House – More magic than an eight ball

“You’re an addict. And I’m an idiot for thinking that your addictions were limited to pills, antisocial behavior and sarcasm.” – Wilson
“[burps] Sorry, Vicodin repeating on me.” – House

Would I be a broken record if I said just how amazing House‘s writers are, and how I can’t believe they keep coming up with this stuff after eight years? Yeah, I probably would, and I don’t know why I am constantly surprised by this. You’d think by now I would get it — they just aren’t going to lose their mojo. There’s no way this writing team can churn out crap, get burned out, come to the end of the line.

There are several things that made tonight’s episode really stand out for me, in addition to the amazing quotes (see below). The quotes were so funny, and made House look like such an ass (’cause he is one) that it almost made me forget that he was an ass with heart. He could blame his obsession on his addiction to finding out a diagnosis no matter what (we’ve seen that before), but House has grown. It was more than just the case to him; human beings were involved. When the father from House’s anger management class asked House how his dead son looked, Keith and I both answered for House before he got a chance to, and we said, “Dead.” House surprised us both by instead telling the grieving father that his son looked peaceful. Though why that surprised us, I’m not sure. House’s growth over the last several seasons wasn’t only significant, it was lasting.

The case of the week also stood out to me, or both of the cases and how they intertwined. The teen with the personality disorder was fascinating, how her different personalities had different symptoms and how getting the Magic Eight Ball as a birthday gift brought back the memories of her father’s car accident death. I loved that House figured out she had the personality disorder through the other case, when he realized that the dead little boy had “two people inside of him.” There was just so much heart woven throughout the two cases, how the diagnosis of the dead boy ended up saving his half-brother’s life and the way it all played out. This was a truly memorable episode of House.

This and that:

• Taub’s quote, “Haven’t you heard? Everybody lies,” reminded me of Ruby’s comment from last week. It was such a shout-out to the underlying basis of House’s philosophy.
• “I like Naval stuff.” – Park
  “I like their oranges and lint.” – House
• ” … I’d like to inquire as to exactly what procedure you intend to perform on the remains.” – groundskeeper at cemetery
  “Have you ever heard of the North American Man/Dead Boy Love Association?” – House
• “I’ve prepared the corpse for you.” – cemetery groundskeeper
  “Thank you, Igor.” – House
• “We have a problem.” – Wilson
  “Does it limp?” – Foreman
• Doctor Down Under … that was hilarious.
• “What happened to your eye?” – Adams
  “I grabbed Park’s ass.” – House

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Nov 21, 2011 @ 22:47 EST5EDT