# House MD 4/11
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 11, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299 "2006-04-11T23:54:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/1 "2006-04-11T23:54:58Z")
I haven’t even looked at the description for tonight’s ep., so for the time being, I remain relatively unspoiled.
Come on in later and we’ll discuss our cranky doc.
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### Author:  [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/2 "2006-04-12T02:45:20Z")
On a 1-10 scale, I give that one a 7. I loved the poker interplay. I thought it was interesting to see what House did when he didn’t cure a case, he memorized it and basically had a latent obsession with it. I wonder if we’ll see a case where the team fails and doesn’t cure a patient, I was betting money on it being this one - but am sort of glad it wasn’t. The kid was so darned cute. I also liked seeing Wilson so proud of his poker win. That was awesome! And it even lead into the cure for House to figure out.
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### Author:  [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/3 "2006-04-12T04:27:36Z")
House needling Wilson on his wife was hilarious as well… as was the mussel penis comment at the end. I wonder how I’d react if I brought my kid in, but everyone in the hospital was in a suit or dress, having a party downstairs!!
Good episode though :D.
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### Author:  [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/4 "2006-04-12T04:55:31Z")
Barnacle penis, for the record. And they have failed to cure patients before. There was one episode in the first season where it turned out the patient had late-stage rabies, uncurable. They’ve never failed to diagnose, however, which is what happened with Esther.
Overall, I really liked this episode. The faster pace was a welcome change from the indeterminate number of days every other episode takes. And the way House kept Cuddy occupied was hilarious.
I think House’s obsession was deliciously in character. It’s so like him. We already saw him being obsessed with his former med school classmate for getting a fellowship or something, to the point where he was giving himself migraines and dropping acid to discredit the guy.
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### Author:  [@running\_piglet\_cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_piglet_cheese)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/5 "2006-04-12T05:27:12Z")
Loved when House hit the wall with his fist when he finally got the diagnosis right. Didn’t understand the look of bewilderment on students’ faces.
Liked the quote about “They’re only mad because their kid is dying. If he doesn’t die, they won’t be mad any more.”
What’s with Cutty? She knows the kid is dying and House is his only chance, so what’s with the “Stay away from him!”?
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### Author:  [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/6 "2006-04-12T05:39:56Z")
Great stuff. That’s two in a row. Keep 'em coming!
I am so going to look up the info on barnacles…
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### Author:  [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/7 "2006-04-12T06:01:41Z")
I have a pet peeve when the adult docs start messing with kids. I suppose on House there’s a lot more to peeve with – doing their own biopsies, colonoscopies, pathology, immunohistochem, not to mention the level of intervention and the bizarreness of the disease presentation from week to week – but it just bothers me. It doesn’t take away from the show to make it more realistic, and the conversation is pretty accurate, so they obviously know what they are doing.
I’m kind of getting tired of the usual formula, though. Patient collapses -\> opening credits -\> patient stabilized and get a history -\> conference, with lots of tests suggested -\> first round of testing with no positives -\> another conference, usually interrupted by patient acutely worsening -\> code the patient -\> new conference with new results -\> insensitive things said to family members, often followed by break in to patient’s house -\> patient gets even worse -\> House makes breakthough, often based on random unrelated fact not even found by the $100,000 workup, ethics violations, and felony B&Es committed -\> start treatment -\> patient improves -\> roll credits. I still watch the show, if only to look up the bizarre diseases they settle on (Erdheim-Chester? gimme a break).
I’d like to see trumped (and shown irrevocably wrong) by his subordinates or Cutty. I’d like to see House be wrong and his irresponsible behavior cause harm. It would be interesting to see how the character would handle these things.
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### Author:  [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/8 "2006-04-12T06:08:11Z")
> [@edwino](#):
>
> I’m kind of getting tired of the usual formula, though. Patient collapses -\> opening credits -\> patient stabilized and get a history -\> conference, with lots of tests suggested -\> first round of testing with no positives -\> another conference, usually interrupted by patient acutely worsening -\> code the patient -\> new conference with new results -\> insensitive things said to family members, often followed by break in to patient’s house -\> patient gets even worse -\> House makes breakthough, often based on random unrelated fact not even found by the $100,000 workup, ethics violations, and felony B&Es committed -\> start treatment -\> patient improves -\> roll credits. I still watch the show, if only to look up the bizarre diseases they settle on (Erdheim-Chester? gimme a break).
That’s not fair. The doctors have demonstrated a recent trend toward obtaining permission from the residents of the domiciles that they search!
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### Author:  [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/9 "2006-04-12T12:31:42Z")
I just want to know if the teacher had the baby or not? Was it a boy or a girl? Or was it just a false alarm?
I thought this episode was pretty good. I feel bad for the kid, though, not only having to go through all that, but thinking how evil little kids can be and whether or not he’d be teased for years over having blood all over his butt? He escaped brain injury (apparently) but can he escape 6 year old kids?
I laughed at House’s reaction to Cameron being all dressed up in that red dress.
