House 7x16 Out of the Chute
Mar. 16th, 2011 08:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flippetOkay, so. I finally saw the episode.
And I see what they're getting at. It was kind of obvious, actually - sometimes I have to work a bit to pick out all the nuance, but this was fairly easy.
And I will say that it wasn't terrible. It would even have been mostly enjoyable, *except*.
The things that TPTB have said have just sucked the enjoyment right out of it.
Because - if they had said nothing, no pre-emptive explanations - just from watching this episode, it would be relatively easy to look at it as a necessary step in House's journey, and even in Cuddy's (though I still have a couple of issues with her). You could have hope for their future - perhaps not immediately, which would be a good thing, but for a while down the road - kind of like Season 3, you know?
But with their 'sorry, ain't gonna happen, it's dead, and it had to happen this way because it couldn't continue' just makes everything feel pointless.
If you believe what they're saying - then the show itself should have said that, made it clear. No explanations necessary. Or, if people want to believe - well, the show is doing that kind of leading....let them believe. If it's fun for them, let them.
I'm sure that TPTB are going to come back in a few weeks and say 'oh, ha ha, wasn't that funny, we made you think it was over, but we were just playing with semantics!'
Uh, no, no it isn't funny.
I have no issue with them not giving anything away when asked. Not at all. Direct questions, vague answers. That works well for me. But to come out without provocation, and either put out bald-faced lies (for later retraction), or to simply crush hopes and tell the hopeful to GTFO - uncool. Highly uncool. That right there is sucking the enjoyment out of the show for me, when the show itself would probably be okay.
Well, you say - why not just not read what they say?
That's hard. If you want to participate in the online fandom, and discuss with other people - these things come up. It's either participate - or don't. So then, what TPTB have done is essentially make it not fun to be in a community revolving around their show. Maybe they're tired of the fandom factions - fair enough. But to throw a grenade into it that isn't the actual show? That's just spiteful.
I wish they'd just shut the hell up and let their work speak for itself. ONLY the work.
Anyway, on to the show.
Simple explanation, from the get-go.
House has a 'bull' to ride - his demons. His addiction, his desire for a fast life with the alcohol and hookers. Even the desire for physical wholeness/athletic feats.
For the '8 seconds' that he's riding that bull, it's an incredible rush, and he's damn impressive. He can take more vicodin than the average bear, and still come up with amazing diagnoses. He can 'sleep with all but one' of the hookers. He can do a cannonball into a pool from a 5th? 6th? floor balcony. He's receiving awe and adulation - from Martha on the diagnoses, from Carnell on the arrow trick (and possibly the hookers too), from the college kids on the jump.
But that bull's got hooves and horns, and he knows how to use 'em. When/if House finally 'blacks out', he's gonna get the shit kicked out of him. A 'successful' ride? Sure. Still doesn't always end well.
So anyway. The bullrider's tough. Even with the shit beat out of him, he's still impressing Martha with his abilities. He's fighting through incredible pain that's threatening to literally burn through him and rip him apart in the MRI, when the team attempts to 'look inside'. And he's managing it. But as impressive as he is, he can't fix what's wrong with him - a broken heart. (Aww. I see what they did there. Ugh.)
So House goes to get permission, and the bullrider intuits that he's going to have to give up that 8-second rush. He loves it - oh how he loves it. It in a large way makes him who he is. But he seems to be okay with things - he acknowledges the place that bullriding has had in his life, but he says that he'll find something else to love. Because he's a passionate person, and doesn't appear to do anything halfway.
The surgery is risky, and messy - blood and debris pumps out with force over everyone standing nearby. But it works - to the surprise of the doctors. They had to make things 'worse' before they could find the weak spot and repair it.
I think it's pretty obvious how all that relates to House. He's in incredible pain, but not showing much of it because he's riding the bull and putting on a fantastic show. He's also realizing that it's not what it used to be for him - it's not having the effect that it used to. He's broken, and things are starting to spray. But will he be able to give it up and 'find something else to love'? (Like...himself, maybe?)
