Finally watched it last night. Was a good episode. And now that Tritter is gone I will be a happy fan again.

I think they put those in because of complaints that the shows were too formulaic and predictable.

I dont have a problem with big storylines. Just have something actually change because of them.

I actually enjoyed the fact that this kind of strayed from that pattern. Usually big storyline archs that sweep multiple episodes DO change something drastically. A major character leaves/dies/changes forever, or something else drastic happens. This was different, in that nothing changed as an end result, however there were some subtle things here and there that made the storyline very worthwhile. From the top...



(spoilers ahead. There. That's the warning so I don't have to hear about it later.)
Also, this is going to be extremely long. Feel free to chime in with any debates.

-House meets Tritter in clinic, treats him like an idiot. Tritter fights back, and House gets what he thinks is the last laugh in with the rectal thermometer.

-Tritter gets minor revenge (pulling him over, making him spend the night in prison), House, although annoyed, does nothing to change his life.

-Tritter presses on, House's life and relationship(s) begin to decline drastically. (Stealing perscription pads, etc)

-House/Wilson, House/Cuddy, House/team relationships are all stressed.

-Wilson rats out house. (Because, IMO, of the stressed friendship as well as his own personal hassles with Tritter. House's well-being, though a
factor, was not the main reason. Again, IMO)

-Tritter offers House a deal. House declines adamantly and sarcastically, again, showing his stubborness and unwillingness to change.

-The team/Wilson/Cuddy begin to pressure him. House considers for the first time that prison is a real possibility, but still is not changing.

-House continues to detox, and steals Wilson's deceased patient's pain medicaton. (IMO, this is House's 'rock bottom'. He does something that even he would've decided against in a clearer state, knowing the perscription sign out book would be a dead give away.)

-House overdoses. Wilson sees him, and leaves him without helping.

-House decides to take Tritter's deal, giving in for the first time in the storyline.

-Tritter refuses due to the new evidence.


That's what had happened before the latest episode, which is the final ep in this storyline. I think there were signs of House's character developing prior to this, but they begin to show more and more in this episode.

-House pleads not guilty to all charges, and attempts to talk to Tritter afterward (showing his arrogance and stubbornness once again)

-Lawyer reminds him of the stack of evidence against him, and he changes his mind.

-House's meeting with his team about a new patient is short, and House makes no effort to consider the case, as well as not making any suggestions of his own, showing that he's preoccupied with the trial, and therefore showing that he is starting to fear going to jail. Also of note here is Cameron's drastic change from the previous episode. She came to House's home and begged him to stop cutting himself, and was nearly in tears. This time she's assertive to the point of being almost nasty.

-House meets with Cuddy, opens with a joke about prison.

-Cuddy snaps at House worse than in any prior episode. She tells him that talking to Tritter is the only option left, and reminds him of every mistake he's made along the way. He's silent throughout the majority of the conversation, and has no response to Cuddy's comments. He leaves without a word after Cuddy hands him a perscription for vicodin.

-Next, we see him coming out of the elevator, popping pills. Sense of humor is back, and he's making medical suggestions. Long winded explanations return, and it seems like old school House. (Also of note here, is that Cameron's boobs look significant smaller than usual. It has no relevance to the story, just thought I'd point that out.

-House apologizes to Tritter. The first time I watched it, I thought it was genuine, but reflecting back on the last point, I'm thinking it was probably about 65/35 in favor of going through the motions. However, he did apologize, only to have Tritter shoot him down immediately.

-House realizes that he's running out of options, and is back to being depressed. He meets with his team while flicking a pill around on the table. He isn't paying attention and doesn't say anything aside from, "Great. Have at it." after Foreman makes a suggestion.

-House walks out of the room to check himself into rehab. Of note here is the fact that the pill is still on the table as he leaves.

-House explains to Cuddy and Wilson that while the rehab is "absolutely a show for Tritter and the judge", it isn't a show unless it's for real.

-Next come several clips of House in rehab. Once in a group session, the other meeting with his team (while vomitting in the toilet), and a third when talking to Wilson while smoking a cigarette (something he hasn't done in any prior episode). I question exactly how much of this is an act and how much is for real. It's hard to tell since we don't know when exactly the guard started slipping him vic's.

-during the third clip, Wilson tears him apart in much the same way Cuddy did earlier. Except this time, House retorts in his usual manner, and tells him to leave, suggesting he's back on the vicodin.

