I admit it, I cried. I thought LE's delivery on the line, "Come on, cry! Cry, Joy!" was just exquisite. I felt like the baby thing probably wouldn't happen, but I was holding out hope. Wilson was cracking me up this episode. Someone mentioned him polishing the apple, and I remember that it was one of those thing where once you notice it you can't stop watching. I also liked the, "So, I helped you solve the mystery. And now you're going to walk out of here without saying a word." "Nope." LOL shame that everyone needs to stay miserable on this show. I know. I'm mostly into comedies now, so I'm shocked every week as to how deep the episodes are! I think I've cried once or twice this season, and we've only had six episodes. Yeah, I don't know about the kiss, either. It was passionate but also kind of awkward and weird. I wonder how this will play out in the upcoming weeks? Maybe both of them will try to pretend like it never happened. I don't know. But definitely interesting developments!

What pushed it over the line for me was when he was being a jerk to her *during the C-section.* Like someone else mentioned earlier, I got the impression House wasn't just "being a jerk" to be a jerk. He may have started out that way, but from the expression on his face I surmised he was really trying to get her out of the room. My take on it was that he thought the baby was going to die shortly after birth, and was trying to get Cuddy away from the scene so that she would not have to carry that memory around with her for the rest of her life. Notice that once things progressed to the point that he knew she wasn't leaving, he stopped hounding her, because there no longer was any point. I actually thought this was one of the few times during the whole episode where he showed he was actually concerned about helping Cuddy, not just messing with her mind.

Lagniappe, I wasn't quite sure what to make of that scene. I really like your interpretation. Not only does it put House in a good light, but it also makes perfect sense and actually works. Thank you for posting that.

I just finished watching this show online. I thought I was set up to tape it last night, but I wasn't! I was waiting all day to get home from school to watch it last night and was seriously disappointed when I realized I got none of it. Thank gawd for the Internet! :D About the kiss: I loved the kiss. I've watched it like 30 times already. But, I agree, with some people who thought it seemed a little weird. I couldn't figure out what it was and then I realized: no scene setting music! I am not kidding. It was virtually a silent kiss. There is some background sound as they go into the kiss, but then it fades and the strongest sound as they kiss is the natural sound of their lip-locking, and man, that was some kiss. HL and LE put out for that one. The background sound comes back after House starts to back away. Both the Stacy and Cameron kisses had significant background music to help set the mood of the scene and of the kiss. House and Cuddy went au natural. That's what was so weird about it. There was no music to emotionally manipulate the scene. On the other hand, that allows for all kinds of interpretation and feelings about the kiss. Really, liked the PoTW this week. I thought the cold open was shot really well, the disease was simple to understand and even referenced back to the show's slogan: Everybody Lies. I don't see the "abuse" that others are seeing. House was trying to make a point about the fact that he didn't think Cuddy was ready to be a mommy. He was House, and Cuddy stood up to him each step of the way. At the end there, they were both vulnerable, and I think Cuddy saw that in House and reacted to his vulnerability and an emotionally honest moment from him. Loved it! :D

Excellent points all, hugh_lover. This kiss was from pent-up attraction, affection, confusion and lots of feelings coming through: it didn't seem awkward, it seemed realistic to me, but it also didn't seem staged liked the Ham kiss did. House coming forward and wrapping her up was so powerful and her hand on his face so tender: it was hot, with a mix of vulnerabilities and longing. Don't see any abuse/doormat thing here. Cuddy is smart and knows how House works, it's a game to them, and she likes to match wits with him. She knew what she wanted with her baby adoption and she knew House was pushing her to make sure because he didn't know how sure she was. When the baby was born and he saw her face, he knew she was for real. And he came to her House, said she would have been a good mother and gave her some physical closeness and affection. She knows that for him that's a lot to give. All the emotion both between them and for what she went through with her baby quest finally broke down the barriers between them for a few moments. But when House says his soft, gruff good night, he's backing off from where this might go, and when she says her goodnight, she's accepting that and is probably both thankful and sad to see him go. Beautifully played, House and co.!

