'House M.D.': Everybody sees dead people

Doctors whispering to ghosts in the night ... a corpse coming back to life in the morgue ... a bowl of sludgy, green putrefied dead guy. No, you're not watching a Halloween marathon of "Tales from the Crypt"; it's just Monday night's "House" episode.

In one of the coolest cold opens I've seen in a while, an agile criminal demonstrated his parkour skills while scrambling away from a team of New Jersey police officers. As with any good cop chase, the perp ended up on a rooftop, while the police were on another rooftop. Donny (Jon Seda), one of the officers, decided to take a running jump at the criminal and, miscalculating the obviously impossible distance, fell 30 feet to the pavement below.

While Cameron treats him for his injuries at Princeton Plainsboro, Donny's partner reveals that Donny regularly takes reckless risks because he's convinced that he's a ticking time bomb. Donny's father and grandfather both died of heart failure at age 40 -- and Donny is 39 years and 51 weeks old. It raises an interesting question -- if you believed you had an inevitable expiration date, what kind of investment would you make in your own life? What sort of legacy would you want to leave behind? 

The promos for this episode promised "one of the most bizarre twists in 'House' history," and they delivered. After Donny is found dead on his bathroom floor, House and Foreman conduct an autopsy.  They only get as far as the Y-incision before Donny screams and, yes, wakes up.

I admit it: I jumped! I expect the dead guy to wake up when I'm watching a B-movie horror flick, not a show like "House" that makes an attempt at realism. Turns out, Donny's heart hadn't completely stopped -- it had just slowed down enough that the EMTs pronounced him dead. 

Medical professionals take note: If an autopsy ever needs to be done on my body, please make sure I'm dead before you take a buzz saw to my chest. Thanks.

Donny has taken the whole "life is short" concept to the extreme. Once House discovers Donny's aneurysm, Donnie's new lease on life is almost scarier to him than his death sentence. He's suddenly got a lot of time that he wasn't expecting to have. It was sweet to see him reach out to the son he'd previously dismissed. 

Of course, we're still trudging along through the Chase-and-Cameron saga. I thought that this story had a ton of potential when it was first introduced. Chase's decision to deliberately misdiagnose (and effectively kill) genocidal dictator President Dibala gave an edge to his character. 

Last week, Chase scrambled to save himself from the medical review board. He was willing to get both Foreman and himself tangled in a web of lies just to cover his own butt. There wasn't any hint of remorse for what he'd done; just fear of getting caught. This week, Chase is singing a new song. 

I'd be more sympathetic to his regret if there had been any sign of it last week, but it's just popped up out of nowhere! Suddenly, he's unfocused at work, he's confessing to (and arguing with) a priest, he's getting drunk and coming home late without calling. I'm over the woe-is-me story. He made a decision, and now he needs to be an adult about it. 

I can't see any way for this to end well for him. Either he continues to spiral downward or he confesses and probably loses his medical license. Somehow, I don't think Cuddy would give Chase the pass she's given House in terms of letting him play doctor before he's technically licensed to practice.

As for Cameron, I think she's being too passive about this whole thing.  She knows Chase is lying, but she keeps letting him get away with it.  "All right, I needed to get wasted, I did, and now I'm better," he slurs after stumbling home at 2 a.m., and she just walks away. Come on, Cameron! Your husband is being incredibly shady. Say something! Get mad!

Finally, let's discuss House and Wilson and the secret whispers. I do think that House and Wilson as roommates gives this otherwise dark season a much needed boost. Their unconditional bromance somehow manages to be consistently lighthearted, even when the story line involves Wilson talking to his dead girlfriend. 

Don't worry, Wilson hasn't gone all Izzie Stevens on us. He's just ... not quite over Amber's death, and talking to her at night helps him sleep.

House spent most of this episode believing that Wilson's late-night "P.S. I Love You" monologues were actually voices in his head. I'm hoping that soon we can stop revisiting the idea that House has lost his marbles. It's one thing to have House battling addiction and depression while practicing medicine. It's an entirely different story if we have to constantly be worried that he's going to hallucinate on the job.

I found House's aborted attempt to address his feelings about his late father surprisingly endearing. "Hi Dad," he says. "I've been focusing on the wrong thing. There were some good times." It's been more than implied that House's father was abusive and that House's childhood was a generally painful one. It's nice to see that the writers are still coming back to that point.

Now that House is more actively seeking his own contentment, I'm glad he can acknowledge his father's impact enough to "talk" to him. That said, I also appreciated it when House stopped abruptly. "Wilson!" he yelled down the hall. "This is stupid."

After all, he's still House.

I'm really interested to hear all of your thoughts about this episode. What would you do differently if you thought you were definitely going to die at 40?  Do you think Wilson's "shrine to Amber" was sweet or creepy? Are you tired of Chase's dead president drama yet? What do you think about House and Wilson as roomies?

Let's get a dialogue going in the comments below.

-- Carina MacKenzie (follow me on Twitter @cadlymack)

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Top photos: Foreman (Omar Epps), Chase (Jesse Spencer) and Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) examine remains in the morgue. Credit: Fox

Lower photo: Foreman (Epps) and House (Hugh Laurie) begin the autopsy on Donny (Jon Seda). Credit: Fox

Comments

[Nikki]

I'm trying to be overly cautious about this. I know it's a slim chance and please don't hate me but I still suspect Chase to be knowing something that Cameron did with the Dibala case. She's acting strangely (does she really want to know what's wrong with him? As you said, she's way to passive).

Chase going to confession and not willing to repent? He justifies an action that took place and wants forgiveness. For himself - or for someone else? Is he doing some sort of role play here?

I would be getting tired of the Dibala case if there probably wasn't a big surprise in store. Something's missing. I can't for the life of me figure why Chase would so desperately hide something from his wife when she had been so ready to let Dibala die.