-House suggests his usual off-the-wall-dangerous treatment. Cuddy accepts. House asks "Am I really that pathetic?". First time in the series that he refers to himself in such a depressed manner. She explains that he presented his point logically etc etc and says that the rehab is working. Ironic, since he is still taking pills. However, his overall mood in these scenes shows that he's begining to get depressed about the probable conviction he is facing. Even if he is taking pills, the vicodin aren't preventing him from reflecting on his situation. Since he's locked in a place that's custom-built for reflection, it's only magnifying it.

-Meeting #2 between House and Tritter. House realizes that Tritter isn't going to budge, and snaps. This wasn't fake, and was a venting of his frustration with the idea that all of this could potentially be for nothing.

-Meets with team. Only real significance here is that Cameron announces she won't be attending his hearing.

-Wilson comes in, House apologizes to him. Not like the Tritter apology, but a real apology that looked like it actually pained him.


-The Trial. House gets a call, as well as his usual epiphany, and leaves the courtroom mid-trial. On his way out, he says, "There's nothing I can say or do that's going to make a difference here." I pretty much took this as him accepting that he's probably going to prison, and him wanting to solve one last puzzle before he goes.

-Clear thinking House solves the mystery of the firefighter. Does so in his usual fashion, a la Season 1 House. Interesting side note here is when he's talking about the patient and says, "Memories cause love.... and love kills." it shoots directly to Cameron. Just speculation, but these episodes add more fuel to the House/Cameron relationship. As noted by.....

-Cameron's apology of sorts. She tells him that she heard about House's apology to Wilson, and gives him a hug. It was awkward, but meant to be so. On his way out, he says, "Excuse me. I have to go to jail."

-Cuddy's (false) testimony. I haven't loved this woman so much since the end of the Vogler storyline in season 1. Goddamn she's good.

-Cameron's "start over" speech to the patient. No other relevance aside from it's obvious connection to the House story. A fresh start.

-Cuddy's speech about how she owns House. He says nothing, and accepts.

-Wilson realizes that the guard had been slipping him vicodin. "So nothing's changed?" "Nothing's changed."

-Episode ends with Wilson realizing that the apology wasn't a part of House's plan, House says, "Think what you want." Both smile, episode ends.




I think the most important parts of this episode come in the last few minutes. Cameron's final words to the patient, "start over." House and Wilson's "Nothing's changed" conversation, and the end where the two seem to wipe the slate clean. The end of last season, and the begining of this season forced the show to evolve in so many ways, that this storyline effectively restored the show to it's original form, allowing them to "start over".



One final thing, is that I found the timeline of his vicodin habit extremely entertaining and ironic. In season 1, when he goes a week without pills to win a bet with Cuddy, he admits to Wilson that he's an addict. However, he says that it isn't a problem, because his life is in working order. He pays his bills, does his job, and his life works. It's when he stops the pills for various reasons that the problems come up. The issue with the little girl he almost cut up, the stealing of Wilson's script pad, the stealing of the drugs from the pharmacy, the mistakes he didn't catch with the firefighter (he acknowledges it when he said, "If we had been better we wouldn't have had to shock his brain in the first place.") People talk about rehab being a place to get their lives back in order, because of the drugs they were taking making their lives go downhill. I found it extremely amusing that House "getting his life back in order" involved him getting back ON drugs, since his life was falling apart without them.


(note- I didn't proofread any of this, so don't go nitpicking my typos.)

that was a really good. I didn't notice any typos either. I have nothing to add, just good job.

CW, you're such a dork.

With that said, I'm a dork as well, because I remember every single moment in the series that you mentioned.

We're House fanboys. I guess I didn't notice Cameron's tits, but damn she looks good, all the time. I want her to tickle my prostate.

Did I say too much? I said too much, didn't I?

i remember them too, so you aren't alone.

house, the office, and 24. beyond those three shows, i couldn't give a rats ass about anything on tv. those 3 shows are so good, they ruined the rest of tv for me. i'm okay with that.

Exactly.

Compelling arguement. Rich with detail and research.

Reading that, like I did for some strange reason, made the whole story arc interesting. Sadly, them pushing it over 4 5 eps made in almost unbearable for me. I don't know if I can say I was happy with the outcome or just happy that they are now going to move on. Don't get me wrong, I love the show. Top 5 for sure. But it just all seemed overly contrived to me. I was hooked at first but by the 3rd ep I was annoyed by it. Now that I have read your trilltastic post I wonder what the actual resolution was. That he got away with it and he is the same House as before or are we going to get an improved or changed House out of it? I can't think it was a huge deal just to make him listen to Cuddy more was it? If so, uber lame. Maybe you are right about the Cameron/House connection. I usually am a nutbag over character development and watching characters grow, but for some reason I think I am just fine watching them cure people week after week and don't need as much growth scenes? I don't know. Just my thoughts after reading yours.