It seems to me that House's statement to Cuddy at the end that she's giving up, just like she did on IVF, indicates that Cuddy never told him about all her efforts with IVF. (And that Wilson didn't either.) Because after 3 failed implantations, that's not really "giving up." It's facing reality. Especially considering that's a hella expensive procedure that insurance doesn't always cover and certainly doesn't cover indefinitely. So I'm left with the notion that House hit her hard in Finding Judas telling her she would suck as a mother (never again addressed) and in Joy he's all about telling her how she's not ready and again will be a bad parent. You have to wonder what Cuddy's scale of diminishing returns is for House. Besides him being a good doctor for the hospital, what does he offer her personally? I guess if I were generous, I would say that House was toughening her up, although that's really not at all how it came across to me. It came across as House being needy and selfish and completely dismissive of anyone else other than himself. Which, again, is why the viewer likes him--he's amusing in that respect. But by any reasonable measure, I can't figure out why Cuddy would stand for that even for one minute. Unlike Wilson, she doesn't even get the benefit of seeing House off-hours being something more akin to a "friend."

It seems to me that House's statement to Cuddy at the end that she's giving up, just like she did on IVF, indicates that Cuddy never told him about all her efforts with IVF. I think the comment indicated the opposite--that he is familiar with her IVF efforts. Three times is a lot, but it's par for the course with IVF treatments--Ben Elton's wife had four, I think, before they conceived. I'm sure Cuddy had it explained that it was unlikely to take in one and she should expect multiple treatments. Fertility treatments like this are really only accessible to well off people, unless one is really lucky and has great insurance. However, I don't think that means she's "giving up"--it's an individual decision when enough is enough. I think House was just trying to make up for his earlier challenging of her desire for a baby by pointing out that she doesn't have to give up. His soft "There, you did it again," with her tremulous smile in response looked to me like she knew how to read him. in Joy he's all about telling her how she's not ready and again will be a bad parent. You have to wonder what Cuddy's scale of diminishing returns is for House. Besides him being a good doctor for the hospital, what does he offer her personally? I I think her scale is the same as anyone's who cares for House. He offers her laughter,excitement, honesty and stimulation and deep down and rarely referred to, a sense that he cares and she is important to him. Cuddy is able to read Houselanguage for a lot of things, as Wilson is. Wilson isn't holding onto House's "You're really milking this bereavement thing" now that they've connected. With House showing Cuddy that he cares about her grief and that his earlier challenging of her mothering abilities was offbase, and further admitting that he's not sure why he was being so negative, Cuddy will be able to read this situation as House not wanting to lose her, rather than House gratutitiously hurting her. Especially when that raw and vulnerable moment results in a kiss. She may wish he could pull back and use discretion on occasion, as I'm sure everyone does who deals with him, but she knows how hard it would have been for him to come to her and offer his support over the adoption, since it scared him so much. They made contact.

I'm sure Cuddy understands that it could take several times, too, but she did give it several attempts. It's not like she "gave up." And I think if House had known about the two failed attempts and the miscarriage his tack with her would have been different. We'll probably never know for sure, but in any case, House's intent when he said she was giving up was to show his support for her desire for a baby, not to rub her nose in anything. He deserved Cuddy's calling him on his negativity, but he wasn't there or saying anything for the purpose of being cruel. Cuddy really ought to get a pet. Shouldn't they all? I'm sure Steve McQueen did House a world of good.

On a side note, did anyone else get a commercial for Folger's Coffee shortly after the episode? It was freaky because the scene was very similar to the opening of "Joy" which was a little weird. :shock:

Did anyone notice that the first image the patient looks at in the teaser is some dead leaves on a tree or bush outside the window of his house? And then, when 13 wakes him up in her fairy-tale close-up way (after his treatment has kicked in), he looks out the hospital window and sees beautiful, healthy leaves on a tree or bush?

yep, I noticed that the second time I watched it. That was a very nice bookend to his illness, wasn't it? I love seeing that kind of thought go into things. ETA: I just remembered something weird. I could be imagining things, but: When I watched the episode on TV, I swear I don't remember seeing House pour out the sugar or get the credit card out of his wallet. The first thing I remember seeing is him chopping the sugar on the table - with the TV quality not showing the large sugar grains very well, I seriously wondered for about half a second if it was leftover cocaine he was playing with. Then when I downloaded the episode and saw it again, it clearly showed him pouring sugar out. Despite my full attention being directed at the TV for House Hour, is it possible that I just zoned out and didn't see that first part, or did anyone else not see it? :oops: There was definitely a flub in the reception later in the episode and we lost picture and sound for about two or three seconds, but I don't remember that happening at the sugar scene.