5.06 - Joy

It doesn't seem any more abusive to me than any of House's relationships, including the one with Wilson. He always dishes out the type of thing he dished out tonight. In the season premiere he said lots of insensitive things to Wilson. He asked Chase how it felt to not have your dad tell you he's dying in front of the whole team. Yet I believe he loves Wilson and cares deeply for Chase. I also believe that he and Wilson could have perhaps felt more than platonic bromance until just a short while ago. It wasn't House's jerkiness that put me off it--it was Wilson's choice of saving Amber. Cuddy was in a hard place tonight, being both doctor and mother, as people have pointed out. I didn't mind that for drama's sake she got to be involved in the baby issues, but I also didn't mind that House pointed out the conflicts with the case and the fact that she'll be conflicted as a working mom again and again. I was glad that Cuddy showed that she could handle that, though not the circumstances that brought it out. I thought that last scene showed a lot of complex emotions between these two--what started out as comfort didn't end that way.

I'm sorry. Honestly. It's just... this is kind of a big night for me, so I look at anything that doesn't immediately agree as, "WTF!" :lol: :roll: I'm sorry. The sarcasm was uncalled for. Obviously, their relationship is something we're going to disagree on for probably forever. You see it as abusive, I see it as the possible start of something a little bit more. YM Does V. Friends? It's all good. :D

On a superficial note, during the introduction when stuff kept appearing and disappearing and the clock kept changing time was I the only one saying "Dude, your house is haunted!" ;)

House's expression before kissing her was bizarre - like he'd gone insane or had been crying - where on earth did that come from?

It doesn't matter why he threw a tantrum, or what he may or may not want "deep down," he still treated her like crap and rather viciously. I don't remember House ever jerking anyone else around this badly. I don't understand how Cuddy being angry and upset makes her want to kiss him, rather than, oh, slapping him. I think it matters very much why House was acting as he did. He's treated everyone like crap, but he's also shown that he cares--that's House. He's said dreadful things to everyone and actually, usually he holds back with Cuddy, as she noted in Finding Judas. I think he was dishing out the crap for more than one reason--he is shaken at the idea that Cuddy's attention will move off him and he really does think she should think seriously about the step she's taking and if she can't take his crap, then she's in for a rough ride in motherhood, because it IS a rough ride for all it's also a wonderful ride. When he realises that Cuddy really is realistically committed and genuinely broken hearted, he accepts her desire for the baby as real and tries his best to comfort her. But that still leaves reason number one standing and that's what they both end up staring in the face: why is he so focused on Cuddy and desire her attention so much? House's "don't know" was so honest--he's not hiding behind his usual deflecting sarcasm. Both House and Cuddy were very raw and open--and I believed the kiss. Not as a comforting thing, but as the emotion both have been hiding behind the teases. House didn't look triumphant or comforting when he stepped back. He looked shaken. He doesn't want to think about what he just revealed. I agree with Jair. Cuddy trusts House, implicitly. She trusts his medical opinion, she trusted him with the fertility shots, and she cares for him deeply...whether you ship House/Cuddy or not, there's no denying the two have a long standing relationship/friendship...whatever you want to call it. Cuddy let him into her home, she confessed a very real truth that resonates deeply: she's done trying for a baby. He said what he said (I think) in part to rescind what he said earlier, in part because he thinks it's what she wants to hear and yes, in part because he knows that baby isn't going to happen. He knows how much that baby meant to her...that's why he's at her doorstep. He's not there to gloat. I'm not sure even he knows why he's there, except that he feels he should be, which in essence is an act of friendship. Notice Wilson's not there; he's friends with Cuddy, too, but the two don't have that little something extra, that banter, that long standing history that House and Cuddy have (including that one night they apparently spent together). He was as honest as he could be when he said he didn't know after she asked him why he negated everything and if you watch her expression, she realized he was being honest with her. It was sort of an apology.

...she confessed a very real truth that resonates deeply: she's done trying for a baby. Is she though, I really wonder? Because, to get as far as she has she's either had to be really good and/or really determined to get there. And I thought it was odd for her to just give up. Just, it seemed out of character.

Is she though, I really wonder? Because, to get as far as she has she's either had to be really good and/or really determined to get there. And I thought it was odd for her to just give up. Just, it seemed out of character. I don't think so. I know several women who have given up (both married and single) after trying to both conceive and adopt. My daughter was adopted...and I know several folks who have lost the baby they thought they were going to bring home. It can be overwhelmingly devastating, even for folks you would think are extremely strong willed. It becomes this thing where they think that it'll never happen, so they give up trying because they can't emotionally go through it anymore.

