HOUSE Recap: Emancipated
November 19, 2008 by Kath Skerry
As a longtime fan of Subway restaurants, I rarely deviate from my regular order. My favorite sandwich artist, Sarah, is attentive enough to memorize the preferences of her regular clients. As a result, I know that before I can open my mouth to say, “Hello,” she has already started making my foot long Turkey sub with American cheese, pickles, and lots of lettuce. No condiments or exotic vegetables for this guy, since my Subway order mirrors my vanilla approach to life. From time to time, I linger around the fountain drink area long enough to see another sandwich assembled. I am astonished at how many of my fellow citizens are able to create lunch time favorites that are as wide as they are deep, piling banana peppers on top of olives, or oil and vinegar chasers on top of a mayonnaise foundation. How are they able to differentiate between the luscious flavors of their chosen lunch meats and those delectable dressings? Despite the conventional wisdom, I believe that one can have too much of a good thing.
This week’s House reminded me of a foot long BMT with all the veggies, four exotic sauces, and a finishing touch of guacamole. Despite the best of intentions, I had to spend too much time picking it apart to find my favorite flavor.
Dr. Foreman had a busy day alternating between the primary patient, Sophia, and his pediatric case downstairs. Omar Epps delivered his best performance of the season, particularly in his two scenes with Hugh Laurie addressing Foreman’s interest in conducting clinical trials. I have always been a sucker for storylines that involve mentoring, going back to David Caruso and Nicholas Martinez’s rich dynamic on the first season of NYPD Blue. There is a mountain of good material to be unearthed if the producers follow through in breaking Foreman away from Team House. The final scene, where House explains the difference between asking for permission and asserting independence, was a nice bridge to future development for Dr. Foreman. Even Wilson seemed to think so!
Despite the forward progress in Foreman’s character arc, the pace of the episode prevented me from feeling any particular bond with the two patients. As a simple function of time, it seems logical that two distinct cases being handled in the same hour of TV would be less impactful than the standard single medical mystery each week. In addition to the increased workload for the doctors, the division of screen time for the cast members was stilted. Chase and Cameron were not banished to the background as in the early part of this season, but their contributions to the episode were not consequential. Taub and Thirteen’s home invasion team is always welcome for a combination of humor and character development. However, even their exchanges lacked the usual wit and rhetorical teeth I have come to appreciate.
On a more positive note, the House/Wilson relationship remains the most unique relationship on television. With all due respect to the Seinfeld folks, I believe that their discussion of the Cuddy issue was the most refreshing conversation about “nothing” that I have ever watched. There is something about the chemistry between Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard that brings to mind a duo of talented jazz musicians. Between the awkward pauses and the humorous beats, I cannot take my eyes off the screen when the two men share space. Though fans of the Huddy connection were probably disappointed by Lisa Edelstein’s lack of screen time this week, I believe it was the best method to let that issue breath.
My best explanation for the crowded lobby and kneejerk pace of “Emancipated” was that it laid the groundwork for a momentous episode next week. In an effort to maintain a spoiler-free zone, I will just say that we are headed for an action packed installment of House that is reminiscent of the “event episodes” of ER or Grey’s Anatomy.
Quick programming note: next week’s House will be a super-size edition, so set your TiVos, DVRs, VCRs, 8 Tracks, and other recordable devices until 9:08pm Eastern, or 8:08pm Central/Mountain.
What did you think of this week’s episode? Did Foreman’s storyline satisfy your thirst for more Omar Epps? Were you expecting more interaction between House and Cuddy? Did the revelation in the Sophia storyline surprise you, or did you see it coming? How did you feel about the difference in screen time? Should the producers use a two patient format more often? I look forward to your comments!
— posted by Erik
How does Erik stay grounded from his luxurious life as a substitute teacher? He keeps it real with ALF DVDs & Fantasy Football. On weekends, the GMMR HOUSE & SURVIVOR guru spends quiet time imploring the TV gods to bring back Sports Night & Ed. Erik resides in South Florida and spends his summers following Dave Matthews Band.
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Great recap. I’m on board with your take on last night’s episode. I’m glad they didn’t force TOO many scenes with House and Cuddy. I like that we really don’t know what House’s true intentions are. As much as I want to believe that deep down he loves her, I don’t know if he really does. Equally I wasn’t sure about Wilson’s feelings for her. Was that fake out date really all about House?!