Who knows. Stay tuned.
At this point, it looks like his ride isn't quite over, so we'll see. The final music was pretty anvilicious - my body is a cage that keeps me from dancing with the one I love, but my mind holds the key? Doesn't get much more pointed. My question is - are they ever going to let him find that key? So many good stories there, but they keep seeming to push them off in favor of 'oh look, House is in agony again, and too fucked up to fix himself'. That part *is* getting kind of old.
Oh, I did kind of like the parallels with the hookers, etc. House really is hurting - he's trying to overlay the memories of important things with Cuddy, with those same things with the hookers. Lots and lots of sex, sharing a bathtub, holding hands. If he can do those things with anyone, then it diminishes their meaning, right? Good luck with that one, sugar.
Oh, and I meant to comment a bit on Cuddy, too. I'm still frustrated with her, because I feel that they're going to keep insisting that she's right to do what she did. Yes, I know that we got a sort-of apology from her. She does seem to feel bad about what she's done to House, to a degree. It was nice to hear her say both that she loved him, and that she believed he loved her. But she keeps saying that she needs someone who will be there.
The issue I have with this is - she's either right or wrong. If she's 'right' - and she does want/need/deserve more, then I don't know why she's even on this show. She's the queen who's life irritation is the peasant, and she's so far above that. Pointless. If she's wrong....when will we ever see that? Cuddy never apologizes, or backs down - not really. If she does, it's in that irritating 'fine, I'll say you're right and I'm sorry, but we both know that you're not and I'm not'.
If anything is going to actually work between her and House, she's going to need to seriously address her own issues. That she's looking for a perfection that's impossible. And if she really thinks that that's what she deserves - then she needs to GTFO and find it for herself, and leave poor House the fuck alone.
I just think that some of these writers *seriously* think that Cuddy's not wrong. She never seems to have to apologize for her actions. And unfortunately, I think that will only continue.
And I see what they're getting at. It was kind of obvious, actually - sometimes I have to work a bit to pick out all the nuance, but this was fairly easy.
And I will say that it wasn't terrible. It would even have been mostly enjoyable, *except*.
The things that TPTB have said have just sucked the enjoyment right out of it.
Because - if they had said nothing, no pre-emptive explanations - just from watching this episode, it would be relatively easy to look at it as a necessary step in House's journey, and even in Cuddy's (though I still have a couple of issues with her). You could have hope for their future - perhaps not immediately, which would be a good thing, but for a while down the road - kind of like Season 3, you know?
But with their 'sorry, ain't gonna happen, it's dead, and it had to happen this way because it couldn't continue' just makes everything feel pointless.
If you believe what they're saying - then the show itself should have said that, made it clear. No explanations necessary. Or, if people want to believe - well, the show is doing that kind of leading....let them believe. If it's fun for them, let them.
I'm sure that TPTB are going to come back in a few weeks and say 'oh, ha ha, wasn't that funny, we made you think it was over, but we were just playing with semantics!'
Uh, no, no it isn't funny.
I have no issue with them not giving anything away when asked. Not at all. Direct questions, vague answers. That works well for me. But to come out without provocation, and either put out bald-faced lies (for later retraction), or to simply crush hopes and tell the hopeful to GTFO - uncool. Highly uncool. That right there is sucking the enjoyment out of the show for me, when the show itself would probably be okay.
Well, you say - why not just not read what they say?
That's hard. If you want to participate in the online fandom, and discuss with other people - these things come up. It's either participate - or don't. So then, what TPTB have done is essentially make it not fun to be in a community revolving around their show. Maybe they're tired of the fandom factions - fair enough. But to throw a grenade into it that isn't the actual show? That's just spiteful.
I wish they'd just shut the hell up and let their work speak for itself. ONLY the work.
Anyway, on to the show.
