"Off topic...is it just me, or is House upping his meds again? Last season we didn't see him taking much (it was implied here and there, but not blatently obvious) and this season, it just seems more prevalent." I noticed his taking pills this last episode - the camera seemed to hover some on both House's hands and the faces of Taub and 13 in particular (or so my memory has it) - I wondered if anything were going to come of it, but - not this episode anyway. I echo the comment by another poster, of about a week ago, noting that it would be interesting to see something about the effects of long term use of vicodan on House. I know I've been worried about him ever since his bladder seized up, or whatever it was, back in season two, was it?

I have much love for the episode. I liked it better than the last two. It was so balanced. Equally enough character development and enough medical mystery. Loved Taub's b-story. I was actually interested in how it played out (while I have to admit in comparison I haven't always cared about what happened with Foreman, for instance). But before I forget... I noticed something that I need an opinion on. In the premiere we saw House drinking from a cup at home (coffee?, tee?) instead of scotch or Burbon. Last week we heard him tell the nurse he wants peppermint tea. (The latter could be interpreted as a joke, just to annoy the nurse, but in the Q&A for the episode on the official website David Shore or Kaplow suggested "Since peppermint tea has no caffeine, we can also assume that perhaps House was cutting back.". In this episode House is coming home and gets himself a beer, which turns out to be a "Bod Light" (no typo, it's the same brand the bartender in "House's Head"/"Wilson's Heart" was handling). Can we assume that House is really watching his alcohol and caffeine intake? Wow! And if yes, is it not just a coincidence but a subtle planned development?

Well, one good thing about this episode I was able to multi-task, i.e. read Huffington Post, participate in a House eppy chat session, post to H/W LJ, and check my business email. Wilson-free episodes just don't work for me. Very boring. Very poor pacing and lot's of storytelling gaps. The medicine did not make sense. For me, this eppy now replaces ODOR as the worse House episode evar. The only good part of the episode was the promo for the next episode. I'm very sad :(

I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy the episode. Could the perception that it was badly paced and that the medicine didn't make sense have come from you doing other things at the same time? (I'm not questioning your judgment. I just watch a couple of other shows like that, doing stuff while having them run in the background. For me the two are totally different experiences). Admittedly, if I were only watching for one character, then I might have found it boring, too.

First half of the episode? Insanely boring. The medicine was laughable but, at the very least, this POTW represented someone who was lying or concealing information and had some sort of dilemma about coming clean to his significant other. It's been a long time since that happened. Mostly the patients have just lain there and flailed when necessary but haven't provided any sort of conflict or given credence to the notion that "everybody lies." Although I'm not buying that the girlfriend--despite living in an open air loft with a view straight down onto her boyfriend's easel---never noticed that he was periodically painting some really wacky shit. Or, for that matter, I don't buy that, every other month, the artist wouldn't realize it in himself. I know he was hiding those paintings, but it just doesn't stand to reason, that he wouldn't come across something he'd done in an off month and considered it...odd. Thirteen still makes no sense to me. A.) I'm not sure why she feels the need to "introduce" House in nearly every episode. B.) I'm not sure why she inevitably always ends up being the only fellow with House when he's in with a patient. I had considered that maybe she's just on "girl duckling" duty but scrolling back through past seasons, Cameron and House never had scenes like that. In fact, with a few rare exceptions, House never saw the patients with his team in tow at all. But now suddenly, nothing can happen without 13 also being in the room. Since I have no illusions that they're angling for a House/13 romance, I'm trying to figure out her placement. It certainly isn't because there is some energy or spark between House and 13. I used to think Hugh could have chemistry with even a dead tree trunk, but I guess that is untrue. 13 is absolutely dead weight next to House, like he's dragging along a useless appendage, scene to scene. Can we ditch the entire new team and replace them with Lucas? Despite the fact that he's a bit of a distraction, it's refreshing to suddenly have a character that has a personality and some vitality to them. I haven't decided whether he's endearing or creepy, but I did enjoy his scenes with Cuddy and the fact that she couldn't figure out if he was endearing or creepy, either. Cuddy totally needs a boyfriend that adores her and wants what she wants. So far Lucas isn't whiny or moralizing; in short, he's a good friend to House even if he is being paid. Wilson and Cuddy could take a page from his book and treat House more like a friend and less like a fixer-upper project. The House as a cheerleader joke (and the did he/didn't he fake the photo) might have gone over much better if the photo weren't so obviously photoshopped. Really, art department; terrible job on that. That photo belonged on Photoshop Disasters. I also have trouble reconciling the House who alienated everyone since the age of 3 with a guy who'd become a cheerleader for the sake of a girl. House can certainly fake people out, but there's no way I believe he'd be able to pass himself off as "happy" for the length of time required to get on the team and even show up a game or two to cheer. I have no doubt that, whatever the association between House and the cheer team, it ended badly. I like that after nearly 20 episodes, Taub is getting some attention, although good god, his story was boring. (For the record, I think the wife was totally lying. She got busted by him and made up the story on the spot about buying him the car.) I don't doubt that PJ can be a good actor in the right circumstances, but I'm not buying that these are the right circumstances. He just looks like he's tired and weary and bored all of the time. Likewise, I'm not buying that the super secretive 13 is suddenly one to dig into her colleagues private life and query them about personal details. Oh well. I guess someone needed to say the line and they gave it to her. All in all, quite enjoyable in parts (the parts with the PI and House and Cuddy) but lacking in a plausible medical condition and the team still fires on zero cylindars so there's whole heaps of boredom scattered throughout the show.

