waywarddone - thanks for focusing on the idea in my post that you agreed with, that House was attracted to Cuddy's pain. But it brings up some other questions I'll definitely have to think about. Is House an enabler like Wilson? Hugh_lover - I like your observation about no background music during the kiss to manipulate us. I read your interpretation of the high pitched sound but it struck another chord with me. To some, that high pitched sound may indicate a heightened level of pure passion, but mileage may vary. If so, it was really quite cheeky of the producers.

sasmom has an awesome review of Joy up on blogcritics. I always love her reviews -- everything I know I feel about an episode and can't quite articulate, she can. I especially like this part: Becca finally delivers, in a C-section that may end in the death of baby Joy. House learns that Cuddy is observing the delivery. Going to the delivery room, House hangs back at the entry, trying to pull Cuddy away from the procedure to do her job. It seems harsh and an unnecessary intrusion, and part of me believes that House is still -*test*-('")ing Cuddy, making her choose between her administrative hospital duties and her maternal desires. However, a larger part of me wonders if House's actions are simply a pretext to get Cuddy out of there, given the risk to the baby. If the baby is a stillbirth, or she dies quickly, House knows that Cuddy will fall apart. And I can actually see House in this (protective) role, though he would deny it all the way. When House observes Cuddy interacting with her new baby as it finally draws its first breath, he sees Cuddy's delight — her utter joy. And it's not lost on House. Not one bit. And something fundamental to House's equation changes significantly. At that moment, House resigns himself (as he had when Amber found a place in Wilson's life) to the facts as he sees them. Cuddy should have the baby; she should be happy. He was wrong; and he knows it. This is House's renowned objectivity at work. As sure as he was that he was right about Cuddy, evidence to the contrary causes rethink his position. Is House an enabler like Wilson? I don't know that I would call House an "enabler," per se. Or at least not in the sense that Wilson is one. Wilson enables House's neediness because it keeps House needy and therefore keeps Wilson needed, and it's not a neediness that House will ever get over, unlike Wilson's former wives. I think House fundamentally wants the people around him to be happy, but only on his terms. So, I think that makes House not an "enabler" but more of an "inhibitor."

Chipmunk_Love wrote - "So, I think that makes House not an "enabler" but more of an "inhibitor."" Chipmunk_Love, excellent parsing of the facts. :-)

Good points and bad points. PotW plot was good, except a bit too pat in the end, which does not really befit this show. But I liked the opening and liked the way it was developed through most of the episode. I liked the ddx and the team, some good lines there. Didn't like the baby plot so much. LE was very good and I actually teared up when Joy cried. But I dislike the basic premise of the plot. I don't sympathize with House being jealous, and if they meant us to think he was seriously trying to deter her for her own good, they missed by a mile with lame stuff like spit-up or a broken lamp that any sentient adult knows to be trivial. It therefore must be meant to be mere selfish jerkiness. I could have dealt with House acting out in some other way, preferably taking more Vicodin or a risk-taking action, like old school House. But messing with an adoption is just not something I can get on board with. In the delivery room, I think he was being the extreme patient advocate. It doesn't bother me in this case, because she wasn't operating. He's done much worse. I would be upset that he burst into the delivery room to do it, if that weren't SOP for this show. Chase actually commenting on the wrongness almost seemed out of place. And speaking of wrong, it was hard to accept Cuddy being so involved with the decision-making. It seemed like such a conflict, and she is the hospital administrator. Can anyone explain the scene where she goes to House's office and asks his advice? I thought for a minute there he was telling her what he felt to be the right answer. He had the serious good-doctor voice and expression (which I love). But then he seemed to say that was "the wrong answer." Conflicted about the kiss scene. I loved that House came to see her, and he killed me with how he said she'd be a great mother. And Cuddy's reaction was very believable - I'd be furious, too. Her challenge to House and his response were very good. But the kiss didn't seem to follow. This seemed to be a case for him to leave abruptly and then we would see shots of the two of them and perhaps know what they were thinking. I don't think the kiss was abusive, but it seemed like they forced it into the plot. It felt wrong and looked awkward. At least they cut it short at that.

Well, I hope this helps, peggy: Cuddy: Mother had a stage 2 placental abruption. She's losing blood. House: So, deliver the baby. Cuddy: Lungs are 10 weeks premature. House: So, deliver now, risk the baby. Deliver later, risk the mom. It's not your baby yet; it's not your call. Cuddy: She'll do whatever I tell her to do. House: Self-worth issues; that's genetic you know. You should deliver now. Cuddy: Right. House: Are you serious? Cuddy: You're not? You just told me— House: The wrong answer. You can give the mom more blood; you can't give the fetus more lungs. Cuddy: The lungs might work. It's the right decision, medically . House: And yet, you're here. Cuddy: To get your opinion, not to get jerked around. House: See, this is what's screwed up here. You're not sure that this is the right call, but you are sure that this is what you want to tell her. And that scares you, because your motives aren't medical. Some part of you doesn't want this baby. And that part wants to tell her to kill it. Cuddy: This is an impossible situation. I'm advising her to take the safest route. House: Right. Doesn't explain why you changed your sweater.