Simple explanation, from the get-go.
House has a 'bull' to ride - his demons. His addiction, his desire for a fast life with the alcohol and hookers. Even the desire for physical wholeness/athletic feats.
For the '8 seconds' that he's riding that bull, it's an incredible rush, and he's damn impressive. He can take more vicodin than the average bear, and still come up with amazing diagnoses. He can 'sleep with all but one' of the hookers. He can do a cannonball into a pool from a 5th? 6th? floor balcony. He's receiving awe and adulation - from Martha on the diagnoses, from Carnell on the arrow trick (and possibly the hookers too), from the college kids on the jump.
But that bull's got hooves and horns, and he knows how to use 'em. When/if House finally 'blacks out', he's gonna get the shit kicked out of him. A 'successful' ride? Sure. Still doesn't always end well.
So anyway. The bullrider's tough. Even with the shit beat out of him, he's still impressing Martha with his abilities. He's fighting through incredible pain that's threatening to literally burn through him and rip him apart in the MRI, when the team attempts to 'look inside'. And he's managing it. But as impressive as he is, he can't fix what's wrong with him - a broken heart. (Aww. I see what they did there. Ugh.)
So House goes to get permission, and the bullrider intuits that he's going to have to give up that 8-second rush. He loves it - oh how he loves it. It in a large way makes him who he is. But he seems to be okay with things - he acknowledges the place that bullriding has had in his life, but he says that he'll find something else to love. Because he's a passionate person, and doesn't appear to do anything halfway.
The surgery is risky, and messy - blood and debris pumps out with force over everyone standing nearby. But it works - to the surprise of the doctors. They had to make things 'worse' before they could find the weak spot and repair it.
I think it's pretty obvious how all that relates to House. He's in incredible pain, but not showing much of it because he's riding the bull and putting on a fantastic show. He's also realizing that it's not what it used to be for him - it's not having the effect that it used to. He's broken, and things are starting to spray. But will he be able to give it up and 'find something else to love'? (Like...himself, maybe?)
Who knows. Stay tuned.
At this point, it looks like his ride isn't quite over, so we'll see. The final music was pretty anvilicious - my body is a cage that keeps me from dancing with the one I love, but my mind holds the key? Doesn't get much more pointed. My question is - are they ever going to let him find that key? So many good stories there, but they keep seeming to push them off in favor of 'oh look, House is in agony again, and too fucked up to fix himself'. That part *is* getting kind of old.
Oh, I did kind of like the parallels with the hookers, etc. House really is hurting - he's trying to overlay the memories of important things with Cuddy, with those same things with the hookers. Lots and lots of sex, sharing a bathtub, holding hands. If he can do those things with anyone, then it diminishes their meaning, right? Good luck with that one, sugar.
Oh, and I meant to comment a bit on Cuddy, too. I'm still frustrated with her, because I feel that they're going to keep insisting that she's right to do what she did. Yes, I know that we got a sort-of apology from her. She does seem to feel bad about what she's done to House, to a degree. It was nice to hear her say both that she loved him, and that she believed he loved her. But she keeps saying that she needs someone who will be there.
The issue I have with this is - she's either right or wrong. If she's 'right' - and she does want/need/deserve more, then I don't know why she's even on this show. She's the queen who's life irritation is the peasant, and she's so far above that. Pointless. If she's wrong....when will we ever see that? Cuddy never apologizes, or backs down - not really. If she does, it's in that irritating 'fine, I'll say you're right and I'm sorry, but we both know that you're not and I'm not'.
If anything is going to actually work between her and House, she's going to need to seriously address her own issues. That she's looking for a perfection that's impossible. And if she really thinks that that's what she deserves - then she needs to GTFO and find it for herself, and leave poor House the fuck alone.
I just think that some of these writers *seriously* think that Cuddy's not wrong. She never seems to have to apologize for her actions. And unfortunately, I think that will only continue.
