
Thank god for Amazon.com. I got my money’s worth :)
LOVED this episode–so far I think this season is back on track. Park is so freakin cute, and I *knew* Foreman would be DoM! (I have a serious thing for Foreman. Read my fanfics lol). And *happy sigh* Wilson & House scenes!
The way they “changed” PPTH was very well done…made me really feel like it has been well over a year since House was there.
I miss Taub and 13. Chase, eh. And Cuddy who? (nice way to bail on the show that MADE YOU).
Can I say DARNIT because I put down eosinophilic esophagitis? I got the first word right LOL.
House needs a haircut though. Just a bit. Did he color his hair or something? It looks different this year (aside from length).
Oh and fyi–you can get better medical treatment IN prison. Case in point–man in chronic pain was jailed for having “too many meds”. Even his doctors testified he needed them. He’s now getting the same amount in jail : / So House getting vicodin in prison not really all that surprising.
October 11th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
What about the leap from nasal cannula to a slurry treatment for Wilson’s patient? Wouldn’t you try a face mask, CPAP, and intubation first?
October 11th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
> … crazy asian girl Knives Chou from Scott Pilgrim…
What the hell? Charlyne Yi and Ellen Wong look absolutely nothing alike.
October 11th, 2011 at 10:09 pm
Last season left some cliffhangers and no one has commented (which certainly says something about the show’s decline). For example, no one has mentioned that Taub found out that both his girlfriend and wife were pregnant. In some parallel universe, he is working on a spin-off sit-com with his two babies and baby mamas.
There was some other unresolved plot detail, but I don’t even remember what it was.
October 11th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
Thanks, Scott. Maybe he got recertified in the beach paradise he fled to? ;^)
October 11th, 2011 at 10:32 pm
Elle, they cut back on the number of episodes many of the regulars will appear on so that they could cut salaries. We will see them all sooner or later. I believe I saw a photo of Taub with 2 babies.
EpicB: congrats on having Cuddy’s ass! I have no problem with the way you described her clothes, just the “promoting her ass” line. If you have to wear those clothes, how can you NOT promote your ass? And no, I didn’t think she looked LESS busy in TGW, rather the opposite.
And to all those who seem to blame LE for not renewing her contract, that was her choice wasn’t it? No one knows the whole story of why it happened other than those involved, so it’s all speculation. Frankly, looking at the end of last season, it’s hard to envision what her role could possibly be this year that wouldn’t be a total bore, so why not try something else? I bet there are others in the cast who feel the same way. Olivia Wilde’s last episode is next week.
October 11th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
Funny how people say and prove that “it” is not real when in reality it is all fiction in the first place.
October 11th, 2011 at 10:59 pm
Why were the lungs contracting and expanding without a diaphragm? That was the biggest thing that twinged my suspension of disbelief.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Elle: I think your ennui is showing.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
Ironically, we’re dealing with eosinophilia right now–our son has food allergies/asthma/skin issues…
Anyway, Scott, in re-reading your analysis, you made the comment about not reacting before since he’d probably been around moke before.
Would eosinophilic pneumonitis act similarly to food allergies? In some cases, first exposure may cause nothing. Further exposures maybe some discomfort, and then BAM–that last exposure is the one that kicks the body into anaphylaxis?
In my son’s case, his reaction to nuts was immediate upon first exposure–signs of anaphylaxis. But for me, it took several exposures to antibiotics for me to develop allergies (and god I’m allergic to so. many. drugs).
Anyway just wondering if EP would work in similar ways. Thanks!
October 12th, 2011 at 12:07 am
“Lots of insightful comments that mirror my own opinions, but one I didn’t see: Is Hugh Laurie weary of the role and anxious to pursue his newly launched musical career? There was a bit of lethargy, I thought, in his performance. I still love the show, and am a great admirer of Laurie, both as actor and musician, but can’t help wondering if he’s feeling a bit of “buyer’s remorse” at signing for Season 8. Just asking!”
- Elaine
I think the slightly less engaged demeanor is intentional, mirrored in House’s longer “I have given up just a bit more” haircut. At least I hope so. Getting dumped and doing the vehicular assault thing and serving prison time will do that to you.
October 12th, 2011 at 2:12 am
Mousse: Just because something is fiction does not mean it can’t be realistic. House is more like fantasy than fiction. That’s OK if you accept it on those terms and don’t expect the stories to reflect reality. The whole premise of the show is unrealistic. No hospital would have a doctor like House or a Diagnostics dept. that works on so few cases and with so many doctors, all of whom seem to have multiple skill sets. It makes for interesting drama at times, but realism??