Can anyone explain the scene where she goes to House's office and asks his advice? He was -*test*-('")ing her: if she didn't fight him on what he believed to be wrong answer, then she's not her usual administrator self and is too involved to make an objective judgement. It means she's not thinking fir herself, she's asking House to do her thinking for her. If he tells her to do the thing she wants to do (but is the wrong answer) then she is absolved of guilt because the mighty House told her to do it (I don't think she's fully aware of this, but it's a believable rationalization under the circumstances). He sees what she's doing and when she shows herself to be too emotionally involved, he tells her it was a bad decision and why. I do think he's all about the tough love, -*test*-('")ing her via jerky methods: he's trying to do that throughout the episode. He's afraid she's: going to be hurt; doesn't really understand what it takes to be a mother; she's going to have a higher priority in her life than him; she's not as attached to him as he is to her. To some degree all that, plus his affection for her conflicted with her power over him and, well, all the stuff that makes their relationship complicated emotionally. I loved the kiss. He wasn't doing so well with verbalizing: he thought saying she would have been a good mother was supportive and when she lashed out, he was puzzled and just went with the direction of his instincts which, conflicted and mixed up as they are, do seem to point to a closer physical connection. Plus, I thought the rawness of it made it work: it wasn't a smooth romantic moment it was heartfelt, comforting, fulfilling a need for deeper connection.

I have a further problem in that the rest of the episode bore out that Cuddy really did want the baby, so House's point was moot. I didn't find that a problem because accepting that was House's journey in the episode. I think he truly did want Cuddy to think of all the things Boffle mentioned, but I also think he was frightened to have Cuddy move on to something that would take her away from him, and both motivations were influencing him--which is why I think he strayed so far into hurtful, even though I don't think his conscious intention was to really hurt her. When Cuddy reacted to Joy being born, House finally just shut up and watched her--and I think that's when we saw him accept that she really did know what she wanted. His next snark is not directed at whether she really wants a baby, it's on the pull between work and child she'll feel for the baby's childhood--which is a valid point. I think that's why, when Cuddy loses the baby, House has to go to her. He's accepted that his point was moot, which wouldn't have mattered if Cuddy had her Joy. But instead she's in pain from losing her and all she has to remember of House in this time is his painful prodding, and since he no longer believes his own point, he can't stand that. He has to let her know he does believe she can be a good mother. And when Cuddy challenges him to dig deeper than that, because he was being so very hurtful about the subject, he doesn't want to--but the underlying emotions of not wanting to lose her are there. I think he was being very honest when he said he didn't really know why he had behaved that way--he doesn't know what he wants with Cuddy really. But I think the emotions that spilled out were based on that desire not to lose her.

Excellent points, Jair, Boffle, and NightOwl. I think House mis-interpreted why Cuddy went to see him. He felt threatened by the baby and was looking, making up proof that Cuddy wasn't going to go through with this. I think from Cuddy's standpoint she went to House because she realized she was in a professional/ethical conflicted situation. She was trying to be ultra-cautious in her decision making. To that end, she needed someone to tell her what she needed to hear rather than what she wanted to hear and expected that House would do that since he always does that. Instead, he started playing games with her and her emotions and she got frustrated and angry. She shouldn't have been making that decision in the first place, but in the end she did do what was right, and what House said was the proper course of action, and that was to wait. Ultimately, it was the birth mother who decided to go ahead with removing the baby, and not Cuddy. The rest of the episode, leading to the kiss, I think Jair and Boffle explained really well.

Yea, I DVR this show and watch it live. I end up doing a lot of pausing and rewinding, in order to clarify what House has just said. :lol: And I always watch the entire episode twice on Tuesday. And I still miss things!

I love House in teacher-mode like in the differential when they were all clueless. Thirteen’s snark was basically “I don’t want to think. Just give us the answer.” And he refused to, even if he had to drag the answer out of them. When Cuddy was sitting on the floor, just before House knocked, and she was in an oversized sweater with her hair pulled back and minimal makeup and her eyes were red – damn but that woman is gorgeous. And I take back all the negative things I said about her acting range after Fetal Position and Airborne. I don’t think she did great work in either of those, but she was wonderful in this episode. You can’t put all the blame (or credit, as your tastes dictate) for the weird camera angles on Deran Sarafian. At the very least, he did 2 shots of those scenes – the long shot and the close-ups. He might have asked for the close-ups to be used and, if the editor didn’t use them, he could have gone to Katie Jacobs and gotten her to overrule the editor. But somebody keeps making the decision to incorporate some of his stranger choices into the final cut.

Also, did anyone else notice House holding the duckling doll when he was in Cuddy's office? How meta was that!

Yes Poeia I loved that House was really going somewhere and trying to lead them to the answer despite 13's refusal to see it as such. She has a bad case of I'm-just-as-good-as-House-itis: seems to be a definite job hazard for fellows. I did notice the duck but doh! didn't connect it with ducklings. Good one, Chippers! Oh and way upthread I said House let himself in with a key. As we all know by now, I was wrong: he knocked and she let him in. It's gorgeous how they shot that scene with him towering over her and wearing the leather jacket. So much better for the kiss than the cloth coat he wore when he came over in Half-Wit. IMHO anyway.