Thanks, jonesj. Yes, when I said that I missed everything AFTER the cellist playing, I meant that I’d to know the end of the show, not just the end of the cellist.
I thought the episode was wonderful in the way that the head shrink kept out-smarting House. We’re so used to House being more clever than anyone else, it was a delight to see him thwarted (warning Wilson in advance, placebo pills, etc.)
And, BTW, it’s clear that there’s been a long time lapse during House’s stay. Even the last sequences, “Superman”'s facial scars have healed a lot between when he is wheeled in and the time at which he gives the music box to the cellist. So, even in that brief period, there’s been a fair amount of time passing.
That’s what I thought as well, Gramps.
He looked to be in his early to mid-20s, IMO.
My first thought was that they were referring to 9/11, but decided the reference was just left ambiguous on purpose.
Danny was in the psych ward at New York Mercy. Wilson just says he “knows somebody” who will help House; I don’t think it was made clear if that was Dr. Andre or not.
[ul]
[li]To me, it was clear what Ro0sh referred to when he said “I felt like the PSA at the end was something that’s rarely really said, and needed to be said about psychiatric treatment”[/li]
[li]I didn’t think at all about 9/11 re: Freedom Master. I just thought some madman/armed robber killed his wife. Does anyone have the exact text of what was said about his wife?[/li]
[li]It went completely against House’s character to want Freedom Master to continue in his delusion.[/li]
[li]It was wrong that House didn’t know how to fake the side effects of the meds he was supposed to be taking (dry mouth, etc). His lack of side effects is what made the doctors suspicious. Surely someone like House knows the side effects of those meds.[/li][/ul]
Nurse: “Your wife is dead.”
FM: “Good can defeat evil.”
Nurse: “Not every time. Evil people killed a lot of good people that day. You couldn’t save her. No one can save her.”
For what it’s worth, I e-mailed a friend whose wife is in the TV industry – she’s friends with the director of this episode, and is going to ask her if she knows the intent behind that line.
I, too, would like to know where you can find one of those “fly above a giant fan outdoors” things.
Lots of great guest stars in this one. Booger from Revenge of the Nerds, the guy from Swingers and Becker, and the evil sister from Ever After as the doctor. Plus Franka Potente and Andre Braugher of course.
As for the episode itself, I think it could’ve been a good hour episode, but two hours was a little much. The sappy ending was a little off-putting for me.
From the above quote, and from his name “Freedom Master” (since there were a lot of “Freedom” things after 9/11), it does indeed seem like they were going for 9/11.
IMDB says he was born in 1976, making him 25 in 2001, which is reasonable
I also enjoyed seeing Artemis from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, though it was quite a change to see her so mousey. Almost look like she had stolen Danny DeVito’s glasses, too.
This is how she looks on that show: Artemis
Just had time to watch it off DVR tonight. Great episode, I really enjoyed the casting and the interaction with the characters. I was constantly expecting some big twist like one of the people being a hallucination or House noticing a symptom on one of the patients which led to some life saving/altering diagnosis. In the end I’m glad they played it mostly straight and focused on the melodrama and developed House’s character.
I thought the reference about FreedomMaster’s wife’s death was a 9/11 reference at first. Then as I consider it I dismissed it because of the fact that his arrival makes little sense after 8 years. I couldn’t think of anything else they could be referring to and they never explained anything so I just chalked it up to lazy writing. I think it’s an intentional reference to 9/11 that was executed poorly.
I’m guessing the bulk of the upcoming season will be about House’s lack of confidence in his skills without the pain, drugs and misery. The discussion he and Dr. Nolan had regarding Van Gogh seemed particularly telling.
I don’t get the Thirteen hate, I like her character and the fun sexual jokes from House were always a highlight. I don’t like the relationship with Foreman much but I can stomach it so long as it stays in the background, much like the beginning of the Chase-Cameron hook ups. It’s good to have potential social awkwardness for House to exploit happening with the Cottages.
I agree that the scene with the music box and the two catatonic characters speaking was a bit too predictable and sappy but considering the potential for lame TV show cliches all over this episode that they avoided I’ll forgive that one. I haven’t really been able to come up with a alternate scenario that solves the problem better so it’s cool with me.
I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of Andre Brougher. I suspect House is going to continue his outpatient sessions and I suspect that a few of those patients will end up with crazy illnesses that House can diagnose and cure and solve one or two of their mental issues.
I’d have liked to see more discussion and more intellectual battle between House and the head doctor at the ward - that was the most interesting part of the episode and it’s certainly interesting to see two intellectual giants joust. The last half hour was so over the top in the happy easy resolution that it turned me off. I’d rather see this dragged out over a few episodes, especially with more time between House and the doctor to give us more insight into him.
Next week we go back to formula episode 130 or so, I’m sure. Like a lot of shows, now that I have 2 monitors I’ll half-ass watch it… during the silly medical parts I’ll half-listen while reading the SDMB or something and only give full attention during House/Wilson or House/Cuddy or other interesting interactions.
I didn’t watch most of last season because of scheduling conflicts, but this was a great episode to jump back in with. Does anyone know the song that was played at the very beginning of the episode?
As was giving House–a recovering pill addict–a glass of wine at the benefit. That bugged me.