October 12th, 2011 at 2:19 am
So, Thirteen’s last ep is due next week… Will she keep in touch with House, just in case she needs him to kill her? Remember, he promised he would…
October 12th, 2011 at 3:06 am
Was it me, or did it appear as if those lungs were more suited to Sasquatch as opposed to a normal-sized human female?
Not to appear crude, but those were some big-ass lungs.
October 12th, 2011 at 4:17 am
@jid “Why were the lungs contracting and expanding without a diaphragm?”
Because of the pump used to infuse air into them. Just like the amazing REAL lungs outside de body, check it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXqMsraSb84
October 12th, 2011 at 8:56 am
@ Dr. R: Maybe something along the lines of: “everything from seasons 3 to 7 was a bad dream…” House has been in a coma all along, after being shot by Elias Koteas at the end of season 2!
October 12th, 2011 at 10:20 am
@Epic B, RAK & AKA Cuddy lover/haters:
I feel a bit flattered that I am famous now! People are actually waiting for my posts trembling in fear! WOW! OK seriously guys when did I give the impression that I am as you described me “Cuddy-slut” or “hyperbolic devotee”? Let’s get one thing clear:
I do like Lisa Edelstein. I like her in the sense of “I would definitely do her if given the occasion even if she is 15 years older than me”. I do not care, her ass is amazing and push up bras or not her balcony is “beautee naturelle”. If you were living like me in a country where to be a celebrity all you need is 15 000-20 000 EU for a classy boob job, you would understand my feelings. Also since I do not know a thing about the person LE, I am a bit smitten with the character she is playing (D-r Lisa Cuddy) and most of my wet dreams are about her – not about the actress. But anybody who has eyes and brain and at least some taste for good TV would also acknowledge that LE is a very good actress, and I would enjoy watching her in another show hooker heels or no heels at all. That is all about my “love” for LE. Considering the slow but steady dilution of her character I am practically relieved that she is not there anymore. It was painful to watch near the end.
The medicine in this episode was practically a blur for me. There were two reasons for that: I watched it without translation and I doubt that even a board certified expert in transplant surgery would have trouble explaining or understanding it. And I am a mere dentist. May be I will re-access after re-watching the episode with translation but I will not comment the medical stuff in this post at all.
The setting in the hospital was unrealistic to me. Foreman a Dean of Medicine? The guy has proven time and again that he does not have the balls the brains or the touch to be in charge of anything: clinical study, department, even his peers yet he is placed in charge of the entire hospital? Why? He was gradually turned into House’s doormat during the course of the series (successfully replacing Chase in that employ I might add) and now he is suddenly in charge? Well it will be funny to watch but pretty unbelievable.
Cuddy left with no explanation and House is not curious? That part was actually completely believable. Two people looking to start fresh – what else is there to explain? Wilsons reactions were funny and the way House manipulated him (again) was even funnier. C’mon guys they are BFF they have to forgive and forget. Come on Wilson! His presence was of fresh wiff of the old days and almost made up for the lack of Chase, Taub and Cuddy.
If I remember correctly in an interview one of the producers of the show (Brian Singer? not sure) said that when they were making the end of season 7 and planning season 8 they did not know LE would leave. Her absence meant that everything needs to be reshuffled and rewritten which explains a lot of the shortcomings in the chars so far. We will have to wait and see. Patience….that is the way of the Force young ones! Patience…. TTFN!
October 12th, 2011 at 10:25 am
@MedMavRx:
I was wondering about the appearance of the lungs, too. I haven’t seen human lungs (yet!), but they seemed unusually large to me.
October 12th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Wilson ’s punch was fake!
October 12th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
I thought I’d seen the worst, but this week came an ad on the telly, Hugh Laurie peddling cosmetics for men.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, it was DUBBED in GERMAN!!!1
ARGH! The HORROR!
October 12th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
@Cancun: Oh, Sweetie. I’m so sorry you had to sit through that. A couple of stiff shots of Stoli outta clear your head.
October 12th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Dull! Dull! Dull! There’s nothing at stake for House if he’s back in the same old, same old. Get him back in jail right now where he’s the wus and there are some serious badasses after him. House using his brain for survival, especially when the ‘bad guy’ is equally smart, is WAY more fun than ‘what geek can we team him up with this week’.