Im not trying to argue. I love the show. But they put that in there so people will know that House is still House, and that NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

It depends on how closely you're looking at the show. If you're talking about the show overall, during it's 3 season run, yes. Now from episode 1, nothing has changed. But now from the begining of Season 3? He was clean with a good leg running 8 miles a day in the begining of season 3, now he's back on the cane and back on the vics. It all depends on the perspective.

:dance dance lolzerbeamz roflcopterz smilies annoying stuff:

You are right, things did change and then they went back to the way they were. I am just disapointed with the whole "Tritter" storyline. I was pretty sure that nothing would come of it and that it was a ploy for ratings or whatever. I guess I was hoping they had learned their lesson from Season 1 and the whole Black guy gonna fire House storyline. I want to see them change the dynamic somehow, in someway that lasts. Or at least not "change" it and then immeadiately and ridiculously erode the previous six episodes with a pointless ending. I expect better from such a good show.

I think the lasting effect is in the characters themselves, not so much the enviornment the show is in.

Wilson willing to rat out House
House showing signs of humility
Cuddy coming to the rescue, risking perjury etc

I don't think the show needs to take dramatic turns, since each episode in itself has enough dramatic twists. Yeah, the addition or subtraction of a main character might liven things up a little, but then again, a lot of those major changes would probably cause the show to decline. Think about it. House goes to jail, what happens? No more show, or a couple episodes of the hospital running without him before something happens to bring him back. A team member leaves, the dynamic of the group goes down the toilet. Cuddy/Wilson leave, and Houses friend/foe story ends.

In a lot of ways the situation with Tritter was similar to the Vogler storyline in season 1, but the subtle differences made it worthwhile IMO

Yeah, I felt pretty jelous too.


My opinions:

-The Episode was one of the better ones. Most of it was gettting deeper into House's personality, and that's what makes these episodes good.
- The tritter story line was good for the series. It got deeper into House's character, which is great, and it gives a boost for later episodes (ie, how will House keep getting his vic when he's supposed to be off it, what will cuddy make him do, etc...)
- Tritter does not equal Vogler. Although both of them wanted to get rid of House, I don't feel Vogler was as threatening as Tritter was. Also, Tritter was alot more mean and nasty, and did an excellent job of getting House to start alienating himself from his friends, unlike Vogler did.
- Season 3 has been the best season thus far due to all the character development we've been seeing.
- Whoever played Tritter did an UNBELIEVABLE job.
- Hugh Laurie is the best actor ever
- House is such a badass for faking the rehab


Sorry, not good with the long posts. CW I think said it best. I can't wait to see where the show goes from here though.

The new episode looks awesome. I'm still bitter that I have to wait til the 30th though.

I'm getting 2nd season of Lost flashbacks with the horrible episode scheduling.

Don't worry. This season sucks just as bad. I read recently that next season, all 22 episodes of Lost will run concurrently.

Back on topic, Cameron has hot tits. That's all.

I read the other day that Dave Matthews will be guest starring in an epsiode sometime in March. He's going to be a guy who got hit by a bus, strangely enough, when he was 10, and as a result became a piano prodigy. Something about his treatment to save his life now would change that, causing dilemmas etc..

yeah i heard that too. thought i heard of some other celeb being on the show sometime soon as well, but i can't remember who.

hugh laurie completely deserved that golden globe. it still weirds me out to hear him speak with his british accent. i'm continually impressed with his "show voice". alot of actors can do accents, but house's voice is so individual and fitting of him, it's awesome. can't wait for this show to come back on every week.

Started watching couple months ago, bough the season 1 and 2 dvds and watched them in about 3 days with wife. Got a special treat because season 1 had side A and B, and we just watched A. A lot of holes were filled. Season 2 just had side A.



Is it me or is the needle in the back a pretty common method of diagnosing every single disease there is?

Increased CSF pressure can indicate congestive heart failure, cerebral edema, subarachnoid hemorrhage, hypo-osmolality resulting from hemodialysis, meningeal inflammation, purulent meningitis or tuberculous meningitis, hydrocephalus, or pseudotumor cerebri.

