5.05 - Lucky Thirteen

I've said before that I think obsessing over spoilers almost kills the actual watching of the show for me. When you don't like an arc or a character, knowing that something will focus on them becomes something like going to the dentist ... the anticipation makes the actual procedure that much worse. It's the downside to the 'net phenomenon because rather than talking about what you have seen, you end up pre-judging what you might see. I don't know. Sometimes I find that to be true - and for me, excess spoilers a la the folks who watch a preview tape and recap it are never fun. I have to say, though, in this case, from what tiny bits I knew, I was expecting something I would dislike as strongly as the premiere and was pleasantly surprised to find it actually pretty good and fairly nuanced. Sort of like when Michael Michele was in the CIA episode, and she managed to make me forget her staggeringly bad performance on Homicide by being okay. I have to say, though, even the press releases aren't safe anymore - revealing that Spencer was really angling to see House would have been a better twist without knowing. Randomly, I wonder if Spencer's name is a nod to Shane from the L Word. (She wasn't my type either, LMC.) And I'm still freaked out by the concept of finding a recluse spider in the bathroom. :shock:

Shallow note, am I the only one who thought the POTW was not attractive? I've read a lot of posts talking about how hot she was, I thought she was...not, to put it nicely. Nice bod, average face, IMO. Then again, I have no idea why people think Julia Roberts is such a great beauty. Dee and Hugh_lover, I think House was totally kidding with the "first wife had a wooden leg"/"second wife was Canadian" comment. Bonnie says in "House Training" that their first date was in Boston, so I assume they met there. Not that she couldn't have been a Canadian living in Boston, but the Canadian reference would be more likely to have referred to a woman he met in college (since he went to McGill) *if* it were true. And he was in the process of divorcing wife no. 1 when he was "fresh out of medical school" and attending the conference in New Orleans -- so if any of his wives had been his McGill sweetie, it would have been her. Who born after 1900 would have a *wooden* leg? I'm guessing House just pulled a couple of metaphors out of his butt that said needy/pathetic. He could just as easily have said Wilson's first wife was a bag lady and his second was a Chicago Cubs fan.

I'm pretty sure the Canadian thing was a meta reference, a la "low priority Canadians" in No More Mr Nice Guy and "twin Rabbis" in Don't Ever Change. The wooden leg?? Probably just an exaggeration. What, you say? House exaggerates?? I know, I know, what a shock.

Shallow note, am I the only one who thought the POTW was not attractive? I've read a lot of posts talking about how hot she was, I thought she was...not, to put it nicely. Yeah I thought she was not very attractive at all. OW is way hotter.

I thought it was a decent episode. The H/W stuff cracked me up. It was also nice that House kept going, "No, Thirteen, you're fired." It couldn't stick, but it was fun while it lasted. Don't know why, but Thirteen was less unbearable than usual to me EDIT: And yes, Chase is awesome. :D

House's reaction to Cuddy's baby news. Jeez, in spite of having his self-centeredness backfire on him with Wilson, he continues to care only about himself. A lot of people have made comments along these lines and I don't get it. Just as he did when Wilson told him about his new girlfriend he said "If you're happy, I'm..." He wasn't happy. And he didn't fool either of them. But he made the effort. In the past we would have seen House make some sarcastic comment to ruin it for them. He didn't. Empathetic and supportive would be a giant, giant step for House. If all he managed was the baby step of not being dismissive, it is still a step. Regarding the wooden leg -- I assume it's not true. In this day and age, even a lay person would probably say "artificial leg." I can't imagine a doctor seriously calling it a wooden leg. I find Cameron a more interesting character these days, and am sorry when I see a pointer in her character to her old arc, as with the flowers. She has grown up but she's still Cameron. If she hadn't agreed to do House's files during the inspection, if she hadn't butted into his business by planning to send flowers in his name, we'd all be thinking "who are you and what have you done with Allison Cameron?" I think small reminders of that side of her personality are realistic.

Okay, question. They kept saying in the episode that Wilson hasn't really been back in four months. I get that it's been four months since the accident in our real-life time, but I thought that DCE took place two months after Amber's death, and add that to the month that Wilson quit, that would make three months. What am I missing? Was Adverse Events supposed to take place a few weeks after Wilson resigned? Was Birthmarks? It could have been a couple of weeks between Birthmarks and Lucky Thirteen. There could have been a gap between some of the other episodes as well. Some of the episodes also take place over multiple days, which plays into it. He could have also rounded up. And then, as House knows, time is not a fixed construct.

