Another thing I would really like the show to do is to stop teasing that these fellows will leave and Chase and Cameron will come back because I don't believe it will happen and I'm tired of having my chain jerked. The show has never "teased" about the new fellows leaving. What the producers have said is that they'd integrate the old team more closely back in with the new team -- which they and the actors have all said was disrupted by the strike, but is supposedly still the plan.

They still haven't figured out how to write the new team even after almost a year. Cognitively I know that Taub's story was written well but I wasn't drawn into it enough to care. I think the new team was really gelling in this episode. I thought Olivia Wilde found a good tone with 13 and the character reacted off both House and the POTW well. Great right hook. And I was drawn into Taub's storyline. It was well written, well acted and interesting. PJ has chops and I think this ep showed them off well. He's got a subtle strength and is always "on" dramatically, whether the focus is on him or not. And Kutner is always interesting--Kal Penn, like Jesse Spencer, knows how to create a character whether he's got lines or not. I hope the writers have found new arcs for Chase and Cameron and I have great hope they have. But the new team is on track. And yes, I agree that 13 was too much featured in the premiere and that doesn't need to happen again. No arguments. but now the PI is telling House "If you break up Taub's marriage, do you think he'll work for you harder or he'll won't work for you at all?" suggesting that Taub may leave too. The point the PI was making was not that Taub is set on leaving House, but that House's interference in his life could lead to him leaving to preserve his marriage, and House decided he didn't want that and took steps to try and undo his damage. TPTB are not hinting that they're going to get rid of Taub; they're developing his storyline.

I think there's other ways of interpreting most of those. In YDWTK, Thirteen said that she would quit her job if her illness got in the way of her work; in DCE, her problems dealing with her illness got in the way but she's still there. 13 said she would quit if she developed Huntington's symptoms, as she thought she was. But she wasn't. She still has not faced that, so that scenario is not in play. Being affected emotionally by whether she does or doesn't have it is another matter--she is human. Just as Cameron had her issues with grief affect her from time to time, 13's going to have to face her own fears--that's her storyline. In DEC both Thirteen and Taub said they were unhappy with their lives (i.e. working for House).Neither 13 nor Taub said they were unhappy working for House. Taub said he was happy working as a plastic surgeon and the superficiality associated with the job didn't stop him from liking what he did. We already knew Taub didn't leave plastic surgery because he disliked it, so that doesn't change what we know about him. It also doesn't change that he chose House as the direction he wanted to go in when he was dealt the hand he was dealt. He fought hard to get where he is and there's no reason to think he's not interested in learning from House. 13's conversation with Kutner was specifically about whether a job determined whether one was happy or not happy. When Kutner tries to talk about his job, 13 points out that he was happy, even in a crappy job. The job did not dictate his happiness, his internal state did. When she's says she's not particularly happy, she's also not talking about a specific job. She's talking about her internal state, which would not change no matter what job she did. That conversation was about her reaction to possibly having HC, not her desire to leave diagnostics. The Living the Dream thing, on the other hand, was House talking about firing 13. But it's Cameron who says that he only hired 13 to replace her and House who mockingly replies, "Yeah, because all pretty girls are fungible." I don't think he really thinks that all pretty girls are replaceable with each other, so I don't think he was admitting to anything here. But he wanted to know what was up with Cameron. Maybe he would have fired 13, and maybe he would have instead teased Cameron about wanting to come back, if she'd taken him up on his offer. I think the latter is more likely because Cameron is clearly ready not to be a fellow any more. I think House was on a fishing expedition. I didn't get that impression but it could be because I saw no reason why House would want to keep Taub around. He hasn't distinguished himself particularly since The Right Stuff and I saw no emotional attachment House may have for him. With House changing tactics after his conversation with the PI and trying his best to keep Taub from talking to his wife, including several conversations where he and Taub talk about why House won't let him go home, apologising to Taub and telling him nothing he said was relevant and there was no reason for him to feel guilty, House showed he didn't want Taub to leave, so he thinks Taub is a valuable member of his team. I don't think he has a personal attachment to Taub, but he has the same desire to keep his team intact he's always had, until they show they need to go. He wasn't all warm and fuzzy about Foreman in season one, but he didn't want him to quit.

In YDWTK, Thirteen said that she would quit her job if her illness got in the way of her work; in DCE, her problems dealing with her illness got in the way but she's still there. In Games, House fired Thirteen only to hire her back less than 2 minutes later. In DEC both Thirteen and Taub said they were unhappy with their lives (i.e. working for House). Twice in Living the Dream House told Cameron that he would fire 13 if she would agree to come back to work for him. By that standard, you should be really pissed off that Chase, Cameron and Foreman are still there. After all, they not only "teased" that they'd be leaving, they were actually all fired/quit. Heck, Cameron quit twice, the first time dragging the "crush" story line back with her and Foreman spent weeks carping about how much he disliked House and why he was quitting, but he's still there. If you're going to apply the rule that the plot points in a story equal the powers that be "teasing" you, then it should apply equally -- not just to characters or story arcs that you dislike. Shore knows very well that there is a group of viewers who don't like the changes made last season and want to old characters back. To repeatedly keep giving out suggestions that one or more of the new team leaving, as the PI did with Taub in this episode, and thus giving them hope that there will be an opening for either Chase or Cameron to came back while having no intention of actually doing so is no longer a joke IMO but starting to border on the sadistic. And there are people who never forgave Chase for the Vogler arc, and even last year people were complaining about Cameron daring to be in the same room as House, and you don't have to go far to find people who hate Foreman. This goes back to my central argument that Shore should tell the story that he wants to tell -- not give in to any one group of the audience, regardless of how vocal that audience is. I don't agree with every decision he's made, but I'm happy watching the story he's telling, rather than trying to force him to write the one that's in my head.

