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. I agree--both about how gorgeous LE was in a scene where she was made to seem realistically bedraggled and with how well she pulled off this episode. I thought she nailed all the complex emotions Cuddy was feeling about going through that adoption process, with that grief at the end completely believable--and the combination of anger/confusion at how House had acted. What I loved about their kiss was the jumble of confused emotions both had with led the spillover into a kiss--that neither can either deny or go with completely. The underlying emotions and the set up were very realistic for both real life and for both characters. The kiss was raw but real. It's a great fallout from the Bus to Hades.

On my first viewing, I was jarred by the kiss and didn't think it grew out of the circumstances. However, in rewatching it, I have changed my mind and think it works, and is very raw - and the susequent fight by House in particular to bring himself under control again is really awesomely wonderful. One thing I've so loved about the show over the years is that most (alas, not all , IMO) of the episodes bear repeated watchings. There's so much going on intellectually, emotionally, visually. And this episode has grown on me as I've watched for a third and fourth time. Yay!