Loved ‘Twenty Vicodin’. Couldn’t even muster enough energy for any emotion except frustration for ‘Transplant’. Sorry to derail onto the ’story’ track. Back to the medical stuff….
October 12th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
@MedMavRx – yes, amongst the other problems with the lungs, they seemed more like they once belonged to something more the size of King Kong than a biker, IMO. Also a little radiation and they were pink and fresh as a newborn’s, ready to be placed into the chest cavity of a woman that there is no way they would fit, much less work in after everything they had been through (with the exception of the diagnosis)! Smoke – bah! The best part of the entire show was when House started to light a cigar in the hospital, showing what a bogus show he had just put on, IMO!
October 12th, 2011 at 5:30 pm
Is it me or is House throwing and catching the ball a tribute to Steve McQueen from “Great Escape”?
October 12th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
I’ve found a junction – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Motors_Inc._Clothing
And both Laurie and McQueen were riding on Triumph motrocycles.
October 12th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
I thoroughly enjoyed the episode; I thought it was better than anything last season. Particular failings of the medicine aside, I think this episode was much more medically-oriented than they have been the past while. Some of the old gimmicks (and I use that word lovingly) were back, like the white board and the “inside the body” CGI. And I felt the case was pretty interesting.
I really don’t appreciate the ever-rotating staff situation, but I don’t mind the new young doctor, and I think she could be fun–and not sanctimonious like MMM. I do agree that she was a bit hard to understand.
I concur that Wilson forgave a bit too quickly and easily, but in terms of getting the show back on track, it was probably necessary. I believe I read/heard David Shore say something about going “back to basics” and I felt like that’s where we were headed in this episode–medically and otherwise.
October 12th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
And don’t forget House’s pet rat, Steve McQueen, either, TRad. And I thought of the cooler scenes from The Great Escape too. It’s fun looking for little things like that in the show.
October 13th, 2011 at 4:38 am
@jakesask: I am fully with you, I loved House using the glass panel instead of his whiteboard and gathering possibilities to come to a conclusion. And, as usual, he had to play with the ball to keep him focused, it felt a lot like former episodes of pre S05-seasons :)
Foreman Dean of Medicine? Well, predictable but I don’t know… I guess it could give the writers a lot of interesting possibilites to create a kind of ultimate rivalry between him and House, much more drastic than it has been with Cuddy – I hope they are able to raise the roof!
All in all, I enjoyed ‘Transplant’ and I kinda like Parks… she sometimes seems like a little child which has been thrown in a setting new and exciting for her; and she admires House, that’s for sure. I’m excited how it turns out next week, when prison-physician, parks and 13 come together…
“You know, the downvibe in here’s totally ruining my Charlie’s Angels fantasy – and her haircut isn’t helping either” :D
October 13th, 2011 at 5:40 am
Am I the only one who expected Wilson to be the dean of medicine???
He was in the hospital for a long, long time, he’s a respected doctor, he was Cuddy’s close friend, he’s a peer to Cuddy, House and other older doctors etc.
Also, he has a soft spot for House, so him in Cuddy’s place would create an almost similar dynamic.
As well as House listening to his opinions sometimes and caring about their friendship (well, in his own twisted way).
But Foreman – not only being a very weird choice given his “doctor-history”, but never getting any respect from House or other team-members. How is he supposed to handle House and the whole hospital?
A big, big, disappointment.
When House was coming out of the cell to meet the dean – I was so sure it woud be Wilson, that I spilt my wine when I saw Foreman!
October 13th, 2011 at 10:36 am
Am I the only one having a problem hearing what the new girl (Yi) is saying?
Good ep. Gotta love Wilson.
October 13th, 2011 at 11:08 am
Can you see someone who cares as much about his patients as Wilson does giving that up to be an administrator? It would be life in hell for him. Foreman’s the one who would be enough of a suckup to get the job and the one who would want the power and prestige enough to go for it. I knew it was going to be Foreman.
October 13th, 2011 at 11:21 am
Plus the writers get to shove even more “Foreman is House’s boss now” down our throats like they so love to do (this is something like the fourth time it’s happened, it’s getting old)
October 14th, 2011 at 6:52 am
Yi spoke with a discernible east Asian accent. It tends to “slur through” or simply omit some syllables of long English words, since east Asian languages(esp. Chinese) generally have far less syllables per word. The accent goes more than discernible when it comes to the formidable medical terms which she may or may not fully understand.
I guess that’s why some people had hard time catching her.
