'House' writers' room: The cut of Masters' jib

Co-executive producers Liz Friedman and David Foster talk about "Last Temptation," this week's episode of "House."

This week we get to see Masters at home: her bedroom, her morning routine, her roommate, etc. How did you come up with her the paper airplanes, chanting the anatomical parts, etc.?

We wanted something in her room that represented Masters’ background as a mathematician. We thought of paper airplanes because of the semi-famous paper airplane contest at MIT, where students use all of their considerable engineering knowledge to see who can build the best airplane. As for chanting the anatomical parts, it seemed right that Masters would wake up every day ready for action and immediately start preparing for the challenges ahead. Masters isn’t just smart, she’s also incredibly driven.

Please talk a bit about putting Masters through the ultimate ethical dilemma, the one that really forced her hand to break the rules.

We wanted to put Masters in a situation where following the rules was clearly going to lead to a disastrous outcome. And we liked that the same drive and ambition which draws Masters to the patient initially are what put these two women at odds later in the story. The patient is committed to her sail, to the point that she’s risking her life. Which creates a conflict for Masters: do what’s considered ethical and let the patient (in all likelihood) kill herself or follow House’s lead, break the rules and save the girl.  House has been trying to get Masters to break the rules since she started, she’s resisted at every turn, we knew it’d take an extraordinary situation for her to finally give in.

Who inspired the character of Kendall?  

There were many inspirations from Tania Aebi to Abby Sunderland to the young Dutch woman Laura Dekker who’s currently solo circumnavigating the globe. (Here’s her blog: http://www.lauradekker.nl/English/News.html)  They’re all truly extraordinary young women with incredible drive and talent, which reminded us a lot of Masters.

Masters kind of sees a bit of herself in Kendall, doesn’t she? But then, she’s also felt sexually attracted to patients in the past, and at times, preachy. She tends to get sucked into their lives.

Masters does get involved with her patients. This is a common, and wonderful, trait in medical students. I think many doctors would welcome the time and opportunity to get involved in their patient’s lives the way medical students do.

I was really put off by the patient’s parents. Was there a debate as to whether parents would allow their child to delay cancer treatment in order to sail around the world? I’m not a parent, but their stance was a bit counterintuitive to me. 

The parents are in a tricky situation. If they oppose their daughter too much, she will go to court and have herself declared an emancipated minor, effectively cutting the parents out of the situation all together. While they may not agree with her decision, they are forced to go along with it to remain involved with their daughter. And let’s face it, most of us aren’t raising our kids to sail around the world alone even when they’re healthy. This family has a unique dynamic.

Who came up with the chicken/golden retriever story line, and why?

We were looking for something fun and, well let’s just say it, stupid for House and Wilson to be doing.  The notion being that House is recovering from his break-up with Cuddy and Wilson, as his closest friend, is looking out for him, spending extra time with him … and helping him have some totally immature fun.   We were in a meeting with [creator] David Shore and after some discussion of the Canadian TV show “Kenny vs.Spenny” (where two friends make stupid bets with each other) we decided “who can keep a chicken in the hospital the longest” fit the bill.

I’m still mulling: Why did Kendall fall on her boat in the opening scene if the cancer is in an arm bone? She never talks about any arm pain. 

The cancer in her arm caused a paraneoplastic syndrome that made her a bit unsteady on her feet, hence the fall. Kendall’s long days of training gave her many aches and pains. Kendall ascribed her arm pain to just one more bruise that she got sailing.

Thanks for clearing that up, Liz and Dave.

-- Linda Whitmore

Photo: Masters (Amber Tamblyn) gets a taste of the dark side, and she doesn't like it. Credit: Michael Yarish /Fox

 

Comments

[Darwin Prophet]

Enjoyed the episode, glad to have 13 back from Tron's grid. Think you might send Masters to be a researcher for CDC and bring her back in an more authoritative role? Might be fun :)

[Trudy]

I have to say that I am glad to see her character go. She made the show annoying and uncomfortable. The youthful brattiness and absolute moral certainty this character had doesn't fit with the rest of the cast as they are all brilliantly flawed. I really prefer the character "Thirteen/13" and I am glad she is back on the show.

[p.reese]

i liked masters,she added a needed bit of reason to houses craziness.i did not miss 13.shes too ,just dont care for her but i am hopeing masters will get on with somthing to do with houses dept and be on from time to time.she added a freshness to the show.lets face it so farr this year its been sort of silly.

[michael dentzer]

Great show. I can relate to House's relationship with Cuddy.
There is often in our lives someone whom we swear we are infinitley bonded too, but the reality of our material world makes a healthy relationship Impossible.

I feel that a small fling or the hint of one between masters and taub would definetly spice things up a bit.
Cheers.
"It's not Lupus".
Mike.

