5.08 - Emancipation
A PARENTLESS TEENAGER FALLS MYSTERIOUSLY ILL AND FOREMAN TAKES ON A CASE OF HIS OWN FREE FROM HOUSE’S SUPERVISION ON “HOUSE” TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, ON FOX The team takes on the case of a 16-year-old factory manager who fell ill when her lungs suddenly filled with fluid while at work. The teenager informs House and team that she is an emancipated minor living on her own and supporting herself, and has ever since her parents passed away. The team begins treatment for suspected heart problems, but when Kutner chooses to sympathize with the patient rather than follow House’s directions, he and the team find out the hard way that the girl may not be telling them the truth. Meanwhile, Foreman asks for House’s permission to work on a clinical trial and House rejects his proposal. In an effort to prove himself capable of working without House’s supervision, Foreman takes on his own pediatric case. But when the unexplained illness brings the child to the brink of death, Foreman is left questioning his ability to work free from House’s custody in the “Emancipation” episode of HOUSE airing Tuesday, Nov. 18 (8:00-9:01 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (HOU-508) (TV-14 D) Cast: Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House; Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Lisa Cuddy; Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman; Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson; Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron; Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase; Peter Jacobson as Dr. Chris Taub; Kal Penn as Dr. Lawrence Kutner; Olivia Wilde as Thirteen Guest Cast: Emily Rios as Sophia; Alexandra Lydon as Melinda; Kyle Silverstein as Jonah; Nathan Gamble as Evan; Bob McCracken as Doug; Liza Colon-Zayas as Maria; Al Coronel as Ray; Chrissie Pit as Girl; Dawn Frances as Nurse; Yolanda Rubio-Soto as Sophia’s Mom; Jose Chavez as Sophia’s Dad; Bobbin Bergstrom as Nurse Source: Fox Flash

Hmmm, not sure if I cared for that episode. It kinda left me cold. I do like an episode that ends with a House/Wilson moment though.

Man this ep was boring.

Okay, so it wasn't just me then? ::sigh of relief::

Even the House/Wilson stuff was so boring. They never said anything.

How do I use spoiler tags? I liked the Foreman bit. And House & Wilson (as always). A lot of sibling stuff in this epi...wonder if Foreman's brother might make an appearance this season. And again with the foster theme & Kutner. Mod Note: To spoiler tag something, highlight the text you want to spoil. Then pick white as your font color. Poeia

I thought it was boring as well. It was the first episode I wouldnt have been at all sad to miss. Other episodes I've really disliked, but they've all had at least one good joke or interaction or some sort of interesting medicine - this one I barely paid attention to. I cringed at a lot of the acting - even HL wasn't as good as usual IMO, and the H/W stuff felt forced and sit-comy (I feel like RSL isn't putting much effort in lately, but it could just be the material). Too much "sarcasm" that wasn't clever.

Okay episode. I'm not crazy, though, in finding both patients being about House and Wilson?

I thought it was a really good episode. They're starting to take steps getting back to the House I love. The POTW was interesting. I loved House's talk with her. He does that sort of thing better than anyone. He doesn't show sympathy. He doesn't gush. And the patients know that he means what he says. I'm going to be puzzling over what Wilson's game is for a while. Maybe he's actually trying not to manipulate House for a change. Good use of CCF. His allowing Foreman to participate in the clinical trials harks back to his keeping Foreman in the lab overnight rerunning -*test*-('")s -- "You're not ready. You still trust my opinion over your own." Once Foreman was ready, House let go. The one thing that I hated was the 27 commercial breaks. They disrupt the story to an extreme degree.

Most boring episode ever. Is this now the Foreman and Thirteen, M.D.s show? I never signed up for that. Not enough RSL; not enough LE; not enough Hugh.

This episode reminded me of a more traditional episode pre-Survivor crap, but the new team just leaves me cold so, overall, it didn't do much for me. Watching them in DDx is boring. It was a very predictable episode. Who didn't see it coming that if Foreman stood up for himself he'd get to do the trials? As soon as House asked what she could have done that's worse than rape, who didn't see it coming that she killed her brother because of the other case? I also don't get Foreman's sense of arrogance. He said he would be scarce and it would give the others an opportunity to "step up." Granted, I don't rewatch episodes like I used to, but is Foreman any more gifted in DDx than the new guys? It's never come across to me like he's "ahead" of them except in an administrative way. It was nice to see Chase in action working on a patient who wasn't in surgery and it was cool that he got to be smart and suspect the older brother was making the four year old sick. I enjoyed Cameron in the episode. I find it very believable that she's over House given the way she spoke about him. The Old Team working together is nice to see. House and Wilson's interactions were fun too. 13, of course, ticked me off when she decided to go against the girl's wishes and go look up her rapist father. Even though that turned out to be a lie, she really crossed a line with that one. I like that Kutner wants to believe people. I hope working with House won't make him cynical. Did anyone else feel like there were more commercials than show? I think that contributed to the boringness of the episode. It never hit a stride before an ad for Fringe came along.

Its not often there's an ep with zero humor.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I thought it had some great moments. Sure it was a standalone with no big pieces of the arc puzzle, but as such it had a couple of appealing patients (loved the big brother, and the main patient kept tossing them curveballs in terms of her lies). I really liked the way they're mixing up the teams -- everybody got a nice bit. We got a little more from Kutner's backstory, pieces of the old team ... and I love the way Taub gets under Thirteen's skin, even using her story on the patient, then accusing her of failing to tap into her own personal issues even when it's the right time to do so. Wilson being inscrutable was a giggle, as was his "don't mess with my stuff" on his way out the office, knowing what House was about to do. For me, the payoff was that pure Housian moment, though, in which Foreman finally gets it. That he has to stand up for himself and stop either blaming or relying on House for every decision he makes.

Chiming in with the boring. I didn't like how the storyline randomly shifted from Kutner to 13 in the middle. I kind of wanted to smack that patient, fake!Sophia. I'm going to be puzzling over what Wilson's game is for a while. Maybe he's actually trying not to manipulate House for a change. Yeah, it was weird. It felt unresolved, but that's how I felt about their subplot in Games too and that never really got resolved either. It's just that there was really no eplination to Wilson's behavior. Oh, well. The one thing that I hated was the 27 commercial breaks. They disrupt the story to an extreme degree. Seriously, it felt like there was a commercial every 5 minutes. Annoying.

This ep also employed a lot of formulaic stuff. And the liar girl was just annoying. I will say one interesting thing was Taub's "I have Huntingtons" speech.