I admit I don't notice who the various writers are of any particular episode, but I think there's a lot of male fantasy/excitement about having a "bisexual" woman on screen. For instance, I thought the scene where 13 looks for spider bites was rather sexy (the hand running down her side and back in particular), there was the kiss, there was the views of the POTW from the back,w/o clothing... Oh yes, I think 13 gives the writers a lot of pleasure. But they have perhaps forgotten that this is not the reason we love, or loved, the show House. The writers were two women: Liz Friedman and Sara Hess. And not to pick on you particularly, but I have to wonder if there would be bitching in the various fora and comments if it had been House and Wilson with the nudity, or Chase ... When they chose to make her a bisexual woman (and where's the hoyay support for that, anyway?) there were complaints she'd be bi in name only. And now that they show they didn't just take the easy road -- not only by showing sex scenes, but referring to the fact that she's been picking up women exclusively at bars ("and all this time, I thought it was just because I liked boobs") -- people bitch that they didn't need to see all the skin, and they're merely playing out male fantasies. Here's what I think - this is a show that targets the famous demographic of 18-49 year old males. So the show is going to attempt to be interesting to guys - two attractive women and sex are definitely intriguing to a lot of guys. And there will unlikely ever be a lot of male nudity or overt sex scenes between the men - that's not something that is so interesting to the demographic, despite the fact that a lot of folks on this board and elsewhere would just really be quite happy indeed! I should add that I am a lesbian (and a member of a lonely club, Lesbians Who Adore Hugh Laurie), and while from the viewpoint of equal time, I enjoyed the scenes featuring the women, I still don't particularly like a focus in this show, on 13 and her sex life.

Meh. This was an okay episode. Though re-watching it, I found myself fastforwarding alot of Thirteen's scenes because I just don't find her that interesting (*hops on the bandwagon*). I don't care if she wants to self-destruct or not ... Heck, I barely even care that she's dying. I want more of House, more of Taub and Kutner (they're fading into the background), more Cameron and Chase (he really brightened up this episode with his little scene), and some more Wilson/House angst (skip down the post for my explanation on that one ...). Though I enjoyed the PI in this episode. I previously thought he was getting a bit too buddy-buddy with House (as though he was House's new and perfect best friend, who could play instruments, wore similar clothes to House, and liked analysing people more than House himself). But it was nice getting a proper perspective on the Wilson/House/PI arc ... no matter how much the PI and House might have in common, the PI can't replace Wilsonin House's mind. No way should Wilson have come back so soon or so readily. And House shouldn't be so eager, either. I still haven't heard any acknowledgment from Wilson of what he went through for Wilson's sake. I agree. I'm actually a little annoyed that Wilson went back to PPTH so soon... and went back to the exact same relationship he had with House. I still feel as though House has something to learn about the destructive part of their relationship (which resulted in Amber's death), and I thought Wilson would be the only person who could ge tthrough to House and influence him into being more caring towards others and not needing people to enable him. But Wilson has just swept everything he saidto House in DCE (Dying Changs Everything) under the rug. As much as I enjoyed seeing the two together again, I still wish a part of Wilson is regretful that House hadn't learnt anything. House still has his problems. (I even found Wilson's Amber jokes a little ... inappropriate. Sure, it's been four months since she died. But still). Regarding the wooden leg -- I assume it's not true. In this day and age, even a lay person would probably say "artificial leg." I can't imagine a doctor seriously calling it a wooden leg. This is House though (the guy who called PotW a "carpet cleaner") ... He would use whatever phrase sounds the most 'controversial' to those around him... and "wooden leg" sounds worse than "artificial leg". - - - - - If Wilson did indeed marry a woman with an artificial leg then that's an interesting little twist to his story ... what with the obvious connection between his wife's fake leg and his best friend's bum leg. I thought that was rather cute.