[Monica]

I honestly liked Masters a lot. I thought she was great and I enjoyed her personality. I hope she does come back and it would be totally awesome if she was a higher level making a huge decision and then falling into the same decision as House. Perhaps she is some big shot at a nearby hospital that a patient has some one in a million disease and House and team are the only ones she can trust to cure this patient. Who knows, but she can easily be an essential part of the show still!!!

[Paula Peterson]

I admit that I was getting quite attached to Master...though the character did get a little holier-than-thou at times. Is she really gone or will we see her again?

[Wombat]

I don't know ... I think they did a good job with Masters. The youthful brattiness and absolute moral certainty WERE her flaws. I felt the authors did them justice as well. Her moral certainty was important to her, and in the end she chose it over ambition. Which I can respect. But at the same time they were able to show how it hurt her--and potentially her patients--as well.

Maybe I'm just biased because I see so much of myself in her. Over-achieving girl with a strong sense of justice, and strong opinions about what and isn't ethical. Though I really do hope I'm not so socially hindered without realizing it.

[Tim]

Masters was such a better character than 13 ever was and ever will be. The show angered me that they would bring back 13 and get rid of Masters in back-to-back episodes. 13 was always the worst part of the show. Masters was refreshing and it made for much more interesting television for someone to defy House again and again.

[Jennifer]

this is so stupid. NO ONE has the right to interfere in anyone else's life like she did (unless they are parents of a minor). This is a situation about quality of life. You can't just cut off someone's arm because you want to save their life. This is not how things work. I was totally put off by this episode.

[Doc]

Forget about Masters and 13, bring back Mira Sorvino!!!

[Feather]

Agree with Trudy. I'm very glad to see her go, she was a good temporary but is not a good fit for the show imo. Love this show so so much!

[icantseeyou]

First I'm glad to see her character go. She was annoying.

Second, the court would not allow her to become an emancipated minor unless the parents are doing something horribly wrong. No way a judge would side with her considering her parents are fine and the cancer that is killing her. A very silly part of the episode.

Glad 13 is back.

[Kyle]

Im g0ing to miss masters. Yeah she was a little bit different than the rest of the characters on the show but it added some color and humor that wasnt there before. I was extremely upset watching her leave I hope there are plans for her to stay in the series. She adds more to the show

[RamseyH]

I enjoyed this run with Masters, but just have to say that I was consistently annoyed by her "physical" treatment. It seemed as if everything about her appearance was carefully orchestrated to make her seem "skinny." She's not fat, she's just not a model - but it was irritating that whoever was in charge of putting her clothing and hair together seemed to be over-compensating for some imaginary fault in her figure.

Examples: Her hair is cut to curl just under her chin, drawing attention away from the fact that she doesn't have a sharp neckline, and in every profile shot her hair is always in the way, never pushed back, even though she routinely pushes it back on front-shots. Her wardrobe is obviously supposed to make her look as if she has a skinny waist and long legs, not to mention those silly huge-soled high-heel shoes. I actually hit pause and groaned out loud in the last episode when she was laying on the floor in the office reading a book - and then when Wilson comes in and we have to see a full-body shot, she puts the book open over her midsection to conceal her waist.

Seriously, guys? Is having an average figure really such a huge sin? I actually thought her character would be more inclined to look a little dumpy, being less concerned about her physical appearance than her mental capacity.

[Kristy Metcalf]

I liked Masters. Her moralistic personality challenged House constantly. I can't believe they put all that work into her background on this episode just to let her go. I would like to see her come back in a higher position where House has to use her as a consultant on cases. I don't know about all of the hoopla over 13. She is just 13 to me. Not worthy of a name. I think after this episode they really could have played on Masters. No more Cuddy, duddy 13, come on let's get something fresh going on.

[christopher geist]

So is this it for masters or does she return to the show!!!!!

[House suck]

"The notion being that House is recovering from his break-up with Cuddy"
Recovering ? Ha! You are morons...

[Susan]

Amber Tamblyn will not be coming back on House because she is going to be on a new Fox show that Katie Jacobs one of the House producers is developing for her about a teacher.I thought this was a very good episode loved the addition of the chicken bet it was hilarious.Sorry she is leaving she did a good job but she was only signed for a certain amount of episodes since Olivia Wilde was coming back.She did a great job this year on the show.

[John Stone]

They need to get rid of Foreman.

[Ron]

The chicken thing wasn't that funny. It distracted the story-line, and I feel the writers could have come up with something better. "Security" would have dealt with the problem much sooner than what was portrayed on the show.

I'm not a writer so I know making everything come together is very difficult, but still it would have been nice to have the antics that took place somehow tie in better to the plot.