I don't think there was a need for a fishing expedition. He had his team and Cameron had her job in the ER and unless he wanted her back for real why even bring up the idea? Besides, what would he have done if she'd said 'yes'? Fired Thirteen? Laughed in Cameron's face? He'd bring up the idea to find out if she'd come back--House likes to know things. He pokes, he pries. This is not new characterisation for him. And yes, he'd have been capable of laughing at Cameron for not moving on. Fortunately, Cameron didn't give him the choice and good for her. I don't believe House thinks that at this point, Cameron should take a step back and become a fellow again. I think he was pointing out to her that she was still overidentified with diagnostics and presumably him and she pointed out to him that she was still has ties to diagnostics but not to him. Nice little scene and not centering on 13--she was incidental to what was really being discussed. Shore knows very well that there is a group of viewers who don't like the changes made last season and want to old characters back. To repeatedly keep giving out suggestions that one or more of the new team leaving, as the PI did with Taub in this episode, and thus giving them hope that there will be an opening for either Chase or Cameron to came back while having no intention of actually doing so is no longer a joke IMO but starting to border on the sadistic. As Namaste said, David Shore was just as cognizant that there are people who greatly dislike Cameron and Foreman, and yet Cameron resigned THREE times in the first three years, and is still on the show and Foreman had a whole arc centered around his leaving and here he is. I don't think he was teasing those who disliked Cameron and I don't think he's teasing those who dislike 13. He's telling his story, and like Namaste, I hope he continues to do so without trying to please any particular group.

What I find really interesting is the lack of discussion about House's admission that he's playing a game with Lucas wrt Cuddy. I still can't believe the House I know and love (ok, love most of the time) is at a place in his life where he's open to anything that looks like a relationship with a woman let alone Cuddy. I'd like to hear what others think of this. As for no Wilson this epsiode I thought it was strange that there was no mention of Wilson or at least a little angsting on House's part. I'm not sure I understand what the writers are trying to tell me about a Wilsonless House. Is he ok? Is he in denial? What?! I can't really comment too much on Thirteen because I don't like her and everything she does just annoys me. I'm still trying to figure out the parallels I'm suppossed to draw between her and House. Probably because I don't like her I don't see any. As for this episode, she didn't grate as much although she has got to stop announcing his presence everytime he comes into a patient's room.

I still can't believe the House I know and love (ok, love most of the time) is at a place in his life where he's open to anything that looks like a relationship with a woman let alone Cuddy. I'd like to hear what others think of this. As for no Wilson this epsiode I thought it was strange that there was no mention of Wilson or at least a little angsting on House's part. I'm not sure I understand what the writers are trying to tell me about a Wilsonless House. Is he ok? Is he in denial? What?! On the Wilson front, I don't see why there is so much more consternation over House not talking about Wilson and going about his life than there is about Wilson not talking about House and going about his life. Wilson set this stage and House has no choice but to play on it right now. Neither man has gotten over the other. We had it extensively shown that House loves Wilson and wants him to be in his life. We saw that Cuddy wants to help the two heal but had it backfire because she couldn't read Wilson. Cameron knows that Wilson will not even broach the subject of House, as does Foreman. What are they going to say? We know Wiilson's going to come back, but in House's world, he just knows he has to go on, and he will. Until something shifts and he can take advantage of it. On the Cuddy front, I think we've seen House take baby steps forward since season one, when he hid out from everyone but Wilson because he didn't want to be seen as handicapped. As Chipmunk pointed out so well, he's slowly taken steps forward from that and on the bus said he didn't want to be miserable. He's just had it very clearly pointed out to him that Wilson is capable and desirous of finding a deep connection with a woman that satisfies him, and if/when he does, House has to take a step back. He didn't before with the 3 marriages, but as of Amber, this is the new reality. So regardless of whether Wilson comes back or not, House has to open up to new relationships or he'll be back in that bar, trying not to call Wilson. He's not going to be good at it, but I think we saw him realise that it's necessary. And he's always had a friendship with Cuddy with overtones of something more. She knows him well, she cares about him, he knows she thinks he's attractive and vice versa. I think House will be careful because he doesn't want to lose her as a friend, but at the same it will be a tempting step because it would be possible to reignite those embers. I'm not expecting the two to settle down together, but I can picture them starting something and then having to decide what to do with it.