A few random thoughts: (2) I think the new H/W relationship is much more complex than is apparent. Yeah, they're going bowling, etc. But Wilson also kept from House the Cuddy "secret." It's as if Wilson is going through the motions of a relationship with House but is no longer willing to let House into his life -- maybe so he doesn't get hurt again? I loved this episode for the great House/Wilson scenes. I also thought the PI had some interesting insights. spoiler I'm also glad it was his last episode. end spoiler I agree that Wilson is just going through the motions. House said Wilson does not deal with loss well so he couldn't possibly believe Wilson is over Amber. But House is selfish so he's willing to sit by the river of DE-NILE as long as Wilson is by his side. One of the saddest moments in Birthmarks was Wilson asking if House was being nice by bailing him out. Hell, that was at least 15 years ago. Wilson is totally insecure about how House feels about him (House's Head). If House and Wilson are back together so soon it may mean Wilson has stopped taking care of himself and eventually he's going to resent House (Living the Dream). Maybe the other shoe hasn't dropped. I thought 13 was great but here's the BUT. I judge how much I enjoy the episode by the scenes I rewatch. I'm only rewatching the H/W scenes and a couple of the House/PI scenes. I haven't rewatched any 13 scenes. I thought 13's not my girlfriend was very, very hot. My fav scene was when 13 climbed in the bed with her. I thought it was a very tender moment and much more interesting then the sexual posturing (literally) in the 2 min opening. Geez!! Foreman!!! I don't care how they dress him up. Like one reviewer wrote. He sucks all the air out of any scene he's in. And I agree with someone who wrote, Foreman really needs Chase and Cameron to make his scenes work. Their Birthmarks scenes were spot on, great pacing. The ending scene (Wilson. Cuddy, House) was very powerful. House had the same response to both Wilson and Cuddy. Another triangle but this time House is at the apex instead of Wilson. I don't like Huddy but I think I'm going to enjoy its effects. Wilson was surprised by House's reaction BEFORE he bailed. Almost as if he realized how hurt House was by Cuddy's news and the fact he was not in the loop. Still not feeling the Wilson/Cuddy coziness. Still reeling from Tritter:( but she diid give him his job back :) One last thing. The writers really need to tighten the medical side of their storytelling. Yes hardcore fans are into the character relationships but geez!! I used to watch the old eppys for the medicine too. Just to name a few Safe, Sleeping Dogs, Autopsy, Histories, Spin, Acceptance, House v. God, Sports Medicine, Paternity, Maternity, Clueless, Alone, Role Model, Daddy's Boy, etc. I think some of the disconnect reflects where House is mentally. His world fell apart with the death of Amber, and the estrangement and subsequent loss of Wilson. Now his non-bio dad is dead and Cuddy just let him know she's adopting a baby. So I'm thinking they're trying to show House is a little distracted, which is fine. But I still think they could make the medicine plausible and the solution logical. Mod Note: That information is still a spoiler.

Wilson went back to PPTH so soon... and went back to the exact same relationship he had with House. But, but... he bought Wilson's breakfast and delivered it in a cute, hilarious and very Housian way. He was sincerely happy because Wilson was back and he tried to pretend to be supportive about that whole 'new someone' - yes, it was an act but he tried his best to control himself in Wilson's presence. They have plans to spend more time together - bowling, poker nights. Like Poeia said he was making an effort, and this counts! House will always be House and their relationship will always be screwed up, but there are some changes, it's subtle, but it's there. I think the new H/W relationship is much more complex than is apparent. Yeah, they're going bowling, etc. But Wilson also kept from House the Cuddy "secret." It's as if Wilson is going through the motions of a relationship with House but is no longer willing to let House into his life -- maybe so he doesn't get hurt again? I have no doubt their relationship is much more complex than it seems, but Wilson actually allowed House to know what was going on. He respected Cuddy's wishes of privacy, until she got the baby, and since there wouldn't be a reason for the secrecy, he reassured House that nothing changed - that he was still the most important person in his life - and to prove it he led him to the baby shop and with that he also led House back into his life.

I think the new H/W relationship is much more complex than is apparent. Yeah, they're going bowling, etc. But Wilson also kept from House the Cuddy "secret." It's as if Wilson is going through the motions of a relationship with House but is no longer willing to let House into his life -- maybe so he doesn't get hurt again? I have no doubt their relationship is much more complex than it seems, but Wilson actually allowed House to know what was going on. He respected Cuddy's wishes of privacy, until she got the baby, and since there wouldn't be a reason for the secrecy, he reassured House that nothing changed - that he was still the most important person in his life - and to prove it he led him to the baby shop and with that he also led House back into his life. And besides, House has also kept Cuddy's "secret." It's not a blemish on their friendship if they both respect their other friend's privacy.

View Full Version: 5.05 - Lucky Thirteen