October 14th, 2011 at 7:41 am
@Hugh L.
haha, you are right! annoying!
October 14th, 2011 at 7:56 am
Foreman mentioned, a few seasons back, that he enjoyed the administrative side of the health care business. Near the end of his term as House’s temporary boss, he tried to cut a deal that would allow him (Foreman) to remain as the titular department head, leaving House in charge of the medicine.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
I enjoyed the episode, but it seemed very “unsettled”. I don’t know if it was intentionally written that way or not, but House seemed like he was on speed. His entire “act” seemed forced this week. He (Laurie) is always intense, but never seems to be forced. Anyone else notice this? Was it the character or the actor that was struggling this week? My feeling is that it was Laurie. What is interesting is that there was none of this feeling to the story last week in the premiere. I can accept the need to speed things up and thus have House and Wilson mend the fences this week. What was VERY hard for me to swallow was Foreman as Dean of Medicine. What are his qualifications?!!? Here’s this junior physician who has been fired, got caught messing with a drug trial and ended up crawling back begging for a job and they hire him as head of the entire hospital?? Yeah, sure.
October 15th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
@Williston: I agree about Foreman. It feels wrong that someone who was entirely unhireable at any other hospital would end up top dog at this one. I think it actually takes away from Cuddy’s accomplishment of being young and female and still managing to reach this high position. I guess she didn’t have to be that great after all! I haven’t ever liked Foreman’s character, though, so maybe I’m biased.
I didn’t notice anything off about Laurie’s acting in this episode, but I know different viewers can really have different perceptions of acting quality. I’ve watched pretty much every minute of HL’s film and television career, and some moments are definitely better than others, so I generally don’t worry too much about the inconsistencies in House!
October 15th, 2011 at 10:34 pm
>>Not a medical question per se, but how did House, a convicted felon, manage to retain his medical license?
Well, they’ve shown the place like a prison, but people never go to prison for 5 days (and even for 8 months). They go to county jail. So, I guess, his crime was not a felony, but misdemeanor. It’s like a DUI or drug possession things.
I’m not sure about the laws in NJ, but certainly misdemeanor way lesser crime, than felony.
October 16th, 2011 at 6:30 am
Attempted Murder = felony. People go to Jail to wait for court after court depending on how long your sentence is you’ll wait in jail till they send you to prison the longer you stay in jail the less time you spend in prison a two year sentence with nine months in jail will be one year and three months in prison minus any gain time the prisoner gets witch changes from state to state some states can have as much as half the sentence while others like Florida have a mandatory term of 85% while we’re on the subject you can do more time for Attempted Murder than murder.
October 16th, 2011 at 9:23 am
It’s not attempted murder. And, by any means, people go to prison for more than one year. If the sentence is less, than 1 year, they go to jail. It absolutely impossible to go to prison for 5 days.
October 16th, 2011 at 4:07 pm
Nitrates do cause anuria.
They lower blood pressure and without enough pressure there is n glomerular filtration and thus no urine output.
There would be nothing wrong with kidneys per se, but they need sufficient blood pressure to funcion.
October 16th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
Wilson (or at least Robert Sean Leonard) is left-handed, but he landed his punch to House’s face with his right hand. Seemed odd – but I guess a left-handed punch wouldn’t work as well with the camera angle?
October 17th, 2011 at 2:07 am
As a fan of CHinese boxing I do have to mention it too:) Awful, awful fake punch by Wilson. Elbow bent, knuckles sticking, delivered in the nose but House is holding his jaw. Talk about punching like a woman. And yeah doing with your off hand that is realistic :)
October 17th, 2011 at 2:18 am
Following a link shown in the video Brian referred to led me to this:
http://www.tgwhf-uhn.ca/newsmedia/news/2011/2011-04-14_xvivo.html
“Unlike current cooling preservation fluids which inhibit repair processes of the donor lungs, the Toronto XVIVO Lung Perfusion System preserves lungs at normal body temperature, with the lungs kept outside the body in a protective dome. The system continuously pumps a bloodless solution of oxygen, proteins and nutrients into injured donor lungs, mimicking normal physiological conditions. The lungs are treated with anti-inflammatory medications and antibiotics. This makes it possible for the injured cells to begin repairing themselves, and sets the stage for more sophisticated repair techniques to be applied to donor lungs.”
That means, remarkably, that the whole premise of the episode is much more plausible than I had thought it would be. Also, it uses “a bloodless solution”, which is why it looks so much cleaner than Scott (or I) thought likely. The main difference seems to be the shape of the box (round versus rectangular)!