Well. Let's take a look so far at House's relationship with women up to this point. First we saw Cameron. To our viewers' eyes, she was the first woman after his infarction who may have opened up the possibility to House that he was not as undesirable and as disgusting as he perhaps thought, that there could be more to his life than puzzles. He outlined for Cameron extensively in "Love Hurts" why they couldn't have a relationship and why he couldn't feel for her the way that she did for him, but his eyes were nevertheless opened a bit. <snip> After that came Honey the nutritionist and Terzi the CIA doc. Both of those encounters reminded us that House was capable of having a crush and other real human feelings. They also showed us that he wasn't unopposed to start dating again. And don't forget South Pole doc. There were definitely some sparks there; the fact that she was thousands of miles away allowed him to acknowledge that to himself. I think he was genuinely touched when he asked, "You gonna try and fix me now?" and she replied, "I never said you needed fixing." (Dons asbestos suit) As a Hameron shipper, I'm kind of prejudiced, but I think House and the new, not-working-for-him, not-crushing-on-him Cameron could be great friends. She has bought his lunch, been his conscience and, once he introduced her to them, enjoyed monster trucks. We saw them moving toward friendship in "Guardian Angels" when she brought him coffee, bought his lunch and made a friendly wager with him. I don't know if that was derailed by the writers strike or by the outcry from some die-hard Wilson fans (and I like Wilson and even enjoy the H/W ship) that she was "trying to replace him." On the date, House never did tell her how he felt about her; he told her what he *thought* her feelings for him were motivated by: that he is damaged and she saw him as a charity case. That doesn't mean he had feelings for her that he was denying, just that he was afraid to go down that road. I think that there is every bit as much potential for a House/Cameron friendship now as there is for him to become closer to Cuddy. IF House can wrap his mind around the idea that men and women can be friends. Remember, he once called Wilson "blasphemer!" for suggesting such a thing. And we're getting off the topic of the episode here; we might want to move this to the House character thread, the HetYay thread or the shipper forum.

I think Cuddy is the natural person for House to try a relationship with at this point. What worries me is how they are going to write it. When the PI said the House "We want the same thing" (i.e. to sleep with Cuddy), it felt like it was coming out of nowhere. House has flirted with Cuddy and made sexual comments about her but never actually indicated he wanted a relationship with her or gone asked her out other than when some other man is dating her. So the PI saying that House wants to sleep with Cuddy was a Huh? moment for me. I hope whatever they do with House and Cuddy is organic to their relationship and not something that comes out of nowhere like a kiss or sex after the hostage incident because that wouldn't do their history justice. Although the Cuddy who called him "Dr. House" and kept their relationship thoroughly professional through the first set of episodes didn't appear to have had any intimate relationship with House ever. He'd bring up the idea to find out if she'd come back--House likes to know things. He'd already asked her to come back once and she said no, just as Chase did. And yet House told Chase "We need you" and he asked Cameron back twice in LtD. House takes 'no' for an answer if he wants it to be no. By that standard, you should be really pissed off that Chase, Cameron and Foreman are still there. After all, they not only "teased" that they'd be leaving, they were actually all fired/quit. Just like Wilson is really off the show now? If anyone really thought that, the TV Guide cover would have set their fears to rest. In the same vein, ever since the summer after Human Error, Katie Jacobs has been saying that the old team will be back, that they're not off the show, and JS and JM said that they have been told by the producers that they will be back in regular roles. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that there is an part of the audience watching for them to come back and wondering how they will fit into the show with the huge cast. Because the cast is huge, nine regulars plus now the PI, especially for a show that's 80% around one person and unlike the writers over at Gray's Anatomy, the House writers aren't doing a good job of writing for them all. With the new cast, House's ratings are down 2/3rds of its audience from two years ago while NCIS is getting 17 million viewers in the same 8 p.m time slot. If only in terms of that, I expect something will change. I doubt that dropping Chase and Cameron from the show altogether will bring the ratings back up to where they were when they were regulars. That's the real suspense of the show for me these days, how Shore is going to get himself out of this hole. Maybe I weren't particularly attached to any of the characters on the show, I would have thought that Taub's story line in this was good. It was well enough written and PJ did a decent job acting it but it didn't grab me. The only story lines that have made me look forward to the next episode this season has been Wilson dealing with Amber's death and the PI, who I am enjoying. If Shore wants me to stop waiting with baited breath for one or more of the new team to leave so Cameron and Chase can have some screen time again, he needs to stop writing scenarios suggesting that Thirteen or Taub will leave or be fired. (Kutner is the only one who is happy in his job and who doesn't seem to resent House almost constantly so I'm not expecting him to go.) Since only time (and David Shore) will resolve this debate, I'm moving out of this discussion now.

I see a parallel here: When House loses Stacey, he doesn't rebound into another real relationship. Instead, he hires hookers. When House loses Wilson, he hires the PI. Maybe he didn't think of him as a surrogate friend when he first hired him; maybe he was just interested in finding out what was going on with Wilson... but what it has turned into is the same IMHO: get your basic needs met, no strings, enjoy it for what it is, it is NOT the real thing and you don't want it to be, you just want something to fill the void.