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### Author:  [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/10 "2006-04-12T12:41:44Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#):
>
> He escaped brain injury (apparently) …
He did? When did this happen - I missed it.
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### Author:  [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/11 "2006-04-12T12:44:27Z")
Got pissed at my guy last night - he dared to try to start a conversation during the show.
Good episode. I thought the kid was going to die - glad he didn’t.
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/12 "2006-04-12T13:00:50Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#):
>
> I laughed at House’s reaction to Cameron being all dressed up in that red dress.
I missed that! What was it?
And don’t hospitals have scrubs available all the time for them to go ahead and change? It’s not like they weren’t sitting around thinking as always.
I just don’t get how a hospital can afford to pay four people to work on one patient at a time. Is that at all realistic?
Any ep that mentions barnacle penises is OK by me! And again House lightens up around his pal.
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### Author:  [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/13 "2006-04-12T13:26:23Z")
> [@running piglet cheese](#):
>
> What’s with Cutty? She knows the kid is dying and House is his only chance, so what’s with the “Stay away from him!”?
Especially because she came in later, after “throwing” him off the case when House was sitting on the kids bed and gave the most pathetic sounding “Have you come up with anything yet?” Does that mean that Cutty is just full of hot air?
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### Author:  [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/14 "2006-04-12T14:54:50Z")
> [@gigi](#):
>
> I missed that! What was it?
He was talking and trying to figure out what was going on with the kid, writing on his whiteboard and he turns around to see Cameron and goes “Whoa… … … What were we talking about?”
The greatest thing about this show is the characters. Screw the drama and the medical cases, this episode showed us a piece of House we hadn’t seen before.
And thanks to the person above who pointed out that they hadn’t saved everyone, they’ve only diagnosed everyone. An important difference.
I would love to see another episode of House teaching the students like he did in season 1, that episode may still hold the rank as my favorite…
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### Author:  [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/15 "2006-04-12T15:09:13Z")
> [@edwino](#):
>
> I’m kind of getting tired of the usual formula, though.
The usual formula is very much like what happens with Sherlock Holmes in his stories (the ones I’ve read, anyway). And that shouldn’t be a surprise, because if the Wikipedia article on _House_ can be believed, the show’s creator has purposely modeled House after Holmes, at least somewhat:
> [@Wikipedia](#):
>
> The show’s creator, David Shore, has said in an interview that the character of Dr. House is partly inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Among the characteristics the two characters share are their ability to come to rapid conclusions after the briefest examination of a client/patient, their drug use (cocaine for Holmes, Vicodin for House), and the fact that each character has only one real friend (Watson and Wilson, respectively) who connects the cerebral hero to human concerns. … Also, in one episode House’s apartment number is revealed to be 221B, Sherlock Holmes’s Baker Street address. Additionally, when asked why he chose the name “House”, Shore explained that he was inspired by Sherlock Holmes.
So, blame Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for the formulaic plot. But I also tend to agree that I like it better when they mix it up.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/16 "2006-04-12T15:24:11Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#):
>
> Especially because she came in later, after “throwing” him off the case when House was sitting on the kids bed and gave the most pathetic sounding “Have you come up with anything yet?” Does that mean that Cutty is just full of hot air?
I get the sense that Cutty is a perfectly competent doctor. But the only time Mark House is engaged is when a merely competent doctor would be completely at odds and baffled. 999 cases out of a thousand, Cutty will be perfectly capable of providing proper care. House lives for that thousandth case.
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### Author:  [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/17 "2006-04-12T15:48:20Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> I get the sense that Cutty is a perfectly competent doctor. But the only time Mark House is engaged is when a merely competent doctor would be completely at odds and baffled. 999 cases out of a thousand, Cutty will be perfectly capable of providing proper care. House lives for that thousandth case.
/nitpick
Gregory House (and Cuddy)
/nitpick
Interesting choice of name, though (which is why I brought it up in the first place), since Mark was the name of House’s ex-girlfriend’s husband (and House’s rival for awhile), who featured somewhat prominently a few episodes earlier this season and late last.
Okay, you can ignore me now. Just felt I should mention that. 🙂
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/18 "2006-04-12T16:08:11Z")
This was one of the few episodes where we’re not given any information about the patient’s history that proves to be the key to the puzzle. So we couldn’t play along, guessing what factoid mentioned casually at the beginning would later become vital.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/19 "2006-04-12T19:30:38Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#):
>
> /nitpick
> Gregory House (and Cuddy)
> /nitpick
>
> Interesting choice of name, though (which is why I brought it up in the first place), since Mark was the name of House’s ex-girlfriend’s husband (and House’s rival for awhile), who featured somewhat prominently a few episodes earlier this season and late last.
>
> Okay, you can ignore me now. Just felt I should mention that. 🙂
:smack:
Right you are. Can’t believe I made that mistake.
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### Author:  [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-md-4-11/352299/20 "2006-04-12T19:58:43Z")
I thought this was one of the best episodes of the season so far.
Seeing Laura Allen as the child’s mom reminded me of how eager I am for the return of **The 4400**.
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