Ok I had to go back and edit my comment because I realize I just left a long comment about LAST week’s episode of HOUSE which I also watched last night. Ok, I’m confusing the two episodes and I don’t what happened in each so I’m going to shut up now. Goodbye.
I liked the episode. I had no problem with the dueling patients’ scenario. As an aside, they had a point in common. Sophia “killed” her younger brother and the older brother nearly killed his younger brother.
A pet peeve: Unique means one of a kind. You can’t have something that is the most one of a kind. It is unique or not.
Kath: I completely understand the multiple episodes dilemma. My DVR had the last two FNLs saved until yesterday, and I cannot distinguish between what happened from one week to the next.
John: Your point regarding the two young patients is completely valid. My subjective view was that the efforts made to jam so many cast members into the episode led to a dulling of the senses when it came to identifying with the patients. When it comes to the discrepancy over the use of unique in context, I have always been a Merriam-Webster guy: http://dictionary.weather.net/dictionary/unique
Generally I find the patients and their diseases just an excuse for Dr. House to be House and for the other characters to play against him.
Only occasionally do I find the patients interesting for themselves.
Ok, gotta admit something here… I am in LOVE with Erik’s recaps! The whole Subway intro this week and last week’s intro have me glued to the screen. Thanks for bringing creativity and humor into your recaps. And as far as the episode goes, yeah, the split time between stories left me a little empty. I don’t know how there will ever be a satisfactory balance between House team #1 and #2. And the House/Cuddy/Wilson relationship is my favorite on TV right behind Eric and Tami Taylor. Thanks for the recap!
The best scene of the episode (according to me) was the scene where House comes to meet Wilson when the latter is scrubbing his hands to enter the OT. The exchange between them is what exactly I attribute to your comparison of them.
Sometimes, it’s really difficult to understand the expression on Hugh Laurie’s face, especially when they close up to his eyes. Same this time, when they zoom up to his expression on listening to Sophia’s confession. I couldn’t understand what it was ‘cos the same keeps repeating whenever he is subjected to a “reality check” by a patient or one of his team members about his true self (usually about avoiding people and all).
This episode didn’t really amaze me at all, but this recap did! Nice one. It took me a while to see this episode, as I fell asleep during it’s original Tuesday airing, and then didn’t catch up on it until last night. While I am a fan of the bromance of House and Wilson, I think the whole plot of this episode was off. The whole Sophia/whoever she was and the emancipated, dead parents, rapist parents, parents upset at their mistakingly murderous daughter … I couldn’t keep it straight. I was just waiting for another lie to pop out of that kid’s mouth.
I did, however love the Foreman and all the Omar wonder. He truly is amazing, and this ep made me realize how much I really have missed him and the “Original Ducklings” all season. The subplot of the adorable little boy, poisoned by the vitamin overdose (which I *totally* caught the first time they mentioned the vitamins … either this show’s getting slack, or I’m catching on much sooner), was awesome. As a child who grew up on Flinstone’s Vitamins, and literally ate about 5 a day (all pink, mind you – the orange ones were gross!), luckily my brother and I never got this sick on ODs from children’s vitamins. But the plot was amazing, those boys were adorable (and so was the ending scene of them walking out of the hospital), and the increase Foreman was AWESOME!
Jen: Your concerns about balancing the old/new teams appears to be shared by the writing team. Their efforts to have the two factions collaborate more appears to have been set in motion. However, as you noted, there is only so much screen time to develop that dynamic, particularly when Dr. House remains the driving force of the “A” plot most weeks.
Geebs: I was riveted by your point about Laurie’s facial expressions. Since my acting experience is limited to a god awful 7th grade performance as Schroeder in “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,” I would be hard pressed to judge any performance that is unaccompanied by show tunes. Since most of us are not James Lipton, it would be helpful to see House express himself in more varied circumstances. Perhaps the Huddy storyline will open the door to a less nuanced pause or grimace from time to time.
Kimber: I agree that Foreman’s development is a goal of the producers for this season. As you mentioned, the pacing of this particular chapter took away some of the impact of his story. In the weeks to come, I have a feeling that we will see more dramatic swings for Foreman’s personal and professional life. Stay tuned!
Thanks for your feedback, and keep the comments coming until Tuesday’s Super Sized “House.”