Decreased CSF pressure can indicate complete subarachnoid blockage, leakage of spinal fluid, severe dehydration, hyperosmolality, or circulatory collapse. Significant changes in pressure during the procedure can indicate tumors or spinal blockage resulting in a large pool of CSF, or hydrocephalus associated with large volumes of CSF. Lumbar puncture for the purpose of reducing pressure is performed in some patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (also called pseudotumor cerebri.)

The presence of white blood cells in cerebrospinal fluid is called pleocytosis. A small number of monocytes can be normal; the presence of granulocytes is always an abnormal finding. A large number of granulocytes often heralds bacterial meningitis. White cells can also indicate reaction to repeated lumbar punctures, reactions to prior injections of medicines or dyes, central nervous system hemorrhage, leukemia, recent epileptic seizure, or a metastatic tumor. When peripheral blood contaminates the withdrawn CSF, a common procedural complication, white blood cells will be present along with erythrocytes, and their ratio will be the same as that in the peripheral blood.

Several substances found in cerebrospinal fluid are available for diagnostic measurement.

* Measurement of chloride levels can detect the presence of tuberculous meningitis.
* Glucose is usually present in the CSF; the level is usually about 60% that in the peripheral circulation. A fingerstick or venipuncture at the time of lumbar puncture should therefore be performed to assess peripheral glucose levels in order to determine a predicted CSF glucose value. Decreased glucose levels can indicate fungal, tuburculous or pyogenic infections; lymphomas; leukemia spreading to the meninges; meningoencephalitic mumps; or hypoglycemia. A glucose level of 1/3 blood glucose levels in association with low CSF lactate levels is typical in hereditary CSF glucose transporter deficiency.
* Increased glucose levels in the fluid can indicate diabetes, although the 60% rule still applies.
* Increased levels of glutamine are often involved with hepatic encephalopathies, Reye's syndrome, hepatic coma, cirrhosis and hypercapnia.
* Increased levels of lactate can occur the presence of cancer of the CNS, multiple sclerosis, heritable mitochondrial disease, low blood pressure, low serum phosphorus, respiratory alkalosis, idiopathic seizures, traumatic brain injury, cerebral ischemia, brain abscess, hydrocephalus, hypocapnia or bacterial meningitis.
* The enzyme lactate dehydrogenase can be measured to distinguish meningitides of bacterial origin, which are often associated with high levels of the enzyme, from those of viral origin in which the enzyme is low or absent.
* Changes in total protein content of cerebrospinal fluid can result from pathologically increased permeability of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier, obstructions of CSF circulation, meningitis, syphilis, brain abscesses, subarachnoid hemorrhage, polio, collagen disease or Guillain-Barré syndrome, leakage of CSF, increases in intracranial pressure or hyperthyroidism. Very high levels of protein can indicate tuberculous meningitis or spinal block.
* IgG synthetic rate is calculated from measured IgG and total protein levels; it is elevated in immune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis, and neuromyelitis optica of Devic.
* Numerous antibody-mediated tests for CSF are available in some countries: these include rapid tests for antigens of common bacterial pathogens, treponemal titers for the diagnosis of neurosyphilis and Lyme disease, Coccidiodes antibody, and others.
* The India ink test is still the standard for detection of meningitis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans.
* CSF can be sent to the microbiology lab for various types of smears and cultures to diagnose infections.
* Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been a great advance in the diagnosis of meningitis. It has high sensitivity and specificity for many infections of the CNS, is fast, and can be done with small volumes of CSF. Even though testing is expensive, it saves cost of hospitalization.

No, I'm not that medically inclined, I wiki'd it.

Your retarded?



I just watched Episode 1 from Season 2. It's the one with LL Cool J as the death row inmate, and the terminal cancer patient that Cameron refuses to break the bad news to for the majority of the episode. I forgot how good Season 2 was. The fact that they used one of my favorite songs at the end of the episode is the clincher for me. Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah". If you haven't listened to this guy's music, do yourself a favor and do so.

Can be normal??? But it can also indicate the presence of collagen disease, neurosyphilis, or rabies in small lab rats. Increased monocytes will result in pyogenic infections, herpes, or anal lesions. If you don't suspect meningitis, then this can of course be a false signal leading to a diagnosis of Cryptococcus neoformans, which is funny because of Wangler's theory but rare unless the patient has been fishing with infected thimbar grubs in Brazilian rain forest.


If your going to be so vague why don't you stick to the cheatue le sex thread okay?




I stayed at a Hampton Inn last night, can you tell?

I don't get any part of this post.

