5.04 - Birthmarks

One thing I really like about Doris Egan's episodes is that she weaves together bits and pieces from the show's canon -- House's relationship with his father, Blythe's refusal to see the bad in either the relationship or House's anger, Chase remembering his father's death and his feelings about him, Wilson's loss of his first wife and throwing the bottle at the mirror than paralleling the loss of Amber and throwing the bottle again. Wilson needs to work on dealing with his anger and frustration. If Bones got a resident shrink, the House crew need one even more. What's up with House saying his mother hated his father too? Why are people always drugging House and then not being around to catch him when he falls on his bad leg? How will House ever grow up if he's not allowed to make his own decisions and suffer the consequences of them? But at that point, was House even going? (Seriously, I don't remember.) Yes, House was on the road by then. Foreman had gone down to gossip to Chase and Cameron about how dysfunctional House was with how he was handling his father dying. Kutner came by with the file to talk to Foreman about the PotW's bleeding and that's how Chase and Cameron got involved. If this is KJ's idea of "Foreman takes a case to Chase and Cameron", then they really have no idea of what to do with C&C now. I think it's appropriate for Cameron send flowers to Blythe from herself, or from the three of them (CCF) and it's nice to see someone on this show with social skills. I think it's nuts to send them to the funeral with House's name on the giver card. But almost two pages of debate about this 2 second scene is one reason why I think we need Cameron back. Mod Note: I had asked politely on the last page for the discussion to move on from Cameron's "appropriateness" so we should really do that. Thank you.

What's up with House saying his mother hated his father too? That was a reference to the notion that Blythe cheated on John with the James Bond lookalike. That if she cheated on John, she must not have been in love with him. Kind of an extreme thing for House to say, in my opinion (but certainly not the most extreme thing he's ever said).

What's up with House saying his mother hated his father too? Since John wasn't Greg's father, he's assuming she cheated on him because she hated him. Could be true (back then). Could also be true that she was pregnant with "Sean Connery's" child when she married John and he knew about it, but was hurt when young Gregory figured it out and accused him of it. Or, he didn't really know at all. We just don't know. But House thinnks he does. I think it's nuts to send them to the funeral with House's name on the giver card. ITA But almost two pages of debate about this 2 second scene is one reason why I think we need Cameron back. Interesting. On the same evidence, I come to the polar opposite conclusion. :-) Though this is the first time she's bugged me to the point of ::headdesk:: in a while. Right now, she's in line behind the ubiquitous 13 as my two favorites to jump off the proverbial cliff.

Why are people always drugging House and then not being around to catch him when he falls on his bad leg? How will House ever grow up if he's not allowed to make his own decisions and suffer the consequences of them? Or to fall and hit his head, after recent severe head trauma. Also it was strange that whatever Cuddy injected him with caused him to collapse with his eyes wide open, but then in the car he was asleep. Also would love to know who dressed him.

Also it was strange that whatever Cuddy injected him with caused him to collapse with his eyes wide open, but then in the car he was asleep. Also would love to know who dressed him. I think his eyes probably closed soon after. Once in the car, he's wearing the same shirt, t-shirt, and pants as before. The only thing they put on him is the gray jacket. But I concede that it would be difficult to put that on him while unconscious. :lol: I love how slowly House woke up in the car. Hugh's facial expressions were fantastic. It must have been like a dream for House to slowly regain consciousness and see his Wilson right there. When Wilson pulled over at the rest stop, I thought maybe House had indeed peed onto the floor of the car. :oops:

*sidles nervously into thread* Holy crap. I am completely convinced now that hwshipper really is David Shore or that she is completely and utterly psychic. Neither, I'm afraid, just very spoiled! As poeia so swiftly nailed, I wrote & posted after the ep was written. I was v careful to label my fic as containing multiple spoilers for s5, and as soon as the title and ep number were released I labelled it more specifically as spoilers for Birthmarks. So I did my best not to spoil it for anyone who didn't actually want to be spoiled. And gosh, I seem to have picked up a few new friends on LJ today. Anyway enough of that, this is my new all time favourite episode EVER and I just want to SQUEE! I know many of us were looking forward to it but GOSH I bet nobody was on tenterhooks looking for fine points of detail as much as I was!, and I was not disappointed. Loved every minute of it. Even found the POTW interesting, and gosh with a medical solution I could actually comprehend. And the House/Wilson was all fantastic, more than I can take in right now. My favourite bit was actually the bit at the funeral when Wilson realised House was Up To Something, and stood up and went over and put his hand on House's shoulder. :D

Could also be true that she was pregnant with "Sean Connery's" child when she married John and he knew about it, But House said that they were married 50 years and House is supposed to be under 50, so they would have been married before she got pregnant with him, right? I think we had a discussion of this pre-episode in the spoiler discussion thread. In Daddy's Boy, which aired in fall 2005, House told Cameron that his parents had been married 47 years at that point. If House is the same age as Hugh, then House was 46 at that point. And that is consistent with him saying now, three years after Daddy's Boy, that his parents have been married 50 years. Again, if House is the same age as Hugh, then House is 49 now. That makes it possible (but not definite) that Blythe was pregnant when she married John. It's equally as possible that she got pregnant soon after the wedding. Hard to know.

I thought he said "almost 50 years," so was seeing a little wiggle room there for that idea. Spoilerphobe here, so don't know what was said in the spoiler thread.

It seemed to me that when House was talking about his father's reaction to House confronting about this -- not talking to him for a whole summer -- that Colonel House probably just had some niggling suspicions confirmed for him. If Blythe had been pregnant when the Houses married, House would have been able to do that math very quickly and probably would have mentioned it. To me, I would say that soon after their marriage, John was sent out of the country, and Blythe had a moment of weakness.

Lots of wiggle room here. Now I've thought about this too much. I have thought about timeline issues and this ep far, far too much. Here if anyone is interested.

Thanks Night Owl. Thinking about things too much is, I believe, our collective middle name around here. :-) So, as with many key facts in the Housiverse, we know a lot of the truth, but not necessarily the facts.

I think I agree with your reading of that, chippers. I think Blythe had a moment of weakness sometime after the wedding. Or a long-lasting, torrid love affair... who knows? :lol: But yes, I think it happened during the marriage. It's good to have confirmation that others obsess about these things as much as (or more than) I do, hwshipper. :lol:

Boffle, he said "spouse of 50 years." But there is wiggle room; people are rarely exact on these things and usually just round up or down. It could be 49 years and almost 50 years; it could be 50 years and almost 51 years. If it's almost 51 years, and if House is 49y 4m (like Hugh), then Blythe got pregnant 50y 1m ago (-ish). Which would be after the wedding. If it's 49 years almost 50 years, and if House is 49y 4m, then Blythe got pregnant before the wedding. Lots of wiggle room here. Now I've thought about this too much. I loved this episode. I have not stopped rewatching the H/W scenes yet. I love them. Truly the best House episode EVAR. What I don't understand about the timeline is this. The announcer said it was a 40 year old secret. House is 49. Wilson said House figured out his father was not his bio father when he was twelve. That would mean House was 52 instead of 49. Am I missing something here. I always thought House found out when he was nine, which makes all the year references fit. That was the only piece that sort of confused me. And does anyone have the words to Leave a Tender Moment Alone and Dancing Queen?

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