I loved Jesse Spencers acting. He was so good. I do hope there will be more of him because indeed he had been wasted as an actor during the last seasons. And please don't let it be all about the Dibala case.

[LaylaViolet]

I so jumped at that part too. House is starting to get a little better. I just hope they keep it up. :P

[Alex]

I think Cameron walked away and slammed the bedroom door on his face :)

Like you, I'm also tired of Chase mopping the floor, he's being passive aggressive towards this whole situation, here hoping that he takes some action soon and accepts responsibilities.

[SamIam]

Great review-- I felt the same way-- I figured this was the Halloween episode-- between the morgue scene, Dibala's bloody frothing mouth and the step into uncontrollable defecation " I went to the bathroom"-- it was more like a Stephen King movie! (It was enjoyable though-- my roomate and I were having a great time with it all!) But, it was an interesting episode- liked the medical dilemma. i particulary love House's "I got it" look-- you can see the light bulb go off. I always love that and wonder if Hugh Laurie is cracking up inside as he portrays that clarity.
Wilson's shrine to Amber is understandable- he lost someone he loved-- it shouldn't "go away" in an episode. I actually like the Chase-Dibala issue being drawn out-- it is a huge issue. Not sure how they will play this out though. he did commit a crime. What would I do differently if I thought I would die at 40? Hmmmm, you don't really want to know, Carina. :)

[Charli]

I am always ridiculously happy to see television be somewhat intelligent and use good continuity. Seeing House address his issues with his father was something I've been waiting for them to address and they did. Praise be.

I have to fall on the side of sad for Wilson. It's just tragic and I imagine something like that would take a long time to just be normal.

Another insightful review and I always look forward to seeing what you and others think of the episode. Thanks.

[mikmik]

I think when someone does something as major as what Chase did then the first response would be shock. So, to me, it makes sense that he would now have various reactions. Re: Cameron - I think that we will see stronger reactions from her in the future and I wasn't disturbed by her 'wait and see' attitude toward her husband.

On another front - I hope that Chase does not confess and lose his medical liscense. That would just be too tidy and correct. As it is he did kill a mass murderer who had declared he was going to cause even greater harm. So it is already rather politically safe.

Do love the bromance and the fact that the show remains quite interesting despite the lack of vicodin, et al.

For a broadcast show I think House is quite good.

[Emsworth]

I think the Chase thing makes sense. He was in crisis mode last week and this week the initial crisis has passed and things are sinking in.

The House developments are good for him as a character but it's making him rather dull. If I wanted to watch a show full of annoying bleeding-hearts I would pick one of the several million other medical shows on TV.

[Casha]

The whole episode was somehow spooky and scary and very entertaining.
in my opinion the most interesting storyline was Chase's case. I think in a psychological sense Chase's reaction is normal. There are different stages of coping with trauma. first you just don't want to think about what happened and keep on with normal life. that was last episode, when Chase tried to safe his job. when this was done, he realized what he really did. this is the real shock moment after a trauma, and you try to forget, but you know you can't. This leads to an action, where you work it out or you find a way to suppress everything. The last is said to be the unhealthy way (like House always did with his addiction). I'm curious how Chase will go on and solute his situation.
Last but not least: nobody mentioned the tension between Cuddy and House. That was so sweet ;).

[TV Obsessed]

The best part of the episode was the absence of Thirteen. Thankfully the writers didn't try to insert her in randomly like last week. House hearing whispers which turn out to be Wilson talking to Amber was a great story. The medical stuff in the episode was a step up, but after 5 seasons, there isn't that much that can be done. Full review of the episode.

http://th3tvobsessed.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-house-season-6-episode-5-brave.html

[Ange]

I liked that there was more emphasis on the patient again. Last season the show went too much into soap opera, and badly written soap opera. Now with the return of the original team, the show has gone again back into a medical focus.

I thought the patient case was interesting. Three generations of dying at the same time? I know I'd be all into that. Chase's meltdown is good too but he's an idiot for not talking to Cameron. He spent 5 years winning her and now he doesn't trust her enough to tell her what's bugging him? Cameron is really trying because hey, she's Cameron but it's really getting to her. I don't think she should be mad at him yet but there's plenty of room to be very, very suspicous.

The House/Wilson roomies was... interesting? At least House is still changed a bit from the therapy even though Wilson and Cuddy are slipping back into their old ways.

Speaking of Cuddy, the show has ruined her over the past 3 seasons and continues to make a mockery of her. I hated when she lied in court for House and now she's doing it again, signing that he did his hours when he didn't. She's still wearing ridiculously tight clothing (and the only doctor not wearing a labcoat so we can see them better -- speaking of which, when did Cuddy start doing rounds? she's not a staff doctor, she's an administrator with occasional clinic duties) and they are still having random bystanders tell us that "it's foreplay" because the show doesn't trust the audience to see it for themselves.

Thirteen who?

[Dee]

Ange: "Speaking of Cuddy, the show has ruined her over the past 3 seasons and continues to make a mockery of her. I hated when she lied in court for House and now she's doing it again, signing that he did his hours when he didn't. She's still wearing ridiculously tight clothing (and the only doctor not wearing a labcoat so we can see them better -- speaking of which, when did Cuddy start doing rounds? she's not a staff doctor, she's an administrator with occasional clinic duties) and they are still having random bystanders tell us that "it's foreplay" because the show doesn't trust the audience to see it for themselves."

Sing it! TPTB see some kind of magical chemistry between House and Cuddy that the vast majority of us don't see at all, so they have to remind us CONSTANTLY that they think it exists. Enough already. It's not there and with the exception of some teenage fangirls, no one wants to see it.