I don't really know what to make of that. The PI is okay - inexplicably I feel like he'd fit in better on Bones than he does here, but he definitely improved as the show progressed. SPOILER Can't imagine watching him on his own show yet, though. END SPOILER I liked Dr. O'Shea. Can we get him back? Kutner was entertaining but I saw the results of that coming from a mile away. Foreman actually sounded like Foreman again. Loved Felicia Day. The last scene was really lovely, and I thought she and HL made the whole leg conversation feel fresh. (and yay, Penny survived!) Good on Cuddy for the security guards, heh. House should have to work for it. Also, I knew a kid who had to have a colonoscopy where she was at least somewhat conscious around the age of four. Um, she didn't really get over it. I could have done without the exploding poo but the brain gore didn't even register. Thanks, neuroscience! Mod Note: If it hasn't happened on the show yet, it's a spoiler. Please tag.

Loved Kutner's "He paid for your food, liked monster trucks and was your conscience." Not sure Foreman's pink scrubs are a symbol of authority; the nurses and ER grunts (Cameron) wear them. Speaking of which, where was my Cammy? At least she got a couple of mentions, and we know she and Wilson are still connected. I think I need to write one of my infamous post-ep Missing Cam Scene ficlets. And so I did: http://hamonwry.livejournal.com/12706.html#cutid1 The H/W scene tore me up, as did the patient's "you look sad." And I loved the quasi-HoYay in the O'Shea exchange.

On the O'Shea scene ... number one, I'm surprised that House actually knew the guy's name, number two ... I loved the look on his face when House said that "O'Shea will pay for it." Just that combination of exasperation and frustration. You just know that the other docs were sitting around for years grateful that Wilson was there to serve as a buffer for House, and dreading dealing with House and his attitude once Wilson was gone.

Hi, all -- I'm new here, but not new to House, and I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. I thought the mystery was one of the best in quite some time, and I quite liked the POTW -- although I was worried at first that she might have seemed a bit too preternaturally perceptive when it came to House and his pain, it ultimately seemed plausible to me. Since she was once blind and later was disappointed with sight, it makes sense to me that she would have an unusual and unique perspective on the world and those around her. Oh, and I laughed out loud at House's "You seem fun" line to her. :) Moving on from that, I quite enjoyed the PI -- the conceit came off as as a bit over the top and gimmicky at first, but it got better. And I agree with NightOwl that the PI's keen sense of observation is believable, and it may be quite valuable to House right now. For one thing, the guy doesn't pull any punches, and he's surely not suffering from many rainbows-and-roses delusions about humanity, given his profession. Should be interesting. Finally....oh, House. Oh, Wilson! Their exchange was painful, but it worked. I think House calling Wilson on the "not friends = no rules about trust" bit was appropriate -- it was said bluntly, in typical House fashion, but it had some emotional truth and weight behind it that it seems to me Wilson must appreciate and even (if perhaps grudgingly) respect. (Oops, I lied. Finally, for real, and to end on a shallow note: my, House looks smashing in the pink shirt/black jacket combo!)

So... first off, may I say, Go Cuddy! Getting her administrative groove back. So awesome. It was hard for me to understand the POTW's story, if only because I was watching the episode in a lounge where there was also a program on university theft going on. Most of the episode I only understood through closed captioning. The funny part, though, is that at the end of the episode, when House hit the nurse's alarm for the last time, the cop presenting the program also hit a very loud personal alarm, sending all of us watching the show about four feet in the air. I'm falling more and more in love with Kutner every week. His mad skillz are so amazing, yo. :lol: The PI was great. When I first heard about him back before S4 ended (I think), I wasn't too impressed with idea, but they've written him very well. SPOILERI'm not sure how I would feel about an entire series built around him yet, but he's certainly growing on meEND SPOILER. And House and Wilson... painful. I was hoping that Wilson would give him the benefit of the consult, but I guess Wilson really needed to stand his ground. No means no, and all that. But the O'Shea thing? Hilarious. The secret slasher in me giggled for joy. Mod Note: Yep, it's a spoiler. Thanks for tagging.

Foreman has worn pink/lavender before as has Omar. I assume that Omar likes the color and it does look good on him. Re the exploding bowel -- couldn't have landed on a nicer guy. Back in the day (Season 3) a lot of us commented on the fact that Chase was the only one of the original fellows that Wilson didn't have a relationship with. The peanut butter sandwich in Finding Judas was probably their only interaction in 3 years that we saw. That apparently wasn't a coincidence. When the PI was listing all the people Wilson had seen, Chase was the only one not mentioned. Lucas has definite possibilities although a PI who can't lie might get a bit too silly very quickly. (Everybody lies but some don't lie well???) Incidentally, in real life, Lucas's father is Dr. Ayersman, the worst transplant surgeon at PPTH (The Mistake).