Since I've posted exactly zero times in that thread, I don't get it either.

I saw most of Season Two via McDonalds RedBox. Six episodes for a buck?

I'll take them. I'm just catching up on season one, and realized last night that I hadn't seen the first Tritter episode.

Between watching House and The Office, I don't get much done these days.

I heart you brvheart.

In House the doctors offer many different diagnosis with large medical words, that are refuted by more large medical words that leave us the viewer completely out of the loop, since we have no idea if what they are saying is accurate or just plain mumbo jumbo.

So when jeepster posted a long medical explanation, I countered it with made up conditions and random medical terms.

Then I followed with a very poor attempt at an insult, ala Dr. Gregory House.

There have been a series of commercials for the last 2 years that has an average guy with incredible knowledge after spending one night in a Hampton Inn because it's such a smart deal for the weary traveler. This was my poor attempt at an alternative to sw, which is obvious because I blow up balloons for a living.




I have no idea why Jeepster is claiming not to have posted in this thread.

But now I am totally confused.

The commercials I have seen have been Holiday Inn, not Hampton.

I was referring to the chateu thread in reference to your post. I haven't posted there, and I thought you were talking to me.

I hate explaining jokes that I find humorous that others don't get.

I get your humor now, but I had to read it a couple of times.

ISAJ?

what the hell is with one episode a month? its just nonsense.

Nice.


I watched the Season 2 DVD special features, and there's a segment called "An Evening with House" in which the cast and directors/producers of the show get together and field questions and discuss the show. At the end, Hugh Laurie gives an explanation to your complaint about nothing in the show ever changing. I don't remember the exact wording, but I'll attempt to paraphrase, since I've been card dead in the Midnight Madness for the past 3 levels.

"One thing I've noticed in television as opposed to film is that the central characters tend to stay very much the same. The peripheral characters tend to get married, or die off, but for the most part the central characters don't change. Things can be revealed about them, but for the most part, they don't have these drastic changes of character like film characters tend to have, which I think is more similar to the way real people are."

Fuckin American Idol. If you're going to make us wait 3 weeks between new episodes, at least put some re-runs on in the slot that it should be on. Instead, I get AI morons and then George Bush rambling. Come on.

Tonight is the night, right?

You better f'n believe it!

Goddamn right. T minus 3 hours and 50 minutes

about freakin time. no more weeks off for the rest of the season, i hope. can't wait.

Not to spoil it for you but I have it on good authority that tonight's episode has a really sick guy that gets mis-diagnosed about 3 times before a seemingly random occurance results in House figuring out the real cause of his illness, all while mocking authority and his staff.

fuck you. House is awesome.

Good episode. That girl was hot. The whole thing was a little cliche, but still pretty solid.

What's that I hear?

It's the GenPop dinner bell. Better get back before your meal gets cold.



Aaaaaanyway, great episode tonight. Once it started going I figured it was going to be something about House's dad. I was hoping for something way more shocking, but I guess that'll have to do. Good episode though. I like the change of pace from the usual.

Also, I'll call it now. House and Cuddy will hook up before the end of this season. Or it will be revealed that they've hooked up in the past, and be put in a bunch of sexually tense situations a la House/Stacey.

On another note- Did anyone notice that House is in a wheel chair during the preview for the next episode? Hmmmm....


And yes, the rape chick was hot.

What a fantastic episode. It was a great change of pace from the usual, and I love nothing more than to see House's humanity.

Well, there's one thing I love more than seeing House's humanity, and that's really hot vulnerable chicks. This had that too.

I was hooked early and enjoying a good ol' House ep. Then rape victim came in and I lost interest and was barely able to watch the whole thing. Something must be wrong with me, this season in my opinion has been terrible as compared to the previous 2 which I think are some of the best on TV.

That. Episode. Was. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I recorded it and can't watch it till tomorrow so don't spoil it for me guys

Am I the only one who thinks that Jennifer Morrison's breasts didn't look as fantastic as usual?

I was to busy fantasizing about the guest star to notice.

LMAO...

BG, you're one hillarious human being.

wow you sure picked the wrong week for this prediction

??? You found out she was raped right at the begining. And even before you found out, the fact that she started balling/trembling when he told her she had an STD should have given it away.


You just stopped watching because it brought back bad memories. I already told you. You were really drunk and were all over me all night. Seriously, you were asking for it with the way you were dressed.

I don't know how you ladies watch this shit. The show is terrible. When I saw a 10 pg thread about it here, I almost fell on the floor. Man up a notch, would ya?