October 17th, 2011 at 11:22 am
[...] As usual, a big hat tip: Scott over at Polite Dissent. [...]
October 17th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Interesting article on wired.com about House’s fact-checker:
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/10/tv-fact-checker-house/
October 17th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
I’ve actually met Sotos, he’s a wonderful person to have a conversation with, especially if you occasionally get annoyed with the medicine on House. Apparently, about 90% of things Scott and the rest of us complain about are either items he missed, items added in later, for dramatic effect, or simply to speed up the episode. His personal favorite episode (at least when I spoke to his two years ago) was Humpty Dumpty.
October 20th, 2011 at 12:52 am
Perhaps they made Foreman Dean of Medicine so that House can start a relationship with him. By mid-season we may be talking about Horeman!
October 24th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
So, where is next Cuddy for House, or is he now confirmed bachelor?
December 7th, 2011 at 4:37 am
Sorry, late to the party. Yep, recorded the ball game, and only recently caught this ep from a friend who had recorded it.
Wilson’s punch: Sorry, but I write and eat left-handed, but bat, throw, and would punch right-handed. The pressures of growing up in a RH world cause many lefties, like Ronald Reagan and Yours Truly, to have a large degree of ambidexterity.
@AE86:
“Wilson’s punch was fake!”
Please don’t shoot the messenger, but *all* punches on TV are fake. … also, there is no Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, or Tooth Fairy…. sorry. (The actor isn’t a trained stunt man. Perhaps they should have hired a stunt double. But would Wilson’s character be skilled in street-fighting, anyway? A nice Jewish doctor with degrees from McGill, Columbia, and UPenn?)
Park’s speech: Sorry, no free pass. With apologies to those who are already sated with this writer’s resumé, I speak as a former actor of both stage and screen. On stage, one was expected to speak, *without microphones*, such that those in the back row could understand without problem. Even when “whispering” — hence the term, “stage whisper”. The keys are enunciation and projection. Plenty of Asian actors can do it, from Bruce Lee on. (Charlie Chan?) Park should take voice coaching, or find another career. Reading her words from the closed-captioning is getting old.
Convicted felon: The show later made clear that he is. I commented on the ridiculousness of his being sent to a hard-core prison at that episode. Ibid. — Anyway, you can petition the Governor to restore your civil rights. (which rights probably varies by State, as does the process). But here, Foreman got a Judge to issue an emergency order for the release, presumably also ordering the (temporary) reinstatement of his Med License, pending further review – if, in fact, it *was* suspended. We know it was when he was in the Psych Hospital, but they never said it was here, IIRC.
@ Jeff R:
“Are parole restrictions typically that, well, restrictive? Those conditions look a lot more like house arrest+a work release program; isn’t parole generally a step up, freedom-wise, from that?”
House lost his shot at “parole”, and in fact was given an extra eight months. F-man got a Judge to order an emergency release, into Foreman’s direct supervision, due to a medical problem that only House could solve (hey, it’s their show). Certainly he is in effect under home-and-hospital arrest. I personally know of one man who did a partial sentence for (something), and was paroled to ankle-bracelet, work-and-home restrictions. After some number of months of compliance, he was put in the looser category of “probation” – no GPS, just report to parole officer once a week or whatever, but still some restrictions: Work, or seek employment diligently; no alcohol or illicit drugs, no consorting with other felons, etc.
Parole and probation are two different things. Parole is essentially “finishing your sentence at home”, with the degree of restriction determined CBC (case by case). Probation is a conditional completion (or avoidance) of your jail time; if you complete it satisfactorily — can include community service, restitution to victim, etc. — your “debt to society” is paid, though the record stays with you. (A Judge may “withhold adjudication” pending satisfactory probation, in some States.)
@ Epic B:
“I DO have Lisa Edelstein’s ass. Thanks for asking.”
Give it back to her at once, you creep!
… or transplant some to Thirteen and Cameron, both of whom look like Sandusky material in that regard. :-D
@ MedMavRx:
“Not to appear crude, but those were some big-ass lungs.”
Are we still talking about Cuddy here? xD
January 2nd, 2012 at 9:00 pm
@MedMavRx
Lungs are big! Especially when fully inflated. Of course, they didn’t look much like real lungs and during the transplant scene near the end seemed to be oddly firm and solid. (That is the case with formalin-preserved cadaver lungs, but living ones are another matter.)
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