Well, that was interesting... No, not the episode. Actually, my reaction to it. I always wondered how would be if one day for whatever reason they've written Wilson off. I guess I got my answer. I suppose it wasn't a bad episode, in fact it was probably a good one, but I honestly couldn't tell, because for me it was painfully boring. I didn't care about the patient, which is nothing new, but I didn't even think it was an interesting case. I couldn't care less about Taub marital problems, specially after I saw what was her gift. And mind you, I usually like Taub. PI/Cuddy? Cuddy is kind of pathetic if she's remotely attracted for that guy. But you know what? I didn't care! The team? Is there a team? House? He was almost common, just a nosy, lonely guy. I felt absolute nothing for him! Nor sympathy, nor irritation. He was there, like always, saying the same silly things, acting in the same obnoxious way, and it felt empty. So, yeah, I missed Wilson, terribly! Without him, now I know, I wouldn't watch one single episode. What I love about House, the character, only works if I watch it filtrate by Wilson's eyes, otherwise, he just seems dull and unemotional. I sincerely hope that they never do that again. One last thing: House as a cheerleader? I must erase this idea from my mind... If I only knew how...

I didn't care about the patient, which is nothing new, but I didn't even think it was an interesting case. I know I missed something several times with the episode - when exactly did they say that the patient was on three clinical trials at once? Because, when they did, it seemed later in the episode to me than normal, even though it was discussed early on.

I think the clinical trials came up within the first half hour, but I wasn't watching the clock. It was fairly early, if I'm remembering, tho.

To participate in a drug trial, don't you actually have to *have the condition* that the drug is designed to treat? I find it hard to believe that the PotW found his way into drug trials for three different conditions he happened to have, let alone that he would be accepted into a second or third trial while already participating in others. It would have been more realistic if he'd been a guinea pig for the antacid and a non-drug product -- maybe a cream or lotion or ointment that turned out to be tainted and release toxins into his body through his skin to be trapped by the "hairball." I've done these OTC product -*test*-('")s; you wear a giant Band-Aid, treated with the substance being -*test*-('")ed, on your back for a week to see if you get a rash, and they pay you $50. My favorite, though, was the feminine hygiene spray -*test*-('"), because 20 years later I get to tell people about the time I was paid $150 to let someone sniff my crotch!

I've participated in all sorts of medical -*test*-('")ing and know a lot of people who do (or have done). A hospital is more likely to be picky about whether or not the drug being -*test*-('")ed is treating the symptoms than the company that stands to make a lot of money from the sale. Pharma companies will take any poor sap who's willing to suffer the side effects. Because they're bastards who suck. (YMMV, obviously)