After having been thrown up on at work last night (one of my jobs is at a nursing home) - I can relate to Foreman. But ONLY in that sense. I'm really liking Kutner, and he may be my new favorite. And he's really good at making things blow up! Heee! Kind of nice to see 13 take the VERY back seat after last week. And I'm not liking the PI. It works on Psych and Monk, but he's too young, too precocious. Though the logistics would be hard, it would have been interesting for TPTB to bring back Tritter in that place - but that's just me. And maybe that's the place where fanfic should go.

This ep was wonderful. I thought some of the POTW's lines/themes were overly meta, but other than that, there was just so much great about the ep. Hugh Laurie's acting was phenomenal. The scene with Wilson, of course, but also in the ice-cream truck, when the PI started to talk about Wilson - the depth of House's feeling was so deftly portrayed. It broke my heart. Another interesting point about the POTW was that she was willing to lie to the other patient's wife to get a procedure for herself. That's a level of selfishness that we haven't been given in other patients, but one that's got to exist. I'm a terrible liar but I might try something like that if I felt it could save me or my loved one at very little expense to someone else.

Oof! That scene between House and Wilson really was like a punch to the gut. I was really impressed with RSL's acting in the scene (especially when he was pleading, "Please don't do this"). Not like it's unusual for me to be impressed with RSL's acting, though. I had to cringe at that scene, though, because I was thinking that it would do nothing to cool the flames of those viewers who are so angry with Wilson right now. I know it's wishful thinking to hope that a show called "House" would show Wilson's side of the fight a little bit more, but without doing so, it really looks like Wilson is being callous and cold for no reason. If a new viewer had tuned in for this episode, they would probably be pretty confused and disgusted by Wilson's behavior. Why no talk about House's questionable ability to be a friend? I thought Lucas would touch on it when he mentioned that he was on Wilson's side in the fight, but I didn't catch anything significant. I'll have to watch the episode again, though... maybe I missed something. Gotta say, I liked the PI. Is that still an unpopular thing to say? I thought he was dorky and eccentric and -- best of all -- harmless. I can't see him as a threat to House and Wilson's friendship. I got a chuckle out of some of the things Lucas had to say. I actually feel like House handled Wilson's absence better than I would have expected of him. For a guy that hates change, he sure jumped into the effort to make a new friend pretty quickly. House seemed more worried and angsty in last week's episode. I didn't get the same emotional vibe from him in this one, which seems a little backwards. I suppose this was more of a patient-focused episode, and that was why there was relatively little angst. Still, from House, I would've expected more. More anger, more sulking, more sadness, more self-loathing. Isn't this the guy who took five years to get over his ex-girlfriend? Not that "best friend" and "girlfriend" are necessarily the same thing, but it illustrated how House can get attached to the few people he cares about in his life, and has trouble letting them go. Put me in the camp that was pleasantly surprised to see that 13 didn't have a big role in this one. I had kind of resigned myself to seeing a lot of her in this season, but I'm glad to see that that might not necessarily be the case.

Things I liked : An actual surgeon doing the brain surgery and not House, Cuddy acting like she has some power, Wilson's emotionality, and Foreman seeming to have some power as well. Also , the medicine was kind of interesting this time. Things I didn't like: The PI - everyone else loves him, but clearly the writers and actors are trying way too hard to make him quirky! and different! and captivating! I thought that whole storyline was incredibly stupid - reminded me of Will and Grace (my go-to show when I need to think of a zany show with mostly believable characters that turned into an unrealistic cartoon with broad caricatures - except House has less of an excuse as its not a sitcom). And we've had way too many "clever" moments in regards to House's pain that just veered into sappiness - last weeks "did yours ?" was sometihng out of a soap opera, and this week's "it-s so beautiful - you look sad" was just screaming "depth, revelation, exposure" while being very transparent and cliche. I'll sit out the PI act SPOILER but I'm very disappointed with their decision to let him take over a few eps. END SPOILER Mod Note: If it hasn't happened on the show yet, it's a spoiler. Please tag.

So I just watched the whole thing again. Realized there were still no clinic patients. :( However, we did have a few moments of House thinking alone. Yay. They were brief scenes, but at least they were there. I hope those were written into the script rather than Hugh having to exert his new executive producer power. "The show needs the brooding! It's part of House the character! I must do it!" If it was in this script, then there is hope that we'll have more House-brooding-alone in future episodes. Something else I noticed upon re-watch is that House was on exactly the right track from the beginning. He said right away that it was a "brain issue." Yay for House. I ADORE Hugh's acting in the scene at Wilson's door, when he tells him he hired a PI. He looks down and smiles to himself in a very resigned and embarrassed way. He looks similar to when he smiled when he said yes to the deep-brain stimulation in Wilson's Heart. It's funny, because that smile shows he's embarrassed, but then when he finishes saying that hired a PI and he looks up at Wilson, the look on his face changes to confidence, like he's saying "See how clever I am?" and masking how sad it is that he hired a PI. I also love when House says, "How are you?" So sincere. What a fantastic scene, all-around.

Dammit, I just gt a phone call in the middle of the show. But did House just say "old people are afraid of black people?" If so....LOL.