# House M.D. 5/19 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910 "2008-05-19T23:19:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/61 "2008-05-20T18:03:11Z")
Can one of you explain in a little more detail about the amantadine? CTB has cold or flu symptoms and took it. Was that bad thing? I understand the part about kidney failure not allowing for filtration but I don’t understand why she took it in the first place. Never been a fan of CTB - the character or the actress - but she was just perfect in this episode. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/62 "2008-05-20T18:04:48Z")
I missed part of the conversation House and 13 had in the bathroom stall (hooray for living close to an airport.) How did it come up that 13 felt she needed to test herself for Huntington’s? Did she mention one of her parents had it? And if so, _how_ did they go from talking about Amber to that? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/63 "2008-05-20T18:14:45Z")
The Huntington’s didn’t really come up in this episode – it had come up earlier in the season. Thirteen knew that she could have inherited it and took the test, then changed her mind and decided that she didn’t want to know the results. House knew, but we didn’t. It is presumed that seeing another young female doctor close to death gave her the impetus to test herself again to learn what kind of time she might have left. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/64 "2008-05-20T18:19:59Z")
[QUOTE=Fir na tine] Can one of you explain in a little more detail about the amantadine? CTB has cold or flu symptoms and took it. Was that bad thing? I understand the part about kidney failure not allowing for filtration but I don’t understand why she took it in the first place. Never been a fan of CTB - the character or the actress - but she was just perfect in this episode. [/QUOTE] Apparently it’s fine to take amantadine (an anti-viral drug) if you have the flu, although the [Polite Dissent doc](http://politedissent.com/archives/1991) says that two pills was an overdose. The amantadine is filtered out of your body by your kidneys. But CTB took the pills and then the bus crash immediately destroyed her kidneys, so the amatadine stayed in her system and destroyed her organs. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/65 "2008-05-20T18:20:39Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] I missed part of the conversation House and 13 had in the bathroom stall (hooray for living close to an airport.) How did it come up that 13 felt she needed to test herself for Huntington’s? Did she mention one of her parents had it? And if so, _how_ did they go from talking about Amber to that? [/QUOTE] House figured out a few episodes ago that 13 was at risk for Huntington’s (her mother died of it). When he confronted her about, she told him that she never got tested because if she had it, there was nothing she could do about it, so what’s the point in knowing. In this episode, 13 has problems dealing with trying to diagnose Amber. In the bathroom stall, House tells her that the reason she’s having the problem is because she’s been in denial about maybe having Huntington’s, and seeing a young woman dying for no good reason is forcing her to deal with possibly having a disease that will mean she’ll die at a young age for no good reason. So, she should just get over herself and treat her patient. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/66 "2008-05-20T21:05:33Z")
AnneDudek is 6’ and I have a thing for tall ruthless women, so Amber is just the kinda woman I’d fall for. That aside, I think her acting in this episode was top notch, mostly because its subtlety. Also, maybe my own fear of getting the annual test results back three years after having (succesfully) removed a kidney due to a malignant tumor, but the agony of 13 resonated with me. The medicine might be bullshit, but the emotions are real. Which is why I love the show. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/67 "2008-05-20T21:10:31Z")
What exactly is Huntington’s Disease? When Wilson turned and grabbed Cuddy as he started sobbing, realizing that he was going to have to wake Amber up to say goodbye…I lost it. Excellent episode. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/68 "2008-05-20T21:40:44Z")
[QUOTE=running piglet cheese] I still don’t get the symptom House was supposed to see. Taking the pills was not a symptom and didn’t even play a part until after the crash. House had no way of knowing before they found Amber in the other hospital that her kidneys had shut down, so how did he know the amantadine would be the cause of her current crisis while still on the bus? [/QUOTE] My take: There wasn’t a symptom. In the previous episode, he just knew someone was dying and assumed he must have seen a symptom and went about trying to piece together what it would have been. Instead, it was Amber in the bus crash. This episode was about Amber’s further complications and happened to tie in with House noticing the amantadine before the crash. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/69 "2008-05-20T22:03:38Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] What exactly is Huntington’s Disease? When Wilson turned and grabbed Cuddy as he started sobbing, realizing that he was going to have to wake Amber up to say goodbye…I lost it. Excellent episode. [/QUOTE] [Huntington’s Disease](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington%27s_Disease), also known as Huntington’s chorea, is a genetic neurological disorder, which causes physical and cognitive problems which, while not themselves fatal, usually result in a shortened lifespan and decreased quality of life. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/70 "2008-05-20T22:34:04Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] [Huntington’s Disease](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington%27s_Disease), also known as Huntington’s chorea, is a genetic neurological disorder, which causes physical and cognitive problems which, while not themselves fatal, usually result in a shortened lifespan and decreased quality of life. [/QUOTE] That being quite the understatement… There is no cure. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/71 "2008-05-21T00:39:15Z")
I kinda liked the different arrangement of “Teardrop,” the show’s theme song, that was played around the middle of the episode. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/72 "2008-05-21T00:51:08Z")
I picked up on something on that scene on the bus during House’s coma. He says something like he doesn’t want to go back, because it hurts. Amber says “We don’t always get what we want.” I took that to mean that she didn’t want to die, but she did. I predict Wilson will be furious at House for awhile, but he’ll get over it. He has to blame something/someone, and House is the closest fit. Oh, and Amber got on the bus to give House his cane, which he’d left in the bar. [This site](http://politedissent.com/) is by a doctor who loves _House_, but he also grades based on the medical aspect. According to him, Amber did take too much amantadine (why do I keep thinking it’s the stuff they injected into Wolverine?) (on preview, I see **Eleanor** beat me to it. By quite a bit.) :o ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/73 "2008-05-21T03:45:48Z")
I think that since Amber (apparently) wasn’t brain damaged, it was the right thing to do to wake her up. If nothing else, it would give her the chance to say her good byes to Wilson and anyone else she needed to… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/74 "2008-05-21T03:49:52Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] PS-the medicine was ridiculous to the point of absurdity, but I didn’t care due to the story line. [/QUOTE] Yah - can you even _be_ conscious on a heart bypass machine? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/75 "2008-05-21T03:56:26Z")
[QUOTE=The Shroud] Damn, that was some good TV. I’m too lazy to look up the name of the woman who plays Amber, but she’s at least as good an actor as RSL. She sold me on her slowly realized… crap, I just realized I don’t know how to do spoiler boxes. I thought it’d be one of the main icons above, considering how often they’re used. Ah well, when Amber comes to an important realization, the actress a damn good job. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Agreed. The look of absolute, oh-damn-I-can’t-wake-up horror on her face is utterly chilling. By the way, you start spoiler boxes by typing the word “SPOILER” in between brackets, and “/SPOILER” in brackets when you’re done with the text you want in the box. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/76 "2008-05-21T05:29:46Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] I picked up on something on that scene on the bus during House’s coma. He says something like he doesn’t want to go back, because it hurts. Amber says “We don’t always get what we want.” I took that to mean that she didn’t want to die, but she did. I predict Wilson will be furious at House for awhile, but he’ll get over it. He has to blame something/someone, and House is the closest fit. Oh, and Amber got on the bus to give House his cane, which he’d left in the bar. [This site](http://politedissent.com/) is by a doctor who loves _House_, but he also grades based on the medical aspect. According to him, Amber did take too much amantadine (why do I keep thinking it’s the stuff they injected into Wolverine?) (on preview, I see **Eleanor** beat me to it. By quite a bit.) :o [/QUOTE] I am wondering if she would have been in trouble with the overdose even if she hadn’t been in the accident and if they intend for that to come out later or if her taking 2 pills was just an oversight on the writer’s part. Also, wouldn’t oseltamivir have been much safer for the flu? ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/77 "2008-05-21T06:43:39Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] I picked up on something on that scene on the bus during House’s coma. He says something like he doesn’t want to go back, because it hurts. Amber says “We don’t always get what we want.” I took that to mean that she didn’t want to die, but she did. [/QUOTE] I had just finished watching Season one of House on DVD before I saw this episode (as I’m catching up on the show, i discovered it halfway through this season, so i know the ending and now the first season but thats about it). But that line from the Rolling Stone’s song is how they ended the First season, and how the started the pilot episodes as well. That line came up aLOT during Season one, and i thought it was a nice tie in to end this season with it there as well… Tis a great song. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/78 "2008-05-21T09:04:23Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] Sorry if I stepped on toes by starting this, but I just wanted to say that I have to miss it tonight. I have to go to a thing at the HS. Poop (damned honor student!) Please feel free to spoil it–I won’t be able to see it for a week now. ☹ I say that House and Amber were not having an affair, but that it looks that way for now. Amber must have some kind of rare disease/condition–that’s why she was on the bus with House. Just a theory. [/QUOTE] Can’t you go to the FOX website and see it? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/79 "2008-05-21T12:11:56Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] So why did House agree to be hooked up to the brain stimulus thing if he knew it would risk his life? Why would he risk his life to try to save Amber’s? He doesn’t even like Amber. Is it just that he’s that devoted to diagnosing people? [/QUOTE] I remember asking myself as that happened: “is that the first nice thing he’s done for Wilson?” [QUOTE=winterhawk11] I think that’s why he had so much trouble remembering it–because his injured brain had these two pieces of information (she had taken the amantadine pills, then her kidneys were injured and unable to filter the poison out of her system). Taken singly neither of these facts is particularly interesting, but when put together, they become very significant. House has the kind of brain that just notes small seemingly insignificant details and files them away for later–in his injured state he realized that there was something he \*should \*know, but he couldn’t get the pieces to come together. And actually, I believe he did know that her kidneys shut down before they found out it was Amber–before that, she was “Jane Doe #2,” but I think I remember them mentioning the kidney thing. Since his brain knew somewhere in there that Jane Doe was Amber (or at least that she could be, since Amber didn’t show up among the injured at PP), it was trying to put things together. At least that was how I saw it. [/QUOTE] I disagree and I think essentially the premise of the episode is illogical. House realized that pre-crash, he saw symptoms in someone that indicated they would die. Amber had no pre-crash symptoms. It only logically works if he can somehow diagnose kidney failure from the crash in the few moments he has with her - but given there’s no obvious trauma to the area, and he was probably focusing on the bar through the leg, that seems unlikely. He may have known about Jane Doe #2’s renal failure, but he was convinced he needed to find the person whose symptoms he saw well before he saw her chart. The premise is essentially that House is searching for information that he can’t remember, but it’s information he didn’t have. [QUOTE=StGermain] **Eleanor** - I wouldn’t’ve chosen to wake her up. That’s just cruel. [/QUOTE] I’m not sure. I think there’s value in being able to say anything you’ve meant to say.. I mean, I guess she would’ve never known if they hadn’t woken her up, but it gives her the chance to get her affairs in order… and to make religious peace, which has sort of a Pascal’s wager value to it. Tough call to make. Wilson did it for selfish reasons, though, not for her benefit. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910/80 "2008-05-21T13:08:08Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Excellent] Yah - can you even _be_ conscious on a heart bypass machine? [/QUOTE] I never did open heart unit, and there may well be a level of awareness while on it, but not to the extent that you’re able to talk to your BF and say your goodbyes. The most recent episode is shown online 8 days after initial airing, just FYI. **SenorBeef** –but Wilson’s doing so for that reason is no less noble or important-selfish, perhaps, but necessary for both of them. He is the ultimate enabler, the doormat, the person who wants to make you happy, so becomes invisible. To assert his need to such an extent demonstrates remarkable growth, all due to his relationship with Amber. It’s that and the whole bit about Amber being mad that Wilson got the bed he thought she wanted that made me finally accept Amber. And I think what House might be more afraid of is not Wilson’s grief (afterall, House knows a thing or two about loss), but that Wilson is no longer Wilson the “I’ll put up with anything” friend. The balance of power has shifted, ever so slightly, and not in House’s favor. I think Amber was ok with being awoken, but that’s dramatic license. Certainly the actress made the most of her death scene–one of the best I’ve seen. “You can’t always get what you want.” said by Amber… I took it as a jibe at House (but also a wry reference to her own situation); a call to stop trying to have his cake and eat it to, that he isn’t the most important person in the room always and that he now needs to face some unpleasant music. To his credit, I think he’s aware of that and that’s why he hung back. I think he doesn’t really know what to do next and that it will be up to Wilson to make the next move–a very uncomfortable position for House. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-m-d-5-19/449910.md?page=5)