Yes, House is a total dick who's unreasonable about people's attention being elsewhere, but he's occasionally able to put that aside when it's a painful moment for someone he cares about. That this was the way they chose to put forward the House/Cuddy tension is...odd to me, I guess to me it didn't seem so odd because House was so conflicted in why he was pushing Cuddy so hard and so unwilling to admit he was conflicted. In a way he was right that Cuddy shouldn't have been in the surgery and she's going to have to find that line between baby and work for a good long time if she gets the baby--but yes, that was a heavy scene one would have wanted him to soften in. I thought the scene did show House watching and looking like he didn't necessarily want to take in how terrified Cuddy was, but of course, noticing nonetheless. It set up the last scene for me. I knew he cared. He just couldn't open up about it. And I think we saw why--he's scared what a good honest look would reveal. I don't think that means he's ready to book the realtor for a white picket fence, just that he does have feelings for Cuddy. He may be just as afraid that they wouldn't work if he admitted them as that they would. I believed him when he said he really didn't know what was driving him. Much like he told Wilson that he didn't know if he loved Stacy or hated her and wanted to make her suffer. He doesn't like this emotions stuff much.

See, House being a jerk to her when she's preparing to get the baby - that I understood, typical House behavior when confronted with an unpleasant change. What pushed it over the line for me was when he was being a jerk to her *during the C-section.* Yes, House is a total dick who's unreasonable about people's attention being elsewhere, but he's occasionally able to put that aside when it's a painful moment for someone he cares about. That this was the way they chose to put forward the House/Cuddy tension is...odd to me, honestly, and makes me even more dubious there's going to be much development in the immediate future. I definitely agree with all the praise for LE, though - she did some great work here. I'm not sure I believe this, but the thought has crossed my mind...what if House went in there not to be the jerk, but to try and pull Cuddy away from what could very well have been a stillbirth, in an effort to keep her from seeing her potential child stillborn? Off topic...so, House said that the POTWs had their dopamine receptors bushwacked, which is why they couldn't experience pleasure. I can't help but wonder if House's own dopamine receptors have been bushwacked.

What pushed it over the line for me was when he was being a jerk to her *during the C-section.* Yeah, he could have waited twenty minutes or so. But, to play the devil's advocate here, it seems that there will be times where Cuddy will have an emergency to handle at the hospital at the last minute. While he's been so negative to Cuddy about this, it's almost as though by the end he realized he pushed her too much and he developed a bit as a character because of it. The House/Cuddy interactions will be interesting to see in two weeks, should they decide to go that route. And I can see that too carrie. I thought he was doing it more as a way to show Cuddy that there will be times where she has to choose between being Mommy and Administrator.

A very minor point about the last scene regarding why did Cuddy let him in, and I need to go back and re-watch, but didn't House let himself in? I guess she still has a spare key under that vase at the front door.

A very minor point about the last scene regarding why did Cuddy let him in, and I need to go back and re-watch, but didn't House let himself in? I guess she still has that spare key under that vase at the front door. Nope. He knocked on the door. She opened it. Left it open. He walked in and closed it behind him. I was talking with shutterbug12 a little while ago, and she brought up a very good point wrt House's behavior tonight. That, when House feels vulnerable, his actions become more rash and jerky. So, when faced with Wilson leaving, he called him an idiot and told he was really "milking this bereavement thing." When faced with losing Cuddy to the baby, he did... this. I guess it doesn't really excuse him, but it does provide a reason. This season has been very much so about House facing up to whom he really, absolutely needs in his life -- Wilson and Cuddy.

Thanks chippers. I was so focused on what was about to happen, I thought he had let himself in. I think that's a very accurate observation about House being more of a jerk when he feels he's about to lose something.

My, my, my. The POTW was a very interesting case. I wish they could have spent more time on it. I'm not a fan of baby mama drama so the Cuddy wants a baby arc turns me completely off. I'm glad the baby and the baby mama are gone. Loved the 2 too short H/W scenes. Okay I've now seen House get physical with Stacy, Cameron, and Cuddy. Still cringeworthy. What the hell is the problem? In the scene at Cuddy's place, House said something about teenage boys will continue riding bareback. Strange. I always thought the term was used for unprotected anal sex. Love the promo. Wilson is gonna get all up in House's shit. That's my boy :) MOD NOTE: Promos are considered spoilers here. Please tag them.

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